Tell your awful dealership experiences here

[Drew Dowdell]

Take off from the thread about Tesla fighting Michigan Dealership laws

 

Tell your tale of dealership bad behavior or poor service.

 

One experience that stands out in my mind - When cross-shopping the 2004 CTS, I visited a Chrysler dealership to look at a 300M (this was before the RWD 300C came out).

 

I had a salesman that didn't know his product at all. He was trying to tell me that the 300M was engineered by Mercedes, and that it at a 3.5 liter supercharged engine. After our test drive, I popped the hood, got out, and made him point to the super charger on the engine. He pointed to the H.O. sticker on the cover and said that meant it was supercharged.

 

After I had settled on the CTS, I went to the dealer where my Oldsmobile was usually serviced. I was around 25, had on ripped jeans and a ball-cap, and was walking into the dealership to pick out the car.  They directed me to the Pontiac or Saturn showroom instead.  I ended up finding the one I wanted online at another dealership and pre-arranging the deal over the phone so I didn't have to deal with the "get out of here kid, ya bother me" type attitude. 

[El Kabong]

By and large my dealer experiences have been good, with one notable exception.

There was a kid in a Central Ontatio Nissan dealership who put me in the drivers seat of a used Cavalier that hadn't been properly inspected on trade-in. I promptly took off for a test drive and upon hitting my first bump on the road veered violently into the next lane. Needless to say, I didn't get that Cavalier. Instead I got a used Contour, which was content to siphon my bank account dry for the next three years.

[Drew Dowdell]

By and large my dealer experiences have been good, with one notable exception.

There was a kid in a Central Ontatio Nissan dealership who put me in the drivers seat of a used Cavalier that hadn't been properly inspected on trade-in. I promptly took off for a test drive and upon hitting my first bump on the road veered violently into the next lane. Needless to say, I didn't get that Cavalier. Instead I got a used Contour, which was content to siphon my bank account dry for the next three years.

 

There were no good choices there.

[El Kabong]

The irony is that the Cavalier's worst aspect was the suspension, which was the Contour's best. No joke-the A-arms up front made the Ford a great handler. It was the rest of that car that was a disaster.

[Scout]

Too many to list. However, at the top would be a salesman, who was unfamiliar with the product he was pushing, asking me if I was trying to take advantage of him. I think that just about says it all.

[ccap41]

Welllllll Before I bought my blue Mach 1 that I have pictures of on here, and I've since sold, I found an orange one up in Iowa on Auto Trader. I went back and forth talking to the dealer about EVERYTHING about the car because that was about a 5 hour drive for me. But the price was great and it was stock,so he told me, and it had pretty low miles for the year, I think it was about 52k miles. Well, I couldn't reiterate more how I wanted pictures of every little detail on the car. I wanted any picture of a scratch and I wanted to make sure it was bone stock. I didn't want to buy a mustang with aftermarket parts assuming the pervious owner would have driven the piss out of it. So, after about two weeks of talking, emailing, and texting I made the trip on a day off of work. I planned to trade in my C350. Well I left at like 5am and got there around 10-1030 and he did have it all cleaned up for me but there were rock chips like you wouldn't believe all over the damn car. I didn't know you could even get rock chips on the rear deck lid and rear C-pillars. They were everywhere. Okay, not too happy about that but if the rest was still good I may have bitten because of how far I drove. It was initially inside and he started it to take it outside and it did not have factory exhaust. I got on the ground and looked.. aftermarket/offroad X-pipe. It didn't bother me an incredible amout because I planned to do that exact thing on my own anyway but the point of me asking all of those questions and asking for any picture of any sctatch or ding was to prevent that. I was so pissed because it really wasn't what he described and portrayed to me. Well, I drove back home in my C350 and pissed off about how $h!ty the dealer was. Then of course as I was thinking it over he continued to try and pressure me saying that I don't want to regret driving all the way here and not taking it back. 

 

One other time a buddy and I were driving home from the mall and we saw a newer gen GTO on the corner of a used lot. We stopped and checked it out and of course a guy walked up to us. We instantly lost interest because it was an automatic and we told the guy that we weren't interested because it wasn't either of us wanted. He tried to sell us that the automatic was better because we can, and I quote, " you can drive and grab titties with the automatic". I will never forget that. Just because we were young(probably 19-20 at the time) he tried to sell us a car like that. I couldn't believe that tactic. Mostly because I know he wouldn't have tried to say that to an older guy but he did because we were young. 

[G. David Felt]

Funniest experience from my point of view when my wife asked me to help a friend of hers buy a new auto. We went to a Toyota dealership to check out the car she was interested in. The sales lady came out and I asked politely about interest rates on financing, any rebates from Toyota, etc. Trying to get my ducks in a row before if needed sitting down to negotiate a buy for this lady. 

 

The sales lady left crying and her manager came out demanding to know why I made her cry, I asked him the same questions and he tried the How much can you afford per month pitch.

 

I ignored his question and asked mine again and he just got angrier that I did not answer his question which he kept asking over and over.

 

I finally asked him how he made money in which he stated that it was obvious by selling cars. My response to him was you need to then listen to the customer and service the customer as the customer is clearly how he makes money, but not from this potential customer. My wife's friend then says lets leave, I need place that has service not pressure. We walked off and left. She ended up buying that day a very nice Contour that she liked from the Ford Dealership who did listen to my questions, answered them all and took care of us. She still has the car to this day and goes in for service from the Ford dealership.

 

Clearly some dealerships know how to listen and service the customer, yet many do not.

[Drew Dowdell]

I hate the "How much are you looking to get your payment to?" question.   Mostly because I usually have financing lined up before I even get in the shower to head out shopping.

[Frisky Dingo]

Can I share my stories of all the terrible customers I've dealt with over the years?

[Drew Dowdell]

Can I share my stories of all the terrible customers I've dealt with over the years?

 

Absolutely!

[Frisky Dingo]

 

Can I share my stories of all the terrible customers I've dealt with over the years?

 

Absolutely!

 

 

Well, damn. I was mostly being facetious and was awaiting a witty response from someone.

[Drew Dowdell]

 

 

Can I share my stories of all the terrible customers I've dealt with over the years?

 

Absolutely!

 

 

Well, damn. I was mostly being facetious and was awaiting a witty response from someone.

 

 

Your experience was in a dealership, right?  It fits no matter which side of the table you're on.

[Frisky Dingo]

I'll start off on you guys' side. What I most frequently see with other salespeople is two big things- 

 

1- Lack of knowledge. This is the most common one, and the one people complain about most. And it's very prevalent. Especially when it comes to product knowledge. The truth is, a lot of guys just don't care. Selling cars for them is 'just another job'. They're not trying to make a career out of it, they're not worried about customer satisfaction, or repeat business. It's just month-to-month for them. The other side of this is, believe it or not, sometimes too much knowledge can HURT you. It probably sounds crazy, but if you know too much, you can overwhelm customers. I started selling cars mainly because I liked cars, and I knew a lot about them, so I thought I'd be good at it. How wrong I was. I knew so much about every model, both my own and the competitors', everyone called me the walking car encyclopedia. So I couldn't figure out why I was only posting average sales. Especially when I saw others who knew way less, who were far less friendly and professional selling a lot more. Some time later, I sat down with a guy who had sold cars for many years, and then gone on to run several successful stores. He told me one of the most helpful things I've ever heard in this business- 80% of customers only care about 20% of the features. I was dumping so much info on people, I was boring them. They got bored, stopped listening, and it kept me from selling them a car. So I started tailoring my presentations to highlight the equipment that people were interested in, and I instantly saw a huge increase in sales. It may hard for you guys to wrap your head around, but 19 out of 20 customers don't give a lick about laptimes, 0-60, or horsepower. That's not to say you shouldn't know those things as a salesperson, but sounding like a press release isn't a good way to sell cars.

 

 

2- They don't know how to negotiate. This one may sound like a good thing for the customer, but it's not. Here's why. A salesperson who knows how to negotiate can sell his manager just as well as he can sell his customer. Not only that, but a lot of salespeople are so soft, they'll take any offer to the guy behind the desk, no matter how unreasonable it is. All that does is prolong the process. If I come out to with numbers on a car that my manger already discounted $2,500 for a quick sale, and you want me to go back and offer 5K less, it ain't happening. I'll look you straight in your eyes and tell you that is an unreasonable number, and I won't waste our time taking it to my manager. There's just no point. If you can't be realistic, I can't sell you a car. If I can't sell you a car, I want you to leave so I can find someone else that I CAN sell a car to. Otherwise, I take your bogus offer to my boss, he laughs, gets mad at me for even coming back with such an absurd number, and refuses to give up the extra 500-750 bucks he may have done, had you only wanted another $1,000. So he tells me to tell you to kick rocks, and neither of us win. Continually throwing out lowball offers may sound like a good idea to get a low price, but trust me when I say it's NOT the best way to do so. 

[G. David Felt]

I have always found it interesting that sales tends to fail to train the basics of successful selling.

 

1) Great the customer, be friendly and open. If they tell you they just want to look, let them look and back off, but watch them.

2) Inquire what they are interested in. LISTEN TO THE CUSTOMER!

3) Trial Close to see if they are interested in moving to a solid buy.

4) Overcome objections, enough facts to satisfy them but not to much to drown them.

5) Take them to the bank with a solid closing deal.

 

I have found when you listen to the customer and address their few needs, you end up moving very close to a closing deal. This allows you to skip or minimize the overcome objections stage.

[Frisky Dingo]

That is very true. By and large, a lot of dealers just throw you to the wolves. If you've never had someone sit down with you and give you some solid one-on-one, you're flying blind. There are simple tricks that experienced people in the business can give that may otherwise take years to figure out on your own.

[oldshurst442]

I havent had too many bad experiences.

 

Its because with me and my experiences:

 

1. I know what I like.

2. I know what I want.

3. I know what I need.

 

(all three things may not necessarily be the same either...)

 

4. I know what I could afford before stepping into a dealership

5. I usually buy more often than not, the top of the line highest trim model (my wife is the opposite...its the base model she chooses)

6. I usually buy, more often than not, a car that is in the showroom or on the lot.

7. And because I do that, the colour, although important, if all else jives, which also helps with the negotiations, unless the colour is really hideous, becomes lees important.

8. I know how to negotiate...and what does that mean?

a. I know how much cars cost...its written on the bloody paper on the windshield

b. I know what cars could be negotiated aggressively on, when in the year to do that and when I do negotiate a price of a vehicle  with a salesman in his office, its because I am buying that car TODAY...

c. I know a good deal when I see one. I dont fall for the 'games', but I dont get any games because the salesguys KNOW im serious...my body language allows them to "close" me...because I allow for negotiations to happen...I dont low ball...I know how low I could go.

I dont go low when a brand new of the year hot model comes out..things like that...

d. I know what a "fair" deal is...and because Im a business guy myself...I own a restaurant, I have the mentality that Im here to buy, he is here to sell, he is here to make money...duh...its a business...

 

And most of the time...things go smoooooothly....

 

 

There was only two times when things did not go well, both times happened in 1999 when I was 26 years old...

 

long story short

Jeep dealership.

I walk in...I sit inside a Grand Cherokee...I want....Ill buy.

Salesman walks to me while Im sitting inside the Jeep.

 

-  "She is nice, isnt she?" he says to me...yes in English, yes in a southern drawl, keep in mind this is Montreal...

> "sure is" I respond...innocently as I did not know where he was going with this.

> "How much is this particular model gonna set ME back"  I says to him while also acknowledging to him there is no transaction bill anywhere in the vehicle..

- he blurts out a number which I dont remember now...and this: "and maybe one day, you could afford something like this"

> I get out of the Jeep,close the door very slowly like, I let the door touch the latch and gently push on the window sill to close it while telling him nonchalantly "well, sir, that day is today, too bad for you, you wont be selling this Jeep to me" and I leave. 

 

 

The other time was, later that week at a Toyota dealership.

My business partner knew this Toyota salesman, my business partner is also 6 years older than I...anyhoo, he told me to go see this guy...I did with my 26 year old cousin....we were both  looking to get a 4Runner.

Well, same story there, did not take us seriously...and we were 26 years old...granted...we both still looked like we were 19 year olds at that point in time...there is no reason for that...anyhoo, I told my partner what a jackass he was, he called hil to tell him off. He did tell him off, he begged him to tell us to come back...and we would get a fantastic deal....

 

I later went to another dealership to look at a Solara...I ended up buying a 1999 Olds Alero and my cousin traded in his 1994 Integra Special Edition for a 1999 Acura Integra GS-R.

[regfootball]

I'll start off on you guys' side. What I most frequently see with other salespeople is two big things- 

 

1- Lack of knowledge. This is the most common one, and the one people complain about most. And it's very prevalent. Especially when it comes to product knowledge. The truth is, a lot of guys just don't care. Selling cars for them is 'just another job'. They're not trying to make a career out of it, they're not worried about customer satisfaction, or repeat business. It's just month-to-month for them. The other side of this is, believe it or not, sometimes too much knowledge can HURT you. It probably sounds crazy, but if you know too much, you can overwhelm customers. I started selling cars mainly because I liked cars, and I knew a lot about them, so I thought I'd be good at it. How wrong I was. I knew so much about every model, both my own and the competitors', everyone called me the walking car encyclopedia. So I couldn't figure out why I was only posting average sales. Especially when I saw others who knew way less, who were far less friendly and professional selling a lot more. Some time later, I sat down with a guy who had sold cars for many years, and then gone on to run several successful stores. He told me one of the most helpful things I've ever heard in this business- 80% of customers only care about 20% of the features. I was dumping so much info on people, I was boring them. They got bored, stopped listening, and it kept me from selling them a car. So I started tailoring my presentations to highlight the equipment that people were interested in, and I instantly saw a huge increase in sales. It may hard for you guys to wrap your head around, but 19 out of 20 customers don't give a lick about laptimes, 0-60, or horsepower. That's not to say you shouldn't know those things as a salesperson, but sounding like a press release isn't a good way to sell cars.

 

 

2- They don't know how to negotiate. This one may sound like a good thing for the customer, but it's not. Here's why. A salesperson who knows how to negotiate can sell his manager just as well as he can sell his customer. Not only that, but a lot of salespeople are so soft, they'll take any offer to the guy behind the desk, no matter how unreasonable it is. All that does is prolong the process. If I come out to with numbers on a car that my manger already discounted $2,500 for a quick sale, and you want me to go back and offer 5K less, it ain't happening. I'll look you straight in your eyes and tell you that is an unreasonable number, and I won't waste our time taking it to my manager. There's just no point. If you can't be realistic, I can't sell you a car. If I can't sell you a car, I want you to leave so I can find someone else that I CAN sell a car to. Otherwise, I take your bogus offer to my boss, he laughs, gets mad at me for even coming back with such an absurd number, and refuses to give up the extra 500-750 bucks he may have done, had you only wanted another $1,000. So he tells me to tell you to kick rocks, and neither of us win. Continually throwing out lowball offers may sound like a good idea to get a low price, but trust me when I say it's NOT the best way to do so. 

I was like you in item 1.  They told me I knew too much about the product, basically the same things you said.  You can't go too deep into features and specs.  But its amazing how many people get wided eyed at stupid sht like how the rear seat folds down, etc.

 

Most folks selling really are just getting by day to day in so many aspects as possible.  If car sales folks were making 70k a year instead of half that YOU bet your customer service would go up.  Nothing bad about it, just the way it is.

[FAPTurbo]

Selling manufacturer direct won't save the consumer any money. And you won't get an improvement in sales or service customer service.

What is that value dealerships offer?

SERVICE!

 

Source: http://jalopnik.com/dealership-totals-customers-camaro-zl1-owner-and-deal-1498804012

[ocnblu]

Anecdotal at best.

[oldshurst442]

Anecdotal at best.

Well...THIS thread is all about the anecdote, so...pay attention boy...

 

Great kid, but he doesnt listen...

[regfootball]

that happens every day

[Drew Dowdell]

Anecdotal at best.

 

Welcome to the Anecdote thread....

[El Kabong]

Ok, that's a pretty good burn, right there.

[Suaviloquent]

Ah I love to plug n' play my reaction. Thank you Thursday!!!