David Stanley Chevrolet in Norman: Frustrated/upset after a visit there today

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

skatalite

Sharpshooter
Special Hen
Joined
Mar 16, 2009
Messages
770
Reaction score
0
Location
Norman
I don't typically like to rant, but I'm going to anyway.

I'm wondering if you guys think I overreacted, or if you guys would've handled the following situation differently. I appreciate the time you are taking to read this.

- David Stanley has an ad in today's Norman Transcript, on the back page of the sports section. It advertises a new 2013 Chevrolet Spark for $9,995, as part of a July 4 sale going on. I don't have an image of the ad right now, but all it displays is a stock image of the Spark, the stock number, the purchase price and the lease payment. Here is a picture. The car this discussion is about is at the top:

i.imgur.com_1cEeAsO.jpg


- My wife and I go in to check it out at noon. I tell the salesman, Marcus, about the ad but I don't have it with me. He asks where the ad was from and I told him, he went and grabbed the keys to the Spark and we took a test drive.

- I asked Marcus all the normal questions: warranty, options, etc. I also ask him if the car I was driving was the one that was advertised in the paper. He says it's the only one on the lot, is the only one they've had in the last 1.5 months, and that, yes, it was the one that is $9,995. (I was asking because the car is yellow and I wanted green). He tells me they just got this yellow Spark in a couple days ago.

- Marcus proceeds to tell us how the Spark is a well-liked car, and that they had a handful get damaged by the hail storm in March that they sold very quickly afterwards in a hail storm sale. He didn't specify the exact dates, but considering he told us they hadn't had a Spark on the lot in 1.5 months, and that the hail storm was in late March, that means they likely all sold in April.

- Drive went well, I tell Marcus I might be back. My wife and I go home, crunch numbers, decide we'll go for it.

- Around 3 p.m. I head back alone, and meet up with Marcus to begin working a deal. I bring the ad with me, and he tells me that the car in the ad IS NOT the car they have on the lot, but that "since it's the end of the month, we'll likely give it to you for the advertised price." Immediately a red flag is going off because I'm curious why they'd advertise (for a couple days) a car they no longer had in stock. But I let him crunch numbers anyway.

- Marcus comes back and says they'll give me $3,000 on trade-in, and it would bring the total of the Spark to a little over/under $11,000. He then explains the car in the ad was one of the hail-damaged Sparks, and that's why it was priced so low. So, basically, THE CAR IN THE AD WAS A SPARK THEY ALLEGEDLY SOLD 1.5 MONTHS AGO. Furthermore, the ad never states it was a hail-damaged vehicle.

- I explain to Marcus how I'm beginning to feel like this is a bait-and-switch and that we have two options: Either they honor their advertised price, or they give me back my keys and we part ways. He walks off to crunch more numbers.

- Several minutes later, Marcus and a guy named Zane come back. Zane begins talking to me, and I know this trick, so I'm not really patient for it. I explain to him what I explained to Marcus: Either I get the car for the advertised price, or I'm walking. I explain to Zane that Marcus, earlier in the day, told me this Spark was the only one they have had in the last 1.5 months, and confirmed that it was the vehicle in the ad.

- Zane still wants to work something out, so I tell him, again, the terms. He and Marcus walk away for about 5 minutes, then Zane returns and tells me Marcus will get me my keys. No deal is struck. They keep my ad.

- Now, Marcus is a cool guy. I don't blame him for anything other than being ignorant. Ignorant in the sense that he had NO IDEA, obviously, about the ad or what it said, yet he still acted like he did. This Zane guy was a bit forceful but I expected it, so I reacted in kind.

- Either David Stanley tried to do the old bait-and-switch, or they have one of the dumbest advertising departments ever. But somewhere along the line I was being lied to, so that's what I'm mostly upset about. I understand wrong ads happen, whatever, but David Stanley management needs to make sure they get the right ad in the paper and get their employees versed on what deals are going on. Had Marcus known what he was supposed to know, I never would have taken a test drive.
 
Last edited:

TerryMiller

Sharpshooter
Special Hen
Joined
Jun 4, 2009
Messages
18,617
Reaction score
18,196
Location
Here, but occasionally There.
While I've not had any extensive experiences with David Stanley, there have been other threads here at OSA in which others have said that David Stanley is a poor dealership to work with, regardless of their location or type of vehicle sold. The only time I've even been on one of their lots was when they sent a mailer that had a scratch-off prize.

While we were only looking for a specific type of used car, they kept trying to get me into something higher. When we went to leave, I asked about the "prize" we were supposed to get. It turned out to be a $5.00 gift card instead of what was presumed to be a prize of a higher value. Since I'd not heard good things about David Stanley, we just left without making any kind of fuss about the "discrepancy."

Now, unless you are just hung up on GM products, if you want a good, honest dealer, go to El Reno to Diffee Ford. We've been trading with them for about 15+ years.
 

DanB

Sharpshooter
Special Hen
Joined
Sep 30, 2005
Messages
5,458
Reaction score
95
Location
Yukon, OK
I'd walk before setting foot on a David Stanley lot. Chevy dealer of choice Frontier Chevy. Unless they have changed in recent months. Ford choice Diffee in El Reno.
 

Drgnracin72

Sharpshooter
Special Hen
Joined
Jan 10, 2007
Messages
1,444
Reaction score
2
Location
purcell
I've had two dealings with David Stanley, and both were piss poor. what sad, is I got screwed over royaly, and my sister works for them. even after her laying out the family thing to them, I still got the shift. the Zane guy is a douche.
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom