Damerow Ford

We saw a used Mazda3 advertised on their website and decided to look at it closer. Upon entering their lot we were greeted by Alec. He was very helpful. We drove the car and one other car. He answered our questions to the best of his knowledge. He was a fairly new employee so I was not expecting him to have all the knowledge on a vehicle that was not a Ford to begin with. Once we decided we liked the car I wanted to see what they would give us for a trade in and price on the vehicle. Here comes the ratty part of the process. I am willing to play the negotiating game to some extent, but after 2 hours its ridiculous! And first off, I was offended and insulted that they would offer to give me $3000 below blue book for my trade in! When I had already done my homework and knew what my vehicle was worth. Secondly, they would not budge on the sticker price of the Mazda either. Bottom line, I was able to get them to take more for my vehicle, (less then bluebook) but I feel they got the better deal, and if a dealership is willing to try and deceive you on these things; that tells me they are not being fully honest with the whole process. Second gripe. I had told them I was already preapproved through my credit union. They said no problem and that they work with that CU all the time. But they insisted we fill out credit applications. I disputed but finally gave in. Later I found out from my CU I was correct that they did NOT need to run credit checks. Which by the way, dinged my credit score down by 11 points! Later when we went into to do the payment paperwork, the guy in there Yossef? Had a payment contract filled out with much higher interest rate than what I had been quoted from my CU! More debating, and he finally agreed for me to bring a check in the next day and he would tear up the contract. Bottom line, there was a lot of questionable business tactics with this place that show the low level of integrity. If car businesses want repeat business, they must not use these old style sales tactics. With the Internet and reviews, they will just hurt their business in the long run. Being up front and honest all the way is the only way they will become #1. I would recommend Alec the salesmen, but I have to say IMO the other staff members were your typical high pressure sleight of hand individuals that we all try to avoid.