Stateline Chrysler Jeep Dodge Ram

IMPORTANT NOTE: During our recent purchase, we dealt with 4 different employees and experienced varying degrees of satisfaction with each. Cedric Fullwood (Salesman) was OK. Ed Hiebendahl (Internet Sales) wa 4 different employees and experienced varying degrees of satisfaction with each. Cedric Fullwood (Salesman) was OK. Ed Hiebendahl (Internet Sales) was GREAT! Mike (Sales Manager) was SUPER FANTASTIC! This negative review was written solely based on our experience with JOHN TROUTMAN, USED CAR SALES MANAGER....AND YOU SHOULD BE WARE!!!! We were in the market for a pickup truck and did a great deal of our pre-shopping online. After discovering a Dodge Dakota that seemed to meet our needs on Stateline's web site, we went in for a test drive. Cedric greeted us and was very nice. After the test drive, we remained interested in the truck and went inside. Now here is where the problems began. Cedric introduces us to the Used Car Sales Manager, John Troutman. John runs the numbers and comes back with a ridiculous price of almost $19K for a 2007 Dodge Dakota with 60K miles. In addition to the price being much more than the value of the truck, $1K in junk fees had been added to the cost of the truck. When we mentioned that a different dealer had offered us a lower price on the larger, higher grade Dodge Ram 1500, with fewer miles, John tries to convince us that the Dodge Dakota is a better truck...obviously a sleazy used car salesman tactic. Needless to say, we leave without making the purchase. As we walk towards the door, John states "I have a Ram that I can sell you". Note that this comes after he's just attempted to discourage us from purchasing a Ram. We inquire about the price and are told that the truck is a recent trade and has not been priced yet. John states "I have to see how much I have in it, and will call you with a price". Well, we never hear back from John, but Cedric calls to see if we might have further considered the Dakota. We tell him that we had ruled the Dakota out before leaving the store, and that we have since made a firm decision to go with a Dodge Ram. We also tell him that we had not heard back from John regarding the price on the Ram that he had mentioned during our visit. But still…… no call back from John. We continue our search and a few days later locate a 2007 Dodge Ram with 47K miles at CarMax. The truck is priced several thousand dollars below Stateline's Dodge Dakota. We have test driven the truck, slept on it over night, and are in route to purchase the truck when we receive a call from Ed to inquire about our interest in Stateline’s Dakota. We tell him we're not interested in the Dakota and why, and inform him that we were in route to purchase a Ram from CarMax. He asks if we might be interested in purchasing a Ram from Stateline, and we tell him of our prior conversation with John but that John had not called us as promised. Ed asks that we at least allow them the opportunity to give us a quote before making the CarMax purchase…he’s certain they can beat the price. A short while later we receive a call from John. He extends no apologies or explanation for failing to call as he had agreed, but quotes a reasonable price on the Ram. We ask that pictures and a bill of sale be sent, as we wanted to avoid driving 40 miles for another failed deal. During this conversation, John mentions that the truck has step-up rails that are “outdated”, and indicates that he was going to have them removed, as “to me the truck would look better without them”. He frames it as if he would be doing us a favor to have them removed. We get an email from Ed containing the information that we requested. My husband looks at the pictures and likes the truck with the rails. We immediately send a reply asking that the rails be left on the truck, and indicating that we would arrive around noon the following day to make the purchase. The next day we arrive at the dealership to make the purchase. Guess what....the rails are gone. Cedric tells us that the rails were apart of the trade deal made with the previous owner who wanted to keep them. Wow, why didn’t' John say that instead of acting as if he was trying to do us a favor by taking them off? However, Cedric indicates that if rails are a deal breaker, he would get rails put on the truck for us. Of course salesmen have no real power to make these kinds of decisions, so he was really speaking out of turn. He sends us out on a test drive accompanied by another salesman, and when we return casually breaks the news that if we want the rails it will cost us $650. We say no. John then comes over and accuses me of misunderstanding what he said about the rails. I know though that I didn't misunderstand, he simply miss-stated. John acts arrogantly, rudely, does not budge on the issue, and walks away while we're still sitting there. We get up to leave, and Cedric asks if we would be willing to split the cost. We say yes. He again leaves and obviously goes to discuss this option with John. Again, Cedric had presented us with a deal that he did not have the authority to make good on, as John returns and out right says NO DEAL. Again, John acts arrogantly and rudly. We leave angry that Stateline has wasted our valuable time and gas, and has caused us to delay our CarMax purchase. We place a call to Ed to tell him thanks for his help but that the deal had fallen through. We also ask for the owner's contact information in order that we may make him aware of our experience. Ed agrees to call us back, but obviously informs Mike of the situation, because the next call we get is from Mike. Mike is empathetic and wants to amicably resolve the situation. He explains that the truck had been priced so tightly that they really did not have a lot of wiggle room before loosing money on the sale. Mike, like a Great Sales Manager and Excellent Customer Serviceman, looks for other ways to get us what we want without added cost. He is successful in finding other ways to save us money but that still did not hurt the dealership's bottom line in any way. Mike gets the parts and service department to agree to install the rails basically at cost and offers us a full tank of gas. We agree to pay $450 for the rails. With a free tank gas estimated at $70, this amounted to a $55 difference above where we were with Cedric's suggestion that we split the cost 50/50. For $55 more than what we had already agreed to, we thought it was a reasonable compromise and still a good deal. Mike then suggests that we explore getting our loan through one of their lenders. We do, and the lender is willing to beat our bank's interest rate of 3.5%, and saving us about $155 over the life of the loan. At the end of the day, due to Mike's negotiating, we end up making the purchase with what amounts to only $225 in added cost to us for the rails (versus the $325 we were willing to pay). Not only did Mike get us a better deal than the one that John was so quickly willing to walk away from, he made us feel better about Stateline. It is only because of our experience with Mike and Ed that we would even consider referring a friend or doing business with Stateline in the future. JOHN TROUTMAN though knows nothing about customer service, business savvy, or the power of word of mouth advertisement, and is a serious liability to this otherwise sound car dealership. I've also noticed that while Stateline has great customer ratings overall, our rating is not the first one to report negative feedback regarding JOHN TROUTMAN. Stateline for the sake of your own future please either get this man some training or get him trucking! More

