McGrath Acura of Morton Grove

by WomanCarBuyer on 08/18/2020

Worst attempted car buying experience of my life! To sum it up since I may share too much, McGrath Acura of Morton Grove pulled a total Bait & Switch. I did my homework beforehand, test drove an RDX and MDX, did more research online. I asked a question online about a specific McGrath car offering. I had a great, thorough discussion when Internet Salesperson Dan called me regarding my question. I told him my motivation, my down payment amount and that I was ready to buy based on the great price he quoted on a MDX Tech model. The booking manager Amy--who followed up later to get my appointment booked--commented on what a great price Internet Dan had quoted for me. Clearly there were notes in the McGrath system about my discussion with Dan and the offer made to me. On appointment day I drove 45 minutes to the Morton Grove dealership. I drove there to buy a 2020 MDX Tech model. My research was done, I was ready to buy. When I arrived, everything started to unravel. No one read the appointment notes. I think I surprised the junior sales guy when I was ready to move forward in buying the car. I really wanted to nail down the price of the car since the price from Internet Dan was oral and not in writing. No such luck. Claiming that they were "avoiding discrimination", both junior Salesperson Tom and later Assistant Manager Dan started their negotiation process by creating monthly payment options based on the full retail listed car price and an undisclosed APR which was supposedly an average of all interest rates their buyers have received. Huh? Someone needs to pull out a dictionary and show those boys the definition of discrimination. Maybe McGrath believes that in order to avoid discrimination, every person that walks in the door should be treated as equally stupid. During a “check with my manager break” another customer came over and said that he had the same frustrating b.s. experience regarding monthly payment options the day before. I’m sorry but who would buy a car and agree to a monthly payment without knowing (A) The PRICE of the car and (B) the Interest Rate of the financing portion of the transaction? For cripes sakes, I told them that I work in banking. Read your customer. However, they kept trying to lock down a monthly payment and then they kept showing me lease payment options. Why? I said I was buying a car, what is confusing about that statement? Neither salesperson would acknowledge the price that Internet Dan gave me (Amy clearly knew it so it was written down somewhere) and they wouldn’t propose an offering price other than the sticker price. It was just weird. They would only walk through the payment process at the full $52,625 sticker price! I told them upfront several times that I needed a great bargain to justify the purchase. I didn’t drive 45 minutes to pay full sticker price. In 90 minutes of inept salesmanship while I was on the lot, neither salesman gave me any offering other than the full sticker price. Hey, MDX models are changing next year and the 2020s are not selling great in this Covid world we’re living in right now. Even more insulting, without discussion, Dan added in $2,300 in fees and options to the sales price. I asked him if he was on drugs because instead of giving me a discounted price, he took it upon himself to add extras I never agreed to and increased the price. Who adds Xylon paint coating to the price before a sales price has been agreed upon? I finally said that I needed to know the interest rate. I also wanted to know their best offering price for the MDX. Dan came back to tell me that the financing rate would be 5.90%. What??? I have excellent credit and that rate is nowhere near the range given on Acura’s website. Did Assistant Manager Dan miss the part where I said I work in the banking industry and I might know about current interest rates? Okay, it was a ridiculous rate, but at that point I just wanted to know the actual offering price of the car. I asked Dan, “What is the car price at 0.9% financing and what would the car price be at 5.90% financing? I want those two numbers. I was previously told by Internet Dan that they would offer me the MDX Tech model at $40,860. Clearly that was not true so what would the offer be at those two financing levels?”. The [non-permissible content removed] finally claimed that the offer (Internet) Dan made was based on leasing, not buying. Baloney, we talked thoroughly about my situation. Asst Mgr Dan then said (regarding the quoted price), “We have more room in the price on a leasing deal. I think that the 0.9% would be a better option for you”. Seriously. This [non-permissible content removed] thinks he’s going to charm me into trusting his advice with no solid offering price? The closest Asst Mgr Dan ever came to giving me a price was when he finally said, “At 5.90%, I can get you a couple thousand off”. That was the point where I was absolutely done trying to negotiate. 45 minutes to get to Morton Grove and 90 minutes at the dealership. What a load of garbage and a complete waste of time. I will absolutely never trust a McGrath dealership of any kind again. The salespeople at Westmont (also a McGrath dealership) were very nice but I had gotten a whiff of the “Your Payment Will Be” game when I was there early in my search. It appears to be a McGrath ploy. I was so, so upset. I left the dealership absolutely shaking in emotion and frustration. I had been absolutely ready to pull the trigger and buy my car. What [non-permissible content removed] they employ at McGrath Acura and I have no doubt, and the other client confirmed, it is the McGrath training manual that Tom and Dan were following! In my past buying experiences, Toyota was never like that, Ford didn’t pull that crap. I have never experienced such a demeaning and frustrating experience. By the way, I stopped at Napleton Acura in Elmhurst on the way home. They were the runner-up in pricing when I was getting close to “purchase day”. Salesguy Wade Qin had been the person that let me know early in my research stage that there was dealer motivation to move new MDXs versus the better selling RDXs. I was almost ready to just say F-it, I’m done, I’ll never buy an Acura if all of these dealers are like McGrath. I arrived at Napleton Acura in Elmhurst. In 5 minutes Wade told me their best price—which was close to Internet Dan’s offer—and I said that I was ready to buy. Done. I got my car, they found the color combo I wanted and the deal moved smoothly just the way it should have in Morton Grove. Financing was 3.49% just like it mentioned on the Acura site. Oh yeah, and [non-permissible content removed] Dan? I bought the coating and the extended warranty. The key is that you upsell after the customer agrees on a price. Your loss. I got a great car that night at a dealership much closer to my home. A family member will be in town in two weeks and wants to trade in his 2017 MDX for a new one. He’ll be dealing with Elmhurst. Thank you to the Napleton team for restoring my faith in a fair car buying process.

