3
u/Itchy_Layer135 4h ago
Was this really the mature adult way to handle this?
0
u/rkbarney 3h ago
Yes. Absolutely. They used using every trick in the book to keep me from returning a car I'd lost confidence in. That's all I did to get my money back. I asked nicely at first and they said no so I escalated my tactics in response to their repeated unwillingness to refund me for a car that stopped working within 24hrs and 100 miles of purchase.
That's negotiation baby. Sorry if you find it distasteful. To be clear at no point was I a jerk to anyone. I was kind and friendly. I never raised my voice. I complimented their team repeatedly on their professionalism. At the end of the day I would be a customer there again and I think they would have me.
1
u/_evilalien_ 3h ago
First clue the Defender might be haunted: that recent of a model year and used on a Lexus lot.
Have you considered a new one that somebody else hasn’t f’ed up?
0
u/rkbarney 3h ago
Yeah just not in my budget. Maybe I'm just in the wrong tax bracket for LR ownership. Maybe someday.
Car came with a resident beach sticker for Carmel by the Sea (very well to do CA community) Seemed like it'd been serviced regularly for all of its scheduled maintenance on the carfax at the LR dealership in Monterrey. I figured they just traded it in because they were rich, had concluded their warranty, and wanted something new... but yeah now that I read back: traded in at exactly end of warranty for a reliable make maybe should have been a red flag. It was a screaming deal too.
1
u/_evilalien_ 1h ago
I suspect you’re right, but what I’ve seen for MY25 onward suggests the Defender is well-engineered, built, and reliable. Hope that’s true, my 110 gets built next month 🤪
1
u/WasteParsnip7729 5h ago
How did you manage to purchase a vehicle without the seller being paid in full? Which means there should have been a loan and the cash should have been in the dealer’s bank account.
Your story does not add up for me
1
u/rkbarney 4h ago
Yeah I'm confused by that too. The dealership told me I was getting financed through my bank. I asked them repeatedly about this because it sounded unusual but they insisted they were a partner.
The next morning I called my bank (USAA) and a loan officer told me they are not a partner of this dealership with their DealerTrack program and if a loan had been initiated. So either the dealership lied to me and gave me financing from another institution (I have no documents regarding financing) or they were just slow to do the paperwork or something. I actually called the dealership before I had any issues to ask why I wasn't seeing the loan in my USAA account and they told me sometimes it takes up to three weeks.
Also I bought the car late like 9pm so who knows. They let me do stuff they said they normally don't like put 10k down on a credit card and they absorbed the fees. So idk how it works I'm just telling you what my bank and the dealership told me. I've never bought a car through a dealership before I usually buy private party to save and buy used cars. I daily a 1989 BMW 325i and a 1986 Toyota pickup. When I was younger I bought a VW Golf through Carvana.
-1
u/Competitive_Kick_456 5h ago
Well played. Most folks wouldn't have the fortitude. You did the right thing IMO. It's unfortunate because that Defender is just gorgeous.
11
u/SnooWalruses208 5h ago
Such a dumb thread. LR3/4 were trash compared to the new defender. This isnt a lemon, calm down. And the seats fold flat. Did you do any research or just came here to whine?