Gator Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram

by Lissette C on 07/26/2021

WORST EXPERIENCE EVER! Since the Sales Manager (Jim Peacock) told me to go “self-reflect,” I’m going to do that here. (1) We went to purchase a Blue Durango and dealt with Jackson. We negotiated back & forth without an issue. I made it clear during every step that I didn’t want any pricing contingent on financing, because I wasn’t going to be financing with them. He gave me their final best price and we left to think about it. I reached out the next day (purely by text) and that is when the bait and switch happened. Suddenly the best price WAS contingent on financing. I didn’t appreciate the misrepresentation so I went back to the dealer, spoke to a manager, and requested that I work with someone else. I started working with Ed. Unfortunately, the car was sold before my bank could wrap up the financing. (2) A week later I went back to Ed to see if I could get the same deal for a Red Durango, identical specs. At first, I was told YES and we were just working out how to make it happen quick (because they wouldn’t hold the vehicle for me while I got financing completed). All of these communications were by text. Suddenly, two days later, I was told they would NOT be selling me the car for the same price. No reason given. I text Ed and thanked him for his patience but told him I was disappointed in the experience. (3) Over a week and half later, my husband went to the dealer to try again for the Red Durango. At first, they said they couldn’t do the same deal because it wasn’t the same car. That was a LIE. We showed them the picture of the Blue Durango’s window sticker compared to the Red Durango’s window sticker, identical specs and identical MSRP. FINALLY, the sales Manager Jim Peacock came out and ADMITTED that they just didn’t want to sell us the car that cheap (as the first deal we had secured). Fair enough. I can respect that. We negotiated a new deal and left to get our financing in order. Two days later I get a voicemail from Jim saying they wouldn’t be able to accept our bank’s check. I called and was told that they wouldn’t be selling me the car but didn’t want to put the real reason in the voicemail (which is silly considering I now have a recording of this phone call). Jim said they were not going to sell me the car because of something I supposedly did/said to the original sales guy, Jackson, 3 weeks prior (and two car deals prior). Completely blind-sided, I offered to show all my text communications with BOTH salesmen but he didn’t care. I asked what I supposedly did but he would not tell me and instead told me to go “self-reflect.” My conscious is clear. I was never rude, disrespectful, nor inappropriate at any point or to anyone! I would respect this dealer more if they just admitted they wanted to make more money off the car. This was a stressful, heartbreaking, and disappointing experience. I wouldn’t return to them even if they were the last Dodge dealer in Florida.

Read more

by Mr T I Pity the fool on 04/11/2021

As always you need to be an educated consumer. Drove from Gainesville Florida to Melbourne on April 10, 2021 to purchase the QX70S that has been for sale since November 2020. This vehicle look ideal on line for what we wanted, low miles and full options. Two items/situations that were concerning: 1) Breaks and Rotors were worn and looked like they needed servicing. 2) Tire and Rims were in poor condition. 1a) When asked about the breaks and rotors, the salesman said he was unaware of the condition. I asked to see a vehicle service report with the multipoint inspection. Salesman came back to us and said service department was closed today and a vehicle service report was not available, LOL! The servicing/maintenance, especially on leased vehicles, are logged into a computer system tracking the vehicle records and or paper filed/charted. 2a) At first we did not realize the rims were aftermarket. I commented that the rims on the drivers side were scratched heavy. The salesman said they were aftermarket. I asked where were the 21" Sport Package rims and his reply was I don't know. This is what turned out to be a deal breaker for us. I called an Infinity dealership to inquire the cost of new 21" rims. The price was $2500 each, OMG. My wife looked up on EBAY for a set of used rims....$1500. When we asked for the price of the purchase to be reduced the salesman said they don't do that. I asked if the manager would and he said no. At this point my wife and I stood up to leave. The sales manager asked if there was anything he could do to help make the sale. I quickly explained our issues and asked if he would reduce the purchase price. He reply how much and I asked you tell me. I then was asked to give him a price reduction and did. $1500 the cost of the used EBAY 21" factory rims. His reply was $500. I said that's it??? Yes that is why the price of the vehicle is lower than the market value. Your listing on the internet is false advertisement because it said the vehicle was equipped Sport Package Option, with 21" factory rims. His reply was, you saw the pictures, didn't you? I said yes but did not realize they not the factory rims. We left.

