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"8:00pm I'm standing up front waiting on an up. My manager runs up to me and starts freaking out because someone is on the lot not being helped. I respond in kind. Irritated because all I need to hear is that someone needs help and I'll go help 'em. I didn't see the bastards.
I go check on them. Mother and son. Son is a real pain in the [non-permissible content removed]. Smart alec comments about everything. Acts like he knows how to negotiate. Mom is interested in Altima and Maxima. Wants to test drive both. I ask a couple of qualifying questions. She says she wants to finance, trade-in her Pontiac Breeze ( lol) and she's only shopping against the S2000. (rofl)
This woman is in her 50's, she's balding, her dye job is showing and her son's a fat buffoon who thinks he can negotiate. Wow. Hooray for my last up.
So we start with an SL Altima. Keep in mind, this is my bell to bell, I've already sold 2 today and had a couple of mangled ups. Also, the pollen is destroying me. I'm weak at the knees with the amount of pollen I've swallowed.
We start to take our test drive and I'm directing them on city streets. Son proclaims that he wants to go on the highway and Mom demands to drive the vehicle up a hill. Great. So I tell her to turn around and she is able to manipulate an 8 point turn with expert precision. Off to a great start.
Get on the highway and we almost get killed by 2 cop cars that come within inches of our vehicle as they pull someone over. We shrug that off and then start to come back to the dealership on the highway. We run out of gas.
So we sit there. And wait for someone to pick us up. And sit there. And the son says he thinks this should be worth a discount. I agree. Finally help arrives and we get back to the dealership. Mom actually handled it pretty well. Son handled it by asking me inane questions about the vehicle he isn't purchasing.
When we get back inside the dealership, I tell the rest of the guys to shutup about it because they are hooting and hollering at me. I ask the customer if they still want to drive the Maxima. No. Would you like to take an Altima home tonight? Yes, but the price has to be right. Great, follow me.
We sit down in my office and I get the trade put together and find that we have the exact vehicle they are looking for. Drive-out with trade is $26,430. I ask for their signature. They offer me $19,000 drive-out. I ask them if this is some kind of joke. They say no. I respond, we need to be on a Sentra. Mom says, I don't like that. I think to myself that I've done something horrible in the past because karma has come back to get me. I usher them out quietly and thank them for wasting my time.
My manager is still laughing at me for the gas debacle as he watches them leave.
I drive home and pull into my driveway. I get out and promptly slam my fingers in the door. I was going to take the trash up to the curb.
I have done something wrong recently. I'm just trying to figure out what it was. I don't want to repeat it. "
-Moo
Just like i paid for every leisure suit in my closet. :P
Wearing my Baby blue suit with my white belt and shoes on Thursday :shades:
Just think of all the classic 50's Chevys you can take in trade. Of course the down payment will be in chickens!
2019 Kia Soul+, 2015 Mustang GT, 2013 Ford F-150, 2000 Chrysler Sebring convertible
Or cigars!!!!!!
I asked a question assuming that very thing about 30 posts ago and you wrote something back along the lines of "splitting the difference..."... car biz lingo I did not understand.
Anywho, I'm off my soapbox. I shouldn't have judged you anyway. Lord knows I'm not perfect. Welcome to Edmunds... on to the sales stories.
@!
Saw that response coming............
GP
Kid bought a a used Ranger yesterday and was stipped for proof of income. He stated he made $1800 a month. Well he brings back a pay stub today and I look at it and he has made like $13K through 10/31. Thats only $1300. Ask where the other $500 is and he says, "Well I told the other guy that I get reimbursed for my miles and my cell phone"
I ask how the reimbursement works and he tells me that he turns in about $500 a month worth of receipts for gas and cell phone.
I almost felt bad explaining to the kid that they are reimbursing him his own money, and that it is not additional income. When I told him that in order for him to get that money he had to spend it in the first place.
It was like a light went off in his head and he suddenly realized why he is always broke.
Wow $798.00 to check a dipstick and see if the car has a tranny? Man I am in the wrong profession.
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
Don't laugh a dealership here did that, only they never disclosed that it fell off the delivery truck. The poor lady who bought it had nothing but trouble with it.
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
Rebates come from manufacturers, sellers discount prices.
