A five-digit hit to the pocketbook is likely to leave some car purchasers with buyer’s remorse.
Not Lisa Hallgren.
When the Drayton Valley woman stopped in at Acura of Red Deer to pick up her new $60,000 car, she discovered that the price had been adjusted downward — to zero.
Hallgren was one of 30 people chosen during Go Auto’s Car-A-Day Giveaway promotion. Between April 9 and May 8, Edmonton-based Go Auto — which operates more than 30 dealerships, including Acura of Red Deer, Honda Red Deer, MGM Ford Lincoln, Go Auto Direct Red Deer and Go RV & Marine Red Deer — picked one customer every day to receive his or her newly purchased vehicle for free.
“She walked in and had no idea,” said Bill Lewis, sales manager at Acura of Red Deer. “I said, ‘Congratulations, it’s yours.’
“She was flabbergasted.”
Hallgren’s name was drawn on the final day of the contest, with the value of her 2014 Acura MDX Tech bringing the total value of the Car-A-Day Giveaway campaign to nearly $900,000.
Lewis said Hallgren was aware of the contest, but didn’t appear to pay a lot of attention to it. Her family has bought a number of vehicles from Acura of Red Deer and it’s sister dealership, Honda Red Deer, so much of this transaction was completed by phone.
Go Auto bought Acura of Red Deer, Honda Red Deer and MGM Ford Lincoln Sales Ltd. from Andy Goodacre a year ago. It acquired CARS RV & Marine and Suzuki Automotive Superstore in late 2012, and replaced these with Go RV & Marine and Go Auto Direct.
In February, Go Auto dispersed $1 million to the communities it operates in — including $100,000 in Red Deer — as part of its Random Act of Kindness campaign.
Lewis said other promotions are planned for the future, and speculated that another Car-A-Day Giveaway was a possibility.