Read more

by kranecu on 02/26/2018

Gator covered up severe clear coat damage and sold vehicle as "excellent condition": I purchased a 2013 Chevrolet Captiva from Gator. I chose to buy this car because it was a fair price for what appeared to be excellent condition. Since it was being sold "as is", I took it to get inspected and he only found a couple very minor scratches and cracks in the molding that I hadn't noticed. I went in to sign paperwork and the dealer (Terry) told me he'd take it and get it washed while I finished the paperwork. I paid and went out to wait for the car. When they brought it out, it looked nothing like it did before it was washed. There was horrible clear coat failure on the roof of the vehicle that was not at all apparent before it was washed (and before I paid for it). I said that I didn't want to buy the car in that condition but was told that it was "as is" and I had already paid and there was nothing they could do about it. I went back to the guy who did the inspection and he couldn't believe it either because it looked perfect earlier that day. I was later told at a body shop that a type of silicon was likely used to hide the clear coat failure but that it washes off easily. Today, I called and talked to a manager at Gator about this and offered him a chance to make it right before I posted my review. He stated that I bought the car "as is", to "go ahead", and that there was nothing he could do about it. It is going to cost around $1,000 to restore the vehicle to the condition that I thought is was in when I signed the paperwork for it. I feel ripped off. The only recourse I am left with is to remove the "Gator" sticker and license plate holder from the back of the vehicle and write this review. The folks at Gator frequently brag about their glowing reviews on dealerrater.com. Before you trust those reviews, I suggest you look up dealerrater.com on Ripoffreport.com - I wish I had.

Read more

by Hellcat65 on 02/14/2017

Went to Gator Jeep to lease a Wrangler Unlimited and brought in the lease special advertised on the Jeep manufacturers website. The salesman didn't know anything and waisted my time test driving the car and the sales manager behind the elevated deal was rude and insulting. Claimed there was no special. What annoys me is I had called the day before to make sure they could do this lease so I wouldn't have to waste time going there. Very unprofessional dealership

Read more

by Gator_SUX on 04/05/2016

From the very beginning when we called the night before to confirm 2 stock numbers were available before driving 40 miles only to find out "one was sold" and the other "missing", we should have left. Either incompetent or bait and switch tactic. My wife and I actually stumbled across the missing car on another lot. Of course they had tried to put us in another car but we ended up with the missing one per our plans. They tried every trick in the book even though I warned them I knew them all; they pulled out a 4 square sheet, asked what we would like our payments to be before we even had a price for the car and our trade in, etc. Amateur [non-permissible content removed]. Then came the part where they left off instructions to "buff" a scuff on the rear bumper on the "We Owe" sheet. They did list "Fix the paint chip" in the door but no mention of the bumper. My wife added "& fix the bumper" to the sheet and everyone signed off. Two days later we get an angry call from the sales manager that insisted we tried to pull a fast one or were trying to be deceptive because they PAINTED the bumper! We were all on the same page when we left, buff the bumper. Incorporating the word "fix" left it open to interpretation at the body shop and now they wanted us to pay for it. I would have offered to perhaps split the cost, but any hope of that went out the window when the sales manager continued to insist my wife TOLD THEM to paint it when she dropped it off! What?!?!?!? If that weren't enough- now we find the front air dam is hanging down because someone drove it through their back/unpaved dirt lot. I approach the sales manager about the damage and he immediately goes back to accusing us of being deceptive and my wife a liar!!! He tries to spin the bumper painting as some sort of amazing charitable deed he orchestrated and is bewildered as to why we're "asking for more stuff". This guy is nuts! He now takes the "holier than thou" route and says he doesn't like the way I'm talking to him and won't do anything about the air dam. So now, they screwed up and painted the bumper, called us cheats and liars, and evidently this absolves them of any responsibility for damage to our car while in their possession??? I asked for his boss' name THREE times and he refused. He did give me his business card and screamed "if you want to complain to my boss, fine. How many [non-permissible content removed] times to I have to tell you you [non-permissible content removed] won!" All I can say is wow. Five phone calls and messages left for General Managers and/or owners have resulted in ZERO returned calls thus far. My advice is STAY AWAY!!!! BTW, the body shop did a fantastic job and were great to deal with. Their sales team sucks.

