CAA

TD,

Here's my great sales experience with HBL. About a year ago I was looking for a daily driver and I saw an ad in the Post they were running for the Cayenne S - $600 a month, $3 or $4k down - don't remember..so I head over. As usual, a sales guy is on you as soon as you step out of your car in the parking lot so he takes me for a test drive. I liked it, so we sit down to talk about numbers. At the time, they had a BUNCH of them on the lot. I didn't ask for one with a lot of options, basically just 18's and litronics - that's it. All of a sudden, the price shot up to $800 a month with the sales guy explaining that for the $599 rate it had to be a Cayenne with no options, the 16 or 17" base wheels (which looked absolutely ridiculous on the car) and flat paint. I stated that I would not be opposed to having a slight difference above the $599, but not $800. I stated I would sign the deal that day if they gave it to me and spent about an hour running through the numbers with him showing him how they could meet that figure. After wasting that time, he said I'm sorry but there is no way they can do it - I said thank you and walked out the door. Two weeks later I end up buying an A6 4.2 (not from HBL). Two weeks after that, I get a call from the saleman stating that he is happy to let me know they can offer me the deal I asked for, and they subsequently advertised in the first place. In not so many words I told him to get bent. I'm sure there are many other stories like this. Moving forward I will not do business with them and as you said, any out of warranty work I have goes straight to Intersport across the street. They are great. I will try out the dealer in Arlinton when I get a chance but it's mainly their location which has kept that from happenening.

UberXY

I used to work next door to HBL and sometimes went over there at lunch time. All in all I did not like the place, but I have to relate an experience in which an HBL sales guy was oddly honest.

During the 17 months that passed between ordering an M5 at Fairfax BMW and the time that it arrived, I decided to take the wife to HBL one day and test drive an E55. I drove it about a mile with the sales guy, pulled off the road, and said "Would you drive it? I think there is something wrong with the transmission..." So he drives it, says it's fine, what was my complaint? I told him the first/second shift was really impotent, that it should be neck snapping with all that torque.

So he says: "Our surveys indicate that Mercedes customers want things that way. I think you might be much happier in a BMW".

Truer works were never spoke.

Steve
99 996
00 M5
62 356B racer
98 E320/spousemobile

Chrisp3

These guys in VA remind me of a dealer that is in my local area. Arrogance won't sell me a car.

programmatore

I stopped by HBL the other day to pickup a 996 Tequipment catalog and to have a closer look at the 997. Unfortunately, all three 997's (2 Carreras and 1 Carrera S) that they had for the launch party were gone. The salesman told me that all their allotments from the factory were already spoken for through June 2005 (they had a pretentious whiteboard with a list of the cars and for how much they sold). Still, it makes me wish I had put down a deposit and sold my "slot" in the waiting list on eBay. I still want to test drive the 997 S if any of the dealers ever get one. I can't wait until the 997 S Cabriolet debuts at the Paris Auto Show.

.:programmatore:.

Chronos

I stopped by HBL yesterday and they had a black 997S on the floor. I walked around it for about 20 minutes, sat in it for about 10, and was never even approached (yeah, and my 996 was parked next to the windows and I did take a shower that morning! ).

Overall I was still underwhelmed. It had the standard (not full leather) interior and I thought it looked and felt cheap. Maybe I'm spoiled by my leather interior? The texture was too pebbly and soft- I'm sure I'll get slammed for stating this, but it reminded me of the plastics used in my friend's entry level Chevrolet. Yecch. I guess in my old age that I'm still a fan of organic shapes, and though the 996 interior isn't Valhalla the angular 997 interior left me cold. The 19" wheels did look somewhat better in person, but still a bit overhanded. I still think the 993 is the penultimate in 911 design, and though I can see the resemblance between it and the 997 the proportions, angles and perspective just don't quite jive. I know, I know, this is all so subjective. But when I looked at the AS C4S outside on display my pulse started racing a bit more and that car held my attention.

It'll probably grow on my as the 996 did. It just didn't take my breath away the way the 993 did when it was first introduced.

Just my $.02 and worth less than half of that...

programmatore

The salesman told me that all their allotments were already sold and they weren't getting any more cars into the showroom. I guess they pissed yet another guy off who cancelled his order. Scratch one car off their scoreboard.

Chronos

If a salesman were to have approached me I was going to ask how the obtained it! programmatore you are probably right!