SURVEY: Your least favorite part about buying from a dealer?

[Jesda]

Open ended question for my "Save Chrysler" project. GO!


Sales, service, whatever. Share stories and complaints.

[Mr1der]

dealing with salesmen working on a commission.

[Dattebayo]

The BS and freight charges. Buying something from someone who doesn't get paid unless they make a sale.

[PapaSmurf2k3]

The fact that none of the salesman know d!ck about the car. They can't tell you what's under the hood, how anything is priced (what paint costs more, etc), what comes with what package... hell, half of em don't even know if a car is FWD, RWD, or AWD. ITS YOUR JOB DAMNIT!!! THIS IS STUFF YOU NEED TO KNOW!!! In addition, they seldom seem to know what they have on their lot. "Yeah we've got 3 of those", and when you get out there, it isn't what you wanted at all (usually like they have an automatic or something when you specified you wanted a manual).


#2 would be when they try to sell me something I am severely not interested in, even after telling them I wasn't interested in it repeatedly (I came to test drive an S2000... why the hell would I want anything to do with a Camry?)

[elwesso]

Ive never personally bought from a dealer, but from some more than direct experiences Ive had, they seem to focus more on making the sale, rather than making the customer happy... Kinda what James was saying, they would rather sell him a Camry rather than sell him something he might want more, because it might not make them as much money or they have more in stock..

not to mention, almost every time you can get better maintained cars for less money from private sellers.

[bundy26]

How the attention they pay you as a customer goes to s*** after you drive away from the dealer.

[Dattebayo]

Also, sometimes they short your bag and claim the scale is off but refuse to add anything.

[93coupe]

Also, sometimes they short your bag and claim the scale is off but refuse to add anything.

Damn you Dave. Beat me to it.

[Dattebayo]

Your least favorite part about buying from a dea

[Jesda]

Also, sometimes they short your bag and claim the scale is off but refuse to add anything.

I LOL'D!

[Infinitiguy19]

You can usually make deals with dealers if they want to make the sale bad enough (I hear).

I never bought a new car and probably never will (Personal choice).

[krimsonviper]

Nooberts who are so desperate to make a sale that they just don't understand no when I say it. They're close to two words from my fist after I say it.

[OriginalWheelman]

Open ended question for my "Save Chrysler" project. GO!


Sales, service, whatever. Share stories and complaints.

Misread

[LEMHEAD16]

I've had a few good salesmen in the past. The ones that are GOOD know the product, know the promotions, and don't s***. When I walk into a dealership I am ready to make a deal and get over with it. I don't want to spend all day waiting on your "Manager". I will walk away if they try and waste my time. Here's a lesson I learned along time ago. NEVER give your keys to the salesmen, they will use it as a way to keep you from walking away from the sale.

OK that rant got of topic quick.

Answer: Shady salesmen and poor customer service.

[szh]

My experience with dealer sales people has been mostly pretty good, with only one exception that I was not happy with - "128 Mazda" in Massachusetts many years ago. And, I have bought a few cars over the years from dealerships.

As an example of simple with dealer sales people: I am on my third Infiniti from Frontier Infiniti. One time, a sales person saw me pull in to the dealership in my Q45 - we asked to test drive a G20 for my wife. The sales person handed me the keys to the car and told my wife and I to go for a drive - no supervision at all! We ended up not buying the car, but not because of the sales people - my wife simply liked the Acura 2.2CL better (less sporty shocks and gentler ride).

Z

[krimsonviper]

Open ended question for my "Save Chrysler" project. GO!


Sales, service, whatever. Share stories and complaints.

Misread

I'm in for an oil change and I need to borrow a car from them for work. I come back to turn it in and I mention as I'm turning the keys in, that I really enjoyed the ride and I'd love to buy one some day. He begins to ask me questions and just won't leave my alone after I tell him I'm not interested in buying it right now. I'm almost done paying my own car off and I don't want to start new. He doesn't take the hint, and I angrily tell him to f**k off and he still doesn't get it and continues. Next, I tell him quietly, while staring into his soul, that if he doesn't leave me alone, he's going to feel what it's like to bite the curb.

