Sergei is the real deal and this was a fantastic - dabaum_85
Sergei is the real deal and this was a fantastic experience. Just to be clear, I'm a real guy, I'm not some ChatGPT bot, and I'm not being paid for this review. This is just the experience I had buying a vehicle sight unseen 1,700 miles away.
I bought a 2006 Honda Odyssey w/ 47,407 miles w/some rear panel cosmetic damage, excellent interior and everything worked, for $4840 out the door. $4500 for the van, a $195 doc fee (which is very reasonable) and a ~3% fee for putting it on a credit card. Couldn't have asked for a better deal!
I don't typically write reviews, but this experience warranted it. I found an ad online for this van. It seemed too good to be true. So I called Sergei's dealership phone number at 10:30pm (11:30pm his time) on a Saturday night. I was expecting to get the dealer voicemail. To my surprise Sergei answered. I apologized for the late hour, told him I expected to leave a voicemail and that I was interested in a van he had listed. I told him I'd be happy to call back Monday during business hours, but he had no problem taking time out of his night to tell me about the van and answer MANY of my questions. He offered to text me the vehicle history report and after a 30 min call I told him I would call him on Monday. I got the report within 5 mins.
On Monday I reconnected with him and explained that I live in Texas and my engineer/mechanic friend lives in Colorado. We planned to fly out there and show up at around the same time, and then needed to get from the airport in Newark to his dealership (about 30 mins away) to do the sale. I asked if he could pick me up at the airport in the van. He could have told me to take an Uber or Taxi, but instead he spent his gas and at least $10-$15 in tolls, and airport fees, and picked us up in the van without hesitation. He got us about 15mins away from the airport and then pulled over and let me finish the drive back to his dealership. It made for the perfect test drive. He held a good conversation and gave good directions back to the dealership.
*side note* If I had one criticism it's the dealership itself. When we arrived it seemed like several used car dealers had taken up both sides of a city block. The office was in a space with several other dealers and businesses. It's not fancy or lavish in anyway. Don't expect some "off the highway, name brand dealers". DON'T take this as a red flag. We quickly realized that it was more like a marketplace and everyone was helping everyone else out.
You have to understand, this is the definition of a "diamond in the rough" scenario. It's just Sergei, he's doing everything, and he goes above and beyond. When we got to the dealership my friend started to inspect all aspects of the van while Sergei and I went into his office to do paperwork. We started, and then my friend came in the office and said that there was an issue with one of the taillights. Turns out there was a crack in the taillight that nobody noticed, that caused it to fill up with water and shorted out the bulbs. Sergei had one bulb on hand that he gave us (for free), then went to another dealer across the street and got the other bulb and gave it to us (for free). My friend took the taillight off and then needed a drill to drill some drain holes. Sergei then went to another dealer and borrowed a drill and drill bits. Got that sorted. We went back in to finish paperwork. Friend comes in and says that the coolant reservoir is low, Sergei hands him a $25+/bottle of the correct coolant and gives it to us (for free). Finished paperwork and we were done.
Got in the van, and we proceeded to drive 1,700 miles in 49 hours back to Texas. The van ran perfectly the entire way. And now my wife and I are at 49,987 miles. We love it every time we drive it.
I'm going to be frank, direct, and crude...Buy every vehicle you F***ing can from Sergei! If he has my next vehicle I wouldn't hesitate buying from him and making the drive back again! By far the BEST dealer I've ever
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