Post in here.

John Bear in St. Catharines.

Looking at a pickup a few years ago, saleswoman asks me to talk about it in her office, sales manager comes in and asks for my keys to evaluate my car on a trade in. Long story short he refused to give me back my keys until we wrote up a offer to purchase on the pickup, quickly handed them back when I pulled out my cell and dialed 911.

Cerami Pontiac in Paramus, NJ (one of the dealers closing now)

I was looking at G8s, and asked if they had any 09s because i test drove one in
Englewood Pontiac.

Guy insisted that no 09s were available yet, I said I just test drove one - he said "well im not gonna argue w/ you, there are NO 09s out yet "

I said goodbye to his face, picked up my G8 in Englewood.

John Bear Pontiac in Hamilton.

I have never bought any of my several Pontiac vehicles from them but have always given them the chance to compete for my business since I live in Hamilton.

On most occassions they elected not to compete with other dealers for my business. I gave them another opportunity on this occassion for my G8. They questioned my numbers in relation to my trade-in value and on the extended warranty package I wanted. They obviously didn`t need my business and I took it elsewhere.

Joe

I just had a very bad dealer experience.

I headed to Plaza Pontiac Buick GMC and was welcomed by a sales named Andrew. I told him I wanted to buy a GT with 1SB package, he checked and told me MSRP $39,000. Then he asked me "you need cloth interior, right?", and then pointed to the DVD screen in the G8 brochure and asked me "do you need that screen?". I don't know what else I could say.

Then I asked him what was the price he could offer, and if dealership have some discount, he said no. Then sales asked credit card and signature from me, I asked why and got answer "you are going to buy this vehicle, and this is the price you need to pay".

I asked again if he knew GM offers $6,500 incentive and he told me no.

And then I offered my price, he went to his manager. After a while he came back with his manager, that manager, who is a big black guy, is the most ignorant and rudest person I ever met. He simply yelled at me "you can't find a G8 GT across entire Ontario under $40,000". WTF!

I think I will call GM Canada to complain.

Pontiac Richmond Hill

Went to order a new car, made a decent offer, and was pushed a 1SB demo with 13,000km on it for $34,580 OTR. The same price I offered for a new ISC.

he insisted in working back from the MSRP to justify his price. I hope GM go under if this is how all their dealers behave.

Bob Saks Buick Pontiac GMC in New Hudson Michigan.

They got my money, since then it's like I don't exsists. Plus they have deceptive sales tactics, or incompitant sales and financing staff. Or maybe both.

Quoted me one monthly price, then the finance guy comes in with $20 a month more when I'm all happy to be buying a car. I should have been less happy and more realistic and walked out, but I didn't

Might still file a complaint with the state for the deceptive sales practices.

BTW, They wouldn't respond to my e-mail attempts for 2 months after purchase about the plate, so I e-mailed the owner, came by fed ex the next day with no sorry, no e-mail response to mine, nothing.

Look up reviews online on every dealer you purchase. Good dealers will have both bad and good reviews. Bad dealers will generally only have bad reviews.

Let's just say Bob Saks Buick Pontiac GMC in New Hudson Michigan has at least a couple bad reviews at different sites now.. :(

Funny you mentioned Richmond Hill...

I was there yesterday and test drove that exact car. First impression was lousy: the sales manager (short, balding guy with glasses) told me "I've only got one GT and it's a demo". I said "I don't care, I simply want to test drive it". I enjoyed the drive but I wouldn't have bought it simply due to the mileage.

$34,500 on a 1SB demo with 13k on the clock is way, WAY overpriced.

It's stunts like this that make people hate car dealerships so much.

I went to a dealer that is 3 miles from my house in BR, LA and they refused to believe I could get $7,000 off the sticker of a G8 GT at a dealer that is 1.5 hrs away. I told them that I would really rather buy close to home, but they refused to work with me, so I drove 1.5 hrs and picked up my Stryker G8 GT for $7,000 off. Shout out to Brian Harris in Slidell, thanks for the no BS deal. :driving:

Ha you should go back to that dealership that is closer to you, and show them your new car.

Ritchey Pontiac Buick in Daytona Beach FL

Got a good deal from them and they were real nice and all during the buying process. Two weeks later they give me a call saying they want me to resign because "they didn't make any money off of me" and that there are new incentives that can claim putting the sale date at a later date. I asked them does that mean resign everything, as in resign my loan, etc. They said yeah and overnighted the paperwork to me (Im stationed in Georgia but am from Daytona). I get the paperwork and the bank address is different, $2.2k show up in the line items for the price of the car that wasn't there before, and instead of 60 months its now 65. The payment was still the same tho! I talked to the JAG office and they told me I am under no legal obligation to resign, so I told the dealership to go F themselves!

