Bait and Switch ...You be the judge

[kevinmccune]

would I have done things differently? sure
I have bought and sold dozens of cars and motorcycles where I traveled to pick them up. This is the first time I was burned. When I look at the time stamps for communicating (less than an hour total including looking at reviews of the salesman and dealership) and getting a verbal commitment that the truck would be there I figured it would wrap up like every other time I purchased at a distance. How long have you sat at a dealer closing a deal? How long do you take sending documents back and forth. I would never buy anything without trying it and I certainly would not fly or drive overnight under these circumstances. When you are dealing with an established dealer one expects a certain level of professionalism. So second guess all you want, my experience can be used as a cautionary tale. Bottom line for me was the way we were treated. I guess I'm just old school. As far as bait and switch goes, the car was sold before I got there and Nissan dealer the the d21instead of calling they decided to wait til I got there and took their time to set me up for buying another truck. If it ain't there and you try to sell something else wellll if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck ;-)
So anyone else have a horror story

had a dealer wouldn't even consider my trade.went a mile up the road and did business with a nissan dealer( the D21 would run circles around the the D50 I traded,)this dealer always treated me fairly ever since

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[kevinmccune]

Interestingly, when I was looking at mine at an out of state dealer, another couple came in to look at the exact same Mav...only to be told that I was there first and I'd have to reject the deal we were in the midst of for them to even take it for a test ride, no playing one person against the other to get the most profit.
And, for the record, the woman kept on shooting me dirty looks.

I don't know if its always been this way,it seems woman these days are always verging on the "hag" bit for the most part,I was backing in a parking slot at food lion only to have a woman shoot in there in an explorer I didn't say nothing,I followed her in the store she offered no apology.

 

[kevinmccune]

went in a GMC dealers sales office looking at GMCs.i had just got off work and was kinda of dirty( guess that must have been the tipoff"working man " cant have much money) I waited for several minutes while the soft palmed sales staff did their social thing,I finally bounced the sales brochere off the desk and walked out,in the same town,me and another were doing hard physical labor next to a "stereo shop" and we did have a bit of mud on board we tried to walk in and look at the stereos,we were met at the door by a young airhead girl who was scared we were going to soil her carpet a bit the male sales manager didn't say a word we were turned away,think that place is out of business now,did sort of relent and bought an installation kit from them later on,not a good town to do business I ,not near as bad as the "friendly city" about 20 miles up the road was never able to deal with those jerks( must be a college town thing) come to think of it Lexington was about as bad with the salesman not even bothering to look at my possible trade,as as Penn Gillette said"$c&#^ in the neck"!

 

[CJV]

I did try to buy locally but they were unable to get one in the time frame I needed to replace my car that had just been totaled in a freak accident (not my fault).

Until now I have not listed the dealer or sales people involved in order to give the dealer Koons Ford, Woodbridge, Va an opportunity to prove good faith and that this was not representative of their dealership and that they would "make things right" or at least acknowledge they were wrong and send some token of goodwill.
I was given the GMs number and extension and decided not to further respond to him after I received no response from him regarding clarification of an email he sent with a cc to the salesman Gregory Gibson and Sales Manager Abdi Kadir on Dec 9 that started:
subject: Your feedback matters - As the General Manager, how can I better support you"
with the following body in html that I couldn't convert to legible text
"you?
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: multipart/mixed;
boundary="----=_Part_703786_63211990.1765288785837"
Date: Tue, 9 Dec 2025 13:59:45 +0000
Feedback-ID: ::1.us-east-1.zqkl6NBgtiAsImi1/Tlby9YzjDKjokouvLGU8+WW8Lg=:AmazonSES ..."
and went on like that in html for 7 pages!
I emailed him but after he did not respond for clarification I made the decision that the onus of contact is on them to reach out to me not for me to chase them down. The Customer Relations Manager is the only one that reached out and responded. I acknowledge that she is in a tough spot and have no complaints regarding her.
The way I see it this is what should have happened
1)The salesman should have put a temporary hold on the vehicle since he knew what time I was coming that day and the distance I was travelling and since he acknowledged it would be there by email and what the price was. Although it wasn't stated I assumed if I didn't show by the agreed time then it would be on me if truck was unavailable. We are not talking about holding the truck for days here, although he did state on the phone that it was unlikely the truck would be sold if I couldn't be there until monday. He stated they couldn't take a credit card as earnest money and that it wouldn't be necessary.
At that point He should have put on a hold or called me back if it wouldn't be available. We then spent 4+ hours on the road.
2) When he told me after I got there that the truck was sold 20 minutes earlier he said they would see if one was available at another dealer that day. Based on my searches I knew there were none in a hundred mile radius. He came back with the sales manager and said there weren't and then tried selling me a 2025 after I made it clear I wasn't interested at all.
At that point he could have done one of several things
a) offered to get one at the quoted price and since I had driven all that way delivered it to me.
b) offered to fill my gas tank and bought dinner as a good will gesture.
Instead ... crickets until the Customer relations manager contacted me about my posted reviews.

We are stuck with dealers when buying new vehicles. I think some of the responses in this thread illustrate that we need some advice for people who find themselves in similar situations which are all too common. Blowing up does nothing because the bad apples don't care. Publishing reviews in places helps but it would be satisfying to find more immediate alternatives when confronting these situations. Tons of guides on how to buy a car but none on getting satisfaction on the bad apples in real time.

 

[Pointyears]

I did try to buy locally but they were unable to get one in the time frame I needed to replace my car that had just been totaled in a freak accident (not my fault).

Until now I have not listed the dealer or sales people involved in order to give the dealer Koons Ford, Woodbridge, Va

I don't remember what the dealer's name was in Woodbridge 20 years ago before Koons took it over, but we had...fun there. We'd bought a 2005 Ranger FX4 Level 2 4x4 xtra cab from there. They do the dealer prep and all that fun stuff and I drive it home. Get home to find out that the entire back wall below the rear window was covered with some sort of slime that didn't get prepped away. We didn't think it was worth going back. BUT, I got the post-sales survey and savaged them in it. This was one of those periods when Ford sales were in a slump, so Ford Regional reamed them a new one, so much that the GM called us and offered a full detail and a tank of gas and more bribes that I don't recall.

Never went back even though all we bought were Fords and Lincolns.

 

[MetalsGeek]

I think your experience is the norm, and it's unfortunate you had to drive so far. I just bought my girlfriend a new car. She did not want a Ford because the Recirc mode in my Maverick's HVAC is always turning itself off. LOL
At any rate, we had to deal with all the usual abuse at the dealership. The cars on the lot all had a $4-5K package of paint protection and limo-level window tinting that would make any pimp proud. We eventually located a virgin on the back lot to sidestep this abuse entirely. They tried to include all manner of high-markup dealer-installed options. They tried to push an 84-month loan at over 8%. We did not do a trade-in, but I'm quite sure they would have low-balled its value too. When I said I would pay cash, they still asked me to finance it and pay it off early to give them the $1,250 origination fee. I think this sleazy behavior is the norm. I was prepared by (1) watching some YouTube videos on the topic and (2) getting a Costco referral that gave me a printed competitive quote on the exact model. As a buyer, you MUST do your due diligence and research pricing. If you need a loan, arrange that with your bank or credit union before you go. Know your registration fees & sales tax, and so the out-the-door cost. Any "fee" they charge that's included in the amount subject to sales tax is a negotiable part of the price. You must be able to do some grade-school math. Take a friend along as a sanity check, and be prepared to get up and leave, even if it's just an act. You'd be surprised how the deal gets sweeter as you're leaving. It's all a game of smoke and mirrors, but if you go prepared, you still may not get the deal of the century but you should at least not get screwed.

 

[Ray_B]

Lots of dealers/salesmen think they have the upper hand when you enter their 'lair'.
Years ago wife & I saw an ad for a used Z240 and called ahead. Vin and full description was listed in the ad with the price. When we got there, the salesman pulled out an index card and started ADDING to the price by saying they replaced the tires & battery. Pushed the price about $1000 over ADVERTISED price.

After making it clear (and loud) that they were ripping us off, we walked out.

 

[topsin34]

Just to clarify was your credit card rejected when you tried to use it to hold a vehicle or the dealership rejected you using your credit card to hold it?

 

[mwbaumannmo]

We have all probably been there. Smarmy salesman who knows he can sell you something you weren't interested in. Thinks the old 75 year old is a mark waiting to be convinced. Not caring the cost in time and .... well read on ...Ahhh so begins the tale:
We drove 4 1/2 hours based on assurances the truck would be ready and could close a deal right then. I offered a credit card to provide earnest money on the deal which was rejected and was sent a dealer Deal Sheet # 12619 listing all costs and final price. He had my cell phone number and I was on time. He waited until I was seated and told me the truck was sold 20 minutes earlier. Then he and a sales manager? tried to sell me a truck that I repeatedly said I was not interested in. I finally told them a price I would consider concerning the outgoing model year and what was below what I could do locally and to "make things right" knowing they would not take it and to show my disgust with how cavalier they were with what had occurred, And car dealers wonder why they are not trusted (2024 KPA Dealership Trust Survey conducted by The Harris Poll). Knowing I was coming, a reasonable salesman would insure the car would be available by placing a temporary hold on anyone selling it until after the time I said I would be there. The process turned into all the appearances of a classic bait and switch where the salesman knew if it was sold he could convince me to buy from older in stock vehicles. The alternative to that manipulation is indifference to buyers time and resources where a day of 2 peoples lives were wasted driving to this dealership. Time is a resource that can't be replaced.
We traveled 244 miles @ 70 cents per mile (IRS mileage rate)=$140.80 round trip $341.60 is a real cost not including eating on the road. They knew I wasn't local so why would they care if I never returned.
Now its your turn to add to the madness with your tale of woe

As fate would have it, they only had the model available in Metallic Pea.

 

[CJV]

The dealership rejected using my credit card to hold it.

 

[Pointyears]

] just bought my girlfriend a new car. She did not want a Ford because the Recirc mode in my Maverick's HVAC is always turning itself off. LOL

Run.

 

[MetalsGeek]

Lots of dealers/salesmen think they have the upper hand when you enter their 'lair'.
Years ago wife & I saw an ad for a used Z240 and called ahead. Vin and full description was listed in the ad with the price. When we got there, the salesman pulled out an index card and started ADDING to the price by saying they replaced the tires & battery. Pushed the price about $1000 over ADVERTISED price. After making it clear (and loud) that they were ripping us off, we walked out.

You might like this... The salesman whipped out what they call a "four-square worksheet" and one of the numbers was above $58K on a car whose OTD price at full MSRP should have been <39. I couldn't help myself, and burst out laughing in huge guffaws right in their showroom. I told him that 47 would have offended me, but 58 was so outrageous it was funny. Gotta give those guys credit for having cojones. I suppose it even works now and then.

 

[Pointyears]

You might like this... The salesman whipped out what they call a "four-square worksheet" and one of the numbers was above $58K on a car whose OTD price at full MSRP should have been <39. I couldn't help myself, and burst out laughing in huge guffaws right in their showroom. I told him that 47 would have offended me, but 58 was so outrageous it was funny. Gotta give those guys credit for having cojones. I suppose it even works now and then.

I had the "we can't find your keys after looking at your trade-in so you can't leave without buying something" trick. I started yelling about calling the police in a crowded showroom and they suddenly couldn't get rid of me fast enough.

 

[CJV]

I always had a spare key until everything went smart key. I remember a salesman's face when he said they were finding it. I said that's ok. Walked out to my car and drove up with him rushing out the door.
They have no pride.
Or after my wife totalled her truck and I went to buy a new one. The salesman said they all had etched numbers that couldn't be removed. I found one without etching and he pulled the old it's dealership policy. As I was walking out the door without a word he comes up and says they would make an"exception" and if it was stolen would I come back and tell him. What an ass.

 

[SorryDad]

We have all probably been there. Smarmy salesman who knows he can sell you something you weren't interested in. Thinks the old 75 year old is a mark waiting to be convinced. Not caring the cost in time and .... well read on ...Ahhh so begins the tale:
We drove 4 1/2 hours based on assurances the truck would be ready and could close a deal right then. I offered a credit card to provide earnest money on the deal which was rejected and was sent a dealer Deal Sheet # 12619 listing all costs and final price. He had my cell phone number and I was on time. He waited until I was seated and told me the truck was sold 20 minutes earlier. Then he and a sales manager? tried to sell me a truck that I repeatedly said I was not interested in. I finally told them a price I would consider concerning the outgoing model year and what was below what I could do locally and to "make things right" knowing they would not take it and to show my disgust with how cavalier they were with what had occurred, And car dealers wonder why they are not trusted (2024 KPA Dealership Trust Survey conducted by The Harris Poll). Knowing I was coming, a reasonable salesman would insure the car would be available by placing a temporary hold on anyone selling it until after the time I said I would be there. The process turned into all the appearances of a classic bait and switch where the salesman knew if it was sold he could convince me to buy from older in stock vehicles. The alternative to that manipulation is indifference to buyers time and resources where a day of 2 peoples lives were wasted driving to this dealership. Time is a resource that can't be replaced.
We traveled 244 miles @ 70 cents per mile (IRS mileage rate)=$140.80 round trip $341.60 is a real cost not including eating on the road. They knew I wasn't local so why would they care if I never returned.
Now its your turn to add to the madness with your tale of woe

Kudos to you on being so patient at such a blatant BS attempt! Given the time you spent to get there, I suppose, factored into keeping you a willing hostage to their "deals". I'd have definitely walked right out after politely, but firmly, telling that guy's boss and dealership owner what a waste of time and never recommend anyone do business. Use of social media here can be one of the FEW good uses. When it comes to Lot Lizards, I just have no patience.

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