Read more

by barnabas1969 on 12/09/2011

SHAME ON ME. I DIDN'T NOTICE WHEN THEY SWITCHED THE NUMBERS ON THE PAPER WORK. I GOT SCREWED. My experience started out very well. They didn't bother me while I was looking at cars. Steve Mazer, the sales guy, was very nice. He let me test drive four different models before I decided which one I wanted. I decided on a 2011 Chrysler 200, Touring edition. It is December. I usually buy a new car in November or December because the new year model has come out and there are usually very good rebates on the previous year models... and I usually buy at invoice price, minus the rebates and incentives. He told me up front that they had $3500 in dealer cash on the vehicle I wanted. This is unusual... they don't usually tell you about "dealer cash". They have to tell you about factory rebates, but "dealer cash" is money they get on the back end from the factory. They can keep it if they want to. So, the MSRP on the car was $22,590. He started by telling me that MSRP minus the dealer cash was $19,090. That sounded ok, but I wanted to go home and research the invoice price on the car. I found that the invoice was $21,720, according to KBB.com. So, subtracting the $3500 dealer cash leaves $18,220. I called Steve back and offered him invoice less dealer cash ($18,220). After some complaining, he agreed to that price. Then, we discussed my trade. It was a 2005 Saturn VUE with almost 200,000 miles on it. According to KBB, it was retailed at $3500 and trade value of $1500. I asked for the trade value of $1500. Steve offered me $500. I told him I would call him back later with a decision. I then posted the car for sale on Craig's List for $1500. I immediately started getting hits for the car. Many, many people were interested in my old car. So, I called Steve back and told him that I was going to sell my car myself. He told me that he would give me the $1500 for my trade if I came in today. To me, this meant that we were going to do the deal at the previously agreed-upon price of $18,220 and he was going to give me $1500 for my trade. I went to the dealership. He had the car ready to go. We signed papers. I had brought a piece of paper on which I had written the numbers for two different cars. I mistakenly compared the numbers on the contract with the wrong car on my piece of paper, so I did not realize that he had switched the numbers on the contract. After getting home and having some time to think about it, I realized that he had actually sold me the car for $19,590 ($500 MORE than his first offer!!!) So, he got $19,590 PLUS the $3500 dealer cash... totaling $23,090 ($500 ABOVE MSRP!!!). There was a $500 factory rebate also, which brought my total cost down to $19,090. Basically, I paid $1370 more for the car than we had agreed on the phone. I received an e-mail from the Business Development Manager asking me to leave a positive review on the dealerrater.com website. I replied, explaining my problem and asking if there is anything they can do about it. I just got off the phone with their sales manager (I didn't catch his name). He tried to convince me that they paid me $1000 more for my trade than it was worth... and that I got a $500 rebate, so that the dealer really only got $18,090 for the car ($19,590 minus the $1000 over-allowance for my trade and minus the $500 factory rebate). That is total BS!!! They got $19,590 PLUS the $3500 dealer cash. The $500 rebate came off my bottom line, so I got that... but he was trying to tell me that the dealership didn't really make that money... as if the dealership is paying the $3500! The FACTORY pays that money to the dealership, not the other way around. Now, the sales guy is sending me text messages. He says he's confused. Unreal.

Read more

by hwy12 on 07/14/2011

Had the worst experience ever here. The price listed on the internet was $18995, but when I got there, they told me it was $22,995. They also low balled me on my trade, offering $1500 less than nada and kbb good trade in. What a bunch of [violative content deleted]. I will never go to this dealership again. They were very unprofessional.

Read more

by jowica on 03/21/2011

I agreed to one deal supposedly from the Sales Manager only to be told that the owner wouldn't approve the deal. Nice crutch to fall back on... If the Manager doesn't have the authority to make a deal, then why even employ him in the first place. The owner ought to just take on his job. The salesman himself was very respectful and I feel badly for him that he lost his deal due to the left hand not knowing what the right hand was up to. Since no one could make a decision it left me in question, so I drove to Orlando and got the deal done elsewhere. Gator's loss.... shame on them since the first thing I stated was that I wanted to keep my business local.

Read more

by cagirl1 on 12/08/2010

I visited Gator Chrysler Dodge Jeep with my sister who was looking for a car. The salesman we dealt with was nice enough - minus the fact that he failed to mention the car had a serious mechanical issue that was not noticed on the short test drive, but resulted in the car needing to be turned in for repair for more than a month within a few days of driving it off their lot. (Upon further after-purchase research we can prove they knew about the issue when we arrived.) My sister paid $X for the car... Not $X plus $800 (the cost to repair the issue)! We tried more than once to work with Gator to get her expenses refunded since they sold a defective vehicle but the manager, Mike Fullhart, was illogical, unreasonable and did not even care that they sold an unsafe car and failed to fully disclose the condition of the car at the point of sale. Absolute Zero sense of customer service at this place and they showed no respect to either of us once they had my sister's trade-in and her money. I will never go here again - and I hope their lack of integrity and customer service puts them out of business as they deserve.

Read more

by kathy125 on 09/13/2010

We moved to Melbourne in 2000 and have bought 2 vans, 2 cars and a pickup from them over the years. We shopped all over Brevard the first 2 purchases but Gator simply had more to choose from than the other dealers and we were treated really good. After the first 2, we just didn't feel the need to shop anymore we just went to Gator Chrysler Dodge Jeep because of the selection and low prices. Tom Oneil is our salesman there, he has been there for years. I would highly recommend him, he has the patience of a saint and is a low pressure, fun and nice guy.

Read more