Review content:
We needed to purchase a midsize SUV and drove up 5 hours to stay all weekend and shop for one.
We shopped at dealerships all over town, and online, as well as at the local car rental places for nice, low mileage used vehicles. At Lithia, we had a pretty typical "car salesman" experience. It could've been worse…but it sure wasn't "great." Our original salesperson decided at some point that she was sick of dealing with our indecisiveness, so she passed us along to another salesperson so she could work a better deal with someone else. The person to whom we were passed seemed easy-going and pleasant until it was 7:30 pm, and he morphed into the typical pushy, manipulative, relentless, and annoying car salesman. Luckily, my husband won't stand for it, however, I can tell this salesman has been able to strong-arm a lot of people.
He wasn't particularly helpful to us, since we knew what the car was really worth, and we wouldn't budge on our offer. Obviously, he was desperate to sell something, because after playing the "good cop/bad cop" routine with his "manager," whom we never saw, he relented and gave us the car for a fair price. Immediately after the sale, however, he was busy watching a baseball game in the lobby, and didn't really have much else to do with us as were finalizing paperwork and preparing to take ownership. When I went back to get service done to the car (that's another story!) at the service dept., I actually had to deal with the salesman again, and I really hated to.
I know that this is a pretty typical car buying experience, so I probably shouldn't complain too much, but I really don't ever want to buy a car there again. Sadly, I think Lithia probably isn't "that bad," but it's all relative….so "not that bad, actually is pretty bad. We have a vehicle though, which was the goal, so I won't give this rating a 1! Just don't buy their ridiculous routine: the good cop, bad cop stuff, the desperation, the tactics, the pressure. Know your stuff, and just get up and walk out if they are acting desperate or pushy!
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