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
Usually in cases like that I say "Well, job security for my kids", but here, considering the timing of Deskman's posts and the consequent fallout, I'd say he would be the type of person and the many like him that make that possible. His practices may be considered unethical, but if that what the market is...
one van was blue with red guts the other was red with blue guts.
Every person who looked at them whould always cover their eyes and ask to see the non sale units.when the new model year rolled around we swapped the guts on the vans and sold them at msrp.
Bet you are glad nobody actually bought one, then you'd have the othe one to try and unload.
How about this:
Go down to the dealership with a friend (that knows how to use a wrench) that wanted the van in the other color. Then go home and switch the seats yourself. :surprise:
Two good deals for two handy buyers.
But, I’m sure a dealer sly enough to pull a stunt like this would have the warranty voided. Darn us buyers will never find a way to beat slippery dealers.
Wait a minute, we don't have to beat them; we just have to deal with reputable outfits. Yeah, that's it.
jmonroe
'15 Genesis V8 with Ultimate Package and '18 Legacy Limited 6 cyl
So I tried to look deep into my heart and ask myself "why would I give Mr. Deskman bad score if he gave me a car at low price". I'm pretty sure there is a lot of unreasonable people who would give you bad score just for not giving them free floor mats or oil change. I try to speak for the rest. I came with several cases of what would and what would not be a legitimate reason to slam somebody in their survey:
1a. Mr. Deskman starts at "Our price is sticker" (or if you wish sticker with whatever fee, we do the dance, stay all night long, come in the morning, stay all day long, we discuss everything from influence of Sun spots on the crop to new earings for Mrs. Deskman. Mr. Deskman tired of it sells me car at invoice. No reason slamming him. He tried to get more, but decided the sell was more important the the big profit.
1b. Mr. Deskman starts with "your price is X". After negotiations we agree to Y. Then we move to the closer room and his guy "loses" papers and want the sticker again. Then I find three seperate "whatever fees" added to the order magically resetting the price back to its original value. We have to clear that. Then the papers appear to be for a unit with the same color but no side impact airbags that were supposed to be there. After little conversation, a "mixup" is cleared. As you can see, I want the car (otherwise I would have been gone long time ago), but do you honestly expect good CSI out of it?
2a. Mr. Deskman says "Our low rate is 8.99%". I say "fine with me - I just go with XYZ bank offering me 6.1%". Mr. Deskman immediately comes with 6.1% and adds first service on the house. We switch. CSI - perfect.
2b. Mr. Deskman tell me "Sir, your score is 675, we have to bump you up another two percentage points from our lowest 6.99%. I know my score is 750 (I checked it couple of days before). I say - well, your computer must be checking somebody else. But that's OK, bank XYZ offers me 6.1%. Mr. Deskman starts hitting his keyboard, mumbling something. "Yes, yes sir - I found the glitch - you qualify to our 6.1% and we give you oil change". I agree. Then I see on papers a "facilitator fee" of $799 added to the contract. Another "glitch" is found. Tired I agree, we sign. I got what I wanted, but please don't expect perfect CSI.
3a. Mr. Deskman's dealer has 5K ADM on that newest Ltd edition WonderSludge LX that happen to be in very short supply (and I mean real one). I still want it. I would pay him 3 grand over, five seems to be a little excessive. We agree on $3.5K over. CSI - perfect.
3b. Mr. Deskman has ADM stickers on every single car in his lot, including twenty 2007 Dogs LT that I happen to like at the price of invoice minus 5K cashback. His salesman approaches me and starts babbling something about the premium services in his dealership and quarterly events that justify that ADM. Well, you know the rest. We agree on purchase, after barage of different tactics of distraction, deception and plain BS. I get what I want, but the CSI - please don't act surprised you didn't get a good one here.
4a. Mr. Deskman makes a "Blue Book fair minus three thousand" first offer on my trade. I smile a little. We talk a lot. I get the "Blue Book good". Well, he tried, but bought of us knew the car was worth more and he agreed. No CSI impact.
4b. Mr. Deskman makes first lowball offer. Then he tells me because he likes me so much, he "gives" me two grand more (still below book, but lets say I know my car ain't perfect). Then we proceed and I find there was a "glitch" in the system and the car price was just raised by $1500. "Glitch" is fixed, but then an inspection fee appears. We take it out. Come on man! Mr. Deskman apparently thinks I can't count. What do you think happens to his CSI?
Anything here looks familiar?
