[sroeser]

Looking for help in buying/leasing a 2006 Jeep Rubicon and I have a trade-in.

Here's what drove me to this -- excuse my rant and it's length.

My wife and I went back to the same dealer/salesguy this weekend where we both bought our Grand Cherokees 4 years ago.

I wanted to get a 2006 Rubicon (like the body style better) and the guy had located several in New England.

Here's the play by play:

So we arrive and after the pleasantries go for a test drive in a used 2005 (the new 2006 is at another dealer). Once we get back, we start discussing a deal.

As a car guy, I enjoy the process of buying a new car and I told the salesguy that this is a luxury for me and I don't need to get one.

We're planning on trading one of the Grand Cherokees so there are 3 areas of negotiation:
1) 2006 Rubicon price
2) Grand Cherokee trade-in value
3) Financing (lease vs buy)

This is where everything goes to *****.

He refuses to come down from the $30K+ MSRP for the Rubicon and undervalues the trade-in value.

I pull out the NADA guide printout I made with a higher trade-in value and he goes the the finance guy and suddenly my trade-in value goes up by $875.

I stop the conversation and say that I don't want to fight for every dollar and the fact that we bought 2 jeeps 4 years ago should matter -- since we came back to him. And that he's ruining the experience.

After he left to go back to the finance guy again, my wife sensed I was getting upset and suggested that we leave. As I got up, I saw him sitting back in a chair next to the finance guy.

He rushes out and I told him we're leaving. He asked what we could do to finalize the deal today and after telling him -- $6,000 off of the MSRP of the Rubicon and another $1,000 on the trade-in -- he scurried off.

My wife then pulled me aside and said that she knew I wouldn't buy the Rubicon sight unseen, so nothing could be finalized today anyway. So I asked for my keys and we left to the sight of two open mouths (sales- and finance guy).

Now my job is in marketing where I deal with "make goods" every day, and I'm only as good as my last project.

So I didn't think it was too much to expect a certain level of respect from a salesguy where I was a repeat customer.

I guess I was wrong, but what upsets me the most is that so many people (Pelicans excluded) have the mindset of if you're too stupid to know any better/negotiate then too bad for you.

If anyone has a contact at a Jeep dealer, I'd appreciate it.

Thanks.