Auto Palace — Attraction in Prairie Township

A Masterclass in Talking Your Way Out of a Sale

I recently made the three-hour drive to Auto Palace in Columbus, OH, fully prepared to purchase a 2021 Toyota Camry at full asking price. I had cash in hand and was ready to finalize the deal. Of course, like any rational person at a car dealership, I hoped to negotiate—but I was completely willing to pay their price if they were upfront and professional. Unfortunately, that’s not what I got.

Before making the trip, I spoke with a salesman named Jesus, who assured me that their dealership was “wholesale” and, therefore, the price was non-negotiable. I took him at his word. But upon arrival, it was clear that this was just a standard used car lot, not some special wholesale operation. A quick Google search confirmed that their definition of “wholesale” didn’t line up with reality. When I questioned this, Jesus deflected with a long-winded guilt-trip story about how negotiating somehow disrespects their hard work. That was the first red flag.

The second came when I asked a basic question: “Where did this car come from?” Suddenly, Jesus had no idea. No clue at all. His boss had bought it, and apparently, that was all the information available. No records? No ability to check? More than likely, it was an auction car, which is totally fine—just be honest about it. The dodging was unnecessary and, frankly, suspicious.

Then came the real sales tactic. Mid-conversation, Jesus pulled out an alternate price sheet, showing the car would cost $1,000 more due to my Indiana driver’s license. He presented this like I had done something very wrong, almost as if I had been caught in some elaborate scheme. His tone suggested I was some kind of bad boy who had been found out. What, am I in trouble? Am I going to be put in time-out? In reality, I simply have properties in multiple states, which is a common enough situation. But this was never about my address—it was a clear attempt to make me cower and accept the original price without question.

At this point, I politely told him I was leaving. That’s when, suddenly, negotiation was possible. He asked what price I’d take the car for, left to “check with the financial manager,” and returned with the shocking news that another customer had just been approved at full price. Convenient timing.

Here’s the bottom line: I was a serious, paying customer, ready to walk out with the car. Had Jesus been honest and straightforward, I would have bought it. I wasn’t even looking for a major discount—just a reasonable discussion. Instead, I got manipulation, evasiveness, and condescension. At least pretend to make me feel like I’m getting a good deal. That’s the name of the game. I don’t know what to tell you—welcome to business.

If you like being talked in circles, guilt-tripped, and having numbers magically change in front of you, Auto Palace might be for you. Otherwise, do yourself a favor and...

This is my first time buying a car completely on my own and I was so worried. However, Auto Palace (Anthony) was so amazing. They worked with me to get my payments down to a manageable rate. Anthony even offered me a redbull 🤣 I will definitely follow up shortly with the car review after driving it for a bit. But so far great, amazing, customer service.

So it's been four months since I purchased my 2019 Hyundai Elantra, here's my update. The car drove great til about a month and a half after I bought it. It started completely shutting down while I was driving to the point I would be in the middle of the road and have to turn the car off and back on again just to get it to start moving. This happened for a couple days and before I could get it into a shop, it completely died in the middle of me driving. It wouldn't turn over anymore, the dash wouldn't come on or light up, nothing. It just died. I tried to jump it but every time I took the cables off it would just immediately die again.

I called Auto Palace who told me they couldn't help me because the month warranty they give you when you purchase one of their cars was up and to call the warranty company that I purchased with the car. Thankfully, the warranty company covered the tow to a nearby Hyundai dealership.

Once at the dealership repair costs just kept racking up. They had to fix several small things before they could even get the car to stay on long enough to find the real problem. The expensive warranty I bought with the car only covered about a quarter of the costs. I was also told the warranty would cover a rental car that I needed to get my children back and forth to school and appts and the store and it only covered a day or two.

After everything was said and done I called Auto Palace again to speak with a manager because it is highly uncool as a single mother of 4 and after shelling out over 4k to them and the repairs and rental car being almost 3k that I wasn't getting any assistance for a car I barely got to drive. I was never transferred to a manager and was told that there is nothing that they can do to help me cover even a little bit of the cost because the car was purchased 4 months ago and they can't just take my word for it. They had no idea what the dealership did to repair the car and some of it could have been completely unnecessary and that's what the month warranty they offer "that no other business in Columbus offers" is for. I even told them I have the paperwork from all the repairs, that the car has been in the shop that long, and he could even speak to the dealership who advised he was more than welcome to call, to no avail.

All I was asking for was assistance and got shot down and essentially called a liar. This place seems great on the surface but be cautious when purchasing a vehicle...

Initial Review: "Working with J** was great! She was super helpful and easy to talk to."

Edited: This dealership has received these reviews based on a wheel that you spin after purchasing your car. If you want honest feedback, look at the yelp reviews. I bought a vehicle from them and 12 days later it broke down. They would not pay for the towing to get it to their dealership and I had to pay for towing to get it back to my house on a sunday AND to their dealership to "fix" Now it has been there for 3 days. They claim they have not received the part and in reality they have just not made it a priority. Communication with them is TERRIBLE. They will only communicate through text and to get someone on the phone you have to call multiple times and demand to speak to someone. I would highly recommend going to a different dealership if available to you.

Update: After calling to check on the car what felt like 50 times since no one was returning calls and after the bad review, they asked how they could make things right. They ended up crediting back the towing, gave a loaner car, and an extended warranty while they figured out the issue. The problem still is not fixed and it had to go back to the dealership but the way the handled it this second time around has been great. They ended up giving a new warranty, scheduled a tow to come pick up the car, and mentioned delivering a loaner car if they need to.

I am giving 4 stars because they did make things better but it was after a couple of days and only after vocalizing that things were not okay and it shouldn't have to get to that point to make things right. It seems to me like they are trying though and hopefully will give improved customer service for the...