Mr Bill
Houston,#2Consumer Comment
Sun, July 27, 2008
Quote- "but I wanted the vehicle at that price bad enough that I just choked it down and paid it." That's why dealers keep on doing things like this--because people keep falling for it!!
Sml001
Missouri City,#3Consumer Comment
Thu, July 24, 2008
First, many dealers allow you to browse inventory after hours. I did two weekends ago. Second, if he never Identified himself as an officer, you should have fought back. Third, Bill Heard are true scam artists, with a punk off duty cop on top of it.
James
Sarasota,#4Consumer Suggestion
Wed, June 25, 2008
I have managed a new car dealership for many years: If a dealer is willing to show a customer an invoice it is legit. The invoice you see is what the dealer originally paid for the vehicle. That invoice will include an addition for advertising (added by the manufacturer for the cost for regional advertising, i.e.: Your Rocky Mountain Chevy dealers etc) and freight and a fill-up of the gas tank. What it doesn't include is "dealer holdback" which is 2.5% to 4% of the invoice amount and paid to the dealership by the manufacturer usually twice a year. Every popular manufacturer does this with the exception of Honda and their related brands. The invoice also doesn't include "dealer cash" which is paid to the dealer at certain times of the year, typically model changeover time and when certain models are in over supply. It will also be used if a model is discontinued or other circumstances where the manufacturer wants to assist the dealer in closing out inventory. The invoice also does not reflect any rebates to customers or the dealer. You stated: "I bought was right at 20,000.00 I had 2200.00 in GM cash from my credit card they also tried to steal. I drove the truck off the lot for 9900.00 after tt&l with no money down" Based on your numbers you paid $12,100 including tax. This is just not possible. Vehicles with a $20K MSRP cost lots more than $12K. New car mark-ups are in the 4 to 8% range. Higher mark-ups on more costly cars. There isn't a 20K MSRP car in the world with a cost near $12K and there isn't a dealer alive that would price a loss leader in this manner. Your typical of people that convince themselves that they got the best of the dealer. Nothing worse than somebody that's worked in the business for almost 4 weeks!
Hj
Houston,#5UPDATE EX-employee responds
Mon, May 05, 2008
I am an ex employee of Bill Heard. I may not agree with everything that is done and may be upset with the company but in its defense. 1. there is a police officer that works there at night, there have been SEVERAL cases of theft at the dealership. rims have been stolen off cars in the middle of the night, vandalism has occured, entire vehicles have been stolen off property. so for you to be walking around at 3am ( which i doubt you were there that early ) would look pretty suspicious regardless of your wife sitting in the next door parking lot. your wife sitting there would just mean you where smart and had a look out for whatever it was you may have been doing. the reason i say i doubt you where there that early is because one thing about bill heard in houston is the employess work a crazy amount of hours, so at that time its pretty likely that someone may have probably still been there. And yes you ARE trespassing when youre on private property after hours. 2. as for the $2,000 for "pin striping" and scotch guard. Thats garbage, you and your salesman both where incompetent. On any given day you may go to the dealership and you "MIGHT" find 2 vehicles with pin striping. and chances are they are vehicles that where brought in from another dealership for some reason. So if you let someone there convince you that you where paying $2,000 for pinstripes first of all you should have checked to see if there where pin stripes on it and you should have checked to see if there where pin stripes on any other vehicles.
Margaret
Houston,#6Consumer Comment
Mon, February 11, 2008
Bill Heard and Landmark are the worst dealerships in the Houston, Texas area. I am not sure how they stay in business, I know I would never conduct business with them. Never again attempt to buy from these people. Now I am not sure that all car sales ads lie. I bought my car from the exact ad. There was only 1 and it took them an hour to walk through the lot and find it. But my goal with brand new cars is to buy budget with a note of 199.00 a month, no more, no less. I got the exact car in the paper VIN # was listed and my payments were 199.95 a month. I will have it paid off in a few months and then I will begin the search for my next brand new budget car. Buying like this, I save money, gas, and I have lots of disposable income instead of being car poor like half of the US.
