Okay, second thing we do KILL ALL THE USED CAR SALESMEN

[underpants]

So my wife and I went a car shopping this weekend. After much research on the local market and Consumer Reports evaluations and recommendations and armed with the N.A.D.A. book out we went. My folks came into town to sit with Josie.

In total we visited 8 dealerships and test drove 7 cars (including two just in the parking lot and we stopped because we knew we didn't want that car) over the two days. Mostly, to be fair, they were fairly nice but I have to say that the practice of standing out in front (usually smoking) was so consistent that it became an inside joke--- We pull into a dealership and we guess which one is going to get to us first. Gee you'd think that there was something about us that says "They are good for it (the money)"

Well apparently not to everyone.

Saturday after stopping at two stops on Broad St. we headed over to the "Motor Mile" on the southside figuring we could hit more places quicker. We knew what car we wanted most. We knew what the going list price on used ('05 and '06) were and what our trade in was worth (we expected less than full trade in just because). So after 2 1/2 hours of test drives and discussion they made us an offer. The trade in was laughable we probably should have gotten up at that point and left but we stayed....... we made a counter offer...they came back with a $400 decrease in the price.... we made our last offer a good fair offer (I learned much quickly in doing this and we really worked well as a team)

Well the place was closing in a little over an hour. We wanted to head down to Carmax to see what they would offer to buy the car (to triangulate the trade-in amounts we had gotten) and THE CLOSER (sales manager) came in and said,"Look gang you can't win the lottery to pay for this until 10 tonight and we close in an hour"



My wife and I just locked eyes on each other. I could tell she was really insulted now and if there is anything I can't stand is someone using their position to degrade another person or thinking that they can. I almost blew a gasket right there. He claimed that he was already losing $1,000 on the deal (BULLSHIT- I knew this but it was later confirmed by a "car guy" we know )-I say to him "Is that offer still good until you close?" his answer "No (tears up the offer sheet) I don't want your business"

Holy Cripes! Who the hell does this guy think he is??? Well now I know why they had such a full inventory of that car THEY DON'T WANT TO DO BUSINESS.

We ended up buying a FULLY LOADED (this thing is sweet) car with an almost full warranty yesterday from the very first place we went to just looking a few months ago. We had Josie with us and the owner said he couldn't turn us down.

The place we bought from is a minority owned place where as the other place reaked of "good old boy" and the salesman let slip that he listens to talk radio all day (there is no AAR station around here )

Oh and we paid cash fuck you very much you jerkhole.

[Rabrrrrrr]

1. Car buying is the total shits.

I hate most every salesperson I encounter - they're either a type-A over-wired smoking gum-chewing jittery high-pressure shitbag, or the nonchalant 'i'll take one look at you and decide I couldn't give a fuck about you' fuckwit, or the clearly ignorant about everything involving cars has-no-idea-what-the-hell he's talking about but he's eager to lie about anything to make it look like he knows what he's talking about just to make the sale dumbfuckery.

And I love the ol' "I can't name you a price myself, because now it's gone too low - I gotta go get approval from the boss on this one; boy, this is you're lucky day, I know we're losing money" routine.

I think car sales is the only business where the owners have such a need for philanthropy that they take a loss on everything they sell.

[matcom]

2. agreed

i'd rather have an enema at the same time as a root canal with no novacaine instead of buying cars

[underpants]

3. That about sums it up

Even at the place we bought at they have to bring in "The closer" at the end to okay the deal. He was nice but that is how it works.

I've never done it but I have in-laws who do the timeshare sales weekend thing and apparently they are really brutal.

Yeah "Boy are we taking it in the teeth on this one" BS just doesn't fly. Um, you didn't build this showroom by losing money on cars just like you didn't get rich (which you are clearly trying to show me that you are) by printing checks either.

The difference was over $600 on a $14,000 car. If they didn't leave that much wiggle room they really are a stupid as they appear to be. The numbers didn't add up to losing $1,000 on the original list price.

[Kutjara]

4. Christ, that "I have to talk to my sales manager"...

...shit bugs the crap out of me. Anyone but a congenital haddock knows they go into the back office and do nothing more than drink a cup of coffee, before coming back and giving you the price they were going to quote in the first place. My habit is to wait until they go into the other room and then leave. That fucks their little psyche game quite nicely. I usually get about halfway to my car before I hear the scuttle of cheap leather shoes coming after me, with an even more 'unbeatable' offer (this one mysteriously not requiring senior management approval).

Used car sales is the last refuge of the incorrigable schmuck.

[underpants]

5. I really like this trick

The salesman started scratching down numbers and fugures and such.

See if you look at it this way....

My wife and I actually laughed. Look bud we both have accounting degrees these mysterious numbers do not frighten us. We both have dealt directly with Fortune 500 exec types so we aren't impressed with a nice tie either.

Are we trying to trade in a turnip truck?

ON EDIT- I like that tip but I think I know where I am going next time we buy a car (next month) though.