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by roamingoz on 03/15/2018

I had a great experience and was treated fairly and respectfully from start to finish.

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by TLXDRIVER1 on 03/06/2018

This dealership really is amazing and the people there are so nice and really care about what their customers want! I spoke with Jordan from the internet sales department and she was able to answer all of my questions and was able to secure the vehicle I wanted and the price I wanted to pay. Plus she was funny and didn't lie to me if she didn't know the answer, instead she spoke to whom ever she needed to in to in order to get my answer (which only took a few minutes). After scheduling my appointment to come in and work with her, she explained her role and that she wouldn't be on the floor with me directly. I was greeted by Ronnie who went and got Jordan so I can meet her. She explained everything to Ronnie so that he know exactly why I was there instead of the typical experience of the salesperson having to start over and spend 6 hours trying to figure a car out and go back and forth over numbers. I have never had a more satisfying experience and I would definitely recommend speaking with Jordan and purchasing from Ronnie. Plus, the Finance guy Djay was very fast (usually this is the longest part) and had me in & out within a half hour. Thank you McGrath Acura of Morton Grove I will forever purchase from you guys! -Proud Acura TLX Owner

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by DanskWI on 12/06/2017

Octabiano was pleasant and OK Experience with business person persistently trying to sell insurance was extremely unpleasant not to mention the wait to begin with

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by JoeCarGuy on 09/26/2017

They play the typical games. Sales says one thing, management and finance claim that none of it applies and they get angry at you for asking them to honor their promises. Didn't expect this from an Acura dealership. It's all a game and everyone's in on it. We were the suckers getting played.

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by sailguy59 on 09/05/2017

I have bought 3 cars from this dealership in the past 15 years. My latest purchase was an 2018 Acura 3.5 liter TLX. I had researched the trade-in value of my 2010 TL and fair market-value on for the TLX on KBB.com before arriving at McGrath on Labor Day. Dan Edelstein was my sales consultant. The used car appraiser checked my TL while Dan and did a test drive in the 2018 TLX. The first offer from McGrath was too low for my TL and too high for the TLX. When I showed Dan the KBB trade-in value and fair market value for the TLX. Dan re-did the offer at my suggested values and I bought the car.

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by 1shopper on 10/31/2016

They send a great email offer on a new vehicle. I called to confirm they had the color combo and packages for that price. They confirmed. We got over there & they did NOT have the color combo. Then, they said they could not honor the price. Classic bait & switch. Crooked!

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by Cautiouscat5 on 07/25/2016

After speaking with reps at McGrath Acura about a specific pre-owned car on Saturday and again today, I traveled to the dealership only to be told the vehicle was unsafe and they wouldn't sell it, but of course they had more expensive cars available. Classic bait and switch - run don't walk away!

