I'd like to add a couple dealers onto this list.
The Best EVER:
Larry at Akins Ford Jeep Chrysler Dodge in Winder
After it became clear that the Jeep Renegade was the best value in its class, I decided I wanted the Trailhawk. We only found a couple of them in metro-Atlanta, both of them within our budget. My father's company offers corporate affiliate discounts on Chryslers and Fords and we went in with our own financing through Capitol One. The next day my father called Akins Ford and inquired about the Trailhawk they had on their website so he could get an idea of what the drive-out price would look like, Larry called him back promptly and informed him that the internet price was actually incorrect. Apparently whomever had put the inventory up on the website hadn't read the fine print that said Trailhawks were excluded from the $1500 manufacturer's rebate. Now, most dealerships would have left it at that, but Larry said he would honor the internet price ($23,500) because it was their mistake. The only caveat was that the price was only offered to my father and we had to use dealer financing. He sent us several pictures of the vehicle and I was delighted to see that it was the exact Omaha orange that had been tested in Motor Trend. My father tried to place a deposit on it but Larry said there was no need and that my father's word we would come by that evening was sufficient to place a sold sign on it and park it in the side lot. We arrived at Akins around dinner time and true to his word, the car was parked on the side of the building with my father's name on it and the sticker removed. Even CarMax will stick a "Pending" sign on it but leave the price sticker up if the vehicle transaction hasn't cleared yet. We walked right into the dealership, Larry introduced himself and immediately took us outside to see and test-drive the car. During the first test drive, Larry rode with my mom, bro, and I but only to fill up the gas tank for us. He allowed us to take it on two more test drives, during which both my parents wanted to drive the car. After I decided I wanted it, he took us to his office and had the paperwork filled out in less than twenty minutes. There was no haggling, no nonsense, no back-and-forth, the internet price was given to us as promised. After the paperwork was all done, we passed over to finance. During this time, Larry and my mother took the car back through detailing because they had missed some of the adhesive residue around the doors from when it was sealed (it had just arrived from Italy the day before). The financing was as much of a breeze as the rest of the evening. Akins was more than happy to run my dad's affiliate discounts (unlike the Ford dealership we had previously gone to) but found that the internet price was much cheaper. As I mentioned, to get the price we had to use the dealer's financing, but the guy was unable to find a lower rate than Capitol One, so he did the financing through them instead of one of Akins' major lenders. We spent under thirty minutes in financing and as soon as we were finished, I was on my way back to Atlanta in my brand new Jeep Renegade Trailhawk!
Akins was a dream to deal with and even without the price error on the TH, they are still cheaper than other dealers. We built my particular TH on the Jeep site to see how much it retailed for and it turns out our drive out price was less than the price for the base TH model; mine was $29,000 before taxes, tag, dealer fees, etc. All in all we saved around $4000 and decided to purchase gap insurance. The manner in which Akins handled the situation was incredibly honest and is a testament to their great customer service values, something that is sorely lacking at most dealerships today. It may be a little bit of a drive to get there, but it is more than worth it. Ask for Larry!
Just Bad:
Troncalli Chrysler Jeep Dodge Ram in Cumming
The other dealer that had a TH was Troncalli. My father called them to find out the same information as he got from Akins--drive out price, affiliate program discounts, etc. and the salesperson was too busy to speak with him and said she would call back. Hours later she finally did and told us the same thing Akins had: the internet price ($25,600) was incorrect. Rather than admitting it was their mistake, she told him that he should have read the fine print that said the internet price was a sum total of all of these separate discounts and that you couldn't even combine them all, making the price impossible. She was unwilling to quote him a drive out price but said the actual price of the vehicle was $29,000 because, being a TH, it didn't qualify for most of the discounts applied. In addition to shamelessly lying about the price, the salesperson did not seem too eager to gain my father as a customer. Everybody he spoke with was apathetic and unmotivated by the prospect of making a significant sale. They weren't prompt with their phone calls or forthcoming with the information, only admitting the price was incorrect after my father pressed them. After dealing with this, we crossed Troncalli off of our list.
The Best EVER:
Larry at Akins Ford Jeep Chrysler Dodge in Winder
After it became clear that the Jeep Renegade was the best value in its class, I decided I wanted the Trailhawk. We only found a couple of them in metro-Atlanta, both of them within our budget. My father's company offers corporate affiliate discounts on Chryslers and Fords and we went in with our own financing through Capitol One. The next day my father called Akins Ford and inquired about the Trailhawk they had on their website so he could get an idea of what the drive-out price would look like, Larry called him back promptly and informed him that the internet price was actually incorrect. Apparently whomever had put the inventory up on the website hadn't read the fine print that said Trailhawks were excluded from the $1500 manufacturer's rebate. Now, most dealerships would have left it at that, but Larry said he would honor the internet price ($23,500) because it was their mistake. The only caveat was that the price was only offered to my father and we had to use dealer financing. He sent us several pictures of the vehicle and I was delighted to see that it was the exact Omaha orange that had been tested in Motor Trend. My father tried to place a deposit on it but Larry said there was no need and that my father's word we would come by that evening was sufficient to place a sold sign on it and park it in the side lot. We arrived at Akins around dinner time and true to his word, the car was parked on the side of the building with my father's name on it and the sticker removed. Even CarMax will stick a "Pending" sign on it but leave the price sticker up if the vehicle transaction hasn't cleared yet. We walked right into the dealership, Larry introduced himself and immediately took us outside to see and test-drive the car. During the first test drive, Larry rode with my mom, bro, and I but only to fill up the gas tank for us. He allowed us to take it on two more test drives, during which both my parents wanted to drive the car. After I decided I wanted it, he took us to his office and had the paperwork filled out in less than twenty minutes. There was no haggling, no nonsense, no back-and-forth, the internet price was given to us as promised. After the paperwork was all done, we passed over to finance. During this time, Larry and my mother took the car back through detailing because they had missed some of the adhesive residue around the doors from when it was sealed (it had just arrived from Italy the day before). The financing was as much of a breeze as the rest of the evening. Akins was more than happy to run my dad's affiliate discounts (unlike the Ford dealership we had previously gone to) but found that the internet price was much cheaper. As I mentioned, to get the price we had to use the dealer's financing, but the guy was unable to find a lower rate than Capitol One, so he did the financing through them instead of one of Akins' major lenders. We spent under thirty minutes in financing and as soon as we were finished, I was on my way back to Atlanta in my brand new Jeep Renegade Trailhawk!
Akins was a dream to deal with and even without the price error on the TH, they are still cheaper than other dealers. We built my particular TH on the Jeep site to see how much it retailed for and it turns out our drive out price was less than the price for the base TH model; mine was $29,000 before taxes, tag, dealer fees, etc. All in all we saved around $4000 and decided to purchase gap insurance. The manner in which Akins handled the situation was incredibly honest and is a testament to their great customer service values, something that is sorely lacking at most dealerships today. It may be a little bit of a drive to get there, but it is more than worth it. Ask for Larry!
Just Bad:
Troncalli Chrysler Jeep Dodge Ram in Cumming
The other dealer that had a TH was Troncalli. My father called them to find out the same information as he got from Akins--drive out price, affiliate program discounts, etc. and the salesperson was too busy to speak with him and said she would call back. Hours later she finally did and told us the same thing Akins had: the internet price ($25,600) was incorrect. Rather than admitting it was their mistake, she told him that he should have read the fine print that said the internet price was a sum total of all of these separate discounts and that you couldn't even combine them all, making the price impossible. She was unwilling to quote him a drive out price but said the actual price of the vehicle was $29,000 because, being a TH, it didn't qualify for most of the discounts applied. In addition to shamelessly lying about the price, the salesperson did not seem too eager to gain my father as a customer. Everybody he spoke with was apathetic and unmotivated by the prospect of making a significant sale. They weren't prompt with their phone calls or forthcoming with the information, only admitting the price was incorrect after my father pressed them. After dealing with this, we crossed Troncalli off of our list.
