We're currently looking for a new/used vehicle for my MIL after she was sideswiped by a semi last month totaling her then DD. Seems like we've settled in second gen Highlanders. Today we went to three dealerships to do some test drives and each one mentioned that the car was being serviced or cleaned or whatever and the car was unavailable. None really tried to upswell us anything either. They were kinda just like "bye". Is this a sales tactic that I'm unfamiliar with? Seems strange to me.
New cars advertised are usually either pre sold or in transit these days. Prepare to spend lots of time on phone. Today, I would prefer to buy from an individual if you can find it. It's a jungle. And markups and bs add on fees are ridiculous. Try expanding your search and shipping or getting on a Toyota forum see if anyone has one for sale.
Sure, I get that. But I called the dealers ahead of time to confirm that the cars were available and for sale. Seems like if they just wanted to get me in the door, they'd have tried to sell me something else.
Cars go online these days as soon as they hit inventory. It can take time to get ready to sell, the easiest way to weed out non ready cars is if they have photos or not. If they don't have photos or only have a few photos, 90% chance they are not ready for sale.
RaabTheSaab said:Sure, I get that. But I called the dealers ahead of time to confirm that the cars were available and for sale. Seems like if they just wanted to get me in the door, they'd have tried to sell me something else.
A car salesman will always answer "yes" without checking.
We did that all the time. Get em in the door. "sorry, that one is being written up for purchase" or "it just went to our other lot for a test drive."
It's called a takeaway. That, and the trial close, are the key psychological methods they use to incite urgency. Our policy was to take a "sold" tag on every test drive. Hand it to the customer as they get out at the end and tell them to put it under the windshield wiper so "no one else buys it while we talk." It A) lets me assess their readiness to sign, and B) makes them fear that they'll lose it if they don't act quickly.
The takeaway is powerful because it leads you to make a hasty decision next time. As far as not trying to upsell you... they're not as hungry right now. They've been feasting on the buffet of customers fighting for whatever is on the lot instead of the old ways of convincing you to buy.
We had this happen a couple of years ago. I think it was a combination of the young sales guy and the dealer have more than enough business.
Steve_Jones said:Cars go online these days as soon as they hit inventory. It can take time to get ready to sell, the easiest way to weed out non ready cars is if they have photos or not. If they don't have photos or only have a few photos, 90% chance they are not ready for sale.
This. 100%. We have a used car guy in the shop. We'll call him Dave. He sees every car that comes in and makes sure they are good. Then the cars go to detail/tint/paint. Every car gets listed immediately with a price online. Sometimes they sit out back in "Dave lane" for a week before he has time to look at them.
Dave holds the keys, and it's quite comical to watch him tear into sales people who try to get nosy in his inventory. Yes, the car is here, no you can't look at it. I don't care what you told your customer. Berkeley off.
I built the new Z on the Nissan site and put my info in.
Nissan contacted me - all go well? Not really - they wanted to know how soon I can come in for a test drive? I challenged that there might be 3-5 Z's across the nation?
It's all just a knee jerk reaction. Nobody cares and nobody reads anything anymore.
Another dealership game going on is the cars on the lot for new or used doesn't have a price listed on the car. It says please see a salesman for live up to date current market pricing of the car you are interested in. I promptly got back in my car and left while the salesman tried to flag me down. Nope...Pass. I was drove to a different dealership of the same brand hoping they weren't doing this and sadly they were. I have since put my plans on hold to get an EV this year because of it as well as the fact it won't qualify for a tax credit this year either.
I'm not the nicest person, but I'm upfront and polite, and I've NEVER had the experience many of you have had. And I've purchased 6 new vehicles from dealers and few more used from dealers.
I'm legitimately curious why so many have bad interactions.
In reply to z31maniac :
I'm 50% Italian; we like to argue with everyone.
I'm 25% Bohemian; we like to frugally purchase everything.
Combine the two and you have one annoying customer.
