"Fight" at the car dealership

[trinacriabob]

You're out of town and you're bored....or actually interested....in CARS. So you go down to the local car dealership that has the brands you like to look around. Am I the only one that does this? I hope not.

Well, when I do, I always preface any approach with "I'm not local...not from the area. I'm just looking." This way, they don't "invest" their time in me.

This weekend, I went out of town in a rental car. I see a B-P-GMC dealer and decide to stop to peruse the inventory, seeing there were some GPs and LaXs. I was dressed in shorts, t-shirt and sandals and, as the salesman approached, I said "I'm not from the area. I'm just looking around."

So, I proceeded to look around and sit in a few cars. He came by again and asked me where I was from. I told him and, figuring it was about 150 miles away, he said "How'd you like to drive home in a brand new car?" I absof@#kinglutely hate that, having had that happen 3 or 4 times. Every time this has happened, it was a less than professional type of salesman...kind of a slickster, if you will. You tell them you're not from the area, you are dressed like crap and "on vacation," you have no pad or calculator on you....c'mon, how many people would consummate such a purchase far from home unless they have seen the car on the GM website "Find a car"?

I was probably a jerk and said "No, I don't impulse buy a big ticket item...that's how 'low-life' buys a car." He was fuming. Yes I was a rude jerk in return, but I intensely hate that approach, being so methodical about home and car purchases, as I'm sure many C&Gers are, knowing quite a bit about cars.

With all due respect to the other auto salespeople on the site like Carbiz and others, I personally like to work with the informed low-pressure salesman who helps me buy a car. Once I've done my shopping, I think about who was the most informative and least pushy...that's who I want to have earn the commission. Have any of you had any similar scrapes at an auto dealership?

[Ravenfreak13]

Wow, that's rediculous. At Town & Country all they ask is "Can I help you" You say "no thanks, just looking" and they say "Ok, ask if you need anything" and walk away.

I absolutelly hate when salesman follow you around the lot trying to be hidden.

[Drew Dowdell]

I usually just say, "I'm just here waiting for my car to be serviced" and they leave me alone

[toesuf94]

Sadly, you are not alone...I even go so far as to peruse junk yards when the time allows and I am in a relatively rust free area of the country...and I always cruise the lots when I am out of town. And I also hate it when salespeople get pushy, jog after your car as you drive the rows.

I know you hate how they act...but do as I have done; make a game of it! See how far they will chase you on the lot. I love this on particularly hot or rainy days. They give this great look of disdain when they reach the car and get my " no thanks, just looking!" Makes it kind of fun.

I only deal with places that do not have the buzzards lined up out front. If I get chased in the lot, I leave. Simple as that. Add to that the fact that I know more about the product than most of the idiots there, and I really don't have time to talk with them anyway.

[GMTruckGuy74]

I usually just say, "I'm just here waiting for my car to be serviced" and they leave me alone

+1

It's easy to browse the lots when you take your car in for service. I don't have as much free time as I did a couple of years ago to window shop, so I take advantage when I take the vehicles in for servicing.

[Cory Wolfe]

Generally, I say "I'm just looking" and they leave me alone. Sometimes, they'll talk to me... It's not the end of the world though.

[trinacriabob]

Generally, I say "I'm just looking" and they leave me alone. Sometimes, they'll talk to me... It's not the end of the world though.

That's the way it should be. I was on vacation in Canada (the province of Alberta) once and stopped in at a Chevy dealer. I couldn't believe what a gentleman the salesman was. Very courteous and informative -- he knew I was from the States, and still was interested in telling me about various products and features, as well as talking a little bit about...you know....US/Canada similarities and differences. If I lived in Alberta, I would have bought a car from him in a heartbeat.

[Intrepidation]

I've only browsed at one dealer, my local Dodge dealer, which is always a pleasant experience. I'm sorta friends with on of the salesman, who let me take that Avenger R/T for a spin.

I actually wanna go to the local Chrysler/Jeep dealership this week and take a look at what they've got...maybe the Ford dealer too. I'm not sure where any within-a-few-miles GM dealers are besides the General GM is (which only sells light and medium duty trucks).

While we're on the subject...how do you get them to let you test drive a car, especially if you're "just looking"?

[Paolino]

I usually just say, "I'm just here waiting to be serviced" and they leave me alone

There, fixed it for you. :AH-HA_wink:

[aaaantoine]

I've only browsed at one dealer, my local Dodge dealer, which is always a pleasant experience. I'm sorta friends with on of the salesman, who let me take that Avenger R/T for a spin.

I actually wanna go to the local Chrysler/Jeep dealership this week and take a look at what they've got...maybe the Ford dealer too. I'm not sure where any within-a-few-miles GM dealers are besides the General GM is (which only sells light and medium duty trucks).

While we're on the subject...how do you get them to let you test drive a car, especially if you're "just looking"?

If you tell the dealer that you intend to buy down the road, and if that dealer is courteous enough, they should allow you to test drive whatever you'd like -- provided they get a copy of your license.

Think about it. If they don't let you test drive their car, what are your chances of ever going back to that dealership?

[regfootball]

THEY USUALLY STOP BUGGING ME AFTER I MICHAEL DOUGLAS THEM 13-14 TIMES WITH THE LEAD PIPE.

[siegen]

The best salesmen are the ones who answer any and every question with a pre-rehearsed speech followed by an attempt to get you inside the dealership and start working up possible finance options, before you've even looked at a vehicle or sat in one. Oh yeah... those are the best.

[capriceman]

I had a interesting fight when a Spun a bearing and burnt a clutch on a 02 Camaro ss on a "test drive"......

But yes I was in a dealership several times to buy a car with cash in my hand and I have walked out because of being pushed.

[Justin Bimmer]

I usually just say, "I'm just here waiting for my car to be serviced" and they leave me alone

This doesn't always work either. When I was traveling with a company and we had two brand new Dodge Ram diesels, we would take them in to get serviced at the dealer cause they were the only place that would work on the trucks. SalesPEOPLE (yes women too) would encourage me to trade the truck in TODAY and drive off with a new one even after I a) told them what it was, which obviously made it a speciality work vehicle b) told them that it was not even a year old and had very few miles on it c) then they would see the truck with the work logo on the truck and still ask me then FINALLY I would say to them "Look, let me get out the COLLECTION of service cards that I have from all the dealers across the country I have HAD to visit with this POS truck so far in 12,000 miles." They would finally walk away....

[Screaming Trees]

At my local GMC dealer.

back in 2005 during the "Employee discount for everyone" promo. I was looking at an '05 Sierra and I was trying to figure out my finances, the only thing I wasn't sure on was my insurance. I told the sales lady that I wanted to wait and talk to my insurance company first. It was late and they were closed already. I guess she told the sales manager about it, and he proceedes to walk over and throw a phone book at me and basically orders me to call my insurance company. I told him they were closed as he flipped pages.

Me: Look my insurance company is closed, its late

Him: They have to have a 24hr line you need to call

Me: I'll call tomorrow

Him: I can't hold any vehicles over. I can't hold this truck for you. I got people buying

Me: Did I ask you to hold anything for me? Did those words come out of my mouth? NO!

Him: I can't hold-

Me: I don't care. I guess me and my money will go elsewhere

I walked out of the dealership and went on home. The sales lady called me the next morning and told me that I needed to hurry up and get there to buy the truck. I told her I wasn't buying the truck because the sales manager was a pushy over bearing douchebag and that killed the deal. I also said that my money will spend well elsewhere.

The local area dealerships suck. If you want a good deal around here you got to go out of town. I did three times.

One of the best dealerships as far as people go was the local Dodge dealership. I was going to go there to buy a truck but I went after the orginial owner sold out to Douchebags INC. So I bought my Ram at a dealership 40 some miles away. I also traveled for both of my Chevy's. I bought both from the same dealer.

[AxelTheRed]

About a year ago, when I still had my beat-up Oldsmobile, I used to paruse used car lots to see what kind of cars exactly were in my price range.

Well, my Oldsmobile was rusty, had a broken headlight, a huge goddamn dent on the driver's side from when it was t-boned by a truck and had a symphony of squeaks and rattles to it...needless to say, whenever I got out of the car at a dealership, salespeople would practically run out and greet me.

[ocnblu]

Bob, you are such a master baiter. Why does it seem like you were looking for a fight? Yes, pushy salesdudes can be annoying, but your "smackdown" was overkill. A simple smile and a firm "just looking", repeated for emphasis, would have sufficed.

I know when I went to the Toyota dealership to "look" at the Tundra, then insulted the POS to the salesgirl (I posted about it here), I felt so immature afterward, even though I was right... it is the ugliest truck on the market.

[Northstar]

Usually the salespeople around here aren't too bad. When I was looking for a car for m aunt though we were at the Ford dealer to see if they had any Edges, and the salesman ran out waving at us as we were drivin through the lot, said "nice car! are you looking for a new one or is mom?!" We told im we were just looking and proceeded to drive off after he gave us his card. I threw it away at the next stop.

[Oracle of Delphi]

I once had a local dealer come up to my mother-in-law and try to sell her a full conversion van. He was so drunk that he just reeked. I had to tell him about 10 times my mother-in-law was not interested. So he says to me I think she is, to which I replied, she doesn't have a driver's license. I've never ever gone back to that dealership since.

Edited May 30, 2007 by Pontiac Custom-S

[daves87rs]

I've been pretty lucky...most of my local dealerships tend to be pretty good..I've been to a few bad ones, but maybe it is beacuse there are so many dealerships in my area......

[daves87rs]

I once had a local dealer come up to my mother-in-law and try to sell her a full conversion van. He was so drunk that he just reeked. I had to tell him about 10 times my mother-in-law was not interested. So he says to me I think she is, to which I replied, she doesn't have a driver's license. I've never ever gone back to that dealer since.

Wow, just wow.

[red]

Well, I'm in the market...for the first time with a dealership. I'm sure I'll have some stories to tell.

But, under my arsenal lies my sales career and knowledge...so hopefully I won't take things too seriously.

Regarding several of your horror stories, I must say that sales is an art. Persistence is part of that. So is objection handling. But along with that, you've got to truly listen to the customer, be able to read their body language, and learn to back off if you don't see any high impact needs. The latter is important, for you could lose a potential future sale as well as damage the company you're selling for...it's clear that happened to most of you.

[Ravenfreak13]

Our Chrysler dealer had a bbq outside on memorial day and gave out hot dogs and hamburgers. I really believe that we have great dealers around here.

Luckily Chrysler has the 5 star dealer system. If customer satisfaction is above 95%, then they become a 5 star dealer. It's good because you know what dealers will treat you right and which ones to avoid.

[pow]

BMW dealers (or any others that are allocated cars) are generally cool. They know if you don't buy it, someone else will.

[trinacriabob]

Bob, you are such a master baiter. Why does it seem like you were looking for a fight? Yes, pushy salesdudes can be annoying, but your "smackdown" was overkill. A simple smile and a firm "just looking", repeated for emphasis, would have sufficed.

That's not how I like to interact with people; however, it just showed how completely one-sided the transaction was. One is obviously on vacation, dressed like they are going to plop themselves into a lake, with no documents of any kind and they are going to buy a car from this guy? It was about his immediate needs and not my longer-term needs. People like that give salespeople a bad reputation.

I did not feel immature or regret it. I just prefer that people use their common sense and employ more courtesy so it doesn't come to that.

Sidebar: I once got a coupon for an opening night at a new Gold's Gym. They would be having a taco bar. One co-worker who kidded to me that I always stood him up whenever he wanted to go have a drink (he had no clue I was going to school, as I kept it from the office) again said let's go get a drink or something to eat. I said "YES!," we are going to a health club opening for their taco bar and whatever liquids they have. Upon getting there, I was hounded to join (I already belong to 24-Hour Fitness) but I insisted that I had to think about it. They were borderline surly after that. I didn't ask you MOFOs to send me an invitation to your opening.

Edited May 30, 2007 by trinacriabob

[CARBIZ]

I suspect more than a few on this board are professional "shoppers," and think they know all the tricks, but let me assure you: if a veteran salesperson sells 10+ vehicles a month for a career that has spanned, say, 10 years - who would you guess knows more about the buying process and psychology?

There is no pat formula, but no sales professional should ever open with,"Can I help you." Total disaster, as it will only result in the reflex conditioned "Just looking" response.

I truly believe that buying a vehicle has more to do with the personal chemistry between the sales person and the buyer than any other factor. A great salesperson who was fun, personable and knowledgeable could probably sell me a Toyota

I used to haunt dealerships when before I got into the business. Hell, when I was 14 I used to collect brochures up and down Yonge St. Just keep in mind that we are all human beings. You can't imagine the pressure some dealers bring to bare on their staff. Some places with 'up' systems are especially tyrannical: you may have not only blown this guy's chance at an 'up,' but he may get chewed out by the manager for not "turning you over" to the manager.

Damned if you do; damned if you don't. I love it when a customer has been out on the lot for 5 minutes and we have all been busy with other things, then they storm into the show room and demand to know why nobody has time for them.

