Incredibly disappointed in the experience we've had with our most recent purchase from AutoNation Honda Sanford. The sales experience was less than stellar, but we were willing to overlook it because we were getting the vehicle we wanted. However, we are almost two months post-purchase, and our terrible experience continues. The manager on duty the evening we went in was not honest with us, trying to make offers using interest rates higher than we were initially shown, thinking we wouldn't notice, and then being annoyed when we did. When we asked them to hold the vehicle for us so we could see it the next morning in the light (we only saw it in the evening on the lot, so it was dark), as they do when you make your appointment online, he refused, saying that he had just bought it that morning and could sell it right away if he wanted. That was far from the truth - we went into the dealership and asked them to ship it in from another dealership, and were told they could hold it a few days for us so we could come in and look at it before purchasing it. He wasn't aware of that, so he thought he could lie to us about it. From that moment on, they did everything they could to get the deal made and get us out. We agreed to purchase the vehicle if we could see it the next morning in the light, but instead they handed our paperwork to finance and began processing it, without our permission. They offered to pull it under the spotlights so we could see it better, so we agreed hesitantly. Upon looking at it, we found that the drivers side running board had been bent completely from the frame. My husband showed the salesman, who insisted it would be covered in their bumper-to-bumper warranty, so we would be able to get it fixed. When we asked him to confirm that, he found that he was wrong. He went to his manager, the same one we spoke to before, and after some arguing with my husband, he agreed to fix it. We bought the vehicle, and trusted they would follow through on their promises. A month and a half later, and several "it will be here next week" promises, it finally arrived. My husband scheduled a service appointment for Tuesday, showed up, and they had no record of the appointment. Turns out, that neither our salesman or the manager we worked with, actually made the appointment. We were also told that the one guy who could do the repair had called out sick. Seriously - you only have ONE person qualified to install a running board? So we rescheduled for yesterday, Thursday, with several promises that it would be done. Our appointment was at 2pm, but we dropped it off at 10am so they would have plenty of time to get it done. 6pm came and went, and we still had not received a phone call to let us know our vehicle was ready. After calling for 30 minutes and constantly being rerouted to various voicemails, I was able to get the sales department. Eugene with the sales department said he couldn't do anything for me, because it's "not my department," so he sent me to another voicemail. I finally got someone, who then told me everyone in maintenance was busy, so I needed to call back in 5 minutes. I called back several more times, got more voicemails, and finally got a receptionist. She said everyone was still busy, but she would walk my information to her manager, and have her give me a call back. She then said, and I'm quoting her, "the service department closes at 7pm though, so hopefully she'll be able to call you before she leaves." They thought it was ok to leave without telling me where my vehicle was and getting it back to me. No words. After insisting someone who knows what's going on get on the phone with me at that moment and tell me where my car is, the receptionist offered to give me Gene's personal number, since he knew where my car and keys were but had left for the day. That's when another manager, Bryan, got involved and tried to help. They called Gene, figured out where my vehicle and keys were located, and worked quickly to deliver it to our home. Bryan and Tiara, the receptionist, have been the only two employees to offer to help, and go above and beyond in doing so. When we went out front to look at our vehicle and inspect the work that had been done, we were horrified. They running board that was installed, came off as soon as we stood on it. The schmuck who installed it, had crushed all the plastic clips on the underside of the board, so they rigged it by putting a sheetmetal screw through the plastic in hopes that it would stay and we wouldn't notice. We now have a sharp metal rail protruding off the side of our vehicle, and a busted piece of plastic sitting in our yard. They took the simplest tasks, and turned them into a sales nightmare. We got the vehicle we wanted, but if I could take it back, I would in a heartbeat just to have avoided the headache this has been. Once we finally get this figured out, we'll be happy not to visit this dealership again. CliffsNotes: terrible experience with Sales and Maintenance. We have the stereotypical car salesman experience, and service experience to match. We're looking forward to having our issue resolved so we never have to work with them again.
Kaylee Di Nunzio
Mar 15, 2019
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