After my horrific experience at Curry Chevrolet, I had pretty much given up on American car dealers. For the second time in 5 years (a ratio of 2 out of 2), my experience with an American dealership, a Chevrolet one similar to the first, was an unmitigated disaster. I had two intentions the following weekend: a Honda dealer and a Nissan dealer. I had the cars already picked out and I was going in with a chip on my shoulder which meant the amount of crap I was willing to take would seriously be reduced before I walked and told them where to park their cars.
The day after Curry wasted my time in a snow storm, my brother in law called me and asked if I wanted to go see his cousin at Manfredi Chevrolet in Staten Island. If he didn’t have what I wanted he would order it for me and have it delivered there. He also promised a good deal if I made the trip. Seeing as we had nothing to lose, Beth and I headed down there to see what he could do.
When we got to the showroom, the difference was immediate. No pressure whatsoever from the staff and they didn’t pounce on us the second we walked in the showroom. One salesperson introduced himself and told us if there was anything we needed he’d be more than happy to help. That was it; that was the end of the conversation. We had free reign of the showroom floor. My sister was sitting in a new Traverse in the showroom and she looked at me and said “You need to sit in this thing.”
“What the hell am I going to do with that? It’s huge!” It really was. In the showroom it took up about a third of the floorspace. I humored her, though, and sat in it. The second my butt hit the seat, I knew it was what I wanted. Realistic or not, it was the most comfortable thing I’d ever sat in. I called Beth over and said “I want this.” She blew me off and laughed, thinking it was completely ridiculous.
Then Billy came in and we relived the story of Curry Chevrolet’s screwjob that Monday. He shook his head and took us out to the lot where he had a few Malibus for us to look at it. One was nice; it was black on the outside and really classy, but the interior had a color that could most aptly be described as basketball orange. The rest were four cylinder models, which I wasn’t into. Despite them having more horsepower than our 2001 Malibu, I wasn’t interested in a smaller engine because the difference in price wasn’t big enough to make it worth it. We went into a second lot where he had more cars, and even some Impalas. I’ve always liked the Impala, but Beth wasn’t sold. Then I saw a Traverse on the lot and I looked at Beth and she just rolled her eyes and told me she didn’t care if I took a test drive. Billy got us a set of keys, and away we went.
I drove it off the lot and was amazed. It was big; definitely, but it felt like a much smaller vehicle. Kind of like a big car. Smooth, quiet, and controlled with power to spare. I was very happy and told Beth, “I’m not driving anything else. This is it.” She agreed to test drive it herself, and sure enough, she liked it also. A few minutes later we were in the office picking a model out of inventory. We found a great deal on a 1LT with the 18″ tires and backup camera option, so we signed the papers and left. That was the last we had to worry about the truck until we picked it up the following Saturday. Manfredi took care of everything. They got everything set up with GEICO, got plates and registration done, and got the car cleaned up and detailed and ready to roll.
I couldn’t have been happier with the experience there, and considering the experience I had just been through and how jaded I was, it really was nice to leave a dealership happy. The Traverse certainly wasn’t what I went there for, but I’m extremely happy with it. I finally understand why people buy trucks; I’ll never buy a car again. Ever. That may limit my options for further vehicle purchases, but I honestly don’t care. Manfredi reinforced my love of Chevrolet as a company, and helped remind me that not all car dealers are out to swipe a buck out of your wallet.
If you’re in the market and you’re near Staten Island, give these guys a go. You won’t be disappointed.
And, if you’re interested in my impressions of the Traverse, hang around. I’ll be writing a review of it later this week.