Been "car shopping" lately?

[rwork]

This is one of the reasons I enjoy this forum so much. We can share ideas and information about tractors as well as other items of interest. They are lots of friendly folks on here, and even though we don't always see eye to eye on some things, for the most part we all get along. There is always a different perspective to be considered.

Now, before we beat up the lowly car salesman, I want you to admit that..................

When you went to the tractor dealership, and eyed that shiny new beast of a tractor, and you climbed up into the seat, and the salesman said "fire her up", you imagined yourself on your farm working that machine. You felt the power of that big bucket on the loader, as you inhaled the fragrance of the diesel fumes. And with your childish grin on your face, and the drool on your chin, as the the salesman asked, "Shall we write her up" ? You answered "You Bet", as you followed him back into the office like a little baby duckling, pulling your wallet out as you walked. Eager to sign that paper!!!

Am I Right????? I thought so!!! Nuff Said! LOL

 

[TomSeller]

On my day job I manage a group of salespeople, so dealing car salespeople is no big deal to me. I bought a new Ford last month and had a great experience. I got what I wanted for what I wanted so I am happy. I walked out after making my offer (always be prepared to do that) and sure enough as I was sitting down for lunch they called and had a car for me at my price. I went back in and made a down payment and picked up the car right after Christmas. The sales person was very nice and followed up well. I even went on their webiste and wrote a nice report of my experience and mentioned him by name. Car sales is a tough life and I understand that. The good ones need to be rewarded with a sale and be told they did a good job.

 

[rwork]

On my day job I manage a group of salespeople, so dealing car salespeople is no big deal to me. I bought a new Ford last month and had a great experience. I got what I wanted for what I wanted so I am happy. I walked out after making my offer (always be prepared to do that) and sure enough as I was sitting down for lunch they called and had a car for me at my price. I went back in and made a down payment and picked up the car right after Christmas. The sales person was very nice and followed up well. I even went on their webiste and wrote a nice report of my experience and mentioned him by name. Car sales is a tough life and I understand that. The good ones need to be rewarded with a sale and be told they did a good job.

Good for you, Tom

 

[TomSeller]

Good for you, Tom

While there is always going to be a bad salesperson here and there, it is a tough, tough job. These people live primarily off of commission and that needs to be understood. In signing up for commission pay they take risks many people never experience. I would recommend anyone looking for a car do their homework, find a good dealer and salesperson and let them work for you. Be prepared to walk out and the one that calls you back is often the one you want to work with. If I get the car at the price at want, I am happy for the salesperson who got paid that day. Maybe they can buy their kids something they need or make their monthly bills. Sales is a tough job. Don't patronize the bad ones, work with the good ones.

 

[crazyal]

I do the internet thing as well. I also do the get their best price and then walk out and say I'll think about it. I think most dealers know this and it's part of the game for them. I also make it sound like I'll want the extended warranty and some of the other over priced stuff they try to sell you but not take any of it. By leaving it gives me hard numbers and a chance to review them. I don't care about getting the lowest price possible but I do want to feel that I got a good price.

 

[two_bit_score]

I get a kick out of these car trading threads. Always the same story about the gauntlet of buzzards up front and the hassle of the process, the sales manager getting called in and somebody getting 'insulted' with a low ball trade offer or getting their 'eyes poked out' or their 'scalp peeled'.

 

[Midniteoyl]

The last new car I purchased was in February 2013. The salesman scared me. I like others have posted had done the Sunday lot checks and the internet build your own and check inventory. But I digress somewhat. The wife and I were in a city about sixty miles from where we live on a Saturday afternoon and passed a car dealership of the make and model we were looking at.

Thinking the place was closed we pulled in and checked the lot for vehicles. We found a row of the vehicles we were interested in and got out and was looking at the vehicles. I heard a noise behind me and turned around and a gentleman had rode up in a electric golf cart. He introduced himself and asked if I would like to look inside one or more of the vehicles. I told him yes and he wrote down the stock numbers and advised he would be right back.

He opened the vehicle and we drove it around the parking lot. Now the part where he scared me, he advised he could put a dealers license on the vehicle and I could drive it home and bring it back on Monday and we would discuss dealing on the vehicle or another vehicle on the lot. I thought you sure are a trusting soul, letting me drive a vehicle that costs in excess of $50,000 over the remainder of the weekend and bring it back on Monday.

We instead went into the dealership, he located the sales manager who looked at my vehicle and offered me x dollars on a trade with a completed sales price that I found acceptable. They called in a new car prep guy who prepped the vehicle while we enjoyed dinner on them. We drove the vehicle home that night.

