Anyone else experiencing lackluster dealer communication?

[Venthos]

Well, I did it. Just got back from both of the dealers I had deposits on and now am holding to receipts showing my refunds of both.

Dealer 2 (The one who wouldn't return my phone calls):
I sat down and said "I'm looking to get my deposit back, I've decided to go in a different direction. He responds "What direction would that be?". I say "The '09 challenger, potentially with manually transmission. I've already got an order in for one". He immediately excused himself and went to the manager. I heard overheard a few words/phrases about 2009 ordering, no prices, and may 12th.

He came back over and asked as to why I didn't give him the opportunity to sell me an '09, acting dumbfounded as to why I wouldn't want to deal with him. I told him that I had tried to get a hold of him for the past 4 weeks to no avail and that I was beyond frustrated about not being able to receive my car's order status code. He swore he talked to me once during that period. I told him about 4 weeks ago he did talk to me, but that was when I had to leave a voice mail and pester him so much that I finally got a hold of him, it wasn't him returning my phone call per request from the day before. He then said he thought my other voice mail was to "only call if anything changed" and I said no, that's why all of my voice mails ended with "Please give me a call as soon as possible, I would appreciate it." The only time HE called ME was when he wanted me to come put down a deposit. Beyond that, he has never called me either at my request or for any other reason. Trying to justify why you didn't call the customer back? Seriously?

I then brought up again how I hadn't been able to get an order status code from them. And he said there's no information about that. I had to still fight and insist (like I did last time I brought this up) that all orders have a code, regardless if it's BA, C, D, etc. whatever. He just played it off even to my face that they didn't have one/know and I still do not know what the order status is of the car I had on order with them.

He went to his manager again and then I was called over to the cashier desk to process my refund. While the refund was occurring he mentioned that '09s are showing in the order system now but there's on pricing (in a demeanor that meant "No pricing so we won't decide our price yet either".) I said yep I know ordering opened early on the 12th and I already have a confirmed price of MSRP. At this time the manager and another manager-type walked on in and immediately started spouting off about no pricing available. I said yes, I realize this. I understand pricing is not available., but that I have in writing that I will be getting MSRP on my '09 of whatever price MSRP turns out to be.

I then reiterate in front of all 3 of them about my frustrations of no contact and no order status code. The managers basically act like "screw it" and walk off. From the way I overheard them earlier and the way the managers/salesman spoke to me I got the impression that they only found out about '09 information from me walking in and saying I already had an order. No one seemed prepared to talk about the '09. The salesman goes on to say how they just don't have any information (regarding order status code) and that he makes mistakes as he's human too (regarding no phone calls) and that he's not magic (his words). The salesman basically concedes at this point that there's nothing he can do and makes me a copy of my refund receipt. He wishes me well and I do the same.

I walk out there more confident than ever that getting my deposit back was the right choice.

Dealer 3 (the dealer who has me in C with no VIN and will not agree to a price):
He was, just like earlier on, pleasant to deal with. Even after I asked for my deposit back the salesman showed me a pic of the challenger he had taken this past weekend when they were showing off a Viper somewhere. The salesman seemed amped about the Challenger just the same. He obviously would've rather I stayed and offered the transfer the deposit to an '09 but I said I have nothing bad to say about him or the dealer, but I just can't pass up on a guaranteed MSRP cost for an '09 SRT when I had been sitting (still) on an '08 in C with no VIN and not even a hint at what it would cost me. I got my refund, shook hands with him, and I was off. I have to say that if the dealer had been willing to set a price I might have stayed on my '08 order with them. Even when he mentioned the '09s he talked about them having no pricing yet (as we all know) in a tone that meant the dealership wouldn't be setting a price with myself either. He's a good guy and the dealer was nice in general, too. I just wish they were more willing to set a price.

And that's the story from both. I now have my deposits back from those 2 local dealers and I'm just short of writing off my local dealers permanently for any future car purchases. Bob Frederick has my order for an '09 and I already have vastly more information about the car/order, confidence in him/his dealership, and comfort with my car/order than I ever had with either of these dealers.

