[sjsjedi]

Most Car Dealer's I think have various dirty tricks to screw you out of money. :banghead:

In the St. Louis metro area most of the Saturn dealers are owned by Lou Fusz (Saturn of Creve Couer, Saturn of Metro East, Saturn of North County, Saturn of St. Charles County). It is impossible to buy a vehicle at Saturn's no-haggle price because these dealership put pinstrips, paint/leather clear coat protection, window etching on all the vehicle so the price is $100-$200 over the Saturn MSRP price. When I was bitching to the salesman about this he stated I could negotiate with the finance guy to have them removed or threaten to walk/order me Saturn without all this crap on the vehicle. I managed to get them to take off the pinstripe, and window etching fees if I agreed to buy the vehicle that day. When I went to get the all weather Outlook floor mats I discovered that the GMC dealers (Acadia same mats are the same with a different name) were $20-$50 cheaper per mat (front, 2nd row, 3rd row, and cargo). This is another example of Lou Fusz screwing the customer. One of my friends did mention that Jim Butler's Saturns (Saturn of South County and Saturn of West County) weren't charging Lou Fusz's accessory rates and I was able to get the Outlook branded mats at the same price as the GMC dealers ($20-$50 cheaper per mat) at Saturn of West County.

Anyone else have similar (or different) experiences?

 

[cannondale_trek]

No dealer tricks but failure to listen to the customer story. This is my first GM product.

My wife and I bought a new Outlook at the end of August, in order to take advantage of the GM employee price. My wife wanted a backup senor and DVD option and I wanted cross bars and hitch to tow a future travel trailer. In their zeal to close the sale they miss-understood that even if the Outlook didn't come with the cross bars and hitch I wanted it to be installed and added to the final cost. Well, once the paper work was signed, I soon found out that the options that I wanted was not included in the final price. This really pissed me off.

Even if the the Towing Package can only be installed in the factory, which is totally asinine, I still wanted the regular hitch in order to at least carry my bikes. So instead of getting the options that I wanted, I would have to pay an extra bill separate from the car payment. What is the use of paying for a $36,000 vehicle if you don't get what you want? This only gets my blood boiling every time I think about it.

The dealership offered to give me the crossbars for free, but I would have to go another service place to have the heavy duty hitch installed. To give you a good idea of how mad I still am, I turned down their offer and said, "I'm not in the market for a crossbar and hitch now, I was when I was looking for a new SUV but not now when I'm already paying for a car loan." Maybe I'm foolish to turn down the free crossbars, but their screw-up with the sale really left a bad taste in my mouth and I don't want to deal with them again.

The dealership I'm referring to is Kings Saturn of Cincinnati.

Would I recommend a friend to shop there? No.

And can someone explain to me why the Trailering Package parts can't be ordered and installed on vehicle that has left the factory?

 

[khansen30]

It's more than just a hitch. Wiring is different, fuse box, added cooler for tranny, dash button to enguage, etc..

It is very difficult at times to find exactly what you want. That's why there is "Special Ordering"! Pick what you want down to the floor mats, okay maybe not the floor mats. Many people have done this. The only thing Saturn dealers can do is install the new fuse box. Anything else and the warranty is voided if damage occurs because of the hitch, that's why they wont touch them. The cost to get a hitch installed is less than $200 including the hitch. And I hate to say it but, you signed the paper with out reading it. And I also think you were right when you said they didn't understand what you wanted. Lots of blame here, but I don't think deception was involved, and, you signed without reading. :banghead: ???

 

[cannondale_trek]

khansen30,

You are right, it was my fault for not reading the papers. I concentrated too much on making sure the pricing was correct and not making sure the extra options was included in the sale. Live and learn.

I planned on hauling a travel trailer in the future and the one major equipment I need on my vehicle is not there. This is where my frustration is coming from.

I may not be able to turn back time, but I can sure take my business somewhere else when I make my next vehicle purchase and maintenance.

 

[rcdice]

Doesn't Saturn have some sort of 30 day/1,500 mile return policy? GM extended the employee pricing into Sept. Perhaps you could swap out your Outlook for one that has the factory trailering option.

The three Saturn dealers here in Columbus are all owned by one guy as well. They told me Saturn originally set it up that way in major cities to eliminate the competition across town and support the fixed price business model.

$100-$200 over msrp for the paint/fabric protection stuff sounds cheap. The dealer here adds it and places an extra price sticker on the vehicle for like $500. Plus $99 for pinstripes. I special ordered and told them I don't want the protection stuff (especially at that price). I did however want the pinstripes and a few other dealer installed options. I was able to negotiate a little on that stuff.

My 09 still isn't here yet. It was officially entered and accepted into the GM system on August 21. I REALLY hope it gets here before the end of Sept. so I can get the employee discount. Or, perhaps GM will extend it another month. :thumb: