Complaint Review: SOUTH BAY INFINITI

-Went browsing at the dealership.

-Prior to visiting the dealership I had several quotes from other dealerships on the exact car I wanted, researched the invoice price, incentives and rebates, I had preapproval from my bank for 97% of the loan, and I had research on what the dealer had in their inventory.

- I casually browsed the lot with a just looking demeanor. Once I saw the car, test drove it, discussed things with the saleswoman, we started talking about pricing

-Negotiated the car price at $3,000 below sticker (on a brand new 2005 vehicle). I thought it was odd that they would quickly acquiesce and give me the car at invoice

-She said oh, it's late in the day and they just want to make a deal.

-Once I had the price firm in writing, I told them I had financing from an outside bank and I needed a purchase order/buyers' agreement

-Sales woman said "no problem...they will write up an 'option contract'. Doesn't matter if you pay cash or use our financing.

-Then at some point she switched and said I need to fill out a credit app and it would be no big deal just easier so I can take the car home "today". She said then I can go to my own bank within 3-5 days and bring them back the paperwork. She said the bank will talk directly to the sales manager and it won't be any hassle to me

-She came back and said I have tier one credit with a good score but a few late pays which meant they couldn't give me their best rate but they are giving me their top rates. She said no big deal since I will use my bank anywaythis will just get me in the car now.

- She then discussed 3 interest rate/payment options with me all of which were worse than my pre-approval and I picked one again thinking I don't care because I was going into the bank immediately afterward the weekend to fill out the loan paperwork and flip this loan

- So while I while I wait for them to draft the paperwork, she brings in the car manual and the keys and basically shows me all the lovely things that come with the car. Everyone kept asking me aren't you excited? and your car is almost ready or they're almost done prepping your car

-Eventually they have me sit down with the finance manager who starts giving me a bunch of papers to sign (title transfer, insurance, etc).

- Meanwhile the finance manager, Michael, is talking really FAST and explains that I should sign the finance contract in order to take the car home today. He said the bank they finance me through doesn't care if I prepay the loan (because they knew I had a better interest rate with my bank) so in order for me to take the car today I can go ahead and sign up with their financing and then have my bank give their bank a check

- They also had me sign a disclosure form saying that I understood that the interest rate was negotiable and that they may be marking up the rate (in some obtuse language)

- So I get to the final contract, the RISC form, and see everything spelled out. I started reading the fine print and began to get uncomfortable. Like why are they giving me this car so easily at invoice and the 7% interest rate they are charging me is 2.5% points higher than my bank what if I sign these papers then can't flip the loan????

-The finance manager also tried to say my bank pre-approval was not really a pre-approval at all when he saw the certificate I had. He was condescending and tried to dissuade me from taking too long to look at the contract. I told him I needed time and would be happy to leave his office. At first he said no take your time but when I questioned him on a few items, he shuffled me out of his office (which was really a cubicle) because there were other customers waiting. Of course he didn't want me loudly questioning him while other people were waiting in the que

- Upon further inspection of the contract there is a box that the salesperson could have checked which would have given me a certain amount of days to obtain my own financing and they marked this as N/A. This was cause for alarm because if signing the contract was just a formality and I could have my bank pay off the loan then why aren't they giving me any time to get my financing paperwork together? Which was in direct contradiction to what the saleswoman had told me.

- So I asked to speak to the sales manager. I speak to him and tell him I don't understand why they don't check the box. He in a condescending manner tries to do a song and dance and explain it to me simply. Of course his explanation did not make sense. Something about it not being a cash contract

- So I demanded that they give me a purchase order and I didn't want to take the car today. I told them I would get my financing lined up and come back to get the car.

- He said we don't do purchase orders

- So I told him I'm not signing this contract and put it on his desk

- And he said fine

- In addition to all this, other little lies came up earlier: the general manager lied about the fact that the interior of the car doesn't come in a certain color which was not true. We busted him on this lie. They lied and said you can only buy Lojack from them at that time not directly from Lojack (which is a lie). They first failed to disclose then tried to lie about the minimum finance charge if I flipped the contract to my bank. When I asked about dealer holdbacks the sales woman said Infiniti does not do holdbacks.

-The sales woman, Robbie, acted in the role of a stereotypical dumb blond the whole time and tried not to allow me to think straight by talking and telling dumb stories while I was trying to concentrate on the forms I was completing. She also encouraged me to lie on the credit application to get it through the bank. Robbie tried to ROB me.

- Needless to say, the very next day I bought the same car from a competing dealer (still $3000 below sticker) and 4% APR which was lower than my preapproved interest rate from my bank. Of course I was pissed because the CROOKS AT SOUTH BAY INFINITI TRIED TO GOUGE ME FOR AN ADDITIONAL 3% IN INTEREST and more monthly payments which would have come out to be almost an additional $5,000 for the car!! Unfortunately, it's all legal and all happened right in front of my very eyes through confusing language, fast talking and playing on my impulsivity/emotions.

- So let me tell you, I am a black business woman with a BS in Business Admin from UC Berkeley. I am a very high ranking finance executive with a substantial income and a credit score over 700. I have made financial mistakes in the past and rebuilt my credit. I don't say any of that to brag.

-HOWEVER BUYER BEWARE: Apparently they thought I was an ignorant minority AND a woman so they could play me. The sad part is even with all my education, my career in finance, all the internet research, reading about scams, etc, they almost did dupe me by convincing me that it would be no problem to have my financing done later by my bank and playing on my old insecurities about late pays from 6 years ago.

-The even sadder part is that the sales manager is black and the sales person was a woman so if they were stereotyping me, what a shame. And oh how karma is a b***h.

- I am so glad I listened to my intuition that was telling me something was not right about this situation. Faith in God serves me well. God takes care of babies and fools!!!!!! I am so very grateful!!!!!!!!!

hildie
los angeles, California
U.S.A.