Thank you for visiting De La Fuente Cadillac. If you are searching for a
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or Escondido Cadillac dealer look no further.
We invite you to visit our showroom today. De La Fuente Cadillac is a family-owned business, and the De La Fuente family has been proudly serving the automotive needs of all of San Diego County — including North San Diego County, the South Bay and East San Diego County — for 45 years. We are also San Diego’s only Platinum Cadillac Dealership*.
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Pressure from salesperson to "Buy Now"
High
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How did you first contact the Dealership
Internet
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Did you purchase from the Dealership
Yes
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Would you Recommend this Dealership
No
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Name of Your Salesperson
Enrique "Rick"
My De La Fuente Cadillac reviewI hate having to write a complaint, but I hate even more feeling like my buying experience was a disappointing one and I don’t think what happened to me should be acceptable.
To preface, my husband and I had decided to purchase a 2011 Cadillac SRX. We had researched the car thoroughly and knew it was “the one” for us. We were returning to the US from living overseas for several years, so we began our correspondence with De La Fuente Cadillac in El Cajon. We let Enrique Rodriguez know that we would not need a test drive, we knew EXACTLY what we wanted to purchase and which features we wanted included, were military and were looking for pricing information. Enrique “Rick” Rodriguez from De La Fuente in El Cajon told us they could order the SRX exactly as we wanted for $39,500 plus taxes and fees and asked for a $500 deposit to process the order. They seemed honest and friendly, so we were happy to choose them as our dealer.
My daughter and I arrived in the US at the same time as the SRX, around the Christmas holiday. I dropped my rental car off and the dealer sent someone to pick us up and give us a ride to the dealership, which I found very helpful. But upon arriving and beginning the paperwork, I felt very taken advantage of.
I was presented with a Theft Protect form that Enrique Rodriguez told me I was obligated to purchase for $299 since it had “already been installed” in the vehicle and could not be removed. I told him that I was not interested in the plan and that on the form itself, in bold print, it said that I did not have to purchase this plan to take the vehicle. From line 8 of the form “PURCHASE OF THE SYSTEM IS ENTIRELY VOLUNTARY AND IS NOT REQUIRED IN ORDER TO PURCHASE, LEASE OR OBTAIN FINANCING FOR THE COVERED VEHICLE.” He told me that that was not the case. At that point, I told him I needed to speak to my husband, who was still overseas, finishing his military tour. Upon talking to my husband, he agreed that the form was clear — we shouldn’t have to purchase the Theft Protect plan. I again told Rick that we did not want the plan and he again told me that was not optional. At that point, I asked him to fax a copy of the form to my husband so that he could take it the legal office at his squadron to have them look at it. They looked at the form and agreed that according to the form itself, we did not have to purchase the plan. Again, I told Rick, and so did my husband, that we did not want to purchase the Theft Protect plan. At that point, Rick told my husband that because they were cutting us “such a good deal” that if they didn’t sell us the Theft Protect Plan, they would lose money on the transaction and not be able to sell us the vehicle. To be noted — in our emails prior to the SRX being ordered, we never tried to negotiate a lower deal from De La Fuente Cadillac. We simply emailed and asked what our pricing would be as a military customer and accepted the offer they gave. The “Theft Protect Plan” was never mentioned and we never would have been interested in it. We chose this dealer over the other local dealer because of their price quote — the deceptive price quote.
At that point, I felt completely trapped. I was stranded at the dealer, new to the area, with a toddler daughter and was 8.5 months pregnant. To say I felt taken advantage of doesn’t being to cover it. What should have been a pleasant experience and a fun day was completely soured.
To add a little bit of salt to the wound, Rick at one point commented that my children were going to be too close in age. (2.5 years apart.) I said that in the beginning I’d worried they’d be too close too, to which Rick told me “Well, there’s birth control to prevent that.”
Rick’s comment about my reproductive choices was not what bothered me the most although I felt it was inappropriate. What bothered me the most is that I was taken advantage of and forced to buy a Theft Protect plan that I clearly did not want and should have been within my legal rights to decline without losing the option to purchase the vehicle I had ordered and put a deposit on 6 weeks prior.
As I left, Rick made sure to tell me to give him good marks on his “report card.”
I will not be returning to De La Fuente Cadillac in the future for any sort of business. I found my experience there to be extremely disappointing. I really do love the SRX… I just wish Rick had been as classy as the car. And that I wasn’t forced to purchase something that I clearly and repeatedly stated I did not want and that according to the form itself, I shouldn’t have had to purchase. I am not looking for an apology from Rick, as I really don’t want to hear from him again, but I would like to have my $299 returned. I have contacted customer service at Cadillac and will be making what happened to me known. Looking at other local review sites, my story is definitely not a one-of. Other people have had the same “Protect Plan” scam run on them as well.
As a side note, Randy Hanslik at the dealership, who gave me a brief tutorial on how to operate my new vehicle was very friendly and fantastic. Efrim, who picked me up from my rental car company was also outstanding. However, Rick was not and I’m extremely disappointed with how he conducted business and treated me. His behavior was abhorrent.