They "didn't make any money" off of you? Well, that's too friggin bad. Maybe if their sales manager had been more competent they wouldn't have been in that situation.

Tell them the next time better incentives come out you want to "resign the deal" because you didn't save as much money off of them.

I'm sure you can figure out what their response will be...

Test drove a Liquid Red V6 this morning at Laurie Williamson in Mississauga. I had tried a GT (same colour) earlier in the week at a different dealer.

I had arranged the test drive through the wholesale site Car Cost Canada which apparently screens dealers for their members. However, I knew it wasn't going to go well when a salesman came out with the fancy suit, gold bracelet and pinky ring...

He was pleasant at first and the actual test drive went okay. The car itself (a 1SA) was nice though I much preferred the leather that was in the GT. The handling was almost identical between the two. However, I was not all that impressed with the V6. It was loud and coarse when pushed. The 3.6 in my Aura seems more refined. I guess driving the V8 spoiled me.

After the drive we went back to his office and the sales tactics began. All I was looking for was to test and compare the two G8 versions. He started crunching numbers on a Medium Slate demo that he had been driving (with 11k on the clock). I asked about the current cash back and GMAC financing and he more or less ignored me. Once he realized I wasn't going to take the bait he talked about the "Williamson Advantage" which includes some free oil changes and that new miraculous tire inflator nitrogen gas! He then literally used the "So what will it take to get you in this car today" line. I almost fell out of the chair! Are you kidding me? Are you for real?!

When I told him I'd have to consider my options he started panicking and mentioned that the incentives may not be around much longer. I said "Well, Mr. XXXX that will be my cross to bear" (up until then we were on a first-name basis). The discussion ended very abruptly. He gave me his card and I thanked him for his time and walked out. Had I had my wits about me I would have said "You know, Pontiac may not be around much longer either".

I thought these guys were gone from the car selling business. My last two vehicles were Saturns and the buying experience was light years ahead of this dinosaur dealership. Even buying my wife's Dodge minivan last year was a cakewalk compared to this guy.

I was disgusted by the whole experience. I feel like taking a shower.

I had the same type of experience at Dale Downie's in London Ontario. Stopped in just because I hadn't driven a G8 at that point (had done lots of research). Took the V6 out for about 15 minutes, then took a sales demo GT out for about another 15 minutes. It was raining and cold.
When we (my 2 teenage sons and I) came back the salesman did some 'figuring', went off to the sales manager... came back and said... so, can we do this deal. I'm like no... this is my first test drive of the car at my first dealership. He then took us to introduce us to the sales manager (pressure tactic) and said ..... WAIT FOR IT ....
Mark here doesn't have the balls to sign a deal today!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I sorta laughed (cause I couldn't believe he'd actually just said that... in front of my kids no less). but that was it.... turned to my kids and said.... let's go.

Oh man, that's hilarious! I wouldn't know what to say either if confronted by someone making that comment.

I mean, it's like these guys are longing for the "good old days" when it was all about how much can we screw the customer as opposed to selling them the right vehicle at a price that's fair to both parties.

What got me is the salesman knew I had also test driven a GT and (at that point) wasn't sure which way to go. In fact, as we walked to his office he asked me point blank which model I preferred and I told him I wasn't 100% sure and would have to think about it. And yet he tried his damnedest to sell me a car that was in his best interest while completely ignoring my concerns.

Had he been like, "okay give it the weekend and let me know which way you'd like to go" I would have felt better and probably would have given him my business. But instead, he alienated me and, quite frankly, lost me as a customer.

re. THE RICHMIND HILL DEALER BOUGHT THE LAST G8 GT IN ONTARIO I THINK AT THIS DEALER .SALESMAN WAS FANTASTIC ( HIS NAME IS JAC ) NO PRESURE AT ALL ..GOT A DISCOUNT OF $9,245.00 OF LIST PRICE + A CUSTOM GRILL FOR FREE ( PAID CASH ) FANTASTIC CAR COLOUR SPORTS RED ISB PACKAGE BOUGHT LAST WEEK WILLIE RICHMOND HILL

Good luck with it, willie.

I didn't bite simply because it was a high mileage demo.

They offered me the demo for $29,000 ( for me not a demo with this mileage but a used car ) willie

Seems there are a lot of douchebag dealerships in Ontario!

They offered me the demo for $29,000 ( for me not a demo with this mileage but a used car ) willie

On the road?

