Used car salesman, wonder how some earn their reputation?

[woowoo2]

I recently purchased a car for my daughter, one thing I always include in the deal is a second key.
The salesman said no problem, put it in writing that he would pay for it himself.

I went back with the receipt, and he balked, he said he would only pay for a key to open the door, not an FOB.

The book of faces post I left got managements attention, in the end they made it right.

 

[JettaKnight]

...then some of those used car salesmen become lawyers.

 

[Cameramonkey]

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.

he didn’t really want your business. We had the same thing on our minivan. I flatly told them I didn’t care and wasn’t paying for it. They took it off.

 

[Nazgul]

We bought a Ford Expedition new in 2005. Stopped at a dealer in new Albamy, it was late and the last guy was locking the door. He came over, asked us what we wanted, unlocked the door, got the keys, met our pricing and we drove off with it that night, 2 hours after they closed. We refinanced it with our credit union for a sweet rate the next week.

Wife wanted a new truck a few years ago. Settled on a Honda Ridgeline. She picked it out, negotiated the deal and signed the papers. When the registration came it was in my name!! Still makes her made, not a good idea for a redheaded Hoosier farm girl...

Don

 

[Nazgul]

After college middle daughter wanted to buy a car. She is very left brained IT person. Had spreadsheet with all the options, costs from local dealers, warranty info and financing options. The salesman greeted me, I said she was looking for a car and she started on him. After about 45 minutes he was whipped. She even told him if he had to ask a manager to ok the deal we would walk.

He asked if she was always like this. Got a decent deal, refinanced the next week at her bank, paid it off in 3 months.

Don

 

[ljk]

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.

When I did my shopping, I told the sales people that the only number I negotiated around was "Amount $ Due On Delivery", meaning Out of the Door price, my only other cost is the Registration and Title at the BMV. They can add all kinds of fees and features they wanted, but I'm firm on what I pay. I verified the payment installment based on that number with various online loan calculators to make sure the dealers don't do the "Magic Math" on me.

I didn't a lot of research on how much people actually paid (not based on Truecar), and I had a pretty good idea what my bottom line is before I even started calling around.

Toyota of Munice got us 3.23% which beats our credit union's 3.89%.

 

[chenowethpm]

I got pretty screwed in my very first “new to me” used car. It ended up having mechanical issues, although I was a mechanic for 10 years I didn’t even want to mess with it. Honestly I was glad when my wife totaled it(no one hurt). I learned some valuable car buying lessons from dealing with that salesman. Walking out of the dealership is what I wish I would have done.

 

[DeadeyeChrista'sdad]

I walked onto the old Bill McCoy sales lot in Muncie one day, after work, looking like I'd been at work in a hot, dirty factory. The salesman looked me up and down and said he didn't think I could afford one of their cars. I agreed, and left.
Some time later I showed back up on a Saturday afternoon with my lovely wife in a two year old T Bird which may or may not have been polished to within an inch of its life.
Another salesman practically sprinted out as we cruised the lot, wanting to know if we might be interested in trading it in. "What the hell for? I just got it!" I replied. I then recounted the first experience, and asked him to thank the first salesman for for steering me to a more amenable dealer.
I loved that day.
Interestingly, a person I've met and grown to be really fond of in the last couple of years owns one of the largest dealerships in town. I strongly suspect his prospective customers are treated somewhat differently.

 

[natdscott]

Back in 2013...we negotiated to get Michelin MS2's put on instead, no cost.

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

Would you care to elaborate?

I've been extremely happy with the LTX MS2 and Defender LTX-MS on two different vehicles?


-Nate

 

[natdscott]

After college middle daughter wanted to buy a car. She is very left brained IT person. Had spreadsheet with all the options, costs from local dealers, warranty info and financing options. The salesman greeted me, I said she was looking for a car and she started on him. After about 45 minutes he was whipped. She even told him if he had to ask a manager to ok the deal we would walk.

He asked if she was always like this. Got a decent deal, refinanced the next week at her bank, paid it off in 3 months.

Don

The only person that will look out for your wallet is YOU.

She played it right, and at the end of the day, it's all just a principal and interest rate game. She played it hard to reduce principal, and then turned it for a lower rate at her Bank.


Textbook.

-Nate

 

[DoggyDaddy]

The only person that will look out for your wallet is YOU. And state troopers.

She played it right, and at the end of the day, it's all just a principal and interest rate game. She played it hard to reduce principal, and then turned it for a lower rate at her Bank.


Textbook.

-Nate

FIFY...

 

[fullmetaljesus]

You didn't have a phone bc it was Sunday?

Did I read that right?

