Auto Save 4U Contracted to assist in vehicle purchase Great Falls

DON'T DO IT!!! I met Ezra from AutoSave4U at a networking event. Several people there had used his services and were happy with the result. However, those transactions, like the ones listed on his Facebook page, were not recent. I was not planning on buying a car but someone totaled my wife’s car. I thought about a replacement, did some research, called Ezra and told him what I was looking for (Toyota Highlander).

He sent me a contract to sign and requested a $577 deposit to start work. I signed the contract and sent him $577 Wednesday morning. He was headed to Leesburg for a networking event at noon and would get started when he returned. I also had to go to Leesburg so I stopped at the Toyota dealer. I drove a new Highlander and the they had exactly what I wanted arriving in a couple weeks.

I messaged Ezra and he said he would meet me at the dealership after his meeting. We met at the dealership, I called on the salesman and Ezra and I sat with him. Ezra asked him for the sales sheet. Ezra took a brief look at it and handed it to me. I asked what this was and he said it was the price for the car. I asked him about negotiations on price since that was the purpose of having him there in the first place.

He said that in this environment there is no negotiation…if I don’t want the car, they will sell it to someone else. I told him that, in light of this, I did not see any value in his services. He said “That is the chance you take when you hire me.” He then said that when the car comes in he will make sure they don’t do anything tricky and may be able to negotiate for some accessories.

I have the sales order with the final price on it. They can’t do anything tricky when the car arrives. I simply have to pay for it and drive it away. So, his value is WeatherTec floor liners and that cell-phone cup holder thing? That afternoon I was told my job was going away at the end of the week. I told Ezra that I would not be buying the car.

Ezra got his deposit Wednesday morning, drove to Leesburg for his own benefit, stopped at the dealership (where I found a car), took a sheet of paper from the salesman and handed it to me. Considering that he did not have to do any work on my behalf, I asked for my deposit back. He pointed to the contract, which says the deposit is non-refundable, and refused. $577 for nothing.

One must consider what they are entrusting to Ezra. He is supposed to be looking out for our best interests and protecting us from the “evil car salesman”. It seems to me that he is only looking out for himself, and that concerns me. Might he be pointing people in a certain direction based on his own behind-the-scenes arrangements with dealers and lenders? He portrays the process as more complicated than it is.

If you can read, do simple math, are willing to google all the same publicly-available sites Ezra uses, and ask a few relevant questions at the dealership, you don’t need Ezra. He pushes leasing. Leasing is beneficial to two entities: people who want to drive a car they can’t afford; and businesses who can expense all of the cost of a lease.

Ezra will draw out a timeline of costs, recalls, potential accident damage, etc. to illustrate the potential benefits of leasing. What he leaves out is that In Loudoun County we pay Personal Property Tax based on the value of the car. In the first three years of ownership, you pay the highest PP tax. After year 3 it drops. The same goes for insurance.

If you get new cars every 3 years you will pay a LOT more in PP Tax and insurance than if you purchased the car and kept it for 5+ years. Cars are reliable these days. Why dump it after 3 years and have a perpetual car payment and higher PP Tax and insurance costs?

If nothing else, Ezra needs to let potential clients know that for now and the foreseeable future: THERE IS NO OPPORTUNITY TO NEGOTIATE THE COST OF A NEW OR USED CAR! It is only right to let people know that their expectations for your services, which you yourself promote, are incorrect.