I am not really a whiner and complainer...

[recycled sixtie]

but I am amazed at how tacky some of these dealerships are. So I go to a non BMW dealership and look at a 2012 BMW X1. I ask the salesman how much longer does the warranty continue. He says two years. I look at the door frame and it shows the car was built in May of 2011. So I am assuming then that is a 2012 model year. I ask the salesman what year it is and he says the vin must be checked. I snoop around and find the service card(that which looks like a credit card enclosed with the manuals). It shows service expires 2015 so basically it has one more year of warranty. What the heck!.

I then go to a BMW dealership and shows me a 2014 X1. It has 20k miles on it. It is the high end and he shows me the info screen. Up pops scheduled maintenance due!
So you would think that the dealership would do the scheduled maintenance before putting it on the lot for sale.

I do not have an MBA but my experience could give a few pointers as to how to sell cars:

Be honest, don't bs me.
Do scheduled mainenance.
Be welcoming and don't be arrogant especially when you have nothing to be arrogant about.

I went to the Lexus dealership to ask about the upcoming the Lexus NX. They were friendly and welcoming. I thought I would check the reviews for these dealerships.
BMW - a lot of 1 or 2 star ratings. Lexus nearly all 5 star ratings.
Cheers, Guy

[mreid]

You assume intelligence in the used car business.

[wildthing]

Outdated but protected by law.

Also some of them think that because they are selling a premium brand, the customers will come in droves.

I am hoping for the time when I can buy a car off Amazon.

[David]

Unfortunately, most people on Pelican are more informed about cars than all car sales people. When I ask them anything about a car I'm looking at, it's purely for my amusement because I'm sure they'll be wrong most of the time.

[Nickshu]

Gosh dealerships can be night and day depending on the "culture". I have cross-shopped two different dealerships where I live for my last two cars (both were different makes). It was amazing how professional the sales staff was at one dealership, while at the other they were so UNprofessional, similar to your experisnce. Both dealers have a "good" reputation in the area and were selling the same car. Amazing.

[pavulon]

Love it most when they tell you what you do and don't want or need...love, love, love that. I love cars but abhor dealing with 90% of people selling them.

[asphaltgambler]

Originally Posted by mreid

You assume intelligence in the used car business.

+1 for sure

[911SauCy]

Originally Posted by David

Unfortunately, most people on Pelican are more informed about cars than all car sales people. When I ask them anything about a car I'm looking at, it's purely for my amusement because I'm sure they'll be wrong most of the time.

ha! I have an acquaintance whose family runs a large dealership, he is dads #1 salesman.

talking a couple weeks ago...he didn't know what a Tesla was

[livi]

Lexus it is then!

[flyenby]

When I bought my lexus....I had the GM ask me if I worked for Lexus and was grading their sales staff. Most of them had very poor knowledge of the product they were selling. I have found this in most car lots.

[rusnak]

Originally Posted by David

Unfortunately, most people on Pelican are more informed about cars than all car sales people. When I ask them anything about a car I'm looking at, it's purely for my amusement because I'm sure they'll be wrong most of the time.

This is absolutely true.

[masraum]

I suspect the misinformation was probably more ignorance than malicious intent.

The average car buyer is an idiot. The average car salesman probably just barely knows more than the average buyer.

Most of us on this board are probably not the average buyer.

The average buyer "oooo, shiny..."

[wdfifteen]

I went with a friend to the Chevy dealer to help her look at an HHR. They have some kind of 100 point inspection for their "certified" used cars. I asked him what it meant and he started rattling off a list of things they supposedly do. When he got to, "inspect the brakes and balance the rotors" I was polite but stopped listening. It was overpriced and the salesman was clueless so we moved on.

[recycled sixtie]

I enjoyed all your comments thanks. I think I am going to have to join the Bimmerfest Forums. Of course I will avoid the noob mistake of posting without doing a search.
First search will be "BMW lemmings running into the sea . Shark bait for the dealers" etc. That will likely come up empty. G.

[speeder]

Originally Posted by recycled sixtie

I look at the door frame and it shows the car was built in May of 2011. So I am assuming then that is a 2012 model year.

A little tip: All of Europe goes on vacation in Aug. There are virtually no European cars with an Aug. date on the data sticker, but there are a few. That is also the change-over month when they re-tool for the new model year.

All cars built in July or earlier are generally the previous/old MY. All cars built in Sept. are the next years' MY.

Sept. of 2011= 2012 model. July of 2011= 2011 MY. I don't know where you would get the idea that a May production car would be the next years' MY?

[JJ 911SC]

Originally Posted by recycled sixtie

... Shark bait for the dealers"...

Perfect timing: Shark Week 2014 : Discovery Channel

[recycled sixtie]

Sept. of 2011= 2012 model. July of 2011= 2011 MY. I don't know where you would get the idea that a May production car would be the next years' MY? [/QUOTE]

That is why I questioned the service card showing 2015 expiry when the salesman said it was a 2012. Car shows date on door frame of May 2011. Now I know for sure that I was lied to. Less than a year of warranty left. Thanks for the info.
Guy.

[onewhippedpuppy]

Originally Posted by wildthing

Outdated but protected by law.

Also some of them think that because they are selling a premium brand, the customers will come in droves.

I am hoping for the time when I can buy a car off Amazon.

I think that time is coming in new cars, and it's already essentially here with used cars. Just a matter of which major OEM breaks away from the traditional business model first. You'd be hard pressed to find anyone that enjoys the car buying experience, and based on the ignorance of the salesmen it adds little value to the process.

[petrolhead611]

I was in a Porsche dealership recently, killing time examining the Cayman, the salesman comes up to me so I ask a few questions to which his answer is seemingly the standard "I have only been working with Porsche(substitute here whichever car brand you are in the showroom of) a short time" and I was about to issue my standard reply "well you should already have at least learned the f...ing brochure details " when the young sales manger comes out of his office to intervene, and boy did he know his stuff-very impressive.

[T77911S]

i new this used volvo salesman for many years. our family bought quite a few volvos from him. he did have very nice cars but with any used car its gonna have some problems. i really believe his thought was to ONLY fix it if the costumer noticed it. he would fix anything you asked before the car rolled off the lot, but you had to ask.

many years ago i was looking at hondas. i dont remeber the details, but i had the salesman doing the backstroke so bad, he ended up calling me an hour later STILL trying to justify or explain his point.