My recent hunt for a new car was frustrating! I started off looking at a Mazda down in Renton, and the guy who showed me the car gave us the keys and let us test drove on our own so he can take a smoke break! That was weird. We then left Mazda and headed to Kirkland's Honda to check out the new civic. When we first entered, we weren't ready to buy (since we hadn't done our research on any of the Hondas except for the Mazdas), a sales person approached us and was giving us the sales pitch of how the Civic won the Motor Trend of the year. We didn't cared much, we were just looking. We decided to test drive it anyhow, after test driving it, the guy was really trying to sell it to us! I mean, he even brought the manager down to work with us on the price! The listing price was like $20,000, we told him if they can give it to us for $16,500 we will take it right away w/o doing any consumer research. We were quite amused how hard they tried to keep us. The manager then counter offered us with $17,100! That's like $200 below invoice! The truth was we didn't want to buy b/c we didn't do any research. We told them that we would do research and will come back if we decide to buy. Bare with me, this is a long story to tell. We went home, got on the net and did some research, we then called Auburn Honda, and told them what Kirkland was offering us (in an attempt to get a lower price). They told us they can't discuss pricings unless we came down. We told them we would only come down if they could at least match and they said they're sure they can work something out. Well, when we got there, the care they showed us and said they were going to beat or match was a manual! The quote we got was for an automatic at Kirkland! The sales guy was like, "I'm sorry, but I thought you guys were talking about the manual, that's why I can afford to beat the price." We were like fine, we're going to take off, another sales person took over and was like, let us work with you and sell this car to you. To make the story short, we sat there for an hour and was ready to buy as long as they agreed with $17,100 with 4.9% financing. The sales guy orally agreed and he went back to his manager to have him sign off. Well, little be hold, the came back and was like we can't do it because it's impossible for the car to be that low with al l the accessories it has in it (which is only the mudflaps, valued at $180). He said he will sell it if we paid $17,100 plus the $180 (mudflap price) and at 4.9%. We were so pissed! We sat there for an hour! Did the financing papers and everything and he came out and basically took back the initial offer! By this time, we were feeling really duped and had a sour taste. We basically gave them a lecture and left. The manager didn't even come out, the sales person basically said we lied b/c there is no way a dealer would give such a low offer. The next day we went back to Kirkland and was ready to buy at the $17,100. We came to see the manager, and they were all super busy. He stuck us with such an idiot! This guy was totally monotone and didn't even tried hard to sell us the car. He said the car can't be sold for $17,100 and the color we wanted is not in stock. We would have to wait for 10 days for it to come in. We asked about the sister's dealre (Bellevue), and the sales person said Bellevue didn't have the colors we wanted either. Luckily, my smart friend called Bellevue and they said they had 2 of each color we wanted, (Galaxy Grey or Blue). He basically lied to us! We then just left and said no thanks. We drove to Bellevue and met Cal, the greatest sales person ever! We told him what we've been through and we're tired of negotiating, either beat it of match it and we'll take it. He was like okay, he took it back to his manager and got us the deal in 5 minutes! Great guy! And it was even at 4.9% financing! Not haggling, such a great feeling! The financing was quick and the service was exceptional! I definitely would reccomend going there to buy a car and no where else! Defintiely not Hinshaw Honda (Auburn) or Kirkland!! Moral of the story here is if you're a salesperson, be honest and let the buyer decide to buy. We did get a great deal though, the average person pays $17,300 for the car! Phew...finally done!
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