Used car salesman, wonder how some earn their reputation?

[wcd]

We were out looking for trucks today on and off the lot in record time. I guess thats how they make money by turning people over on and off their lot, just like restaurants, I suppose. First my wife asks the price since no prices on vehicles. Salesman looks right at me and says all the prices are clearly posted on our website. Its Saturday afternoon so neither of us has a laptop or phone. Wife asks him do you have a range the price range? Again he looks at me and says I dont know all the prices are on our website! By this time i am over the disrespectful attitude.

Then once again ignoring my wife whom has been doing all the talking and says to me what you dont speak or what! I can not pick up snarky when reading lips, but my wife said he was quite rude and snarky in his tone.

So I had enough and signed to him " What are you an ...hole" then all of a sudden he now has no issues speaking to my wife! And asks what I had said. She he said goodbye. I guess she is a lot nicer than me.

 

[sugarcreekbrass]

It's been 5 yrs since we were car shopping. We were looking at Sonatas. I found two that were the same price and low miles on their website. We drive up there and can't find them. The used salesman can't find them. He starts pushing others they had, which was over our budget. I finally had enough, when someone from the main dealership walked in. He got on a computer and found them in seconds. They were moved to a holding lot because they were being shipped out to a different dealership. He said if we were interested, we could buy it and they wouldn't send it elsewhere. We still have that car! We just got lucky that someone who had a clue walked in at the right time!!

 

[churchmouse]

It's been 5 yrs since we were car shopping. We were looking at Sonatas. I found two that were the same price and low miles on their website. We drive up there and can't find them. The used salesman can't find them. He starts pushing others they had, which was over our budget. I finally had enough, when someone from the main dealership walked in. He got on a computer and found them in seconds. They were moved to a holding lot because they were being shipped out to a different dealership. He said if we were interested, we could buy it and they wouldn't send it elsewhere. We still have that car! We just got lucky that someone who had a clue walked in at the right time!!

He knew exactly where they were so dont fool yourself. His margins increase with the price.

There are a few almost honest ones out there.

 

[DRob]

Did a lot of car shopping recently looking for a new midsize SUV for the wife. She leases. We shopped VW, Chevy, Ford, Subaru, Nissan, Toyota, Kia, Hyundai, and Honda. The Honda salesgirl we worked with on the previous one, a CRV, told us up front they had no promotions going on and she couldn't get us much of a deal. We were really close to getting a Suby at one point but kept nosing around. She drove a Kia Sorento and really liked it. However, even though it had the lowest sticker price of all the vehicles we had looked at, the lease payment they offered was $160 a month higher than everything else and they never blinked when I told them. The Ford salesman I bought my F150 from at least apologized for not being able to come close. She finally settled on a Nissan Rogue. They paid the last 2 lease payments on her Honda and we did have to haggle a bit. After 3-4 text messages and as many phone calls from the salesman, they met her offer. She told them she would pay XX $$. They said they couldn't do that but finally did. They also agreed to give her free oil changes for the life of the lease which is really only chump change to them. I actually told the guy he was becoming a nuisance before we finalized the deal. Had it been up to me, she would be driving something other than the Nissan but she WANTED it..........so she got it. It was kinda' fun but you're gonna' deal with some real goofs if you do much shopping.

 

[Bigtanker]

There is a car lot up here (Concord Cars) that we've bought our minivans from. Both times the salesman have been great. Up front they said sales tax and a $39 doc fee is all you pay. They were never high pressure.

A major dealership we stopped at had almost $800 in fees including "window etching" insurance or something similar that was $450. I told them I didn't want it. He said they couldn't take it off. I got up and left.

 

[AngryRooster]

Back in 2013 when we were looking to replace our vehicles we went to the Muncie Toyota dealer. We looked at Hondas and a couple other things, everything just seemed meh.

We pulled into the Toyota dealer in our old farm truck, a 98 F150. We got out and looked around, every vehicle was locked up tight, it was a weekday afternoon. After a few minutes a salesman came out and talked to us, he didn't seem to care or showed much of an interest at all. We asked him if we could check out a couple of things, he said he'd be right back with the keys. Almost 10 minutes later he came out and started walking toward us, at least until the old guy in his Caddy pulled in. The salesman immediately veered off and went to go talk to that guy instead. The wife and I just looked at each other. I gave a wave to the salesman and yelled "Hello?". He didn't even acknowledge we existed at that point. We left at that point without even getting to look inside a single vehicle.

A couple weeks later when we had time we decided to check out the Toyota dealer in Richmond (closer anyway) and see if they treated us any differently before we wrote Toyota off completely. This salesman was much different. He showed us everything we wanted to look at, let us drive everything we wanted to drive several times over. We both liked the 4Runners. We asked about used or off lease ones, there weren't many. They had a couple but they weren't worth the price compared to the new ones. The one we really liked was only about $200 cheaper than a brand new one, it was a year old and had just under 10k miles on it. Same model, same options, everything but color.

We decided to go with new ones. She picked her's out, a metallic pearl white SR5. We hated the Dunlop tires they came with so we negotiated to get Michelin MS2's put on instead, no cost. She traded her F150 and wrote a check. A month later I traded my Isuzu Trooper on a metallic red SR5, same deal with the tires, wrote them another check. I talked to the sales manager many times throughout this process and told him about the crap treatment we got at the Muncie dealer and that we'd never go back. He said he knew the manager there and would be sure to thank him for "sending us his way". He took both of us around and introduced us to the service manager & writers, as well as the owner. We were assured that would never happen there, at it never has. The dealership has changed ownership now but is still a great place and we're both still happy with their service and the vehicles.

The Michelin tires are another story though....never again.

 

[Jeepfanatic]

Back in 2013 when we were looking to replace our vehicles we went to the Muncie Toyota dealer. We looked at Hondas and a couple other things, everything just seemed meh.

We pulled into the Toyota dealer in our old farm truck, a 98 F150. We got out and looked around, every vehicle was locked up tight, it was a weekday afternoon. After a few minutes a salesman came out and talked to us, he didn't seem to care or showed much of an interest at all. We asked him if we could check out a couple of things, he said he'd be right back with the keys. Almost 10 minutes later he came out and started walking toward us, at least until the old guy in his Caddy pulled in. The salesman immediately veered off and went to go talk to that guy instead. The wife and I just looked at each other. I gave a wave to the salesman and yelled "Hello?". He didn't even acknowledge we existed at that point. We left at that point without even getting to look inside a single vehicle.

A couple weeks later when we had time we decided to check out the Toyota dealer in Richmond (closer anyway) and see if they treated us any differently before we wrote Toyota off completely. This salesman was much different. He showed us everything we wanted to look at, let us drive everything we wanted to drive several times over. We both liked the 4Runners. We asked about used or off lease ones, there weren't many. They had a couple but they weren't worth the price compared to the new ones. The one we really liked was only about $200 cheaper than a brand new one, it was a year old and had just under 10k miles on it. Same model, same options, everything but color.

We decided to go with new ones. She picked her's out, a metallic pearl white SR5. We hated the Dunlop tires they came with so we negotiated to get Michelin MS2's put on instead, no cost. She traded her F150 and wrote a check. A month later I traded my Isuzu Trooper on a metallic red SR5, same deal with the tires, wrote them another check. I talked to the sales manager many times throughout this process and told him about the crap treatment we got at the Muncie dealer and that we'd never go back. He said he knew the manager there and would be sure to thank him for "sending us his way". He took both of us around and introduced us to the service manager & writers, as well as the owner. We were assured that would never happen there, at it never has. The dealership has changed ownership now but is still a great place and we're both still happy with their service and the vehicles.

The Michelin tires are another story though....never again.

My favorite story regarding this scenario comes from my old boss who was a Parts Manager at a Dodge dealership in Las Vegas in the 90s. All of the salesmen were required to wear suits except for one. He was allowed to wear cowboy boots, jeans and a western shirt every day. One of the salesmen complained and he was told "sell as many cars as him and you can wear something similar too".

They had a guy walk in off of the street with ripped up jeans and a stained white t-shirt. Every salesmen avoided him like the plague except for the one guy. He found out he needed a new diesel truck as his was broken down on the side of the road and he had to get his race horses, which were in the trailer hooked to the back of his truck, to an out of state track the next day. They worked the deal, the guy stroked a check and he was on his way in the new truck.

The salesman came over and berated all of the others for avoiding the guy "You all saw a guy without a pot to **** in. I saw a hard working SOB that needed a new truck."

