A friend, who is a young, black, working single mother, drove into Napleton Nissan with a trade in that was no longer drivable. She left with a 10,000 used car on a 5 year, 26% loan.
While the dealer probably had a very good day, that was not the issue. They are legally entitled to gouge as deep as a customer will allow them.
The issue came a couple of weeks later. Since my friend could not afford the car Nissan set her up with, they "helpfully" structured her down payment into 3 payments (one immediate, and then one immediately after she received her next two pay checks).
Going over her finances together, it was clear that she was in a position where she could not afford the car, at least not both the up front costs (down payments, tax, tags, etc), plus insurance, plus payments at 26%.
This is where the official complaint starts. I visited the dealer to discuss options for having the car returned or repossessed. The used car manager (Shawn Moody) advised me that it would be better to have Nissan forgive the final $400 down payment, and allow my friend to then use that money towards the first few payments. This seemed very fair. It allowed my friend to keep the car, and I would guess Napleton Nissan still had a pretty good day on the sale. I asked Shawn what I needed to do, and he said "Nothing, I will take care of it."
Later that day I sent Shawn an email thanking him for forgiving the $400. Within the next few days, Shawn was no longer at the company. When my friend went in to pick up a safety inspection sticker, they told her that she needed to pay the $400. I contacted Rick Perez, the new manager (and, as he said, good buddy of Shawn), and explained everything. Rick said it was irrelevant, that they had a contract, I had nothing in writing, and so had to pay. I asked Rick to check his company email to confirm my version of events, and he refused.
Bottom line, Nissan saw an opportunity to make $400 and they took it. The money means little to them, but to a single mother, working a full time job, while looking for a second to pay her new bills, it is heartless, as well as immoral.
I recommend everyone stear clear of this operation. They give even used car dealers a bad name.
Napleton Nissan Reviews
A friend, who is a young, black, working single mother, drove into Napleton Nissan with a trade in that was no longer drivable. She left with a 10,000 used car on a 5 year, 26% loan.
While the dealer probably had a very good day, that was not the issue. They are legally entitled to gouge as deep as a customer will allow them.
The issue came a couple of weeks later. Since my friend could not afford the car Nissan set her up with, they "helpfully" structured her down payment into 3 payments (one immediate, and then one immediately after she received her next two pay checks).
Going over her finances together, it was clear that she was in a position where she could not afford the car, at least not both the up front costs (down payments, tax, tags, etc), plus insurance, plus payments at 26%.
This is where the official complaint starts. I visited the dealer to discuss options for having the car returned or repossessed. The used car manager (Shawn Moody) advised me that it would be better to have Nissan forgive the final $400 down payment, and allow my friend to then use that money towards the first few payments. This seemed very fair. It allowed my friend to keep the car, and I would guess Napleton Nissan still had a pretty good day on the sale. I asked Shawn what I needed to do, and he said "Nothing, I will take care of it."
Later that day I sent Shawn an email thanking him for forgiving the $400. Within the next few days, Shawn was no longer at the company. When my friend went in to pick up a safety inspection sticker, they told her that she needed to pay the $400. I contacted Rick Perez, the new manager (and, as he said, good buddy of Shawn), and explained everything. Rick said it was irrelevant, that they had a contract, I had nothing in writing, and so had to pay. I asked Rick to check his company email to confirm my version of events, and he refused.
Bottom line, Nissan saw an opportunity to make $400 and they took it. The money means little to them, but to a single mother, working a full time job, while looking for a second to pay her new bills, it is heartless, as well as immoral.
I recommend everyone stear clear of this operation. They give even used car dealers a bad name.