As a reasonable person I understand dealer is here to make a profit. My job, on the other hand, is pay the least, so the rest of the money could be used in other projects. However, I still want the product. After we find each other's resistance points, we agree on final price. You may not get your vacation in one score, I still might have paid more that I thought I could have. Up to this point we are fine. Not the fact he might have tried to get more money, but It's the deception tactics, that Mr. Deskman seems to be so proud of - that's where his CSI will go to hell.
So yes - Internety guy may give you a bad score. If you tried options "b" and he somehow sticked around (most would leave before the deal could be closed, but lets say he wanted that car badly enough) - you get your sale, but why in the world would you even expect a good score after stuff like that?
2018 430i Gran Coupe
Any salesperson here will tell you that the worst scores come from the people who ground us the worst. They weren't happy when they walked in and they weren't happy when they left. They picked at every speck on the car during delivery. It was like they WANTED to find some small inperfection in the paint or something.
They read every line on every form and were distrustful throughout the process.
These people will always give the worst CSI scores.
The ones who were warm and friendly, probably didn't pay any more for their cars in the end and left smiling and happy.
These people will look me up when they come in for service. they refer friends and relatives to me and they give top scores.
Somehow, I always think life in general is better for these people. Thy go through life happy. They can be frugal without pinching every penny along the way.
I guess there are three types of customers.
1. The ones that become friends. Just wonderful people that sometimes share their life ups and downs with me. I have quite a few of these people. So many in fact that sometimes I can't get my work done when they stop to chat with me.
2. The ones in the middle. The deal went well and we parted on a friendly basis. Most of these people are strictly business and that is fine with me. I would be the same way is a buyer.
3. The ones I hope I never see again. They made the deal a miserable process every step of the way. Over the years I can probably count these people on the fingers of one hand.
I'll see the last catagory of people years later. They will be at the cashier trying to use a long expired coupon or complaining about the cost of an oil change. I'll see them at Costco going through the strawberries swapping the different berries into the box they are buying. I hope they don't recognize me because I really don't want to talk to them.
Life is short...
"If the sounds of my failures can be heard hitting the earth, let it be known that it was an unsuccessful leap for a star!" Thomas Wolfe
Yea, me too but in that kind of store how else would you know where the bottom is.
2019 Kia Soul+, 2015 Mustang GT, 2013 Ford F-150, 2000 Chrysler Sebring convertible
I know the guy!!
No, it's not me. I never swapped berries and I asked about expired coupon maybe once - it was a nice coupon but I had no hopes to have it honored. But I do use good coupons often, do not buy into a every single service they want to sell me and shop around for almost everything.
I hate those CSI surveys anyway. They seem to be asking wrong questions and after what I learned here it seems there is really no way of saying you like the guy/place without overinflating the score. Any legitimate comment or suggestion I might have is immediately spinned into "failure" and the poor guy gets hammered.
2018 430i Gran Coupe
One of my customers told me they hung up on the person on the phone asking the questions because she spoke such poor english he couldn't understand her.
I beg to differ. What is the difference between that and if they bumped his salary $500 per month and he paid his bills afterwards? That is, other than the fact that he'd actually take home less with the latter scenario because he'd be getting taxed on that extra $500 and only taking home $400 to pay those $500 in bills.
Let me break it down this way ... leaving taxes out of it for simplicity:
A: $1300 - $500 bills = $800 + $500 reimbursement = $1300
B: $1800 - $500 bills = $1300.
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '98 Alfa 156 2.0TS; '08 Maser QP; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '11 Mini Cooper S
The creditworthiness is based on income minus obligation, not income alone. So you could make zillions, but if you spend all of them on fixed basis, for the bank it would be like you made nothing. Or at least that's how it should be. Countrywide and WaMu thought otherwise not so long ago, but that's a different story...
2018 430i Gran Coupe
Do you really care?
I ain't tellin no one my nationality after his willingness to divulge his.
jmonroe
'15 Genesis V8 with Ultimate Package and '18 Legacy Limited 6 cyl
Who you trying to kid? You probably charge your customers that much just to sharpen your pencil. :P
thats your gripe with anything non-honda. when bad resale value is the worst thing you can say about a car, then it might just be a pretty good car.
msrp retail was $15988
deskman discount $3000
after dealer rebates
active military $1000
&
dealer loyalty $1000
cash or trade equity $5000
sale price after rebates
trade and or cash. $7988 plus tax tag and dealer fee.
