As an EV owner, this is great.

Good luck finding a decent MK7 sub $20k that doesn’t have crazy high mileage. 

Are we just not recommending GTIs anymore?

Dealerships are still dumpster fires, but my experiences with them got a lot better when I started having my financing figured out before I even showed up. I already knew what I could afford for how many months and at what interest rate from my credit union - only thing to really negotiate at that point was the purchas…

Nepotism.

In 2002, Subaru began selling the WRX in the USA. This was a really big deal at the time, since Subaru had resisted importing the WRX for a very long time. The punchy turbocharged engine was an especially big draw. I saw one at the annual auto show and distinctly remember some bros opening the hood and pointing to the…

Probably not as bad as most but here’s the one I always think about:

I was looking to purchase a Golf R in 2019. One dealership had a markup and wasn’t willing to negotiate so I setup an appointment at another for a test drive. When I arrived, the SA gave me a speech about how they are sallaried and don’t push…

If we’re counting dealer servicing in bad dealership experiences, I have one that might be hard to beat. I brought my Mustang in to a Ford dealership in Brooklyn for an oil change and a tire replacement, was told I could pick it up the next morning. Except at the end of the day I dropped it off, the dealership went in…

Where to start? Why not at a local Ford store, where 100% of my “worst dealer stories ever” take place (the one below is the most egregious of 4 or 5... but the fact that I have 4 or 5, out of thousands of dealership interactions & dozens of cars purchased over 25 years and ALL OF THEM are at Ford stores is saying…

Hmm. Got called and absolutely yelled at for “using their parking lot as storage for three weeks!” for a Fleet-owned Tucson. Threatening to tow it if it isn’t picked up in 30 minutes. I responded with “you mean the one which has been towed to you due to engine failure? I take it that you haven’t even gotten started on…

Roll up to a Honda dealer in Phoenix…

I have handled 90% of my dealer work through email, so haven’t had a bad experience in a long time. But the experience that led me to this method? Still pisses me off.

MERCEDES BENZ ENCINO- about 3 months ago

Tired to buy a VW Jetta TDI (before the scandal) and wanted to trade my 2009 Dodge Challenger SE. They took it to have the mechanic look at it. After this was done, they told me they’d but it, but for ~$5K less than I owed on it. I said no thank you, can I have my car back. They refused to give it back to me as a…

I once negotiated a OTD price for a new car over the phone. The dealership emailed me a nice, clean itemized quote for, let’s say $25,000. I printed it out and brought it with me to sign for the car. When I arrived, a different salesman greeted me with a number hastily scratched on a sticky note (wtf?). No, see this…

I was somehow talked into an extended warranty that I knew I’d never use. “Only $25 more per month? That is cheap insurance if the engine ever blows up.”

Flashback to 2019 and a certain ‘Zoom Zoom’ dealer chain in Chicagoland. Took in my wife’s 2010 Mazda5 for maintenance. The thing was in great shape (despite carting around a then-3 and 6 year old) and had maybe 40K on the clock.

Really wanted to buy a 20th Anniversary Nissan Maxima. Went to a Nissan dealer to test drive one. After twenty minutes of trying, I finally flag down a sales person. He walks up to me, looks me up and down, says “you can’t afford that car, you’re just here for a joy ride”, and walked away. Haven’t been inside a Nissan…

“Receive an SDK”

It where else can I play “Bored Apes sad circle jerk”