Boucher Volkswagen of Franklin — Local services in Franklin

We have purchased VW’s from this dealership for over 15 years. The vehicles are more reliable, dependable, and trustworthy than the personnel at this location. I’ll go a step further and say that I bragged about this location months ago, and encouraged people to frequent this location over all others. Sad to admit, after my interaction today, that any and everyone should choose anywhere but the VW Boucher Franklin location. After they’d hounded me for months, to have me bring in my leased VW Atlas, I finally agreed today. I mean, calls/texts/emails, constantly asking me to come in to either look at some other vehicles or turn my vehicle in early. The most recent claim, after asking the Model/Color/Mileage was that they could pay my car off with VW and possibly give me any money that’s left over. This time I had decided to just turn it in and drive the 3 other VW’s we already own. So, I drive my vehicle to the dealership, speak with one of the salesman (Braeyden or something), explain that I was asked to bring my vehicle in for inspection to possibly turn it in to the dealership for purchase. He gathers my information, and then asks that I come out to my vehicle with him for inspection. We walked around the vehicle, he asked if I’ve had any problems, or issues, to which I replied, “No.” I informed him that I only drive the truck in the Winter, and for traveling over the Summer months. I told him that I was torn between keeping the vehicle, and turning it in, because I really like it and especially the unique color green. I went on to tell him that I decided to turn it in because I wasn’t happy with the colors or engine of the new VW Atlas, so I would rather wait and see what else I wanted. He then asked what I would rate my vehicle on a scale from 1-10. I told him, “Of course, I would give my vehicle a 10, but you all would probably give me a 9 because I’ve driven it.” We then went back into the dealership. The salesperson took my keys to someone else, and then we waited for a second inspection. When that person returned, the salesperson went to find out what they could offer me. Side note: When he returned from giving the second person my key, he stated that they were going to see if they could match the amount that was owed or see how close they could come to getting out of the lease (basically seeing if I would have to pay them money, or break even). So, back to the story, when the salesperson returned from speaking with the second person, he stated that my vehicle was worth over $27000, but I would owe them over $2200 for a crack in my windshield($1000) and the vehicle needing brakes($1200+). I stated that I had not seen a crack in my windshield, and how could say/see that I needed brakes from looking at my vehicle?? The salesperson told me that, “He took pictures, and he’s been doing this for a while.” I told him that I would never pay a dealership for my vehicle. Especially, not a dealership that was begging me for my car! He told me that I was either going to have to pay them to buy me out, or I would have to pay them when I turned my vehicle in two-three months from now. Again, I told him that I would never pay them a dime, that they were the ones that were calling me, and that this attitude is why I would not be patronizing this dealership ever again. Get this, I just had my vehicle serviced a couple of months ago, and an inspection was done (per usual). There were no issues with my brakes. As far as the crack in the windshield, it’s smaller than a dime, and could have easily happened on the road (and unbeknownst to me). But, insurance would cover that damage. Why would I pay them $1000 to repair?! What’s even more interesting is the fact that I’ve never had this happen, because I’ve always rolled into a new car or lease. My experience would have been different if I was interested in a new car. And maybe, they would have respected the 6 other vehicles that we’ve purchased. Sad, because I would have considered returning for the next version, or even to continue having my vehicles serviced at...

