Okay, folks, I bought a new car in July. No problem with the car, just the service. For the last 3 months or more, I've been waiting on license plates and title. Have had to go back and get temporary tags once. Have asked about license plates and title several times either in person or on the phone. They kept blaming it on the State.
I finally got in touch with one of the salesmen who actually looked into the problem. I got my license/tags today. The receipt on the papers was 11/20/24 which means it was only done yesterday. And that tells me the papers on the car were either lost, misplaced or sat in someone's desk for over 3 months. I still have to wait on the title.
Is this normal customer service for new cars? It never was before. This is my 3rd time to purchase from that dealer but probably the last.
Need I say how upset I am over the whole thing?
Edited by - Texasbanjo on 12/09/2024 04:21:59
There is absolutely no excuse for you having to wait that long. At some point maybe you should have visited them is person and asked to speak to someone higher up the chain of command. I had a problem a number of years ago with my Mercury Cougar where the horn ring kept popping off. I took it back in a number of times and the things was never fixed. On my last visit they told me it was now out of warranty. I went directly to the dealership owner's office and had a talk with him and it was immediately fixed with a new horn ring.
When I purchased my new truck about a year and half ago, I traded in my old truck at the dealership. The whole thing was kind of rocky from the start. The salesman I got was very nice but was new. After I signed all the paperwork, my salesman handed me the keys and told me I was good to go. We didn't go through the insurance, so I was sort of confused, but he assured me it would all clear by the following day and that I could go ahead and leave. About an hour later I got a call from the store manager who was in a panic over the fact that the insurance had not been taken care of and told me I had to come back.
In the confusion, I didn't get a chance to remove my old license plate from my trade in. Fast forward a couple of months: I get a speeding ticket in the mail from a red light camera. The picture showed my old truck with the license plate and registration tag that was apparently never removed by the dealership. So either they sold it to someone with my plate on it, or had been test driving it on public roads without putting their temporary dealer plate on it.
It took another couple of months of bugging the dealership to get the ticket cleared. In the meantime I got multiple letters in the mail threatening late payment fees for the ticket.
It was a mess. Everything is a mess nowadays though. Not just cars.
Long story short: I feel your pain
I guess people are just not trained enough, or there’s such a turnover , the education system is poor, or maybe navigating computer sites for every transaction and detail is derailing things.
Edited by - chuckv97 on 11/21/2024 15:32:50
We have government vehicle insurance in MB ... it's not perfect, but I don't want private vehicle insurance ..... we've been there / done that. [But I guess that's a whole other ball of wax.]
I've kinda been thinking that on balance (?) screw-ups in private businesses were by design, while government ones were due to incompetence. Maybe I'm gonna have to reconsider??
quote:
Originally posted by TexasbanjoOkay, folks, I bought a new car in July. No problem with the car, just the service. For the last 3 months or more, I've been waiting on license plates and title. Have had to go back and get temporary tags once. Have asked about license plates and title several times either in person or on the phone. They kept blaming it on the State.
I finally got in touch with one of the salesmen who actually looked into the problem. I got my license/tags today. The receipt on the papers was 11/20/24 which means it was only done yesterday. And that tells me the papers on the car were either lost, misplaced or sat in someone's desk for over 3 months. I still have to wait on the title.
Is this normal customer service for new cars? It never was before. This is my 3rd time to purchase from that dealer but probably the last.
Need I say how upset I am over the whole thing?
I have been really annoyed in the last few years when I have purchased a new motorcycle and then go to pick it up and although they have marked the service book as having the pre-pickup service as being checked over by the technicians and yet I have received dirty bikes, wrong tyre pressures and other basic items that show that once the bike has been sold they don't care. One salesman told that my new motorcycle have been checked over twice and yet when I road down the street both mirrors started swinging because they hadn't been tightened up like they should have. I don't go back to those dealers again when it comes time for a service as they have lost my faith.
Paul
Edited by - 1935tb-11 on 11/22/2024 08:55:17
AAA will get you your papers and plates. Maybe try them next time.
But frankly, there's sooo much to watch on phones nowadays I'm not surprised those guys dropped the ball on their so called "customer service".
Our government insurance program also controls the registration. When you buy privately both of you have to visit the nearest ICBC agent. The old plates are turned in and new ones are issued to the buyer. The buyer has to pay for registration and minimum insurance coverage before the new plates are handed over. The big dealers have someone on the property who is licensed to do these transactions. The small dealers have to call a mobile agent who usually works until 9:00PM. I remember the old days when you could make a deal on a Saturday and one of you could turn over the paper work whenever. That didn't always work well if the new buyer totaled the car on Saturday night.
