Luther Westside Volkswagen

Reviews 3

AN

Anthony Bessel

I recently shopped at Luther Westside Volkswagen for a new GTI after a good experience with buying another new GTI there in the past. I had done a lot of homework on the GTI and walked in knowing exactly what I wanted. Once I arrived, I was greeted promptly and introduced to a sales person who was friendly and polite. After a short conversation I learned that Westside did not have the exact car but did have one that came close. Unfortunately it was not only missing an option I wanted but also had some issues after being used as a display vehicle at a recent local event. On a side note, you may be surprised to learn what a car can experience and still be considered "new". I asked my sales person to search nearby dealerships to see if he could locate one. He excused himself from the room to check what was in the system. He came back a few minutes later and informed me that there just werent any cars out there matching my criteria. At this point I accepted the fact my exact car was not out there short of ordering one. Since that wasnt something I was willing to do, I chose to compromise on exterior color instead. Once again, the sales person excused himself to search the system. A few minutes later he returned and informed me that there was a matching car but was on a train headed somewhere. I dont know where exactly it was headed but it certainly felt like getting that car would have been like moving the Earth. I was reminded again of the car on their lot I firmly rejected. I was also given the opportunity to reserve a GTI inbound to Westside VW that cost more than I wanted to spend. I chose to table the conversation and go home to think things over. The following morning I began to have my doubts about this supposed rarity. I fired up my PC and after 5 minutes of searching I found a car locally that matched my criteria. After more searching I found two additional matching GTIs locally at different lots. As I called around I asked why these cars were not showing up in the inventory system. As it turns out they were all visible during my visit to Westside VW. It was explained that since the GTI is a hot item for Volkswagen right now, dealerships simply arent willing to trade them with each other. In order to prevent a lost sale, the sales person may tell potential customers the car they want doesn’t exist. This of course makes something already on their lot more appealing. I can understand not wanting to lose a sale from the sales persons point of view. This does not excuse dishonestly to customers. I would never expect a referral to the competition but there are ways the situation could have been handled without fabricating information. I was on a mission to find my perfect car and was going to buy the first match that I could get. Needless to say the GTI sitting in my garage right now did not come from Westside VW. Had my sales person not led me to believe the car sitting in my garage did not exist, I would have been happy to make Westside my home for maintenance, repairs, and accessories. That business will now be going elsewhere.

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Adam Ruben

I first met our sales guy, Bobby, a few months ago when I was tire-kicking and went to look at an older Honda Odyssey they had on the lot for cheap. I didnt like it, but I really liked Bobbys personality. So when I went back to check out the Routans, I was glad to see that Bobby was there and ready to help. The no-haggle, no pressure model is such a pleasure and the whole staff were courteous and sweet to me and my family. My toddler and 1-year-old were free to sit in the used cars pretending to drive, or hang out and watch TV and play with toys while we got the paperwork in order and everyone was very sweet to them. The Used Car side could use a few more toys to entertain kids during the car-buying process, but at least they try to get you through it as quickly as possible. And the Service Dept. has many more amenities if we need to spend time there (we havent yet, but their great reputation has us feeling confident that well be treated well). Now a quick review of the vehicle and why were glad we bought it at Luther WestSide: When we were ready to get serious about buying a minivan, I did a ton of research and we test drove a few. The Town & Country had the most amenities but had poor handling. The Odyssey drives great and has some nice features but the used ones are still extremely expensive. I wasnt too optimistic about driving a Routan because its built on a Town & Country platform and some reviews I read said that it was basically the same but with a "slightly firmer" suspension. I totally disagree - I found the Routan to be worlds better to drive than the Town & Country. Its stiff and European and feels like a million bucks. It is actually fun to drive - and my other vehicle is a BMW, so I love performance and handling. And with its few little body tweaks and VW interior styling, it looks way nicer than the Town & Country as well. As for bang for the buck, its really nicely appointed and we were able to get last years model with under 20k miles for 4 grand less than a comparable Odyssey that was a year older and had about 40k miles. As for reliability, because it was a newer car and a Certified Used vehicle, we were basically covered bumper-to-bumper for another 4 years. We added a very affordable comprehensive plan so now were covered for the next 8 years or up to 100k miles for about 20 bucks. That negates any possible concerns about reliability - right down to the Nav system, the DVD entertainment system, etc. - its all covered. End of story. We feel like we got a no-worries, brand new vehicle for half price.

LA

Larry Basnett

I understand everyone incurs different levels of satisfaction based on their experience. For me, this purchase goes down as one of the worst I have experienced. I say this because of the way I was treated by the salesperson (David H.). I understand car salesman in general have a bad rep which goes without saying but this took the cake. The 2015 GTI was on my top 3 list and I had very specific requirements on what I wanted in my vehicle. My salesperson continued to try and force me to take a vehicle in their stock off his hands although I did not want it. I made Luther try to find the model I wanted and they made it feel like I was asking for the world. My salesperson (David H.) went as far as accusing me of trying to rip off Luther and VW as well as stating what else do you want without paying for it? In addition he used a curse word and a raised voice as he told me all of this. Once I did purchase it he then placed extreme pressure on me to give all 10s on the survey in which I did so reluctantly and now regret. Once I drove off the lot and came back to get my plates it was as if the customer service was gone. My salesperson (David H.) said he was too busy with new potential buying customers to put my plates on the vehicle. In addition he stated he would set up an appointment to have an additional stock item put on at reduced price but never scheduled it and blew me off. One additional note is it took them almost a month to get a check off to my former financing company towards buying out my former lease. This almost impacted my credit and while chasing this down again the absolute lack of customer service was terrible. I am very thankful to the General Manager who stepped in and made things right so clearly he just has a bad apple in this salesperson. So in the end, what I will say is I am happy with my GTI and I got the model I wanted but the feeling of a bad taste in your mouth post-purchase I have never experienced more than with this purchase. I will never consider another purchase at a Luther dealership and I really hope they lasso this salesperson and his lack of customer focus at Westside. I wish everyone best of luck with your own experiences as they all differ and this is just a post in an attempt to save someone the same experience I had. If you do choose to use Westside my advice is stay far away from this salesperson. I will say my first experience with the Service Dept. was awesome!