As for Dealer #2, I will make a point to steer away everyone I can from their dealership. Just bad news all around.

[NOTSURE]

You did the right thing cut out the middle man!

[NOTSURE]

Unofficial Dodge Challenger Registry
Thankyou Venthos for all your hard work on this registry for all us here what a nice thing to do and its filling up....

[Venthos]

For those of you who had been asking, the dealerships mentioned are.

Dealer 1 -- Suburban Chrysler/Jeep/Dodge (Novi, MI)
Dealer 2 -- Tamaroff Dodge (Southfield, MI)
Dealer 3 -- Dick Scott Dodge (Plymouth, MI)

Thus if you've read the thread, Dealer 2 (Tamaroff) is the dealer to steer clear of at all costs.

[NOTSURE]

Hope you never have to deal with those dealers again what a nightmare..

[Mopar666]

Hi,

Your story sounds what I went threw just last weeknow I dont feel so special.I will never deal with a salesman again they are all scum bags!Ive read most posts here and these guys here are the worst arent they?
God I hate salesman they lie threw their teeth and smile all the way home thinking what a sucker you were for buying from them that is after you have taken delivery.I think I will follow all of your advice and go dealer direct from now on esspecially after seeing these guys here on this forum in action I will private message you for more information on this as soon as I can once I get home from work.I will buy from definately contact Bob and but from him as my local guys are retarded.I dont want to be scammed by some of the trash that lerks here on this forum.
Whats up with that fool shodanusmc who is he working for I dont want to get a car from anyone he is connected to please let me know asap.
Is it Champion I read back as far as I could while at work please let me know who you recommend.
Im ready to buy but dont want to deal with this sleeze factor.

Originally Posted by Venthos

(This is a long rant, bear with me)

With the exception of one dealer, the other two dealers that I've dealt during my time looking for a 2008 Chally have been lackluster in terms of communication to say the least.

(A long story short, what prompted me to look into an '08 so late was the information that suddenly came to fruition that 2009s would not have Hemi Orange for the SRT8 -- so I went scrambling to dealers with little hope in mind)

The first crappy dealer was the one that I had walked in on 3/25/08 and said I was looking for information on the dodge challenger. The salesman bluntly mentioned there wasn't really any information in such a manner and with awkward following silence as if he was looking for me to just turn around and leave immediately. After pushing the issue I was told there was a simple list (no deposits involved) that I could get in on with just my contact info. The salesman seemed relatively new and mentioned that I would be the first and only person on his personal list waiting for the '08 challenger (further cementing that he was new). He said he'd be sending me a brochure as they were made available and that he'd call me as soon as there was further information. A week later I hadn't heard anything so I gave him a call, no answer so I left a voicemail. To this day I have not heard anything at all from this dealership aside from a form letter thanking me for stopping in by the general manager 2 days after I had initially showed up.

However, my father who had purchased a Jeep at their dealer some long years back has (during this same time) received 3 promotional deal/incentive calls from that same dealer.

I don't want to sound cliche, but I can't help but think the fact that I am 23 had something to do with it and that the salesman thought I was wasting his time.

----

This second dealer seemed VERY promising when I initially went in. The salesman actually knew some basic things about the challenger and commented about the auctions such as for car #43 etc. I was excited. Similar situation with just lists with no deposits, I put my name down and waited. He mentioned that the first of the month he would likely hear some more details. So, like Dealer #1, I called him back a week later (April 2nd or 3rd) and asked. He was fairly short on the phone as if I was bothering him. I didn't think much of it as I doubted he would have much if any information anyway.

I then received a call one day from the salesman and was told they were accepting deposits now for their allotment of challengers and to get down there ASAP to reserve one. I head on down there ASAP and down a $1k refundable deposit and they wouldn't budge on a price of $5k over MSRP. Oh well. He mentions I am 2nd in line for a challenger, their showroom car being first. I feel good about things at this point.