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by vityaba on 11/28/2015

I negotiated a price over the internet and came to the dealership expecting to finish a transaction in a few hours, but it turned out that they cannot deliver what they offered via email. First of all, I want to point out that this was a brand new car where I specified exactly the package and configuration and I want and usually is an easy purchase since you go by the manufacture configuration. So, after a short test drive we sat down and first thing they said that I have to pay over $1,000 for some extra accessories that the car has (paint protection, wheel locks, etc.) I said that in the email you said that you have the requested car in stock and I can buy it for $XXXXX. The answer was that yes, the car is $XXXXX, but we put these accessories on all our cars and you have to pay for them. Well, after five minutes discussion and negotiation we agreed on an additional $250 price for these accessories. The next catch was that they offered me $4000 for my trade-in. I showed them KBB and Edmund’s estimates of over $7,000 and kindly declined the offer. And lastly, after they offered me 3.99% financing and I declined it because my credit union offered me 1.50% they said that the price they gave me via email was subject to getting a loan thru their financing department. So I spent over an hour at this place and left it with no car.... They offer low price via email hoping that they can either up-sell on accessories that people do not need, make extra money on the trade-in, or make money on the financing kick-back they get from a bank for higher than market interest. Note that neither trade-in, nor the financing was never mentioned in my email communication with them so they were not part of the deal. I purchased a car at a different dealership the next day and had a completely opposite experience.

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by Pooch21 on 09/16/2015

I really enjoyed my experience at McGarth Acura Morton Grove. They weren't pushy, very patient with my questions, gave me honest and genuine advice. The finance person was so personable and very engaged in conversation with me( this is so rare, they usually want you in and out). They treated me like a family member not a statistic. Can't say enough, this type of quality top notch customer service is rare and truly genuine. I highly suggest you go and experience the service, it's like no other, really! I love my RDX.

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by dsouzmm on 09/15/2015

My boyfriend and I went in looking for a new car. It had been a rough decision and frustrating situation but when we chose to go to McGrath in Morton Grove, all the tense and frustration went right out of the door. We were able to walk out with a new car that evening but also developed a family environment with the staff! With us expecting a child in Jan., they made sure I was relaxed and not stressed out in any situation. DJay our finance man did an excellent job on working with us when it came to payments and our contract. The sales rep at the facility always greeted us when we went back, asked if we needed any assistance. I can't explain how amazing out time there was! I would recommend anyone to stop by and check out their inventory and speak with someone for help. They make sure you are one happy camper!

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by kmccart67 on 08/15/2015

Recenly leased a 2016 Acura MDX SH/AWD from McGrath Acura in Morton Grove, IL. This was my first time going with an Acura and my first time leasing. I had a great experience there. They worked well with me on the pricing of the vehicle. The sales staff were great in helping me set up the car the way I liked it with everything from setting my radio stations for me, hooking up my phone with the bluetooth, setting up my seat postion, setting the auto light and door locks they way I wanted. Everything was done for me that I could think of. I would definitely go back to McGrath again.

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by typeAcura on 07/17/2015

I drove 5 hours one way to buy a unique low mileage Acura TL SH-AWD with 6-speed manual transmission (hard to find). Within 30 minutes I was satisfied with the condition of the car. Then the hard sell started. I did my homework and was aware of the trade-in value of my car. The sales person offered over $2000 less than the minimum Edmunds suggested trade in value! I almost walked out over this insult! After another 30 minutes of the sales person negotiating more with the sales manager than with me, they agreed to meet the minimum Edmunds trade in value. Next step was the paperwork. Since I wanted to get on the road I had planned to write a personal check and get on my way. WRONG!. There is only one person who preps all the paperwork. He knew his stuff and was fairly quick, but it took almost two hours before it was my turn, and then another 45 minutes to get through the red tape! All total it took FOUR hours to buy a used car with a personal check (cash). To top it off I left without a title because my check had to clear. Odd. Many "institutions" can check your credit-worthiness, and bank balances, almost immediately - like an ATM! So I had to wait three more weeks before my title arrived, even though my check cleared two days after my visit! To summarize, I hate car dealers. Whether the car is new or used, financed or cash, it takes FOREVER to get the deal done. Here's an idea, once you have agreed to a price tell them you'll take the car only if they agree to discount the car $100 per every hour you wait for them to waste your time! Guarantee they'll have you on the road in 45 minutes flat!

