Nissan of Clearwater

Nightmare we couldn’t wake up from Our major complaint with our recent new car purchase at this dealership was two-fold. One was the ridiculous length of time it took to complete the de Our major complaint with our recent new car purchase at this dealership was two-fold. One was the ridiculous length of time it took to complete the deal (which is still not done) and the other was the incompetency that was demonstrated by the sales people along the way. When we walked into Fuccillo Nissan at 9:45 AM, Monday, 12/24/18, we knew the type of vehicle(s) we were interested in buying and we also knew the budget we were restricted to. Our preference was a mid-sized cross-over but we were under no illusion that we may have to settle for a small cross-over to fit our budget. Turns out after a few hours of negotiations there was “no way” that Fuccillo could put together a deal on the Murano (which we loved incidentally) to meet our budget. So we turned our attention to the smaller Rogue. In spite of a tight time window for us personally because we had other scheduled appointments we ended up spending six hours and forty five minutes (9:45 AM – 4:30 PM) at this dealership on Christmas Eve day then another nine hours (12:00 noon – 9:00 PM) on Wednesday, 12/26/18. We spent Almost SIXTEEN HOURS altogether on the sales floor at Fuccillo Nissan just to purchase one vehicle and when we left at 9:00 PM on the second day we still weren’t done! The first few hours went pretty much as you would expect with the beginning stages of the “negotiations” however after that it slowly and painfully went downhill for the next 13-14 hours. Here are a few highlights of the comedy of errors; 1. During our test drive at around noon on the first day in a silver 2019 Rogue we ran out of gas about 2-miles from the dealership. There were additional aggravating factors with this occurrence other than the fact that it cost us 30-45 minutes down time but I’ll leave it at this for now. (Hello? Are the sales people not taught to look at the fuel gauge before bringing the car up for a test drive?). 2. This next occurrence is not particularly the dealer’s fault per se but more of a lesson in the category of “let the buyer beware”. Case in point we went to Fuccillo with the fullest intent to PURCHASE a vehicle, not LEASE a vehicle. After test driving the Rogue and expressing interest in getting FUCCILLO’s best offer for the purchase of a Rogue after many trips back & forth (Management guy Sharif Levent to the sales gods behind the counter) we were again told that they still could not meet our budget. ALAS! Unless of course we were open to considering a Lease which then they could magically get our monthly payment down to a few dollars under our budget. After many questions back & forth (we knew nothing about Leases and how they worked) we finally came to terms and agreed to going ahead with a Lease on the Rogue if in fact they could provide a black one with the same amenities (interior, etc.) as the silver one we test drove. Mr. Levent sent the sales guy (Thomas Stewart) out to check stock who reported back that there was no issue. They had a black Rogue in stock that matched the silver one so away we went with the Lease deal. Pay attention to this color exchange and comment as it becomes important later on. 3. The remainder of that first day was spent waiting for Sales & Finance to complete the paperwork and get us out of there in time to meet our Christmas Eve Dinner reservations at 4:45 PM in Palm Harbor. They couldn’t get the paperwork done in time for us to leave on time so they told us to go ahead and take the car with a dealer tag and return on 12/26/18 to complete the deal. When we inquired as to how much longer the paperwork would take the response was “not more than a few hours”. So I said if we get back by noon on the 26th we should be out of here by 2:00 or so? Answer – correct. Keep in mind at this point no one has told us that we were responsible for getting our own insurance coverage on the car. Again we knew nothing about Leases and assumed that insurance must be included in the Lease. We left at 4:30 PM which put us driving straight to our dinner reservations without being able to go home, change clothes and freshen up. 4. On Wednesday the 26th we arrived at noon and basically spent the next five hours between the customer’s lounge and the sales floor chasing our sales guy and others around the dealership trying to find out what the heck was taking so long only to be told over & over again “it won’t be long now”. 5. At a few minutes after five on the 26th our sales guy came to us and asked about the proof of insurance so we wouldn’t have any further delays once the paperwork was done. We expressed surprise and I asked why in the two days we’ve been camped out at this dealership did no one think to mention to us that we had to get coverage for the car? No explanation. My wife made the attempt to get proof of coverage from our carrier who is a national company but at first they wouldn’t override our local insurance agent’s request on our policy that he handles all changes and modifications to the policy. I was furious with the sales guy because had we known during regular business hours this would’ve been a non-issue but because they were remiss in informing us of this little detail until after hours on the second day here we are in another crisis. He went and got a manager (Phil Tallon) who informed me that they couldn’t let us take the car without written proof of insurance. After a heated exchange between myself and Mr. Tallon where I was ready to kill the deal, take our old trade-in and go to the house cooler heads prevailed and thanks to Finance guy’s (Mike Elgawly) extra effort who stopped me from leaving with our old car he made this work. 6. At around 7:00 PM on the 26th we were informed that the deal was ready to be signed and we were minutes from being done and out of there! We went into Mike’s office to finalize the deal and after Mike explained all of the other options that were available to us with a Lease we were ready to sign. While reading all of the details on the header at the top of the page to ensure accuracy prior to signing I noticed that on the line for color they had “Silver”. I brought the discrepancy to Mike’s attention and then checked the VIN number against the number we had hand-written on a piece of scrap paper from the sales guy and it didn’t match either. So then Mike Elgawly and I went out to the parking lot and confirmed that the VIN number on the car we were sold did not match the lease. At this point we were given two options from Mike, one we could go home and return the next business day and complete the deal or two, hang in there that night until he made the necessary corrections. At issue and what made the corrective procedure somewhat time consuming was the fact that the wrong car had been submitted to their bank and was approved for financing for us. I.e.; virtually all the support documentation in their package was based on the wrong car and everything had to first be cancelled then re-submitted. We elected to hang in there that evening until the deal was done. Mike got everything reversed, re-approved, we signed our lives away and he got us out of there at around 9:00 PM give or take. 7. We still do not have our second key which is supposed to come with all new cars and we were informed that we have one more document to sign so we have yet another trip to Fuccillo to complete the deal. In closing, I cannot say enough good things about the Finance Mgr. Michael Elgawly at Fuccillo Nissan. if it wasn’t for him taking the bull by the horns on various issues and stages with our deal I’m convinced my wife and I would still be sitting there. As for the rest of the Sales Team, I just have to shake my head. Mr. “HUGE” has certainly figured out how to get folks in the door, but getting the deal done and getting them back out of the door is another matter. At least in our case it was a marathon. And don’t get me started on the Cruise deal. Again buyer beware, please read and heed the fine print! Jim Fenton More