I call back 2 weeks after that date. Goes to voicemail. I call two more times within the span of an hour before finally just leaving a voicemail (at about 11:45am). The day passes by with no returned phonecall. I figure meh, he's probably out/vacation/etc. The next day I call him at about 2:00pm and he immediately picks up. Says nothing about my voicemail I left him. I ask him for the order status of the car as the sheet he had given me said BA status which concerned me, yet him saying I was #2 in line seemed to kind of contradict that. So I was interested in the status code and VIN if possible so I could keep an eye on it. He said he doesn't even really know what the order status codes mean and that any way I could track it would be wildly inaccurate as opposed to the dealer's methods for tracking it and that the sales manager was watching all the cars so he didn't have that info handy.

I ask "Well, could you in some fashion obtain that code and VIN for me just so I can have it?" and he again goes into a long-winded response about the sales manager and accuracy, but that they were having a meeting at the dealership later today and he'd bring it up, and then call me back or leave a voicemail if I wasn't there.

Fast forward 2 weeks, not even a missed call from him. Nothing. I try to call him again, phone rings into voicemail again -- this was this Wednesday. It's now Friday night and no returned phone call.

I wish like hell that I was in a position to tell the guy to cram it, refund my deposit, and I was going elsewhere. However, the dealer has me by the balls in that this may be the only option I have for a 2008.

I do have a $1k refundable deposit at another dealer, and the general manager is personally handling 100% of the challenger sales at that dealer. He is pleasant to deal with and told me all of the information he could. The car there is in C, no VIN (but will call me when a VIN is avail). They have 14 cars ordered and all have vins but two (mine and one other guys). The 2 without VINs were not original allotments for the dealer but given to them by Chrysler on 4/10/08. However, this dealer will not set a price. They want to wait until the car moves into production or is essentially on the lot before they talk price. The general manager did mention, though, that the first car from the dealer is already locked in to the person purchasing for $16k over MSRP.

So, I'm stuck in between a rock and a hard place.

Dealer 1 will not even deal with me apparently. Perhaps believing at 23 I cannot afford the car.

Dealer 2 seems to be quick to ignore me and dismiss me either because they also think I cannot afford the car or think since I've put down a deposit and reserved a car that they don't have to 'work' for the sale anymore and just blow me off. However, I do have a deposit down and a locked in price on the car should it ever arrive.

Dealer 3 has been quite helpful from the internet department's swift email responses to dealing with the general manager personally. However, they will not set a price yet and having sold their first car for $16k over MSRP has me worried that it's going to be far more than the $5k MSRP I have at Dealer 2 (which is the absolute most I am willing to pay for this car).

To add to it, I am fearful that if I don't get an 08 that orders for 2009s will have already opened by the time I find this out and I will be in the same situation or worse with an 09 SRT since presumably only 5000 of the 09s will be SRTs. I would also have to settle for an alternative color instead of Hemi Orange (unless the rumor is true that they're opening Hemi Orange back up for 2009 SRT8s)

This whole purchasing and playing the waiting game thing is stressful. It sucks immensely to have to put up with dealers treating you poorly as well since they may be the only shot you have at the car.

Anyway... that was much longer than I had intended. Anyone else experiencing horrible communication/service with speaking to dealers about the Challenger?

[NOTSURE]

mopar666 you PMed me and there was no message whats up?
Check your in box asap.

[Venthos]

Originally Posted by Mopar666

... please let me know who you recommend.
Im ready to buy but dont want to deal with this sleeze factor.

I hear ya. I've been where you are, like you've read, and finding Bob was the best thing that happened to me in my pursuit for a Challenger. Like NOTSURE has mentioned a few times, Bob gives you piece of mind and you don't feel like you have to 'check up' on him and worry about your car. Once you've got your order in you can rest easy that Bob has his end of the situation handled.

All you have to do is get through the next several months of waiting lol.

But yea, contact Bob -- you'll be impressed, I guarantee it.

[Mopar666]

Venthos TY for the heads up I dont want a replay of what has happened to me in the past I hope this car is worth all this hassle.I found Bobs info I will call him Weds in the morning you guys are great and super reading as well.
I have much to learn here.

[425hpChargerSRT8]

Mopar666 did you get in touch with Bob? Just curious if you put a order. Hope all went well for ya.