It amazes me how most people :lemon: just look at the bottom number then get pissed when you point out the trade/cash and rebates.
I love that one. Your car is never perfect and JAWS meaning $5000 below lowest auction value ever recorded. Yet they wash it and do nothing else to it, put it on the used lot, and you have your neighbor go to ask about it and now it's a creampuff and worth $5000 over KBB.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
in alabama we have to disclose any damage if we are selling the car as a new car. there is a form for both parties to sign. i should know, cause i wrecked one of our new cars early this year, and after repairs the next customer that bought it was told about the damage, shown what was replaced and signed a doc acknowledging that she knew of the damage.
I look like Brad Pitt but have better taste in women.
is your pre owned stock mostly florida rentals?
So we walk into the BMW lot to look around at several of the cars. Nobody came up to greet us. So we wander inside, again nobody greeted us. So we looked at a few cars on the showroom floor. We wanted some help so we walk up to a salesman behind his desk and asked him for help. He was very annoyed with us for "bothering him". I guess we didn't look like the typical BMW customer.
He finally said something like - "Are you worthy of a BMW". My wife and I looked at each other and I said - "What". He repeated - "Are you worthy".
I was pretty irritated with this clown but said - yes we are worthy. He then said that he didn't think so, and would therefore not help us. We figured that this guy was an idiot and went over to another desk across the showroom floor and began talking to a different salesman. Well after about 30 seconds the phone rings on his desk. We believe it was the first salesman calling the second salesman. After the phone call he was also very condescending towards us. He actually told us to go look at Toyotas. We said - No we are here to look at a 7-series BMW. He then said that's a good one - now run along and don't bother us.
We couldn't believe the treatment that we were getting. So we moved away from this jerk and were looking at one of the cars in the showroom. I opened up the car and invited my wife to sit in the car. After I opened up the door to the car the first salesman came running over and said - "Hey don't touch the cars - you'll mess it up". He then said - "It's time for you two to leave - you're bothering the real customers". We couldn't believe what we were hearing. He then said it again- "Just leave". And so we began to leave.
As we were walking off the lot the two salesmen and some other guys came quickly walking towards us each holding something. Then they started to throw eggs at us. The missed with most of the eggs but one hit my wife right in the side of the head causing a great big glob. Another egg hit my Buick. They then yelled at us - "Don't come back here - You are not Worthy"
It was obvious that they didn't want our business so we left - in disgust. We talked about it after that and decided that we didn't really want a BMW after all.
The Program car is a dream come true.you can carry invoice and buy them 5k to 10k back of invoice.
People pay three years on a car, want to trade it in and they are still upside down.
And, again, I never said they were "bad" cars.
I have a couple of other makes on my "bad" list.
Good job of getting me to bite hard!
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One morning this guy pops out of a car to look. The guy is still in a pajama top. All the sales folks looked for someone else to take the up so this guy did. He was very happy he did, too. The guy was an eccentric millionaire (who I never met but know loads of people who knew him pretty well) and leased half a dozen as company cars.
Ya never know.
2018 430i Gran Coupe
When I got started an old and cynical ( but wise) car salesman told me, " Gross makes friends."
I have to agree with that statement. If you have worked a deal with a customer and they are paying a hefty profit for the privilege, then somewhere along the line you have knowingly or unknowingly hit their "hot" button. You found out what facet of the purchase was most important to them and you met that need.
It seems like the people who layed down or paid the most gross to me gave me the highest scores on surveys. And sent friends and family to me. It's not always about the money.
And for all of the marathon negotiating sessions that we hear about here, someone ( the salesman) hasnt done or is not doing, their job. The more time that is spent on the lot demonstrating why the XYZ sludgeomatic 2000 is perfect for the customer, the less time spent negotiating. The more time spent building a relationship with the customer the less likely he will be to chisel away your gross. PEOPLE BUY CARS FROM PEOPLE THEY LIKE! They also pay higher gross to people they like. I purposely ask for more money from family and friends. Why? Because I know that I will give them a higher level of service then others. I will pick up their car for service, get them my disocunt on parts and invariably pay for a free service somewhere down the road.
But like I said before I rambled, GROSS MAKES FRIENDS!
Mack
How millionaires are eccentric but the rest of us are just plain nuts??