Finally done... does this mean I get to sleep tonight? I can not believe I can wake up and NOT go to the dealership tomorrow morning.
I thought it was interesting that the sales guy (he really got caught in it all and was a genuine nice guy) ... ran out at the very end and gave me a huge bunch of flowers and mentioned he wanted to come to one of Cowgirls agility competitions.. I was kind of in shock but I suppose fact can be stranger than fiction.

Kalinka, I know I speak for many people at the EOC in congratulating you that the ordeal seems to be drawing to a close. That is one sweet looking E! Looks like it was just made for cowgirl, too!

Woo hoo!

Good! All's well that E's well.:)

It definately is a good looking E. But then again, I haven't seen a bad looking one. :D

Kalinka, I am really glad that everything finally came out allright. Cowgirl really looks like shes at home in there. I know we're all looking forward to hearing how you grow to love the "Frog".

Finally done...

Yay! :cheer: Congrats, and thanks for the pics! :D

Love it! Glad you got it all straightened out. That was thoughtful of the sales guy. :)

Now you can finally relax...or take 'er out for a ride!

I am so very happy for you! Thank goodness it all came out well. I had been reading at the other thread and was horrified at how things started on this. Even SMOOTH automobile transactions can be emotionally exhausting for me; good on you for sticking it out and getting everything done to your satisfaction.

Great looking doggie house. :)

---- Mark

Cowgirl UP!
congrats on the nice ride. :D

Well, FINALLY! CONGRATILATIONS. If you kiss the "Frog" will it turn into a Prince?:shock: :grin:

Congrats Kalinka. Is this the replacement or did they repair the first one? I thought you were getting a replacement...

All I'm Gonna Say Is........

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y59/inkstudios/Element/celebrate_fireworks_hg_clr.gifhttp://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y59/inkstudios/Element/royal_frog_blinking_lg_clr.gif

B R A V O !!!!!
:)

Congrats, Kalinka! Look forward to hearing of your adventures in the E. It was worth waiting for...

Congrats Kalinka. Is this the replacement or did they repair the first one? I thought you were getting a replacement...


Its the new one! The old toad is now a demo-toad.

Good for you Kalinka. You fought hard for your frog! It's beautiful, enjoy.

You broads make a big deal out of everything. Glad you’re happy (for now). It’ll be something else soon. I know. I live with one of you.:twisted:

Kalinka,

I am very happy that every thing is working out for you now with your "E". Cowgirl also looks very happy as well.

Congrats and good luck.

Ken

You broads make a big deal out of everything. Glad you’re happy (for now). It’ll be something else soon. I know. I live with one of you.:twisted:

Irv are you having a hormonal mood swing again? :twisted:

Irv are you having a hormonal mood swing again? :twisted:

Hmm, could be a case of man-opause.

So Kalinka, is it handling like you expected? Everything working ok? Have you put your frog sticker of approval on it?

Irv are you having a hormonal mood swing again? :twisted:


Thanks Kalinka I needed that. :D

It's good to see you happy. I was feeling down after reading all that has taken place.

I do hope to see you at the St Louis Meet this year. Hope you will make it.



Dom

Glad it's over, congrats!

BTW, my Golden Retriever was looking over my shoulder as I browsed your new E pics, and is now insisting that the seats be folded down for her, "like that dog in the picture..."

:D:D:D

Glad it's over, congrats!

BTW, my Golden Retriever was looking over my shoulder as I browsed your new E pics, and is now insisting that the seats be folded down for her, "like that dog in the picture..."

:D:D:D


I am not completely happy with that configuration because it leaves little cargo room, but yea Cowgirl likes it. She prefers to stand though. I have not decided how I am going to leave it. I may pull one seat out and leave one in.
I ran into the 7/11 for some stuff and when I came out she was standing, all 4 feet on the big armrest. I have no clue how she got all those feet on that.

I think for dogs that are used to riding standing in the rear of the suv , the E is frustrating. She needs to be on the look out in case an evil UPS truck is anywhere on the road, the windows MUST be attacked or our saftey is at risk according to her.

When I find the perfect dog config I will post it.

K

Has anyone mentioned yet, what with the flowers and interest in the dog show, that the sales guy might also have been flirting with you?? Not that you weren't worthy of the kindest treatment, but it made me wonder ... :)

Irv are you having a hormonal mood swing again? :twisted:

No, he is just being his crotchety old self.

