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CONSIDERATE Salespeople & CONSIDERATE Buyers
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Comments
Chris
I drove over the next afternoon to pick up my car and everything went smoothly. I knew going in that I wasn't going to get much for my old car and was even willing to just have them take it off my hands. I also knew that it would be difficult to get a decent finance rate because I haven't been in the US long and had very little credit history. I went to the dealership with pre-approved financing but with a terrible rate (15% for 48 months). I was willing to pay that, but asked the F&I guy, Tim Nice, if he could possibly beat that. He not only found me better lending terms, but he also told me to re-finance in a year or less (as soon as I get my credit rating high enough) and gave me other tips on how to build up my credit quickly.
The whole experience was effortless for me. I was so thrilled by the whole thing that I even drove back (over 60 miles) the following day to deliver some home-made cookies. I have also given them a glowing report on the Hyundai survey. Also, I love my car even if I get a few raised eyebrows when people ask me what I bought.
Ed
Two weeks ago, I filled out the Ford request-a-quote for a Focus ZX3 Premium w/side air bags and ABS in either green or red. I received three emails back, only one of which mentioned Focus, and none quoted a price. So I sent another email, but this time didn't receive any response.
So a week ago I went to the showroom and a sales rep grabbed me as I entered the floor. Nice kid, who was up front and said he wasn't very familiar with the Focus. We sat down and I told him specifically what I wanted and asked for a quote to be emailed to me. He filled out a form and took my name, address, phone, etc., and said he would email me a quote. Six days later I receive a form letter signed by the sales rep that misspells my name, has other typos, doesn't even mention Focus, and closes with contact-me-if-I-can-be-of-further-help.
MAG seemed so clumsy in my three unsuccessful attempts to get a price quote, it made me very leery about the level of service I could expect if I did buy a car from them.
However, 42's positive experience convinces me to give that dealership another shot--which since I live just two miles away from them, makes things much more convenient.
Thanks.
Why don't you simply walk in and make them an offer instead of screwing around with e-mails etc?
Maybe I'm just old fashioned...
Since you know exaclty what you want, use the resources in this web site to determine a price that you think might be accepted, and then offer that price to the dealer.
Anyway I went to Roger's Buick, North Syracuse NY (Isellpotiac-these are your guys!), spoke to my regular salesman. He treated me well, gave me a fair price and played no games. Didn't even require a deposit.
Tonight I picked up the car. Everything was ready on time and no probs with the delivery.
Both transactions were relatively quick and painless.
I have had several good experiences with Burdick group dealers.
If anyone wants the name of my salesman, email me because I don't think his name should be bandied about on the 'net recklessly. This guy will get all 4s on his eval (I guess that's the highest)
Cyberfire12@classicrock.com
A perfect carbuying experience.
BTW, my salesperson's name is Judy Girardeau.
So, off we go to Chuck Hutton Chevrolet and met a really nice (extremely non-pressure) African American lady who came out in the frigid cold evening to show us 2002 Impala's. We looked, sat in a couple and then told her we would think about it. She gave us a brochure and said give her a call if we were interested. So, two days later, we decided to check prices (also, the weather warmed up). We picked out a Medium Bronzemist base Impala with the Group 1 option. Listed for $21,735. Their first offer was $800 off list and then after a little negotiating, they came down an additional $400 for a total of $1,200 off list and then the rebate brought it down to $3,202 off list. That seemed fair, my uncle was very happy and we drove off in a new Impala. There was no problem in the F/I office, very pleasant young fellow. We paid cash and there was no mention of "mop and glow". He did ask if we wanted an extended warranty, we said no, he then quickly had my Uncle sign all of the papers and off we went.
Mark
I come back after a few hours, drive a car he recommends and buy it. Except for that damn Lincoln I insisted he sell me, it's been really good.
and as far as I'm concerned they are 100% correct. A year ago I was looking for a nice car I shopped many brand and makes as I have no loyalty to any one (Other than my family). My wife and I stopped by to look at the 300M. We were greeted by Tony Crawford. He let us take it for a drive and we wanted it. They didn't have the one we wanted on the lot so he located one at they're other dealership in Countryside. We drove one 300M there and ours back. We noticed a scratch on the door. He gave us an IOU for the service work. My wife loves to bargain and once he knew we knew what we wanted we agreed on a good price and a great trade in. Had pre arranged financing and that wasn't a problem. He has followed up extremely well with us over the past year and was a pleasure to deal with.
I've been pestering her with questions for months while I make up my mind on a car purchase. She has alot of product knowledge, is very straight forward and has been very patient with my indecision. I will definitely buy a Honda from her and recommend her to others as well!
From our first meeting he was nice and polite and more than willing to answer any and all of our questions. Looking through the different cars available he just handed the keys over and said "go have fun, see you later." When we finally decided on a particular car which had just come in, he had it sent to the shop to have a full service done, including new tires, brakes and rotors. As an added bonus, when we picked up the car, he had upgraded the stereo for us. We had noted that this particular car only had a am/fm/cassette while all the others we had tested had the combo am/fm/cass/cd player. I know it was probably nothing much to add this, but it's the little things that count.
During negotiations he was upfront about our trade (1990 Volvo 740) and even gave us the number of someone they sell their wholesale cars to.
Overall we felt we got a fair deal, but more than that, we treated with respect and left feeling good about the whole experience. Now my wife want to get rid of our explorer in favor of a Wagon or XC, though she was really drooling over the C70 convt. in the showroom.
Peeter
Just noticed that it's been almost a month since anyone posted to this topic. I guess it really is easy to complain, I've done it myself, but I also believe in giving credit where credit is due.
It was the best car shoping expirience I ever had (can't even compare with experience to lease my Nissan Altima but this is another story for another forum (inconsiderate sellers?)).
Thanks
My daughter was the buyer, and qualified for Honda's 4.9% financing. We were pre-shopped, and fully equipped with all the pertainant data on the car, and had met the salesman once before when she test drove a Civic. Before leaving home we looked at Edmunds just to get the numbers fresh in our minds, and decided that for a car in that price range it was senseless to expect below TMV. We also agreed to be flexible and not get anal over $100 or so. We agreed to shoot for $15,400 base, add remote entry and floor mats, and expect about $16,000 net, to negotiate from $16,200 and to walk if they were firm above that. Ityold hetr to expect about $17,000 bottom line with tax, title and license fees. So, time to do it.
She wanted a red Civic, which was not in stock. While she filled out the credit ap the salesman rounded up a car at another dealer. When they were both done the salesman told us that not only had he found a car equipped the way she wanted, but it was at a dealer to which they had already arranged to sell another car, turning the deal into a simple swap that cost neither dealership anything. Score one!
We were ready and well informed, and really wanted to cut to the end of the story, so he suggested a price that was nearly dollar for dollar what we were targeting, first offer. Knowing how little there is in a Civic to work with, and that the only incentive available was the financing, which she qualified for, we simply accepted the price. Deal done - score two!
The whole transaction, entry to exit, took about an hour. Not only that, since they also are a VW dealer, I had the opportunity to look over a W8, which was an added bonus. Kudoos to Bernardi.
Searched the internet for our region and that's the only one with the options and color she wants.
The next day I called Thompson Dodge and asked them to get me the car. Picked it up from their Chrysler dealer a few days later, below invoice,
rock bottom financing and as always, no hassles.
There are good dealers out there. When you find one, make sure you support them.
easy negotiation, salesman stepped aside to let me deal w/ mgr easily when he saw i was serious and low
he wasn't super knowledgeable, and they attempted to stick me in F&I but I will say this,
after the first test drive, and he saw i was still trying to figure out whether that was the car i wanted or not, he indicated that they were motivated and he was motivated to sell that particular car, and recommended i check the internet and do my research, come back and negotiate, he didn't tell me what they'd sell it for, but it was enough to motivate me, i would have done and had done some of that research already, but honestly was looking at '02s, and most likely if it came down to '02s at the time, the Acura would have won, not the Infiniti, but with such a deal on the '01, with the color and options I wanted, he got the sale, in part because he didn't play too many games, instead of pressuring me w/ some kind of 'this is the last one' kind of thing, he tactfully mentioned that, but rather encouraged me to empower myself to get a good deal on it if it was the car I wanted
i like win / win, and i think this was a good one
karz
Just noticed your post. Glad ya got the car there. Montclair is where I used to work. Excellent store to do business with. They are very professional. Their service dept is also very good. Herb Wiley and Pete are both great guys, so is Egon Kanter the manager too.
Enjoy the S70!
Bill
We're enjoying the car alot. Even though it's primarily a commuter car, we still use it for trips here and there (love that huge trunk). We've dealt with their service before (previously had a '90 740 GL sedan that we bought from them as well) and always found them on the up and up.
While shopping for the S70 my wife fell in love with an '02 C70 convt. in the showroom. Unfortunately, that would be a very unpractical car w/ 2 kids. Therefore, since we've sold my boat (sniff, sniff) and no longer need a tow vehicle (Explorer), a station wagon seems to be our next purchase. And, as luck would have it, my wife likes the V70's so there may be 2 Volvo's in our driveway soon.
Peeter
ps We ended up selling our 740 on eBay for to someone who bought it sight-unseen, picked it up and drove it from home to Mass.
The Honda Accord is now in its last few months for this design, but as a result they are having a great prices right now. I looked up an ad price of $15,665 for an Accord LX 5 speed at the local dealer and called them up. I got Richard of Sam Swope Honda and I asked him (politely) if the price was legit. He said it was, and that they had two at that price, one black, one gold. I asked about financing, since I'd already been approved by Toyota for low financing, and Richard said they had low financing too for those who qualified, and to come on down. Somehow Richard's manner just struck me as great right off the bat--no games, just straighforward and pleasant.
I came right in and he showed me the gold car, demonstrating several nifty features that the Accord has. I took a short test drive, and then showed him my trade--the black low mileage Focus ZTS with 5 speed and side air bags. Edmunds said my car had a trade in value of almost 9k. Frankly, after all the bad publicity about the Focus, I didn't believe it. Plus, I knew from my research that Richard and the dealership were giving away the Accord to me, with as far as I could tell no profit whatsoever, and possibly a small loss. Plus by then I'd been preapproved for 4.75% financing for 60 months. So, when Richard came back and offered me 7500 on the Focus, I took it and we sealed the deal. I have no problem at all with him making some profit. My wife decided she didn't like gold and wanted the black one, however, but by the time this was ironed out the black one had been sold. Here's where taking Richard's somewhat low offer on my trade paid off for me, I think, because he then located exactly the color my wife and son really wanted, dark blue, and had it professionally driven from a dealership over 100 miles away. Plus he threw in mudflaps and carpet mats. When I came to pick up the car a few days later, he personally made sure it was [non-permissible content removed] and span, and took the time to demontrate all sorts of features, and we took another test drive. I plan to give him 100% A++ marks on the survey. My payment with my $3200 in trade equity down came to 260 a month, and I added the 7/75 warranty for 695, which took my payment to 273--six bucks less a month than I was paying on that darn Focus. For me, it was the car buying experience I was looking for, and I'm very pleased with my new Accord.
to be continued..
: )
Mackabee
At the end of all this, we realized that we hadn't comparison shopped at all, and needed to see what the "Auto Megamall" could offer. I was actually expecting a negative reaction from him, after spending so much time with us. He just gave us his card and said: "Yes, I would probably do the same. However, I'll be here tomorrow, and I'm quite sure I'll see you then."
What can I say ? The 3 hours at the megamall reminded me of some of the case studies I see on the "buyer beware" type of websites. It only took so long to get out of that place, because of the endless attempts to switch us to a different truck, after it became evident that they didn't have what we wanted.
We bought the truck from our original salesmen the day after. I consider myself quite lucky, because having experienced what the buying process should be like, I have lost all tolerance for high pressure sales.
We talked for a bit about the stock they had on hand and I asked for his card to come back and see him when I was ready to buy. He gave me his card and asked if I was dead set on waiting until summer. I told him that I was willing to go through the negotiation/pitch process with the clear understanding that I was planning the purchase for the summer, after the snow season was done. I would only change my purchase plans with the right incentives, a good deal on the truck and drive it home that day.
Got a better deal than I was expecting on the Xterra and drove it home an hour later. The dealership got the price to below what I had expected to pay considering the popularity of the Xterra at the time. Recieved follow up calls from both the salesman and the dealership's owner. The dealership even sent a couple of "thank you" gifts a week later.
I've recommended this dealership to everyone I know that has been looking at Nissans.
I consider them a wonderfully considerate dealer, and I tried to be a considerate buyer by not being rude or misleading them about my intentions at all.
First rep at caddy dlr west side, he sent me to caddy dlr east side, told caddy dlr east side that rep #1 sent me, he said ok, we looked at some stuff, i was getting the impression he wanted to sell me directly, considering i only talked to the other guy for about 5 minutes and he never called me back before I went back to see him again, only to talk 5 minutes again, I just rolled with it, and figured they'd figure it out.
Well Rep#2 wanted me to take the truck home knowing that I felt he had a reasonable (not crazy) asking price, but I would only buy if I paid less, if you really want me to take it, I will as feel that's a good oppty for me
Next morning Rep#1 calls, you like it etc.? I explained to him where I was, he said come on over see what we can do...I assume they are on same page
well, rep#1 on over at west side can only do about $2.5k over fair retail, i try to explain that's not really a fair price, i'm willing to negotiate, they say that's the lowest, maybe we can show you somehting else....I leave the truck there
Here is the considerate part....
Rep #2 from east side calls, why did you leave it over there, he just found out,
I explain what happened, I thought he knew what was going on etc., he replies well, I don't know what all happened I apologize if you felt caught in the middle, I don't know if my SM can sell it any less than they can, but if he can, I'll do everything I can to get you into the vehicle, can you come by to talk about it...
I go see #2 next day, we can't agree on a price, simply because I told him that it was a 99 in white, not a 00 in blk, although i'd pay more for a 00 in blk, or be willing to do a 99 in black for his price, that i would need a little better price to do this deal today
he wasn't able to do the price, but he came within $500 of a fair price, a couple grand less than west side, we agreed to think it over on both sides, in the mean time keep an eye out for a blk one
So that in and of itself was considerate, and I would buy a car from him if the right one for right price, but he did something else, he called someone he knew at another unaffiliated shop who had a blk 00 in stock, they called me up, long story short, that deal blew up, but the #2 rep at east side caddy was still very considerate to try to find me a vehicle at another dealer
Had I been able to do the deal on his associate's truck, I would have gone back to drop off a $100 thank you, but since it didn't work out, I still tried to call him to thank him for his time, he was out today, I'll call him tomorrow
karz
: )
Mackabee
Rep #2 works at east side arnold palmer cadillac
I met rep #1 a couple weeks ago, talked for 5 minutes, came back to ck inventory, asked for rep #1 again, he was about to do a delivery, didn't have any inventory I was interested in anyway, so he sent me to East Side store, to look there and to tell anyone who helped me that I was working w/ him...
Rep #2 apparently wasn't too concerned w/ rep #1, so that may make him inconsiderate internally at the dealer, but he was considerate to me, because in the end, he was willing to give me a better deal on the car I was somewhat interested in, but more importantly, when we agreed to disagree on price, he was willing to call (friend, former associate, I don't know how he knew him) a rep from a non affiliated Lincoln Mercury dealer who had a black '00 Navigator like I wanted....so my point was, he was trying to help me get what I wanted, it seems he was the top rep at this caddy shop for some time, I saw all the plaques, I guess he figured he was going to be around awhile so he figured he could sell me a car down the road, or someone I knew a car, as well as potentially help his friend out, if he helped me find the car I wanted, as used inventory is more limited than new inventory, he can't exactly order one up for me, I don't fully understand his motivation, but I do appreciate it, that's all I'm saying
Make any more sense now? I hope so, I think people are tired of my long posts
karz
a Caddy dealer to do GMO/GMS deal on a CTS !
Shopped the GM buypower site found 2 Devilles
with the goods I wanted. Called the dealers
(both had appraised my 96 Deville recently).
The ruby one was sold but the other guy said
the white one was ready to go ! And we will
still give you 6k for your 96 ! I told the
guy I am jamming at my motel in Alexandria
bay NY and couldn't get away ! He said NO
PROBLEM....sent me a couple of fax papers
and brought the 02 to ME! Told him to bring
wife too and stay over nite. He did and took
the 96 back to the dealer. NO MUSS NO FUSS !
Auburn NY to Alex Bay must be a 300 mile round
trip too ! Note: I have bought a few cars and
trucks from FOX automotive group. Salesman
asked me not to post his name here ! But if
you email I can tell ya !
BTW: I get the gm employee discount so no
arguing about prices ! Easy painless deal !
.............Happy Geo......Happy salesman and wife
Monday, did my homework, got a preapproval, insurance quote, etc. and went to go look at a '03 honda accord. Test drove a '03 Coupe LX 5MT and an '03 Sedan EX 5AT. Impressive vehicles. Told the salesperson that I would have to comeback and have my fiancee see it and sit on it. very good experience so far.
Tuesday, Called up, told him I was headed in, and he was waiting when I showed up. He was ready to talk shop. Fiancee doesn't care for them, but what the hey(doesn't like car shopping). So went in, and straight up they took a look see at my truck, and did their fanaggling, and came up w/ 21k on trade(KBB wholesale of 22,5) and MSRP on the new car. Total out the door(upsidedown 3000 on trade) was 25,8. Told them 23,5 was my cap and they came down to 24,9. Final. This all took about 2hrs so I was very impressed. No hassle, no pressure, just pretty straightup pricing. So I told them I'll sleep on it and see if I can help. I called them back 4hrs later, and offered 24,4 and they rejected it.
Called the other local dealer, got the internet sales manager, and he is giving me 750 above invoice, and he did a dealer search for the car(none in OR, other dealer wouldn't do it. mildly irritating to negotiate on a car that may not exist) and found one. With the trade the other dealer gave me, he came up w/ 24,243 out the door. So in consideration, I called dealer "A" back and told him my offer, and he said it would cut into profits too much, wouldn't even take it to his manager, but if anything fell through, they would stand by their initial offer. So I have an appointment tomorrow to get an appraisal on my truck, and hopefully its worth 21k or more to dealer "B" so I can maybe get it cheaper. My car will be there w/in 24hrs of signing, and I'm a happy buyer.
Overall, I am very impressed with both dealerships, and their honesty. I'm used to spending hours on end negotiating both new and old car price(TB took 16hrs to negotiate). Even my fiancee was very impressed and suggested that if the difference was $400 I should buy from dealer "A" and I agreed, but $650, plus I may get more on the trade? I feel bad, but they had their fighting chance... (2x) Hopefully I'm not an inconsiderate buyer... tried my best not to be... I have dealt w/ the same person in each dealership the whole way through... Heck, I may even buy dealer "B" lunch if he can get me more for my trade... =o)
2003 Accord EX 5MT I4.
All prices out the door....
M.
Sorry for the no-sale ...
Terry.
: )
Mackabee
: )
Mackabee