My wife and I had a HORRIBLE used car buying experience with Covert - we were sold the wrong car trim under false pretenses by the sales manager, Jamie.
DETAILS:
We were looking for a smaller car with good features. After much research, we had narrowed down our choice to a 2013 Chevy Cruze 1LT with a turbo-charged 1.4L engine and cruise control. We came across a listing by one of the Covert dealerships on CarGurus.com and I reached out via the CarGurus web site to see if the car is available for a test drive and purchase.
Mark Reiland, one of their sales reps, sent back an email confirming its availability. I asked to confirm location and working hours and Mark realized the car wasn't on his lot so he said he'd locate it the next day. Next day came, and no follow-up occurred, so I called again and was told the car was at the Covert Buick GMC dealership on Research Blvd.
We went there to test drive and buy the car on the spot (that was the plan) but the sales rep, Bernadette, informed us that Mark had provided incorrect information and that the car was actually at the Bastrop dealership. She then mentioned they just got in a different Chevy Cruze that day and that we could consider that instead if we wanted. Having wasted 2 days already trying to buy the original listing, we said fine and went to test drive.
I wanted to confirm this was a Chevy Cruze 1LT, not LS, so I asked if this car had cruise control. The sales rep pointed out the lever that had "set/clear" on it to the left of the steering wheel and said the thought this was cruise control. This was mistake #1 on our part, believing without testing it.
The car seemed fine otherwise but it was priced $1.3K more than the original one we came in for so we said we'd rather wait for them to get the original car we came in for anyway. Jamie, a used car sales manager at this location, stepped in and said he'd give it to us for only $300 more than the one we wanted, even though it had fewer miles on it.
This seemed a little too good to be true to us (we didn't even intend to negotiate) but we said yes. However, when they brought up both the CarFax and AutoCheck reports, both of them stated this car was the LS trim, which lacked both cruise control and had a less efficient, weaker 1.8L engine.
That's when Jamie quickly fabricated a lie: He claimed that the manufacturer must've recorded this wrong at the factory and he showed us their own inventory screen claiming it was an LT trim.
I don't know why we believed that a used car sales manager would be more trustworthy than the manufacturer's info, but he seemed friendly. That and our belief that the car had cruise control, made us believe him. HUGE mistake #2.
Ultimately, we picked up the car the next day and drove home. This was the first time I drove this car (I had test-driven another LT at another dealer the week before so I'd let my wife test drive this one). I couldn't find the cruise control while driving. After taking a close look, I realized the "set/clear" lever was for controlling the trip computer.
I called the sales rep the next business day to report this problem and she mentioned she didn't mean to mislead us and that she went by what by the info her manager Jamie said about the car trim. She said she'd talk to the sales managers and see what they can do.
2 days later, I called again and the sales rep was basically saying "you saw the paperwork and yet you paid for it. No returns". I know that, legally, we'd already been duped, but we were planning to use them for service for our two GM cars and I was trying to get off the warpath so I offered that maybe they can at least match the original car price by refunding $300. It was meant more to get a gesture of goodwill from them (proving it was a mistake) as well as for us to feel that we didn't pay more for the lesser car. However, the sales rep, said that was unlikely but she'd have a sales manager look at it and call me anyway. We tried a couple of times more but Jamie never called or returned voice mail.
At this point, we have learnt three important lessons that I hope other readers can take to heart, too:
1. Never use Covert for any future purchase and not even service.
2. Never let a used car salesmen pick a car for you because they can trick you into getting a car you don't want. Stick with what you originally picked.
3. Never ever believe that a car salesman has more accurate information than what you got, or that they'd automatically give you a good deal without even negotiation.
Covert Buick GMC Austin Reviews
My wife and I had a HORRIBLE used car buying experience with Covert - we were sold the wrong car trim under false pretenses by the sales manager, Jamie.
DETAILS:
We were looking for a smaller car with good features. After much research, we had narrowed down our choice to a 2013 Chevy Cruze 1LT with a turbo-charged 1.4L engine and cruise control. We came across a listing by one of the Covert dealerships on CarGurus.com and I reached out via the CarGurus web site to see if the car is available for a test drive and purchase.
Mark Reiland, one of their sales reps, sent back an email confirming its availability. I asked to confirm location and working hours and Mark realized the car wasn't on his lot so he said he'd locate it the next day. Next day came, and no follow-up occurred, so I called again and was told the car was at the Covert Buick GMC dealership on Research Blvd.
We went there to test drive and buy the car on the spot (that was the plan) but the sales rep, Bernadette, informed us that Mark had provided incorrect information and that the car was actually at the Bastrop dealership. She then mentioned they just got in a different Chevy Cruze that day and that we could consider that instead if we wanted. Having wasted 2 days already trying to buy the original listing, we said fine and went to test drive.
I wanted to confirm this was a Chevy Cruze 1LT, not LS, so I asked if this car had cruise control. The sales rep pointed out the lever that had "set/clear" on it to the left of the steering wheel and said the thought this was cruise control. This was mistake #1 on our part, believing without testing it.
The car seemed fine otherwise but it was priced $1.3K more than the original one we came in for so we said we'd rather wait for them to get the original car we came in for anyway. Jamie, a used car sales manager at this location, stepped in and said he'd give it to us for only $300 more than the one we wanted, even though it had fewer miles on it.
This seemed a little too good to be true to us (we didn't even intend to negotiate) but we said yes. However, when they brought up both the CarFax and AutoCheck reports, both of them stated this car was the LS trim, which lacked both cruise control and had a less efficient, weaker 1.8L engine.
That's when Jamie quickly fabricated a lie: He claimed that the manufacturer must've recorded this wrong at the factory and he showed us their own inventory screen claiming it was an LT trim.
I don't know why we believed that a used car sales manager would be more trustworthy than the manufacturer's info, but he seemed friendly. That and our belief that the car had cruise control, made us believe him. HUGE mistake #2.
Ultimately, we picked up the car the next day and drove home. This was the first time I drove this car (I had test-driven another LT at another dealer the week before so I'd let my wife test drive this one). I couldn't find the cruise control while driving. After taking a close look, I realized the "set/clear" lever was for controlling the trip computer.
I called the sales rep the next business day to report this problem and she mentioned she didn't mean to mislead us and that she went by what by the info her manager Jamie said about the car trim. She said she'd talk to the sales managers and see what they can do.
2 days later, I called again and the sales rep was basically saying "you saw the paperwork and yet you paid for it. No returns". I know that, legally, we'd already been duped, but we were planning to use them for service for our two GM cars and I was trying to get off the warpath so I offered that maybe they can at least match the original car price by refunding $300. It was meant more to get a gesture of goodwill from them (proving it was a mistake) as well as for us to feel that we didn't pay more for the lesser car. However, the sales rep, said that was unlikely but she'd have a sales manager look at it and call me anyway. We tried a couple of times more but Jamie never called or returned voice mail.
At this point, we have learnt three important lessons that I hope other readers can take to heart, too:
1. Never use Covert for any future purchase and not even service.
2. Never let a used car salesmen pick a car for you because they can trick you into getting a car you don't want. Stick with what you originally picked.
3. Never ever believe that a car salesman has more accurate information than what you got, or that they'd automatically give you a good deal without even negotiation.