I hate car dealers, but....!!!!!

During one of our many snow storms, I managed to have my wife's 2002 Saturn wagon (196,500miles) become intimately aquainted with the plow mounted on the front of an F150 on an unplowed side road in Toms River. OH well... We weren't looking for a new car but just wanted to look at the various models of Subarus as my wife is fussy about the size of car she will drive, and frankly, Subarus have gotten bigger over the years and while I had experience with the older ones, was clueless as to which one my wife would drive.

The trip to Lester Glenn Subaru, TR, was ( and we explained this to the sales person) a scouting expedition, not a shopping trip. OK... he was still willing to spend time with us and take us out in various models to "get a fit" for a future shopping trip for a gently used car... no pressure, no hustle from him or anyone else. It turns out that they had a dealer loaner car, just the right model (Crosstrek XV), color, options, and made us an offer ( politely, no hustle, no pressure) we could not refuse. So... we bought it!
Best new car buying experience I've EVER had ( since 1963!).
May have to revise my " I hate ALL car dealer" opinion :-)

Congratulations !

Its good to here someone had a good experience at a Lester Glenn dealerships.

Several years ago I went to purchase a Hyundai with my daughter and it was torture. Every Elantra on the lot had pinstripes,mud flaps and paints sealant and an add-on sticker for $1200 stuck next to the regular sticker. They told us every car had this stuff installed and we couldn't get a car without it. Please tell me they stopped doing this. If they changed their ways and they stopped this practice I would give them a try again.

Thanks

Bought our 2012 Santa fe from Lester Glenn. great buying experience and great service department. I'd buy another car there.

That is a question best answerd by applejacks and/or billyt!
What I did experience was being asked twice in the process ( over 2 days) was if I was interested in the optional "pinstripe and door guard package"... nicely, mind you. I will add that we were very well treated by the "finance manager", who treated us as valued customers, unlike the experience I've had with other "finance managers" over the years. I asked him some fairly blunt questions, and got straight answers, not "dealer babble".
What I suspect is that while the LG dealerships are all under one umbrella, each has its own manager, and I would expect some differences in "personality" due to this, brand to brand. What I will add, is that when Saturn went under (got dumped by GM), the dealer on Rt22 that my wife had delt with for 3 Saturns, sent her a letter saying that if she was interested in a similar buying, service and quality experience as she had at Saturn in the future, to buy a Subaru without specifically pushing any one dealer.

Went to Lester Glenn to look at Elantra in Toms River not to buy.
Dealt with Ed Santiago to look at pre-owned they had 2 or 3 on lot brought them around took ride liked what we drove. But not ready to buy no problem. Answered all our questions took all the time we needed no rush just friendly conversation asked about financial questions no problem even if not buying could talk to financial advisor very casual great deals we left pre-owned Elantra with trade-in the most friendly easiest experience ever. I am 70 years old been to too many dealers most often hated ever minute but not this time I highly recommend them.
Jimbo

We had a great sales experience with two different salesmen and the manager Joe at Lester Glenn Chevy with our last two trucks. I wish I could get down there more often for service, the local dealers in North Jersey are such a pain to deal with. They want you to schedule two months in advance for an oil change because they are so booked up. It's not exactly easy to figure out how many miles you will drive in two months.

guess I haven't logged in recently , sorry about that. wow, where to begin? First , thank you for all the positive feed back. I have worked in the automobile business for over twenty years, eight of which at Lester Glenn.Its only the past eight years that I don't mind bumping into folks outside of work due to being embarrassed about the line of work im in. With that being said, yes we put an addendum (a charge for any additional charges) on the window of new cars for door edge guards , pinstriping, bed liners on pick ups & sometimes leather, and other upgrades. why you ask ?
Its a negotiation tool would be my first reply.Most new cars (especially entry level) have less than a 500.00 margin , and most folks want more for their trade than they are really worth.
in addition, if I had a solid white car I would see value in a pinstripe, if I parked in parking lots where it was possible to open my door into others I would want edge guards.
But putting all that aside, I cant recall a customer ever paying for those two items, does anyone know of someone who has paid list for a new car? Boat? of course not. Next time your in the market Binmac I would love the opportunity.

Thanks for the heads up Billy... I myself haven't been on in awhile... But I guess tis the season! The boats float again. As far as the addendum, I know down here at Jeep, all of our Wranglers have mudflaps added. We do this for two reasons, One, they look pretty darn good.. LOL.. and two, the front wheels will kick up stones and chip the paint. So, in my opinion, good value. I also agree with Billy, we have one model with $94 margin! Hard to believe a car has only that margin.. In any event, I have been with Lester Glenn for 15 years. It's a very fair and transparent dealer to deal with and also a pleasure to work for. I know we have a bunch of employees here over 10 years. That speaks volumes in the auto industry! Please feel free to come visit us anytime!!

ehhh, wtcha gonna do

Great topic. Two weeks ago the wife and purchased a new car. It was a Saturday evening we went for pizza (Pete and Eldas Neptune) She saw the Sansone dealer group in Neptune.Mind you her car was three years old. Well we purchased a new 2015 Altima in 15 minutes.It was a show room car they opened the doors and drove it out she took it for a ride and we were out the door in 1 hour. WE returned on Monday evening to sign the paper work, I saw a new Nissan van made an offer 4 grand below sticker price they accepted my offer and out the door I went. Out of all the dealers I have ever dealt with I have to say it was enjoyable to deal with them. And my salesman was above the top . No complaints what so ever. They have called us a few times to ask if we were happy.

Next time I go to buy a car I'm taking one of you guys with me. After reading about Retriever's good experience with Lester Glenn and needing a car we took a ride to Lester Glenn Mazda on a Sunday to see what they had. I saw the attached sticker (picture attached) on the car I wanted and never went back.

I ended up purchasing a Honda from Honda of Toms River. Their markup sticker was "only" $695. And while I wound up paying bellow window sticker for the car and the salesman was very nice but I would rather not buy a car or anything like that.

Next time I need a vehicle I will be contacting billyt first. Hopefully I can get the real price before I go in, if that's what you call it.


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It would of been nice if you would of tried to work it out with one of the guys on this site that work there, before posting this. I am sure they would of been more than helpful and answered any of your concerns.

No kidding. That Mazda 6 was my first choice. Like I said next time I contact billyt first.

I still think that everyone including Lester Glenn needs to know what some people think when they see an $1824 markup sticker on a $24,665 car.

I had that sticker picture on my phone since my visit and have shown many of my friends and co-workers. Most had never seen anything like that and I work in North Jersey.

Just like Billy said.. It is a negotiating tool. It's a starting point. I have to say, it is pretty common. We have collected a few from other dealers when we swap vehicles and found ours to actually be one of the lowest! The highest one we found was $4999.00!! Now that's sticker shock!!! Just remember, being a member of BFH, you have "friends" in the business!! Feel free to contact Billy or myself anytime and we will certainly take care of you.

When I needed a boat broker I knew to come here and ask. (and I should have check the sponsors also). I never really thought to come here for a car. Lesson learned

thanks