Why high end car dealers are so stupid ?

[Schulmann]

If I haven`t had a high end car before I bought my Viper it was because of the stupid behaviour of some dealers. To-day I discovered the most stupid dealer that I have ever seen. Two weeks ago I was at Porsche dealer (Lauzon Laval,Montreal) to buy a used full loaded 911 year 1999 (44000$US).
I already saw the this 911 two times before.
The only thing left was to know the trade-in value for my Mercedes.
Never got a call back from the Porsche dealer.
Today when I visited a local Discount dealer (H. Gregoire) I saw the same 911 for 10% less than at the Porsche Dealer (40000$US).
Should I call the dealer to say how stupid he is ? I won't.

Before I bought my present Viper, I made an offer to another Viper.
The dealer told me the following stupid thing:
"We don't like people here who play the game ....".
He told me to come back to-morrow if I am really interested.

In February I flew in from Montreal to Toronto to visit several Vipers.
I was very interested in one of them.
I told the owner to pickup me at my hotel right away when I arrive.
Everything was set but nobody showed up at the hotel.
Finally after 30min I called the owner.
He told me that he thought that I was joking.

2 years ago at another Lauzon Dealer ( Audi Laval, Montreal, Canada)
we wanted to buy an Audi TT. So we walked in and waited more than an hour without being able to talk to a sales person. Finally when I ate all the cookies and chocolates in a basket we left. The only reason why we stayed so long was that the cookies were good

How did I buy my Viper ?
I told the dealer that within an hour I want the Viper to be registered under my name. He had the good reflexe to call his manager right away. He later told me that he saw my watch (a Breitling) and had the impression that I had the monney to buy the car. He had the fake one so right away he knew that the mine wasn't fake.

Do you have similar funny stories ?

 

[Eddie N]

I agree, dealers are clueless, but you sound like a pompous ass. Maybe a combination of the two?

Eddie

 

[YouWish]

I agree, dealers are clueless, but you sound like a pompous ass. Maybe a combination of the two?

Eddie

Wow!!!

 

[Eddie N]

I agree, dealers are clueless, but you sound like a pompous ass. Maybe a combination of the two?

Eddie

Wow!!!

Oh come on, it was just a gentle ribbing. I forgot which board I was at. :lol:

Eddie

 

[STUGOTS]

I got a whopper of one for ya.

When I was looking to buy my viper I called a dealer in Oklahoma (I know I know trouble right there) and the guy says to me "your in luck we got a 2001 RT/10 leftover with 0 miles never driven I never even let my top sales guy take er (yes er not her) out" (now this is the end of 2003 BTW) "and the sticker price is $61,000 but I can go $58,000" so I say E-mail me some pics so he did and the car was beautiful BUT not pics of the dash (miles) so I called him back and said take my app over the phone I want this car, he did, told me "I will call you back within the hour" the next day I call him, (I.E. no call back) and he says (and i swear on my mothers eyes this is 100% true) "ohhh yeah your approved BUT we have a slight problem one of our sales reps kenny took er out for a spin last night and cracked er water pump and of all the damn luck when he flagged down a cop they found out he had himself a warrent and they dune towed the car and kenny's in jail (like a give a flying fukk about kenny) and got a small crack in we front bumper, we can fix all the damages you still want er?" all i could muster up was "HUH" then he repeats "you still want er we can fix her all up" and I just said "YOUR FUKKED UP" and hung up.

Can you imagine that one????????

First of all he told me no one drove it, 0 miles and how unprofessional is it to tell me your sales rep is in jail and had a warrent (sure buddy im gonna buy all my cars from ya now).

they all all kinds of high and cars too lambos.porche,ferrari you name it, talk about dumb.

 

[RT10Paul]

He later told me that he saw my watch (a Breitling) and had the impression that I had the monney to buy the car. He had the fake one so right away he knew that the mine wasn't fake.

That's exactly why I never get "dressed up" or wear a good watch when I go looking for cars or real estate. I love it when someone phukstick becomes condescending because I get to ride 'em hard and become borderline abusive after the apps are filled out and credit references are returned.

Judging a book by its cover is foolish. I'm friends with and work with a lot of guys who are very well off (not saying that I am but they are) and, under normal circumstances, you could not tell what they're worth. So I think it's amusing when some idiot used car salesman thinks he can pick out a wealthy person out of a group of people in the dealership. Ha! Fancy watches and expensive cars don't mean squat these days. Drive through even a lower-middle class neighborhood and count all the Mercedes, BMWs, and Jags parked on the street. Why? Affordable leases with low/no down payment. Just about anyone with half-decent credit and a check book can drive a European luxury car.

 

[Ulysses]

I have never had any problems with high end exotics like Lambo, Ferrari or Lotus. Every time I have walked into a dealership like that around here, they have always approached me immediately and curteously, and have always been willing to answer all of my questions. The only time I have ever had a bad experience was when I was interested in buying a BMW. Bunch of stuck up m%*$#& *&%$#@ BMW sales people.

 

[Wild Bill]

But most people from Oklahoma have warrents out for their arrest-what are you, some kind of yankee? Don't ya know nothing about the south? And yes-even if I divorce my wife she is still my sister!

 

[STUGOTS]

lol

 

[cayenne]

But most people from Oklahoma have warrents out for their arrest-what are you, some kind of yankee? Don't ya know nothing about the south? And yes-even if I divorce my wife she is still my sister!

Now hold on Bill.....you know that in AR, we don't MARRY our sisters...we only DATE them....

Now...when I lived in TN and ran around in KY...well, that's a different story...



cayenne

 

[Schulmann]

I had also some good experiences in the States ...

For instance the Palo Alto Lamborgini dealer (Behind Agilent) gave me the keys of Porsche Boxer for the entire afternoon. Just to try the car around with my wife.
I didn't buy the car because I didn`t fit.
They were real gentlemen.

 

[ZX1100]

I am never dressed when looking for a car. Usually in sweat pants, t-shirt and hat. I've had a few bad experiences myself. My first was when I was looking for a Corvette. I walked into the local Chevy dealer and was looking over a C5 convertible in the showroom. A salesman approaches and asks if he could be of any help. I tell him I'm interested in the Vette and was wondering if they were moving any from the sticker price. He then tells me to follow him and that he has the right car for me. We start walking to the other side of the showroom and I'm looking around for other Vettes but don't see one Get this, he stops in front of a Camaro Z28 and proceeds to tell me that it's the car for me. That I shouldn't be looking at the Vette and the performance is almost the same I was kind of shocked and since I'm a very laid back person I let him do his sales pitch on the Z28. I've never went back there after leaving and purchased elsewhere.

Also, I went looking at the 350Z one day. Thought it might be a fun car to have. I was told I couldn't test drive it unless I was serious about purchasing one and was ready to put down a deposit How am I suppose to know if I like it without test driving it first? I could understand if it were a Viper

Funny, the Benz dealers were all good to me so far. Probably thought I was some rich kid looking for a car daddy was going to buy me.

 

[thebigsnake]

So the idea is not to be dressed up or dessed down too much at the showroom.
I was just wondering, does anyone use Speel-check?

 

[Buckeye Viper]

I went with my friends to a very very large car dealer once out here in Columbus. I don't dress up unless I have to. Anyways, my buddy was looking for mustangs, esp. the bullit mustang. Nobody came up to help us out. We found a bullit stang and proceeded to look it over. The doors were unlocked so we were looking around on the inside of it. Just then a dealer drove up and saw us looking at the inside. As he was getting out, we closed the door and continued to look over the outside of the car. The dealer approached the car, opened up the door, locked it, closed it, and proceeded to walk into the office without even saying a word to us....

Fool.

 

[RT10Paul]

Jerrydey,

Speel-check? No. Spell-check? Sometimes.

paul

 

[ZX1100]

I had also some good experiences in the States ...

For instance the Palo Alto Lamborgini dealer (Behind Agilent) gave me the keys of Porsche Boxer for the entire afternoon. Just to try the car around with my wife.
I didn't buy the car because I didn`t fit.
They were real gentlemen.

Just reminded me of when I went to a Porsche dealer. They were ready to hand me the keys to any car I wanted to test drive without even asking

 

[Viperfreak2]

I went back to the Ferrari dealer I bought my 308GTSi from and I asked my salesman if I could test a used NSX (never driven one before) while I waited for the 355 Spyder I was interested in to come back from another test drive. I drove the NSX and when I got back to the dealer another sales guru was one eyebrowing me. He asked me WHAT I was doing and WHO let ME drive the Acura. I said 'Keith' and tossed him the keys. I went behind the shop where I had parked the Ferrari and slowly drove by the **** and said "Oh, and please tell Keith you lost him a sale." Keith was the sales manager (for years and years) and this guy was his new employee......never saw that guy again!~ =-)

That day I decided to start looking at Vipers. The year was 1999.

 

[Bo knows]

Went to an area Dodge dealer to look at a viper he had for sale and as I was looking in the window without leaning on the car one of the ******** salesman who worked there came running over and shouted " I'm going to have to ask you to step away from that vehicle, It's a very special car. " I was a little embarrassed and moved back quickly. A few minutes later the same salesman noticed my showroom condition 440 6 - pak Superbee sitting out in the parking lot & called all his buddies out to see it. You guessed it, this same guy was leaning in the window of my car and all his friends got a big laugh when I yelled out " HEY!! I'm going to have to ask you to step away from that vehicle, It's a very special car ! " Needless to say I didn't buy my Viper from that place.

Bo

 

[BS99GTS]

A while back, I was getting bored with my Denali and I was seriously thinking about purchasing a Porsche Cayenne Twin Turbo. I checked on the web and the local dealer had one in stock, so I decided I would go look it over and if everything went smooth I would probably trade for it.

I walked into the showroom and a salesman approached, I explained that I was interested in the Porsche Cayenne's. Before I could say Twin Turbo, he starts to tell me that I shouldn't be looking at those, I should be checking out the VW Touareg...this place is a VW and Porsche Dealer. Anyway, he never asked any questions and he wouldn't let me get a word in edge-wise, he kept up the routine about the Touareg being basically the same vehicle and how much less it costs. I was dumb-founded with his presentation when he continued on to tell me how foolish some people are for purchasing the Cayenne when the Touareg is the better choice.

Anyway he starts motioning me over to look at this red Touareg on the showroom floor which was parked right next to the Porsche Cayenne for "comparison purposes".....when I tell him that I had come there with the intention to buy the black Cayenne Twin Turbo but since it looks, drives, rides, and performs so much like a cheaper VW Touareg I was no longer interested.

The strange part is I still don't think he understood what he had just done.

 

[AviP]

A while back, I was getting bored with my Denali and I was seriously thinking about purchasing a Porsche Cayenne Twin Turbo. I checked on the web and the local dealer had one in stock, so I decided I would go look it over and if everything went smooth I would probably trade for it.

I walked into the showroom and a salesman approached, I explained that I was interested in the Porsche Cayenne's. Before I could say Twin Turbo, he starts to tell me that I shouldn't be looking at those, I should be checking out the VW Toureg...this place is a VW and Porsche Dealer. Anyway, he never asked any questions and he wouldn't let me get a word in edge-wise, he kept up the routine about the Toureg being basically the same vehicle and how much less it costs. I was dumb-founded with his presentation when he continued on to tell me how foolish some people are for purchasing the Cayenne when the Toureg is the better choice.

Anyway he starts motioning me over to look at this red Toureg on the showroom floor which was parked right next to the Porsche Cayenne for "comparison purposes".....when I tell him that I had come there with the intention to buy the black Cayenne Twin Turbo but since it looks, drives, rides, and performs so much like a VW Toureg I was no longer interested.

The strange part is I still don't think he understood what he had just done.

I have to say that while he was a lousy salesman, he was probably looking after your interest. Given the choice of the two, I'd buy the Touareg.

 

[Gerald]

It's simple. Sales is a lost art. People think because they have inventory in their floor they are salesman. They are not and foolish to think they are. They are simply order takers with as much skill as a telemarketer peddling water softeners. A salesman will listen to their clients and go out of their way to make them feel special and attend to their needs if he wants the sale bad enough and slowly close them or listen to the qualifying statements.


Regards,
Gerald

 

[ViperRay]

1) Most people going into a showroom today already know what they want

2) Never judge people by how they're dressed

3) stop trying to push loans and leases on me when I want to pay cash

4) don't show me a car unless you know at least as much as I do about it

 

[Makara]

I was pretty young when I bought my first viper. What I was at the dealership signing out the final paperwork, the dealer asked if I wanted to meet his daughter and brought out pictures of her.

 

[STUGOTS]

was she hot?

 

[joe117]

I don't think there is much difference between high end dealers and more normal dealers.

The sales people must make money by selling to stupid people. If that were not the case, they wouldn't use the tactics that they use.

The scams and tricks that the sales people use are so transparent that anyone with any brain at all wouldn't be fooled. Yet the sales people try to use them.
They must work on most customers.

Therefore, they must make their money selling to stupid people.

As for the sales people looking at the way you are dressed.
These guys must see ten unqualified window shoppers for every real potential customer.
Some people just think a high end showroom is a museum, "no thanks, I'm just looking".

It's stupid to treat a guy in a tank top as if he were a waste of time but 9 times out of 10 he probably is a waste of time.
I'm sure they just get beat down by the numbers, it's stupid but it's understandable.

Car salesmen are not the same as normal salesmen. Like Gerald said, there is such a thing as a good salesman. Car sales in the USA is an exercise in attempted fraud.
Working for the Govt. I dealt with all kinds of very high end equipment salesmen. I never had any salesman try the kind of nonsense that car salesmen do.

The car salesman will fleece you if you let him. If he sees that he can't fleece you, he will perhaps deal with you as an order taker but only after he sees that he can't simply fool you into a bad deal.
After a guy tries to fleece me it's hard for me to continue to deal with him.

Ever notice how you can tell them exactly what you want and that you are not interested in X or Y or Z and don't even try to sell me XYZ or I'll walk out that door.

And the next thing out of their mouth will be,
"How about XYZ"?

 

[Flexx91]

I was pretty young when I bought my first viper. What I was at the dealership signing out the final paperwork, the dealer asked if I wanted to meet his daughter and brought out pictures of her.

Did you take him up on his offer? Now that's what I call 'buyer incentive'.

 

[rcdice]

It's simple. Sales is a lost art. People think because they have inventory in their floor they are salesman. They are not and foolish to think they are. They are simply order takers with as much skill as a telemarketer peddling water softeners. A salesman will listen to their clients and go out of their way to make them feel special and attend to their needs if he wants the sale bad enough and slowly close them or listen to the qualifying statements.


Regards,
Gerald

Well said. I've been in sales (not cars) my entire life. Pre, during and post college to the present. ANY sales person who has a clue what they are doing will ask many more questions than they will haphazardly blurt out information. Irrelevant information (to the customer) waists every ones time, confuses things and generally "muddies" the process.

In shopping for cars over the years for my wife, with my wife, I've been dumbfounded at the lack of sales ability of many car salesmen. She is interested in things like the stereo, safety, sun roof/vert. top, color, etc. Countless times we've encountered salesmen who unsolicited go into long dissertations of the engine, suspension, etc. Many of these guys never ever ask what's important to her. We've had cases where we've walked away from them in mid sentence because they wouldn't shut the F up long enough for us to get a question in. Rude I know but someone needs to wake them up. When I encounter a sales person who is actually good at what they do, I appreciate it and tell them so.

 

[Viperfreak2]

Lexus seems to have a good saleperson training program. Never heard any complaints about them. Cadillac however....

Looking for an XLR I stopped in a local caddy dealer. The obese salesman wouldn't let me speak, he wanted to tell me how priviledged he was to be able to drive one at blah blah speedway for a dealer intro. Buddy, I could care less what you think about how lucky you are, I'm in an SRT-10. He said he could put me on "THE LIST" because they were all sold out for years to come. NEXT caddy dealer had one, but I lost interest after the experience. I gotta remember to go back to the first stealership and thank the Big guy!

 

[2001 Sapphire Blue]

I was pretty young when I bought my first viper. What I was at the dealership signing out the final paperwork, the dealer asked if I wanted to meet his daughter and brought out pictures of her.

Was she on the sticker as an option?? I'd test drive her first.

 

[96 GTS]

I have a lot of fun at car dealers too, but I do things a little differently. I pull up in my S-600 Benz, well dressed, wearing my gold Rolex. I'm courteous, but I act like I own the place. I ask to speak to the sales manager. I TELL him what I want to drive, and I TELL him that I want it for the weekend to really see if I want to buy it. I have never been turned down.