[76ChevyTrucker]

Here's the only really bad experience I had with a dealership. I went with a friend of mine to the local Mercedes Dealer (her mom's car needed to be taken in for service), so whilst she's getting the MB into the bay and all that paperwork, I'm cruising the lot in my "normal" clothes (shorts, t-shirt, flip-flops if weather permits) and a salesperson walks up to me and asks how I'm doing. I respond cordially with an "I'm fine, just looking around while my friend is having her mom's car serviced" So far, so good, right? Wrong, after that he procedes to ask me what I'm driving, I tell him a '99 Pontiac Grand Am coupe, from that point on I'm treated like toxic waste...he kinda scoffs and says, "If you require assistance, our Pre-owned lot is right over there" and walks off(guess they thought I didn't have the bones to lay down for a nice, new, over-engineered, Mercedes Benz). Anyway, had to leave the car in the bay, as it was late in the afternoon and they wouldn't be able to finish up till the next morning (btw the service guys were OUTSTANDING!).

The next day I come back with her, although this time I'm in a full business suit (had a presentation to give for class that day), and I'm tooling around the lot. The SAME BLOODY salesperson comes out and treats me like I'm a pot of gold.... Needless to say I lit into him like he'd just slapped someone I loved, basically I told him that I was just here yesterday, YES you helped me into NOT EVER buying a vehicle from there in my entire life because when I first came, I was in "less than money" clothes so you treated me like hammered doggy doo. Oh, but let me come in here with a suit and suddenly I'm your best friend. Nah, I'll take my time, money, and vehicles elsewhere.

[Ravenfreak13]

When we went to a PRE OWNED cadillac dealer to look at CTS', the guy asked "What are you driving currently?" So my dad said "A Plymouth Breeze" The guy cracked up. It was kind of insulting.

[aaaantoine]

Maybe he confused it for a Plymouth Horizon.

Or maybe he's just an asshole.

I'm not in the business of selling computers, but when I ask what OS someone's PC is running on and they tell me Windows ME, I immediately offer my condolences.

[Hollingsworth]

My worst dealer experiences have been at the Saab dealership. I don't know what pisses me off more. The fact that they give you condescending looks if you pull in the lot in a 1995 Plymouth Neon, or if the Neon in question is the loaner car they give you when you have your 9-5 SportWagon repaired there.

[A Horse With No Name]

When my buddy Tim bought his Lexus he drove in wearing work clothes (he is an electrician like I am) and driving an ancient Ford Ranger work truck. They informed him (without checking his credit) that there was no way he could afford a lexus and suggested that he go somewhere else to buy a much cheaper car.

He asked to see the sales manager and informed him that he was putting 20k down on a 40k vehicle. Tim got one hell of a deal and one hell of an apology from the sales manager. The saleman that initially greeted him got one of God's own original ass reaming.

Chris

[trinacriabob]

When my buddy Tim bought his Lexus he drove in wearing work clothes (he is an electrician like I am) and driving an ancient Ford Ranger work truck. They informed him (without checking his credit) that there was no way he could afford a lexus and suggested that he go somewhere else to buy a much cheaper car.

There's the absurd pushiness of trying to be lured into buying quite a ways from your home town.

Then there's this one -- the judgment of what you should drive based on what you drove onto the lot or what you are wearing, even worse when accompanied by a smart-ass comment like that.

I encounter the other situation -- I was in Chico, at a Pontiac-Cad-GMC dealer looking at GPs and the salesman was saying he could picture me in an STS, saying that would "fit me" better. Let's see, that's an 18K spread between the base level cars described immediately above. He wasn't pushy, though, as he knew I was from out of town.

[Nick]

This doesn't really have to do with making sales or looking around, but last weekend I needed to change my oil. I stopped by Rusnak Westlake AG (BMW, of course), and like usual their parking situation blows. They have a complimentary valet, but I just had to go in and pick up an oil filter...nothing major.

Across the street is the ford dealership. Their guest parking lot always has spaces, so I generally park in there, cross the street, and I'm back before anyone notices or cares. This time I parked there I noticed a salesperson showing a family an edge kinda close to the guest parking lot. As I parked and hopped out of my car and proceeded to walk across the street, the guy comes chasing after me... "Sir! Sir! You cannot park here, this is Ford guest parking only." I was like, "Dude, look, there's no parking over there, I just need to make a quick run in, and I will be out in a couple minutes." He stated again "You can't park here, your car will be towed!" Finally I was like "Fine! Tow my car! Do you really think you could possibly get a tow truck out here in less than 5 minutes?" He was all "Uh...well...err.....you can't park here." I just laughed and continued on my way.

Needless to say, I came back out a couple minutes later with an oil filter in my hand and nobody around...nobody caring. It wasn't until I came back out and looked at my car that I noticed I was horribly double parked as well...

I got a good laugh at that one.