 

[red_zr24x4]

I will never go to Gates in South Bend ever again. The one and only time was in the late '90's.
I bought a conversion van from them, the salesman was to busy on the phone with his contractor building his new house to go over our paper work correctly. Went back the next day to finish up, and they tried to say they figured it out wrong we owed another $3000.
I told them I wanted my trade in back, they could keep the van, I had a check from the credit union and I would go somewhere else to buy a van. They ended up giving it to us for the quoted price, never again

 

[BillD]

The lie about how much a warranty costs has finance managers making $150k-250k per year. from simply overcharging.
They will also lie about what interest rate the bank gave you and pocket the difference.
Get your own financing and check on warranties.
They have a term for gouging a customer. They call it, "Busting their head open ".

 

[ljk]

There isn't "Wheeling & Dealing" any more.

I just bought a 2019 4Runner for my wife. Our 2013 Sienna(base model, no power doors) was getting close to 150k miles, so we wanted to get rid of it while it still was worth something.

I tried to sell it myself since December, the most I got offered was $7000.

I did a lot of research on the new prices before talked all 5 Toyota dealers, they were all like riding their high horses to heaven, NO Room to negotiate on the prices.

I finally got it from Muncie , with both the lowest price on the car and the highest on my trade-in($8200).

Special LoL at Ed Martin Toyota in Nobelsville, which offered their great price of $4200 for my van.

I almost bought one from Chicago, but I really don't want to spend my money there.

 

[churchmouse]

The lie about how much a warranty costs has finance managers making $150k-250k per year. from simply overcharging.
They will also lie about what interest rate the bank gave you and pocket the difference.
Get your own financing and check on warranties.
They have a term for gouging a customer. They call it, "Busting their head open ".

They will squeeze every dime from every revenue stream. They are salesmen after all.
The really interesting ones worked with my spouse in the Mortgage money industry. Those people were ruthless. Liers of the highest order.

 

[dprimm]

I am wanting to start looking for a vehicle. Really want a truck. HATE (car) shopping. Partly because of stories like these.

With luck my car will go another couple of years. We will have saved enough for most of the truck by then. Stupid expensive.

 

[Brad69]

I would like all INGOers to please lookout for “hidden fees” and dealer tricks.

1. Dealer add on’s - paint protection, wheel locks, window etching, seat protection the list goes on, it’s a cash cow for dealerships like 95 % profit just tell em no!

2. Dealer financing - if you finance though the dealer it will often cost you money if you qualify for example 5% interest the dealer might write the contract for 7% the dealer gets the 2%. The dealer will also get a kickback if they write x number of contracts with a bank a month. Its normally a better deal if you come in with your own financing.

3. Negotiating using the payment - Dealers will ask “where do you want your payment to be?” The dealer is basically telling you that they will take that number and find the biggest number that will fit the payment and for the longest term they can get. Use the price of the car the payment will come after negotiations not to start the negotiations.

4. Dealer fees - Document fee of $698, $298, $99 whatever its all profit, prep fee of $199 or whatever it’s all profit. Tell them No car dealerships are everywhere find another one that wants to sell a car.

5. Salesman are just that “Salesman” some are good people doing a job normally found at smaller dealerships that rely on word of mouth and reputation. Normally large high volume dealerships can lose a few customers and really don’t care about reputation another persons gonna walk though the door in five minutes.

6. Warranty’s - Most “aftermarket” warranty’s are not worth the paper they are printed on often only covering things like the transmission case and not the internals. Ask yourself why would you buy a “extended warranty” on a new car at the time of purchase? It already has a warranty trust me they will send you offers for the extended factory warranty long before your original runs out.

 

[spec4]

Way back I decided not to buy a car unless I knew the price before I walked in. If I was just going to look, I'd tell them right away. Last year I went to buy a new Mazda. The salesman was new and really didn't know how to handle a couple of seniors. For no reason he excused himself to go see the sales manager. After about five minutes I told me wife he has five more to get back to us or we're gone. When the five minutes were up we started to walk out. He and the sales manager moved fast. They didn't have what we wanted and said it would take about ten weeks to get that model. They tried to sell us another model. We walked and I found the car I wanted less than an hour away at a different dealer. There was nothing to negotiate as I had the price in hand before we got there. Of course they always give the finance person a shot at you. After waiting a half hour to see her (she had nobody in her office) she invited us in. I told her I will give her a check and am not interested in anything else. She stopped the sales pitch, finished the paperwork, and we left in the new car.

