Complaint Review: Stoneridge Chrysler Jeep Dodge

Me and my fiancee came to the Stoneridge dealership on 8/3/07 evening. We was greeted by the sales person that showed us around, and we found new Jeep Wrangler that we liked and went for a test drive. During that time we had some questions about the car but the sales person did not have all the answers, so when we came back another more experienced sales man, introduced himself as Stew, came over to help. During our conversation he many times complimented the car I drove - 2004 Mercedes SL500. At that time we let him know that we are planning to trade the car in.

When we got to the "four square" negotiations I was offered $46K for trade-in and $31K for the Jeep. It was way below my expectations, so the sales person offered $30K out the door for the Jeep.When my fiancee joined us she asked the sales person where did $30K number came from, since the sticker on the car was $25,170. He replied that the sticker shows the price before the dealer's mark-up, which puts car at $28,000 and after you add fees and registration you get to $31,000; and that he took the $1,000 off to get us a better deal.

So, at that point we were at $46K trade-in/$30K out the door for new car/$16K cash back. We stated that our car worth more, and was offered $47K (which would leave us with $17K cash back). We did not agree to that either. They offered another $500 more cash back, trying to convince us that we are getting a really good deal - that our Mercedes is not worth as much as we think, because they made phone calls and found out that the current bids on it are around $44K.

We mentioned that we just came from the Mercedes-Benz of Pleasanton where we were offered $50K to sell or $52K to trade-in our car. Stew replied, that it was said just to bring us in, but we would actually never get that price for our car. He asked - if he would get approval for another $500 - would we agree to $18K cash back.

During the whole thing Stew was mostly focusing on the cash back and the trade-in numbers, explaining that it doesn't matter how you play around with numbers as long as you get same difference - you can either add that $2,000 (that they added more to $16K cash back) to the trade-in or take it off the new car price.

When I went to sign the contract the numbers on it was $45,532 for trade-in and $27,532 for the new car. When I pointed that out I got the same response - that as long as difference stays the same it doesn't matter how the other numbers are written.

As soon as I signed the contract I was told that, since they are already closed, they would go over the car with me on Monday, when I come back to pick up my check. Also, they said it was too late to do detailed car wash, but that they would at least wash the windows. We were rushed out of the dealership, and while still out on the parking lot we saw Stew and the assistant manager taking off.

When we got home we noticed that the windows weren't clean and had dirty stains on; and after we looked over the paperwork, we realized that the Jeep price was actually less than $30K with the dealer's mark-up and all the fees included. I wouldn't have agreed to trade-in my car for less than $48K and I wouldn't have agreed to the $30K for the new car, knowing that I got $0 off of it. Next morning we went back to the dealership to ask for our deal to be unwinded due to misleading during negotiations.

We talked to the sales manager, Wayne, and he denied our request. (When we later asked him - who else we can talk about this - he stated that he is THE manager). He said that because I signed the contract - it's too late to unwind it. He offered to try to get us couple hundred $ more cash back; but that could not possibly make the deal fair. Then we asked, if he couldn't unwind the contract, would we be able to get better tires (ours were basic, smaller size) - and were told that he would have to get back to us on that.

Later that day Wayne called my fiancee, and said it would take about a week to get new tires. She answered that we would discuss that when we come back to the dealership. Because we still felt taking advantage of and misled, we consulted with a person in autobusiness and found out that the contract can be unwinded even after it has been signed, because none of the paperwork have been submitted, and the dealership did not yet get the title for the new car.

We called the dealership again to say that, technically, it is possible to unwind the contract and the sales manager (Wayne) stated that he does not have the power to do it (hmm, earlier same day he was THE manager to talk to about unwinding the contract - and yet he doesn't have the power?). Couple hours later, at 8:12pm my fiancee got a phone call from the assistant manager John, asking if we are happy with the new car and telling her that the papers have been submitted to the DMV. A courtesy call? Or an attemt to make it look done deal, make it look like it is too late to do anything about the contract?

We did some research online. According to Consumers Legal Remedies Act, misrepresentations during the sales negotiations are prohibited, and readily provide a remedy to rescind the contract. In our case the sales person started negotiations on the fact that was not true - the price for the new car was less than $30K (including everything) and not $31K.

The fact that the bids for our car were around $44K seems like a false statement too - when you look at Kelley blue book - it's about $58K (trade-in), Edmunds.com - about $53K, MMR (auto dealer's auction) - $54K. That's abbout $10,000 difference! By the way, the average price for the same Jeep we bought - the TMV, "true market value"(Edmunds.com) - is around $24K. We know that those prices are just an estimate, but to get to the $18K cash back, you would have to take $5K off the trade-in and at the same time add another $5K to the price of the car you buy. How is that a fair trade?

When we came back on Monday, we met Stew and asked to talk to the General Manager because we felt we got ripped-off. Few minutes later he brought Wayne over. Stew did not know that we already talked to him, and knew that he is not the GM. When my fiancee asked Stew, why he would bring Wayne when we asked for a GM, Stew said that she had an attitude and that he doesn't know why she's even talking since her name is not on the contract (the fact he didn't mind during the sales negotiations).

After we talked for awhile with the GM, Dan Rey - he refused to unwind the contract. According to him there was no misrepresentations made, no misleading during the contract, the mistake made about the Jeep price was nothing more than miscalculation (you would think that the person who's in the business for many years and deals with same numbers every day would be able to add 25,000+2,000?) - and that is not a ground to unwind the deal.

Before we left, we asked if the papers for the car were submitted to DMV, on what Dan replied: "We ALWAYS submit papers to DMV". When we mentioned the phone call we got on Saturday night and the fact that DMV is closed on weekends, he pointed out the computer and internet access. When we asked again, if the papers for our car WERE submitted - he said he does not do it personally, and at last he said that he does not have to answer that question. Why would assistant manager call to notify about the submission, but the GM hesitate to confirm that?

It is obviously a ripoff deal, there's been too many questionable things happening throughout the whole process - this is not the way "five star" dealership should operate - unwinding the contract would be the only right (and fair) thing to do at this point.

Loren
Walnut Creek, California
U.S.A.