De La Fuente Cadillac wrote on 2/21/2012 2:03:48 PM:
Mrs. Geib,
I attempted to reach you by phone however I got your voice mail. I would like to speak with you as soon as possible please regarding your experience here at De La Fuente Cadillac. I have instructed for your refund of $299.00 plus tax to be refunded to you immediately!I apologize for the confusion that occured on that situation. The theft protect is 100% optional! I will have the refund check sent to the Chula Vista address unless I hear differently from you. I truly am sorry that your first and only experience with us did not leave you completely satisfied. I see that Randy and Enfren both took excellent care of you which is great however your time with Rick did not go as well! We work so hard on the customer service part of our business and rely heavily on our customer’s loyalty and the “word of mouth” referral process.I am so sorry that your interactions with Rick Rodriguez went as poorly as you described and on behalf of the entire personnel of De La Fuente Cadillac who truly are committed to 100% customer satisfaction, I truly apologize for any inappropriate comments or actions that took place during your visit to our store. Thank you for your purchase and if there is anything further I can do, please DO NOT hesitate to contact me.
Sincerely,
Lisa Pietila
General Manager
De La Fuente Cadillac
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Vehicle serviced for
Maintenance
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Accurate estimated wait time
No
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Would You Recommend this Dealership
No
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Vehicle year
2007
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Vehicle make
CADILLAC
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Service Technician
DAVID KHANSARI
My De La Fuente Cadillac review2 wks ago on a Thurs. my check engine light came on. Keep in mind that I just purchased this car from De La Fuente last March … I had taken my car in for a Maint. 1 back in Jan. So when the light came on I was taken back since they supposedly did an inspection on my car and everything was “fine”.
I am speaking to the Service Tech… Dave Khansari… 1st impression: rude and defensive… he told me to bring it in. So I take off work to go in and he says that it was a timing chain issue and b/c I am just barely under the 50k that it’s covered under warranty. He told me to bring the car in the following Monday to get if fixed. Not once was I offered a rental or shuttle service. Over the weekend, my miles would go over the 50k mark but he would still honor the warranty.
Then sat night, my battery dies… I call onstar and a De La Fuente road side asst tech comes and jumps the car…, Jeff True. That SAME night, I blow a tire … He said he would make sure they check the battery and tires when I brought the car in on monday. They have the car for 3 days… keep in mind I am with out a car, my commute to work is far and this is a BIG inconvenience. They called me Wed. letting me know that they upgraded the system it was a tech issue and they also checked both the tires and battery & everything is “FINE”. So I ask them if they did shuttle service and they said they do but the guy was busy so they couldn’t do it until the morning. So once again I bum a ride to pick up my car. The next week Mon night… I go to start my car… It needs a Jump. I call Jeff True, mind you it’s late at night. Not wanting him to come that late I told him to wait until the morning but he would need to be here BEFORE 7am bc I needed to be to work at 8am. He said that he would call me in the morning to get my address. 6:45 am… NO CALL. He didn’t show up until 7:30am, once again being late for work so I called the morning off to take care of my car issues.
When I get to the shop Dave Khansari tells me that he can’t cover my battery under warranty because it’s over the 50k. I’m thinking… HOLD UP.. Didn’t you guys have the car for 3 days and you CLAIM the battery was fine. Obviously thats not the case because if they had really checked the battery, it would have came up. He says that he’s not going to cover the battery and I just have to buy a new one and that if it was an electrical issue they would cover it under warranty but since it’s over 50k now they can’t.
I argue my case, last week they could have covered an “electrical battery issue” had they checked the battery for that. They covered me under warranty then… so had they did their DUE DILIGENCE on the car I would not be back in there again the following week.
He didn’t even check the battery to see what the issue yet… The whole time I’m talking with Dave Khansari… he is rude, condescending, and blatantly disrespectful. So I asked to speak the manager and he replies “Do you want to go to MARVIN K. BROWN!” Wow! So he pretty much tells me to go to their biggest competitor. I said “NO ! I WANT TO SPEAK TO YOUR MANAGER.”
He comes back telling me the Gen Manger is too BUSY to speak to me… so he’s going to have the Service Shop Manager talk to me. So Im waiting,… then I walk into the show room and ask to speak to the Manager and “Voila” there he is.Richard Johnson… comes out. I give him the run down and he tells me that if it’s an electrical issue he would honor that and under warranty but if the battery is no good that I would have to buy a new one. I told him about the Marvin K. Brown comment and his rude Service technician and NOT ONCE DID I GET AN APOLOGY FOR POOR CUSTOMER SERVICE. So I wait for them to run the test, Dave tells me the battery is dead and not an electrical issue. So I got the test results and left. I went right over to MARVIN K. BROWN CADILLAC to get a new battery. I did exactly what DAVE told me to do!
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Pressure from salesperson to "Buy Now"
High
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How did you first contact the Dealership
Walk-In
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Did you purchase from the Dealership
Yes
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Would you Recommend this Dealership
No
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Name of Your Salesperson
kenneth
My De La Fuente Cadillac reviewI have paid for 2 cars from there and come to find out they screwed me on everything. The made about 10,000 dollars on me. I was a sucker, be careful! Customers beware! They are dogs! They lied to me with a smile.:eek: