Any Questions for a Car Dealer?

1racefan · February 2006

My credit union doesn't give a blank check out ahead of time, so in my case I just take a personal check so I can leave a deposit while I have my credit union wire the dealership the money. I have never had to actually do this, but I have asked dealers in the past if this was OK, and no one has said no yet.

golic · February 2006

Edmunds used to have a sponsorer that had this loan service, you worked it out with them and then would finance your car and even sent you a check that was good for 14 days, I think they were bought by capital one.

I need to find a reputable 3rd party leasing service, if anyone knows of one.

mikefm58 · February 2006

" then give the F&I guy a chance to best it. "

I won't finance with anyone but my credit union. Rarely have they been able to better the rate. And unless they could beat by 1% or more, to me it's not worth doing business with a strange bank that doesn't know me.

When I bought my 04 Highlander, I let them finance me with Onyx, who was bought out by Capitol One and it's been nothing but problems since.

zodiac2004 · February 2006

What is 2300 miles worth? The IRS standard mileage rate is 44.5 cents per mile? Quick someone do the math *headtilt*

This is a Vette we are talking about. As Terry mentioned, the cost of tires alone would be more than 1/2 that number.

More like a dollar per mile on such a car.

1racefan · February 2006

That's true - that sort of thing can happen. However, I always make sure to find out who they are financing with before I agree on the dealer's financing. Each time, it has been beaten by a "major" financial institution. I have yet to have any problems (knock on wood).

jeffyscott · February 2006

If 2300 miles would really result in $500 worth of tire wear...that is over 20 cents per mile just for tires. :surprise:

This means my entire cost of driving my junky old cars is approximately equal to the tire cost of a Corvette

.

Is this really an accurate cost estimate...or was that an exaggeration?

Kirstie_H · February 2006

I wouldn't be that stunned. A friend of mine just spent $4800 on a set of tires for his car. Dunno how many miles he'll put on them, but you could buy a beater for the cost of one set of his tires

snakeweasel · February 2006

If 2300 miles would really result in $500 worth of tire wear...that is over 20 cents per mile just for tires.

Yes it is excessive. Say you pay $500 per tire for the Vette and they only get 50k out of the tire thats still only 4 cents per mile for tire use.

british_rover · February 2006

Vette tires don't get 50ks miles though. They have tread ratings in the low to mid 200's, are unidirectional and different sizes front to back normaly. You can't rotate them at all and if they are runflats they cost more then 500 bucks a tire.

You be lucky to get 20k miles out of a set of vette tires before they become unsafe from uneven wear.

kyfdx · February 2006

is $450 per tire.... and 15K before they are worn out..

that is $0.12 per mile.. Close to $300 just for tire wear...

But, that isn't the biggest thing.. 2300 miles in three weeks? Somebody took that on vacation.. or the service manager lives 45 miles away and used it for his daily driver..

Whatever it was.. you can't come up with any excuse for it... I'd need a good $2K-$3K extra, over actual loss. just to keep me from blowing up...

If I didn't get a satisfactory resolution really fast... I'd call the police..

chumm · February 2006

I sure do appreciate the advice I am getting so here is the catch up story. The dealer phoned me twice asking for permission to take the car home to see how it "acts Up". The dealer admits they drove the car a couple hundred miles even though it is hand written, from their tech, they could take it home twice. I have asked the dealer for the going rate in milage payment, all repairs without cost ($780.00), my 2 hours of attorneys conversations paid and last some warranty if my engine has trouble. You know they did not drive my vette the way I would of for 2300 miles. The dealership says they will get back to me today. But a true heart felt thanks for all the advice because I think if they do not agree with my terms, I can pursue this without council. I also went to the police to see if there was a warrent on my liceance plate (due to stories this has happened befor and crimes were comitted) and all was well. The police said they would not fill out a report because it is a civil matter between the dealer and my self.

bobst · February 2006

Chum, what did your attorney say? Did he think you can get a lot more?

chumm · February 2006

My attorney just picked up his new vette this week so he is a little sensitive about this. Yes he thinks he has a law suite for "conversion" and feels there could be bigger gains then what I'm asking. All I want is to be put back to where I was, but with a fixed vehicle, prior to taking my car to the dealership.I feel payment for loss of tires, paid milage and a extended warranty will put me there. I will not benefit any to have anything above what I'm requesting from the dealer. Now do not get me wrong, if the dealer won't comply I will then let the attorney go for the throat.

isellhondas · February 2006

Will tell you that. All an attorney will do is get this event dragged out and IF there are "bigger gains", he will take a huge chunk of those gains!

I would use him as a last resort.

jipster · February 2006

"I wouldn't leave a golf club, a motorcycle or a frisbee "anywhere" for 3 weeks without being there psychically..."

Not very trusting are you? Do you count the change in your vehicles coin holder before dropping it off at the dealer?
It's not like chumm left her vehilce in a Sears or KMart automotive lot. I would feel comfortable leaving my Vette at the dealership and checking periodically via phone calls. But, to each his own.

"thanks for the compliment, Cosell changed the concept of sports forever"

Agreed...he changed it forever. But, for the worse. Cosell was thought by "many" to be an arrogant, egotistical and self centered man...who made a few racist comments from time to time. He did well as broadcaster for boxing...but he was an embarassment in the Monday Night football booth with Dandy Don Meridith, and Frank Gifford(Giff) He thought he was the know all and end all of all football knowledge...but he understood the game about as well as maybe a high school player. But, if you enjoy being compared to the "Legend in his own mine"(Cosell)...more power to ya.

danf1 · February 2006

I love when people keep looking at their watches. After the second or third glance, I like to ask them what time it is. Usually they aren't really checking the time but just trying to put forth the impression that they are in a hurry. Some people get really embarrassed when they realize that they've been caught.

biancar · February 2006

"but I wouldn't leave a golf club, a motorcycle or a frisbee "anywhere" for 3 weeks without being there psychically"

How are you there psychically? Via brain waves?

You're a talented guy, Terry.

jipster · February 2006

chumm(you like to fish?), I noticed by your profile you are a woman/female. I can't help but think this dealership may have tried to take advantage of you because it thought females to be clueless about cars, and that you would never notice the mileage. That's nice of you to just want to be put back where you were(with payment for loss of tire, mileage and extended warranty), but that does not penalize the dealership any. Do you think this "settlement" will be enough for this scum not to try something again in the future to someone else. I think to keep this from happening again, you let your lawyer go for the throat(literally).(I'll take that glass of wine now Terry...ah what the heck...give me the whole bottle)

Punitive damages in this case could be substantial...and you could donate it to charity if you wish. Good luck.

isellhondas · February 2006

When they do that, I'll ask them if they have to be somewhere. If they say "Yes, I have to be somewhere in an hour", I'll tell them that I can't possibly sell them a car and complete the paperwork that fast. I will then suggest making an appointment for a better time.

At that point, they usually make a phone call and time isn't important after that.

Still, the biggest complaint on our surveys.." The process took too long".

Most of the time it was THE CUSTOMER who made it a long process!

xkiddx13 · February 2006

that just shows me what ever sales person you are talking about really does not care about the customer at all, and all he is thinking of is money and i would not want to deal with him or his dealership.... its called customer service, you treat every customer the same no matter if they are buying today or in a year. if your attitude is that then do you think if that customer is waiting a couple of weeks and you dont want to give him a test drive because you think its a waste of your time, do you really think that customer is going to want to come back to you or reffer there friends and family to you... what ever sales person you are talking about, let me know where they work at, so i know never to go there...

xkiddx13 · February 2006

wow so um ya what car dealership do you work for.. i just wanna know for reason's of never sending anyone to you or your dealership, specially if that's how you think of your customers and the way you treat them...

xkiddx13 · February 2006

las vegas nevada, on the strip.. you can find that car to rent for a little while.

golic · February 2006

C'mon isellhonda's what are you suggesting that we as the customer should just walk in an accept MSRP so we can save time?

Don't blame "the customer" for the game of haggling. Let's be honest. You take the price then pretend to go talk to the floor manager, play a game of solotaire then come back with - something no where near the counter-offer.

I agree, if you want to play the "haggle game" you can't sit and complain about that part of the process.

I think the great idea I got from this conversation that I am going to use on this purchase, is negotiate a price and drop a deposit down and make an appointment at a latter date to come back pick up the car and sign all the prepared paper work.

But, the process is part game part result of the litigious society we live in, don't blame the customer. YMMV.

Smile

isellhondas · February 2006

I didn't blame anbody nor do I mind if the customer wants to haggle with me for a long period of time!

What I do mind is after doing this, they suddenly become in a big hurry.

As far as making a deposit and setting an appointment, why make it a two trip process? I can usually get you out pretty quickly after an agreement is reached.

Still, it's not like buying a pair of shoes. There is a LOT of paperwork involved!

And, no, I don't play waiting games with customers. I'm direct, straightforward and a down to earth kind of guy.

I had that done to me years ago at a Toyota dealership in California and I walked out!

isellhondas · February 2006

Your post makes no sense whatever.

xkiddx13 · February 2006

I really did not expect you to understand.. lol..

xkiddx13 · February 2006

It does bother me though that we, are both in the honda business, granted I dont know if you just sell them from your yard, or from a dealership. let's just say I guess i have a warped view on the car business, and how customer service should be, since i do work at the number 1 honda dealership in america...

golic · February 2006

ok, I will concede about the long time haggling and then give you the watch treatment *nodnod*

On another note, can I pick your brain on the Pilot. Saw the Pilot and was impressed with the inside. I am just starting out on my research and comparing pilot/highlander.

Would appreciate your insights on the Pilot. Can I email you off-board?

isellhondas · February 2006

Of course you can, a lot of people do and I'm happy to help!

snakeweasel · February 2006

I would agree with kidd, that post seemed not to car much about customer service.

isellhondas · February 2006

Being a native So. Calif guy, I know where you work.

I like it much better where I'm at!

isellhondas · February 2006

Really? I'm just being sensitive to the customer's time and to mine too!

Just so you know, I have one of the highest CSI scores in the store and this is my 11th year in the same family owned store. a large percentage of my sales are to repeat and referral customers.

I'm not trying to pat myself on the back here but I must be doing a few things right as far as customer service.

In a former life, I taught the basics of customer service.

british_rover · February 2006

We are a very small dealership there is no way we can complete a deal in one day. Even if you come in and do everything bright and early at the first of the morning I don't think we could do it. There is too much time involved in detailng the car, putting it back through the shop for a recheck of everything, getting insurance information and generating all of the final paperwork. All of our deals take a couple of days to consumate.

We get everything ready for the customer before he gets here print all forms ahead of time and then they just sign and I go over the car. Still takes a couple of hours since there is a fair amount of paper work and there is a lot of stuff to go over in our cars.

So because we have this multistage couple of day process I have this happen a lot. Someone agrees to a price puts a deposit or in some case I will just take a handshake then the next day or so they try to renegotiate the price. Once you put a deposit on a car that is the end of negotiation.

I had a woman who I had been dealing with on the phone looking for a very specific Range Rover color/options. Our marketing manager called up one day and just happend to have one of those vehicles in national reserve so I got it. I called the woman up and she was so happy she put a deposit down on the car right there no negotiation at all no talk about price MSRP all the way.

She came in a couple of days later whent he car was actually here and wanted several thousand dollars of accesorires added. No, problem we priced them all out had parts discount them some what and of course a discounted labor rate and then we absorbed a little bit of the price as well as a discount on the car. She was so pissed that she started yelling and demanded a refund of her money right away that we were overcharging her on the car selling it to her for MSRP.

Was completly useless trying to explain to her that one she did not negotiate anything at all and secondly, more importantly too, we had discounted the car since she was getting over 5000 dollars of accesories for a little less then 3000 dollars.

Deal fell apart right there.

xkiddx13 · February 2006

That is prolly because you can treat customers like you do there, we dont have tollerance here for bad customer service on any level, that is why we are number 1 and why we have so much return business. we treat the customer the way they desserve. not just looking at them like there a big green dollar bill walking around..

good story there was this guy that came on the lot, a few comments were made at the desk cause he looked wierd, had this crazy blue hair all sticking up and chains hanging everywhere, tattoos ect.. well some of the comments were made like, ya right he is not going to buy, or hey "joe" not his real name, why dont you go show him to our used car lot, few laughed, well our GM of all ppl heard what some of the guys were saying and he said, think what you want gentlemen but that is a customer like any other, he himself went out there and talked to the guy, next thing you know, he came in with our GM and passed the guy off to another salesman that was not saying a word and was finishing up on a deal, the guy ended up buying a accord hybrid for well over msrp, with $13,000.00 down. he new what he wanted and came in, but because a few guys wanted to hang out and talk about him and sorta make fun of him, none of them got the deal. It is all about customer service

backy · February 2006

Asking a customer how much time they have and telling them that it will take longer than that to complete the transaction is a professional approach, IMO. Then the customer can decide whether to come back later or change their schedule.

Trying to "catch" a customer playing a game with their watch (when they might really be short of time) is not professional behavior, IMO. It might be fun, but it might also piss off the customer.

xkiddx13 · February 2006

I am not saying your a horrible at your job you just remind me of one of the old school type of car salesmen the ones the standup comedian's joke about.. and by you saying you taught the basics of customer service, wow.. maybe the basics, because that is what you are showing here, i guess i taught the advanced class..

isellhondas · February 2006

I wasn't the one who said he "caught" a customer playing games looking at his watch and I don't think I've had that one pulled on me.

backy · February 2006

I didn't mean for that 2nd part to be attributed to you. I was comparing two approaches; you did the first approach, right?

isellhondas · February 2006

Well, you've been in these forums for what? a whole week now? You don't know me or anything about the store I work at nor do you know my background or level of education.

I think you may have me confused with someone else.

isellhondas · February 2006

That's right.

Kirstie_H · February 2006

Not to let this get personal. If it does, posts have a way of disappearing*

*that "way" is me deleting them. It is not, nor should it be construed to be, magic.

british_rover · February 2006

There is no magic oh man you are breaking my heart.

hey look I spelled "Breaking" the right way

snakeweasel · February 2006

Really? I'm just being sensitive to the customer's time and to mine too!

Sorry it just sounds like you don't want to be bothered unless you see a sale right away. Sensitive to your time and not to the wants of the customer is more like it.

Everyone you talk to and everyone they talk to about you and/or your product is a potential sale. You start thinking they are wasting your time the customer will pick up on it and it will hurt you.

I was in retail sales for a while and took a location that wasn't suppose to do anything (that companies siberia) and blew away all projections. We didn't do it with the attitude you presented.

mhs7386 · February 2006

I am returning a vehicle leased through Chase Auto Finance. Please tell me how long it usually takes for them to get car left at dealership. I've heard it's normally between two and four weeks. Thank you.

isellhondas · February 2006

Gotcha!

british_rover · February 2006

Could be that short but I have seen cars sit for as long as two months before.

Just curious why do you want to know how long it takes chase to pick up the car?

michaellno · February 2006

OK, folks, answer me this ...

On any given Saturday, which I would guess is the busiest day of the week for any dealer, what is the ratio of salespeople to F&I staff?

If the ratio is 4:1 or 5:1, what happens when the salespeople start closing deals and the customers have to wait for the F&I person to become available? Yes, once you get into the F&I office it doesn't take too long to answer the questions and sign the papers, but the time spent waiting can drive some folks crazy.

Does that happen often, and, if so, what does the dealer do about it?

xkiddx13 · February 2006

You got a solid point.

qbrozen · February 2006

instead of sniping, how about you tell the board how you would handle someone who tells you they don't have the time to complete the deal today?

I'm a customer, just like lots of folks here, and I'd LOVE to have someone treat me like Isell said he would. If I'm in a rush and you can't fit everything in, then tell me so. I can't tell you how many times salepeople have held me up at dealerships for HOURS with absolutely no explanation. Last time we leased a Honda for my sister, it took us 5 hours AFTER we agreed on a price to complete the deal. It wasn't until we got to the F&I office that the F&I person told us he was by himself and had a line of buyers. The salesperson, for some reason, couldn't tell us this and just kept stalling us with BS.

As far as this "every customer is a potential sale" attitude, this is what can aggravate me, as a customer. I respond to a salesperson who is considerate of my time, my questions, my concerns, etc. The ones who will do anything to make the sale are the ones I want to strangle.

danf1 · February 2006

C'mon backy, that's my game not isell's. I don't do it often, but when a customer is being plain disrespectful, I will treat them in kind.

We all have our jobs to do. We have chosen them and must deal with the consequences of that. I try to treat everybody with the level of respect that I would my own mother. Occassionally when the same level of respect is not returned, I might not be so kind to people.

Bear in mind that we are accused of lying, cheating and stealing every day. I don't play games with my customers, and I expect the same in return. Unfortunately, it seems that it is perfectly acceptable for a customer to make up stories when they are trying to get a deal. Chances are we have heard them all before and don't really believe what you are saying.

Any Questions for a Car Dealer?

Comments

Helpful Tools

Most popular vehicles