Nucar Automall of Tilton — Local services in Tilton

Chris Miller was exceptional!! Chris was patient and understanding when I explained what I thought the value of my trade was worth and what I wanted to spend on the newer truck (Over $50K). Next up, Chris set me up with Kate in the Finance Dept. Kate was also extremely efficient and knowledgeable. Chris assured me that on the date that I picked up the newer truck (2 days later) it would be fully detailed, looking brand new, and parked directly in front of the dealership when I arrived. Chris also told me that the dealership goes through every vehicle and performs a 160 point inspection, so that customers are not immediately coming back to the dealership with issues (great to know and again, good idea for customer service) Well, when my wife and I arrived at the dealership, the truck was not parked out front as promised. As a matter of fact, when we entered the dealership and met with Chris, he wasn't quite sure where it was, so he contacted the detail shop. Chris came back with the disappointing news that the truck was never detailed, so it was being detailed as we waited. After an hour, the truck finally came out front. The truck was never "detailed", it was simply run through a quick car wash and they threw Armorall on the tires. The inside was still dirty from the previous owner, the small scratches were not buffed out, the rims were full of brake dust, the bed rails were covered in rust residue, and the windows were still dirty, covered with fingerprints and grease. I immediately looked at the fuel gauge and noticed that there was only 1/4 tank of fuel and they knew that I was driving over 2 hours from the dealership. Huge letdown! I've purchased many used trucks/vehicles that were over $30K and they ALL came with a full tank of fuel and a total reconditioning (inside/out). Some even threw in a complimentary 1st oil change and t-shirts/hats. When I finally got home, I immediately mentioned all of these things to the sales manager, James Leclerc, who told me that he would look into the matter. The following morning, I got up early to go to work and found that he headlights did not work. I tried everything possible, even looked through the owners manual for a fuse location, but could not get them to turn on. I was able to get to work on the fog lights and again sent another email explaining that there was no possible way a 160-point inspection was completed on this vehicle without someone noticing that the headlights did not function. I took the truck to the Ford dealership that normally performs service on my previous trucks and they immediately detected that the trade-in must have had a plow hooked up to it, because the plow wiring harness was turning off the headlights. They reset the harness to factory settings and Voila! headlamps re-lit. After several days, Chris was able to get back to me with the best possible resolution to my service related problems. The next time that I was in the Tilton, NH area (over 2 hours away), they would take my truck into the detail shop for a full detail and give me a rental car to travel around Tilton, NH for the 2 1/2 hours it would take them to complete the detail, but in the meantime, continue to drive my newly purchased $50k truck with the disgusting interior, brake dust, and rust residue. As far as the 1/4 tank of fuel...that's the dealership's policy (1/4 tank or $30.00 of fuel, whichever is less) regardless of the fact that a used car can cost more than most of the new cars that they are offering for sale. Needless to say that I will not drive around in a disgusting newer truck and I will not be anywhere near the Tilton, NH area in the next 6-months to a year. As for the dealership, I will never return and I am writing this review to demonstrate what happens at this dealership after the sale is made. Chris and Kate get 5 stars!! The dealership, detail shop, and its management get 0 stars, so it brought my review to a total of 2 stars. ...

EDIT: It got worse. I was promised by one of the showroom salesman that I could get my rate lower in 6 months after paying on time. I did not like the rate I was given, I told them that, but I was assured that it would only be for 6 months, I go back in to refinance to get the rate lower and I am told it'll take another year of high payments to get the payments I want. They accept zero responsibility for giving me the information and made sure to not apologize for it. The salesmen would say anything to make a sale, pressure you an insane amount, and not take any responsibility when the lie implodes. DO NOT BUY A CAR HERE

The good: I came in during an event and they removed the prices from their website. I talked to they guy told him my budget and we went from their. Once we came to talk numbers their finance team got a once in a lifetime deal for financing on the car it was an offer I couldn’t refuse. I ended up walking away with a car at an insane deal.

The bad: I was there for about 5 and a half hours for what I thought was just going to be an inquiry which is long. The sales and finance people are incredibly pushy and pressured me super hard to actually buy this car. My incoming budget was 15k-17k which I thought was fine but remember I couldn’t see the prices so I trusted the sales rep to show me cars in that range, but instead he showed me cars in twice that range at about 30k. I kept asking throughout the process, “this doesn’t commit me to anything right?” But before I knew it the finance guy had the final papers in front of me saying, “if I get it done you better accept the offer.” Again, the pressure to buy was insane and they did not keep my budget in mind at all. They also never told me my budget was too low for what I was looking for. Had I known that was the case I probably would have walked away.

Overall: I bought a car at this dealership. Despite all the bad things which were great in number, I still recognize that they were offering me something that I wouldn’t be able to find anywhere else. My monthly payment are fair and as a first time buyer I need to build the credit, but the amount of pressure, trust, and time the actual process required is daunting.

Edit: I had an opportunity to speak with Richard Robinson, and we discussed my experience. He assured me that the pushiness of my experience can be attributed to the sale that was going on due to the outside finance team they hire for the event. I'm inclined to believe him as I did not feel particularly pressured by the regular staff of the dealership. Be that as it may, it doesn't in my mind excuse my experience, the team at that time still holds them out to represent AutoServ. He has assured me that he and his team will consider my experience and evaluate if they would use these outside finance team again. Speaking with Mr. Robinson eased my mind with this experience and he seemed genuinely concerned about my less then desirable experience. I believe my rating based on my experience was fair but I do believe it may have been better had I not come in during a major sale. So to answer the question if I would recommend this dealership to buy a car, I would say give them a chance. If you don't mind getting pressured and are looking for a hell of a deal, it might be the...

First and last visit. Horrible customer service at exorbitant prices being charged for zero work being performed. Went to dealership asking to have an issue diagnosed on a vehicle that is still under, but almost out of, warranty. The nature of the issue if left unchecked could easily have left me with a cracked block / dead engine out of warranty. Service advisor had to deal with 8 customers at once and was telling co-workers that he could deal with them and to forward other customer calls to his voicemail. He was complaining to me, the customer, about how the online system didn't book the appointment right and it shouldn't have booked me at the time it did. All of the information I entered online was lost. While dealing with another customer next to me he told that customer (a little old lady) "if you want your car back, you have to pay me". He rushed through getting me checked in and I wasn't able to detail my issues. He said the issues I was reporting couldn't be looked at in the 4 hours left in the day. I left the vehicle with them for 2 days to diagnose, each day incurring rental fees. The first day the call me and say they found no issues. The put in ONE hour of diagnosis. I inquire about the tests they did, and it was absolutely the bare minimum. I asked him to do another simple 15 minute test that should have been done when the tests they did do didn't find the issue. He said they didn't do that test because the first tests didn't find anything. Completely backwards. He said he would do the test and I could pickup the vehicle at 8am the next day. The next time I heard from him was 15 minutes before I was supposed to pickup the car saying the test had not been done yet due to a bad snowstorm sending the crew home early the day before. I told him I'd been delayed an hour anyway, which would give him time to do the test. He said some of his guys weren't in yet due to the storm and he'd need more time. I told him the latest I could be without incurring another day rental fee and he said it would be ready by then. 2 hours later he calls and says he can't do the test because the adapter he needs is locked in a toolbox of his Foreman that couldn't make it in that day due to the storm. Why wasn't everything checked to make sure the test could be done in the morning? Why was I notified that they didn't do the test before I got on the road to pickup the car (he knew I lived 40.minutest from the dealership)? I get there to pickup the car, which wasn't diagnosed properly and in order to get my car back had to pay $200 for said diagnosis + rental fees. No work had been done on...