My husband and I went to Brown's Nissan in Sterling, VA on March 18, 3003 to hopefully purchase a car. This was a follow-up visit from 1 month earlier when beginning to look at the Z. Looked at cars for just a few minutes, and then talked numbers. I told them I would not be paying MSRP b/c that is absurd. I offered 1500 under MSRP, and 1000 for Nissan leather to be installed on a Track model. They would not budge on their price, and tried to pull a fast one on me. When they came back with their set of numbers, they had taken 500 off of MSRP, but then added tax, tags, title, procesing fee, and freight to the price. Keep in mind the freight fee is $540.00 (which negated the $500 they took off of MSRP), so we were really back to square one. I pointed that out an no one said a word. After a few minutes dealing with some manager named Fred (I think), we walked out and told them we'd go elsewhere and buy it on our terms. They were really pushy, the salesman (Bobby) was an idiot and i knew WAY more about the car than he did. Pretty embarassing considering I am female too! They kept saying how "HOT" the car is and they can't keep them on the lot, blah blah blah. I know this is not true since I ahve been there multiple times and keep watching the stock on the internet. I pointed that out, and also said that all the dealers in NOVA have them in stock, they are not hard to find any more. They wouldn't really respond.

Went to Rosenthal in Tyson's and got it at $750 below MSRP and negotiated a fair price on the leather seats for the Track model. Since then, Brown's has called me twice, and I talked to them today. Wanted to hear the "deal" they would offer me before I told them I bought a car already. They left a message for me saying htey talked to the GM and were willing to work out a "good deal" for me. WHen I talked to the guy, he said they couldn;t budge on the price but they could come down 500-600 on the leather seats (MSRP of 1600), so they were still WAY off from what I offered. I asked to speak to the GM, who was busy, but got a sale manager named Terry instead. I proceeded to tell him of my awful experience and how dishonest I felt they were. He was rude and argued with every point I made. I explained to him that MSRP is greedy, and no one pays that any more. Told him they could obviously give me the deal I ended up getting, since another dealer was willing. He said I got that deal because Rosenthal carried a larger stock-so I guess the customer should suffer and pay more b/c this is a smaller dealer?!?!?! YEAH RIGHT! what a jerk. finally, I cut the conversation off and informed him he lost my business and I would do my best to get the word out to everyone NOT TO EVER BUY FROM BROWN's STERLING NISSAN!

 

Sounds like deceptive tactics at the start.

What color did you finally end up with? I thought I remember someone from Virginia having a color decision dilema recently.

 

That's too bad, and surprising, too, because the Brown's in Arlington has been great. In fact, I was so impressed with them, that I was willing to pay a little more to buy through them, which ended up not being necessary because they gave me the best price. I think there is some truth about selling their stock pretty fast, though, because I've been watching their stock list and been at the dealership several times in the last month, and they're going through them like hotcakes. And they're still selling them all at or just below MSRP. Good to hear you got the deal you were looking for, though.

 

Well I had problems with Darcars in Maryland and also Browns in Arlington. Arlington told me they wouldnt even sell it at MSRP unless i bought the paint protection (last year). Fairfax tried to mark it up $3k-$5k (last year as well). Sheehy in Manassas told me straight up they sell all their Z's $200 under MSRP last september without having to haggle at all. That's the kind of experience I want when I walk into a car dealership.

 

Yes, that was probably me with the color dilemma! I had been wanting orange/orange, but was also considering the Track, so orange leather would be out. Went to Rosenthal and they had a fully loaded black track. it was so pretty sitting there, and I decided right then that was what i wanted. I do miss having the Sunset, b/c it stands out. This is my husband and my 5th black car! So I was trying to stay away from black, but couldn't resist.

BTW- Have you checked out the regional forum since yesterday? We are talking about getting together this Sun afternoon at 4:00 Silver Diner at the Springfield mall. Hope you can join in.

 

Yes, I saw the Springfield gathering thread. Need to see what the wife and daughter have planned for the weekend before committing.

 

oogybgy,

Sorry I missed the gathering at the Silver... I just got back in town last night. I ended up getting a black touring 2 weeks ago. Glad to hear that you eventually had a good experience around here. I got so fed up with the crap around here that I found a dealer in Georgia that would meet my price and flew down there to drive it home.

Hope to make the next meet. Did many turn out?

 

There were 6 of us total I believe. If you don't mind me asking, how much under MSRP did you pay?

 

My experience was somewhat off the usual path. Click on this link below, and scroll down about 8 posts. Read the rest of the thread, and you'll see the details of my buying experience. I just hit the 1200 mile mark, and I am still waiting for something to be wrong with the car. Hopefully, I just got lucky

my350z.com thread link