I will never shop at Boucher Automotive again and I hope whoever reads this does the same. I have bought a few cars at different, smaller, dealerships and have never had issues like this. I picked out a 2011 Toyota Camry for my girlfriend that I wanted to test drive and get a pre-purchase inspection done. My girlfriend already had financing so the whole process should have been pretty easy. Our salesman, John H, pulled up the car when we arrived for us to take to the inspection. When John pulled up the car he noted that the car was dirty and that, "it would be detailed before we brought it home.". Upon leaving the parking lot we were immediately pulled over by the police due to us not having any dealership plates on the car (I have never had an issue where a dealership forgot to put plates on the car). Once the pre-purchase inspection was completed, we were informed that the car had NO engine coolant in it. When we talked to John H about these issues he assured us that the car would be detailed and the coolant issue would be addressed, and ready for us to pick up the next day. Unfortunately, I could not go with my girlfriend to pick up the car. So once she got home I looked at the car and noticed that nothing had been detailed (It still had chewed-up sunflower seeds/trash and broken glass in it from when they replaced the windshield) and that the car STILL had NO engine coolant in it. A car having no coolant is obviously terrible for the engine and we live 40 minutes away. I immediately, that night, called John's cell phone and left a voicemail about the issues and left my number for him to give me a call back. In the morning, when I received no call back, I decided to call the service department directly and left my number, again. I was told I would get an immediate call back. After waiting 3 hours, I called again and they told me, "they would call me right back", once again. When they did not call me the 3rd time, I decided to drive up to the dealership myself. When asked why the car had not been detailed and why there was no coolant in the car, John H told me, "We were out of coolant so they didn't put any coolant in the car but they definitely did detail the car." Once informed about the broken glass and chewed-up sunflower seeds John said," well they probably just did a s!htty job." After this John takes the keys and says," I will bring it to the service department to see what they say". Now, after waiting an hour, John pulls up the car and asks me to take a look. I walk outside and see that there is still broken glass and chewed-up sunflower seeds in the car and that the coolant has now been overfilled. I, feeling pretty insulted at this point, looked at John and asked, "Do you even care what I think at this point?" he then just SHUGGED his shoulders and walked back into the dealership. I was shocked. I have never had such an unprofessional experience in my life. As soon as we signed the purchase agreement, they no longer cared what happened to the car or what we thought of the car. You would think, you wouldn't have to fight a dealership to get what they said they would give you. You would also hope, that a salesman would take ownership of the purchase and make sure that everything that they said would be done and would get done correctly. Now, I know the employees of Boucher Automotive don't care about my thoughts and will probably gather around a desk to laugh at my review with one another. But I hope at least one person reads this and decides to go somewhere where they actually care about your...

Over the past 10ish years, I have purchased 8 vehicles from Boucher dealerships. Most have been at the Janesville location. This particular time was at the Franklin location and it has been by far the worst experience.

First the salesman. He wasn’t the most knowledgeable about the vehicle or the features it had or didn’t have, but that wasn’t a big deal. I knew what I wanted from the online description and already knew what it came with.

Next the deal. Of course, Boucher Franklin when they try to sell you a car ask what payment you want to get to, not the salesman price you want. I understand the game and came in knowing what the max terms I would accept were. When the salesman came with the sales sheet the first time and he wasn’t $10 above that price point, I’m sure he thought he had me. I said no, the terms I gave you were the highest I would accept. He came back with a new offer, saying they could meet or beat those terms with the financing and my good credit. Of course he had me sign the deal sheet (not like it’s legally binding) and I even circled the price, indicating that was what I agreed to.

When I’m going over the payment info with the finance guy, he shares the payment information and it’s about $5 per payment more than what I said I would pay. Is it a huge deal, to some no, but that is not what we had previously discussed as the framework of the deal. I wanted to get rout of there so I just signed. I’m sure this is what they wanted and why they promised me my price to begin with.

It took them 1.5 hours after signing for the vehicle to have it ready for me to leave. I’ve never had to wait so long to take delivery of a vehicle.

Finally, I traded in my vehicle on June 30. The finance company didn’t receive payment until July 22. During that time I was contacted by the finance company for my monthly payment which I paid to avoid derogatory marks on my credit. Also during this time I emailed and called the finance department where they assure me payment was sent. I called Hyundai finance and asked if they received payment, they said they did not.

Finally Boucher sent another check to Hyundai finance, but for the wrong amount. They sent the new payoff amount (the amount minus the amount I paid after closing on my new vehicle) and now I am out nearly $500. I’ve had to make wayyy too many calls and emails to try to straighten out something that should have been taken care of on its own. How is it the customers responsibility the pay off on their vehicle they traded in...