Has anyone mentioned yet, what with the flowers and interest in the dog show, that the sales guy might also have been flirting with you?? Not that you weren't worthy of the kindest treatment, but it made me wonder ... :)


That is a possiblity, but there is also the distinct possiblity that he was worried about the survey rating. He did mention that a bad customer satisfaction rating would not be a good thing for him.

No, he is just being his crotchety old self.

I almost did not fill out what I bought in my profile just to give him something to do.

Has anyone mentioned yet, what with the flowers and interest in the dog show, that the sales guy might also have been flirting with you?? Not that you weren't worthy of the kindest treatment, but it made me wonder ... :)
That is a possibility, but there is also the distinct possibility that he was worried about the survey rating. He did mention that a bad customer satisfaction rating would not be a good thing for him.
Somebody who has worked at a car dealership may have a more educated opinion of this, but I have often seen a three way conflict within dealerships. This conflict is between the sales, service and management sides of a car dealer. Sales thinks they are the heart of the dealership. Service thinks they take most of the abuse. Management thinks they have all the headaches. Sales wants service to do a better job supporting them. Service wants sales to stop promising the world. Management thinks both of them aren't making enough money.

In the best shops, this conflict doesn't exist or at least is minimized through good communication. Too often it does exist. I have to wonder, kalinka, if some of your problems resulted from this conflict. Your sales guy can only promote the car; he can't prep or fix it. Service may have had too many cars to work on last week and couldn't give the Toad the attention it obviously needed. Management may not have given service the personnel or financial resources it needs to service cars properly.

This doesn't excuse what happened but it might help explain it.

A new E and flowers too. Good Job Girl! Now, get out and drive....:D

That is a possiblity, but there is also the distinct possiblity that he was worried about the survey rating. He did mention that a bad customer satisfaction rating would not be a good thing for him.

It was a nice touch, either way. How great that you got your NEW Frog after everything you went through!

Has anyone mentioned yet, what with the flowers and interest in the dog show, that the sales guy might also have been flirting with you?? Not that you weren't worthy of the kindest treatment, but it made me wonder ... :)

Bear in mind that she *did* have a lot of problems there and eventually broke down and cried. At the very least he was doing some damage control. But who knows? It could be something more...:grin:

Bear in mind that she *did* have a lot of problems there and eventually broke down and cried. At the very least he was doing some damage control. But who knows? It could be something more...:grin:


I honestly think it was just a nice gesture after a long haul. This guy is a very polite and sweet guy.. and I think that the gesture demonstrated just that.

congrats again 'linka. enjoy the ride (and the flowers)!

Finally!! This is great news! glad to hear it all turned out well! :)

I think those are the first pics I've seen of the inside of a KM, what color is the "ceiling" (technical term :roll: ). it looks almost white or a very very light gray...

I honestly think it was just a nice gesture after a long haul. This guy is a very polite and sweet guy.. and I think that the gesture demonstrated just that.

Translated, Kalinka isn't interested. "Polite and sweet" is the kiss of death, eh fellows?:grin: Why don't you just call him "nice" while you're at it? Poor guy probably had his hopes up.

Translated, Kalinka isn't interested. "Polite and sweet" is the kiss of death, eh fellows?:grin: Why don't you just call him "nice" while you're at it? Poor guy probably had his hopes up.


and he had a very nice personality.

First day out... yep this one drives and handles beautifully.

I wanted to quickly qualify from my last post, I had talked about a vibration in the steering wheel with the stereo on. This one also vibes with it, which is normal with the bass.. the other steering wheel actually shook with it which was not normal.

I just drove around and tuned in to some excellent blue grass..

So the little green E is just fine. It runs like a top, looks like I am going to pull almost 300 miles from the first tank which is a good thing.

The black trim has little spots all over it.(like water spots). they did not do a nice job detailing, what should I clean that up with?

K

So the little green E is just fine. It runs like a top,
Hallelujah!!!!!!!!!!!!
I'm so glad it's all good!

Tess

Hallelujah!!!!!!!!!!!!
I'm so glad it's all good!

Tess


Yep it is all good.

The black trim has little spots all over it.(like water spots). they did not do a nice job detailing, what should I clean that up with?

K

Probably spots from left over tire dressing spinning off the tires. I get that after going through the car wash.

