Nick’s Auto Sales

These guys do not want to sell cars.
Or if they do, they are operating on a whole level of arrogance that you just don’t need, especially when more reliable/​reputable dealers are just a few blocks away over the Passyunk Avenue bridge, at the Essington Avenue Auto Mall.
First, their website says they open at 9 am. So I get there at 9 am. And SOMEONE is there, but he’s a guy who works in the garage, and not a salesman. He tells me that the salesman, Joe, is SUPPOSED to be there at 9, but doesn’t ACTUALLY get there 9:30.
Okay, so now *I’m* going to be late for work because JOE can’t bother to get to work on time. So I wait. Eventually, 9:30 rolls around, but there’s no Joe. So I see the mechanic guy again and say, «What’s the good word on Joe?» and he tells me, «Joe will be here in a couple of minutes.» I could tell right away that was bull crap, but I waited.
Well, sure enough, a guy DOES show up in the sales office, but it’s not Joe. I don’t know his name, nor do I care to, so for now we’ll just call him Not-​Joe. (EDIT: Upon further investigation, I have discovered that this is Joe’s brother.) I see him, smile and say, «Hi! Joe?» He tells me he’s «Not-​Joe» and says that Joe won’t be in for ANOTHER HOUR! So, already I’ve wasted more than a half hour of my morning only to find that I’m going to have to waste ANOTHER hour waiting for Joe.
So Not-​Joe asks me what I want. Not: «Can I help you?»; literally, «What do you want?»
What the hell does Not-​Joe think I want, a frappuccino and a back-​rub? I want to buy a car! But I don’t give him attitude. I smile, and I say, «I want to buy a used car.» His first question out of the box is, «Are you looking to finance?» Since that’s an option for me, I say, «Yes.» He says, «Did you fill out the application?»
Application? I just got here! Joe hasn’t arrived yet and apparently won’t for another hour, bringing my wait time to an hour-​and-​a-​half. So how the hell am I supposed to have filled out any application?
So I tell Not-​Joe, «No.» He says, «You didn’t fill it out online?»
Did I stutter?
So…let me get this straight… I WASN’T supposed to rely on that part of their website that says WHEN they open for business, but I WAS supposed to weed through several various pages of their website to find a financing application that is apparently the PRE-​REQUISITE for getting ANY customer service at all.
I tell Not-​Joe that I’d like to look at what they’ve got first, and then we can talk about financing. He sweeps his arm arrogantly over the lot and says, «You can look all you want. I’m not takin’ out any cars without financing applications, otherwise I’d be taking out cars all day.» Oh, sorry, Not-Joe…I thought you worked for a car dealership. Wouldn’t actually want you to do any WORK on a customer’s account.
Not to mention, there is considerable overflow of cars, and an entire other lot somewhere a few blocks away, so… I was free to look, and wander around the neighborhood looking at their cars, but I could expect no help from Not-​Joe unless I jumped through a million hoops made of red tape. As it happened, in the half hour I was there waiting for Joe, and before I even met Not-​Joe, I HAD look around at all the cars in the lot, and went searching for the second lot too. So I HAD already seen all I could without help from the employees. I was ready to start looking under hoods, looking at interiors, and talking business, but Not-​Joe would have none of it.
Then Not-​Joe interrogates me. How long have I been at my job, do I have my last two paystubs with me… who the hell walks around with their last two paystubs in their back pocket?
If I had told him I wanted to pay cash for a car, would I have gotten different treatment? Or would there have been a whole other set of red-​tape hoops to jump through?
So I thank Not-​Joe and leave, and wait an hour (when Joe was supposed to show up), and call and ask for Joe. Not-​Joe answers and refuses to tell me if Joe is coming in or not, and hangs up on me.
And all this without even getting any service. IMAGINE how unwilling anyone here would be to play ball DURING the actual buying process!
STAY AS FAR AWAY FROM THIS PLACE AS YOU CAN. Keep going about two more blocks, over the Passyunk Avenue bridge, and go to the auto mall straight ahead on Essington Avenue if you’re looking for a used car. THESE guys are as unprofessional as it gets.

