For those that got their deal at Passport in VA I would like to know how the process for you went. I.E. time spent, price negotiated etc.

Hey Harley01 who did you speak to when you went to get your car? Is it a coupe or a sedan?

 

I dealt with the GM - Mike Walker. Couldn't have asked for a better buying experience. If you run into any problems ask for him he should set things straight. He's pretty straight forward.

 

Yup, I also dealt w/ Mike Walker via email. Get on the email list and you'll receive any specials they run (easy to do by just asking for a quote). Mike broke down all the numbers and gave me the out the door price via email-no games. I didn't even feel the need to negotiate because the price was by far the best I had been quoted. I then drove up and Marc (can't remember his last name-though I remember he, like I, loved to play golf!) did all the paperwork. I was there at 10am and driving away by 1:30 with my new sedan. Richmond Infiniti wanted about $1500 more for the same car. I have a friend looking for a coupe and he's on the email list. I even received a nice food basket in the mail last week.

The only thing that felt a little bit like the tyical car dealer was when they tried to sell me tire/wheel insurance, but once I said no thanks they didn't try to push me into it.

 

I dunno if this is the right place, but Passport has the best service dept in the wash dc area. just my $.02

 

Yeah, your get what looks like a credit card that saves you money throughout your regular service intervals. In fact, your first service (oil change) is free...only wish I didn't live over an hour away.

 

I dealt with Patrick. He was an awesome salesman. Very good... friendly, knowledgeable, not-pushy. He was awesome before the sale, and continues to be after the sale. The service department is proffessional and very helpful. Possibly the best car dealership I have ever been to!

 

The following is my experience with Passport of Infiniti in Virginia Alexandria on April 27, 2005.

From an internet quote request. Passport quoted me an advertisement of 500 dollars below invoice on an all new 2005 G35X excluding taxes, tags, and destination charge. The model I was looking for was a base 2005 G35x. This particular car had splash guards, trunk mat, and spare tire.

Upon entering the dealership, I was greeted by the dealer and we test drove the car. Everything was fine up until we sat down to start the paper work. The price this company quoted me was about 610 dollars over what I was expecting. Turns out they included the destination charge as part of their original invoice. So this is how they calculated the invoice price:

Invoice = Base + Options + DESTINATION CHARGE

The calculation of the final price is:
Final Price = Invoice (from above) + DESTINATION CHARGE (AGAIN) - 500 (from the internet quote)

Basically the dealer is trying to make you believe you are getting a 500 dollar discount but in reality you're not. They make it up by charging you Destination charge twice. True, some of you may think that's still a good price, which I believe is true. There are other dealers like Rosenthal and Timonium that will give you deals for the same if not better.

When I pointed this out to him, the sales person got his manager and his manager came back to say "take it or leave it". The guy lied straight to my face saying that they are not charging me destination charge twice. The manager even printed out the invoice. Even the invoice showed the exact calculation above, but the manager refused to admit he was charging me twice for destination. They knew I caught them in a lie and that's when I just packed up and left.

Just be wary of dealer tricks like this. I would not trust anyone at that dealer. Let me know if anyone reading this has any questions.

Good luck to you all on your G35s.

 

Thanks everyone for your response....looks like Passport is the best around here. I don't think I have read one bad thing about them. I wonder if they know how people feel about them.

Do you guys think I would be able to get a base coupe w/sunroof from Passport with an out the door price of around 31K?

Sorry I know this is a "Sedan" forum but I didn't want to start a new thread in the "Coupe" forum.

 

I spoke too soon....there is someone who had a bad experience with them.

 

I doubt you can get out that low since my sedan ran me just over 31K out the door (sunroof, trunk mat only option). The coupes run about 2K more if memory serves me right.

 

Send a PM to wnt1bd and ask him about his MD dealer. When we ordered my wife's car in January, Passport couldn't come close in price.

 

My experience with Passport was less than stellar. I would not purchase from them again.

 

What happened?

 

Less than stellar experience with Passport here also. However I received a great deal on the sale price. I got a 6MT AB (nav, prem,aero, splash, trunk mat) for over 2000 below sticker price with "2.9% APR".

Bad experience:
1. I had to pick up my car the following day because I bought the car just before it was about to close so they could prep it. I had to wait over 2 hrs just to give them a deposit and sign 1 form. I think it's ridiculous to wait this long for something that took me about 2 minutes to do.
2. Forgot to make me fill out another form. I had to go back to sign more papers after a few days later.
3. After filling out everything and signing a contract with 2.9% APR the finance guy tells me that Infiniti won't give me 2.9% after a MONTH signing my contract. This guy was trying to make me pay more than what was on the original contract. After threatening to give back the car for my downpayment in return he lowered the sale price so it would adjust to the original payments with 4.25% APR.
4. When the finance guy, Mike Butkus, calls me about the APR problem I tell him that the incredible deal I got including the APR was the reason why I got the car at that time in the first place (I still had 3 months left on my lease from my previous car). I couldn't believe what he told me next, "If that was the reason why you bought the car then you shouldn't have bought one in the first place" I dunno but I think its pretty naive of someone NOT to consider APR when looking at out of pocket expenses in the long run. It makes a huge difference and cost them around $1k.
5. Found out that the passenger door on my car is missing something that prevents the door from opening all the way instead in "intervals" after hearing a squeeking sound from the door. They said they need to order the part since its still an 05 car. Its been over 2 weeks and they still do not have the part!

I don't think I would ever buy from this dealer again. Yeah I think I got a great deal but all those mistakes wasted so much time.

 

I just finished the D.C. area Infinti dealer experience. I ended up with a car from Rosenthal. The people at Passport are very nice and pretty easy to deal with, but Rosenthal offered me over $2,000 more for my trade and a similar price for my 6MT. So far Rosenthal has been very good to work with, but I have read that you need to keep your eyes open for problems in the service area("curbed" wheels, scratches).

If I was dealing with just cash I probably would have delt with Passport.

Ray

Shouldn't this be moved to a regional area like the National G club site?