The joy of buying a car

[cabmandone]

My daughter decided it was time for a new car. Saturday she drove a new Crosstrek and absolutely loved it. She told the salesman (Salesman A going forward) I'd be helping negotiate a price on the car. Salesman is cool with that, not that it mattered.

Monday I email salesman A letting them know I prefer to get three or four quotes from dealers and the best deal gets my money. The salesman expressed some concern that he didn't want to lose a deal over $100. I told them that would not happen. In my mind it would take more than $500 for me to go elsewhere simply because the salesman had some time involved and I appreciated that. Salesman A told me that if I brought a deal in that he'd try to match it. I said "that's not going to happen" because I don't believe that's fair to the other dealers who gave me their best price without needing to see any other offers. I explained to each of the three other dealers how I was going about things and asked if they'd be interested in providing a quote with the understanding that I was going to be buying a car by the end of the day. Each of the three I reached out to were good with that and naturally a few offered to match any deal if I'd show them the deal to which I said, "you're not giving me your best number if you can match a lower deal so no, we're not doing that"

Before noon, I've got four offers in hand. I reached out to each whose offer was too high letting them know I appreciated their help but that their offer was higher than the dealer I went with. One went high pressure and tried to say that the other dealer was somehow putting the screws to me and that there's no way another dealer beat their deal... yeah I love that tactic. One thanked me for giving them the opportunity to quote a car.

For salesman A, I gave him more information on the deal we went with because I knew going in he was concerned about losing the deal over a small amount. I told them the second best was $312 less than his offer with the best being a somewhat significant amount better than that (The best offer was $800 lower). Salesman A says "I would have matched that deal" about the $312 offer. I told him that he'd have still be second best and that if he could have matched the second best offer that he wasn't providing his best offer up front. Then he says I ultimately cost my daughter money because he would have provided extended warranty at dealer cost AND that she'd HAVE TO take the car elsewhere for service. I finally told him that I understand he's upset over losing the deal but that ultimately he cost himself the sale by not providing his best offer up front.

My daughter told me he text her and seemed really upset. He told her the same thing he did me, that she'd have to bring the car elsewhere for service. She said when they met on Saturday he was very pleasant. I told her, now you got to see the real person. Good lesson in life. Everyone is pleasant for the most part until things don't go their way. The truly good people don't change. I told her, I hate losing a deal as much if not more than anyone but I'd never say something to a person to make them not want to come back in the future. Maybe I should have explained that to Salesman A.

Anyhow.. my daughter got her new car and a little lesson in life without having to deal with the joy of buying a new car.

If ya wanna hear a real good one... ask me about the joy of buying a home! I got to help my son negotiate the purchase of his first home back in March..

[Arizona_928]

Some people take business personally…. It’s only business

[cabmandone]

Originally Posted by Arizona_928

Some people take business personally…. It’s only business

That's the thing I thought was most strange. Being in sales, I know I'm not going to get every deal. I know I'm going to, and have many times, spend time with a customer helping them make an informed buying decision only to have them buy somewhere else. Such is life in sales.

How's my 350 doing? Still living the easy life?

[Steve Carlton]

Salesman A is lying about having to go somewhere else to service the car.

[GH85Carrera]

Back in 2017 when my wife decided she wanted a new car, she had the wants for a new Macan. The used prices were just a tiny bit below the new prices. She went to the Porsche web site and "built" her car. Just the options she wanted, and the colors she wanted. Porsche spits out a MSRP for that.

I am a member of USAA. They have a car buying program. Our local dealer does not participate, but twoo dealers in Dallas Fort Worth area do. They both came back with virtually the same price, a several grand below MSRP. I printed out the lowest one, and we walked into our dealership. I told them we have thiis firm offer, will you match it? He talked too the manager and they said yes.

That saved us a few hours of driving. We put down the down payment and he Macan arrived a few months later. My wife got just the car she wanted, and at the best price. Easy.

We sold her old Infinity G35x to in a private sale and it was not part of the negotiations.

[cabmandone]

Originally Posted by Steve Carlton

Salesman A is lying about having to go somewhere else to service the car.

I know. The service manager would probably slap him silly if they knew he said that. I bought a new Toyota up in Canton that is serviced in Lima. Do I expect to be first on the list of things to get done when I bring it there? Nope!

Originally Posted by GH85Carrera

They both came back with virtually the same price, a several grand below MSRP..

That was the most surprising part of this. I really thought each would be pretty close to the other. The highest priced quote was almost $2000 more than the lowest priced. That guy asked me how far off he was. Since I told the lowest price dealer we had a deal, I shared with the salesman how far off they were. The funny thing is, this guy started out telling me how they only mark up cars by $1500 and that he only makes about $200 per car. For some reason I had a feeling his quote was going to be the highest.

[fastfredracing]

Eminem struggles with new purchases also.

[berettafan]

I used to want to sell cars. Not because i'm a salesman but because i love cars. Figured i'd be so good at it because with two exceptions every car salesman i've met is useless. I think now i understand just how horrible a job that must be and this explains why it attracts some miserable people.

We recently bought a third car with the idea my daughter (or son) might eventually be driving it. Wife thought the Crosstrek was about as perfect as it could get. Particularly the off road version. Pretty sensible cars for sure.

[Scott Douglas]

I tried my hand at selling cars when I was laid off back in '92 from aerospace industry.
Went thru basic training at one dealer where they started out by saying everyone that walks onto the lot has $800 of your money in their pocket.
Ended up at an Acura dealer who liked my mechanical background and decided to give me a go when I described how I'd treat customers.
They ended up being no better than the rest of them when it came down to closing what would have been my first sale. I walked in the next day and quit after telling the sales manager why he wasn't able to sell the customer a car the night before. Customer was going to Europe for a month and didn't want a new car sitting in his garage while he was gone. Sales manager asked how I knew that and I told him because I talked with the customer not at them. I think the customer had a lot of fun the night before as he was trying to get the car with no down, no security payment, just a signature and let me take the car home. Of course they couldn't do that but he had fun trying to get them to do it, full well knowing he wasn't buying that night.

[creaturecat]

buyers are liars - a much-used term in the car industry. ........ it's a two way street.

[Dantilla]

Originally Posted by creaturecat

........ it's a two way street.

Buying from dealers got more fun when I figured out the psychological techniques they use work both ways.
But I have one big advantage- My paycheck does not rely on closing this deal.

[cabmandone]

Originally Posted by creaturecat

buyers are liars - a much-used term in the car industry. ........ it's a two way street.

I've been involved in sales in one way or another for about 30 years.
In my case, I wasn't asking anyone to adjust their price. I simply reached out to thank them for their time. This buyer is not a liar.

I could tell ya a story or three about my experience with buyers. That's partly why I do business the way I do when I'm buying a vehicle. I absolutely hate wasting my time with the "let me bring this offer to my manager" nonsense. My absolute favorite from a salesperson was "can you write a check to accompany your offer to let the manager know you're serious?" My reply... I'm outta here. Drove a new car I bought a few hours later onto that dealers lot, found the salesman and said "Yeah I was serious" I hate wasting time doing things I really don't enjoy. If I'm gonna waste my time it's going to be doing things I like doing.

[stevej37]

[Steve Carlton]

[masraum]

Buying a car sucks! Dealers, what a PITA. Actually, buying my boxster wasn't too bad. I found it online, emailed/called back and forth with a guy a couple/few times. I made an appt and the missus and I flew into Dallas. I told the guy that I'd buy it as long as it was as it seemed when I got there and drove it. Bought it and drove home. Fairly easy.

When we bought the wife's Outback a few years ago, everything was good, then we got the bill and they'd added "$1500 reconditioning fee". NFW! "but we've got to fix things to sell the vehicle". Yep. That's part of the price, not an add on. They eventually dropped it.

[1990C4S]

The sales guy doesn't like you because you made his life too hard.

Most people don't shop elsewhere, don't negotiate very hard, or come back to him with a 'match this' number.

He played his game and lost, he needs to get over it, not make an enemy.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by Steve Carlton

Salesman A is lying about having to go somewhere else to service the car.

That's the silliest thing I've ever heard. It seems almost unanimous that dealers make most of their money from service and parts. I don't think they'd cut off a leg because you clipped their toenails.

I suspect being a car salesman sucks and is really stressful. I'm also pretty sure that the salesman is getting it from both ends. I'm sure that the dealership is trying to keep from paying him, and the customers are doing the same (by getting a low price). He probably feels like a Chinese finger cuff.

Still, talking smack isn't going to do him any favors.

[pwd72s]

Originally Posted by cabmandone

I've been involved in sales in one way or another for about 30 years.
In my case, I wasn't asking anyone to adjust their price. I simply reached out to thank them for their time. This buyer is not a liar.

I could tell ya a story or three about my experience with buyers. That's partly why I do business the way I do when I'm buying a vehicle. I absolutely hate wasting my time with the "let me bring this offer to my manager" nonsense. My absolute favorite from a salesperson was "can you write a check to accompany your offer to let the manager know you're serious?" My reply... I'm outta here. Drove a new car I bought a few hours later onto that dealers lot, found the salesman and said "Yeah I was serious" I hate wasting time doing things I really don't enjoy. If I'm gonna waste my time it's going to be doing things I like doing.

I found quite the opposite...the Ford dealer was disappointed when I turned down the finance offer & wrote the one payment check. Ditto the Toyota dealer.

[Reg]

You might just have to let them think they’re pulling the strings. They don’t want you to pull the strings. Play their game if they won’t play yours and then counter their price/walk if you don’t like it.

What is point of going back the next day to show them you were serious with some other dealers car sale is nothing to them.

If they won’t service a car bought elsewhere call the head office and complain.

[porsche930dude]