Nissan of Garden City RANT!
By Christine Petralia
Image courtesy of Nissan
Image courtesy of Nissan of Garden City
Image courtesy of Nissan
November 25, 2012

It’s a shame most Nissan dealerships suck, because I really like their cars. My first experience with a crappy Nissan dealer was in 2008 when I bought my 2009 Altima at the Smithtown Nissan. To make this entry short, I’ll just say that things happened that shouldn’t have, and the only reason the dealership made it right, or at least the only reason I believe they made it right, was because I told them that I work in the news business.

My second crappy experience with Nissan was when I brought my car to get an oil change on Sept. 11, 2009 at the Garden City dealership. I got there at 7:30 a.m. and waited on a line of cars. And then I waited four hours. Four hours for an oil change. Each time I asked if my car was ready, I couldn’t get a straight answer. When I finally caused a scene and said, ‘just give me my car back,’ they informed me the wait was so long because my ‘check engine’ light was on. Which was funny, because the only light that was on in my car when I brought it in was the tire pressure light. In fact, the check engine light had never come on in the year that I had the car. Then they said, they had to fix something or else I would stall while I was driving. But yet, no one could have told me this earlier. They just went ahead and ‘fixed’ something that wasn’t even wrong with the car in the first place. When I wrote to Nissan Corporation, the only answer I got was that the Garden City dealership is busiest one they have on Long Island. An unacceptable answer in my book.

When I started looking for a new car about a month ago, I was really hesitant to head to the Garden City dealer, which is known for amazing deals. I went to look one day, just in the lot, figuring I could be in and out without any salesperson talking to me. However, someone did approach us. He let us look at the new 2013 Altima, which I as interested. But became disinterested in us when I told him that the 2009 I wanted to trade in was not with me at the time.

About a month after that, I went to the lot again, this time to look at the 2013 Rogue. I wanted to take a test drive, so I headed into the showroom. Before I could walk into the chaos, a man approached us asking if we needed help. He explained that while he didn’t actually work for the Garden City Nissan, he did work at the Rockaways dealer, which was devastated by Sandy. I was a little hesitant to work with him, but he seemed to know what he was talking about and other salespeople knew him. He took us on a test drive and then shuffled us inside to talk numbers.

He came back with a really good price and a good trade-in value for my 2009 Altima. I let him know that I would be paying for the vehicle, so I wouldn’t need to lease or finance. He kept pressuring me to see if he had a deal, but I still had some questions I wanted answered. Such as, which version of the Rogue was that price for and what was included in the higher-end version. Also, what was the difference between the 2012 and the 2013, as I was interested in the 2013. He assured me there was no difference in the 2012 and 2013, and the only difference between the SL and basic version was Bluetooth and fog lights. I finally agreed to purchase the 2012 basic model. However, when I picked the color silver, the salesperson informed me that I would actually be getting the 2013 model, as that was the one he promised me on the lot. He also told me he would throw in a remote start for free, I’d just have to come back to get it installed.

After I signed an agreement and called to get my insurance switched, the salesperson informed us that he had to leave, but someone else would be taking care of us. This was at 5:15 p.m. About an hour later, the new salesperson came over to let us know it would be a little while longer. It was at the point I asked for my credit card back, as they needed to keep the number on file, and for a bag to clean out my old car. Another 20 minutes go by before I get the bag and card back. At 7 p.m., he assures us we’re next in line for the finance guy, even though I wasn’t financing the car. Finally at 7:30 p.m., more than two hours after agreeing to the deal, we threatened to walk out if someone didn’t see us immediately, as we had been waiting for a long time and we needed to be somewhere. Imagine how fast they found someone to walk us through the paperwork and brought my brand new car around. While the finance woman walked me through the paperwork, I scanned everything making sure nothing was hidden in the price. I also kept asking about the remote start that the original salesperson threw in. At some point during the paperwork, the woman informed me that I get free oil changes for the life of the car in their service department. I almost laughed at her, remembering my experience with my last oil change there.