John
McKinney,#7Consumer Suggestion
Mon, February 11, 2008
Chasing car ads will never end well. Let's face it, every single advertised price in a newspaper on a car is a little misleading. The problem is, if there was an honest dealer advertising honest prices, no one would pay attention to their advertisements. If you go in on an ad, more than likely it will be on one specific car. Even if there are a dozen there that are exactly the same, it will only apply to that one. If you decide the advertised car works for you, the deaelrship will then have to recoup the loss they are about to incur when they sell it to you. If there are deaelr added accessories, you'll be paying for them. If you have a trade, it's value is about to drop. If you finance, the rate's gonna be a bit high. If you dont want to finance, the ad usually requires you to do so to get the advertised price. In the end, you get a deal that's no better than if you walked in off the street and picked one out that you actually like. The best way to buy a new car is to find one you like. Research the cost of the vehicle from any one of a number of public websites. Make a legitimate offer on it. Do not pay for any dealer added accessories. Finance with the cheapest bank you can find, and go on with life. It's not rocket science. Figuring out a way to beat the system isnt going to happen.
Mark
Groesbeck,#8Author of original report
Sat, January 26, 2008
First of all anyone that thinks I must not know how to buy a car..... maybe some of you that think you know something, I could teach you how to buy a car. Any dealership will sell you a car at invoice. Thats not a good deal, they will all do that or at least the ones that have any sense. That invoice is so fake it's unreal. Before I say anything else maybe I should be totaly truthfull and tell what I drove that truck off the lot for. My complaint isn't that I didn't get a good deal, it's that they took money they wern't entitled to. If you advertise something it is legally binding and you have to deliver exactly what you advertise. Not a penny less or a penny more. The MSRP on the truck I bought was right at 20,000.00 I had 2200.00 in GM cash from my credit card they also tried to steal. I drove the truck off the lot for 9900.00 after tt&l with no money down. I have also bought cars from other dealerships. All new vehicles. Big exception on these deals is they were from honest dealerships!!! Planet Ford in Spring, TX: Ford ZX2 MSRP 15,800.....Paid 7,990 + tt&l Ford F150 MSRP 18,700.....Paid 10,900 + tt&l Mac Haik Chevrolet in Houston, TX: Silverado 1500 MSRP 18,000+.....Paid 10,990 + tt&l -550 in GM cash It's always best if you can help it to not have a trade in if your are buying a car. It is almost impossible to get a good deal if you have a trade in. NEVER let a dealer talk to you about monthly payments. If you ever allow a salesman to talk to you about what you can afford monthly they will take those payments, go about 50 dollars or more above that and then start figureing out how to sell you the vehicle at full sticker price. I drove the Ford ZX2 for a couple of years and my payment was 184.00 a month for 5 years. If you come to a price and agree on it and the payments are too high you can't afford that car. I never allow a salesmen to negotiate a price with me, if you get that far, you have lost. When you ask the question "what is the least you can sell me this car for?", get in your car and leave the dealership. You have opened the conversation up for the salesman to start working on you mentally. You tell the salesman what he is going to sell the car to you for and do not budge. If you are not buying a newspaper ad deal, 500-1000 under invoice is a decent deal on most vehicles. Keep in mind this does not apply to all cars and brands. Your not going to buy specialty cars and certian brands at a big discount. If you pushed hard enough, you could probably get 2,000.00 under invoice on a new Ford or Chevy truck. You could probably go to every Toyota dealership in the country and not get one to do that. Most buyers pay full sticker price and salemen are taught how to make you feel like full price is a great deal. Once upon a time I was out of a job and thought taking a job as a car salesman was a good idea......... It was the worst job I have ever had. I worked almost 1 month and had sold 3 vehicles. I made around 800.00 dollars in a month, working 72 hours a week. Finnaly I quit so I could find another job. During that month I learned things that will save me thousands and thousands of dollars for the rest of my life. It is not easy to buy an ad unit that is advertised in the paper but it is possible and have done it at least 6 times i can think of.
