Ruge's Chevrolet — Local services in Town of Washington

About 60 days ago I started my search for my first Corvette I was looking for a used 1999 coupe with a manual transmission. During the search I spoke with quite a few owners of Corvettes, private and dealers. Being somewhat frustrated with the experience I decided to call a local dealer.

That's when I remembered that I have bought a car in 1979 from Ruge's in Rhinebeck, New York. At that time I remember my wife and I discussed how nice of place it was to buy a car! I decided to give them a call and found out their location, one of many was also in Mabbettsville, New York. When the salesperson Matt answerd the phone I was pleased by his easygoing manner, he listened to my requests and answered my questions very politely. If he did not know the answer he ask me permission to leave the phone and get the correct answer for me I love that in a salesperson. When I asked him about the Corvette he said he had a 2003 model in stock and invited me up to take my first look at the car. Needless to say due to his demeanor I jumped in my pickup truck and took a ride up to the dealership.

When I got there the Corvette was sitting out front, very exciting. I went inside and searched for Matt and he introduced me to his manager Tanner and then Tanner introduced me to the Finance manager Sheldon. They invited me to take a test drive which I did and when I came back it seems like I had a million questions. Everybody help me answer the questions it was the most pleasant car buying experience I ever had in my life. Needless to say everything went smooth even the negotiation of price. And I'm now driving the 2003 50th Anniversary Edition, beautiful Corvette.

Oh I forgot to tell you, I worked in the car business for 10 years myself so I have been there and done that. These fine people at Ruge's exceeded every expectation I had and I've yet to experience them saying no to anything I ask for. If you're looking for a car as far as I'm concerned there's only one place to buy it Ruge's Chevrolet in...

In the past (and I have been coming for many years), the estimate provided by the service department was very up front and the final cost comparable to the estimate. However this time, the final cost was roughly $300 over. I was told it was the diagnostic work done the day before which caused the increase - not sure why that wasn't calculated in the estimate. A second issue I had was communication from the service department. I called on a Monday to make the appointment for service the following day; I dropped the car off on Monday. I did not get a phone call Tuesday with a diagnosis and called the following day (Wednesday). I was told the service department experienced an unforeseen backup. Fine. Thursday came and while driving by the dealership late morning, I stopped in to check out the status of the car. I was told it was basically 2 things: that the computer was not working properly and would have to be reset, and that the car needed a tune up. I decided to just have the computer situation addressed and I would deal with the tune up at another time. The next day, Friday, I drove by the dealership and noticed the car parked outside (suggesting it had been fixed but no communication). The weekend came and went, and I made a call Monday to inquire whether the car had been fixed - I was told a part came in on that day and they were working on it then. I finally got a call on Tuesday (a week after the appointment) to say the car was ready to be picked up. Throughout the week, it was I who was reaching out rather than the dealership - usually it's been the other way around. The one thing I expect from a repair shop is honesty - with honesty comes trust. With a repair cost of over $1,100.00 and poor communication, my trust is not as high as it was - hence my...

We have been customers of Ruge’s for over twenty years. Our loyalty has been earned by the integrity and honesty of the teams of hardworking people who work in the various branches. Over the years we have done business with Ruge’s Subaru, Jeep, GMC and now Chevy dealerships. The most recent event that caused me to ask for help was feeling the transmission on my truck begin to slip within 9k miles of the expiration of my contract/warranty. As usual, setting up an appointment was seamless and easy. Since I bought my vehicle at Ruge’s I have always waited for it to be serviced. (I am a tad fanatic about service calls). I was wisely counseled to drop it off this time. Over the course of the weeks that followed Mark could not possibly have been more communicative, more understanding, more informative, and more compassionate about the series of challenges he and his team confronted and overcame. From GMC’s requirements of them to provide in depth detail and analysis of why the transmission failed, in NO part Ruge’s “fault” (or mine thankfully), to the potential impact on getting a new transmission shipped resultant of the UAW strike. Luckily, my new transmission made it onto a truck in the nick of time! But, here’s the thing. Mark didn’t know that and he was excellent and unflinching always in his efforts to deliver the truth of what was happening to the best of his knowledge. I never felt, even for a moment, that I had been forgotten or was being ignored or was being given partial or (worse) sugar coated information. You all have a terrific team in Millbrook. I hope you treat them as well as they deserve. I could not be more...