Datsun310Guy said:In reply to z31maniac :
I'm 50% Italian; we like to argue with everyone.
I'm 25% Bohemian; we like to frugally purchase everything.
Combine the two and you have one annoying customer.
The last sentence explains why most people have a bad time. If you walk in acting like a jerk, that's likely the experience you're going to have.
I'm English, German, and Indian...........so what does that say about me?
Maybe lay off the stereotypes 
Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) said:It's called a takeaway.
I call it a bait and switch. Its very dishonest behavior. I had it happen to me twice (pre/early covid, before market insanity). I called and made an appointment to look at a specific car. Both times I got there and the car had been sold earlier that day.... would I like to see something else? No. berkeley no. At least have the courtesy to tell me before I make the 1-2 hour drive.
I've also had other dealer shenanigans where they are like "oh that car is at offsite parking, would you like me to go get it?"
But then again, one time a salesman was nice enough to let me drive a car and pull a car from offsite so I could look at it, even though I was very clear up front that I would not be buying a car, I just wanted to see the size of it. Of course then I got dragged into all the questions and other bullE36 M3 and what I thought was going to be a 15 minute visit was like 2 hours.
I had a dealer attempt to do that to me. Once. I turned around and walked away. Miraculously the car we came there for was there, just happened to be about 3k less than the car he was trying to put us in. It's all a load of berkeleyery, and I'm not looking forward to the fact that swmbo wants to do it again soon. Disney added an extra 0 on the correct side of her pay grade and she's feeling fancier than a 2014 versa note.
I'm so glad the wife and I found cars we each want to drive for a really long time. I can't do the dealership games anymore. I didn't think it could get more ridiculous, but it has.
A few of these stories are bait and switch. They didn't try to switch the original poster, that's why he's confused. I say it's a timing issue. In MD they can't legally even show you a non inspected car.
I've only purchased from franchise dealers twice in my life that I can recall. Both experiences were filled with games and a solemn vow never to grace their doorways again.
I've done pretty well buying from mom-n-pop used dealerships. Better if they are attached to a mechanical shop and the used cars are just a side gig. I've actually met some really nice people working in places like this.
Steve_Jones said:A few of these stories are bait and switch. They didn't try to switch the original poster, that's why he's confused. I say it's a timing issue. In MD they can't legally even show you a non inspected car.
Agreed we are a little off topic. Its like they only did the 'bait' part.
Continuing the off rambling though: I think all of my really annoying/dishonest experiences have been at large, new car dealerships. Small used lots can be shady, but I expect that going in. And usually its the cars themselves that are shady - I don't feel like the staff is trying anything nefarious.
The only good experiences I have had with dealers were with a family friend who was General Manager of a Ford Dealership. I bought 4 vehicles from him and he always bent over backwards to make sure I got the best deal possible and actually would research for any Factory discounts available from Ford at the time.
z31maniac said:I'm not the nicest person, but I'm upfront and polite, and I've NEVER had the experience many of you have had. And I've purchased 6 new vehicles from dealers and few more used from dealers.
I'm legitimately curious why so many have bad interactions.
I've sold for about 6 dealerships. I say "about" because three of them were under the same ownership. It depends on the sales model/training they use. My first experience was the [insert name I forget] method, or as we salespeople called it "meet, greet, get em on a sheet." It utilized weeks of training including roleplay, and carefully-selected language to psychologically manipulate the situation for the best sales outcome. It was all chosen to not be an outright lie, but to firmly mislead them into thinking something.
Customer: I want free floormats and rust treatment
Me: No problem (storing away the information that I need to get an extra $1000 when I draw up the offer)
Customer: I want a day to think about it
Me: No problem, but maybe you should put a refundable deposit on it because that guy over there is shopping for the same car.
In our meetings every week, we had this call and response like a church. The sales manager would say "Savvy customers will see right through you." and we responded, "there's no such thing as a savvy customer."
