Margate330

On the subject of wasting everybody's time. lol

Many years ago I went to a motorcycle store.
They must've had a couple hundred used motorcycles of all kinds- Suzuki, Yamaha, Honda, Kawasaki, you name it they had it.
All varying condition from almost new to worn out rusty beaters that looked sketchy to ride.
These bikes were lined up like dominos outside and if you wanted to test drive one they threw you the keys no problem and you were popping wheelies and burning rubber(I'm exagerrating) but they really didn't seem to care.

On the other side of the store they had a small selection of Harley Davidsons.
From the best of my memory the sign read
"No touching"
"No sitting"
"No riding"
"No exceptions!"
I saw only one Harley I liked and I was going to buy it but I told the salesman I wasn't buying it without driving it and we were a little apart on their asking price but I was upfront.

Of course they said,"I'm sorry, we can't let anyone ride these."
Honestly I can understand why, they were chromed out and detailed and the last thing they wanted is someone to drop or lay the bike down.
I drove my old Porshe and had the title with me and let the sales manager hold it and told him if I like how it rides I will buy it if we can come to an agreement on price.

Anyway, they made an exception and moved 5 motorcycles out of the way to get the one I wanted out of the showroom and said I could drive it in the parking lot.
I really wanted to like the bike but the whole setup was wrong for me and didn't feel right- meaning I would have to change seat, handlebars and more for my comfort.
Feeling really bad I told them I was sorry but we had no deal and they gladly gave me back my car's title and encouraged me to come back and see their new bikes as they get them in.

SW17LS

Exactly, they knew you were a real buyer, you didn't make demands and they made it work for you. This is how it works 9/10 times.

Toys4RJill

Harley Davidson Motorcycles are very special

SW17LS

Oh yeah, everybody goes through that...its part of paying your dues!

When you respect yourself, people respect you too. I mean if a customer sees that you will fall all over yourself to meet them whenever they want and you'll drop anything and answer the phone all hours of the night...how can they respect you?

Margate330

For sure.
This was 25 years ago before Harley dealers popped up on every exit all over the US.
If they were lucky enough to get some cherry used ones they were in the showroom with a "look but don't touch" attitude. lol

Margate330

They don't! lol

Wilson2000

My best friend in high school became a salesperson at his father's Datsun dealership in the 70's and had his own used-car lot in the 80's. He ran down a list of "shop talk" with me 40 years ago, and it was eerily similar to the list you shared. I also had a brother-in-law who was a car salesperson in the same era, and his dealership shared similar "code" language. Perhaps the business is prone to this type of language, as they hold their cards close to their chest. As with many sales jobs, salespeople have it in their best interest to withhold truth and promote their own narrative. Using code language is just one of their many tools.

BTW...I was happy to hear at the time (in the 80's) that I had "gold *****!" I think that's what started the "list" conversation with my buddy...he was attempting to sell me a Corvette and he liked my credit rating.

Other then the racist stuff, I don't have anything against car salespeople or their tactics. Every profession and business has their own "shop talk," and all want to maximize profits. I would have tried my hand at selling cars, but didn't want to deal with the 10-15% of the population who is certifiably insane. That stuff wears you down. Kudos to salespeople who manage to circumvent these waters!

tex2670

But ... why should you feel bad? THIS is exactly why you needed to ride it before buying--you need to know that you can live with it before you buy. To expect a customer to commit to buying a bike or car without driving it is ... insane. It's a policy that should be reserved for very exclusive vehicles.

SW17LS

He feels bad because he’s a good person. I feel badly when I decide not to buy things all the time

Kense

That has nothing to do with having a bad experience. You can be the most reasonable person in the world and have a dealer start with the shenanigans and the let me talk to my finance manager games. That's what tends to set people off, running back and forth lying about "Ok the best I can do is". Then go back 4 more times with lower prices. Just give a reasonable price up front and stop the BS. Then the trying to rip me off by selling all these paint protectors and other non sense. I don't even deal with dealerships in person anymore because of this. I do all my deals online with the fleet manager or through a broker.

SW17LS

Doing the deal online is the way to go.

4TehNguyen

iTrader: (1)

that why never go to the dealer to deal, start with email only. Otherwise youre just setting yourself up for disappointment

mmarshall

Nope.....that is incorrect, for reasons which I explained above, which I'm not going to repeat here because of the lengthy explanation. (post #32)

patgilm

I agree with you it could help sell a car if a dealer lets more and more people test drive a car but that would be for an appliance car. The car you are looking at are not appliances and are somewhat niche cars so the demand is already there (for now) and they don’t need new buyers for those types of cars, there are likely more buyers than cars. If you give it time and demand slows there may be a time where there are more cars than buyers and you will get to test drive them. It’s likely just timing.

SW17LS

It is correct. You will wind up with a better deal with a lot less headache if you just negotiate over email.