First of all, sorry for the length.
I posted up in the new owners section and someone suggested I post my buying experience for others to read. This was just 1 guys experience so maybe others will have better luck.
First I had e-mailed the fleet/internet manager about 6 or so times about some general pricing and my trade in. He kept requesting I call him to finalize a date/time for me to come in and he'd have a car ready for me to test drive and have someone ready to appraise my car. I wanted to keep as much over the internet, but I called him and confirmed the appointment.
I arrive at the appointment time and they said he left for the day already. I was immediately let down. So they got another older salesman to help us out. Now I had to start all over with the price, my trade, what I was looking for etc... This guy knew close to nothing about the G35. He was talking about the power door locks and windows and look how fast the car is as he beats on it before letting me drive. When I asked him specifics about the music box and voice commands, it was obvious that he was clueless. No matter cause my wife and I had researched the car for weeks. We knew way more than him which is sad.
So then he breaks out the 4 box paper and says my trade in car needs to get appraised. The internet salesman said he needed an appointment to get my car appraised, but the new sales guy goes outside opens the door and says, "wow, that car is really nice and clean". The he talks to a few other people and writes down an extremely low ball value.
Then I proceed to tell him I want a 36 month lease. So he talks to the special people who sit in the elevated office behind the glass and comes back with a price and right next to it it says "60L" I asked him why it said "60L" and said, doesnt that mean 60 month lease. He assures me it doesnt mean 60 months and it's for 36 months. Again I said I doubt that cause why would it say 60L, but he again says that its for 36 months.
We negotiate prices and down payments for a while then talks to the special people again then comes back and apologizes and says the price is higher because you want a 36 month lease. I was now starting to get angry. I told him it said 60L and he acknowledged and said sorry.
Finally after further frustration and delays (probably so we wouldn't go back to the BMW dealer which closes earlier than Infiniti) we work out a price. Looking back I should not have told them that we already looked at the 335i and may want to return there today before they close.
Then my wife says she wants a red one. They said red is very rare and the salesman allegedly looks up the inventory on a computer and says there may be only 1 red G35S with navigation in the country. I told him that as of 4 hours ago, there were 3 red G35S with navigation at Infiniti of Scottsdale according to their website. He says that's not true. Another guy says it could take a few weeks. So we said fine and didn't sign anything and left with the thought that the deal wouldn't happen.
The next afternoon the salesman calls and says how lucky we were that they found the exact car we wanted, plus it had a spoiler and tech package and would be there tomorrow. I said I am not paying any more and didn't ask for a spoiler or tech. He says not to worry, we'll work it out. But he won't tell me for sure it won't go up.
So we go back in the next day and there's the car with the Infiniti of Scottsdale sticker on it (like I told him they had in stock).
Turns out the payment only went up $1 per month. Maybe just a symbolic increase for them to think they won or something.
I wasn't going to write this but I got a call about an hour ago from the finance guy who leaves me a message saying they messed up the paperwork on our trade because it was a lease car dealer trade in or something like that and he'd like us to come back in to sign some new papers. Well, I don't feel like driving an hour each way for their mistake. I haven't called them back yet.
My final thought are- this dealership either was having a bad day, or I just had bad luck. Many people were involved in my sale and every one of them made mistakes- the original internet salesman that was a no show and didn't ask someone else to be there for me, the new salesman that has no idea about the car and gives me prices for the wrong lease term, to the finance guy who can't write a contract up correctly the first time.
The good news is that the car is great and we love it!
If anyone goes to Midway in Phoenix, just be prepared.
After the deal, I read this article and the people that sold me my car must have to read this in order to work there cause they use most of the tctics mentioned-
http://www.edmunds.com/advice/buying...2/article.html
Take care everyone!
Jay

 

wow, thats a really long post. i cant' believe i read the whole thing. haha

but i can't believe those guys were trying to mess with you man. I'm glad you did your resarch and everything, would you mind posting the price you were able to haggle?

and about the hour drive: what would happen if you never went?

