ruexp67

I was looking at a new truck that had been sitting on the lot for a while.

I looked at the build date (it's in the door jamb, yes on an S2000 too.) Then I looked at the window sticker (which shows the name and address of the dealer it was delivered to.)

I told him how long that truck was on his lot.

He said, well those things get shipped around. It was probably delivered to another dealership first.

I said, it has your NAME on the window sticker.

He still insisted that it was a dealer trade.


I have had dealers tell me if I can find a better deal somewhere, go take it. I have. Then when I bring it back by they are dumbfounded that I bought it somewhere else. I've done that twice. I just say: "Well, you told me to buy it somewhere else, so I did."

Matt, please don't train your guys too well. I enjoy negotiating with people that know less than I do. It usually works to my favor.

Napoleon Dynamite

Sounds like you've got the right idea Matt! It was this approach to sales that had me buying a Saturn as my 2nd car (never had to haggle over a price or any repair in warranty at a Saturn dealership). Of course, my saturn didn't handle quite like the s.

bucsdork99

Brought the S to a dealership for an oil change and to kill time went to the mazda dealership to test drive the rx-8. After the drive, the guy starts talking to us about how "the rx is the only car out there that revs up to 9 RPM's" and "the automatic version has paddle shifting which only ferrari's have"

SgtSaunders

Yeah, I will have to agree with you on that...somewhere in my business travels a wise manager told me "...if you can't add unique, tangible VALUE to a product or service, you are just a commodities peddler...". At that point you must turn a profit by increasing volume. Once you've made that decision you may well be selling pork-bellies.

Once a car shopper has zeroed in on a brand...it comes down to price 90% of the time. The value a dealer can add has become secondary to controlling base costs at the dealership and keeping overhead rock-bottom. To do this the dealers hire the sales-kids on 100% commission and have to build their business around a 95% turnover rate.

It's the decent, knowledgeable salesperson who is being shoved out of the new car sales equation.

But hey, I'm guilty when it comes to shopping around when looking for a new car(or PC, or electronics, or_____). The WWW has turned us all into resident Purchasing Mgrs.

Ooalloems2koO

stupid salesman: nice color vivid blue pearl right??? i was notified that they are going to release S2000 with that color from this year.

meignoring him and walk right into service department)

my car is custom painted long beach blue pearl by the way

thatS2klady

When I bought the S last week, a friend came with me. She asked the dealer about the gas mileage. He says, "it won't get that great of gas mileage because of the turbo, but you can put any grade gas in it." I just look at her while he was saying this shaking my head.....

Traveler

"Those are all just standard parts of the package. We'll only do the parts that apply to your car." And no I don't get a discount if only half the things apply to my car.

Traveler

It almost backfired on the salesman. If I hadn't really wanted the car I would have waited 5 months to get the "Acura S2000".

I also have a stupid customer story. When I wrecked my Rx7 I had a friend of mine drive me around to dealerships while I looked for a replacement. He told one of the salesmen, "He just totaled his car, so he needs something today." So much for my negotiating position.

AsianQing

One time I went to a Honda dealer and the salesman told me that this is a Special Edition S2000. So I played along and said...really, why is that?

He hesitated for a while and said because it's different than other S2000s. I'm like...is it faster? He said yea....

Anyhow to make the long story short. I continued to play along and then at the end I asked for a SE S2000 brochure and dumbass said he ran out. Told me to buy it cuz there are others interested in buying it.

At the end I said..we'll I'll just buy a non SE S2000.

dumb salesman!

Poindexter

So this makes sense, I am a car dealer and Honda is one of the brands we carry.


Just last night I stopped by Starbucks and there sat someone from one of my competitor's stores (another Honda dealer). Who asked what year my car was. I told him 2001 and he was shocked (I guess it is pretty tough to tell what year mine is ) then proceeded to invite me to his store when the 2006 comes out. Apparently the 2006 is a complete redesign with an all new body and suspension set up - he promised me I would like it. He kept trying to sell me on a car nobody outside of Honda has seen yet!

I asked him why he thought Honda would totally redesign a car they just redesigned 2 years prior? He told me he saw pictures on the Internet and it is definitely happening. I argued with him a little more and finally he said: well maybe they're just changing the headlights

I then told him who I am and he stopped trying to sell me.


I've been around the auto business all my life (the dealerships are owned by my family) and have been working within the stores for over 15 years now. I've seen more salespeople come and go than I can even imagine. I estimate that 70% of the salespeople at a dealership are either: less than 6 months on the job or just really bad. The other 30% may not be the best thing in the world, but probably knowledgable or experienced enough to get the job done each month. These folks can also have bad days. There is a statistic in this business: each salesperson is only going to be able to sell 75% of the people they talk to (personality conflicts), so 25% of those people won't buy no matter what they do. 50% of the people a salesperson talks to are so-so on the salesperson (the customer will buy if everything turns out to their liking), leaving only 25% of the customers a salesperson speaks to to hit it off well

My point is, when you are out car shopping there is only 30% of the dealership that is knowledgable/experienced and of that 30% 25% are going to be the ones to make you happy.

These percentages work for anything retail, but when people buy a car, house, or boat it means a whole lot more than buying a VCR, shoes, or a computer.