[4cefed]

How about Chrysler Financial? those colossal anuses tried repoing a car that I had the title for. THREE TIMES!

[Joe]

the fact they lie. and everything is RIDICULOUSLY overpriced and all s***

i just went with my mom when she bought a new TSX, she brings me cause i hate car salesmen.

couple excerpts from my conversation:

Salesman (S)
Me (M)

M: (reading over the invoice, costs and addons)
S: i see youre looking pretty close at that. so donna, how about those wheels?
M: that you are charging $4000 for? mom, we can get aftermarket ones made by the same company that made these for less than half the cost
S: these are made by honda
M: no, theyre not.
S: We put nitrogen in them! it helps with performance, and fuel economy!
M: you charge $350 for nitrogen? costco does it for free. and i know for a fact that you dont PAY anything for that air. the machines pull it out of the air and cost almost nothing to run.
S: uhh umm
M: take the nitrogen fee off. or put regular air in.
S: So donna, what do you think about the price
My Mom: I think its too high. you only took $500 off of sticker
S:well we only make $1000 on every car at sticker price
M: you only make $1000 off every single car. youre telling me $1000 per car pays all the overhead to run your sales department.
S:yes!


i f*** HATE car dealers.

[PEZi]

dealing with a salesman that knows less about the vehicle he's trying to sell than i do.........

[MinisterofDOOM]

As with most commision-based dealings, I hate the fact that you never know what kind of salesman you're going to get. Which is why 1der's comment is right on the money: I dislike dealing with salesman paid on commission.

But that's really no different than anywhere else. Whether I'm buying a car, tires, a computer, or whatever, I walk into the dealership sales office knowing what I want and what I'm willing to pay. The salesmen can try to upsell me on things, but I'll be upfront about what I'm up for paying and why and that usually cuts their schpiels short.

That's NOT to say I want a "no haggle" car-buying experience, though. I want to make sure I'm paying the right price for what I'm getting. I just don't want someone trying to convince me I "need" or "want" things I know I don't.

[nissangirl74]

1) They take advantage of (most) women's ignorance about cars and use it against them to try and jack up the price and sell you s*** you don't need. $100+ for floor mats? ummmmmmm........No

When I bought the Frontier, the salesman came out with a price that was WAY over KBB. I thanked him politely and got up to leave. I wanted the truck but nowhere near that bad. We had a CTJ meeting and I eventually got it at the price I wanted. Some women are too afraid to argue or stand up for themselves though and they get completely railroaded.

2) When the salesman doesn't know as much as me about the car he is trying to sell. When the salesman doesn't know as much as me about ANY car. I'm no expert, but Holy Damn, if you don't know how to drive a stick shift or how to back a car into a parking place*, you should probably take's Jane's place at the receptionist desk and let her sell the cars instead.

* When I test drove a manual Cube, I got an 18 year old kid that knew d!ck about cars or driving. He didn't know that the American version wasn't the first generation, he didn't know that the xB was it's competition, he didn't know how to drive a stick or how to back a car into the parking place, and this was his first job. Amazingly, he had already sold two cars that morning. How the hell did that happen?

[Jesda]

How about Chrysler Financial? those colossal anuses tried repoing a car that I had the title for. THREE TIMES!

Damn!

Fortunately, you won. Chrysler Financial is no longer in business.

[4cefed]

Funny, I still get threatening letters an phone calls from them about my other financed vehicle.

[IBCoupe]

The feeling afterward, like you've been screwed with your pants on.

I bought my Altima Coupe from a VW/Audi dealer in MA. The guy didn't really know the car as well as I did, and stupid me forgot to check a few things. I ended up with bald tires and missing fog lights (as well as a missing driver's side fog-light cable harness). I probably could have brought it back, but I really didn't want to deal with them. If they'll take advantage of a customer prior to the sale, I don't want to know what they'll do to me afterwards.

It's because of that kind of screwing that my first mods weren't really mods at all... I had to dump money into getting the car where it should have been.

