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Stories from the Sales Frontlines
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Many of the "negotiate your best car deal" experts are just as full of crap as the "how to hold top gross on every deal" experts.
Treat people the way you would want to be treated...and if all else fails, take ardent notes, and write a blog exposing the most annoying people you come in contact with!
I suspect some of these "experts" are people who tried and failed in this business.
But a lot of the horror stories are so true. A lot of stores have constant turnover of salespeople and management.
Thie is exactly why I always suggest asking your family and friends for a REFERRAL instead of just walking in.
Much of my business comes to me in that fashion!
You got that right. And allot if it is the same old regurgitaed crap you read everywhere. I really like the guys who are slamming car salesmen for greed yet they are charging $19.95 for a bunch of useless information you can get or free
And I (usually) play "nice".
Well if that don't beat all. A poster buying from a competitor. :sick:
Try this. You said in a previous post "a la life is good", just say "a la (insert the name of your outfit here)" and see if that gets by security.
You know the real posters here will help you out and spread the word.
Just don't forget where you got your start.
jmonroe
'15 Genesis V8 with Ultimate Package and '18 Legacy Limited 6 cyl
I seem to keep being off on my numbers and would like an honest explanation.
I drive a 91 Camaro pro street mostly. It frappe'd the trans recently. I went on ebay and bid on a 2005 Mustang (Yellow GT A/T with Shaker 1000).
Don't really want a Mustang, but love the stereo. I was hi bid but didn't meet reserve. Guy calls me from Crown Automotive (Nissan) in NC and says he'll sell for $22k. (Edmunds says $21,780 retail) Fine. I say I have trade, he's ok with that. I drive 2 hours, leave key in my car for appraiser and look for coffee. I have title and cash. My trade is 2006 Toyota Solara SLE V6 with trade-in from Edmunds at $18 and change. I figure we'll be $3k apart and haggle over 3 or 5 hundred. No problem. He presents the paper with $6,109 difference. I said where are my keys and where is my car. He says what's wrong. I am bending over as far as I can on a $28k sticker Toyota with 13k miles, but he wants what I see as 3 thousand free dollars. Please tell me why dealers are always off by 3 to 4 grand. Is it them or is it me? I'm trading down a year. If cars were reversed would I still have to pay difference? ps I actually get along with people just fine, but car dealers elude me. :confuse:
2013 Mustang GT, 2001 GMC Yukon Denali
It is you, Mako1a. You have unrealistic expectations and that makes car buying very frustrating.
The dealer gives you a price. You can either pay what they ask or make your own offer. Yes, it is that simple.
No reason to think otherwise on the Fits.
You don't really want to buy a Mustang but you love the stereo??
Why not just dump a grand on a killer system for your Solara?
Now... what you didn't include in your post here is a reasonable assessment of what your car is worth. Is your Solara currently owned by a celebrity or otherwise an extremely rare car? If not, there's no way you'll get the "excellent" value for it without the dealer padding the value of the trade. What kind of condition is your car compared to other vehicles of the same model equipment and year? If it appears to be in good shape.. but all the other 2006 Solara's are in good shape... unfortunately your car can't really be more than "average"
Keep in mind... just like we have to sell you our car, if you want to trade yours, you have to sell it to us too. A busy used car department can see up to if not more than 100 used cars a day. If you want more than "average book" for the car, you're going to have to make it stand out a bit more than "here's my keys, what's it worth"
If all that seems to be too much of a hassle... try selling it on your own. Since you know how buying cars works so well you should be excellent at it!!!
People aren't standing in line for the hybrids we have now.
THANK YOU!!!
2013 Mustang GT, 2001 GMC Yukon Denali
...it takes a Honda man to tell a Toyord or Foryota driver... :-)
I would NEVER trade a car for it's factory or custom stereo!!
Now, if that isn't something you're prepared to do...
Check Kelly Blue Book. Get the "fair" trade value...(don't bother with too many knit-picky details...most dealers don't care whether a car has upgraded wheels) Oh yeah...and modifications, paint work, body work, unclean carfax, etc... seriously hurts a cars value. When you get the "fair" value...estimate you're going to be within $1500 in either direction...and depending on the vehicle and the market you're trading it...up to $5000 in either direction.
No more like the product of its environment, how id the neighborhood that it is in? Has it also declines?
I know some Sears stores that are very trashy and some that are very nice. They seem to mirror their environment more than anything else.
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
2013 Mustang GT, 2001 GMC Yukon Denali
It's a bit strange. Do us all a favor and post some of your stories. I've run a bit dry recently. That or I just don't have patience to write one all out right now. (The pollen is getting to me.)
Oh ya, pay no mind to people flaming you. Just keep up with the stories. This is the reason why we have so many posts here, because it all started with a story.
-mOO
Two days ago I got a call from one of my formers in the second category.
I obviously did something right for him when he bought the car because no matter how hard I try he won't go away. This time, he wants to trade his large german luxury sedan on a rugged station wagon. No matter how you cut it, on it's best day his car is only worth $10,000...he won't trade it for less than $18,000.
The car he wants to buy is priced exceptionally (it's a $31,000 car) in the lower $20,000's. He won't buy the car for more than $20,000.
I told him to go away...he didn't.
"I have on record that cars just like mine sold for $17,000...and so I won't take less than $18,000 for it"
"That's nice...sell it yourself"
"I can't do that, I don't have time"
"Well, this is what I'll give you for it...if you don't like it...you can sell it yourself"
"Ok, I'll sell it myself"
"How much room do you have left in the car we're looking at?"
"$100-200 if that"
"Well if you give me an extra $3000 off I'll take it"
"Have a nice day"
"What?"
"I said...have a nice day."
I heard a long pause and then *click*
I love when people hang up on me.
Not rude since its a response to industry practices.
Or a customer who takes endless cellphone calls with a devise jammed in his/her ear while I am trying to conduct business.. Rude or not?
Depends of who is the customer is and why they are taking the phone call. My sister is a medical doctor who oft times is on call. Her cell phone ringing can be a matter of life and death. Situations like that no.
Joe blow just taking any and all calls yes.
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
However, it does make me smile (and more) when they actually get upset that they're not going to get their own way.
There are a lot of dealer installed accessories you can certainly add.
The last time I was ready for a car I was looking at the Mazda 6 Grand Touring. As hard as I tried I just could not buy one from that dealership. The sales guy I was working with said he located what I wanted in the next state (this was on a Friday afternoon). I asked him to call them and make sure he could get it and I would even drive their trade down to Maryland to pick it up. He said he would call Monday morning and let me know when to start out to get it.
Monday morning came and went and no phone call. I stopped in Monday afternoon. He still hadn't called the other dealership. I persuaded him to call and he found out that the car I was interested in was still on the boat. :sick:
The next day I bought my BMW - what I *really* wanted anyway. (At another dealership since my friend doesn't sell BMW).
The next time I saw my friend I mentioned that there was no way I could buy a car at his dealership no matter how hard I tried. He just laughed and said that wasn't the first time he had heard that story.
So let’s just be good poster buddies.
Everything is good. If you need a Chevy, Hyundai, Mazda, or Cadillac I may be able to fix you up.
2025 Forester Limited, 2024 Subaru Legacy Sport
Funny you should say that. My father and brother are both physicians at a large teaching hospital and both have been, or are on-call on average one week every 45-60 days and both have been called in to deal with an ICU crisis or pronounce a patient brain dead--not a pleasant prospect to be sure. I've never seen either of them use a cell phone while attempting to work any transaction although both carry a pager and can either retrieve their phone or ask to borrow one. It's my opinion that the misuse of cell phones has created a new level of arrogant rudeness that some attempt to deflect by declaring self-importantly, "I have an emergency".
I just spent several hours at three different dealerships and never once reached for my cell phone nor did any of the salesmen. Imagine that! I even bought a car.
Gogiboy
I've been mishandled. I need to know if I have an out or not.
Two days ago we bought a Mazda 3 from a local dealership. After some give and take we bought the car we "almost" wanted. The salesman stated that he would sell it to us for $1 over invoice. Anyways...no "other/extra" costs are ever mentioned until we agree on a price and car.
So, the purchase agreement is pushed forward and on it is a "dealer fee" of 598.00 and a documentation fee of $99.00.
I knew it was a rip-off add-on. I agreed to it!!!!! I thought to myself that this is how they can afford to sell me a car at invoice...no big deal. I wasn't too happy about it, but ...my wife loved the car. We had picked it out and agreed to purchase it...