 

[Super Bee]

The lie about how much a warranty costs has finance managers making $150k-250k per year. from simply overcharging.
They will also lie about what interest rate the bank gave you and pocket the difference.
Get your own financing and check on warranties.
They have a term for gouging a customer. They call it, "Busting their head open ".

I am not a car salesman. . close, I own an RV dealership. . same exact license.

I am sure some dealerships do lie, but not all. I do not see an issue with making money off warranties and financing. Beginning several years ago people began internet shopping, driving down prices, this has forced dealerships to make money on the back end of the deal. Yes, some banks will give us a kickback giving them a loan but not all. As far as warranties we usually tack on 50% over our cost. With internet shopping we are forced to have many campers at a $300 to $500 markup over my cost, we need to bring in money somewhere if we are to survive.

By the way, I have never heard of a F&I guy bringing in the kind of money you listed. I have a friend who is an F&I guy for one of Bob Rohrmans largest dealerships and he is just under $100 grand a year, but he also works six days a week and twelve hours a day. I wish that job on no one.

 

[ljk]

On a side note, why don't Indiana dealers open on sundays?

Way back when I lived in California, Los Angeles County to be exact. An elderly friend of mine whom was a retired CPA, widower with kids all grown and left home. He worked at 2 different car dealerships for 3 nights a week, Thursday, Friday, Saturday from 6pm to 10pm, plus all day Sunday. He sold more cars than most of the fulltime salesmen.

 

[amboy49]

I actually found a book in the local library written by a used car sales manager. In it he explained all of the ways dealerships work every angle in out negotiating the purchaser. One of the guys I shoot with is a used car salesman. He once told me he found it humerous that the common car purchaser thinks they can out negotiate the dealership. He said they do it every day for a living.

The author of the book had several suggestions about how to deal with salesmen, sales managers, finance guys, etc. He even suggested making sure you brought you wife and how both of you can play each other against the dealership. It was a good read.

 

[hopper68]

On a side note, why don't Indiana dealers open on sundays?

Way back when I lived in California, Los Angeles County to be exact. An elderly friend of mine whom was a retired CPA, widower with kids all grown and left home. He worked at 2 different car dealerships for 3 nights a week, Thursday, Friday, Saturday from 6pm to 10pm, plus all day Sunday. He sold more cars than most of the fulltime salesmen.

To quote Donnie Baker it's state law. Goes back to there used to be a lot of things forbidden on Sundays except going to church. The evils of commerce.

 

[churchmouse]

I am not a car salesman. . close, I own an RV dealership. . same exact license.

I am sure some dealerships do lie, but not all. I do not see an issue with making money off warranties and financing. Beginning several years ago people began internet shopping, driving down prices, this has forced dealerships to make money on the back end of the deal. Yes, some banks will give us a kickback giving them a loan but not all. As far as warranties we usually tack on 50% over our cost. With internet shopping we are forced to have many campers at a $300 to $500 markup over my cost, we need to bring in money somewhere if we are to survive.

By the way, I have never heard of a F&I guy bringing in the kind of money you listed. I have a friend who is an F&I guy for one of Bob Rohrmans largest dealerships and he is just under $100 grand a year, but he also works six days a week and twelve hours a day. I wish that job on no one.

My go to guy was a school mate of mine. Known him all my life. Any dealer cars I bought (Mostly) were through him. He played the game but not with us. I guess you just have to know someone and no, he never knocked that money down and yes, he worked those hours.
Not saying it cant be done.

 

[hoosierdoc]

My favorite story regarding this scenario comes from my old boss who was a Parts Manager at a Dodge dealership in Las Vegas in the 90s. All of the salesmen were required to wear suits except for one. He was allowed to wear cowboy boots, jeans and a western shirt every day. One of the salesmen complained and he was told "sell as many cars as him and you can wear something similar too".

They had a guy walk in off of the street with ripped up jeans and a stained white t-shirt. Every salesmen avoided him like the plague except for the one guy. He found out he needed a new diesel truck as his was broken down on the side of the road and he had to get his race horses, which were in the trailer hooked to the back of his truck, to an out of state track the next day. They worked the deal, the guy stroked a check and he was on his way in the new truck.

The salesman came over and berated all of the others for avoiding the guy "You all saw a guy without a pot to **** in. I saw a hard working SOB that needed a new truck."

How real is that though? I’ve heard the story of a phone salesman wearing a cowboy outfit with similar lesson.

https://www.chickensoup.com/book-story/35205/the-cowboy-s-story