Runde Chevrolet

Runde Chevrolet responded

Thank you for taking the time to fill out this survey about your experience at Runde Auto Group. We are glad to hear that James was so helpful as you made your decision. We appreciate you driving 90 minutes to choose us for your vehicle! Happy motoring! -Your Friends at Runde Auto Group

Runde Chevrolet responded

Thank you for taking the time to tell us about your experience at Runde Auto Group. We are glad to hear that Dave was so helpful and that you were pleased with the purchasing process! We appreciate you choosing us! -Your Friends at Runde Auto Group

Runde Chevrolet responded

I would like to personally address the review this customer posted online in regards to the accusations that she is making against myself as well as the dealership. After reading through the account of her experience at Runde’s, I feel there is a need to clarify some the circumstances. At Runde’s our goal is to provide every customer with the best vehicle purchasing experience available. We hope to always provide them with what they need to know in order to make an informed decision and drive away with a vehicle they will love for years to come. We strive to make the experience more casual, and more enjoyable by providing less haggle than perhaps what they may have experienced in the past at other dealerships. The night the customer came in, I had the vehicle prepared for her and her father to take a test drive. While they were out driving I had gone over her trade to come up with a value that we would be able to show towards the new purchase. While analyzing the car, there were a few concerns that came to our attention. First, it had over 120,000 miles and there were also strange markings in the paint on the driver side quarter panel. It appeared it had been repainted and they clear coated over an area that had some paint runs on it. This raised some red flags as to the history of the vehicle. When entering the VIN into the vehicle history report, it was determined her car had a salvage title and had some major body work done in order to make it drivable again. For anyone that is unaware, a salvage title on a vehicle means it was determined at one point to be a complete loss by an insurance company for damages that exceeds its retail value. This also dramatically reduces the value of the vehicle after it’s been rebuilt due to most people not wanting to buy a salvage title vehicle (rebuilder). So that was the reason for the “half the value” trade offer we showed her. She was looking on KBB.com at trade values for a vehicle like hers before she came in to see us. So she was comparing the book value she saw online with the trade value we presented to her, and that’s why she was upset. As a general rule of thumb, once a vehicle has been branded with a salvage title, book values (like KBB or NADA) no longer apply. But when she returned I had asked if she had any questions about the vehicle, of which she said no, her mother drives one identical to it and therefore is very familiar with the features. She said she really liked it and would like to see what the numbers looked like. When presenting the numbers, we showed according to NADA, the Malibu she was interested in purchasing had a retail value of $18,500. We had it marked down to $16,293. So we were over $2000 under the NADA retail book value, not over as she claimed. I then proceeded to go over her trade-in with her. She informed me she still owed over $3300 on the vehicle. In perfect condition, the trade, according to NADA, booked for $6200. Our initial offer to her was $3500 and I explained this was due to it having a salvage title, high mileage and some visible flaws with its current condition. She was not upside down on her loan and would not need to roll over any negative equity. She asked what that would put her payments at. I explained that I didn’t know offhand where her payments would fall and that the monthly payments would depend on her credit history and what kind of interest rate she could qualify for. I told her we could submit a credit application and send it out to the various banks/credit unions we deal with and see where the numbers come back. She agreed to do so. Since it was so late in the evening, we would not be able to get an approval from any banks until the following morning. I asked if she wanted to sign a bill of sale to lock down the vehicle pending financial approval. She said no, she would wait for the results. The following day our finance manager contacted her and gave her the approval notice along with the rate and what the monthly payments would be. She said it was less than she was budgeting for and would get back in touch with me to move forward. I left her a voicemail to follow up. Later that night I received a phone call from her dad. He wanted to speak to me about the numbers and felt he needed to intervene since his daughter was relatively young. He asked if there was anything we could do with the trade number to help her out since she owed so much on it. I explained the situation again about the salvage title and tried to justify the numbers as much as possible, but said I would speak to the owner and see what we could do. Our owner said he would add an additional $200 to their trade, showing a total of $3700. I called the the dad back and gave him the information. He said he would relay that to his daughter and go from there. After attempting to follow up with her over the next week without hearing anything back, I finally got an email response back saying she was still interested in the Malibu, but she wanted more for her trade. She didn’t indicate any exact dollar amount, so I’m still not sure where the “$300 movement” came from that she mentioned in her review. I explained about how her salvage title trade would end up just going to a local auction since it wasn’t a vehicle we would really consider putting the Runde name behind. It only showed a predicted market value of $3000 if it went through the auction, so the extra $700 was us trying to help out. It was unfortunate that she still owed quite a bit on the loan. She said she did not know that her vehicle had a salvage title before she came into Runde’s. I’m sure this made her angry since she was expecting to be shown a value of what a clean title trade would be, but we don’t feel that her anger should have been directed at our dealership. We are one of just a few dealerships that does not charge any extra fees such as doc or prep fees. So her accusation that we are trying to pad our wallets by not moving any more is unjustified. We were well below book on the Malibu we were trying to sell and we were giving her more for her trade than probably what was warranted. And lastly, the personal attack she decided to take on myself and my fellow salesmen here by calling us “idiots” was completely uncalled for. Personally, I have a college degree and over 10 years of professional experience in business, finance and management. I have passion for make every customer of mine enjoy their experience and want to come back for their next purchase. I’m sorry she couldn’t get the car she was so excited to purchase at the price she had imagined before walking in. Everyone here she dealt with was polite, courteous and professional. We tried everything in our power to assist her in purchasing the car she wanted. But I’m just left feeling bad that she attempted to discredit myself and the Runde name in this fashion.