Once again, we were totally impressed when we just purchased our third vehicle from James Morris and Jason Harrell at Stateline. I have referred them to several of my friends and coworkers due to thei purchased our third vehicle from James Morris and Jason Harrell at Stateline. I have referred them to several of my friends and coworkers due to their excellent customer service. They are not only attentive, but they truly care about their customers. Once again, thank you so much for making this a great experience and working so hard to make this a memorable experience. You guys are the best!!! Ken and Jane Conroy More

I'm very skittish about buying anything above 1000 dollars, and I went in with the intent only to look. The service started when the management asked me why I wasn't buying a car, I told them that I dollars, and I went in with the intent only to look. The service started when the management asked me why I wasn't buying a car, I told them that I still had my student loans to pay off, they offered to finish paying them. The monthly payment wasn't bad and the options that I had where laid down in front of me. They put the appraised value of the car in front of me as well and offered to sell the car for less then what it was worth. I was nervous buying the car because it was my first ever but given the offer and the vehicle it was the time to buy. More

My overall experience with this dealership was very positive, except for one VERY big glaring problem. They were very friendly and knowledgeable about the cars, but the employee that I initially discu positive, except for one VERY big glaring problem. They were very friendly and knowledgeable about the cars, but the employee that I initially discussed and negotiated the price with, was deceptive about what the actual cost of the vehicle would be. I did all the initial discussions over the phone, and discussed and negotiated at length the price of the vehicle. When I physically went to the dealership, which was a two hour drive for me, to sign paperwork and pay, the price they presented me was $1100 dollars more than the price we agreed on due to various "dealership fees" that were never mentioned before. We had previously spent a lot of time talking about the breakdown of the price, (the base price, plus X amount extra for this and Y amount extra for that) highlighting the couple of discounts or rebates I would get for various reasons, but never mentioning at all a $599 closing fee and a $499 millennium package fee. I would consider $1100 very significant when the price of the vehicle was around $24,000. The entire presentation came off very deceptive when I got there and was handed a price agreement piece of paper that contained everything we had discussed, with the addition of $1100 in additional dealership fees. More

Have had some issues with my new Jeep early on but the staff, Kelly and J in particular seem genuine in their efforts to make things right. We will see what comes of my experience....stay tuned... staff, Kelly and J in particular seem genuine in their efforts to make things right. We will see what comes of my experience....stay tuned... More

My salesman, Emilio Conciatori, was not pushy or impatient. He was extremely pleasant and knowledgable and helpful. He probably becomes good friends with all of his customers because of his great pe impatient. He was extremely pleasant and knowledgable and helpful. He probably becomes good friends with all of his customers because of his great personality. The business manager, Joe Watts, was very nice during my visit. He did his job in a zip, and explained other options very well. I will not hesitate in recommending this Fiat Studio! David Cates More

I purchased this new jeep without seeing it in person, as I have never been to Sateline Jeep. Kelvin Maple was the salesman. Throughout the process, he was professional and understanding of my questions and I have never been to Sateline Jeep. Kelvin Maple was the salesman. Throughout the process, he was professional and understanding of my questions and concerns. He personlly provided 14 different pictues of the jeep and worked to highlight the differences between this jeep and the others I was considering. More

I went in for an oil change on my 2008 Caliber and left with an 2011 Caliber. Travis was helpful and polite as well as the other 2 gentlemen that I spoke with. I have had a great experience buying from S with an 2011 Caliber. Travis was helpful and polite as well as the other 2 gentlemen that I spoke with. I have had a great experience buying from Stateline. Keep up the good work. Thanks, GLyons More

Lucy was very helpful and got the job done. She understood that I knew what I was looking for and once decided helped me make it happen. Thanks Lucy! understood that I knew what I was looking for and once decided helped me make it happen. Thanks Lucy! More

Nathan has been a fantstic person to work with. He is very professional and knowledgeable. I would not hesitate to refer him to any of my friends and family. He truely brought my trust in car salesmen. N very professional and knowledgeable. I would not hesitate to refer him to any of my friends and family. He truely brought my trust in car salesmen. Nathan is a great asset to Stateline and I hope Stateline does everything in their power to keep him for years to come. More