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| - I had an experience similar to Kelley's. I wonder if this is just how they treat women in their 20's.
I went in to take a look around. The part where they showed me cars was fine--the salesperson was knowledgeable and affable and it was a good time, although they didn't really have the car I wanted.
The irritation started in the sales room. The car was out there in the lot at a discount price of $13k. (Technically $12,995 or something, but we all know that's $13k.) I explained that I didn't want to go over $10k, and repeated this point to the salesman while he slowly inched a few hundred down from $13k, all the while using old school linguistic tactics like repeating "You want this car," (even though I told him during the test drive that one of my two majors had been linguistics...) and "it's not going to make much of a difference on your monthly payment." (... I had also told him that my other major was math.)
When I asked him if I could just take a copy of all the papers home and think about it, he blurted out, "What if it were $10k?"
"...Would you sell me this car for $10k?" I said, in faint disbelief that they could afford to make a cut that deep.
So I signed something agreeing that I was serious about the $10k offer and he took it to the manager. Some 10 minutes and a bathroom break later, he came back and wrote a number on the page, which started with 12. I believe it was $12,400.
"That's not 10," I said.
What ensued was a two hour headache as he called in the manager as they attempted to tag-team me into buying the car, ultimately going as low as $11k and showing me their auction records to prove that they really couldn't afford to go lower. Finally, after being carted around the lot another time, standing in the manager's office, I repeated for the last time that the car was probably just "too good" for me, and that I really wanted to go home and take a shower.
They finally let me go. Or so I thought.
That night I got a call from the manager, asking if I'd made a decision. I just took a nap that afternoon, and told him as much, and figured it was standard follow-up. Then I got a call the next day at 10 from the salesman. I explained that I was in the middle of sorting out my new apartment and would probably handle the car thing next week. That didn't stop me from getting a call the next day at 10. And the next. Finally, I asked him if he would stop calling me daily, and he replied, "It's my job."
Awkward silence. I briefly considered putting them on my block list.
"... But I'll stop calling you."
Thankfully he kept that promise. That's why they get 2 stars instead of 1.
I was puzzled that they were so well-reviewed on Google, but there must be something funny happening there, because everyone I spoke to (two different hotel staff people and a taxi cab driver) agreed that they were "sleazy".
If you're not completely sure you want a car from their lot (check online first) you probably shouldn't go unless you have two hours to burn. And don't give them your phone number. Alternatively, try East Madison--there are a ton of different car dealers out in that area and every single one I tried was less aggressive (read: annoying) than Schoepp Motors.
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