Not so smart dealers - Page 2

orngandblack · 11-01-2009, 03:07 PM

I had bought a new Ford Tempo and had a problem with the fuel injection so I took it back. First off, even though I paid cash for the car and gave them a perfectly running trade- in, they would not give me a loaner because I didn’t spend the additional extra money for an extended warranty. On top of that the dealer closed the dealership and moved it to a different location without telling me. I found out where they moved to and got hold of a new phone number and called them to find out the whereabouts of my car (I needed to get a kids car seat out of it) and when I called they wanted to know how I got the number because they weren’t open for business yet. I told them that I just wanted to get something out of my car and they said I can’t because they weren't sure where my car was. I finally found it and got the car seat and after they fixed the car, I never went back to that dealer again and I made sure to tell all my friends not to go there too.

vwW12 · 11-01-2009, 08:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dunerunner

You wouldn't expect a builder to accept a verbal commitment on a $350K home and enter into the construction of that home without the buyers financial commitment, would you?

Sorry my post wasn't clear enough. We arrived at the Mini dealerships on a paid-for car that retailed for, oh, about four times the price of a base Mini. This wasn't about money.

When I say "half hr later- Manager says that in theory it is possible but you have to pay for the entire car cash upfront oh and by the way can you come back during a workday?", I don't mean that there was a conversation about how to make this happen or finances or anything. This was their literal sendoff. Read: "dudes, we have no idea what you're talking about, we're busy, you're welcome to look at the backlot and pick from what we have or come during a weekday when we have nothing to do."

The guys were utterly oblivious to the personality of the car as marketed by Mini USA. Configure to order? Uh? What's that?

The concept of personalization and individuality was meaningless to them. Such a turnoff. We spent about an hour at each dealership over two consecutive weekends, decided the dealerships were on a different wavelength. This was about four years ago, so things may have changed since.

Oh, BTW, our smart has several $K in OEM options. True, one or two of them our smart center had never even seen before we ordered (other than in the glossy smart USA catalog), but they were most happy to order and install for free. That's the attitude that opens my checkbook!

**Dunerunner** · 11-01-2009, 08:37 PM

Mine too, obviously!!

NCC1701 · 11-01-2009, 09:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vwW12

WE- Yeah, we'd like to configure and order a Mini
THEY- Uhhh... I don't think you can do that. Never heard of it. But we have tons of cars in the backlot for you to choose from!
WE- You do know the essence of this brand is that there are literally millions of possible individual configurations, I'm sure. In fact there is an amazing configurator on the web and we've printed it and here are the exact we have discussed at home and agreed to.

[BTW, resulting in a heavily loaded car]

THEY- Ummm.... let me talk to the manager...

THEY, half hr later- Manager says that in theory it is possible but you have to pay for the entire car cash upfront oh and by the way can you come back during a workday?

We ended up never buying a Mini.

When the smart came out we configured online...

I just went and played with the Mini configurator, and loaded one up just like I did my smart (all the way!). WOW! I had no idea a Mini could cost in excess of $50K!

BobDiaz · 11-01-2009, 10:14 PM

I end up getting upset when I see car salesmen trying to play head games on me.... Over the years, I've had quite a few... (None were smart fortwo dealers.)

(1) I go to a dealership and look at a car, out of nowhere some guy with a tie comes up and looks at the car I'm looking at asks me the price. I read the number they wrote down and he answers, "Oh, that's a good price!" Well jerk, the price is $1,500 above the list price and guys don't just run around with ties, unless they are another salesman at this stupid dealer trying to make me think the price is "good".

(2) On sales guy keeps pressuring me to do a test drive; OK so I do a test drive. THEN the guilt trip is turned on when it looks like I'm not going to buy it... "Oh man, I'm going to be in big trouble with the boss. I thought you were serious about getting this car and now you've added all that mileage to the car and you're just going to walk away. ..." Really guy, do you think I'm that stupid, that I can't see through you phony little act...

(3) One dealership has the more expensive version of the car I'm interested in, but because it has extra options I don't want, the price is $2,000 higher than the other cars I've seen without the options. The salesman wants me to go into his office to give me at least a written quote before I leave. The problem is he just writes a bunch of random numbers that have no meaning on a sheet of paper and starts to say, "I want to know that you're SERIOUS BUYER!!!" Well, seeing as how you want to play head games, you are NOT a SERIOUS salesman!

In every case, I walked away. However, I did buy from sales people who were willing to be reasonable and not play head games with me.

One time when I went to get our car serviced at one dealer, the sales guys surrounded our car BEFORE we could even park, "Can we help you?" they said, I answered, "Yes, please move so I can park the car."

