FLATOUT said:

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And no I didn't expect anyone to watch it, you might have actually realized that the Internet is full of ***** Pretty hard to watch that interview and continue to think BK is some kind of monster.

I have a bunch of great Aggie customers that come through my store that talk about how ridiculous this forum has become.

I posted this thread/video to highlight how irrational this place is these days.

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FLATOUT said:

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And no I didn't expect anyone to watch it, you might have actually realized that the Internet is full of ***** Pretty hard to watch that interview and continue to think BK is some kind of monster.

I have a bunch of great Aggie customers whom we have scammed that come through my store that talk about how ridiculous this forum has become.

I posted this thread/video to highlight how irrational this place is these days.

"Nope didn't watch it, nope never been to a Keating dealership, but I hate everything about him and he's a horrible human being/aggie because some people on the internet said so."

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TXAGGIE10 said:

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Quote received this morning from Keating Northwest Hyundai:

Market Value Selling Price: 21,772.00
CPO 1,800.00
Apex Protection Plan 3,997.00
Total Purchase 27,569.00

Plus Tax/Title/Fees & Payoff


Hard Pass

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I'd be a shocked if their CPO rules they're allowed to add a line item cost for CPO like that unless it's an added extension. Typical manufacture guidelines require the advertised online price should include any added CPO costs that are incurred by the selling dealer and not allowed to be passed on the consumer as a line item add. They however would not be the first or last one I've seen do it... just crappy business tactic.

FLATOUT said:

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maroon barchetta said:

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OP vanished like a fart in the wind after the last thread regarding Keating.

Maybe his boss told him to post this video and white knight for him. Whatever. Go back to Cars and Coffee and brag to people about the cars you bought by your employees scamming old people and single moms and anyone else they can on the deals they got at your workplace.

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I've been on this forum for over a decade, I'm not going anywhere. I remember when this forum actually had something to offer people. It offers very little anymore.

And no I didn't expect anyone to watch it, you might have actually realized that the Internet is full of ***** Pretty hard to watch that interview and continue to think BK is some kind of monster.

I have a bunch of great Aggie customers that come through my store that talk about how ridiculous this forum has become.

I posted this thread/video to highlight how irrational this place is these days.

"Nope didn't watch it, nope never been to a Keating dealership, but I hate everything about him and he's a horrible human being/aggie because some people on the internet said so."

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I have little doubt there are people that like his dealership and have not been screwed or scammed and are happy….

… but these responses are all about the ones that have. Reputation is earned. Your idol has made many mistakes.

I'd like to point out that in the video he clearly states that he lied to Ford about having the money to buy the dealership by pretending like he had money in a CD which he did not. He just showed them records of a CD with the amount needed. Sounds like he borrowed it from his uncle if I remember correctly.

Then he talked about how he undervalued all the assets of the dealership & overvalued the real estate in that transaction so that his buddy in commercial financing could finance the deal for him.

Wow, a lot of Turn Blue, and from very quick Star placement, much faster than normal for the board.

There must really be something about Keating?

vmiaptetr said:

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meggy09 said:

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Sad that you have an AG Tag and are a representation of my university.

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I'm gonna wholeheartedly, and emphatically, disagree with you on this one. I met FLATOUT before I started A&M, but he helped me find out the status of my application before I got accepted. I was transitioning from the Navy, and he served as a resource to veterans attending or trying to attend A&M. He's been nothing but helpful to me.

I've never done business with him, but for you to come on here and say it's sad that he is a representative of our university because he's shown support to someone you don't like…well, it's bull***** Merry Christmas.

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I'm glad your interaction worked out for you. On this forum Flatout condones screwing people over by stating that the other party agrees to the terms.

It is not possible for him to be a swindler in his professional like and a man of character in his personal life.

I want to give a personal story regarding an interaction with Flatout. Someone posted on Nextdoor that their daughter wanted to ride in a specific rare sports car (can't remember the car put i think it was a Lamborghini). I messaged Flatout and asked if he could help make that happen and he did! The young lady went to the dealership and and got to take a sporty ride and photos. She was super excited to have her dream come true.

I think you need to separate the "person" from their job. The reality is selling cars is a business that rewards sleazy tactics. We currently own 2 Hyundai's and have been very happy with their service dept. One of them was purchased there and we stated up front that we were not paying for the Apex. Fraudulent tactics are another issue and that should never happen.

My 2 cents and I didn't watch the video.

I don't necessarily like posting a video here knowing the reaction it will get and the outrage that comes with it, but I also know FLATOUT from a prior life amd know he is a good dude.

