Jenkins Leesburg Volkswagen - Deceptive practice
 

I found a 2013 Buick Encore at Jenkins Leesburg Volkswagen:

2013 Encore Leather

$16,900 Price Details
Leesburg VW Price (excl. taxes & fees)

Mileage: 43,480

OK, reasonable deal, so I dig deeper into the website:

Pay Cash - $22,921

Wow. $6,021 more. I understand taxes, registration, etc. But here's their breakdown:

Registration & Fees include $492.40 DMV fee , $999.00 documentation fee , $349.95 electronic filing fee and $2,863.00 Jenkins Value Package. Total $4704? That's not $6,021 for starters.

So I get the first three, although that documentation fee seems high. But the "Jenkins Value Package"? So I call, and I'm given the explanation of "Well, other dealers just call it mark up, but we give you something for it" Ok, like what?

"Floor mats, pinstriping, and a 130 point inspection" My response: "So you weren't inspecting your used cars before? You just took them on trade-in, and put them on the lot? I might as well buy from a private party and take my chances, at least I'll save money for the repairs". Mumble, Mumble. I say thank you and hang up.

Look, I get it. Cars are in short supply, so prices are elevated. No issue with that. What the market will bear, right?

But to advertise a price that is $4180 (value package plus the extra markup before taxes and fees) less that what you actually want to sell it for is dishonest. If your start price you want is $21,080, advertise it upfront that way. Then I can decide if I want to come out and look at it, with the knowledge that is what you want, and I'm probably going to have to pay that price if I want it.

Jenkins, the market will change at some point to more like what it was. But my memory won't change.

Here's the link to the vehicle in you want to confirm my numbers, for as long as the post is active.

Pre-Owned Buick Encore for sale in Leesburg

Hanging onto the old one a bit longer, and looking on TOTV for my next one from a private party.

It’s called “up charging” and dealerships today are very good at it. Jenkins dealerships are especially good at it.

I'm not defending Jenkins sadly that is common used car tactics. The old jokes about the used car salesman are in many cases true. Oh we just sold it but we have, is sadly common. Buying a new or a used car is a bit of a duel. The games are interesting.
The truth, they are professional at it you, most of us are forced into that match and are way out of our fight class.

The ad doesn't look deceptive to me. The cash price is clearly indicated. You can just make an offer and they can accept it or reject it. But, if you play their games, you will lose.

Every dealer has thousands of dollars of useless items. Carvana doesn’t do this.

* Price (or net cost) after applying any manufacturer rebates and dealer discount. This price does not include government fees and taxes, any finance charges, any dealer document processing charge, any electronic filing charge, and any emission testing charge. Additional taxes, registration and license fees may apply for out of state purchasers based on their registration address.

Yes, that information is definitely there, but it's still deceptive. The $16,900 that they want you to see is very prominent. The "*" looked like dirt on my screen and the very small and lightly shaded disclaimer 2/3 down the page wasn't nearly as easy to find.

Taxes seem to be calculated on the DMV fees, documentation fees, and filing fees. Is this typical in Fl? (bought my last car in a different state under different market conditions)

Dealers know more ways to take a extra dollars from their customers than carters makes pills

I agree deceptive practice will never go back. I looked at and was very interested in a used 2020 Altima 9K on the odometer, no price listed on the window sticker. Salesman invited me in to discuss price, I knew the original MSRP was 30K so I went in thinking how much over MSRP could it be. The salesperson handed me the work up with all the addons it was 39K, got up and left. Finally found a new car at MSRP.

That price lists on the vehicle should be out the door price. If not RUN and RUN fast.

Dealers have all kinds of markup tricks, most of which are you giving them money for stuff they made up. Smoke and mirrors. Know what you want before you go. Know what you are willing to spend "out the door" before you go. Make your offer AND STICK TO IT! If anyone starts to get abusive, angry or insulting, get up and leave immediately.

I was exchanging Emails with Jenkins Hundai in Ocala. I told them specifically what I want and what a dealership in Clermont will sell that vehicle for. That was my offer and it was well above MSRP. Their response was we can be very competitive with that price.

So, against my better judgement, we made an appointment and drove there. The salesman said after 2 minutes "that car is in high demand and we won't consider that offer". What a waste of time and convinced me I do not want to do business with them.

Jenkins Toyota last year said we cannot meet the price you are looking for and have gotten from another dealer but why not come down and look at what we have on our lot.
Told him that seem like a colossal waste of time so he just repeated his suggestion at which I said bye.

Very happy with Carvanna, preset total cost, they bring the car to you, take your trade for a drive, 15 minutes of paperwork and the car is yours.

Bought my 2018 pilot at Headquarters , fair price and no crap.

One of the best things I have learned here is always get the out the door price and refuse to accept anything else

An update from my original post:

Decided to check out George Nahas. They had a 2019 Buick Encore. I've used them for service a couple of times over the past year we have been here but never purchased a car from them.

I look at the price online, and see the typical license, registration etc, but no "value package" "dealer markup" so I call, and ask the same questions as I did of Jenkins. The woman who answers specifically says "No, that's the price. We don't do the mark up thing, and GM has specifically told their dealers they stand a chance of losing their relationship with GM if they do". KBB estimate tracks with what they are asking, as does the CarFax. Vehicle is Certified PreOwned, with a 2 year bumper to bumper warranty.

OK, so go in to look at it, test drive it, liked it and bought it. No last minute additional charges, no "oh we can't honor that price". Got a fair value for my trade-in, might have been able to sell it for another $1,000 if I wanted to deal with that myself, but who knows? Anthony was our sales rep, nice guy. Former cop.

It was at the end of the day, so he handed us the keys and said "come back Monday, and we'll finish the paperwork". We cleaned out the old car, got ready to leave, and realized we didn't have a house key, and the garage door opener was programmed into the old car! Had to find someone to give us the car keys to the old car! Everyone was gone, but I found an open door and went in.

All by himself, at his desk, was George Nahas. I explained what had happened, he helped us find the keys. We offered to leave our new car there over the weekend, but he said "No, take them both". So we did.

Much better experience, and they got the sale and Jenkins didn't. They will get my business from now on.

I disagree. Not until I dug through the information did I see all of the additional costs. I guarantee, if I had just looked at the newspaper ad, the price advertised would have been $16,900, and not $21000+. And that is what many people do, and then just show up wanting to see that particular car, especially in this area, where we have a number of older residents that may not be as internet savvy.

It does not make me want to do business with them

I had 2 bad experiences with Jenkins never again will I deal with any of their dealerships.

Jenkins leased a new $28,000 MSRP to a friend for $600 a month. Selling it to the leasing company for $48,000.

That's what I don't understand ,why people "negotiate" with a dealership get an "out the door price" do the same with two, three other dealers, go back to the one you like best, any increase in price , you walk, no discussion . Last time I checked Jenkins was the car dealership leader,, in consumer complaints to the BBB

Do yourself a favor and stay far away from any of the Jenkins dealerships.

In Canada we have "All-in Price Advertising" rules for dealerships.
If a Registered Dealer advertises a price for a vehicle (new or used), that price must include ALL fees and charges the dealer intends to collect. The only additional fees a dealer can charge are HST (tax) and licensing (actual registration and plate fees) and for options the consumer has explicitly agreed to. Maybe go to Canada to get your next vehicle!

I have yet to hear anything good about any of the Jenkins dealerships. If I ever have to buy a car while in TV, I won't even consider them.

Then you may have to pay huge taxes to transfer to US...
:shocked::shocked:

Sounds like a rule that would benefit the dealers more than the customers because you would need to visit the dealership to find out the actual price. If enforced, all advertised prices would be inflated, and meaningless. In the U.S., all new cars must have a sticker showing the MSRP. Informed customers don't pay excessive fees anyway. You need to know what the vehicle is worth or you will get ripped off.

"although that documentation fee seems high"

$999 for shuffling some papers? That is absurd. I will never buy a car in Florida. Every dealer I have visited here is a complete and total ripoff. The last car I bought "up north" the doc fee was $200, and I have never seen any dealer charge "additional dealer markup."

$200 for shuffling papers is also absurd.

So what's the problem?

They waned to charge you a certain amount for a used car, you thought it was too high, so you walked away. That has happened to me several times.

I haven't read all of the other replies, but I am sure others have said you should determine the EXACT amount of money you plan to pay for a car, offer that amount to the dealer, and see if they accept it. If not, then leave.

That is how we have bought all of our cars since 1985.

Florida has then highest "Doc Fees" in the country I believe.

Documentation Charge?
 

My friend wanted to buy out his lease at Jenkins Nissan. They wanted to charge him $999.00 as a Documentation Charge. Nowhere in the lease was that charge indicated. When he questioned the charge he was told that it was a standard dealership charge.
He walked out and when he returned home, decided to call Nissan Corporate here in the US. He said they were livid and that the charges were “illegal”. They were in the process of identifying dealers that imposed this charge on leased cars and would contact the dealer. Buyer be wary and buyer beware

Yet ANOTHER Jenkins post! Yes, they are crooks, deceptive, and liars. If every Villager would just stop patronizing them, they would soon be in a very bad business predicament. The sales people would all leave because they weren't actually selling any cars and the Jenkins ownership would have to change their evil ways or go out of business. After the Jenkins jerk-off, I had a very pleasant buying experience at a dealer in Claremont. Just skip Jenkins and move on! Who in 2022 wants pin-striping anyway? I asked them if I could pay them to NOT pinstripe my car and just got a blank stare in return.

You can report this as deceptive advertising to the Florida Atty General office.

Florida Attorney General - How to Protect Yourself: Car Advertisements

I had a similar experience with a dealer in Bradenton recently. They called it the Cox value package. When I replied (in writing) that I was going to file a complaint, the salesman magically had a meeting with the General Manager and offered to drop the "non-negotiable" add on.

I told them I wouldn't buy a pencil from a dishonest business.

In my opinion, "doc fees" are not legitimate fees anywhere for any amount. When you look up the fair value for vehicles on websites like KBB.com or Edmunds.com, they don't include doc fees in their estimate.

Agreed but as long as customers pay them the dealer is not about to stop including it in their quotes.

Only way I have negotiated in past. Fortunately, we bought our last car prior to market pricing going up. I was able to negotiate items that the poster discussed with Jenkins Acura. Hope things improve. Thought original price on the 2013 car was high to start with.

Good Job!

Jenkins is a total ripoff but people keep buying from them so they keep selling cars.

Just another way to tax us to make up for no state income tax.

I thought that "price gouging" is illegal. When bottled water or gasoline is in short supply, it's against the law to charge an exorbitant price for them. Well, aren't cars and trucks in short supply? Same with "scalping" with popular concert tickets.....
Maybe Gov Desantis could do something about these dealership bandits.