Dave
Corona,#9Consumer Suggestion
Sat, January 26, 2008
Here is a question. Why would a car dealership advertise a vehicle so low in price and not make any money on it? How do you expect a car dealer to make money on that advertised price? Basically in car ads most will say "Plus tax, title, license and doc fees, etc" This practice happens all the time just to bring in people like you and think they will get that redicously low price. Nobody will buy a vehicle that cheap. It has never happened nor will it ever. There are other dealerships in your area that I'm sure could help you out besides this one. If you really wanted a new vehicle, you should always do your research first, find the invoice on the internet and go thru the fleet department. Fleet will always show you the invoice if you ask. ALWAYS DO YOUR HOMEWORK FIRST BEFORE LEAVING YOUR HOUSE BUYING A CAR. IT WILL SAVE YOU ALOT OF TIME AND HEADACHES.
Cory
San Antonio,#10Consumer Comment
Fri, January 25, 2008
Put a vehicle in the paper at a certain price and then jack it up over $2000. $99 for pinstripping the dealer pays $5 or $10 for. $199 to $299 for tinting the dealer pays $20 for. $99 for "fabric protection" the dealer pays $5 for. $399 for "paint protection" basically a wax job, if that, the dealer might pay $10 for. If it's a truck, the charge you $699 for a bedliner they pay around $100 for. That "spray-in or roll-in liner is even worse. They charge you $399 for something they're into for $5 or $10. The prices may be up or down a few bucks but the idea is about the same. The $2000 is almost pure profit. Now as for the cop. YOU were waiting for the lot to open but. 99 out of 100 people who are on a car lot at 3 AM are trying to steal something. In your first post you say 3AM then you say 5AM. You go on to state about how you and your wife were communicating with each other by cell phone. That is the standard MO for theives breaking into lots. One watches while the other does the work.
Mark
Groesbeck,#11Author of original report
Fri, January 25, 2008
As for the police officer. He first approached my wife who was sitting in our truck witch was not on their lot. He questioned her about why she was sitting there and she told him we were there waiting for the car lot to open and showed him the news paper. He then made asked about me, because he had seen me walking around. She told him I was just walking around looking for the vehicle that matched the stock number of the one in the paper. It was probably about 5 am that I was walking around the lot and didn't want to wait for them to open if the vehicle wasn't there. Witch conviently Bill Heard had removed the stock number from that truck only. My wife called me on my cell phone and told me their was a cop looking for me. So me trying not to cause any problems started walking towards my truck. About half way there the cop pulled up in his truck and forcefully asked me what I was doing. I told him I was coming to talk to him because my wife told me he was looking for me. He called me a liar (I guess he hadn't heard on an invention called a cell phone) and made me get up against his truck for him to search me. So as for him having the right to be suspious that is a big stretch considering he had the full story of why I was on the lot before he even approached me. As for the it not being illegal claim. The only stipulation in the news paper add is that it was a ONE ONLY deal. There were no stipulations that there would be any exceptions to the price. Only thing was that there was only one vehicle at that price, that being the reason I was there at 3 am to start with. On a 1 only deal it is very important that the vehicle be there on the lot. The car dealers will advertise a vehicle as being a 1 only, once they sell it they will continue to advertise it for another 2 months or so. If you want to buy a 1 only deal you have to keep watching the news paper untill they change the stock number.
Lenny
Houston,#12Consumer Comment
Fri, January 25, 2008
The advertised price of a vehicle in a newspaper usually comes with an asterisk. The asterisk is in little, tiny print that says something like "plus xyz" or "not including xyz". But you were so hot to get that truck you paid the extra $2,000 for probably $50 worth of extras. It was your choice and you made it - why try to blame the dealer? You should have just walked out.
Steve
Tucson,#13Consumer Suggestion
Fri, January 25, 2008
Why did you let them by buying? It's not like they are the only auto dealer in Phoenix - not even the only Chevrolet dealer.... Maybe if they see enough customers leave because of these antics, they will stop trying to pull them.
South Texas
Leesville,#14Consumer Comment
Fri, January 25, 2008
Unless I'm mistaken, recent legislation declares that a licensed Peace Officer in the state of Texas has authority in the entire state, not just the jurisdiction where they're employed... so if the security guard was indeed an off-duty cop, he was within his 'rights' to question you. He might have gone overboard, but you have to understand why it looked suspicious at 3:00 AM.