I'm Sorry I doubted you.

I know that the GRM guys do NOT like Gary Yeoman's Ford in Daytona Beach. I now know why.

We were looking to purchase a Mazdaspeed3 (as SWMBO has requested). We got went for a testdrive, and one of the first things the sales monkey said is "Don't redline it, but you can do whatever once it's yours" or something along those lines. I should have taken this cue to just get out, hand him the keys, and give him the good ole Italian salute. I didn't.

During the test drive, he took a personal call that lasted about 5 minutes. Just chit chatting with his wife. A bit down the road, I decided that I'd driven it enough to like it and turned around. He made an explicit point that I ran a red light on International Speedway Drive in front of the Denny's (I had a red arrow that I didn't notice because the straight lane was green).

When we get back, because we were pretty much dead set on the car and also dead set on trading the Astra, we mistakenly handed them the keys so they could evaluate it. Poor judgement on my part, but whatever.

He gets all of our information for running credit. Never does he offer a bottle of water, and when I asked where the restrooms were located, he seemed pretty agitated.

His wife calls him again. He gets up and takes our paperwork with him while talking with his wife. At this point, we were getting pretty pissed off. When he came back, he said we'd need 6 references in order to secure financing. He also came back with the pricing. Sticker price, minus $1000 for pinstripes that I refused to pay for because they were going to come off anyway. Remember, this car is a 2010, not a brand new 2011, which they had several of on the lot.

They also undervalued our trade. I expected to be a little upside down, but their offer was simply an insult. They offered $9000 on the Astra.

Ok, so I counter offer, on both the trade valuation and the price of the car. I countered $11,000 trade value and $22,000 for the Mazda. The guy then starts talking about financing, completely ignoring that I just countered their offer. I told the guy we'll talk about financing once we figure out the price of the car and the value of the trade.

So, the dumbass wearing a baseball cap (INSIDE A PROFESSIONAL ESTABLISHMENT WHERE HE REPRESENTS A LOT OF MONEY), basically told me I was unreasonable. I then referred him to the price of the car online (less than what they offered it for) and he refuted it. He then looked it up on their website and waffled like an IHOP. "OH, that price includes trade equity" and a bunch of other things that simply didn't exist, like "with approved credit" and crap like that.

I told him that I wanted the keys to my car, and that he needed to produce them. He started backpedalling like a fixie rider on a 21 speed. I then told him he had 2 minutes to produce my keys. He stood there for for a second and then got my keys. I told him that he was the worst car salesman I've ever dealt with and that he needed to get bent.

As I was walking out the door, he follows my wife and I out and insults me about my lack of verifiable income (I'm a substitute teacher, so pay there is sporadic, but I do a good deal of parting cars and a bit of curbstoning and make a fair bit of money at that when I try). At this point, I was berkeleying LIVID. I kicked over one of their ashtrays outside (causing no damage and I picked it up for them. We finally got 2 managers out there. About this time, the salesmonkey's wife comes to the dealership looking for him. He goes out and bitches to her about a lost sale or some E36 M3.

Anyway, the managers were like "Yeah, we couldn't do that deal that you put down on paper, but there is negotiating room." I told them that they'd have to make a smoking deal to keep us from walking. At least these guys were reasonable. Still didn't make up for the poor treatment. They apologized and all that jazz, but nothing to make up for this shiny happy person that we'd been dealing with for the better part of 90 minutes.

I'm writing this post from an IHOP in Ormond Beach on A1A. Sitting here, I decided to give Classic Mazda a call. Their price was lower online than the shanty dealer in Daytona, and was a WYSIWYG price. They have 2 2010 Speed3's in stock, ready to go. We plan on heading down there tomorrow.

TL;DR: Don't even CONSIDER going to Gary Yeoman's Ford in Daytona Beach.

Wow, there are so many examples of unprofessionalism in those few lines......something tells me this guy will have an even harder time than he figured you would have verifying any income in the not too near future.

