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One would think they would be apologizing for the dealer not getting back with you, and contacting the dealer and asking why. I can not believe this is Nissan's attitude toward selling new cars.
you sent emails to 2 dealers, and got no response...then you called nissan to complain about it...and are unwilling to get a nissan that you originally wanted.
you probably spent more time on the phone with "walt" than you would have if you just called the dealers...heck, if you talked to the right person at the dealer, you may have got some extra concession out of them for the trouble.
sounds like you sure outsmarted yourself there.
p.s. i think this is nissans atitude toward people who get an attitude with them. get over your ego and pick up the phone to the dealer.
Some dealerships don't like the whole internet sales concept - it generates 150 dealer mass e-mails, where most dealers know they haven't got a prayer of hitting that magic number that could be beaten by $10 down the road - total waste of time for 149 dealers...
Call it old school or whatever, but you can't buy a car on line, and you can't sell a car on line - at some point, especially in new cars with financing involving, you have to look someone in the eye and sign some papers. When you look me in the eye and are physically present to sign, I'll have someone sell you a vehicle...
You don't get it, it was Nissan who sent me the e-mail asking if these dealers had contacted me yet.
second, noone said to beg to be sold a vehicle. we suggested using all the time you spent fretting about not being contacted and pick up the phone.
walt probably shouldnt be doing what he does.
at the same time, in my experience, people USUALLY dont act rude unless otherwise provoked.
2. The guy from Nissan probably makes $8 a hour to fill out some stupid survey regarding whether someone contacted you or not, he probably could care less.
Just my thoughts
I am loathe to deal with them even though I really like the 05 Fronty.
I'd go through a third party to negotiate on our behalf and just use the dealer as a paper signing place and vehicle pick up point. Of course you'll still have to deal with their service depts for work, but it SHOULD be less painful.
I'll add a couple cents to the online customer service deal. I haven't had any dealings with Nissan, but I was recently on a Ford website (local dealer) and sent an email asking for information about a Pathfinder they had listed on Autotrader. I got not 1, not 2, but 3 auto-replies from a computer at Ford. It was almost a week later when I finally received a reply from the dealership. He mentioned in his email that his computer had been down for a week due to a virus (apparently they can't afford Norton).
I do think some more information about how long the wait was would be helpful to the argument.
I'm sure that you don't want to visit the dealership because of the pressure, or you just don't have time. However, I do agree that a phone call to the dealership would be nice, or if you get the opportunity, go to the lot and check out a new Frontier. Don't give up on Nissan just because of a computer glitch and an underpaid employee.
Great post, though, and funny - I agree that you are treated in kind to the way you treat folks.
Oh well. Sounds like Nissan's "customer service" representative did not do them any favors by producing attitude with buckeye, but every opinion posted since certainly rings true.
Another thing I've noticed about contacting dealers via email: they are more responsive when you contact them directly, rather than through a "mass email" site like Nissan's. The longest gap before receiving a response I have had from any dealer was 9 days and that was an exception due to bad timing on my part: the dealer was relocating from an old building to new during the interim. Other than that, 48 hours was the max. In fact, they are so responsive that I often have to send them a message back saying, "Thanks, but no thanks," before they will finally stop sending me more messages! Our local Nissan dealer actually surprised the heck out of me last month by calling me up on the phone to say that they had one '04 in stock that matched the specs I had written on an email 4 months before! Now, it didn't exactly match the specs, but they were willing to make a darn good deal on it had I wanted to buy. If nothing else, I was impressed that they made the effort and will certainly consider them if I am ever in the market for a Nissan.
if you want to drive one first, then you are deluding yourself by thinking an email will accomplish this.
if you are expecting a significant discount simply because you sent an email, you are also deluding yourself in this respect. these vehicles are normally not discounted at this point.
if you simply dont want to deal with a salesperson (part of the problem, i think), call the sales manager and explain your trepidation. he will try to find a way to accomodate your fears.
I got a discount of about 2200 off MSRP on the one I bought which probably isn't a great deal, but I thought it was fair in light of other offers which ranged from 1750 to about 2400 off msrp.
I've been waiting over a month for my local Nissan dealer to tell me anything about the XE King Cab 4-cyl, manual trans. In that period of time, 1 salesguy quit, another "retired", and so now I'm getting calls from a third person - starting all over again. And no one has seen an XE yet - they all keep trying to upsell me to a Crew Cab V-6.
My dad has a very similar case to yours. He works 12-14 hours a day out of state, drives 60 miles each way to and from work, and has very little time to do any car shopping, so I do it all for him. The last vehicle he got, I spotted on a lot, when he got home one night I took him out to see it, the next day my mom and I went to try it out, then one saturday he went and drove it. He couldn't make up his mind because it was between two different vehicles, so about a week later he left work early and met the dealer at closing time and made the decision. It was picked up a couple days later.
I'm a major car buff, so I'm always looking at what's on the lots, and if anyone I know is looking for a new vehicle, they tell me what they want and I keep an eye out for it. Know anyone like that? Maybe a relative?
If I were in this situation, I'd contact the *nearest* dealer and ask them if their internet sales person is available, and then speak to them, and mention that you're interested in a new Frontier, but never receieved an email back from them. Mention that you want to give them a chance, and you'd at least like to see one *specced like you want it* to even know if you'd buy one. Let us know what happens.
