Do Car Dealerships really pull this stuff?

[lumberjim]

Originally Posted by tw

If the car salesman was not trying to screw the customer, the deal could be done in 10 minutes. That additional hour spent playing games that include the sales manager - that's the saleman trying to dig deeper in the customers pockets.

10 minutes to make the deal. That's all that is needed. 50 minutes to play salesmen games. Mind games for no useful purpose.

would you define 'screwing' in this context?

would paying the MSRP on a new car mean you got screwed?

If you went into your Honda dealer and offered the Fair Market Value...or MSRP, you'd have your deal in less than 10 minutes.

you might decide, however that you want to haggle..... you might spend 50 minutes doing this, and you may or may not actually purchase the car.

If you don't, the salesman's time was wasted, the dealers advertising money along with it. (it costs us about $350 per deal in advertising) did they not then get 'screwed?'

If you do get a discount, and make your purchase, then you spent that 50 minutes well.

look at the name. DEALer. they make you a DEAL. If you want no haggle, go could always buy a Saturn.....oh wait.....they went under....

[classicman]

Originally Posted by lumberjim

If you want no haggle, go could always buy a Saturn.....oh wait.....they went under....

lolz...

What was that advice you gave me a few weeks ago?

Originally Posted by classicman

lolz...

What was that advice you gave me a few weeks ago?

Ah...but does your car dealer give its customers advice on financing (shop around...talk to your bank or credit union...) or does the dealer offer to "do them a favor" and finance the car for them (sell them another product) and save them the trouble.

Do the dealers tell the customers that they may add a percentage or two to the APR for themselves after passing the loan over to the finance company.

I agree that it is the customer's responsibility to be educated....but many are not and unlike most retail sales, those uneducated customers are manipulated by the dealer.

added:

Originally Posted by lookout123

Another based on your expertise in...? what was that again?

Funny thing about "expertise" in the Cellar.

Some only accept it if they agree with that expertise. If that expertise might challenge an opinion, how often is that expertise dismissed around here....just conjecture from personal experience.

[lookout123]

Originally Posted by tw

If the car salesman was not trying to screw the customer, the deal could be done in 10 minutes. That additional hour spent playing games that include the sales manager - that's the saleman trying to dig deeper in the customers pockets.

10 minutes to make the deal. That's all that is needed. 50 minutes to play salesmen games. Mind games for no useful purpose.

Another based on your expertise in...? what was that again?

Even if you tell a client you'll give them a hard price that is barely over invoice they will want to haggle. That is a stone cold fact that I have seen proven time and time again.

[Pete Zicato]

Originally Posted by lookout123

Another based on your expertise in...? what was that again?

Even if you tell a client you'll give them a hard price that is barely over invoice they will want to haggle. That is a stone cold fact that I have seen proven time and time again.

As well they should, as the above doesn't factor in the rebates the dealer gets from the mfgr.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Originally Posted by Pete Zicato

As well they should, as the above doesn't factor in the rebates the dealer gets from the mfgr.

But if the buyer does their homework, they know what rebates and incentives the dealer is getting on any given day.

[skysidhe]

I bought my car and the dealer did not sell me more than I could afford and they are not making that much money from their loan.
It's a great car, it's ''purty'' and it's almost paid off! ...like in a couple months. I actually feel very appreciative. The salesman said he worked hard on the loan for me. Well maybe he says that to everyone, I thought, but there were other people trying to buy cars in their muddy flip flops. I might be a snob but I think a little polish helped and good coworkers. Odd though. He knew my business was going to close down before I did. I denied it of course thinking it would never happen. He sold me the car anyway. If I ever need to trade it in I'm going back there.
They don't sell junk either.

[Pico and ME]

When I bought my Sentra , I saved two thousand by pitting two dealerships against each other. I don't feel bad about that.

[classicman]

yup - typically he is the only one you hear about.

Originally Posted by classicman

yup - typically he is the only one you hear about.

So its Ok to generalize about lawyers, lobbyists, politicians, etc....just not car salesmen.

When in fact, more people probably had far more direct experiences, often negative, with car dealers, than any of the above.

[xoxoxoBruce]

I have a feeling when it come to sales/buying, many of those "negative" feelings are doubt because they didn't do their homework ahead of time. They don't know if they paid too much or not.

Service departments, however, can really piss you off.

[lumberjim]

i haaaate that guy

[classicman]

yeh - was gonna post a link to that ... THAT GUY thread. meh - just not feelin it.

[lookout123]

The four square exists for one reason only. Whichever section you object to will probably be your hot button issue so the sales staff can discard the rest of the fluff and negotiate with you on the thing that matters to you.

the things that car buyers complain exist because of the way the buyer approaches the purchase.

[Shawnee123]

I really liked the guy who sold me my Astra (you know, to beat a dead horse, the one that some asshat ran into and totalled after I had it two weeks. Yeah, I'm still bitter.) I would have liked to deal with him again but he couldn't give me a price or a car I was happy with.

I screwed up when I bought my VW. The one salesguy pounced on me, and another walked up behind him. Well, I knew the second guy (know his dad real well, know his daughter, who was a work-study at my old job, know him fairly well...they're just really good people) and if I had any guts at all or at least didn't have the need to be unobtrusive (irl) I would have asked to work with Joe. I liked the other guy well enough, but working with Joe would have been good for both of us.

Anyway, I think that it's true that people go into car dealerships with their attitude ready to go. It's not unlike financial aid, with the mentality that "I'm going to get fucked over so I might as well let them know up front I'm no pushover" before any exchanges have even taken place. Not productive for anyone.

Like any profession, there are good and bad.