Just checked, both my contacts work at dealers now. One had his own shop but closed it, and the other is at another dealership.
Let me know and I'll put you in touch.
Stealerships Stories... Got one?
- Thread starter Mad Mike
- Start date
Let me know and I'll put you in touch.
One of my drivers called me to tell me the trans had failed on one of my taxis. The thing had less than 100km left on the 100,000km warranty. I had the car flat decked to the closest ford dealer: Summit.
The dealer wanted no part of this, arguing it was a commercial vehicle and therefore NO WARRANTY. I had to get Ford Canada involved... Summit took the job... begrudgingly... but did the rebuild INFRAME, without removing the trans body from the car.
I picked up the car and the first right turn the CV joint dropped, jammed between the trans case and the wheel, pushing the shaft through the case, destroying the trans body, the shaft and the wheel hub.
Summit bought and installed a brand new 'crate' trans AND paid me and my driver wages for a week (which was bonus cuz we both had other cars to drive). Summit Ford doesn't like me anymore.
Another time I needed a new truck. I was talking to a Ford salesman about a real plain jane Ranger pickup. While the salesman went to talk to his manager (you know the game) I picked up a newspaper and see a full page ad for a "plain jane" Colorado 5 cylinder pickup for the same price as the Ranger, the Colorado is on sale nationally. More truck for the same money. Rush to see a GM salesman. The Colorado truck being advertised? There is NONE, NO ONE in Canada... but I can have this "upmarket" one for the same price. NO I want the plain jane one, no carpet, no air, column shift. Every major paper in the country ran the full page ad for the truck that GM didn't have. I bought a Safari van.
The dealer wanted no part of this, arguing it was a commercial vehicle and therefore NO WARRANTY. I had to get Ford Canada involved... Summit took the job... begrudgingly... but did the rebuild INFRAME, without removing the trans body from the car.
I picked up the car and the first right turn the CV joint dropped, jammed between the trans case and the wheel, pushing the shaft through the case, destroying the trans body, the shaft and the wheel hub.
Summit bought and installed a brand new 'crate' trans AND paid me and my driver wages for a week (which was bonus cuz we both had other cars to drive). Summit Ford doesn't like me anymore.
Another time I needed a new truck. I was talking to a Ford salesman about a real plain jane Ranger pickup. While the salesman went to talk to his manager (you know the game) I picked up a newspaper and see a full page ad for a "plain jane" Colorado 5 cylinder pickup for the same price as the Ranger, the Colorado is on sale nationally. More truck for the same money. Rush to see a GM salesman. The Colorado truck being advertised? There is NONE, NO ONE in Canada... but I can have this "upmarket" one for the same price. NO I want the plain jane one, no carpet, no air, column shift. Every major paper in the country ran the full page ad for the truck that GM didn't have. I bought a Safari van.
I found a British Automotive mechanic not far from my place. So far service has been good!
Leggat Mazda service were the only Mazda dealers that could sort out my moms six yr old Mazda three . Achilles Mazda in Milton told her she didn’t drive enough . Battery was alway dead , a new battery … I took the car for a week and used it daily , left it at the airport for two days and the battery was dead .Leggat took it for three days and the tech disconnected and cleaned every terminal he could find and did a software update ( a Mazda three has software ?? ) and it’s been good for a yr . But they were not dealing with my ninty yr old mom.
I did buy a Toyota truck from Leggat Mazda . There sales guys were all twats .
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I did buy a Toyota truck from Leggat Mazda . There sales guys were all twats .
Sent from my iPhone using GTAMotorcycle.com
I bought a used 10yr old Accord from an older couple to use as a commuter and it came with every service record from day one from the Honda dealer. Everything except the engine and body had been replaced on recommendations by the dealer. Even the rubber door trims. It was sickening to go through those receipts seeing how they were taken advantage of.
Years ago my dad was buying a new Ranger and he showed me the sales contract not yet signed. Chocked full with silly admin fees, outrageous service contracts, etc. I drove to the dealer and had a very brief meeting with the salesman and manager and tore a strip off them for taking advantage of the elderly. Price went way down and dad talked about that meeting for years with a smile.
Our new Honda van hasn’t been back to the dealer after they screwed up the first oil change but they keep mailing me service reminders.
Will find out how the local Ford dealer is when I take my F150 in for the first oil change.
Years ago my dad was buying a new Ranger and he showed me the sales contract not yet signed. Chocked full with silly admin fees, outrageous service contracts, etc. I drove to the dealer and had a very brief meeting with the salesman and manager and tore a strip off them for taking advantage of the elderly. Price went way down and dad talked about that meeting for years with a smile.
Our new Honda van hasn’t been back to the dealer after they screwed up the first oil change but they keep mailing me service reminders.
Will find out how the local Ford dealer is when I take my F150 in for the first oil change.
Mad Mike
Well-known member
I have 2 Honda stories.
DIL's 2021 RDX dash light comes on I scan it, see Evap leak so I check for the gas cap Ooops missing - so I tell her the light was on because he gas cap was missing - go to Honda and get a gas cap. She goes, stealer offers a complimentary scan/reset which oddly determined she needed $3K additional emissions work. (more details when she drops off the bill).
DIL 2 takes her car to her Honda Dealer for a cert when she sold the car. 3-year-old Civic Touring coupe. The dealer replaces A/C condenser and belt ($900) , both headlights ($600), a CV joint and tie rod ends ($1200), and a few other odds and ends. The bill came to $150, while none of the repairs were required for safety, the car had 1000km left on the factory warranty so the dealer went thru the car and replaced everything that qualified under warranty at no charge.
Mad Mike
Well-known member
I have no complaints about their service work.
I'm not happy when a dealer does work that benefits the dealer and not the customer. $800 has been the old-lady target for an oil change at Leggat in the last 2 visits.
Pretty sure they had those Colorado's cuz I bought one
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TK4
Well-known member
I was negotiating with a local dealer to buy a new truck, $3K upfront non-refundable deposit with no delivery e.t.a. Uh, no.
Contacted an out-of-town dealer who had what I wanted on the lot. It lasted ONE DAY and was gone but I got a good feeling about them, they were honest and upfront so I ordered through them. No b.s. pricing or hidden charges, they delivered NO CHARGE with a full tank of gas. If anyone is looking for a Ford product I can heartily recommend Peninsula Ford in Owen Sound or Port Elgin.
They were someone I contacted when I bought and I agree they seemed decent and straight forward when they got back to me. They had a truck on the lot I wanted but ultimately none of them were moving much on the price even though it was January and the model was a leftover ‘23 so I just factory ordered a ‘24 at Uxbridge who gave me the updated 24 model for cheaper than what everyone wanted for the same leftover 23. All those dealers called me 1-3 months later asking me if I was still interested as their truck was still on the lot and I emailed them back the photo of my ‘24 in my driveway.
A friend was a licenced mechanic but also had a good personality so they made him a sales manager. At that dealership a sales manager's job was to up sell. After an episode where an elderly couple came into buy a nice retirement car he added a ton of "Protect your asset" options.
The look on the faces as they saw the extra thousands made him quit.
The look on the faces as they saw the extra thousands made him quit.
TK4
Well-known member
I went to a large Scarborough dealership to look at a used vehicle they had on the lot. Made the sales guy a 'fair market value' offer - he had to take it to the manager where it got kicked back. I got up to leave, the sales clown asked where I was going - home I said. Homey don't play games with pimps.
Another lot wanted an extra $650 for the safety on top of the agreed upon price - nope.
I told the sales guy if he left the office to "speak to his manager" to approve the "great deal" he was putting together for me, I'd walk out the door.
He left.
So did I.
Is this the first car you've ever sold that you need to get approval for pricing? Calculate $xxx above your dealer cost. If the price is over that amount, approved. If it's under, no deal. Easy.
When are they going to learn to stop playing dumb games with their customers?
He left.
So did I.
Is this the first car you've ever sold that you need to get approval for pricing? Calculate $xxx above your dealer cost. If the price is over that amount, approved. If it's under, no deal. Easy.
When are they going to learn to stop playing dumb games with their customers?
I don't if it still holds true, but it used to be Stockfish Ford in North Bay was the best no BS dealer in the province. I've bought 6 cars and trucks from them, I know lots of other people from southern Ontario that have bought from them . All good experiences. Stockfish did lots and lots of commercial sales, they always had work trucks in stock, LOTS of work trucks.
It's worth the drive to North Bay
The best GM was north of London, can't remember the name, I always dealt with Herron, till they moved.
I once had a sales guy tell me he COULDN'T take my offer to his manager, it was TOO low and it would make him LOOK bad to his manager.
So I offered to take the offer in myself.
I got the truck for MY price, about 75% of the ask.
My friends used to get me to do the deal when they bought cars. I LIKE dealing with car salesmen. Is FUN.
I may have yelled in a dealership…’this salesman is trying to rip me off! What do you think? Just cause I’m polish I’m an idiot!? Screw you and give me back my keys. I’m out!’
Got the car I wanted…
I was young, making my first car purchase from a used car lot and screwed up agreeing to buy a car at night when the bare bulbs made everything shine. I left a cheque deposit.
The next morning the more knowledgeable guys at work told me the potential faults of my choice.
I went into the dealership later that day and to the mananger, pointed out all the problems with the car. I guess he thought this kid would cave in to his bluff and he did the huffy "Honesty" thing shoving the cheque and contract in my face, saying how decent they were and did I want my cheque back. So I took the cheque back. He got that "Oops" look on his face.
Over the next half hour I was able to negotiate a really good price on a three year old VW beetle. During that half hour several sales reps came in to discuss a pending sales offer. The manager and rep agreed on a final price withing a minute but the rep stayed in the office for another five minutes discussing last night's game. The manager told the rep to tell the customer that he almost got fired for bring in such a low offer but was able to get the price down to $XXXX.
Ah, the good ole fashioned "Are you racist against Polaks?" ploy.
I've tried that one or twice in my life.
May have gotten a couple of strange looks in return. But no deals.
Not sure why...
You have to know the wholesale pricing system. If you do a blind lowball they know you you're a rookie.
If the dealership has a month end target to make you might get a deal on the 31st that you won't get the next day.
If the acceptable price changes daily, then at the start of every morning based on how the quarter is going, the sales manager tells his staff: "we can do $xxx above wholesale. Anything over that is automatically approved"
They don't need to have this exact same conversation for every single customer and for every single deal, every single day. That's just wasting the customer's time for no damn reason.