Another dealer I sold for had very little training. We were all just given a goal of a certain profit margin on each car and a weekly goal of a certain total. We had the freedom to simply negotiate prices that gave us what we needed in our paychecks and what we knew would keep the business profitable.
The first dealer made millions, had huge TV ads, the owner had a huge mansion. Our holiday party was a black-tie renaissance-themed boar roast at the fanciest country club. The second example, the owner barely kept afloat, lived in an apartment, and our marketing was hand-written posters under the hoods of the cars. Sometimes we had balloons. For Christmas he gave us all frozen turkeys.
In honesty, I preferred the second example. I didn't feel like I had to wash the filth off me at the end of the day and it felt honest. The bottom line is that all dealers have to make money. It's a business. My last straw was when I had a college student looking for a $4000 car so I had the guys pick up a Ford Escort at the auction for $1500. We detailed it and she financed it. The amortized total she was going to owe was going to be over $8000 on a car that will be worth $500 when it's paid off. I sold her on that car. Me. My psychologically-manipulating words talked her into that debt. My commission for that sale was twice what her down payment was. Made me kinda sick.
It's all going to come down to the type of dealer. There are some who sell cars and try to make as much money as they can, and there are some who play all the games to get that extra $2000 per sale.
ProDarwin said:Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) said:It's called a takeaway.
I call it a bait and switch. Its very dishonest behavior.
I don't disagree, but they know the law. As long as the vehicle is in inventory (on the books) they can advertise it. If they sell it on Monday, they can legally keep advertising it through the week until they finalize all the invoices on Friday. Then it's off the books and they can't tell you it's there. One dealer (which will remain un-named because the owner is now in jail) that I worked for exactly two days would put a desirable car on the books without ever having the car itself. The one time he got caught, he just claimed the car was stolen. It was all going well and it looked like he was going to be paid by insurance for a fake car except the insurance company dug a little too deep. Hence the jail time. This was the same guy who was taking deposits on new car orders and then not ordering the car from the factory. He just pocketed the money.
I know there are good dealers out there, but I've yet to encounter one that doesn't somehow manipulate words to get more money. That's their job. Make money. It isn't WalMart. It's a commodity business. It's basically a silent auction driven by market demand.
In reply to Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) :
*whispers* Walmart is in it for the money, too.
And some people still wonder why the fixed price, direct from manufacturer model is popular with consumers. At most, a new car buyers buy one new car every couple of years. But a dealer gets to practice their trade several times a day. Who's going to come out ahead in a negotiation?
I worked at a Ford dealership one summer as a used car lot monkey. And the new car section was every stereotype of a manipulative, grab every dollar dealer you can think of. The lack of respect the sales people had for their marks was amazing. I found it interesting that the dealership was also operating under a business license that was the generic "Ontario corporation 2349028234" autogenerated name and not the name of the actual dealership, I assume that means they'd had to change the corporation a few times to play debt games.
ProDarwin said:Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) said:It's called a takeaway.
I call it a bait and switch. Its very dishonest behavior. I had it happen to me twice (pre/early covid, before market insanity). I called and made an appointment to look at a specific car. Both times I got there and the car had been sold earlier that day.... would I like to see something else? No. berkeley no. At least have the courtesy to tell me before I make the 1-2 hour drive.
I've also had other dealer shenanigans where they are like "oh that car is at offsite parking, would you like me to go get it?"
But then again, one time a salesman was nice enough to let me drive a car and pull a car from offsite so I could look at it, even though I was very clear up front that I would not be buying a car, I just wanted to see the size of it. Of course then I got dragged into all the questions and other bullE36 M3 and what I thought was going to be a 15 minute visit was like 2 hours.
See I don't get this. You could have just left when they started, sure it may seem rude to just walk away from someone when they are talking to you, but I also think it's rude to waste my time.
When my ex-wife wanted to get a new car before we were married, we went to a dealership that had the car she wanted in stock. They started playing the "let me ask my manager" game, so when he got up to ask his manager, we stood up and walked out the door.
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