SIX references that will backup you aren't a deadbeat....I would think 4 is stretching it for someone who isn't 16 and is married with a decent car for trade-in.

Down here, the dealers are still asking about $13000 for these cars with the options this one has. I can deal with a $10,000 trade eval. We only payed like $13,500 for the car to begin with.

Only Canada got 2009 Astras. Down here, it was 2008's only. If you are seeing 2009 Astras, they're from Canadia.

Like I said, a Mazda dealership an hour away from this E36 M3hole has the same car for the price I was offering. WYSIWYG pricing, so I don't have to play stupid games with shiny happy people in baseball caps that answer personal phone calls at work while with the people that are making them money. I can show up and pay what I offered these dicks without any hassle.

And Datsun1500, why do you seem so against me trading this car in? Give it up already.

Anyway, I don't think this salesberkeleyer has ever dealt with anyone that played hardball harder than they do.

He didn't seem to consider that the wife makes about $36,000 a year and we don't have a lot in actual bills. The wife is just bad with money, and she'll spend whatever she has left over on stuff she doesn't really need. She'll pay bills just fine, but she's not too good with getting out of debt.

Once I finally get settled, I'll pay down our credit. Right now, my pay is so all over the place that it's not funny. As a sub, there's no money to be made in the summer. No teachers taking time off, no work. Back when I was working steady, I was working about 7 days a paycheck. That's about $375 gross. Then on top of that, I was selling scrap metal and making about $300 a week doing that. I crashed my truck, and bought a Jeep that I haven't had the money to fix since I bought it broken and on the cheap. Once that's going, I can haul again. It's still not verifiable income, but it's not a bad gig, ESPECIALLY if you're legit about it.

I did some research, and found that they don't mention that the discount online is from "customer cash" or "trade equity" or fairy dust. I reported them to the BBB for bait and switch, and harassment.

I'm a Nancy when it comes to financing.

me too

Derick Freese wrote: He didn't seem to consider that the wife makes about $36,000 a year and we don't have a lot in actual bills. The wife is just bad with money, and she'll spend whatever she has left over on stuff she doesn't really need.

Would a MazdaSpeed3 be one of these things she doesn't really need?

Derick Freese wrote: She'll pay bills just fine, but she's not too good with getting out of debt.

Try these 7 steps with the first 3 steps being the most important.
http://www.daveramsey.com/new/baby-steps/

Derick Freese wrote: He didn't seem to consider that the wife makes about $36,000 a year and we don't have a lot in actual bills. The wife is just bad with money, and she'll spend whatever she has left over on stuff she doesn't really need. She'll pay bills just fine, but she's not too good with getting out of debt.

Who's applying for the loan? You or her?

I was pretty sure everyone in all of cardom had already read this but you really need to: Confessions of a Car Salesman

As bad as the sales guy was (I'd have throat punched him during the phone call with his wife) you were asking for da screws to be put to your wallet. Read that article all the way thru and then remember these 3 easy steps to avoid dry butt rape at the dealership:

Always negotiate the price of the car sans trade and financing. Do not allow yourself to be baited into the whole monthly "how much can you afford" price. Do not bend past what you know from your research that you should be paying. 20k is still 20k no matter how you slice it. There are plenty of places to buy a car - there is no pressure. Take your time and control the deal.

Separately, after you know what the car costs... negotiate the trade. Know what its worth on the market in a straight sale and take $2k off that if its not a used up crap-can. That is what you can expect. If you don't like that deal - sell the car yourself.

Then, ask what they can do for you that your credit union can't - but always show up with the cash ready (or financing in place).

My experience with my Ford dealer was just the opposite. I looked up the price of the Fiesta I wanted and the approximate tradein value of my Liberty. So when I went to the dealer,I had in mind how much I was willing to pay. The salesman was very helpful and the sales manager gave me an offer. I said ,"You are a little high". We negotiated and arrived at an agreed price. Most people look at the wrong things, the price of the desired car and the value of the trade in. What is important is how much you are willing to pay for the difference.