Finally, at 7:45 p.m., after getting a ‘we owe’ for my remote start, I was driving out of the lot in my new 2013 Rogue. Of course, the sales guy couldn't let us leave without mentioning the survey I would receive in the mail about my experience. He encouraged me to let him know if I was unhappy before filling out that survey and let me know he would be appreciative if I gave him high marks. When I got to my destination, I realized I left my sunglasses in my old car. I figured, I would find out about them when I returned during the week to pay off the car.

A few days later, I went back to pay the car off. I asked for the salesperson. He was with some customers and informed me he didn’t have a few minutes to take my check, but he did find a finance person for me. That guy, who was on some personal phone calls, took about 10-15 minutes to help me. While I was waiting, I heard another salesperson trying to make a deal. He told the couple he would throw in ‘free oil changes for the life of the car’ if they made the deal right then. I almost turned around to tell them that wasn’t ‘a deal’ as that’s apparently included when you buy any vehicle. When this new finance guy came over to me, he took my check, made me a copy of the receipt and rushed me out. I barely had time to give him my old car’s title. And when I asked him if my old car was still on the lot, he told me I’d have to call back later. I decided to, then, ask the salesperson if he could find out. He just told me a firm ‘no’ when I asked if the car was still on the lot. Guess that was the end of my sunglasses.

After that, I decided to make my appointment to get the remote start installed ASAP, as I didn’t want to deal with this dealership anymore. When I inquired about getting a loaner car for the day, the woman informed me that there were no loaner cars or rental cars at the nearest Enterprise because of the hurricane. I then asked if I could drop it off the day after Thanksgiving, as long as they were open. The woman said they were open and the company that installs the remote starts was open too. Then, she said, ‘Do you have someone to pick you up? Or maybe we can drop you off at the mall, as it’s going to take a while. Sometimes the guy doesn’t come until 1 p.m.’ Huh? Seriously. Then why I was making the appointment for 7:30 a.m.? I made the appointment anyway.

Friday rolls around and I, once again, get on the line of cars to drop it off. The man informs me that my car should be ready by 1 p.m. When I called at 3 p.m., he told me it would be another hour. Finally, at 4 p.m., my car was ready. When I got there, they couldn’t find it. Once they did, the man showed me how to work the remote start. And then I drove away, hopefully forever.

Granted, nothing out of the ordinary or sketchy happened in my experience, a lot of things rubbed me the wrong way. For instance, was it really necessary to wait over two hours to sign paperwork, especially since I wasn’t financing or leasing it? Oh, and I forgot to mention that the SV version of the Rogue actually includes the Intelligent Key (push-button start), which I had repeatedly asked the sales guy about, as that’s what I had in my Altima. Never once did he mention that the SV had that. In fact, he never even mentioned the SV, he only mentioned the SL. That definitely bugged me, so much so, that I’m actually contemplating trading in the car for the SV version. The jury is still on whether I want to do that or not. I, also, didn’t like how the finance person rushed me out when I went to pay for the car. The dealership was quiet. I felt he could have taken the time to answer any other questions I might have had. In addition, I feel they could have made a little more effort to see if my old car was actually on the lot or not, especially since I’m pretty sure they didn’t turn around and re-sell it in three days.

Needless to say, they can keep their free oil changes, as my time is worth way more than anything their service department has to offer. I will now deal only with the Syosset dealership. I have never had any issues with their service department, in fact, the guy there even honored my last free service on my Altima even though the maintenance plan had expired by two weeks, something the Nissan in Garden City refused to do and in that case it was only a week’s difference.

I highly recommend not going to the Nissan in Garden City for sales or for service. Unless you feel like getting annoyed and wasting a lot of time.
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*NOTE: I have not used any names to protect their identities. Also note that this was just my experience.
How disappointing! If you want to see a theater show set to Madonna songs, see her in concert. If you want to wait almost three hours to see your favorite pop star washed up, by all means, waste your money. Seen on Nov. 13, 2012.