TrueCar is a car buying service that allows people to shop various car dealerships to get pre-set pricing on vehicles without negotiating. I am a member of Pentagon Federal Credit Union (PenFed), which uses TrueCar as their preferred car buying service, and PenFed offers discounted interest rates (.99%/36 months) on financing when using their car buying service.
I went through the TrueCar process and selected the vehicle that I would like to purchase, and Allen Samuels Hyundai in Fort Worth had the best pricing. On a normal day, they are a 2 1/2 hour drive away, but for the savings, I thought it was worth it because I wanted to buy 3 cars.
My first interaction with the dealership was when I received an e-mail from Anna Richards requesting that I contact her to set up a VIP appointment with a Certified TrueCar Consultant. I called Anna, gave her my TrueCar certificate number, and explained to her the vehicles that I wanted to purchase.
She said she didn't have exactly what I specified, but she was sure she could find vehicles that would be extremely close.
Anna sent me pictures of 3 different cars with MSRPs within $100 of the vehicle I originally specified with TrueCar. Factory incentives were set to expire within a couple of days, so I told her that I would be down to Fort Worth the next day to pick them up. Due to a snow and ice storm, I left Norman, Oklahoma, at 11 p.m. Friday night and drove almost 5 hours to Fort Worth, grabbed a few hours sleep in a cheap hotel, then headed to the dealership.
When we arrived at the dealership, everything was covered in ice and snow except for the 3 Hyundais I was purchasing. They were all cleaned off and sitting by the front door. I walked in, introduced myself to Anna, and then Anna turned me over to Pat Bates, a Sales Consultant she mentioned had many years of experience at the dealership. Pat wanted to show us the cars and take us for a test drive, so away we went.
The cars were clean, beautiful, exactly what I wanted, and drove exceptionally well in the rain and slush on the roads. We went around a long block and headed back in to the dealership. Pat said that since we were buying 3 cars, it would be simpler if we processed the paperwork on one at a time. Since dealers sometimes have sweetheart deals with finance companies, I filled out their credit application. If a dealer has a chance to make a few bucks and save me some money at the same time, I'm all for it.
Pat left with the credit application and came back with the sales contract for the first Hyundai. It had $75 in options more than I originally specified, which I was willing to pay at face value. Hyundais are all equipped a little different when it comes to accessories. Some have cargo nets, some have cargo mats, some have first aid kits, some have wheel locks, and some don't have anything extra at all other than floor mats. Unfortunately, that wasn't the only surprise in the transaction, and this is where things went south:
SECURITY PACKAGE - $1,495
TRUE CAR DEALER FEE $125
Neither of these were part of the deal. Dealers pay TrueCar a fee for selling through their program. That fee isn't supposed to be passed on to the buyers. It should be included in their TrueCar price, not as an additional add-on.
The SECURITY PACKAGE consisted of a blinking (as opposed to solid) 3rd brake light, 3M Door Edge Guards, and locking lug nuts. I checked online and found a blinky 3rd brake light kit for $22, 40 yards of 3M Door Edge Guard for $37.95, and locking lug nuts on the Window Sticker as a factory installed option, so that was just a lie.
I told Pat that I didn't want their SECURITY PACKAGE, didn't agree to it, wasn't told about it, and wouldn't pay for it. He left the office to go talk to the sales manager about it. Pat came back to the office with Peter Cafferata, the general sales manager, who tried to give me the hard sell on how important a blinky light was, how much paint door edge guards save, and how those beautiful stock Hyundai wheels would get stolen left and right without wheel locks.
I didn't budge. I told him I didn't like the package, didn't want it, wasn't buying it, and thought it was piss poor for them to try to double sell wheel locks. He said the the package was already installed, so he couldn't take them off, but he could give us $500 off of each car since we weren't properly informed that dealer add-ons were part of the deal, along with the rough night we had. So now he's only making $970 additional profit on each vehicle's security package instead of the $1,470 he started out wanting. I told him that wouldn't work and that he could give me 3 vehicles without the package. He said all the vehicles on the lot had the package. I told him to grab 3 off the next truck that didn't have the package and sell me those. He said he wasn't willing to do that.
Now we were at an impasse. I felt cheated because I drove all night to make a deal, and now these cars were priced at $1,125 (each) more than I was originally quoted, so now I had a decision to make. I could either agree to their terms, or I could leave. Not wanting to totally kill the deal just yet, I looked at the rest of the contract and noticed they had listed tax, tag, and license (T,T&L) on the sales contract. I told them that wasn't the way we did it in Oklahoma...that we paid TT&L at the tag agency after the sale. Peter Cafferata told us that they had calculated all of that based upon Oklahoma rules and rates, and that was the amount they had to collect from us.
Texas has a Texas Motor Vehicle Sales Tax Exemption Certificate for all vehicles sold to out of state buyers that is to be presented to the buyer by the dealer. They knew I was an out of state buyer, they had a copy of my Oklahoma Drivers License, they had my address on the sales contract, and they still tried to collect an extra $1,543.24 in sales tax, $62.75 in License, and $38.00 in title.
All together, after a $500 discount on the security package, they tried to collect $18,253.74 on a car they originally quoted me at $15,264 (+$75 in additional accessories), which was $2,914.74 more than I was originally quoted. Multiplied by 3 vehicles, they attempted to cheat me out of almost $9,000.
I would be happy to share copies of my TrueCar certificate, the sales agreement, screenshots of their website, and anything else I have that would assist you in confidently steering clear of their dealership.
