Mystery Shopping Sonic Automotive's New Sales Process | Edmunds.com

Edmunds.com

Mystery Shopping Sonic Automotive's New Sales Process | Edmunds.com

Edmunds' retail experience editor went undercover to check out a new one-price, one-salesperson car buying process. Here's what he found.

Read the full story here

sfcarbuyer

I guess a few car dealerships are starting to wake up to what a nightmare the car buying experience has become.

I live in the SF bay area and recently bought a new car. The overall car shopping experience was very unpleasant: salesman were often rude and some downright sleazy. I had one car salesman abruptly stop a test drive mid-way through, when I politely refused to give them my cell phone number (and mind you, they already had my drivers license).

Part of it I think is that this area is under-served. The bay area has become overcrowded over the years due to the tech boom, and dealerships here know they are in a sellers market with buyers at an extreme disadvantage - but I hear similar stories from elsewhere.

I think the current model (which prevents direct sales, and forces people into dealerships) is a broken model. I hope companies like Tesla soon put them out of business.