Seems there are a lot of douchebag dealerships in Ontario!
Yup. The following is my Round 2 experience:

Went to Meadow Mills to deal on a Panther Black 1SC V6. Showed the salesman the Car Cost Canada printout. I offered $500 over wholesale. Sales manager questioned how he could possibly make any money selling a car for $500 profit. I said well that's my offer. He said $2800 over wholesale was "what I usually sell them for". Then when he saw my shock he dropped it to $2000. I countered with $1000 over wholesale and he seemed interested.

Assessed my trade-in (2007 Saturn Aura XR, loaded). I indicated I wanted $15k and he low-balled me at $12500.

Strike 1.

I laughed and said no less than $13500 (admittedly a little low but I was okay). He agreed. Then he passes on the "numbers" sheet and he's calculated the tax on the total cost (-$7500 rebate, +$1350 freight, +$100 a/c tax) but BEFORE trade-in which is INCORRECT. (I redid the math and it should be about $16400 and NOT the $18230 he indicated. Nice profit pad there.)

Strike 2.

I then questioned the $713 "fee" and the salesman said it's licence transfer ($10, fine), gas ($40, fine) and nitrogen tire fill ($20, scam but whatever). That left about $640 in "administration fees". I said "$640 for filling out paperwork is excessive" and the salesman got defensive and said "well, at the last dealership I worked they charged $1000 admin fee".

Strike 3.

I countered "Well, $630 is STILL excessive and I won't pay it. Sorry for wasting your time. Have a nice day" and walked out.

And there went 80 minutes of my life I'll never get back.

Unbelievable.

And... Round 3. We have success!

After the disaster that was the previous dealership I had the opposite experience at Roy Foss. E-mailed them last night asking about one of the G8's in their inventory. A fellow calls me this morning, chats a bit about the selection and I make an appointment to visit and talk turkey.

I get there, the fellow seems genuine and there's an "energy" within the dealership that the other two didn't have. I see the Magnetic Gray 1SC and find out it was just sold. Doh! They have a couple of demos but I'm not interested. But they do have a Sport Red Metallic 1SC. I see it. I like it. I got it for $31k OTR without too much back and forth. I got $14k for my trade. The Sales Manager was very friendly and we chatted a bit. Wow, talk about a breath of fresh air!

I take delivery on Friday. I'm very much looking forward to owning this somewhat rare vehicle considering not very many were shipped to Canada. I think I've only seen about half a dozen in the sea of Hondas and Toyotas that is my city.

Thank you Roy Foss Motors for taking what was the worst car buying experience I've ever had and turning it into an enjoyable event.

Glad it all worked out for you in the end.
The dealer I bought my car from had to bring it in from Ontario and still came in close to 3k less than the other Pontiac dealer in my area.
I guess they really like the car or something because obviously they didn't want to sell it, I think it might still be there and has been since mid winter.

Congrats Mr. Weather, any reason why you didn't try up in Brampton? Frost Pontiac still has two V6's and a GT. We'll have to get together and do some photos with the Sport Reds!

Hi Ben,

I hit Roy Foss simply because it was convenient to where I work (I live in Mississauga and work in Thornhill). Going to Brampton was definitely on my list. But I was starting to get nervous about vehicle availability and I found what I wanted at Roy Foss and they treated me very well.

I pick up my new ride today. I'll post pictures as soon as I can. :)

Mr Weather,
Congrats on your new G8.
I went too a few dealerships an Roy Foss by far beat them all hands down with pricing an my salesman was very nice as well as everyone else there.

Who was your salesman if you dont mind me asking?

Salesman was John. Really nice guy and treated me well.

I picked up my G8 today. The more I look at the SRM colour the more I like it! Even my wife was impressed when I brought it home!

There was a bit of glitch related to getting the XM to work. At first XM said the car hadn't be registered with them (?) and it would take 10 days to complete everything. Okay... I took my car regardless and headed on my way.

My salesman called a couple of hours later saying XM had made a mistake and it merely required a "re-hit". So, looking for yet another excuse to sit in the driver's seat of my new G8 I went out and fired up the stereo. Within 10 minutes the XM channels propogated and all was good. :)

The car is amazing. Tight, quiet and solid. The handling is great. It's nice having the front wheels do only one job: steering the car.

Congrats Mr.Weather!

I was at a Pontiac dealership in Markham at Kennedy/Hwy7 and they had 4 V6 models up front (MGM, SRM, RED, another colour) and of all of them I like the SRM the best. Nice choice!