Since purchasing the vehicle I had a problem with one of the speaker in the drivers seat. I called the service department and was advised to bring the vehicle in on a Tuesday at 7:00am. When I arrived they took my keys and gave me the keys to a like vehicle and advised drive the vehicle until we call and advise yours is ready.

One day later they called. When I picked the vehicle up, they had washed it and filled the gas tank. Talk about service.

I have taken trucks home overnight before.. Some dealer like to do that so you get comfortable in it.

 

[Midniteoyl]

I just bought a (used) 2013 Dodge Journey in Nov.. Didnt mean too, I just saw one on the lot that had the color I was looking for, so pulled in . While there, the salesman came and we started talking. Ended up having several of my 'major' features and I test drove it. Afterwards, I whipped out my phone, looked up used prices for that year/model in my area and we started talking. Got a good fair deal on a 'Certified' Journey (cheaper than anyone in 75 miles by a few thousand), a 6 year/75k mile comprehensive warranty thrown in for free, and $3500 for my 1996 Audi A6 that I only paid $2000 for 4 years ago

 

[sixdogs]

I'll again argue that once you show up at a dealer's lot, the game is over and you are fresh meat for the industry. With a deal made over the phone on a new vehicle, no one can read your personality or body language nor submit you to the host of sales gimmicks to determine what kind of "mark" you are.

 

[Ken45101]

I was surprised, the last time we went car shopping and gave our name and phone#, we never heard from them at all! That was at a big multibrand car dealer.

OTOH, the local Jeep dealer salesman was a very nice and helpful guy, the kind of salesman I would want to deal with. However, after looking at the prices for new Jeeps, we decided that our current 2006 Grand Cherokee was better than anything new that we would be willing to pay the price for. Both our vehicles are seven years old now and they will probably get a lot older with us. It's just possible that we will never buy another vehicle. That's the best way to get a good deal, LOL.

 

[KubotaToy]

I always try to buy locally but on Ford super duty trucks, Woodhouse Ford in Blair, NE always beats any local price by several thousand dollars. I showed the local ford dealer the certified check before I paid for my last F350 I bought and offered him $1000 more to get me the same truck (it cost me that much to take my wife on vacation to pick up the truck), the sales manager stated I was not being honest with them and nobody would sale it at that price. I stopped by the local dealer few weeks later to show them the new truck and sales contract, they still thought I was not telling them the truth.

Local salespersons are always pushy and hard to get a straight answer from, only thing they seem to know is to tell you if you do not buy today we will not sell it at that price next week.

 

[farmgirl19]

Western; Your posting linking to "common dealer scams" left out such things aas "low balling", and some of the other dirty tricks of the trade. Although, I've heard from some that some of the old tricks are supposed to be illegal now.

 

[TCowner]

All of these stories bring back memories, and some nightmares, of 40 years of purchasing vehicles. It's not nearly as bad now as I believe most of the dealerships realize that every vehicle purchasing horror story is shared among thousands of potential customers, but it still happens today. I don't know about the rest of you but I am not spending $40,000 without taking a little time to think about it. The sales folks should understand that.

I accept the fact that the auto/truck dealership must make a reasonable profit to stay in business. But the process of getting to that level of profit is what is so painful. If the dealership needs a certain "margin" to stay profitable then all I ask is that we get to that number real quick. I don't understand why it takes 4 hours to purchase a vehicle. I continue to be amazed at the time it takes a salesman to get me his/her "best price." If I am purchasing a 2013 Ford F150, about the most sold truck in the country, one would think that the sales people must have a real good idea what the darn thing costs and what the profit margin needs to be. But that wrangling back and forth between the sales person and the sales manager over the next $25 improvement in the deal is what drives me out the door.

I agree with one of the previous posters that when that torture starts you have to leave his little "cubicle" and go out to lot and look at other vehicles. I'm convinced that the sales guy and the manager are talking about this weekend's football games, and not the truck deal, just to make the customer sweat it out. Call me a conspiracy theory guy if you want but I think their goal is to have you invest so much of your time on a Saturday morning that you will purchase the vehicle at their price just to stop the torture. Of course, you are not done yet. Even if you have your own bank or credit union financing, which they hate, you still have at least another hour as the documents are prepared. It gives them more time to make more offers for extended warranties and a last ditch effort to use their dealer financing.

