Clueless Car Salesmen

The BBQ Pit
41

True story:

I live in Northern Va and have a relative who owns a car dealership out west, near the top of the Shenandoah Valley (actually over the W Virginia line).

(Stereotype alert, if reality pisses you off, stop reading now :wink: )

When the yokels came in out of the mountains, they’d tell the salesman what they wanted to buy. The salesmen were trained to say,

Salesman: “Can you afford $600 a month?”

To which Cletus would reply: “No sir, that’s too much”

Salesman: “How about $150 a week?”

Cletus: “Oh sure, we can handle that! Hey Brandine, git me that money order!”

Not every time of course, but it happened a lot.

42

I went to the dealer just looking for ideas on a used car. I told the sales guy the price I was looking for and he showed me the things I could afford. One car caught my eye and I asked him if that was in my price range and he laughed and said afraid not. Cut to the next day, I was searching the internet. The same dealer has the same car and the internet listed price was exactly 1 dollar less than the figure I had given him. I buy the car directly from the internet sales manager the next day and smiled at the sales guy who could have gotten the sale himself if he wasn’t trying to hose me.

43

The last time I was thinking about getting a car I walked around some of the lots after hours to pre-pick some models that I might be interested in and then went home to research prices, options, mpg, reliability, etc.

I remember one of them had the basic am/fm radio and I looked up the price on upgrade to a CD player. $350. When I went back during the day I had already decided that if I got that car I’d just get a much better aftermarket for less money and install it myself. I was on the lot for 27.6 seconds before Slick McPolyester homes in on me.

Slick: Can I help you find something.
Me: I was looking at this car. How much is the CD option?
Slick: $1200!
Me: Really? When I checked online it was only $350.
Slick: Well. Um… Ah. I was giving myself some wiggle room.
Me: Congratulations. You just wiggled yourself out of a sale. Go get yourself a cup of coffee and send someone else out.

The second guy was a bit more cautious after having been warned by slick, but ultimately I decided that my old ride was just fine.

44

I’ve been waiting to tell this story, and this seems like the appropriate thread.

10 years ago, my wife was in the market for a new Jetta. There were 2 VW dealers in town, so we went to Dealer #1 and got their price. Then we went to Dealer #2. We parked in the (very visible from the dealer’s window) handicapped spot (my wife has MS) and she slowly made her way into the dealer, where we started talking to a salesman. Mr. Observant said “Yes, we have one on the lot. Let’s go out and look at it.” With that, he headed out the door (and past our car). We slowly followed, well behind him. Finally he turned and said “Hup hup! Let’s go!” My wife gave him a glare that could have melted diamonds. Then she said “No hup hup! This is as fast as I go! I have MS!”. He turned apologetic (and green), but we left and eventually bought a Jetta from the other dealer.

My own dealer story: I went to a Toyota dealer to price a new 1990 Tercel. The dealer wrote down the various costs, but included some amount for an “upgraded battery”. When I questioned him on it, he said “We require everyone to get that. It’s a…”

wait for it…
“Mandatory Option.”

I bought a Civic instead.

45

He’ll get half the commission if you gave him your contact information. That’s how it works.

46

My daughter recently ordered a new car - it’ll be her first purchase/finance, and after shopping on line, she knew exactly what she wanted. On her own, she stopped at a dealership to look at the car and get a test drive - unfortunately they didn’t have the 5-speed, but she still liked what she saw of the vehicle. A couple of weeks later, she and I were running errands, and we stopped at a different dealership - they had the 5-speed, but wrong color and not with the options she wanted. Still, she got to drive it.

The salesguy (a young n00b) did the “What will it take to get you to buy today?” and she told him exactly what color and what options she wanted. He checked, but no one had that car. We asked about placing an order, then thanked him and left. All he knew of her was her name and address, as he’d made a copy of her license before the test drive.

Later that afternoon, she got a text from him. :confused: How the heck did he get her cell number?? Anyway, he was back with “What will it take to get you to buy?” and she repeated exactly what she’d told him before. He came back with several other cars, none of which met her requirements. She finally quit responding to him.

Just for kicks, I went on line and did an internet sales inquiry thru our credit union which was then referred to the first dealership she’d visited. The internet sales manager called me and I explained what my daughter was looking for. The day after her loan was approved, we went to order the car, getting her exactly what she wanted for exactly what the credit union agreement said. We’re just waiting for the car to be delivered. Interestingly, they didn’t want any money down - the car is popular enough that they’ll be able to sell it anyway.

When it arrives, if they try to pull any crap on her with the price, she’ll walk. She has a car that works, mostly, and she has a budget which works with the price quoted and the loan from the credit union. So she’s in a good position. I have no reason to believe they’ll jerk her around, but since I’m cosigning the loan (so she could get a better rate based on my credit score) there will be no jerking. Period.

But, yeah, the old school n00b just left her shaking her head, along with annoying the crap out of her for texting her. I’d have been pissed - I have to pay for ever text I get.

47

I wish people would stop with this whole car buying charade. Dealers need to just put a sticker price on it and leave it at that. Buyers should not try to haggle. It should be like buying a can of soda at the market, either pay the price or find somewhere else

48

I hope I never live someplace where I have to own a car again. Expense aside, the purchasing process is so mindblowingly obnoxious, I just never want to deal with it, ever again.

49

That’s a scam too. The last time I was looking for a used car, I did my research on Cars.com and found 5 cars at local dealerships that met my criteria. All 5 were bargains as near as I could tell (I’m no expert but they prices were lower than comparable models) Four of the five had “just been sold” when I visited the dealer but they had many other nice cars they’d be happy to show me.

