Jim Butler Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram — Local services in Linn

I had been on the hunt for a specific truck for about a month. I stumbled across jim butler. They had a truck very similar to what I wanted and at first I thought it was exactly what I wanted. I contacted the dealership and was connected with a salesman (jed) who was great. He was kind, attentive, helpful and not annoying and pushy. They seemed to have the lowest price I could find. When I made my offers Jed never once scoffed, laughed or acted like I had offended him. He respectfully said he would take it to his manager and see what he could do with it. We ended up getting through one or two offers and I realized this truck didn’t have heated seats which I thought every truck at this trim level did. I let him know. No big deal. Told him it wasn’t a deal breaker. He then told me to tell him exactly what I wanted in the truck and he would find me what I was looking for. A day or two passed and he sent two options and I decided on one. We agreed to a price and a few days later I took a 4 hour drive down to get the truck. Before I left I asked him if I had to use their financing to receive this price and incentives as many dealerships do and he said no, but that I would most likely get the best rate through them because banks “compete” for my loan. I get down there and they have the truck pulled up in front ready to go. Clean for the most part and full of fuel. Jed and I took it for a drive and it all drove great. Then some paperwork was completed and I went to the finance office with my “finance manager.” I don’t recall his name but this is 100 percent where the experience went from a 5 star to a 3 star review. Before I was in the finance office I did quite a bit of research on the lowest rates in the market currently so I knew what I should be in for. I knew my credit score going in and knew that it was exceptional and should not have an issue getting the lowest rate possible. The guy made some small talk and flipped an iPad around with I believe 5 different payment options listed at the bottom of the screen. He started talking about their extended warranties they offer and going into detail about them. It starts with the premium coverage all the way down to “basic” which appears on the screen to be the factory warranty provided with the vehicle. The numbers just weren’t adding up in my head correctly so I asked if this basic coverage was with no warranty other than what if provided through the manufacturer. He then told me no that this was still with an extended warranty. There was no option listed on the screen for no extended warranty option and I was not provided with that number unless I asked. That is deceitful. Once I asked he did mark off all warranty coverage and gave me a new estimated monthly payment that still wasn’t adding up in my head. It was then I realized I never was told what my interest rate even was. I was never even presented a final cost with tax and title work fees. Once I asked though he did provide me with the interest rate and term offered and a final out the door cost. The interest rate is almost 2 percent higher than my local banks. I ask him if that’s the absolute lowest rate available and he said he would check. He gets on the phone for about 2 minutes and comes back with an interest rate half a percent lower for a longer term? So at this point I do not believe anything this guy is telling me and 100 percent believe he is trying to get my business to whoever gets him the biggest kickback and is not here for me and getting me the best rate possible. Unfortunately I was 4 hours from home and had half a day invested at this point. So we come to terms and move on. I did not care for the finance managers sales gimmicks on the extended warranty and the interest rate. This interaction however was enough to make me leave feeling not 100 percent satisfied. I’m not much on writing reviews but I just want people to be aware of them trying to slide warranties in when you don’t want them and finding better interest...

I wanted to share my opinions of Jim Butler as an out of state buyer (the local experience may be totally different). I would purchase a truck from them again but the buying experience was not perfect. Expect a great price and not a lot of communication after the sale.

The good: I shopped hard and they had the best, no BS price anywhere within 16 hours of me in Denver, CO. The saleman worked hard to find the color I wanted and ended up trading one of their trucks with another dealer for no extra cost. I flew into St. Louis (2 hrs from Linn) and they picked me up at the airport and drove me to the dealership at no cost.

The annoying (but in the realm of "it's a car dealership, what do you expect?"): They were the only dealer I spoke with that didn't seem interested in running my credit and estimating my rates BEFORE I came. Maybe they were super busy but I suspect they didn't want to show me the terrible rates that come with the big discounts up front. I have excellent credit and got close to their best rate but it was 2-3% higher than a normal rate. I still would have purchased my truck but more transparency would have been appreciated.

Extended warranties - They pushed hard on this as I expect their margins are very low on the price I paid for the truck. The finance manager was friendly, but I had to say NO about 20 different times for something I had no interest in purchasing.

The frustrating: Jim Butler overcollected on my sales tax and I spend several weeks trying to talk with someone about it. The salesman more or less said it wasn't his problem (which I get), but I had no luck getting in touch with my finance person or anyone else for that matter. I finally did get a check (for what I think is an incorrect, lower amount) but never actually talked to anyone about it.

Overall, I'd rate the initial buying experience as good but the more recent negative experiences have kept me from strongly recommending them. If price is the most important thing to you (it was for me) you'll be fine. However, if you run into any issues post-sale don't expect the same level of intention you got as a...

Bought a new 2500 ram. When deal was final, only 2 days later additional discounts upwards to $2000 came to our knowledge. When we asked Lance about the additional discounts he said they didn't apply 2 days earlier and refused to make any concessions to refund any discounts. This truck wasn't on their lot ,so we waited over a week for them to locate and get this truck to the dealership and because of bad weather for us to take delivery, we would have gladly waited a couple days longer for any additional discounts ,all they had to do was tell us. How's that for customer relations. I will not buy again or recommend this dealship to anyone, it's not only the money its the principal, so buyers beware. There's lots of dealerships out there that will really appreciate your business.

Update: 3/20/19

upon further review of the title application and some research I have found that I totally misunderstood the way the discounts and rebates were applied to and listed on the title application. I truly apologize for my mistake and want to make it clear that the discounts and rebates listed on the website were applied to my purchase. I have one suggestion, if the rebates and discounts would have been listed individually on the application showing what they were and where applied ,it would have illuminated the misunderstanding. But again I apologize, and ask that my negative review be deleted . If I can delete the post let me know and I will delete it...