Congratulations to Ernie Loma and Dan Chatfield for excellent customer service! Check out this five-star review on DealerRater!
"I was conducting a national search for a green 2004 Honda Element preferably to be located in a low pot-hole, low road salt, low hurricane/hail damage state and if necessary I was willing to travel for the purchase if the car, condition/mileage, and price were right.
I had decided to use local dealerships in this pot-hole, road-salt, hail-damaged locale to practice my negotiation skills. I selected both private sellers and dealership staff on whom to practice without any intent to purchase on the spot. I pulled in to the twin O'Hare Honda Hyundai dealerships and to my delight found there were no "sentries" posted at the gate (commonly called 'vultures') for which my thought was, "Ahhh, laid-back - just the way I like it." I swept past a receptionist after spotting a "white shirt" (whom I later found out was the manager) and asked to talk with someone about a used 2004 green Honda Element I saw advertised and wanted to test drive. He introduced me to sales representative, Ernie Loma. Ernie's friendly and respectful manner was a good match for my intention to "practice negotiating" to benefit my national search. He made direct eye contact without any "sizing me up" affectations, extended his hand in a firm cordial handshake, and complimented me on matching his firm grip. After locating the key, he mentioned that the car was just recently accepted into inventory having been solely owned by an employee. I have been conducting an intensive search for the past several weeks, 3-4 days a week for several hours each day on the internet, using owner blogs, trend blogs, car rating services in addition to CarFax, Kelly Blue Book, NADA and Edmonds and knew that the 2004 Element was the highest rated of all of the years of the car. I also knew what to check under the hood in the engine compartment, on the under-carriage, in the tire storage well, on the upholstery, windshield seatings, and had a checklist of what to look for to make sure that all of the vital creature comforts were present (driver's armrest, headrests, floor mats, driver's manual, etc.) After the test drive, I systematically addressed my 'checklist.' I looked into the engine compartment, found it clean, so clean in fact that I had to re-insert the oil dipstick several times before I could actually see the oil glisten rather than measure the oil level by a dark residue. There was no dark oil residue. I knew I had found a possibility of a "keeper car" in my own locale. Getting down on "all fours" I laid on the ground and slid under the car to find it had been well cared for and even the catalytic converter had no rust. I found no evidence of flood damage in the tire compartment, no hail damage on the body, and found only some careless key damage on the hatchback door handle that looked quite recent. Ernie printed out the CarFax report and handed me a multi-page document revealing exceptional car care history. I decided to call my family "life-lines" to get some input. The family feedback was an overwhelming "GRAB IT!" Ernie Loma's invitation, "What has to happen to make this YOUR car?" left the discussion open and easy to have. There must have been some inventory error, as the price of the car might have been mislabeled and was lower than I had found on my national search; never-the-less I wanted to try to negotiate some service options. When I actually used my calculator to determine that the error was strongly in my favor, heard the feedback through Ernie Loma from the dealership manager ("white shirt") on my negotiation requests, I extended my hand to Ernie and shook on the deal. Sitting down with Dan Chatfield, the Hyundai Finance Manager I found a relaxed, engaging conversationalist who made the details of the closing easy to accomplish. He both attended to details while educating me on the relationship between all of the pieces. After entering the dealership with no intent to "buy on the spot", I left the dealership lot with an exceptional vehicle in design and engineering, maintenance, history, and customer service from Ernie and Dan in addition to the manager, whose hand was symbolically extended by honoring the posted, advertised price for the vehicle despite the inventory listing error instead of disputing it to me as the potential buyer. Thank you, O'Hare Hyundai team for assisting me to accomplish my time-sensitive goals, treating me in the respectful manner which made it more likely to finalize my plans at your doorstep. I was happy to leave the lot without having to wade through any "sentries at the gate" and no "piles of vulture feathers" were left in my wake! Even though I live closer to other dealerships in the Fox River area, I am more likely to have the service continue with O'Hare service department."
