Between 1975 and 2016 I purchased 24 new Cadillacs and every experience was the same. I dealt with the same salesman at the same dealership and learned to trust him. I would simply call and tell him what I was looking for, he would get it, discount it, and deliver it to my house with all the paperwork that needed to be signed. I never traded in as I had a fellow that always wanted to buy mine that were only 1 or 2 years old. I even bought a bunch of Chevy pickups during that time for my business and he would line up a Chevy dealer to do the same thing for me and I'm sure he got taken care of from them. The salesman is still living but is old, I'm still living but am old and I don't drive so much anymore so my buying habits have changed. I did buy my wife a Honda from Jenkins, they tried to make it rough but I just got up and told them you have my offer if you want to accept it you know where I live. The next day they called, approved a personal check, had my insurance transferred for me and dropped it off in my garage, signed all of the papers on my work bench.

My father from the late 1940s through the 1960s bought first Oldsmobiles then Cadillacs from a local dealer much this way. The dealership did all his service which was not cheap but our cars never broke down and we drove from NM to MD and/or CA yearly. Then the son took over and everything changed. It was not the same dealership. He stopped doing business with them.

Not on point but interesting.

Two days ago, wife received a phone call which from a person who claimed he was from Jenkins VW and was telling her about a recall with my 2015 Passat. Person had a not so heavy Asian accent.

I had not received anything from VW about a recall, bought car from another dealer and have had no work done at Jenkins. Person wanted to set up appointment for the recall work(headlamp problem) and claimed work would take 1 hour. Did not set up appointment and politely hung up. Looks like some type of scam where in they are getting person(s) into the shop and will find work to do like a high mileage check up. Found no recall on this car.

My experience with Jenkins went like this. They had a truck that was priced good enough to get my attention. So I went and test drove a truck. They said they needed my drivers license to hold before I could drive it. The advertised price on the internet they said was a mistake and the price was much higher. Then they claimed to have lost my drivers license. The next day I went to get a new license and called and told them I was fixing to get a new license and bring them the bill and they mysteriously found my drivers license. After that experience the next time I went shopping for a new truck I drove to Orlando to shop.

In 2021 I was shopping for a VW Atlas so went to Jenkins in Leesburg. They swore up and down that VW didn't make the Atlas with white paint and tan interior but they would gladly sell me one of the blue or grey cars with black interior they had on the lot, he even had the sales manager confirm that white with tan was impossible. I went home and found a multitude of them at dealers in Orlando and Tampa so went to Tampa and purchased down there. The next weekend I went back to Jenkins in my impossible car and the salesman asked if I was ready to buy. I explained that no I already bought a car, the one you said didn't exist l, and told him his commissions would probably go up if he simply told the truth. He could have had the car shipped in from half a dozen other dealers and I would have bought from him.

The "trading" of New Car Inventory is a Dealer thing, not a VW thing. Some dealers refuse to trade vehicles in inventory and some dealers refuse to trade with specific dealers who are a PITA to deal with. Also, there are sometimes "factory incentive" situations, that make it difficult for dealers to simply swap vehicles with another dealer.

It sounds like you ran into one of those situations.

Really? I occasionally get my Hyundai served at Jenkins in Ocala. Service is good, people polite and friendly. Just as you would expect at a dealership. There is usually a sales person who will visit for a moment to see if we have any interest in a new vehicle. We say "no" with a polite smile. Then they say if you have any questions, please feel free to ask. Then they let us go back to reading.
It is their job to sell products. I don't berate them for the low key efforts to see if customer has any interest in anything. Even sales people have to make a living.

Agreed. I have a friend who took his vehicle in for service. The salesperson did exactly what you described. Low and behold my friend ended up buying a new vehicle on the spot

I remember the old days Stu , when you went car shopping and they would take your keys , I once had to threaten to call the cops to get mine back , they seem to have gotten away from that one .

Good for your friend. Hope he enjoys his new ride.

My car needs a little bodywork, and a complete paint job. I didn't realize til later in the year after I bought it, that they never put the clear-coat seal on it. That was in 2010. Thirteen years later and 3 years baking in the hot Florida sun (we don't have a garage and the pickup is under the carport), and the roof paint is crackled and peeling. The hood is a disaster from my first trip here during love-bug season, when most cars had to stop on the side of Florida's Turnpike to scrape the bugs off their windshield and the line at the rest areas for the windshield cleaner was backed up almost to the entrance ramp.

Very important point, no matter what car you buy, no matter who you buy it from, and no matter how perfect it looks: make them put it in writing that the paintjob has the clearcoat protection before you drive it off the lot.

If I can get $500 for it only because the motor has fewer than 100k miles on it, I'll be happy.

Thanks. I kid him and tell him it was the most expensive oil change, ever :)

Personally I've found it all over at the present time, seems used cars are in VERY high demand. I just recently was told the very same at an Ocala dealership (not owned by Jenkins), I just looked up from the book I was reading and put down the coffee they gave me, and said "No thank you, I love my car no way would I let it go", the sales person didn't continue, or try any kind of "pressure" tactics like "well, you know every year you wait your cars is loosing value", or anything like that. Said thanks, and even asked if he could get me a refill of hot coffee ! ! ! Guess I was just lucky to get a very nice and polite employee !

[QUOTE=ThirdOfFive;2255800]Well some complain when the discussion flows from one topic to the next, but the actual personal experiences posted all over the internet about "Frank Gay" plumbing is legendary. Our experience with gas water heater, same size, etc. was nearly to the penny what you posted. We called a plumber recommended by a neighbor on our block, like you, was $893.00 total, 40 gal. installed. (14 months ago). AFTER that experience, I heard ( now heard means a story going around of course) a a real horror story about the same business, so you never know, but sure a lot of negatives on all the various internet sites !

We bought our CRV from Jenkins, and it was a bad, bad experience! Never again!!!!

We do love their service department. I’ve only had a salesperson come over once. Before he even got started I told him the story of what a bunch of thieves that work in their sales department and how I will NEVER purchase another vehicle from them. Needless to say he got up and walked away.

I was over there on Sunday looking around and there were 2 Civic Touring sedans next to where I parked that had items totaling over $10,000.00 added by the dealer and then added to the MSRP of the car. That is a clear sign stating go home now. Unbelievable.

The last new vehicle sold in the USA without a clear coat applied at the factory, was probably the 2007 Mini Cooper, which was painted with one-stage paint.

Your 2010 car had clear coat applied if it was sold in the USA.

Even with a clear-coat, automotive finishes need to be cared for.

Wife and I had experience with sales man waiting to get car fixed. Tried to sell us a new car and when we refused he slammed his fist on table and yelled at us for wasting his time. Reported him to regional office. Sad

Nah, never happens to me. Seriously. I take our Passport there for service and the one recall it had and I never am approached, even while looking at Ridgeline’s on the floor and lot.

Some of you must have that look that screams “come bother me”.

Everything I read about Jenkins on here, Facebook, and Next Door is negative. Yet when I see the Google reviews linked to their website I see 2,335 Google reviews with a 4.6% satisfaction rating. Either they planted thousands of fake reviews, or this is a perfect example of social media being a place where mostly complainers take the time to discuss a business.

News flash you get taken or they won’t trade or make the deal. If boils down to how much you got taken. :eclipsee_gold_cup:

My vote, planted.

Probably but that is a lot of planted fake reviews

What is the best way to care for today's clear coat finishes?

I had an experience on Monday, wanted to trade a 2020 Buick AWD Enclave with 19.000 miles on it for a new car that had a sticker price of $51,500 which included $1,200 of dealer add ons. My Buick title was clear and their quote to me was $39,000.00 plus my car. Before going in I got an offer on my car from 3 of the online car buying companies and their offers for my car averaged $25,400.00 so they wanted $64,400, which included $2,730 sales tax, for a car with an inflated MSRP of $51,500. Do people really fall for these kind of prices? If so Barnum was right all along.

Same here every time I had my 2013 Tuscon serviced the sales guy came out and asked me to go with him. Last time he came to get me in the waiting room, I told him if he was there to try and sell me a new car, he was wasting his time and mine. I, in front of everyone in that room, told him flat out that IF my Hyundai with 27,000 miles wasn't going to last me over 30,000 miles, why would I ever want another Hyundai ? He told me I didn't have to be so loud, and I told him this goes on every time i come to this place and I wanted everyone to hear what I had to say. I love the car, but HATE that dealership !!!!!

P T Barnum was a wise man.

At a minimum, wash and wax regularly. I use clay on my car about once a year. Consider a ceramic coating. Minimize time in direct sun.

I have a Tucson and I love it. Get service in Ocala, but don't often get approached. I find all dealerships to be pretty much the same. But, I have never been to a Rolls-Royce dealer. Maybe they are different?

It's not just the aggressive sales tactics, or deceptive pricing on new cars. Recently took my 4 yr old Santa Fe back to Jenkins for an oil change, and the service writer tracked me down in the waiting area to up-sell me $800 worth of services. It only has 30,000 miles on it. I can only imagine how many customers get taken this way.

Be glad not in ___ you could be arrested for inflated price.:sing:

I find that businesses who try to take advantage of older people (assume they are all going senile or something) don’t last in the long run. Especially in this community where we are very social and word gets around. Their best bet is, cheat a couple of people, then get out of town!

As far as sales pitches go, time shares actually pay you by the hour to listen to them. In Hawaii it was $100 per hour at the Hawaiian Hilton. At the car dealership mentioned above, I’d just pull out my phone and play a game on it and if anyone tried talking to me I’d say, “Excuse me, you are interrupting.” Either that or pay me…

This thread is why I will go to a dealership for warranty work on our new car but once that runs out I am off to a local mechanic.

Ever since we learned how to buy a new car in 1994, we have always had a very good experience shopping for a car, even at Jenkins, Phillips, or any other dealer.

No Sale
 

We went to Jenkins Hyundai in Leesburg to buy a Tucson at the price according to what the salesman told us of $33,500 and they would give us $12,500 for our trade in. Great…so I thought. When we got there, the salesman told us to go for a test drive. We liked the suv very much and thought we were getting a good deal on a limited. When he tried to get us to financing, we said we were paying cash. You could see him stop in his tracks, like he didn’t know what to do. He said he would be right back. He came back with the sales manager who told us, the price we agreed on was for financing and we would also lose the incentive cash. Which now made the car cost $37,000. I thought paying cash will get you the best deal. No, they want their kickback from financing. Then he went back and came out a few minutes later with a price of $41,750!!! I said what the hell is this? He said dealer fee and transportation charges. I said later and walked out. He didn’t even follow me and try to negotiate anything as we sat in our car for a few minutes to see what he would do. Very aggressive sales tactics. Then I contacted Wesley Chapel Hyundai, almost in Tampa, got the price of $32,750 and they gave us $13,000 for our trade-in, SOLD!!! Good people to deal with if you want a new Hyundai. Only reason I set foot in Jenkins is for my covered service

I don't get the whole Jenkins thing where they catch you getting service and try to sell you a car. In all the years I've bought new cars, and that's quite a few, I've never had that happen.

That would really p*ss me off.

All the time at every Jenkins dealership!!! The worst experience I ever had several years ago was at the Jenkins Honda in Leesburg! I will never go there again.

True the profits stay here but a lot of the labor is done outside the US. How much of your car is made in the US? 2022 Made in America Auto Index

Well done, you!

Standard dealer business practice.