Take a look at the Wax on, wax off section. Lots of opinions on what to use. Some are using the 303 Aerospace stuff, some are using Turtle F21 protectant on the trim (also panels for those of us with non-hypenated Elements). I'm on my first bottle of F21- so far, so good.

Mother's Back to Black is very good.

Somebody who has worked at a car dealership may have a more educated opinion of this, but I have often seen a three way conflict within dealerships. This conflict is between the sales, service and management sides of a car dealer. Sales thinks they are the heart of the dealership. Service thinks they take most of the abuse. Management thinks they have all the headaches. Sales wants service to do a better job supporting them. Service wants sales to stop promising the world. Management thinks both of them aren't making enough money.




You are basically correct- this friction exists in most dealerships. Good managers will work to keep it civil, but all departments have the same balancing act- make and keep more profit, but try to still keep your customer satisfaction up.

It's not just car dealerships. Any business that has a sales department and a service department sees this. I work in the machine tool business, and service always complains about the salesmen making promises that the service department has to keep. Fortunately, our management is of the opinion that salesmen sell the customer on the first machine, but the service department sells the next one.

If I had to diagnose the "root cause" of the failure here, I'd say it was everybody rushing around to deliver "The Toad" to Kalinka as fast as they possibly could. Doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that people RUSHING miss things and make mistakes. The brake issue should have been caught during prep. COuld be that it WAS caught, and they just figured they could get it delivered and fix it later. (BAD move)

We experienced something like this when bought our Element. We bought it barely used (7k miles). It had just been taken into inventory, and was not prepped or serviced. They were hell-bent on delivering it the same day, and I told them repeatedly to take their time, because I wanted the prep done correctly.

We didn't have any mechanical issues, but they did an incomplete detailing job on the interior, I had to cause a scene when they handed me the keys without Keyless Entry clickers, and I'm still waiting for the Owners Manual the salesman promised. I ripped them a pretty big one on the customer service survey, but since it wasn't a "new" purchase, it won't have much impact. Coming up on oil change time- we'll see how the service department does. I have to say that regardless, we love the Element. It's a good vehicle, and the right one for us, but the dealership needs some "refinement".

Why do they rush? Primarily, they don't want the customer to change their mind, and if they have you come back in the morning, you might.

You are basically correct- this friction exists in most dealerships. Good managers will work to keep it civil, but all departments have the same balancing act- make and keep more profit, but try to still keep your customer satisfaction up.

It's not just car dealerships. Any business that has a sales department and a service department sees this. I work in the machine tool business, and service always complains about the salesmen making promises that the service department has to keep. Fortunately, our management is of the opinion that salesmen sell the customer on the first machine, but the service department sells the next one.

If I had to diagnose the "root cause" of the failure here, I'd say it was everybody rushing around to deliver "The Toad" to Kalinka as fast as they possibly could. Doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that people RUSHING miss things and make mistakes. The brake issue should have been caught during prep. COuld be that it WAS caught, and they just figured they could get it delivered and fix it later. (BAD move)

We experienced something like this when bought our Element. We bought it barely used (7k miles). It had just been taken into inventory, and was not prepped or serviced. They were hell-bent on delivering it the same day, and I told them repeatedly to take their time, because I wanted the prep done correctly.

We didn't have any mechanical issues, but they did an incomplete detailing job on the interior, I had to cause a scene when they handed me the keys without Keyless Entry clickers, and I'm still waiting for the Owners Manual the salesman promised. I ripped them a pretty big one on the customer service survey, but since it wasn't a "new" purchase, it won't have much impact. Coming up on oil change time- we'll see how the service department does. I have to say that regardless, we love the Element. It's a good vehicle, and the right one for us, but the dealership needs some "refinement".

Why do they rush? Primarily, they don't want the customer to change their mind, and if they have you come back in the morning, you might.

NY there was quite a rush and due to that rush on the second E was not detailed well at all and there was something crooked on the steering wheel mount, was just a piece of plastic that needed to be straightend, no big deal but very sloppy work.

Had they left me with that loaded accord much longer .. i would have wanted to keep it so maybe they had a point :)
If the Accord came in a wagon.. it would have been a tough choice.

Kalinka, now its time to start exploring the other threads on the forum, rather than the Shopping forum ;-)

:D Yup, its a big forum...time to jump out of the nest....:D :wink: