Bad Saturn Dealers - Do They Exist? (Kinda Long)

I am a new Saturn Sales Consultant, so maybe I can shed some light on what I have learned so far. Yes, as Saturn dealerships are privately owned, how they do things may vary from one to the other.

AFAIK, the No haggle, No Hasle policy still exists, it is thier motto. It does seem that Saturn has taken a big hit lately however as other companies have been using this as leverage against Saturn sales by telling making the public believe that haggling always leads to a better deal. 9 out of 10, most of the competition accomplishes this by inflated prices and false advertisement (bait and switch ads).

What I see happening is that Saturn is trying to remain competitive by offering more featured cars on thier lots rather than a bunch of base models. People want features in thier cars. Perhaps some dealerships are going too far and putting too many extras in thier Saturns in order to entice the mid-price range customers? Yes, it is the dealership who does add on things like window tinting and after-market parts.

What I have seen is that some Saturn dealerships do have more cars than others and can have delivered the closest match to what you want from another dealership owned by the same franchise.

That would be your case. No miracle, just the poor guy who problably just spent hours with one customer trying to find the right vehicle doesn't want to lose your business. You wanted a certain vehicle and it isn't on his lot, so he has to use his resources to find THAT vehicle for you. The problem with this is that after spending hours trying in vain and then finding that car at another dealership, do you think it is a good idea for him to send you to another dealership, or get that car delivered to you?

If your salesman is being honest with you otherwise, give him a chance. If not, tell him how you feel before signing anything. In FL, everything must be up front and that is how Saturn should be too, I thought.

The extras you speak of should be on a small window sticler next to the MSRP, called an "addendum" and should list all the extras and thier cost. That price should be the TOTAL price (minus taxes and finance charges) that you pay. Adding on extra things that were not on the MSRP or the Addendum is not honest and my dealership does not do that.

marx404 Saturn of Stuart, FL

Will they try to tack on 10 dollar rust-proofing for an extra 500 dollars??

Oh and read your Saturn brochure, last page. It says that Saturn does not need nor reccomend any additional rustproofing". Its the catalogue 47 reasons to buy a Saturn"

marx404

Many years ago I ordered a Saturn SW. When it arrived it had an extra cost pin striping. I told them to ship it back and tell me when what I ordered arrived. The extra cost fell off rapidly.

Today resale value of Saturns is so low I would buy used if I had to have a Saturn.

I wish I would have read/thought more in to that at the beginning.

I bought an '03 Vue (awd/6) several months ago, and the dealer was fine. The dealer had added mud flaps (~$250 extra) and I was told when I first went in to look at the Vue that this was the case, so it was no surprise at signing. They offered rust-proofing and all sorts of interior protection additives, which we declined. The dealer didn't push the issue.

Don't be shy about specifying what you want -- and don't want -- and asking the dealer to order a Vue for you that meets your specs. If they won't or if they insist that you must pay for cruft you neither need nor want, go elsewhere.

Brian

IMO from what i've seen that undercoating crap they spray on cars today only leads to more rust than cars without it. It is far better to spend one day every Spring pressure washing out all the salt and crap under the car and in the cracks and crevices. That is the best way to prevent rust from forming.

Yes mistertroll, they do.

A more important question: DOES A GOOD SATURN CAR EXIST?

I realize that this is Flamebait, but damit, go to another NG and bitch there. We don't want to hear it. I really like my saturn - I wouldn't have it if it wasn't a good car.

BTW, OT: anyone know how to set up killfiles in Mozilla:Thunderbird?

why not check out the many groups at mozilla.org or look for one at Yahoo Groups.