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by vijay574 on 03/26/2015

I bought 2015 Acura MDX on December 13th 2014 from this dealer. I spent 4 hours at the dealership and finished all the paper work. They gave me the temporary registration for the new vehicle which is valid till 1/12/2015 and said I will get the title documents and registration plates with in 2 -3 weeks. I was so happy with their service and left the dealership with my new vehicle. On January 9th 2015, dealer called me and said there was a mistake with the paper work and they have to do it all over again (re-apply the loan and all) and asked me to sign the documents which they are going to mail me soon. I asked about registration plates since my temporary registration is expiring on 1/12/2015 and the dealer replied plates are ready once they received the documents they will mail it right away. On January 12th 2015, I received the papers, signed it and mailed back to the dealer on the same day hoping to get the registration plates soon. On January 13th 2015, dealer received the documents On January 14th 2015, I called dealer 3 times to check the status of the title documents and left voice message but no response (temporary registration got expired on 1/12/2015 and was not able to drive the car) On January 16th 2015 I called 10 times (counted my call log) and left several messages to check the status of the title documents and plates and no response. (temporary registration got expired on 1/12/2015 and was not able to drive the car) On January 19th 2015, After calling so many times finally the dealer responded and said it will take 4 – 6 weeks to get the registration plates and nothing they can do with the expired temporary registration and I have to wait till I get the plates ( (temporary registration got expired on 1/12/2015, so I can’t drive the car until I get the registration plates) Exactly after two months of the purchase date (December 13th 2014), and one month after the expiration of temporary registration (Jan 12th 2015) finally I received the papers and registration plates on Feb 11th 2015. I was not able to drive my new car for almost one month and wasted so much time dealing with all this. By the way on the title papers the purchase date is mentioned as 1/2/2015 but the actual purchase date is 12/13/2014. Lessons I learnt: 1. They don't know how to do the paper work 2. They lie 3. Worst buying experience in my life 4. Unfortunately couple of people (sales person who sold me the car and the general manager)who was trying to help me out left the company and others doesn't take the responsibility and addressed the issue. 5. Two of my friends bought their MDX after mine from other dealers had no issues with their purchase and was able to drive their vehicles since day 1. So, before buying any car research about the dealer too not just the car.

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by jima10 on 12/14/2014

I purchased my new MDX a month ago and love it more everyday!!!!!! Love the way it drives in the city or on the highway. I talked to Trade up specialist Harry Gianos, who was fantastic. Harry and his sales manager, Lovell Clark, got me a deal that I just could not pass up with just the right options I wanted. Both were patient and made the purchase go smooth. It's very hard to find that nowadays at car dealers.

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by marym7 on 06/18/2014

Best car buying experience Bought a new 2014 Acura MDX AWD with Tech package. My sales guy was Elson, and he couldn't be any nicer! Best sales guy I've ever dealt with. He was kind, honest, and very knowledgable. They gave me the best deal on my trade in, than any other dealership I had gone to. I also got a great deal on my new MDX! From start to finish, everyone we dealt with was the absolute best...Elson, Ed D., Bruce, and even the finance guy! Best overall car buying experience I've ever had...didn't have to haggle, and I never felt a high pressure sales pitch. Bravo McGrath Acura of Morton Grove! I'll be sending all my friends here! By the way, I am absolutely loving my new MDX!!

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by don253 on 04/11/2014

Bruce S., the sales person who took care of me, did a great job of working to get me in a car with the features I wanted and at the right price. His communication (both face-to-face & email) with me during our negotiations and throughout the close was superb and made the entire deal go smoothly.

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by 1019988 on 04/05/2014

I purchased a new 2014 MDX from this dealership through internet with sales rep Linda F. in price negotiation and vehicle selection. she is so efficient and trustful to work with. she quoted me a price with clearly indicating the dealer's own benefits such as one full year wearable parts replacement, dens removal, lifetime car washes. By comparing, after purchasing service is the best although the quoted price was not the lowest but I accepted since there wee no other hidden cost and pending terms. Due to all questions were discussed and filed through E-mail, the purchasing was much simple. Sales rep Elson Y. is very knowledgeable and professional and high efficient in paperwork preparation. We tested drive the car we picked up online, demonstrated feature, instrument functions. whole time spending in the showroom were pleasant in the enjoyable environment. Deyou Guo and Hong Tao

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by samilevi7 on 08/30/2013

Great experience in leasing a 2nd Acura MDX from this dealer. Friendly staff and they made sure the leasing process was not painful. Will definitely continue recommending them to friends and family.

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by mlcacura on 07/25/2013

Both gentlemen were very professional and helpful. The finance manager helped us a lot as regards pricing - tried his best to come up as close to our requests as possible. Will definitely come back here again.

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by AlpineN on 07/08/2013

Ryan S. was extremely helpful and attentive to my needs. He was a great listener and got me a great deal. This was my first purchase as Acura buyer and I am thankful for his patience in helping me throughout the whole process. I would definitely recommend this dealer to all of my friends. Great customer service.

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