Carriage Nissan over ambitious and deceitful salesman Gainesville Georgia

On Friday, November 30th at 7:30 pm I received a phone call from someone from Carriage Nissan at phone number (770)530-1140 asking me if I still owned the Honda that I purchased from them a couple years back. I informed the gentlemen that I did and he proceeded to tell me that they had a customer that was looking for this very make and model car. He asked if we would be interested in coming to the dealership to discuss trading in the car (I am now fairly certain that no one was looking for this make or model of car, this was done to "bait" me into the dealership for a sale). I informed the gentlemen that we were not even thinking about a vehicle at this time, but informed him that I would call him back after discussing this further with the person that drives the car. I called the gentleman back Saturday morning at 9:31 am letting him know that we would be open to what they had to offer. I was instructed to speak with Kevin Knotting. He also stated that the owner was flying in this weekend and they had cars to move.

A little after 2 pm myself and Tammy (the person driving the car and making the payments) arrived at the dealership. I informed the Sales person (Brian) that I was to speak to Kevin and he asked why. I informed him of the phone call that I received. He acted surprised and went to get Kevin. Kevin ended up being busy so Brian said to go ahead and look at the cars. He pointed out which ones were used. At this time I inquired about the 0% interest that the KIA's had (I had heard this on the radio). He said that the 0% was for the 2007 models (Brian never informed us that this was for only one particular model vehicle). So we found the Spectra EX. Brian brought out a key for one of the cars (we did not know which car until he hit the panic button so we could hear the car going off). Tammy test drove the car and liked it, but she was looking for one that had a spoiler on it.

We went back inside and Brian went to go get Kevin. Kevin asked what brought us in and I again stated that we received a phone call asking us about the Honda, once again he seemed confused. He asked what we could afford and I informed him that we did not want to go over $280.00 a month because Tammy is wanting to purchase a home and did not want to over extend herself. I informed Kevin that the Honda had 130,000 miles on it and that the payoff was just under $6,000. Kevin had us fill out some paper work agreeing to what we wanted to pay each month. Kevin then came back and informed us that the 2nd and 4th gears of the transmission on the car we were currently driving were slipping and that the transmission would need to be replaced. He stated that with a $350.00 a month payment he could get us into a car. I was hesitant but Tammy became concerned with the price of replacing the transmission. Kevin informed me at this time that the interest rate was between 2.99 and 4.99 (I wish someone had told me this earlier) After discussing the price of the monthly payment, while Kevins saying you will have to pay for a new transmission repeatedly, Tammy agreed that she could afford the monthly payment. I informed Kevin then that we would go back out and pick out a car (not knowing they had already picked out the car for us).

Went back out to the KIA lot and started looking. We were looking at a reddish color KIA and a back color KIA with the spoiler when we heard we were being paged. We went back inside and they said that they had all of the paperwork ready. Kevin kept informing us that our payment would be $357.00 or so. I kept asking what was the sales price of the car. I asked this question three times; which he repeatedly would not answer. He finally got frustrated about my question and stood up then left the desk. He came back with a little more information but could not give a clear price. After discussing with Tammy, and Kevin continuing to pressure Tammy about the "bad" transmission, we decided to move forward. It was then that were told which car we were purchasing, the good thing is at least it was black.

Once we got to the signing of the purchase agreement the car was no longer $16,500 but actually almost $19,000. This is the first time I learned of the price of the car. When I asked why the price had increased I was informed that they had to spray the bottom of the car because of the chicken trucks. This was something we had to have it was not optional. The next line showed where they deducted the trade in price of the Honda. Then the lines were totaled. Then down a couple of lines we were charged $1800.00 for insurance on the Honda and charged back the price of the Honda. I discussed this further with Tammy, at this point, because I did not feel comfortable signing. While we were discussing the matter Kevin kept scaring/threatening Tammy with the transmission issue. So to make a long story short I ended up signing for a car totaling almost $21,000, when it only should have been around the high 17's.

I realize that part of this is my fault for signing the agreement, but we were pressured and harassed by an over ambitious and deceitful salesman (Kevin Knotting). The entire buying of my Honda by your dealership was a ruse to get me in your dealership. The hidden costs and inflated fees by your salesman were inexcusable. Kevin repeatedly told Tammy the transmission was going out and that it would cost $3,000. He repeated this over twenty times.

On Monday Tammy and I went back to your dealership to discuss the bad experience we had with Rhonda (sales manager). Brian met us coming into the dealership and refused to let us speak with Rhonda, instead he went and got Kevin Knotting. Kevin advised Rhonda was just in customer service and he was her boss. We explained we were very unsatisfied with the sales technique and felt Kevin had been less than truthful during the process. Kevin advised we could not speak with Rhonda and nothing could be done.

I have learned a lot by my experience with the dealership. Many of life's lesson's are very costly an coming to this dealership was one of the most. I am a hard working professional female that will make sure at every opportunity I tell everyone about Carriage "Crook" Nissan and how they treat women. I truly hope you do not approve of the methods used by your employee's to sell cars, but as the owner you are ultimately responsible for Kevin's actions. I plan on sending letters to the newspaper, calling the better business bureau, and standing in front of your business with my "Carriage Crooks" sign. I hope to help another female in not making a mistake in being taken advantage of at this dealership.

Alyssa
Jefferson, Georgia
U.S.A.