Shady Dealings - avoid Bob's of Milford dealership in Milford, CT!

Wrote a review on Kudzu.com for Bob's of Milford in Milford, CT.  Review can be found here.  Copied and pasted my review to post on here too.  Backstory and details after the review.

Posted on Kudzu.com - This place is shady. Having done extensive research went up there with a car & budget in mind. Found the car we liked and were not allowed to look at it and the salespeople would not tell us the price or any info..insisted that you had to give your SS# and personal info upfront and then they will PICK A CAR FOR YOU. Complete bs. Went with my bf for moral support and to be a 2nd set of ears, it turned invasive, they questioned me about my personal business (mind you I am not looking to buy a car, he is), and then turned into them trying to pressure and guilt me into cosigning with my bf on the loan. Don't remember names, but we spoke with the Indian salesperson and the African-American "manager" with a diamond earring stud. Would not recommend this place, it struck a bad chord with both of us the moment he said that he's not allowed to tell us the price of the vehicle. Yeah...Skip this place and stick with somewhere legit.

So my boyfriend is in the market for a new car.  We have done extensive research on cars and prices and are now working on finding a model that suits his needs and is within his budget.  We have been to several dealerships recently to check out their pre-owned inventory and to test drive and examine all of the cars we are considering.  Right now have narrowed it down to the '08 Ford Focus, '08 Mazda Mazda5, and possibly the '08 Ford Fusion or '08 Mercury Milano.  We have test driven all of these cars, and now it is just a matter of finding one with low mileage that is in great shape for a good price, and obtaining financing for the vehicle.  We have spent hours at 2 Carmax locations, as well as several authorized dealerships test driving, getting info, asking questions, examining the vehicles, etc.  We signed up for a Consumer Reports membership so that we can have access to detailed information about specific car models, and always check Kelly Blue Book so that we know how much the vehicles are really worth.

My boyfriend has less-than-stellar credit so finding financing, especially now has been a challenge.  Bob's of Milford was recommended by his manager at work as somewhere to check out.  After finding out that they close at 9 p.m., we hopped in the car and drove 30 mins in light traffic to get up there.  We get there, checked out the cars, and then a man approached us.  We ask him for the price on two particular cars.  His response?  "The cars all have different prices." ... Duh.  So then we repeat the question.  He tells us that they don't give out the price of cars or any info about them, or let you look at them until after you provide your SSN and personal info.  Red flag goes off.  Long story short, we get an hour long lecture/guilt trip with the creepy sales person and his weirdo manager trying to pressure me into co-signing on the loan with him because I have good credit.  When I explained that I am currently unemployed, he reassured me that "that doesn't matter."  Yea...responsible lending.  Since our visit on Tuesday night, the sales person has called twice to harass my boyfriend and find out whether I will be cosigning.  We will not be contacting that place again, and in fact, since doing research online, I have found out that that place is mostly just a scam and has stolen thousands of dollars from people in the form of "required deposits" before you know whether you are approved for financing.  Shady stuff.  In addition, we are warning everyone we know to stay away from that place and any other place like it.  So far I have found out that Barberino Nissan in Wallingford is evern worse than Bob's.  These people are crooks, please stay away, I'm glad that we were prepared and savvy enough to recognize a scam when we see it.  Unfortunately for the guys at Bob's, I'm sure they didn't expect two young people to be so prepared and such educated consumers.  That's just the way you have to be though!

Check out these links for more info on car shopping and to avoid scams!  Also try using google creatively, by searching for the name of the dealership and adding "reviews" or "scams" at the end of it to see what comes up.  There are many sites out there dedicated to consumer reviews, including Kudzu, Yelp, Rip Off Report, and Edmunds to name a few.

Better Business Bureau

Rip Off Report

Edmunds

Kelly Blue Book

Consumer Reports