On The Road Again – After A Few Bumps
by John Weckerle
As our readers know, your editor suffered a rear-end collision about two and a half weeks ago, which among other things resulted in the total loss of my 1996 Jeep Cherokee. I am still experiencing some neck, shoulder, and back pain, and trying to schedule a follow-up with my doctor, assuming he can see me relatively soon. But that’s not what we’re here to talk about today – we’re here to talk about the search for a new vehicle.
We’d like to thank Sharon of Prudential InterMountain, her friend Mark Wiggins (owner of Casa Chevrolet, Casa Jeep/Chrysler, etc.), the folks at Rich Ford in Edgewood, and those at the Kia dealership on Lomas; while we didn’t end up buying a car from any of them, they were all friendly, very helpful, and exerted no pressure. We’d also like to thank Russ Hayes at Prudential for his help.
We started out looking to buy an American car. Because of the nature of the Jeep damage, as well as its age, we were in a position to participate the “cash for clunkers” program. I did want something that would provide better gas mileage, so I wasn’t looking for an SUV or anything large. Unfortunately, headroom is an issue, and most of the American cars I sat in either had lower mileage or were multipurpose vehicles – those purposes being 1) a car, and 2) a hat. There were no Chevy Equinoxes available (there’s been a run on them, as well as other “crossovers”) and, like all the other crossovers, the size has been noticeably increased in the latest model year. That’s right – in this economy, and the memory of $4.00 a gallon gas still fresh in our minds, our domestic car companies are taking the “crossovers” (I drove a 2006 Ford Freestyle on vacation this year, and it was great; of course, they don’t make them any more, having gone to the great big Ford Flex instead) and making them into regular SUVs. Thanks, guys.
So I sat in a few reasonably-sized sedans – the Ford Fusion, Chevy Malibu, Chevy Impala, and pretty much everything in the Chrysler range. I have an old, and probably unreasonable, grudge against Saturn. The only new car that had the combination of gas mileage and head room was the Chevy Impala – and try as I might, I just didn’t warm up to the car. So much for the American lines.
Next, we decided to try out some foreign cars – Kia, Toyata, Hyundai, and Honda. We tried out the new Kia Soul and, surprisingly given the overall size of the vehicle. I was a little concerned that it might be a chore holding speed on steep hills, although I admittedly didn’t try it, and found it to be a feature-rich, comfortable car that gets good mileage and is comfortable even for somebody my size.
Next, we decided to try out the Toyota Matrix, Corolla, and Prius. The fact that we decided to do it doesn’t mean we did, though. When we arrived at Karl Malone Toyota, they were out of Corollas and Priuses, and had just sold the last Matrix. I did sit in it before it went off with its new owners, and found it to be very comfortable. Overall service was very good, and the salesman was very helpful.
As we left the parking lot, we heard an ad on the radio that Southwest Hyundai was doing “cash for clunkers” for used vehicle sales and, coincidentally, this was our next scheduled stop. We didn’t even have our car parked when the salesman, Don, pounced. Before we even got to look at any cars, they wanted to run a credit report. We looked at several ’08 and ’09 Sonatas, and test drove the ’08 with the least mileage (a little less than 35,000 miles), which he said was listed at $19,000. I liked the car, and wanted to go to lunch to talk it over with my wife. That’s when the pressure started in earnest. FYI, if any of our readers want to sell me something, don’t use high-pressure techniques. We agreed to take the car (but not the salesman, and yes, he did ask) to lunch and come back after, which we did. Feeling uncomfortable about the situation, I asked my wife what she thought, and she said she couldn’t shake the feeling that we were being hustled. We made a call to get a friend to check the Kelley Blue Book value, and called two other dealers we know. CU Auto Sales (on Pan American; we’ve purchased there before and been very satisfied) had the same car with everything but the electric seats for just under $13,000. Andrew Lane at Enterprise Auto Sales (Coors and Paseo del Norte) said he had a fully loaded (except for leather seats, which I don’t like much anyway) ’09 with a little less than 29,000 miles for $14,599. Book value was $12,815. Armed with this information, we went to return the vehicle so we could go look at the others.
Of course, Don wanted to talk numbers, just so we’d have a comparison. We sat down, and he had the obligatory discussion with his “boss” to come up with their first offer. My eyes nearly popped out of my head when I saw it – their starting position on this car that was listed at $19,000 was about $20,500! Not only that, they were only offering 2,000 on my “clunker” because it had been in an accident. I told them about my research, and that I’d keep my “clunker,” and they came back at $13,795, with a year’s free service. The approach – and the body language – started getting a little aggressive. He told us we wouldn’t be getting the same warranty – so I excused myself, went into the restroom, and called Andrew – turns out it’s the same warranty. We said we’d think about it, and would come back if we were interested, and Don warned us that the deal would no longer be on the table if we left. I acknowledged that, and we got in our car to leave. As we were pulling out, we heard a whistle, and saw Don running across the lot. He told us his boss had authorized him to knock another $1,000 off the price (bringing us now to a whopping $20 below book value). We said we’d think about it, and he told us again what a great deal this was. As we reached the exit, we heard the whistle again, but ignored it.
As our readers might expect, we do not recommend Southwest Hyundai as a car dealer.
The next stop was Enterprise Auto Sales, where we met Andrew, who was very helpful and exerted no pressure. We took out the ’09 Sonata, and found it to be superior to the ’08 we had tested – nicer body style, maybe a little more roomy, and maybe just a bit more pickup. So I bought it. I drove it home, noting that it held its speed going up Sedillo Hill on cruise control, and then to Russ’s house in Cedar Grove, and home again – and the fuel gauge is still on full, and your editor is on the road again.
While we were very happy with Enterprise Auto Sales, we are much less so with Enterprise Car Rental. First, they were supposed to bring a rental out to Edgewood, but I ultimately had to pick it up in Albuquerque to avoid another full day’s delay. I had to leave it with the Rich Ford folks yesterday to return it, because the Enterprise people weren’t there. As it turns out, there is seldom anyone at that location – one has to make an appointment. Given that the company posts hours on its web site, it seems dishonest for them to simply rent an office and label a place where they have no personnel and no cars as a “location.” –
4 Responses “On The Road Again – After A Few Bumps”
Think Don might be whistling Dixie now?
Well, he’s whistling something, from somewhere, I imagine – but the happy tune ended up being mine this time.
P.S. Yours truly had a very bad experience returning a car to Enterprise. I had to return a car I rented in Harriman, NY to one of the locations on Staten Island. The girl put in an accident report for a pre-existing scratch on the car that I had pointed out when renting and the agent said he knew about it and not to worry. (At that time, I thought I was returning the car to Harriman.) I got a call about a month and a half later from someone in Enterprise in Colorado asking if I was paying outright or going through my insurance. I called the Harriman folks who had NO idea what I was talking about when complaining about the claim. When I called back Enterprise Claims, my case was referred to a supervisor. A month after that they left me a message that they were dropping the claim. I researched and learned this happens very often and believe me…from now on, they are writing everything down on the form that I notice. Sharing the knowledge to save you a buck!
Well, no hassles returning the rental, and so far the car I bought has been a lot of fun to drive. Next time, make sure they write it down on the form when you notice it; at best they don’t always coordinate well, and at worst, well…you know how it often goes.