GStateOM

While test driving a Dodge Magnum RT when it first came out (I drove my GS4 to the dealer)..

Salesman: This car is FAST.
Me: Yeah....
Salesman: This car is faster than your Lexus
Me: Really? What's the 1/4 mile and 0-60 on the Magnum R/T
Salesman: Well, I have to look it up, but I'm sure it's faster than your Lexus, since your GS400 is a V6
Me: No, actually it's a V8. 300 Horsepower V8
Salesman: Well, this has 340 Horsepower.
Me: Well, GS400's when new ran to 60 in about 5.8 seconds and did 1/4 mile in the low 14's
Salesman: REALLY? But'll look up the Magnum for you though

later

Salesman: Well, the Magnum goes to 60 in 6.3 seconds and does the quarter mile in 14.8 seconds. They're pretty even I guess!
Me:

later on after the testdrive

Salesman - So, are you impress with the car?
Me: Yeah, I like the low end power
Salesman - And the interior is great. It's luxury car like, just like your Lexus

The guy doesn't even know what he's talking about. I considered that last comment to be a partial insult to my Lexus due to the cheap plastic all over the fully loaded $42k Magnum R/T.

MY GS300

Two summers ago, I walked into BMW of Manhattan in New York City.

Me: "I would like to test drive the M3."

Dealer: "...................you can test drive it when you are ready to buy the car."

Me: " "




Six summers ago, I bought my Honda Accord Coupe from a female dealer in Madison, Wisconsin.

She looked fine. I probably looked at her body more than the car.

scdisciple

I worked at a Honda dealer for ten minutes or so (unfortunately being facetious). I used to buster on all the cheesy-*** car salesman lines I would hear to MY customers. As in, during a test drive, to my customer; 'The best one I've heard so far is, 'Man you look good in this car. You know what? You DESERVE this car,' and my customers would be rolling. Then they'd buy a car from me.

THE worst job I have ever had, period.

Still in sales, and still out-sellin' em' sellin' the steak, too not just the sizzle.

hawk

when buying a new car, i go to a few diff dealerships, get the email addresses of the salesmen, and one email to all of them at once, so they can see each other's names (and domain names on the email addresses).

and i say, "whoever responds with the lowest walkout price gets my business"

they're never happy and always respond with all sorts of things about discounted maintenance or free oil changes for a year or some other crap, but in the end, it works. i've also often received replies of promising the lowest payments, which is a tell-tale sign of deception.

Iceman

The purchase experience of my GS430 was wonderful right up to the time it was time to sign the paperwork. Part of the deal was that they were going to pay the remaining months of my BMW lease so that I could get out of it early. This never came up in the paperwork and so I asked about it. Of course my actual salesman was out of the country on vacation, and no one else could "remember" they had agreed to this (it was over $3,000). I said I had it in writing (which I did, signed by the salesman), but they didn't want to see it.

All kinds of commotion ensued, up to the GM telling me they would never have agreed to such a deal, they weren't making any money, blah, blah, blah. So I told him that I was sure he'd have no problem selling the L-Tuned GS that they had customized for me and that had been attracting drools and attention in their showroom for days to someone else. I got up and walked out, and of course the story changed. Somehow they reached the salesman in Bolivia or wherever he was, who also denied making such a deal. At that point I brought out the written quote that got me to put a deposit on the car. Of course it was there in black and white, and it was hilarious to hear the salesman stutter and stammer as the GM asked incredulously how he had agreed to such a thing.

He started offering all kinds of compromises. "It's only fair, sir, if we split this halfway due to the miscommunication," and stuff like that. From his perspective I was probably a jerk, but I steadfastly maintained that it was either the deal we had agreed to or no deal at all. Purely on principle I wasn't going to let them change the terms right at the end like that. And I should also say that I paid market price for the car plus full retail for the L-Tuned kit and a couple of other accessories, plus they got use of the OEM parts they removed when installing the L-Tuned. I had no concern that I was screwing them out of making a profit.

So in the end, several hours later than I had planned (and after the dealership had closed for the day), they capitulated and sold me the car according to the original terms we had negotiated. The GM, looking exhausted and defeated, told me I was the toughest neotiator he had ever dealt with in decades in the business. All it really took was sticking to my principles and having more patience than they did. But I sure do love the car!

KneeShoe00

good reads! keep em coming!