Tyler’s post above nailed it !!! “ Everything is a mess nowadays though. Not just cars.”
Customer service is at an all time low IMO and almost non-existent in so many ways. Doesn’t matter if you’re buying a car or looking for grapes at the grocery store, dining out, buying a new battery, dealing with HR at work , and the list goes on and on !!!
Last month we bought a 2025 Subaru Outback for my wife (who can be very indecisive and trying) and I must say we met the most laid back and patient car salesman ever.
Before leaving the showroom with our new car, I had to go back to his office again and thank him for helping my wife, being patient with her and making this process painless by his No Bullship method and genuine demeanor!!!
Surprisingly, it was actually a pleasurable experience buying a new car.
He appreciated it very much!!!
There are a few good ones out there but far and few between. Has it always been this bad with service , or am I just getting older, expecting more and less understanding? I don’t believe so!!!
Slammer!!!
We’ve purchased many new cars in Texas and never had a problem with getting plates and registration in a timely manner. I’ve heard from others that have had issues and it always goes back to the dealer not filing paperwork or taking too long to file.
In Tennessee, it rarely takes more than 2 weeks to get your tag, and your title. IF you financed, your financial institution will get your title until you pay off the vehicle. But after two weeks, I probably would have started at the courthouse first. Remember, they add fees for processing your title and tag paperwork.
quote:
Originally posted by Elmo_SmileyIn Tennessee, it rarely takes more than 2 weeks to get your tag, and your title. IF you financed, your financial institution will get your title until you pay off the vehicle. But after two weeks, I probably would have started at the courthouse first. Remember, they add fees for processing your title and tag paperwork.
This was a turnkey deal: tax, title and license fee included in the sales price, so the dealer took care of that (allegedly). No lien on the car, so the title should come directly to me and it still hasn't. Almost 120 days now and still no title.
quote:
Originally posted by Texasbanjoquote:
Originally posted by Elmo_SmileyIn Tennessee, it rarely takes more than 2 weeks to get your tag, and your title. IF you financed, your financial institution will get your title until you pay off the vehicle. But after two weeks, I probably would have started at the courthouse first. Remember, they add fees for processing your title and tag paperwork.
This was a turnkey deal: tax, title and license fee included in the sales price, so the dealer took care of that (allegedly). No lien on the car, so the title should come directly to me and it still hasn't. Almost 120 days now and still no title.
Agreed. Yours is totally on the dealer, but you can still check at the registrars office to see if your tags and title have been processed by the State.
Terry: "... the title takes about 5 to 6 weeks."
That's what ya get for living in the "age of instant communication!!" 
I just did a quick peek via Google, and an article from 2014 was entitled "The Age of Instant Communication is Here to Stay."
I like certain aspects of my Maine car dealers.
I got a check in the mail from a local Kia dealer offering me $333 more than I paid for my Hyundai Accent new.
It now has 70k miles.
Sounds more like a scam, Steve. Bet there's more to it in the fine print.
Remember, if it sounds too good to be true...it probably is.
quote:
Originally posted by BuddurSounds more like a scam, Steve. Bet there's more to it in the fine print.
Remember, if it sounds too good to be true...it probably is.
Yep! that's what they do!!
Fwiw, I think many rationalize their way to getting a "good deal" on a vehicle. For me it's kinda like when Canadian farmers were "debating" [cough, splutter, cough] the merits of the Canadian Wheat Board [a quasi-governmental central selling agency]. When it came down to me vs. Pioneer or Louis Dreyfuss or Cargill or ____ , it didn't take me long to figure out who would come out ahead.
I had a [farmer] neighbour whose "voice of experience" was that after you've had a vehicle for 20 years it was making money for you ... up to that point it was making money for somebody else.
I believe it has to do with how much money they have to play with on a new car.
If the current "Book" on my '18 Accent is 12.5 (just a guess) and they're offering me 16.3 they simply jack up the new car by 4k.I plan on on putting 300k miles on this Hyundai and never trading.
Edited by - steve davis on 12/01/2024 07:41:48
Well, we're going into month 5 now and still no title. At least I do have plates on the car.
Geez, Sherry .... no free-lance counterfeiters in your area??
Owen I may have to look into that if I don't get a title soon.
I have written a complaint letter to the home office but doubt that I ever get an answer. They probably just threw it in the trash. State of Texas is my next place to contact to see why my title isn't forthcoming.
Don't blame you Sherry.
Imo, I doubt it is incompetence....I'll bet they are holding the Title for some reason to benefit themselves.
UPDATE: I FINALLY got my car title in the mail yesterday. Amazing how quickly it came... after they got of their rear ends and unearth the papers on my car and took them to the right place.
