Stories from the Sales Frontlines

joel0622

I looked for a forum about the board itself and could not find it.

How come I keep getting kicked back like 8 pages when ever I look for new post?

I have post since last visit in this forum book marked and about 80% of the time it says there are 6 new post and it always takes me back to the same page of post from a week ago.

imidazol97

Forum Software

I don't think anyone from Edmunds has posted on here since the problem started a week or more ago. The transition to the new layout was so good this time. It's too bad the other software got botched. Must have been another moth got in the server. (Reference to the moth in the Univac vacuum tubes causing a problem, hence the term "bug" when computers don't work right.)

I've been navigating by using the My Watched Items list and going directly to the topics to read new posts.

imidazol97

>my dad brought home a black '56 fairlane 4 door.

If he brought it home recently, that's really good. Those are beautiful cars.

sterlingdog

Not as long as I am around. :P We're 9 days into the new year, and I haven't mentioned grammar or spelling at all. Now even the Host has to mention verbs and a poster has to mention quotation marks. :surprise: I must admit that I am proud of them for noticing. Now you know that I have to respond when asked.

wesleyg

jipster: precisely what I meant, we can belabor this forever if we keep changing the circumstances, indeed given a certain scenario, 10 minutes can be "way too short" or way too long. Also where in the heck did a porter parking the blocking vehicle come in? The poster specifically stated the salesperson placed that car behind his, that fact is critical to any response I have given.

imidazol97

Does anyone have a frontlines story? Is Frank back from vacation? :sick:

manamal

Salesman told me that the Porter had the key. Salesman gave the key to the porter, I guess. I was not really paying attention to how my car got blocked in. I like to think it was unintentional. However, when they used the delay to keep talking about the car, that is what bothered me. I felt like I was trapped.

Kirstie_H

richard64, "Grammar and the Peeves that Pet It" #302, 8 Jan 2008 1:42 pm

jipster

However, when they used the delay to keep talking about the car

Sounds a little familiar. I made an offer many years ago on a Toyota Camry, which afterwards I suspected had a deposit on it. The salesman kept saying they couldn't find the key, then they were going to cut a key. If it drove and checked out o.k, I would buy at the price I offered. All the while the dealership was trying to get me to up my offer on the Camry while showing me other cars to look at. I walked out.

I look at it like this, if the dealership is that disorganized/forgetful they can't keep track of something as simple as a key, I sure the heck wouldn't want to buy or have my vehicle serviced at their dealership. The other side of the coin, which would be the more common of the two, would have been they were lying.

Imports are superior!

sterlingdog

Bless your heart. I know that you are so ready for a regular story. I was going to tell this one to Mack since his mother had the same type car. Instead, I will share it with you.

When my dad first got his 1956 Ford Crown Victoria, he wouldn't let me drive it. Finally, after all of my begging and pleading, he caved in. His one demand was that I not drive it to the lake outside of town where all of my friends went swimming. Of course, that was where I wanted to go so that I could "show off" in the new car. When I arrived at the lake, I pulled down to the water so that everyone would see me. Since I wasn't paying attention to what I was doing, I got too close to the water and got stuck in the mud.

One of my friends had his dad's truck which had a chain in the back bed. We attached the chain to his front bumper and the other end to my rear bumper. As we were pulling the car out of the mud, the bumper came off of my dad's car. There I was with the car in the mud and the bumper on the ground. My friend quickly disappeared and my other friends were planning my funeral.

I went to the bath house and called my dad on the pay phone. It wasn't a pleasant conversation. He rode to the lake with a friend who had a tow truck. They got the car out and we went home. We didn't say a word all of the way home. I was sick about it and fear took on a new meaning that day. When we got home, he said that I was too old to have the belt used on me. He didn't speak to me for about a week. To make amends, I gave him my money from mowing lawns for that week and promised him that I would keep doing so until the repair bill was paid in full. He warmed up and accepted the deal. Thank goodness we could all laugh about it years later.