I live 6 hours away from Nick’s Auto Sales but was looking for a very specific year and make of car. After finding 20 or so around the US I started working my way down the list in order of proximity to where I live. First 2 were clearly used car dealer BS and not as advertised. #3 on my list was from Nick’s on Ritner St in Philly.
So before I traveled 6 miles I called and talked to Nick. Told him my story and asked that he be brutally honest with me about condition of car before I traveled 6 hours to see it; please have someone try everything on the car, all the switches, all the features, etc. He said he fully understood and would do so. He called me back the next day as promised and put me on the phone with his son (who was the one checking the car out). So I talked with his son. Not sure if he fully understood what I wanted as he didn’t have very much to say on specifics. That’s fine, I knew what I wanted to know so I asked him very specific questions and he answered them. There was one feature the car had that he didn’t understand (very specific to the car I was looking at so his lack of knowledge was NOT an issue for me) so I told him how to test it and he said he would and call me back. He did call back as promised. Everything was good to go. He was also honest about a couple of items that were less than perfect.
So I traveled down the 6 hours. When I got there they had the car inside their shop and I met Mike (there are 3 brothers and 1 son; Mike, Joe, Nick and Nick’s son, Nick). Mike was helpful and friendly. I asked to check the car out while it was up on the lift and he was okay with that. After that the car was moved outside and I took it for a test drive with Mike. Test drive was fine; however I noted several small issues in addition to the 2 issues Nick told me about and one bigger feature that was not working exactly as it should. At this point I met Joe.
I ignored the small issues that were not perfect and brought the bigger feature issue to Joe’s attention and he had his mechanic look at it. The mechanic did not know what was going on but to be very fair, the feature is unique to that specific car and not many mechanics have ANY experience with it. Anyway, Joe and I discussed the feature issue problem and we negotiated a price reduction that I felt was fair and reasonable.
Mike then personally drove me to a state agent office so I could get temp plates to drive the car home several states away. Mike was very personable and helpful.
Once I had the plates we concluded the deal and I was on the road. Because of traffic my drive home was 8 hours, but the car was fine.
Summary: Hey folks, it’s a used car. I read many of the reviews of Nick’s, both positive and negative. It seems most reviewers with negative comments are expecting a used car that is flawless and will remain that way for a long time. If you really want that, you can get it, it’s called buying a NEW car from a NEW car dealer. But in used cars, you get, well a used car. By definition that means it will not be perfect. It may have this wrong or that wrong. Either deal with it knowing you will have it fixed to your perfection standards later or don’t and walk away. If you don’t have any car knowledge, have the car checked out by a mechanic you trust and expect to risk the $ 50-​$ 100 fee your mechanic will charge you as «insurance» for yourself that you understand the condition of the car you are buying.
I felt that the few additional items I found to be wrong were because as the buyer, I looked at EVERYTHING. But I don’t think that is a bad reflection on Nick’s Auto Sales. They were honest about the car, they were reasonable with negotiating price, they were beyond helpful given my out of state status. In the end, I felt I got a solid car at a reasonable price, they made a profit (which they are entitled to) and we both left with a win-​win situation. 5 stars

DO NOT EVER BUY A CAR FROM HERE… i was a loyal customer for years both me and my father. between thee 2 of us we bought 6 cars from them and never had a problem. I was in a bind and i needed a car really fast so i picked out this beautiful jet black monte carlo ss. I test drove it twice over the course of a week… had it up to 70mph everything was fine. I purchased the car and drove to the gas station to get gas and after getting gas the thing wouldny start… keep stalling and then smoking 20 minutes after i bought the dam thing! I kept bringing it to them and mr no it all nick the mechanic kept telling me it needs this it needs that… i kept telling him what was wrong and i finally had to buy the part and have him put it in. A week later the transmission started banging and slipping. I brought it back again where it sat outside for a week before they even looked at it. Then i get a call 4 days later saying they replaced the trans with a used one. I picked it up and 2 days later it started banging and slipping even worse than before. The suspension started falling apart, the sway bar in the front cracked in half.
I couldnt believe how they treated me after all the business me and my family gave them. They buy these jollapies from wholesale. auctions from big name car dealers. Basically the cars the dealerships don’t think it’s worth it to fix and sell. And then they charge 8 – 10,000 for them. I traded it in for a new kia soul. I will never even go there for an oil change. They should be ashamed of themselves for what they do to people… the business has gone down the tubes… they used to care about their customes, now all they care about is making their money. If i could give 0 stars i would.

DONT EVER EVER EVER GO TO THIS PLACE. I bought a car from here and I’ve had it less then 2 months and have to replace the radiator, reservoir, front tire rods, and 4 tires, oxygen censors!!! This is the worst place ever please do not ever go here it’s not worth you time. They will lie with a straight face and sell you a horrible car