Coastal Nissan Coastal auto Coastal Chevrolet Cadillac Nissan Bait and switch on vehicle from phone call to in person Pawleys Island south carolina

Let me start by saying that my wife and I have purchase a lot of cars of the years from a plethora of different dealerships.  Of all those years I have never been given the old bait and switch.

Enter Coastal Nissan the place in Pawleys Island. Because we were coming from Myrtle Beach, I wanted to make sure we called and inquired about the price and availability. I should have known from the website with the famous “Please Call for Price”.  The call was answered by a salesperson named Mitch. I told him I specked out the truck online and was looking to be somewhere around $44k.  He said there was a $10k market adjustment (dicker sticker).  I said no thanks.

He then said he could get that price down and if we made the trip, he would make it worth our while. So, we decided to go ahead and make the drive.  When we arrived, it was just after 6pm and they close at 7pm.  I found the truck right away, but also noticed that they had 2WD versions in the same color with a lot less options. I went in and asked for Mitch and reminded him who I was from the phone call.

Mitch said that we would get the keys after we walked around the 4WD Pro-4x.  It took him sometime as he unlocked several different vehicles, but not the one I was wanting to look at. As we are waiting my wife and I stared looking at the window stickers of the other cars and noticed a common trend, additional cost added by items like a gift package (umbrella, bag, etc.) WHAT?  So, you consider a gift something you charge for?  Thanks?

Yes, we finally got the keys. I inquired about there not being any window stickers on the truck.  Seemed odd so I needed to know as the truck looked like it was ready for retail delivery.  Mitch stated that it was a deal that fell through as the purchaser decided not to buy it because it was too small.  Um, okay :/.

I was beginning to not feel as though things where above par but proceeded to the test drive. The truck drove as expected.  Mitch was obviously tired as he was yawning a good part of the short drive. I guess it was towards the end of his shift. On our return we decided to see if we could make a deal.

We went inside and sat in the typical salesman cube.  He got some basic contact information and the payoff on our trade. He then said he would be right back. Some 20 minutes later he returned with the numbers. This is the part that I feel is the lowest, he put this basic printout on the desk, and it showed a price of $59k with a $1k payment, but with $10k down we would be in the six hundreds. I was like this is crazy. Even though they valued our trade @ 2k upside down there was a whole other car in that price. 

Even if the truck was $47k how did we get to $59k or taking the trade out which would make it $2k less we are still in the stratosphere. I told him that we didn’t talk incentives and that I’m a veteran. Mitch apologized and said it was his mistake when we were on the call. He thought we wanted the other 2WD one.  That is when my wife piped in and said how could that be when we clearly said 4WD and provided the stock number, the same as the one on the key! I asked what the invoice said, and he informed me that he does not see that, to which I replied, the guy in the back does and this is a rip off!  You are asked for a premium and at that price point I could get a Silverado or Ram full sized truck.

Mitch continued to apologize and asked if we would like our keys back!  YUP!  There was not even any mention of let us see what we can do, nothing. Felt like they wanted to go home so place an outrageous price so they could call it a day. It is unfortunate as we were ready to buy and are well qualified. I’m really surprised that there was no talk about price or even offer another solution.  Poor customer service on the part of the salesman and the manager on that day. I will not return, but hope they look at the sales process.  Maybe it’s better in the middle of the day.

I lived in Nashville when Nissan moved its headquarters there.  I will be sending them my thoughts on the experience also. @unprofessional @ripoff @bait @avoid