Do you "car shop" at NIGHT...

[trinacriabob]

I used to do this more often, but still do it every now and then. It's peaceful, though you can't inside the vehicle. Oftentimes, I don't want to drive it, anyway. I can always rent the cars I like.

I thought about asking my C&G friends what they thought of this, after visiting a nearby auto mall last night. Actually, it's one of the larger ones and is arranged around a "ring road." If you enter late at night, there is a security booth and he appears to jot down license plate numbers as you drive in and out. Makes sense, I guess.

I know some of our resident salespeople, Carbiz, Newbiewar, The O.C. and !!!Ted!!! wouldn't appreciate this, but sometimes it kind of cool to "press your thumbs" onto the car's windows and kind of study it with no one around.

Do you do this?

Edited November 18, 2008 by trinacriabob

[Robert Hall]

One of the things I miss about Colorado is that the car dealers were closed on Sundays. Nice way to waste a couple hours on a Sunday morning. I'd occasionally find used cars unlocked on the lot, and sit in them. I remember seeing a row of 6 identical year old pearl white DTSes at one dealer last year.

[DetroitNut90]

The dealers at home all close their lots by parking cars in their entrances on nights and Sundays. That, and the fact that all the dealers are off busy roads without street parking means I couldn't browse if I wanted to.

Dealers up here in York seem much more relaxed. One store up on Carlisle Road says you're free to browse the lots when they're closed.

[vonVeezelsnider]

Only a couple Dealerships (Metro Ford, Stampede Pontiac) don't block themselves off somehow when they're closed... But I do remember going with my family to test drive a 1994 Red/Gray two tone with red interior Chevy Lumina Minivan LS with the 3.8 at some point many many moons ago.

[balthazar]

Once I 'shopped' a full set of hubcaps off a '58 Coupe deVille at night. No worries; it went to the scrap heap soon after...

[MyerShift]

I do this all the time.

It is very nice not to be rushed all the time.

[VenSeattle]

Yes... Yes... & Yes... more so when I was in Dallas, but I still do so on occasions. Sometimes it's the only time you get to spend time with a particular brand without being harassed. Other times, it’s the only time you can spend time with a particular brand without harassing the sales rep

[ocnblu]

I voted "other". Let me splain. I prefer to go on the Sundays during the day. Everything in broad daylight, as it were.

[Robert Hall]

I voted "other". Let me splain. I prefer to go on the Sundays during the day. Everything in broad daylight, as it were.

Yeah, that was my favorite thing to do in Co, as well as Oh and Mi...can't do that here, dealers are open Sundays.

[mustang84]

Always, but I do it on Sunday afternoons. I don't like get hassled by salesmen...I just like looking at them in peace.

[CARBIZ]

It's a common trick for newbies to hang around the lot on Sundays and give out cards... or at least that was the case when there was actually traffic of any kind on dealer lots.

Hey, I've gone to lots when they're closed myself. Nobody hates being bugged by salespeople more than I do. Don't blame us, blame management. When the General Manager sticks his head out of his office once a day and sees one customer out on the lot without 3 guys tagging him/her we hear about it at the next meeting, believe me.

Funny, we were joking around the other day that Service should put bright red stickers on the shoulders of their customers so that these people don't get harassed by a swarm of salespeople in the show room. It's like running the gauntlet, but believe me if the manager sees a customer in the show room or on the lot and we don't have a detailed explanation of who this person is, why they are here, etc. we get in $h!.

You guys gotta know what they teach at training seminars: everyone who walks on the lot (and I do mean EVERY ONE, even if it's a lady pushing a baby stroller on the way to daycare and is cuttign through the lot) is a CUSTOMER. Especially when times are tough, these seminars teach us (and the managers, of course) that the reason sales are down is entirely OUR FAULT. We get told $h! like 93% of customers (but please, good teacher, what exactly is a 'customer?') will buy within a week. That figure alone is total $h! because I can call up 20 people I've talked to in the past couple months and probably half of them still don't have a clue what they are going to do.

Anyway, this wasn't intended to be a rant, but I hate being ambushed by salespeople, whether its on a car lot or at a furniture store. I feel like wearing a T-shirt: Just Leave Me Alone and I Will Find You If I Need Help.

[Cory Wolfe]

Of course. All the time, at that. It's great, especially when I find vehicles that have been left unlocked. It's just so much sneakier to browse at night.

[gm4life]

I do this sometimes and it is nice just not to get bothered. I just enjoy looking.

[!!!TED!!!]

Yes, I do this very often.

Especially to see new arrivals as they come in on late night transport.

BTW, I am not a salesperson. I was for only one month in '03.