O.k...I'm going to make this short. We bought on Friday. Found out over the weekend that the side air-bags that the salesman said were standard on this model are not, and we don't have them. We made concessions on what we wanted to get the side air bags. We called the dealer and they have agreed to swap out vehicles for one with the side air bags...
The problem is:
$598 "dealer fee"
The "invoice price" that the salesman quoted me is $300 higher than Edmunds says it should be including options...
So...it looks like that adds up to about a $900.00 rip off...more or less.
Can I take the car back when we "swap" and re-do the paperwork and tell them I'm no longer interested in their "deal?"
My sister carries both the pager and cell phone. I think she said they try her one way first then the other way next.
I just spent several hours at three different dealerships and never once reached for my cell phone nor did any of the salesmen.
I can pretty much say the same thing. FWIW checking the timers on my phones I use mine on average something like 6 minutes a day.
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
"The "invoice price" that the salesman quoted me is $300 higher than Edmunds says it should be including options... "
Two words: Ad fees. Almost every manufacturer has them...yes they're a legit invoice charge...Edmunds does not report on these...and they disclose this clearly.
$598 "dealer fee"
Probably prep charge or freight charge...you're not very specific on this one...if you don't think it's legal talk to a lawyer...keep in mind they're a large organization who has lots of lawyers working for them...if it weren't legal they wouldn't do it. (keep in mind ethics and laws are two different things)
Technically they do not even have to do the swap for airbags. They have a signed contract that you are going to pay them what you agreed to for that particular car. The "3 day cooling off period" for cars is a myth except in one or two states. If you try to just give the car back they'll probably not honor the swap anymore...so you'll be stuck with the car you've got now....oh...and don't get nasty. If you get too nasty they have every right to throw you out and no longer honor the swap.
Bring up your concerns with the manager...other than that best of luck...you're going to need it.
Snake--surely you can get your Hyundais for well south of $20K can't you?
I see that Edmunds lists the Accent GLS with 06 accessory group minus customer cash for a TMV of $14,090. That's $6+K you can devote to 65 cent sodas and new accounting software for tax season.
Gogiboy
Gogiboy
Azera's are much higher than $20K, many of the higher end Sonatas are north of $20K.
Not to mention the Caddy in the garage.
It still stands that if I am dropping that much money on anything I will do a lot of research on it.
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
The $598 is a "special benefits package."
and, no...there was no advertising fee on the "vehicle invoice." and there should not be. Any advertising fee should be stated as such and would be considered an additional fee, not part of the vehicle cost.
The salesman specifically told me that the side impact airbags were "standard" on the model of vehicle I purchased. We opted for an automatic instead of a manual because the salesman told us that they did not have a manual with the side air bags...
so, he's either an idiot, liar or has no idea what he is talking about.
The best part is that they offered us a free tank of gas if we came to the dealership so they could help fill out the "customer satisfaction survey..." I'll rip them a new one. They can have their tank of gas.
I believe you're the idiot...because you didn't pay close enough attention to realize you were getting ripped off.
You could have avoided some confusion there if you would have asked to see it...but ad fees are legit manufacturer to dealer invoice charges. Edmunds even says so...and really...if you would have done a little research BEFORE going to buy your car this whole situation wouldn't have happend now would it?
I'm afraid you're much like the customer who was griping about trade values earlier. It's not our job to baby sit you all.
Tried to help but you flamed...don't get angry at me for your mistakes.
tidester, host
SUVs and Smart Shopper
I didn't call you an idiot. I stated that the salesman that I bought the car from "may" be an idiot. And, since you are a salesman...he may be you. (of course, the joke was lost on you...)
I just think that if a "knowledgeable salesman" tells you that the model of car you are purchasing has side air bags as a standard feature..then it should be so. If it's not so..then what is a customer supposed to assume, and what is your recourse.
I bought the car, I signed the papers, I'll live with the consequences.
But, If they don't want to make "their" mistake right, I'll slam them completely on the survey. Apparently that's somewhat important in your miserable little lives.
Thanks for your help?????????????????
tidester, host
SUVs and Smart Shopper
rlatham started it...I saw it. <<<<<joke!