Annoyed

[stratman]

Who do you guys find more annoying: car salesmen or audio salesmen? I'm tending to lean to the car guys. This past weekend I went to check out the new Infiniti G37 Coupe with the prospect of buying one (I'm an Infiniti owner so I'm very aware of the specs and models), I go in to talk to the manager (whom I know personally), but he was out to lunch, I turned around to head into the main show-floor when a glad-hand, pearly toothed shark of a salesman starts doing the classic circling-in-on-the prey move, I preemptively shot toward him and said "I know the details of the car, I know the colors, specs and performance numbers....what I want is a good deal, I'm a client and my wife and I own Infinities, so if we're going to talk we're going to talk REAL numbers, furthermore the manager is out to lunch so I don't want to hear the "let me clear it with my manager routine," this was said tactically and politely. He looked at me as if I was from Mars and said, "well the the G37 is very exclusive (lie) and we don't give discounts on those right now (lie), but if you give me your phone number I'll give you a call when the discounts start." I told him that I knew the manager, he's friend from long ago and that I'll deal with him directly, his demeanor suddenly changed when I told him, "I came to buy, not waste my time." Then I realized how much this experience reminded me of the high-end audio boutiques and the oft employed high-brow shmucks that plague that segment of the industry. I walked away with such a bitter taste that I think I just might pass up on the G and look somewhere else, in the meantime my friend the manager has been calling twice a day to get me back to the showroom. As lousy as the auto industry is doing you figure these guys would bend over backward and work with prospects, same for the CE industry. A few months ago some of the company big shots at Pioneer and Sony were saying that flat screens wouldn't be down marked as much as last year, well they've been proved wrong, just look at the plummeting prices. Just a rant.

 

[Sheep]

I understand you know the manager and all, but a price is a price. They're not at fault for NOT giving you a discount.

SheepStar

 

[mazersteven]

I told him that I knew the manager, he's friend from long ago and that I'll deal with him directly

Why didn't you just tell him this from the beginning? Tell him you would wait till he returned or you would return later that day?

Why get into the "I know this, and I know that" routine?

 

[Adam]

I hear ya. Dealing with sales people annoys me, too. I don't like to haggle, I don't like to bargain...I don't like that game at all. I just want to be able to go in and get a fair price. If I know what that price is (which I will before I go), I don't want to deal with having to talk them into giving it to me. However, I know that's not how it works most places - they want to get as much as they can, and I can't blame them. That's why I love the internet - a source of knowledge (specs, pricing), and often times a source of several retailers.

Odds are that the slick salesman was instructed to tell people those lies, perhaps by your friend, perhaps by corporate. Unless those cars are selling well, he'd have no good reason to fend off a customer by making up stuff like that.

However, that said, if you like the car and your friend will give you the deal that you want, maybe you should go for it. The experience is off-putting, but I have yet to go to a car dealership and not run into that, so the only difference someplace else is that you (probably) don't know a manager.

Good luck with it all!

 

[mazersteven]

As lousy as the auto industry is doing you figure these guys would bend over backward and work with prospects

And as lousy as the auto industry is and as bad as sale are. If I was the salesperson. I would have bent you over backward and kicked your arse out the door.

 

[Rickster71]

I'd have to agree with you about car salesmen.

I've never paid MSRP for a car, and never will.

The price is never the price.(for Sheep)
The price on a car window sticker is 'Suggested Retail' set by the auto manufacturer.
Dealerships are free to sell vehicles at whatever price they want.

 

[Warpdrv]

This is a good reason that I will never buy another new car ever...
I'll buy one with 10,000 miles on it, and let someone else take it up the @SS...

My buddy just went into the Chevy dealer, looking to get out of his Ram Truck, and into a Tahoe... he got a last years model with 10K miles for 31K and the new ones were starting at 41K... Blah...

I haven't had a car payment for 8 years..

I work around brand new cars all day long, I own a Car Wash, Service Station, Gas Station, in a high end neighborhood, so I see every new car out there all day long.. Nice, but people really get raped on new cars day in and day out.

 

[MDS]

I don't think salesman are necessarily trained to lie or give false or misleading answers although there are some that are just plain shady. If you were negotiating (for anything) you wouldn't put all your cards on the table right away. However, I think it does lead some salesman to try to take advantage of the unsuspecting, especially those that have done zero research and are not aware of comparable pricing elsewhere or have no understanding of financing.

When I was a college student I went with a friend of mine to a used car dealership. He wanted to buy a Firebird that was $4,000. The salesman told him he would need to put 10% down and could write the check directly to him (because it would be his 'commission' anyway). When I saw the financing paperwork he had put the finance amount as $4K - NOT $3600 as it should have been. My friend wouldn't have even noticed.

Another dealer tried to do something similar to my mom. She was going to buy a new Chevy Cobalt and it had a $700 rebate. The guy made the financing on the whole amount and then subtracted the $700 so it looked like she was getting the rebate because the final price on the paperwork was $700 less than the stated price. In reality there was no rebate and she would be paying that $700 plus finance charges on that amount. Those kinds of people get under my skin.

I am not an impulse buyer and when the salesman inevitably says 'what will it take for you to buy this today?', I say there is nothing that will make me buy it this instant and I walk away just like Stratman.

 

[mazersteven]

Another dealer tried to do something similar to my mom. She was going to buy a new Chevy Cobalt and it had a $700 rebate. The guy made the financing on the whole amount and then subtracted the $700 so it looked like she was getting the rebate because the final price on the paperwork was $700 less than the stated price. In reality there was no rebate and she would be paying that $700 plus finance charges on that amount. Those kinds of people get under my skin.

I don't understand this one here. If a manufacturer has a "consumer rebate", and the dealership does not give the consumer the rebate. The manufacturer will charge back the dealership the amount of that rebate, and mail a check to the purchaser.

 

[Seth=L]

Typically car salesmen are more annoying because cars are typically more expensive. Also the sale of a car is far more likely than selling 20,000 or more in audio/video gear (this might be why there are more cars and car dealerships than there are high dollar audio/video gear and stores to buy them)

 

[mtrycrafts]

Who do you guys find more annoying: car salesmen or audio salesmen? I'm tending to lean to the car guys. This past weekend I went to check out the new Infiniti G37 Coupe with the prospect of buying one (I'm an Infiniti owner so I'm very aware of the specs and models), I go in to talk to the manager (whom I know personally), but he was out to lunch, I turned around to head into the main show-floor when a glad-hand, pearly toothed shark of a salesman starts doing the classic circling-in-on-the prey move, I preemptively shot toward him and said "I know the details of the car, I know the colors, specs and performance numbers....what I want is a good deal, I'm a client and my wife and I own Infinities, so if we're going to talk we're going to talk REAL numbers, furthermore the manager is out to lunch so I don't want to hear the "let me clear it with my manager routine," this was said tactically and politely. He looked at me as if I was from Mars and said, "well the the G37 is very exclusive (lie) and we don't give discounts on those right now (lie), but if you give me your phone number I'll give you a call when the discounts start." I told him that I knew the manager, he's friend from long ago and that I'll deal with him directly, his demeanor suddenly changed when I told him, "I came to buy, not waste my time." Then I realized how much this experience reminded me of the high-end audio boutiques and the oft employed high-brow shmucks that plague that segment of the industry. I walked away with such a bitter taste that I think I just might pass up on the G and look somewhere else, in the meantime my friend the manager has been calling twice a day to get me back to the showroom. As lousy as the auto industry is doing you figure these guys would bend over backward and work with prospects, same for the CE industry. A few months ago some of the company big shots at Pioneer and Sony were saying that flat screens wouldn't be down marked as much as last year, well they've been proved wrong, just look at the plummeting prices. Just a rant.

Not a good experience.

Why not contact Consumer Reports and get their pricing report. Invoice is not what the dealer pays. There are hold backs and other incentives. And, with the internet today, you don't need to buy close to home. a Great deal is worth a bit of travel.
If you are a Costco member, that gets a discount deal too but I got better one in 96 on a Avalon.

 

[mazersteven]

Not a good experience.

Why not contact Consumer Reports and get their pricing report. Invoice is not what the dealer pays. There are hold backs and other incentives.

Please share your extensive knowledge on how you've come up with this information, that invoice is not what the dealer pays?

 

[MDS]

How can a dealership sell a car for $1 over invoice? Because of hold backs and other incentives like mtyrcrafts mentioned.

 

[mazersteven]

How can a dealership sell a car for $1 over invoice? Because of hold backs and other incentives like mtyrcrafts mentioned.

That is not the reason. And do you think the dealer wants to sell a car at $1 over? Give me a break.

 

[majorloser]

Boy, I can't wait to get into this mess next month when I go buy an Infiniti EX35.
I hate dealing with sales holes

 

[mazersteven]

I hate dealing with sales holes

I knew you would add fuel to the fire. LOL

 

[stratman]

I've never paid msrp on a car, ever. The average you get off is 10-15%, if the car is a dog and its the end of the month maybe, 20%. I just talked to my friend over at Infiniti, he told me the guy is a new salesman and bit of an eager beaver. G37s aren't moving as fast as they thought, they're a bit over priced for what they offer (the design is getting a bit dated,) I told him I'll go in tomorrow and do a test drive. Now I'm also going to look at the beemer 335 coupe (as a backup), a car that I would never have considered. By the way Mazer when you have a client that's bought 4 cars from you and brings in other sales its not smart to kick him in the arse.

 

[mazersteven]

I've never paid msrp on a car, ever. The average you get off is 10-15%, if the car is a dog and its the end of the month maybe, 20%.

By the way Mazer when you have a client that's bought 4 cars from you and brings in other sales its not smart to kick him in the arse.

10%-20% off O BROTHER

Maybe if the car has a $3000-$5000 manufacturers rebate

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Yk7pwi_RjI

 

[jake5717]

I've only bought 1 new car in my life. I bought a Scion TC right when they came out so they were hard to get with all the options (or no options in my case), dealers would throw on 18" rims, spoilers, neon lights and jack up the price. Finally after going to like 4 dealers and getting the run around I went to my banks auto sales division Autoland I think. I told the guy the car I wanted, the color I wanted and the options I wanted. The guy from the bank called back the next day with my car waiting for me at the bank at a price that was like $7k less than the other dealers. Boy did I luck out!

If you know what you want you might want to see if your bank offers something similar, it was a very pleasant experience!

 

[mazersteven]

I've only bought 1 new car in my life. I bought a Scion TC right when they came out so they were hard to get with all the options (or no options in my case), dealers would throw on 18" rims, spoilers, neon lights and jack up the price. Finally after going to like 4 dealers and getting the run around I went to my banks auto sales division Autoland I think. I told the guy the car I wanted, the color I wanted and the options I wanted. The guy from the bank called back the next day with my car waiting for me at the bank at a price that was like $7k less than the other dealers. Boy did I luck out!

Are you saying you received $7K off MSRP on a Scion TC?

I'll call that one. I'm all in.