As promised here's the new baby at home:

http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u314/va3wxm/IMG_1574.jpg

Looks great, identical to ours. You're lucky with the XM, it took almost a week to get ours sorted out. Of course XM still has the start date as the day we picked up the car, they're supposed to be calling to follow up according to a letter received this week. I'm going to tell them to add a week onto the subscription. They had me try after a refresh, no go. I tried myself through the website twice more, still nada. It took a visit to my sales rep to call her contact at XM Canada to finally get it sorted out.

As for the G8 and SRM you're going to get a lot of looks driving it. Went to Buffalo area last week and we had more stares as to "What the heck is that?" the entire trip. Enjoy, hoping it gets warmer today so I can wash and clay the car, the paint feels like sandpaper in most areas. I guess sitting for months on the lot doesn't do anything for it.

Thanks. Yeah, I've been getting looks from people on the street when I drive. Had one guy at a shop ask me how I liked my G8.

What was the build date of yours? The sticker on the jamb says March 2008. Geez, that's over a year ago. I know it takes about 2-3 months from production until it reaches the shores of North America but what about the rest of the time? Was it sitting in some GM storage yard in Oshawa?

I've put almost 200 km on it in the past 24 hours. I'm trying to accelerate the break in time. :D

Had the TPMS system go into fail mode yesterday. I resynchronized the wheels as per the owner's manual and that fixed it. I figured it was due to the dealer putting the stock rubber back on without resetting the system. The car had been sitting on 20's in the showroom.

I was going to ask you what the build date was of your car. Ours is March 2008 also. I freaked out on my sales rep when I was by with the car over the paint chip/dent issue we had. I couldn't believe the car was build basically a year ago. I said to her, Ok basically three months for transport.. so the car has been here since last June? She thought for a minute and said yes that would be about right. She said their G8's had been around for quite some time on the lot. I was pretty stunned as we were told we had Bluetooth and I'm expecting the car was built around December. Then when I find out it's not a 2009.5 I was a little pissed off.

Did Roy Foss put locking lug nuts on your car btw? Sure it helps prevent them from being stolen but you can't put the black cover on the nut so it looks odd with four black and one silver showing. At least they gave me the other ones so I can switch them over if I want.

No locking nuts with my G8 though they did put them on the ones that were parked in the lot. That reminds me I have to stop by tomorrow to get my touch up paint.

Will Canada ever receive any 2009.5's? I'm doubtful. It's unfortunate because having the BT functionality would have been cool.

So these cars have basically been sitting in dealer lots since last summer? That's unreal. To be honest I don't think I ever saw the G8 advertised anywhere. GM's best kept secret I guess!:driving:

I agree it was a well kept secret, I never saw one print ad, billboard or tv commercial for the car. Any reason your car had 20" wheels put on it by the dealer? To each his own I guess. Oh, you'll find that the paint colour in the touch up is called "Passion Red".

As to the BT functionality it will be nice if the updated module ever gets offered. Apparently this batch of G8's has been sitting around since last summer. I believe the last six digits of our VIN start with 199 so that gives you an indication of build date. Enjoy, hope to wash and start polishing the G8 tomorrow.

The dealer had 20's on it because it was parked in the showroom. First thing I said after "you've got a deal" was "put the stock wheels back on!" :D

Picked up the touch-up paint today. It's called "Red Passion" on the tube.

The last six digits of my VIN starts 160. Looks like mine is older than yours!

Sorry, just looked at ours and it's acutally 156 so I guess we're older than yours. I must have been thinking of ones I looked at on a U.S. dealers site where the V6's were 199. Just waiting to go pick the car up at the dealer, they screwed up with the passenger cowl piece, got the wrong part in. Thanks for wasting most of my day guys! Grr...

I bought my Liquid Red 2009.1 back in July from Fresard on Woodward in Detroit. It had one small paint chip on the front bumper and it was late in the day and none of the body shop guys were still there. As part of the deal, the salesman (Keith Steiner) said he'd mail me a bottle of touch-up. We'll its October and still no touch-up paint. I've e-mailed him numerous times and he doesn't seem to know why he can't get it. He also still has my non-locking lugs to replace the locking lugs, if i'd ever need to (they were supposed to have been placed in the glove box).

Is there a place to register dealer complaints with GM? So that maybe I might be able to get a response from the dealer/salesman.

Thanks, firstdue

Davis group....Lethbridge, Ft Macleod, Claresholm, Brooks, Barrhead, Westlock, Calgary Alberta

These guys will tell you that a IMPORTED G8 with less than 12000 km's on it, has warranty, which is a lie. I have had nothing but bad experiences with this group...never lied to so much in my life.