Waipapa Autocourt

I had a very disappointing experience with this car dealership. Making assumptions about customers before even having a proper conversation is not good for business. The salesperson was dismissive and rude, and repeatedly implied that we couldn’t afford the car we were interested in. He told us we would need a 20% deposit to make the repayments affordable, and the way he explained this felt judgmental, as if he had already decided we couldn’t manage it. My partner and I aren’t confrontational people, and when faced with someone being dismissive and firing questions at us with clear preconceptions, we became flustered. When asked how much we could afford, I gave a rough estimate, not a final figure, but he treated it as definitive and used it to conclude that we couldn’t afford the car, even with the deposit we did have. By that point, we felt disheartened and judged before we’d even had a fair chance. We are both hardworking people of Indigenous heritage; my partner works FIFO in mining as a diamond driller, and I work as a teacher aide. We knew we could afford a car in this price range; otherwise, we wouldn’t have been looking. We ultimately took our business elsewhere and ended up with an even better car at a similar price, with a 0% deposit. A big shout out to Pacific Motor Group in Whangarei for treating us with respect and kindness. I’m always happy to support businesses that don’t judge a book by its cover.