 

[Sigblitz]

No.

 

[two70]

My wife and I just purchased a new used car for her yesterday and the process wasn't too painful since we did most of the ground work online up to and including setting up test drives. The hardest part was finding a SUV that my wife, who typically likes somewhat smaller vehicles, liked and that had enough leg room for me. Since we only had 3 rules going in: 1. No Ford 2. No Kia and 3. Not another Subaru, we had a lot of models to checkout. After 9 test drives at 5 dealerships we finally settled on one that best fit what we both wanted and our budget. Of the 5 dealers and 6 salesmen we worked with, one was great to work with, one was pretty good, another salesman was decent but the dealership looked shady and zero effort had been put into the cars, the fourth kept trying to sell us vehicles we explicitly said we weren't interested in, number 5 no showed and number 6, who stepped in for him, was a jack wagon. We ended up going with the jack wagon because he had the car that best fit our needs. We did take some solace in offloading my wife's old car on him though and if we get 70-80k more miles out of the new car, I will call it a win.

The previous car shopping experience back in 2015 when we purchased the car my wife just traded in was a worse experience, largely because she focused in on one or two models and only one was available within 100 miles that had both low mileage and fit our budget. That guy was kind of like the Don of Don's Guns of used car salesman. He barely budged on the price and claimed that he couldn't afford to fill up the gas tank since I requested the old, badly corroded battery be replaced before we bought it. I'd have walked if it had been my vehicle we were purchasing and I'm still steamed that we left with half a tank of gas.

 

[Cameramonkey]

On a related note, reminds me why I miss the Saturn brand. Good cars, reasonable prices, and no haggling. Absolutely the best buying experience ever. Loved both those cars.

 

[WebSnyper]

On a related note, reminds me why I miss the Saturn brand. Good cars, reasonable prices, and no haggling. Absolutely the best buying experience ever. Loved both those cars.

Me too. We had several Saturns, before they folded back into the mothership. Bought one on the phone after my wife totaled the one we bought just before we moved up to Indy back in 94.

 

[russc2542]

On a related note, reminds me why I miss the Saturn brand. Good cars, reasonable prices, and no haggling. Absolutely the best buying experience ever. Loved both those cars.

Scion tried that too.

Alas, enough people want to be TOLD they're getting a deal more than just walking in and out done for them to abandon those business models.

 

[AngryRooster]

Would you care to elaborate?

I've been extremely happy with the LTX MS2 and Defender LTX-MS on two different vehicles?


-Nate

265/70-17 tires. The tread was gone in less than 50k miles. Supposed to be a 70k tire. At about 15k I had to replace a tire due to sidewall damage. When the truck hit 50k you couldn't tell which one was the newer tire. These tires were rotated & balanced every 5k with oil changes since the trucks were new. Alignment checked every year. This was the case with BOTH trucks. Not acceptable for a $225 tire.

 

[MCgrease08]

My wife and I just purchased a new used car for her yesterday and the process wasn't too painful since we did most of the ground work online up to and including setting up test drives. The hardest part was finding a SUV that my wife, who typically likes somewhat smaller vehicles, liked and that had enough leg room for me. Since we only had 3 rules going in: 1. No Ford 2. No Kia and 3. Not another Subaru, we had a lot of models to checkout. After 9 test drives at 5 dealerships we finally settled on one that best fit what we both wanted and our budget. Of the 5 dealers and 6 salesmen we worked with, one was great to work with, one was pretty good, another salesman was decent but the dealership looked shady and zero effort had been put into the cars, the fourth kept trying to sell us vehicles we explicitly said we weren't interested in, number 5 no showed and number 6, who stepped in for him, was a jack wagon. We ended up going with the jack wagon because he had the car that best fit our needs. We did take some solace in offloading my wife's old car on him though and if we get 70-80k more miles out of the new car, I will call it a win.

Well, what did you end up with?

 

[natdscott]

265/70-17 tires. The tread was gone in less than 50k miles. Supposed to be a 70k tire. At about 15k I had to replace a tire due to sidewall damage. When the truck hit 50k you couldn't tell which one was the newer tire. These tires were rotated & balanced every 5k with oil changes since the trucks were new. Alignment checked every year. This was the case with BOTH trucks. Not acceptable for a $225 tire.

Well clearly you drove them on things they should not have been driven on.

(kidding).

well wtf..?! I have has 2 different sizes now, and both have been excellent.

Currently about 50k in on the 90k-rated Defender LTX-MS, and every measurement points to the tires making it past their warranty with more than 2/32 left. I was kinda hoping for a warranty set...but that's not looking possible, and I've measured every 10k for trend.