 

We ended up getting a 39 month lease, 12k miles/year, $2700 down ($4k total out the door including 1st payment and 1st years registration which was almost $700), for $581 + tax/month. The sticker price including the ridiculously priced window tint for $499 and Automate paint protection for $999 was $41,700.
It's hard to tell on a lease with a trade in if I got a good deal. We still owed another year on the trade in lease ('05 Acura TL) but I think the payoff was about $2k more than I would get selling it privately so I was still a little upside down on that lease. Total payments equal $22k and residual value is $22k so if I bought it after the lease I'd pay $44k. I guess that's a tad high.
I'll call Infiniti tomorrow about the paperwork, but I'm not driving an hour each way for their mistake. If I was 5 minutes away, then I might consider it.
And once again, sorry for the length. I didn't realize I had so much to say.
Jay

 

I agree about the lease values throwing off the deal guage. I too have a lease and think I got a decent deal on it. But the fact that you traded in another car + downpayment of 2.7k messes with my calculation of the lease deal.

For me, i got an 05coupe
I thought it was 0 down, but I later found out that my mom put downpayment of $3000

So here's my overview:
36month (might have been 39, gotta check)
36,000 sticker, due to sports package
3000 down
$397 monthly

what kind of mistakes did they make? i'm guessing it can't be toward your favor.
sorry if it seemed rude when i mentioned the length. its just that I know you'll get less responses with longer posts than short summarized posts.
-RJ

 

If Scottsdale had the car you wanted, why didn't you just to Scottsdale? I assume you must live 1 hour north of Phoenix. If so, did it make that big of a difference to drive 1.5 hours instead of 1 hour? I'm a little confused because Midway has a reputation of being the most incompetent dealer around Phoenix (including their service dept) and Scottsdale has a reputation of being the most straigtforward. So, if the better of the two dealers actually had the car you wanted in stock, why not go there?

 

Had I known Midway had such a bad reputation, I would not have gone there and I didn't know Scottsdale had a great reputation either. There was nothing on the boards saying that when I checked.
I'm in Goodyear which is an hour southwest of Midway. Scottsdale was probably only about 10-15 minutes further and had I not spent so much time at Midway already, I would have gone there. I was just in no mood to start the process from the beginning again.
It was an annoying process to get the car but it's over for a few years now and the car makes my wife very happy. I still won't do business at Midway though.

 

Jay,
I found you write up very interesting. I have had a few encounters with midway but they have all been very good. I bought a QX4 and one of the first 350Z from them a few years back. I must have got lucky, cause I had no problems.

Just like you I am going to trade in a 04 acura TL for a G, although I'm holding out for the 08. I also tried to do most of my negotiation via the Internet, but to very little avail. (why do they call themselves Internet managers if they refuse to use it, and will only deal with you by phone and in person?) the pinnacle guy has been relentless- leaving 3 messages a week.

 

My wife and I got our QX4 and Coupe from Midway and they were just fine both times. Sucks you had problems. Maybe just an isolated incident?

 

I had a really bad experience with them as well. I had gone thru Costco, and their internet guy called me, it was like mid november/early dec 2004, I was looking at the new 05, 6spd, graphite/grey. I already knew that the manuals were 3 mos out and there were few out there with the options I wanted. The calls me on a saturday and he tells me he has one, which is odd because I had already known there were none in AZ. So I ask him to confirm it and he told me that he has it, and I told him that there were none in AZ, he goes I have one. I say so it's a 6spd and he goes, 5at. I was like, you did see my requirements right, he said yes, so I ask him if he knew the difference between a manual and an auto, then I asked if it had nav, he says no, and i',m like what are you smoking dude? the car wasn't even close to what I wanted, he was trying to get me into the showroom, which is 1.5hrs away from me just to push his car.

I got a call in december and they told me they got one from another dealer, and I confirmed it had everything I wanted and the color, and the guy said yes, when I got there, there was no car, they wanted to get me into another car. I was soo pissed, I filed a complaint with the manager and the BBB for deceptive practices. they ended giving me $40 for the gas I burnt going there.

They remind me of sleazy USED car salesmen, NOT a luxury brand dealership....