A year after that incident, I had a wreck in the same car. Yes, the accident was totally my fault---racing against a friend to town on residential streets. That is another story.

chikoo

I still maintain that Kids are in / can be in control of so-called supercars. Just needs the little handholding to introduce them to the power in-hand.

chikoo

even you would not be able to drive a supercar if you were in your 40s if that is the case. It is talent that matters, nto how many years of experience you have driving the family sedan.

sterlingdog

That's fine, but I'm not the one who brought this up.

joel0622

I have no problem with it. Me and my friends all had 60's era Muscle Cars growing up and we all survived just fine.

Hell I have been shooting fire arms unsupervised since I was 9.

chikoo

there you go Joel.......Believe in them as you believed in yourself

isellit

Has anyone heard from deskman lately? Is he off work taking chemo and not around a 'puter? :sick:

greanpea68

We're 9 days into the new year, and I haven't mentioned grammar or spelling at all.

Kudos to you :shades:

Did we set a New Year Resolution? :surprise:

Keep up the good work Rich

GP

greanpea68

Also where in the heck did a porter parking the blocking vehicle come in?

I think it was the Butler in the diningroom :P

GP

joel0622

Col. Mustard in the Den with the Candle Stick.

jipster

Has anyone heard from deskman lately?

I was just thinking the same thing. Hope deskman is o.k.

Welcome to Edmunds isellit. Do you sell Hondas like our other isell?

joel0622

The first person that comes in my office and starts talking about how the Chinese can make a car for $7K why can't we will quickly be shown this.

The destruction of the car is obvious but watch the air bag.

Ouch

rockylee

Holy $#!^ beep, beep !!!! :surprise:

Now that is a tinament !!!!! :surprise:

-Rocky

madmanmoo

I think he took some extended time off. I haven't heard from him lately though.

Are you one of our lurkers that decided to join the discussion?

-moo

sterlingdog

Thanks buddy. It can be rough around here at times.

jmonroe

Middle Tn Electric thanks you, Bell South thanks you, Ford Credit thanks you, etc etc

ENOUGH ALREADY…next you’ll be posting how grateful you are that you don’t have to sign-off with your old weekly tag line. :shades:

jmonroe

verdugo

Wait until they start asking about the $2500 Indian Tata car ... and no it's not going to be a Land Rover :P

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22575262/

mackabee

Could be. I hope he's alright. I'm on my seventh cycle of chemo today thru friday. It affects everyone differently. He's probably not feeling too good right now.
Mack

isellit

Yes, been lurking for a while and enjoying the stories from you guys. Mackabee and Deskman have some good ones.

mackabee

Thank you.

madmanmoo

Awesome. Thanks for joining the discussion. Feel free to share any of your own!

The lurkers that stop lurking and start posting always spice up the stew. (i.e. Deskman)

-moo

blueeyes6

Hi,
What dealership is this, Ca or outside

mchappell

"even you would not be able to drive a supercar if you were in your 40s if that is the case. It is talent that matters, nto how many years of experience you have driving the family sedan"

I don't even understand that first sentence.

While talent may play a role, I'm sure training and practice play bigger roles. If the ability to handle high performance cars (or jets) was strictly based on talent, race car drivers would not start out in slower classes and progress to Indy/NASCAR/F1. Likewise, pilots would start out in F-16s/F-18s, instead of T-38s (or whatever they use nowadays).

At no point did I imply driving the family sedan would prepare anybody for driving a 'supercar'. When I said "1000 hours of driver training", I should have said "1000 hours of high-performance driver training/racing school/racing".

It is the very rare 16 year old who only requires a "little handholding" before being handed the keys to a "supercar". Heck, it's the very rare 25/30/40 year old...

luvmybuicks

The last two cars I have traded in had loan balance. When doing the paperwork a small overallowance was allowed for the payoff amount (even though the payoff amount provided was good for 15 days). In both cases with two different very respected dealers I had to call 90 days later to get the small check sent to me (about $40) in each case.

Is this a new profit generator for dealerships? I was very happy with everything else and treated exceptionally well at both dealerships. No hard feelings about the dealerships; but maybe the finance guy should be reported to ownership. Thoughts?

Kevin

joel0622

We usually just send the entire amount that we collect to the bank and let them reconcile the account and send the customer any money due.

The way to avoid this is before you go to the dealer call your bank and ask for a written 10 day pay off with payoff instructions. That way you don't have to worry about it. They can either fax it to you or to the dealer you are trading with.

A payoff amount good only for the day you trade is useless because the dealer cannot process the paper work and get the check to the bank the same day, that is whey you need to get one good for 10 days.

oldfarmer50

If you think car dealers are the only ones who use bait and switch listen to this one.

"MINEOLA--Police say seven people have been arrested on Long Island in connection with a robbery scam that used Craigslist advertisements for a Porsche as bait.
In two cases, people who showed up for a bargain were beaten and robbed."

Come to think of it...where was Moo and jescue this weekend?

joel0622

What was the movie where they sent a letter to everyone with outstanding warrants stating they had won tickets to the Superbowl? They set up a office and brought the people in one by one thinking they were going to get tickets, instead as soon as they showed there ID they were arrested and taken out the back door.

Wonder if you could do that in real life or would be considered entrapment?

lrguy44

Joel, it is done all the time and called a sting - perfectly legal way to apprehend criminals.

dino001

Entrapment would be if police provokes you to do something illegal that you might not do/have not done in normal circumstances. That would be illegal.

I would say that - if it is legal for them to use deception during interrogation (e.g. say they have your DNA collected at crime scene even though they don't), I would suspect this deception is legal.

wesleyg

yeah, as lr states, it is perfectly legal, this method started to gain popularity
about 6 or 7 years ago and is now used quite regularly in many places, the success rate of people coming in by themselves to get a "prize" is fantastically high.

wesleyg

we ran that sting operation some time ago with a lot success. One fellow when he was advised he was under arrest for an outstanding warrant meekly submitted to being cuffed, was very cooperative and even told us well "sometimes you win and sometimes you lose."

The problem came as he was being led out of the room, he asked can I call my wife to come pick up the 19" TV I won or will you hold it for me until I get out? When he was told that the TV didn't exist and it was just to get him here, he blew.

He really became quite violent and enraged, took several officers to get him physically under control. He wasn't even slightly mad that we arrested him but was furious that he wouldn't get the TV. He yelled about that in his cell for the whole 2 days he was in before he got out on a fairly high bond.

madmanmoo

Lol,

It's quite obvious that someone's priorities are a little skewed. That's hysterical.

-moo

nthe

this happened with the last car i traded in. i got a check for something like $1.45 from the bank. i just assume this is what should happen with every bank.

chikoo

as soon as they showed there ID they were arrested and taken out the back door.

I asked the same when illegal immigrants were on the roads protesting. why couldn't the officials arrest them and deport them, there and then.

jipster

It's quite obvious that someone's priorities are a little skewed

yeah... I would have held out for a 41" plazma or LCD t.v. But a puny ole 19" t.v, worth about $50?... that's just "ignert". .

tidester

Please take that to the Politics discussion.

tidester, host
SUVs and Smart Shopper

mikefm58

meekly submitted to being cuffed

And just how should someone submit to being cuffed? I've got to believe anything but meekly will get you tased, at least.

.....Don't tase me Bro Don't tase me.....

isellhondas

Hey, nobody at our store seems to know for sure and I know you do.

Does Toyota still offer a manual transmssion in Camrys?

I know they were an odd duck before but I can't remember seeing a 5 speed in a Camry for ages.

cotmc

Moo,

This (skewed priorities) story reminds me of the Festivus episode of Seinfeld. It was during this episode that George invented "The Human Fund -- Money For People". He gave out fake cards, as office Christmas gifts, indicating small donations had been made in their names. When his boss, Kruger, received this fake card from George, he gave George a $20K check, asking George to forward it to The Human Fund as a company donation.

The hysterical part of this sub-plot was later in the episode when Kruger discovered George had deceived everyone. Instead of showing any concern about a $20K embezzlement, Kruger was angry at Goerge merely because he had received a fake Christmas gift from him!

Sorry for the off-topic post. Hope everyone had a Happy Festivus, with no injured limbs caused by any Feats of Strength.

sbell4

2008 Camry is available in manual tranny for the 4cyl CE, LE and SE models.

cotmc

But with Toyota, "availability", as defined by their sales literature, is not the same as availability at the dealerships. Are dealers actually taking delivery of Camrys with the manual tranny?