But it's that nagging feeling afterwards that sucks the most for me.

[HashiriyaS14]

M: you only make $1000 off every single car. youre telling me $1000 per car pays all the overhead to run your sales department.
S:yes!

^^
While I LOL'd at the rest of your conversation, this part may very well be true.

A key auto dealer metric is something called "fixed absorption ratio", or the percentage of total overhead/fixed costs covered by parts/service (i.e. the percentage of overhead they can cover before they ever have to sell a single car). For a good dealer, this can be 80-90%.

The sales department is never expected to cover their own overhead, and parts/service is expected to keep the lights on for the whole operation, not just their own area. This allows the sales department to be boom/bust whereas the place doesn't go broke because parts/service is paying the bills.

[wingFeather]

overhead

Now there is an interesting issue. Why does it matter? If a Taco Bell salesperson (making what, $6 an hour?) can treat me better than the Nissan two-faced sales scumbag... Taco Bell does not make $1,000 on each taco they sell, so why do I get treated better there? Or the Apple store... they do not make $1,000 on each iPod they sell, yet they treat me like a KING!!!

It's a wonder any cars ever get sold. If they "need" at least $1,000 profit per car to cover their operating expenses, then they should crash & burn. It's not my fault they don't know how to run a business. f*** them!

[HashiriyaS14]

overhead

Now there is an interesting issue. Why does it matter? If a Taco Bell salesperson (making what, $6 an hour?) can treat me better than the Nissan two-faced sales scumbag... Taco Bell does not make $1,000 on each taco they sell, so why do I get treated better there? Or the Apple store... they do not make $1,000 on each iPod they sell, yet they treat me like a KING!!!

It's a wonder any cars ever get sold. If they "need" at least $1,000 profit per car to cover their operating expenses, then they should crash & burn. It's not my fault they don't know how to run a business. f*** them!

^^
As usual, you're missing the point.

I wasn't making a service comment, I was just clarifying how dealership profitability works. All car sales are profit, which is why they can be so low-margin. They aren't paying the bills with car sales, it's 100% gravy (at a well-run dealer).

It has nothing to do with how well/poorly the employees treat customers, I was just pointing out a salient fact related to profitability.

[car nut]

How the attention they pay you as a customer goes to s*** after you drive away from the dealer.

This. I had to go through a f*** obstacle course to get my new stereo (as promised in my bill of sale). I ended up shafting them on it, but I was still pissed. The sales manager straight up lied to my face about making phone calls, setting stuff up, etc.

[colies97~240sx]

Car buying can be stressful enough on a customer... enter how dealers try to spring additional (unnecessary) charges on you, enter senario 1.

The customer is reviewing the final a price and breakdown of charges with the salesperson. Upon hitting a line item that says 'Etching Protection', the customer declines the 'etching protection' and indicating so on the paperwork. Then the customer gets passed onto the 'sales manager' to finish the deal and during the breakdown of the cost be told...

Manager: "Okay, the cost of the car is this, tax and title is this and the etching is $200."
Customer: "Excuse me but I told the sales person that I do not want etching on the car." (not to mention it is already etched from the FACTORY!)
Manager: "It is for your protection in case the car is stolen. You will receive $500 off your next car which will more than pay for the etching."
Customer: "I already told the sales person that I do not want it."
Manager: "Well, it is already on the car."
Customer: "Thank you but I do not want it."
Manager: "Okay, we can knock $100 off of it."
Customer: I DO NOT WANT THE ETCHING"

And dealers wonder why customers do not like dealing with them...

[dickie]

personally, i thought it was kind of s*** the way our local Nissan dealer treated my friend and I. he was seriously considering a GTR purchase and could have walked in, paid in full and left with one of the 2 they had on their lot. the sales and technical staff were not knowledgeable, courteous or even remotely helpful in answering any of our questions. We left and he ended up buying a Toyota instead.

from dealership experience in general, stop asking for my contact info just to tell me the price or features available on a car. I do NOT want a dozen calls and emails asking how interested I am in buying.