What are the odds? Basically they use great deals on internet sits to bait and switch you onto the lot.

50

Ya know they put that Tru-Coat on right at the factory…

51

Agreed. If my experience is an indicator, they’re learning it pretty well. We bought a new Corolla Monday night and it was a pleasant experience dealing with polite professionals. No BS, no unexpected add-ons in the contract. No surprises. The salesman went right to his bottom price (which was lower than I had hoped) and we bought it. The treatment we got from other dealers (as we shopped) was equally pleasant.

I’ve bought 3 new cars from this particular salesman in the last 5 years. He’s figured out the value of repeat business.

52

When I bought my new Hyundai last year, I was credited with about $1000 more than my top-line estimate for my eight-year-old Saturn. A month or so later, I got a letter from the city of St. Louis that my Saturn had been towed and impounded. I can only assume that the dealership abandoned it.

My new policy is to only shop for cars in the evening, after dark, and to wash, vacuum, and clear out my personal stuff from my trade-in that very day.

I’d advise casting a gimlet eye on the service department while you’re buying. Is it somewhere you can stand to sit for a couple of hours every three months or so? Is the coffeepot burned dry? And so on. A clue for this dealership should have been that it was obviously recently remodeled - all the offices were fresh and beautiful. The service waiting area was a few chairs in a hallway where it was impossible to read because of the TV blasting.

I go somewhere else for service now.

53

The last time I got that “So, what’ll it take to get you into this car today?” line I gave a huge shit eatin’ grin and said, “Well, fetch out the title, the keys and a crisp hundred dollar bill and I’ll be outta here in no time!” Salesman gave his very best gaffed fish impression and fumfuh’d and finally came up with, “wut?” So I grinned even bigger and said, “Well, you wanted to know and I told you–were you not listening when I told you I was just looking?” Yeah, that got me a whole half hour uninterrupted browsing time.

54

Saturn did it and it worked pretty well. But, since dealer prices are completely arbitrary, why would you pay somebody several thousand dollars more than something is worth? It would be one thing if the manufacturers set the price, but the dealers? No thanks.

55

Some cites:
http://moneycentral.msn.com/content/savinganddebt/saveonacar/p139661.asp

"Well our long standing argument that the used car prices in Kelley Blue Book are not unbiased, but unfairly tipped in the dealers favor, has been endorsed by the admission that appears in an article in the Money Making Minutes column which appears in this weeks Ward’s Dealer Business magazine. The publishers of The Auto Channel believe that this boondoggle is so pervasive and far reaching, that consumers should be alerted to what is really going on, to that end we are re-publishing the article in its entirety…here it is.

The Article has been submitted by ASTN and is titled “Show Your Trade-in Customers the Facts”:

“*Many customers are now doing homework on the Internet prior to coming in to negotiate for a purchase. Most have visited an on-line service to get an invoice and to get a feel for what their trade is worth. But it is amazing that people seem to believe everything to get off the ‘net’ (sic). The information has legitimacy simply because it came from the computer! In trying to determine how to work with these folks and still preserve a reasonable gross, some dealer personnel have discovered that the Internet can actually work for them on occasion.

When working a deal that involves a trade-in, appraise the trade in the normal course of the deal. However, now, before serving up a trade allowance, go to the ‘net and log on to www.kbb.com (Kelley Blue Book). Pull off the information regarding the trade-in value for the customer’s car. More often than not, KBB values are more conservative than your appraisals. When that happens, simply present the KBB value to the customer. It is a value from an impartial authority straight off the Internet. Customers have trouble refuting these values, and many times you are able to secure the trade for hundreds of dollars lower than the value at which it is eventually booked.”
*
Well there it is…Buyer Beware! When a dealer employs the Kelley Blue Book used car values, run out of the showroom as quickly as you can and do some more research before you really get screwed………but check and compare valuations before you accept Kelley Blue Book’s prejudiced low trade-in value or inflated high retail value.

As a dealer friend of mine said… “ Only the sharks use this book” …but hey, there sure have been a lot of shark attacks these past few months…always be wary of smiling people thumping a Blue Book."

**Note that in no way am I saying that the publishers of KBB are doing anything crooked. **

56

What was I wrong about that Lynn was right about? You realize my point wasn’t about the validity of KBB and would have been the same had I used NADA instead, right?

57

That’s what I found, too - I’d see a great car online, and it was never there on the lot. Jerks.

58

I’m not trying to rain on your parade digs but the reason you got a good price for the no frills car is because hardly anybody wants a no frills car anymore.

No power windows? No power locks? looks in disbelief

I’m with you though. I’m perfectly fine with fewer options to save some money. As long as it has AC I’m good.

59

Like I said, the daughter’s Upper Middle Class friends also look in disbelief when they want to roll down the window.

And we have to go back and lock the door of any guests that ride in our car, because they’ve gotten out of the habit of manually locking a car door in the last decade or so.

But we do have AC. Anyone else remember when cars didn’t? Those lonnnnnng hot car rides in the family station wagon (with the kids rolling around the “Way Back” with no seat belts)?

60

Yep, I remember those days. My sister and I had long hair (this was in the 60s), and my parents would drive from Texas to Massachusetts in the summertime, to spend time with my dad’s family. Every night, my sister and I would try to comb out our hair, gently. This was in the days before conditioners/creme rinses were viewed as essential grooming items, too, which made it even more fun.

And yes, I remember when seat belts were OPTIONAL.