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I went to Atlantic Honda once for service and I will go there NEVER AGAIN!
All I wanted was the tires rotated and an oil change. They guys comes back almost an hour later saying her took a look at my brakes and they needed to be changed BAD. Claiming they were down to the metal, all 4. First off, I know cars and know damn well that they don't go bad all at once. Second the car only had 20k miles on it, so it should NOT be needing brakes. He also mentioned the air filter and cabin filter and blah blah blah a whole list of bull****.
I know he was full of it because I had personally replaced the cabin and air filter only a few thousand miles prior. Afterwards I checked the brakes out myself and there was plenty of meat left.
I'm a guy and this is how they treated me, I could only feel sorry for the women and old folks they rip off.
Avoid ALL Atlantic/Millenium (same owners) dealerships. They are slimy and their service departments will rip you off. Had my truck in Atlantic Toyota and they told me I needed $900 worth of brake work. 2 other places said there was nothing wrong with my brakes at all.
Avoid ALL Atlantic/Millenium (same owners) dealerships. They are slimy and their service departments will rip you off. Had my truck in Atlantic Toyota and they told me I needed $900 worth of brake work. 2 other places said there was nothing wrong with my brakes at all.
I agree. Had the worst experience ever at Atlantic Toyota. Bought a minivan at Nardy Honda this year with no problem.
I havent had any problems at atlantic toyota. I got my corolla in 2004 for UNDER invoice. Also their service has never sold me anything my car didnt need and they always brought me out to my car and showed me what was wrong.
MY parents have not had any complaints about their 2009 honda accord that they bought at atlantic honda either.
One place I would RUN from is Auto World Kia --- biggest ripoff artists in the world.
I've known people who have dealt with Atlantic Hyundai and Atlantic Honda and have had positive experiences in the sales department. The service department is a whole different story, though.
I was searching for a Honda a few months ago and I went to Atlantic Honda. The experience was a high pressure one and they used a lot of low end sales tactics. Almost every Honda dealer that I talked to showed the same tactics.
No matter where you go to by a car, take the following advice:
Go in knowing what you want. If you are exploring, then explore, but never go from exploring to buying in the same session. Know what you want, write it down, build it on the company's website. Know your prices, so no one will take advantage of you.
Know your credit score. One of the favorite tactics of dealerships is to let you buy the car and then come in and say they ran your credit and you didn't qualify for the 0% or whatever promotion they have. I've had every dealer we've bought a car from in the past 10 years try this. Have your credit report handy so you can show them your credit score and tell them if they don't give you the promotional rate you're going to walk.
Avoid the Extras. Dealers will equip the cars with extras that are high profit like sun and sound packages, heated seats, leather, or other stuff that are a big waste if you don't want them. Don't pay for anything you don't need.
Don't Let Them Pressure You. They will make the deal time sensitive if they can. "The promotion ends this week," "This is the last one on the lot," or many other phrases are used to try to get you to purchase now. Understand, cars are a constantly depreciating product. Meaning, they are never worth more as they get older. Thus, promotions on one model will always get better as the cars on the lot get older.
Compare Apples to Apples. A lot of dealers want to break your ability to compare products. Have the dealer run you a price taking in to account all fees, dealer charges, your down payment, interest rate on loan, length of loan and then have them come up with a monthly payment. This way, you can compare apples to apples at each dealer. It is very common for a dealer to sell the car at a lower sticker price, but when all is said and done the monthly payment will actually be higher because of all the little b.s. fees and stuff.
Remember, information is power and when you negotiate information is leverage and the more leverage you have the better position you will have. It doesn't matter what dealer you go to when you armed with the right information.
Good advice above. One other little piece of info, when you make the deal and are ready to sign, go over the numbers again. Make sure they add up or you aren't being charged more than you bargained for. I made a deal on a lease with nothing more than the 1st month down and taxes. The final number was $500 more. The salesman said it was "cap cost reduction". I told him we didn't put that in the deal and I got up to walk out...never made it to the door..it was removed from the final #.
they sure are slimy. i sold new cars there for a few months in 2005. i also helped with my girlfriends purchase of a used car from them 2 years ago. put it like this... she was set on this car, it was the car she wanted and the only one around that fit her budget because of it having higher then normal mileage. if not for that, i would have got up and walked out during the process. if you dont know EXACTLY what you are doing, they WILL get you. even if its only for an extra $4 a month
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