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Comments
Do any of you sales folks use bribery to insure excellent ratings?
I'm not going to argue that this was the case but since a dealer knows that everyone wants to negotiate the price of a car, new or used, why didn't they establish their price to allow for negotiating?
To me it seems like a common sense approach to selling cars. :confuse:
jmonroe
'15 Genesis V8 with Ultimate Package and '18 Legacy Limited 6 cyl
To a fault really, they are USED cars and they can't be perfect.
I'm surprised you would admit that you did this.
Now, they CALL they customers instead of mailing them a form to fill out.
2018 430i Gran Coupe
I guess nothing surprises me anymore.
Besides, if I went out your way I;d have gotten a couple of beers out of it.....
im_brentwood - good point on the X3. Generally, if I go in I've got a pretty good idea where the market is. If they hit that I'm happy. The lack of care in the CPO process would still give me pause.
A lot of times, we won't certify an otherwise nice car simply because we would have to spend a bunch of money to bring it up to snuff. sometimes we would just rather sell the car to someone who isn't as fussy for less money.
Some customers couldn't care less if a car is certified and it's almost a waste to sell them one. Thye will tell me about how they have owned four Hondas, driven them all 200,000 miles and never had a problem. They don't care one bit about a warranty they figure they will never use.
Other customers are "warranty freaks". That's all they ask about or talk about. They DO care!
After additional consideration:
1) I agree with im_brentwood and rover. I believe they priced this X3 at their absolute rock-bottom price.
2) If I hadn't discovered those two issues with this particular car, then I wouldn't have doubted the quality of their CPO Inspection process. In turn, I probably would have taken no more than a few minutes to ponder the idea of paying full asking price, before I pulled the trigger on the purchase.
I thought jmonroe brought up an excellent question:
"why didn't they establish their price to allow for negotiating?"
When this dealer really wants to sell one of their CPO cars quickly, especially after it has sat on their lot for 3 months, they will price them very aggressively to get more customers in. I understand that reasoning, but I don't understand why they didn't give themselves, oh, maybe $300, or so, negotiation room?
:confuse:
So, as Paul Harvey would say, here's the rest of the story.
As I was leaving the dealership early yesterday afternoon, the sales associate immediately had a service technician repair the inoperative window. I don't know if the stereo/speaker was also repaired. Late yesterday afternoon, a new customer arrived and purchased that same X3. My guess is that customer had no idea of the failed window, and if the speaker was replaced, probably had no idea concerning that issue, either.
In the end, I still believe I made the correct decision. There will be more opportunities, and we are in no hurry.
As I told one of the other managers at that store, who was my previous salesman and informed me of this latest news: Sometimes I get crossed-up when I believe there is no Right or Wrong direction for me to choose. That is when I allow Fate to play a hand in the decision-making process. Looks like it did!
It's possible that the person who ended up buying it had told his salesperson that he was coming back to take another look and possibly buy it. This happens pretty often with used cars.
Figuring they already had a sale, they rolled the dice and declined your offer.
Who knows...there will be other cars for you to buy and maybe better choices in the end.
2013 LX 570 2016 LS 460
"why didn't they establish their price to allow for negotiating?"
Aaaaaarrrrrggghh! Here we tell the dealers how much we hate prolonged haggling and just want to really know the price and then we go right back to "there must be room for negotiaton!" Doh!
My killer with the van was that the price was right for what it was supposed to be so I didn't argue much. Got them to lower the price to exactly match all the processing and doc fees but that's it. It was the after stuff that raised me cost. That and the "we owes" that took over a month to resolve.
Mack
Mack
Well, yes, I had second thoughts, but I never actually said "no deal". My official response was that I was going to give it some thought, and I would get back to them later.
No, I didn't actually drive back to the dealer. I sent an email to one of the managers there, and he wrote back news regarding the pending car purchase of the new customer, along with the news of the window repair. This manager is not the Used Car Manager. He happens to be the salesman I worked with 9 months ago on my used 325Ci purchase. I can always count on him to give me the straight story, and when appropriate, he may pass any pertinent feedback to the GM.
Isell:
The inoperative rear window was cracked open about half an inch. I could hear the air draft very easily when I test drove it. That is how I noticed the problem.
Remember the flamewars we had about No-Haggle pricing?
God.. I can remember like, absolutely flat-out robbing a car, and trying my test.
Say 3 year old XJ8s with miles in the 40s were doing $24/25k at the sale.. and I snag one for $21,500 AND it's a select edition car... this happened.
I put it out there for $25,900.. run it up to my Jag guy , make sure brakes and tires are 50%+ and check it over stem to stern.
Local Jag dealer has 2 just like it.. $31,900 and $32,500.
Even if I pointed that out to the customer it didn't matter.
So I readvertise the car at $29,900.. get 3 calls, someone beats me down to $28,500 and I roll it.
Go figure.
Damn! You drive a hard bargain.....
As long as you're still in NJ in a couple of years you'll be getting the call on my next purchase!
As at least you know (and who knows who else I bugged with this) I had serious BMW fever early in the summer. Would have followed through but my daughter's Camry ended up needing an engine! Anyway, the next purchase will likely be as boring as the Camry - in two years daughter number two is driving. I'm thinking maybe low mileage three year old American car.... We'll see. Plenty of time.
I know you'd be embarrassed at the auction picking up, say, a Malibu....
Mack--
I swear there was just something last week about this very issue on NPR or CNN because the term "certified" has become so prevalent and misused. I think one of the states (CA?) was attempting to implement legislation to control how "certified" could be applied, particularly since BHPH lots and less than scrupulous dealers were liberally applying the term.
Anyone else see/read about this?
Gogiboy
It all depends. On the last used car I bought the dealer had dropped the price by $1000. I researched all the sites and found that the price they gave was still a bit lower than the discounted dealer price. So I offered the salesman a few hundred less than their asking price.
The salesman pointed out that they had discounted the price and tried to bump me back up. I finally allowed him a $50 bump and the deal was done.
You never know what a dealer has in a car. Maybe in my case they made thousands off me. I got a price I could live with. If they had tried to bump me more I would have walked.
On my previous used car purchase we had looked at several stores that offered "certified pre-owned" cars. At one store that did not offer these I asked what exactly was a "certified" car. The salesman said "it's just an extended warranty that you are not given a choice to buy or not". In that case I decided not to spend the extra $1500. It worked out for me. The first major repair ($450 water pump) didn't happen until after the warranty would have expired.
2019 Kia Soul+, 2015 Mustang GT, 2013 Ford F-150, 2000 Chrysler Sebring convertible
Damn.. time flies, eh?
And get #2 a used Volvo, you know the rules! Or.. ya know.. an E36 318i is slow, safe and cheap.... and it has the propellor on the hood..
Yeah, the oldest one is 18 and has the world's least dependable Toyota (actually victim of a combination of a freak set of circumstances and not paying enough attention) and the next driver up is now 15.
At least the other two are only turning six, but I can assure you that time flies by quickly.
So when we getting together for a beer, er.... coke?
For some people that "few" thousand dollars is a lot of money. Others feel as you do.
On cars that depreciate quickly like domestics and Korean cars, a LOT of money can be saved by buying used and if those cars appeal to you, that can be a good way to go!
Mack
Only from the passenger controls, the drivers controls should still operate the windows even if the "window lock" button is engaged.
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
My wife has put over 25,000 miles on her CPO 2004 X3 2.5 and she still likes it. It wouldn't be my first pick(surprise), but it does drive pretty much like a BMW- despite the fact that it's too tall and too heavy. More than a few people thought the Sport suspension was too stiff on the early trucks, so it got softened up considerably. We had a 2006 3.0 Sport Package loaner and it rode just about as well as our non-Sport 2004. I recently fitted Pirelli P Zero Nero M+S tires to all four corners and it rides and handles much better than it ever did with the OEM Bridgestones. Aside from a SRS seat sensor(replaced under warranty) it's been dead nuts reliable. For our purposes it works pretty well. That said, my wife is coming around to my views on light and nimble vehicles. Since we decided to keep the 1999 TJ as well as the MS3, we no longer need another SUV. I think she's going to get a Mini Clubman as soon as Swope opens the Louisville dealership...
Mine: 1995 318ti Club Sport-2020 C43-1996 Speed Triple Challenge Cup Replica
Wife's: 2021 Sahara 4xe
Son's: 2018 330i xDrive
Bingo! He (or she) who cares least usually wins the negotiation. Well, always, actually.
I buy a car - if I'm not happy, I call my salesman, and the progression from there depends on the results.
Mack
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
Uhghh, we have sort of a problem here...
Yeah, You apparently didn't put one of the new cover sheets on one of your TPS reports!
COTMC: Yeah, sorry about that! I forgot!
Yeah,.. we're putting cover sheets on all TPS reports now before they go out. Did you see the memo about this??
COTMC: Yeah, I got the memo, I just forgot!...
MACKABEE!!
I am short of a couple of close & distant direct blood relatives due to cancer...
All I can say to you, is please hope for the best, be prepared for the worst, and be the best father and husband you can be.
When the time comes for you to leave this earth, the number of cars you have or haven't sold won't matter.
O.K., sorry for the negative stuff, Office Space is very funny if you have been in or worked in a cubicle farm.
Kudos (sic??) to anyone who can make a living selling pretty much anything!
In Arizona, the buyer does not pay any sales tax if he purchases from a private party.
Oh, yes, I checked the window lock button. After all, I'm not an amateur with these gizmos, you know! :P
When we stopped, I tried it again. Upon pushing the button, I could hear what sounded like the motor for that window. But the window did not move.
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I did nothing. I did absolutely nothing, and it was everything that I thought it could be.
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I can't believe what a bunch of nerds we are. We're actually looking up money laundering in a dictionary!
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Good luck with your layoffs, all right? I hope your firings go really well!
---
Samir: No one in this country can ever pronounce my name right. It's not that hard: Na-gheen-an-a-jar.
Michael Bolton: Yeah, well at least your name isn't Michael Bolton.
Samir: You know there's nothing wrong with that name.
Michael: There was nothing wrong with it... until I was about 12 years old and that no-talent [non-permissible content removed] clown became famous and started winning Grammys.
Samir: Hmm... well why don't you just go by 'Mike' instead of 'Michael'?
Michael: No way. Why should I change?? He's the one who sucks!
Wow, I'm surprised the Car Dealers
Assoc.Lobby hasn't corrected this loop-hole.jmonroe
'15 Genesis V8 with Ultimate Package and '18 Legacy Limited 6 cyl
Later that week I had another question and, as I was passing the dealership, called in to see the salesperson again. I met the salesperson and he answered my question. He then asked "what's it going to take to get you to buy today instead of visiting the customer appreciation day?" I said that I had a price in mind and that his offer did not meet it. He went to talk to his manager and came back with a price that beat my (undeclared) target by $150. I said that was certainly an interesting offer, thanked him and left. I have to admit that I nearly took the offer on the spot, but decided to visit the customer appreciation day anyway.
The next day I attended the customer appreciation day and we finally got to the salesperson's offer, it was $1625 over the offer from the second dealership. I said that I was disappointed because their invitation led me to believe that the deals would be good. My salesperson asked what I had in mind and I told him that I had an offer in my back pocket and that they would have to beat it to earn my business. He asked what my offer was, I told him and he asked would $150 better win my business and we were just talking about that when the sales manager came over. My salesperson explained what we had just been talking about and the sales manager asked me "would we have a deal if he offered $500 less?" I've had this conditional sort of "offer" before but this time I stood up and before he could say anything else shook his hand, and said "Yes, we have a deal". To my surprise he said OK. My salesperson was more shocked, after the sales manager left us he said that he had never seen that happen before.
The dealership normally sells about 12 new cars a month (and several times that number of used cars) and had a target of 25 new cars for the day, mine was number 7 (early afternoon) so maybe they were just really keen to try and meet their target, but whatever the reason, I'm really happy with the deal and now just need to wait until mid-November to take delivery.
I buy a car - if I'm not happy, I call my salesman, and the progression from there depends on the results.
Nothing happens it doesn't hurt or help the sales man at all. Lets say you send in a bad one that will hurt. If you were going to give all ecxellents and you don't send it in, that particular sales person could need one more 100 and by not sending it in your not helping. either way doesn't matter.
Thanks,
John
Medina, Ohio
M ck b e