My dad had one many years ago, the sales guy told my dad that before they could work out a deal on a car, the boss wanted him to lay down a $20 deposit, "to show his good faith". My dad's answer was priceless, "I don't think your boss is going to have an organism over a (BLEEEEPing) $20!"

Bob Diaz

markitect · 11-02-2009, 07:09 AM

I once put a deposit on a car so that I could order what I was looking for. Didn't hear a thing from the dealer, and about a month before it was supposed to arrive I started calling him. He insists everything is on time, but when the time came he says, they are waiting for one to be available at port.

And here I thought I put in a factory order, ohh well, got my deposit back and another dealer got a dealer trade with what I wanted in a week.

Neonspinnazz · 11-02-2009, 10:27 PM

Why...here I go...

So just like the politics in this state, car dealerships are corrupted. Here's a real frustrating story.

So my parents see an ad in the newspaper stating "Everybody Drives!" "0 down! Even with bad credit!". So they saw it as an opportunity because even though Lucky (1998 Ford Windstar) held together and never let us down no matter the circumstance, it was very costly to keep running and there was a quickly expanding rust spot that would take $$$ to fix.

So they gave them a call and the salesman played nice and said all of the sugary words that would convince my parents to drive 53 miles to downtown Chicago (no $$$ down! Drive Today! Talk to me when you get there! I'll get you approved fast!).

So we drove the 53 miles and it didn't look promising from there. When we first walked in we saw a bullet sized hole (and pattern) in the glass of the front windows which really didn't make us feel too secure. Then there were roughly 50+ other people in there which made us think that we all got an "optimistic" telephone operator and not a real salesman. And to top it off, the dealer was not clean on the interior by ANY means.

So we get in there just to find out that the guy they were talking to was not there even though he said that he'd be there until closing. The salesman we got gave us the whole "be happy because you're approved, let's get you into a Chrysler 300C" thing. Once my parents filled out the paperwork we sat there for at least 3 hours waiting for a response. Then finally when they came back with the bad news Mr. Happy Salesman now had a mean look on his face and just said "half down". From here on out there's no bartering with these people and they just love to remind you about how low your score is and how you cannot even get financed for the cheapest car on their lot (because now they're just too lazy to work with you, they never went through more than just "their" bank). And to add icing to the cake, when my parents questioned him about the BS that the person on the phone said, he reply was "that's just a telephone operator, they don't know anything".

On the Other Hand, when we got the Envoy we went to a better dealer and they actually worked to get us in a car we liked. That salesman earned his paycheck indeed. His smile didn't disappear when he saw the scores and the process was short, easy, and not stressful. And we got a great car out of it, not something they had to get rid of or nothing at all (because of lazy salesman). And we stayed within our spending limits.

The GMan · 11-03-2009, 08:24 AM

So many to choose from.

When I went to buy my first full-size pickup truck, I went to a dealer knowing exactly what I needed and wanted. V8, Extra Cab, Long Bed, etc. The smiling salesman walks me around the building to show me a . . . Regular Cab, Short/Narrow Bed, V6 truck. I laughed in his face and told him they'd be out of business in a year. I was wrong, it was 6 months.

Several years later, I went about looking for a replacement for the truck, but looking for a good used one this time. Did not see anything on the lot, but got cornered by a salesman on my way to leave. I was courteous enough to let him take me inside to see if he could find anything on their list (some vehicles were apparently kept somewhere else). After about 30 minutes of run around and sitting there without any real help, I got up to leave. As I crossed the parking lot, the salesman and his manager came chasing me across the parking lot to try to drag me back in. They looked so pathetic. I told him, "Dude, take a look at yourself. Have some pride." and I left. I've never been back there.

BobDiaz · 11-03-2009, 11:08 AM

Just a side note, some people forget that as a buyer, you have a very powerful tool at your disposal, you can walk out the door at any time. Salesmen know this and try their best to hold you there. In the case of my dad, they tried by asking for a $20 "good faith deposit". Other dealers will ask for the keys to you trade-in so they can check it out. If you try to go, surprise, they can't find the keys right away....

Bob Diaz

SmartDigger · 11-11-2009, 04:06 PM

My friend, A larger guy, was at one time selling used cars. He could not fit in the smaller cars. He would just tell his potentials Take it for a test drive I will wait here.

I was once told Mr. salesmane just came on with us. He will not make this mistake again but we can't sell you this car for that. (after sale and car was being preped for me) I told mr manager Sorry, I cant buy this car for anything else, and turned to leave. He changed his mind.