We have purchased three new vehicles at Laird Wheaton - ljpmarlin
We have purchased three new vehicles at Laird Wheaton including a Cadillac over the years, and until now we were always treated with respect and courtesy by the staff.
However, this was not the case with our recent experience.
We were looking at a used Yukon that we saw advertised online. After visiting the dealership to view the vehicle and test drive it, the salesman suggested that there would be at least $1,500 in room for a price reduction. I returned the next day to make an offer after reviewing the vehicle history, and online valuations. I made an offer at the very top of the published dealer retail value for the vehicle in question, minus repairs that were required. One valuation indicated that the vehicle was listed at $1,950 above market dealership retail value without even considering the two major defects it had.
After presenting my offer, the salesperson returned from the sales manager's office with a message that they were going to repair the heavily corroded rims at Renewz in Nanaimo, and that the other defect of missing stitching on the leather steering wheel was "dismissed out of hand" (their words). It seemed that they were trying to present the impression that they were offended by my offer. In fact, they refused to counter offer. I had offered $3,900 less than the list price of 36,900 on an 8 year old vehicle with 4 trashed rims. It's their vehicle. Of course, they can sell it, or keep it. However, being rude is unacceptable. Who gets offended by an offer, and refuses to counter?
I left the dealership with a very bad taste in my mouth.
However, my wife really liked the vehicle as it checked all of the boxes for her after any necessary repairs were made. So, she encouraged me to make another offer. I suggested to the salesman that we would pay the full market valuation assuming that there were no defects.
They came back suggesting that we could perhaps only receive a $495 discount from their list price! So, to be clear, they were going backwards, and completely wasting our time, and negotiating in bad faith.
It turns out that the sales manager (Ross Barnard) was also not telling the truth about their plans to repair the rims as Renewz does not even carry out polished aluminum wheel repairs in Nanaimo. The Renewz staff told me this in person.
About a week later, the salesman reached out to me to inform me that the vehicle had been sold. A few days after that, I saw that they were still advertising it on Facebook! I sent an enquiry to see what they'd say... They didn't even respond to the message and merely say "sorry, it's no longer available" They just marked it sold without even responding. More completely unacceptable time wasting, and lack of common courtesy.
In my experience, most car dealers have now elevated their professionalism and practices from those of the old days which gave car sales a negative reputation. It seems that Laird Wheaton still has a few relics of the past on the payroll.
We will be driving to Duncan or Parksville to service our new Yukon Denali bought elsewhere.
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