I'm going over on Thursday to a local Hyundai dealer to sign the papers for an 05 Tucson for my wife. I had emailed back and forth with them and gotten the price I wanted.
In fact, my initial contact with them came through Edmunds, after I "build" the Tucson I wanted. This web sites TVM pricing is invaluable in helping you deal with the dealerships. But when it came time to talk turkey, and see about the specific model I was quoted on, I had to step into the dealers showroom.
They already know me from my on-line correspondence, looked in their computer for an available GLS 4x4 in Alpine Green, found one 60 miles away, had it delivered to their lot yesterday, agreed on my price, and the deal was done!
These guys know what they are doing and are great to deal with. I highly recommend them. Sunnyvale Hyundai.
One would hope all dealerships made the car buying experience as easy.
case in point, i dealt with some young people who wanted a 4-door manual xmission car with a payment under $180/mo.
i work at a ford dealership, so my initial instinct was for a used focus (2 available), or a new one on a lease. (15 available)
but she said she wanted anything OTHER than a focus, even though she never drove one. i then suggested a new sentra, with a lease payment of $189, and she said no, its too much like a focus (?!?!).
turns out, they were simply too afraid to say the word yes to any question, because they thought i would put them in something they didnt want.
end result, they outsmarted themselves, and she has been looking for a car for over 4 months, at 9 different dealers, with no luck.
to keep this somewhat on point, most consumers know that the frontiers are non-negotiable, or very little negotiating involved. all you have to do is find the one you want...the rest is easy.
regarding dealers in germany, it has more to do with geography than anything else. here in the states, we have dozens of acres of land to use for inventory. over there, a dealership is often no larger than a storefront in the middle of town.
In 98 I ordered my Ranger just like I wanted it from the factory through a dealer in Los Gatos.
Each time, I had to wait for about six weeks, but what I recieved was not a compromise.
Nissan should offer a similar program to meet those who want a custom build.
the first example would be a sunroof...some models have to be significantly altered to provide the space and setup for a sunroof.
just remember that if nissan has an ordering limitation, it stems from an engineering limitation, not a cost-savings.
they have no reason to withold equipment if you want it, because that creates more profit for them.
Very naive. Nissan, Toyota (one of the worst), GM, Ford, and nearly every other manufacturer withhold equipment. Not due to engineering, due to marketing.
Folks simply HAVE to get over the fact that all manufacturers went away from a 150 item list of stand-alone options - this was done because having a base model, no wheel covers, purple truck with all the goodies that are available on the high-line model, but no carpeting, interior trim or exterior trim, doesn't sell well on the used market and it hurts the manufacturer and dealers in the long run.
Most manufacturers have gone to common option groups, based on model level selection, with a few freestanding options for add-ons.
I would think the reason to bundle things together is two fold:
1. it makes the consumer buy an option he may not need, Titan example: to get a sunroof, you had to get the DVD system (another $1200).
2. I am sure it stream lines manufacturing by not having to build specific cars.
And plus, you need to keep it simple for the salesman or they would get too confused.
All of the above examples are shown as available from the manufacturer's own website and brochure. I really don't care about factory subwoofers and the like. But this is serious, potentially life-saving stuff that they just don't make available.
And though I'm not in the car business any longer, I see no need to insult salespeople's intelligence. I don't know many consumers who could recite, word for word, a vehicle brochure's text, or the mission statement of their own company, for that matter.
so for 3 years, you have been *trying*??? i doubt that. if you REALLY wanted one, you could have ended your search after only 8-12 weeks.
drift, i swear, i keep running into brilliant people! they keep outsmarting themselves!!! ;-)
That's VERY funny, considering what I do now...I have 10 times the heat and stress I had as a manager in the car biz, only now I set my own hours and get paid twice as much, so it's ok.
No, I just don't like jabs at anyone - it's totally unnecessary here, and it's always at someone's expense.
This is an information site, not a let's slam each other site. How about car guys talking about how ignorant their consumers are? You'd probably be offended, and rightfully so.
That's a lot of stuff, I realize, but it seems like 75% of the buyers I've contacted haven't made effort in any of those areas.
Ironically, sitting down at the dining table with your spouse and going over a couple a brochures, looking at colors, looking at option groups, new vehicle values, trade-in value guides, etc, would only take half an hour (especially with my wife's patience for things car related). Spend a bit going over the family budget to alleviate those uncomfortable daggers being stared at you by the wife (or husband) when talking financial stuff at the dealership.
Isn't a half an hour a small amount of time to spend on such a big ticket item, especially considering the repercussions of mistakes in all of the above mentioned areas?
You end up with a vehicle you don't want, too high a payment, wrong color, not the right options, and a mad wife. It doesn't take 6 months, like all of these folks who obsess and get "analysis paralysis"....it's a breeze, really.
Makes the dealer transaction go smooth as silk, too.
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You've apparently proud of having done your homework by reading the brochures or building one online - now try a field trip.
My hope is that an '05 would be built at least as well.
however...
most people dont. they dont provide weight-bearing info. for the tailgate anywhere that i can find.