[Kutjara]

6. Exactly. The old three card monte stuff...

...is just as nauseating. They seem to think that writing numbers on a form is going to make you think you're legally obliged to buy. "Oh lookee thar Maybelline, that fancy car salesman just wrote somethin' on an ohficial form. I guess that means we done bought the car." Totally absurd and totally insulting. Particularly when the trick is being pulled by a guy whose suit is made from the same stuff as Hefty bags.

[Blue_Tires]

7. one thing i don't get

i remember in the mid 90s when e-commerce was starting to take off, and one of the big trends we were supposed to look forward to was car-buying direct online from the automakers, completely shutting the stealerships out of the process....i wonder why that never came to full fruition

[underpants]

13. A co-worker told me that he did all of his bidding on line

emails directly to a dealer not an individual. He said it was great because he could say things that he normally wouldn't face to face. He said that he loved it, when it was over he just went and picked it up.

[AllegroRondo]

15. laws were passed that prohibit on line buying

most states now have laws that prohibit buying cars on line, unless the seller has a physical presence in the state. So you end up with on line dealers like carmax that basically just put you in touch with an established dealer.

[AllegroRondo]

8. My worst experience with a dealer

earlier this year my wife and I were looking for a new car. We're Costco members, so we thought we would give their program a shot - they hook you up with a local dealer and promise a certain discount depending on the model.
The gave us contact information for a local Honda dealer, so we called them up and set up a time to come in. We already knew exactly what kind of car we wanted, what options, what colors we would accept, even the MSRP and invoice prices. When we got there, the lady who did their Cosco referrals gave us the super-sweet schmoozing and immediately wanted us to test drive. No, I said, we dont need to test drive. We know exactly what we want, what is your price?
She says "I cant give you a price without knowing which car you want." I should have walked out then.
So I said "We want one with these options."
She says "I dont know if we have that exactly, why dont you look at the ones on the lot while I check our list" BS!!! Honda makes very specific options packages, and we wanted one of the common ones.
She came back in a few minutes "You're in luck! This one, this one, and this one have the options you want."
I said "Great, how much for this one."
She said "Dont you want to test drive it first?"
Me "No, just tell me how much it costs."
Her "Do you have a trade in?"
Me "What does that matter? Just tell me the price."
Her "I cant give you a price unless I know what kind of trade in you have."
Me "Then lets just get a price without a trade in."
Her "Lets go inside and look at the computer."

Great. So we go inside, and she prints out a price listing. MSRP, minus Costco discount, plus pin striping, mud flaps, and floor mats.
"I dont want pin stiping or mud flaps, whats the price without those?"
She says "I cant, those are standard for that model, we add them to every car here."
I had finally had enough, and got up and left. She started telling my wife "Wait, sit down! Sit sit sit! Let me run the numbers again and see if we can find a better discount." Never tell my wife what to do. She's incredibly independent. I'm surprized she didnt go off with some bad language - she just laughed and said "yeah, right!".

The next day we got an email from her manager, wanting to know how the meeting went and if we were still interested.
My wife answered the email, with several detailed paragraphs about how we had never been treated so badly by a dealer, and would probably never buy a Honda again, and that we ended up buying a Mazda from a dealer just down the street from them. She CC'd it to both Honda US customer service and Costco customer service.

At least Costco was very nice about it. Within a day they called and apologized, and said they were considering dropping this dealer from their program.

[underpants]

12. I did not know about the Costco deal

Maybe I will see what they can do in the future.

[derby378]

9. Got Carmax?

They're your best friend if you need a used car. Fixed me up with a sweet 2001 Camry LE - which we desperately needed since our old car was totalled in a wreck.

[LeftyMom]

11. My Dad's bought two or three cars from them.

He's so skittish around salespeople he'll only go to the 24 hours grocery store in the middle of the night, but he goes back there. I figure that means they're pretty easygoing about the sales process.

[Whoa_Nelly]

10. I like my son's 6'-4" approach

"Fuck you! Get back in there and get me a better deal!"




...and he's going with me to do a trade-in for a new vehicle...

[ThomCat]

14. It's crazy the way some salespeople will let their

poor snap-judgements and their arrogance get in the way of a sale.

I'd take that new car to that shitty dealership and let them know you paid cash, and let them know why they didn't get the sale.

[Midlodemocrat]

16. If I were going to buy from a dealer, I would have to go to

Dominion. My friend is the general manager out at Short Pump.

I just got Cait a 2004 Camry LE for $10,000. It's in show room condition and a friend of a friend was selling it and told us that the guy was almost maniacal about upkeep.

[underpants]

17. Went there

really nice guy dealth with us there but they only had about 10 used cars.

HUGE facility for not that many cars. I guess they do a lot of maintenance stuff. They have everything there-Geico and Enterprise right in the facility.

[Midlodemocrat]

18. What did you end up getting?

I hope it was a REALLY big SUV.

[Parche]

19. car

You are awesome, tell them redneck salesmen to go 'cheney' themselves!!!

[Gidney N Cloyd]

20. Half the reason my last two cars were Saturns was just to avoid

this kind of crap.