Opinions on dealership experience - getting weird vibes

[u/Icy-Entrepreneur-943]

I am in the market for a used SUV, looking for something reliable and spacious that won't break the bank. I found something at a dealership near me that peaked my interest, went in on Monday at lunch hour - car was being certified and had the tires off, so we could not test drive, no worries, we booked an appointment for the following day at 5:00 pm to drive the car. We show up for our 5:00 pm appointment and the car salesman after 20 minutes of waiting informs us that the mechanic left and the power steering had been maybe unhooked/ there was a code popping up for the power steering. Backstory, my current car ($2,000 beater has no power steering and that's why i'm upgrading). He tried to tell us its because they took the wheels off and that will "reset" the power steering so that it doesn't work - I find this fishy. I work in law in a very professional office and I find the lack of professionalism to be honestly surprising - why was the car not confirmed to be ready prior to my appointment, nor was I informed prior to coming in for my appointment - and maybe that's me being ridiculous but idk. The salesman were also hating on the service department, basically shitting on them to us, which I find also weird.

We rebooked our appointment for today, but I am getting weird vibes from this dealership, and not sure if this is a red flag. For backstory I am a young (28) year old female, but brought my boyfriend with me (he knows the sales manager).

Just wanting some thoughts on this situation - I really hate dealing with salesman and I just need something reliable and cannot afford to be messing around with a lemon.

Thanks!

[u/New_Inflation_8419]

Why are you booking appointments ? Just ask salesperson to call you when car is ready or check with them later in a couple of days. Do you want mechanic to not look through the car and just roll it out of the shop ?

[u/WAisforhaters → u/New_Inflation_8419]

The sales person should be clear about this.

"It needs to complete the certification inspection, where they'll go over an extensive list of items on the car and make sure everything is up to spec, and if it's not, it will be repaired before it is available for sale. It's hard to say how long this process will take, but I can call you when it's complete and we can have you check it out once it's ready to go."

This guy sounds like he's flying by the seat of his pants hoping everything works out.

[u/New_Inflation_8419 → u/WAisforhaters]

Well yea, I am not defending salesperson. I am explaining OP that they waste time and effort and there is zero communication