I have also worked for a dealership group in the past with a nepo baby owner who likes to race cars too. There is something about 2nd gen owners that is all about entitlement so I know where he is coming from cashing a check from a morally bankrupt dealer principal. But I also had the wherewithal to quit that dealership and not look back. Maybe FLATOUT will come around.

My advice is to someone with a good reputation would be not to soil it by associating yourself with Keating.

FLATOUT said:

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maroon barchetta said:

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OP vanished like a fart in the wind after the last thread regarding Keating.

Maybe his boss told him to post this video and white knight for him. Whatever. Go back to Cars and Coffee and brag to people about the cars you bought by your employees scamming old people and single moms and anyone else they can on the deals they got at your workplace.

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I've been on this forum for over a decade, I'm not going anywhere. I remember when this forum actually had something to offer people. It offers very little anymore.

And no I didn't expect anyone to watch it, you might have actually realized that the Internet is full of ***** Pretty hard to watch that interview and continue to think BK is some kind of monster.

I have a bunch of great Aggie customers that come through my store that talk about how ridiculous this forum has become.

I posted this thread/video to highlight how irrational this place is these days.

"Nope didn't watch it, nope never been to a Keating dealership, but I hate everything about him and he's a horrible human being/aggie because some people on the internet said so."

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The result would be no different on the GB or the OB. And this board is still plenty helpful to tons of people.

I've been a fan of you for a long time, but don't understand what you really hoped to accomplish here. Plenty of people have had bad experiences with Apex and Keating. You knew what the result would be. Victim shaming, I guess?

*Not Ben Keating

dubi said:

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I think you need to separate the "person" from their job. The reality is selling cars is a business that rewards sleazy tactics.

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Bingo.

Well, unless it's lawyers....

I've mentioned my story of nearly getting cheated at a Keating dealership on this forum multiple times on Keating threads. If Keating or Flatout were 'good dudes', someone would have reached out to me to get the names of the people involved so they could take corrective action to ensure their next customer doesn't have a similar experience.

I doubt the other folks on this forum that work in the car business (thinking of you and Repo) probably wouldn't allow a customer at their dealership or even a sister dealership to be treated like I was at Keating's dealership.

That said, I've defended Flatout on other threads and welcome his knowledge and experience with cars. This is an automotive forum afterall. But when it comes to his dealership or Keating, flame away.

There's a ton of plausible deniability that comes with being high up the chain at a car dealership but the OP chose to flush all that down the drain.

I couldn't be less interested in anyone's positive personal anecdotes. The last time we had one of these threads the OP chose to come here and publicly blame the victims of these dirtbag tactics.

Ben Keating didn't do that, the OP did. So they can spare us the crocodile tears over the quality of this forum. Looks like our biggest crime is noticing what they're doing and trying to help people avoid it.

Of course flatout is the one taking up for this crooked d bag.

lb3 said:

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vmiaptetr said:

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meggy09 said:

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Sad that you have an AG Tag and are a representation of my university.

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I'm gonna wholeheartedly, and emphatically, disagree with you on this one. I met FLATOUT before I started A&M, but he helped me find out the status of my application before I got accepted. I was transitioning from the Navy, and he served as a resource to veterans attending or trying to attend A&M. He's been nothing but helpful to me.

I've never done business with him, but for you to come on here and say it's sad that he is a representative of our university because he's shown support to someone you don't like…well, it's bull***** Merry Christmas.

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I'm glad your interaction worked out for you. On this forum Flatout condones screwing people over by stating that the other party agrees to the terms.

It is not possible for him to be a swindler in his professional like and a man of character in his personal life.

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Great post and so true. We now know enough about flat out to know that he is a low character person just like the person he is defending on this thread. Would never do business with him or any keating dealership.

shi**y people are not shi**y 100% of the time

dubi said:

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I want to give a personal story regarding an interaction with Flatout. Someone posted on Nextdoor that their daughter wanted to ride a specific rare sports car (can't remember the car put i think it was a Lamborghini). I messaged Flatout and asked if he could help make that happen and he did! The young lady went to the dealership and and got to take a sporty ride and photos. She was super excited to have her dream come true.

I think you need to separate the "person" from their job. The reality is selling cars is a business that rewards sleazy tactics. We currently own 2 Hyundai's and have been very happy with their service dept. One of them was purchased there and we stated up front that we were not paying for the Apex. Fraudulent tactics are another issue and that should never happen.

My 2 cents and I didn't watch the video.

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When your job involves screwing people over, it's pretty hard to make that distinction.

TLDR Summary...."Merry Christmas" from


The Patron Saint of APEX

Kinda reminds me of the old saying....

That white speck on the top of chicken sheet... is still chicken sheet.

Mookie said:

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I don't necessarily like posting a video here knowing the reaction it will get and the outrage that comes with it, but I also know FLATOUT from a prior life amd know he is a good dude.

I have also worked for a dealership group in the past with a nepo baby owner who likes to race cars too. There is something about 2nd gen owners that is all about entitlement so I know where he is coming from cashing a check from a morally bankrupt dealer principal. But I also had the wherewithal to quit that dealership and not look back. Maybe FLATOUT will come around.

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I don't think people realize that an automobile is the last truly negotiated product that we purchase. Think about what that introduces into the entire process.

It would be SO much easier if everyone was just forced to pay MSRP right?

But everyone wants a great "deal" and everyone thinks they know the best way to get it.

The Dubis have spent a bunch of time in my office and I love showing them all of the behind the scenes stuff. I've always tried to look out for and help Texags posters but I'm also running a store and don't post or read forums at 46 as much as I did in my 20's and 30's.

There's so much bad information passed around here about the car business that I never even know where to start so I just don't.

For all of you that posted your positive experiences with me personally I appreciate it. Going against the posting "majority" takes some courage and I thank you.

It's a message board, not Corregidor

FLATOUT said:

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Mookie said:

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I don't necessarily like posting a video here knowing the reaction it will get and the outrage that comes with it, but I also know FLATOUT from a prior life amd know he is a good dude.

I have also worked for a dealership group in the past with a nepo baby owner who likes to race cars too. There is something about 2nd gen owners that is all about entitlement so I know where he is coming from cashing a check from a morally bankrupt dealer principal. But I also had the wherewithal to quit that dealership and not look back. Maybe FLATOUT will come around.

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I don't think people realize that an automobile is the last truly negotiated product that we purchase. Think about what that introduces into the entire process.

It would be SO much easier if everyone was just forced to pay MSRP right?

But everyone wants a great "deal" and everyone thinks they know the best way to get it.

The Dubis have spent a bunch of time in my office and I love showing them all of the behind the scenes stuff. I've always tried to look out for and help Texags posters but I'm also running a store and don't post or read forums at 46 as much as I did in my 20's and 30's.

There's so much bad information passed around here about the car business that I never even know where to start so I just don't.

For all of you that posted your positive experiences with me personally I appreciate it. Going against the posting "majority" takes some courage and I thank you.

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There's a sucker born every minute, and they all buy their cars from Keating

FLATOUT said:

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I don't think people realize that an automobile is the last truly negotiated product that we purchase. Think about what that introduces into the entire process.

It would be SO much easier if everyone was just forced to pay MSRP right?

But everyone wants a great "deal" and everyone thinks they know the best way to get it.

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Houses too. Actually, lots of stuff is, but I digress.

I have to ask - do you understand that we all understand what you're trying to convey but the single issue that really matters is all the dishonesty, shenanigans and other stuff that happens with the paperwork?

Even if you yourself do it right - do you understand or acknowledge this track record and history that Keating has created?

FLATOUT said:

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I don't think people realize that an automobile is the last truly negotiated product that we purchase. Think about what that introduces into the entire process.

It would be SO much easier if everyone was just forced to pay MSRP right?

But everyone wants a great "deal" and everyone thinks they know the best way to get it.

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Also, this is such a bull**** yet unsurprising response from you. Just because there's room for negotiation doesn't mean you have the right to screw people over. Get out of here with that crap. People just want to not get scammed when making a major purchase.

Until you and BK acknowledge, apologize for, and remedy the shady business practices, you shouldn't say anything else.

ElephantRider said:

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FLATOUT said:

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I don't think people realize that an automobile is the last truly negotiated product that we purchase. Think about what that introduces into the entire process.

It would be SO much easier if everyone was just forced to pay MSRP right?

But everyone wants a great "deal" and everyone thinks they know the best way to get it.

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Also, this is such a bull**** yet unsurprising response from you. Just because there's room for negotiation doesn't mean you have the right to screw people over. Get out of here with that crap. People just want to not get scammed when making a major purchase.

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The last negotiated product we buy apparently introduces a bunch of BS markups that for some reason are non-negotiable. Not to mention the warranty side of things where that product is becoming less and less reliable, although that is on the manufacturer and not the dealer.

Selling cars isn't a novel concept but the practice is heavily favored by lobbyists and a bunch of people make good money off of it. Buy used/private party and let others take the hit on buying new.

They are not but run by a bunch of fools.