The people involved in my transaction were:
Anna Richards - Internet Sales Consultant [email protected] 817.548.4047
Allen Samuels Hyundai Reviews
TrueCar is a car buying service that allows people to shop various car dealerships to get pre-set pricing on vehicles without negotiating. I am a member of Pentagon Federal Credit Union (PenFed), which uses TrueCar as their preferred car buying service, and PenFed offers discounted interest rates (.99%/36 months) on financing when using their car buying service.
I went through the TrueCar process and selected the vehicle that I would like to purchase, and Allen Samuels Hyundai in Fort Worth had the best pricing. On a normal day, they are a 2 1/2 hour drive away, but for the savings, I thought it was worth it because I wanted to buy 3 cars.
My first interaction with the dealership was when I received an e-mail from Anna Richards requesting that I contact her to set up a VIP appointment with a Certified TrueCar Consultant. I called Anna, gave her my TrueCar certificate number, and explained to her the vehicles that I wanted to purchase.
She said she didn't have exactly what I specified, but she was sure she could find vehicles that would be extremely close.
Anna sent me pictures of 3 different cars with MSRPs within $100 of the vehicle I originally specified with TrueCar. Factory incentives were set to expire within a couple of days, so I told her that I would be down to Fort Worth the next day to pick them up. Due to a snow and ice storm, I left Norman, Oklahoma, at 11 p.m. Friday night and drove almost 5 hours to Fort Worth, grabbed a few hours sleep in a cheap hotel, then headed to the dealership.
When we arrived at the dealership, everything was covered in ice and snow except for the 3 Hyundais I was purchasing. They were all cleaned off and sitting by the front door. I walked in, introduced myself to Anna, and then Anna turned me over to Pat Bates, a Sales Consultant she mentioned had many years of experience at the dealership. Pat wanted to show us the cars and take us for a test drive, so away we went.
The cars were clean, beautiful, exactly what I wanted, and drove exceptionally well in the rain and slush on the roads. We went around a long block and headed back in to the dealership. Pat said that since we were buying 3 cars, it would be simpler if we processed the paperwork on one at a time. Since dealers sometimes have sweetheart deals with finance companies, I filled out their credit application. If a dealer has a chance to make a few bucks and save me some money at the same time, I'm all for it.
Pat left with the credit application and came back with the sales contract for the first Hyundai. It had $75 in options more than I originally specified, which I was willing to pay at face value. Hyundais are all equipped a little different when it comes to accessories. Some have cargo nets, some have cargo mats, some have first aid kits, some have wheel locks, and some don't have anything extra at all other than floor mats. Unfortunately, that wasn't the only surprise in the transaction, and this is where things went south:
SECURITY PACKAGE - $1,495
TRUE CAR DEALER FEE $125
Neither of these were part of the deal. Dealers pay TrueCar a fee for selling through their program. That fee isn't supposed to be passed on to the buyers. It should be included in their TrueCar price, not as an additional add-on.
The SECURITY PACKAGE consisted of a blinking (as opposed to solid) 3rd brake light, 3M Door Edge Guards, and locking lug nuts. I checked online and found a blinky 3rd brake light kit for $22, 40 yards of 3M Door Edge Guard for $37.95, and locking lug nuts on the Window Sticker as a factory installed option, so that was just a lie.
I told Pat that I didn't want their SECURITY PACKAGE, didn't agree to it, wasn't told about it, and wouldn't pay for it. He left the office to go talk to the sales manager about it. Pat came back to the office with Peter Cafferata, the general sales manager, who tried to give me the hard sell on how important a blinky light was, how much paint door edge guards save, and how those beautiful stock Hyundai wheels would get stolen left and right without wheel locks.
I didn't budge. I told him I didn't like the package, didn't want it, wasn't buying it, and thought it was piss poor for them to try to double sell wheel locks. He said the the package was already installed, so he couldn't take them off, but he could give us $500 off of each car since we weren't properly informed that dealer add-ons were part of the deal, along with the rough night we had. So now he's only making $970 additional profit on each vehicle's security package instead of the $1,470 he started out wanting. I told him that wouldn't work and that he could give me 3 vehicles without the package. He said all the vehicles on the lot had the package. I told him to grab 3 off the next truck that didn't have the package and sell me those. He said he wasn't willing to do that.
Now we were at an impasse. I felt cheated because I drove all night to make a deal, and now these cars were priced at $1,125 (each) more than I was originally quoted, so now I had a decision to make. I could either agree to their terms, or I could leave. Not wanting to totally kill the deal just yet, I looked at the rest of the contract and noticed they had listed tax, tag, and license (T,T&L) on the sales contract. I told them that wasn't the way we did it in Oklahoma...that we paid TT&L at the tag agency after the sale. Peter Cafferata told us that they had calculated all of that based upon Oklahoma rules and rates, and that was the amount they had to collect from us.
Texas has a Texas Motor Vehicle Sales Tax Exemption Certificate for all vehicles sold to out of state buyers that is to be presented to the buyer by the dealer. They knew I was an out of state buyer, they had a copy of my Oklahoma Drivers License, they had my address on the sales contract, and they still tried to collect an extra $1,543.24 in sales tax, $62.75 in License, and $38.00 in title.
All together, after a $500 discount on the security package, they tried to collect $18,253.74 on a car they originally quoted me at $15,264 (+$75 in additional accessories), which was $2,914.74 more than I was originally quoted. Multiplied by 3 vehicles, they attempted to cheat me out of almost $9,000.
I would be happy to share copies of my TrueCar certificate, the sales agreement, screenshots of their website, and anything else I have that would assist you in confidently steering clear of their dealership.
The people involved in my transaction were:
Anna Richards - Internet Sales Consultant [email protected] 817.548.4047
Pat Bates - Sales Consultant 817.548.4040
Peter Cafferata - G.S.M [email protected] 817.548.4040