I drove over to a used car lot in Santa Monica to look at a specific car listed on their website. The sales guys were apparently out to lunch, but there was a cell phone number taped to the office door. I walked around the lot and didn’t see the car. So I called the number. The short version:
ME: Do you have that car?
HIM: It should be there… <pause> Oh, the owner of the dealership must have driven it home.
ME: Wha?
HIM: She takes whatever car she wants. She’s not in today, though.
I suppose that’s possible. Every other car there was newer and nicer and more expensive than the one advertised. Presumably she could be driving one of those. (Of course, then I wouldn’t have noticed anything.)
What I feel is more likely, though, is that they just don’t want their oldest, cheapest cars there when walk-ins come by, so they stash them in some back lot somewhere, triple-parked behind a bunch of other cars, and bring them out when they need to. Otherwise, it’s 2005 BMWs and 2007 Audis and whatnot on the lot.
My question(s) for those with knowledge of how car dealerships operate:
Why might a used car lot be missing a car? Is the “dealer drove it home” excuse plausible?
I used to work as a photographer for an ad publication for used cars. I’d go around to the dealers and take photos of the cars, as all their details.
Plenty of times a sales manager would give me a list with two or three vehicles that were nowhere to be found. Often there would be a salesman (or owner) driving it, or it was at another location (for mechanical work, detailing, etc) or they had it “on the arm”, i.e., borrowed from another dealership, who wanted it back.
I was BSing with a guy that ran a used car lot, as I wanted to buy a trailer for my motorcycle. We started talking about my Charger, and he said he doesn’t buy a nice car for himself because he can take any vehicle from the lot home whenever he wanted (a minivan for trips, a truck if he needed to haul stuff, etc.).
Although, in your situation, it sounds like they simply advertised a car at a low price to just get you to their lot. Looks like it worked. Part 2 of their plan doesn’t look like it did, though.
I just stopped by to confirm what postcards said. A good friend of mine managed a car dealership. He would regularly take home a different car because he was allowed to, and he didn’t want to put the miles on his car. I think he took different ones to spread the mileage around, plus it’s easy to let your personal items creep into a car of you regularly drive the same one (that last part is only my personal opinion).
Although I can’t put my finger on “why”, but in your situation it just seems like it’s more of a bait & switch.
That was my first guess, as well, but I forgot to supply a detail in the OP: The guy told me that the car would definitely be there today if I came by. If that’s the truth, then the car does at least exist.
That fails the logic test unless you’re shopping at a high-end dealership. Why would they put cars front-and-center that are unaffordable to their target demographic? When they advertise a used Escort, how would it be reasonable for them to think that they can bait-and-switch you into a Lexus?
I suspect that the guy was telling the truth. Back in the early 1980s my dad sold used cars, and he regularly came home in one off the lot. I wouldn’t think that much has changed. The 1,000 miles they might put on it between buying it and selling it doesn’t depreciate the value much more from what it would be if they let it sit on the lot for a month.
I know the salesmen from the local Ford dealership seem to drive the cars home pretty often. Not all of the cars, but a group of them. I would think it’s sort of a good thing, cars don’t do well sitting for weeks or months not being driven.
I used to visit a friend of mine in that same time period and his dad did the same. He worked for a place that sold some nice cars and always was in a cool car. (You aren’t from the Delaware Ohio area are ya? )
The cars aren’t unregistered. They’re registered to the dealer. As a representative of the dealer you are authorized to drive them. They’re also insured, or you wouldn’t be able to take them for a test drive.
When you register the car after you buy it you’re merely registering it in your name.
Ever see a license plate that says “dealer” on it? It’s possible that’s the woman who owns the lot, or someone else driving a car that belongs to the dealership. Dealer’s license plates are usually screwed into a magnet so they can just stick them to any car and go. They can use them for anything. Want lunch? Slap a plate on a car and go get it.
And it’s not just used cars. Dealers, salesmen, the service/body shop manager, or anyone else semi important (i.e. not mechanics, detailers, etc usually) often get “demos” which are brand new cars that they drive for about 5000 miles, then put back on the lot. I believe the law is that a vehicle can still be sold as new if it has under 6000 miles on it (or was a couple of years ago in my state anyway, it’s not something I keep up with.)
My guess is it went the way of the Perfect Job through an Agency. It never existed. They use it to draw you in to look at what actually resides on their lot. It’s a scam.
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