I've tried to work with one sales person at the dealerships but there is so much turnover in the sales department that it usually means a different person each time. So, I have to advise the young whipper snapper who meets me in the sales lot that if he wants to sell the new truck he needs to get his price to me quickly and that if he can't, then I just have to move on to another dealership. And frankly, they are getting better. My last experience with the 2011 F150 wasn't all that bad. I had been talking with the salesperson on and off for about a month when having my 2004 F150 serviced and his low pressure, take your time, approach is what make it work. And guess what, I have recommended him and the dealership to dozens of people.

 

[NoTrespassing]

My last and only new car purchase was painless. It was what happened after the purchase that bothered me. My phone number was put into a database run by a company in California. I would recieve an automated phone calls during the day at work whenever the database thought my car needed maintenance. It took me several calls over several months to get off that list. They lost most of my repair business because of that automated database.

Kevin

 

[sixdogs]

A while back I bought a car over the phone and agreed to the deal on the basis that the new Toyota had the quality fit and finish he described and the 6 miles he stated. I said I was coming down to do the paperwork and he said I would be in and out in 20 minutes. I said good because I only had a half hour and didn't want to dick around. He agreed.

After I got there they actually tried to boost me to a higher price by claiming the price didn't include extras or options. I explained I have your written price on the vehicle and only have a half hour to wrap it up.

They kept screwing around and after a half hour I started to leave. The look on his face was one of disbelief and they chased me out to the parking lot to try to close the deal as originally agreed. I left anyway and bought the same car from someone else for the same price.

They tried to sell me another car for a number of years.

Moral of the story is there are lots of cars for sale, they make about 15 million more every year and most run for quite a number of years. There are lots of vehicles around and they need to be sold. if someone won't deal it isn't worth the aggravation. Just bail--but mean it--and go somewhere else. Buh-bye.

 

[Western]

Western; Your posting linking to "common dealer scams" left out such things aas "low balling", and some of the other dirty tricks of the trade. Although, I've heard from some that some of the old tricks are supposed to be illegal now.

FG, you got that right, but it would have been 10 pages of "cut and paste" links !:laughing: I think they tried at times to do the "fraud" thing, but since it is a "buyer be ware".................

 

[2LaneCruzer]

I admit not having read all of the posts in this thread, but I will offer this: We just bought a new Mazda CX-5 for Sharn Jean. She loves it; mainly because she drove a 95 Millenia for about 17 years. The dealer was great, honest, helpful and respectful. The didn't come off their sticker price much, but we couldn't deal with the Ford dealer either, and we can buy a Ford on the "X" plan.

I love the CX-5; it drives great, handles like a dream and gets great gas mileage. Yeah, we probably paid too much, the interior is not as comfortable as I would like at my age and it has way too many bells and whistles for my taste. I'll probably never figure them all out, but we have managed so far...(The Bluetooth telephone thingy is great...as is the Sirius Radio). Example; couldn't figure out why the rear hatch wouldn't lock. Turns out that even locked, if you have the key in your pocket, it will let you open it. First trip we took, it began to sprinkle and the darn wipers came on by themselves. Ah, modern technology. Still don't know how the low pressure tire reminder do-dad will work, but I guess we'll find out.

P.S. Here's one for the FWIW department. I have dealt with professional people nearly all of my working life...Scientists, Chemists, Engineers, Biologists, Medical Doctors and...yes...lawyers. Lawyers are no better or worse than any of the rest...in fact, in terms of honesty and integrity, lawyers constitute two of the top five individuals that I have ever known, and several Scientists and Engineers hold down the bottom...and maybe a couple lawyers. And that's a fact.

 

[Western]

2LC, I agree, there are good and bad in any endeavor, even the clergy has it's "bad apples"

 

[Dizno]

Auction sales - Buyer beware! I have seen a car I sold for 30% of what I paid for it two years prior because it was seriously flawed in electrical challenges to see it roll through an auction. It wasn't worth anything but scrap metal. You would never ever know its challenges from all appearances - don't care who you were.

 

[Dizno]

You know guys, I'm kinda on the other side of the fence here, and I understand ther are some, shall we say unscrupulous car salesmen. However this holds true in an awful lot of cases. What about the A/C repairman, the remodling contractor, or even your dentist?!? Do you have any idea of what kind of profit they are making? Highly unlikely.
Do you negotiate what you feel like paying at the grocery store?, the gas station? No!! Try your negotiating skills on your next doctor visit. You know full well your getting ripped, but do you complain?

Now lets suppose you put your tractor up for sale...arent you trying to get as much as you can for it?

I'd like to think there are more honest, professional vehicle sales people, than not.

Understand the dentist one! Never a good experience and I don't know what I am getting!