Just to give an example, my wife wanted us to buy a Civic but I started with the Accord. she had also suggested ILX but I said i is too small. Between the two, we would have definitely picked up an ILX over Civic. Once the dealers start dealing on them, there would be lot of them on the road. I suspect this might become Acura's best seller like the 3rd generation TL was.
Acura ILX Test Drive Gone Wrong
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Go on Acura's website and get some price quotes from area dealers.
The ILX sucks anyway. All the dealers have a ton of them and I have yet to see one on the road yet. 150 hp out of a 2.0L engine? A 1995 Neon had the same specs!
The 2.4 would be nice, but you can't get it in an auto or with navigation.
The 2.4 would be nice, but you can't get it in an auto or with navigation.
Originally Posted By: eljefino
Originally Posted By: The Critic
Originally Posted By: sciphi
To blazes with that dealer. They clearly don't want your business, so I wouldn't give it to them.
I would counter that argument by saying that in sales, judging your prospects (to an extent) is also important. They only have a limited number of salesmen, and it would be prudent to assign them to the highest potential buyers of that night. And clearly, the OP was interested, but was not ready/likely to buy immediately.
What's a good day for a car salesman, selling one car? They should be able to take ten minutes and feel out a customer a little.
What you should really do is bring $2k in 100 dollar bills for flash cash and whip it out when they do you wrong and say you're going elsewhere. Or even a single 100 wrapped around 50 singles.
I didn't mention in my post that I did work on the other side for a short time.
And to answer your question, it depends on the store. I worked at a smaller volume Hyundai dealer. I also worked there during the winter/spring, so it was pretty slow until it warmed up. If I sold one car on a Wednesday in February, that was a decent day. Friday and especially Saturday, you'd hope to sell a few each. We were closed Sunday. Higher volume dealers obviously will have a different perspective. Plus I stuck with the customer the whole way. Some dealers will turn customers over to closers and take more of a team approach to keep the front line salesman rolling.
If you work at a dealership where the place is flooded with customers, you will subconsciously look to latch on to who you may think is a sale. Maybe you've had good luck with women. Or maybe you prefer a family since they won't stick around for a marathon grind and tend to buy the car just to get the kids out of there. Everyone will be different. Maybe the guys who avoided me a Subaru dealer were sick of kids coming in to look at WRXs that just wanted to drive one. Don't know.
To speak the other post about potential for the day, the worst thing that can happen to a salesman is to spend half a day with one customer who doesn't buy anything. You test drive, show them every feature, throw some numbers around, grab them a coffee and a soda, and think you are close until they leave or even worse, can't get financed. You call them the next day and they bought across town for $100 cheaper than your offer or they realized they can't afford a new car. Sucks to be you huh?
Those were the customers I wanted to avoid, because meanwhile your fellow salesmen are selling cars that you could have sold. Some customers were "lay downs", they were ready to buy, and were simply there to work a price and put money down. As long as you didn't offend them in some way (or your manager loses the deal for you), you were getting a sale, and a quick one.
Unfortunately it was impossible to tell who was there to waste your time, and who was there to "lay down". Personally I did well with single women. I found if you treated them well, with respect, and didn't play games they would be willing to buy from you and not hit every dealer in a 100 mile radius getting prices and not even giving you a chance to beat it. They also gave me referral business within the few months I worked there, which is apparently the key to being successful in that business. With any customer the only thing you could do was get some basic qualifications going early. Ask what their timeframe is. Some are kicking tires, others totalled their car 2 days ago and need something by Monday to go to work. If it seemed hopeless, then you would sometimes try and detach so you could move on. Hand them a brochure and a card and suggest they test drive the Accord or whatever. Just make sure you can explain why you let them leave to the sales manager.
So when I shop I always try to get the salesman to detach, since I know I won't be buying that trip. I tell them I don't plan to buy today, I am researching and seeing if I even like driving the car, and I don't want to waste your time. If they'd let me just drive one, he can take someone else and I'll take his card. It never works though, because the managers treat the situation like the salesman has the power to change your mind somehow. All the sales training (I sat through some) says that "every" customer will say something like that, and to ignore it. So I drive the car longer than they may want to (a 5 minute loop is not a test drive) and then they try and talk numbers with me and I tell them 3 times and to their manager that I won't be buying anything yet. An hour later, the poor guy can finally try and sell a car.
So, this was long winded, but is just an example of what goes on behind the scenes a bit. I understand why they might walk by the young guy who might be dreaming, but you can probably figure out if he is pretty quickly by talking to him. Do it right, and you only waste 15-20 minutes and maybe have a sale on the hook for later in the month. An experienced salesman definitely will be able to. If they give you a test drive, hand you a card and say to call them when you are ready, at least give them the courtesy of a chance to win the business. That is what I would do, and what I did with the car I bought a few months ago.
Originally Posted By: The Critic
Originally Posted By: sciphi
To blazes with that dealer. They clearly don't want your business, so I wouldn't give it to them.
I would counter that argument by saying that in sales, judging your prospects (to an extent) is also important. They only have a limited number of salesmen, and it would be prudent to assign them to the highest potential buyers of that night. And clearly, the OP was interested, but was not ready/likely to buy immediately.
What's a good day for a car salesman, selling one car? They should be able to take ten minutes and feel out a customer a little.
What you should really do is bring $2k in 100 dollar bills for flash cash and whip it out when they do you wrong and say you're going elsewhere. Or even a single 100 wrapped around 50 singles.
I didn't mention in my post that I did work on the other side for a short time.
And to answer your question, it depends on the store. I worked at a smaller volume Hyundai dealer. I also worked there during the winter/spring, so it was pretty slow until it warmed up. If I sold one car on a Wednesday in February, that was a decent day. Friday and especially Saturday, you'd hope to sell a few each. We were closed Sunday. Higher volume dealers obviously will have a different perspective. Plus I stuck with the customer the whole way. Some dealers will turn customers over to closers and take more of a team approach to keep the front line salesman rolling.
If you work at a dealership where the place is flooded with customers, you will subconsciously look to latch on to who you may think is a sale. Maybe you've had good luck with women. Or maybe you prefer a family since they won't stick around for a marathon grind and tend to buy the car just to get the kids out of there. Everyone will be different. Maybe the guys who avoided me a Subaru dealer were sick of kids coming in to look at WRXs that just wanted to drive one. Don't know.
To speak the other post about potential for the day, the worst thing that can happen to a salesman is to spend half a day with one customer who doesn't buy anything. You test drive, show them every feature, throw some numbers around, grab them a coffee and a soda, and think you are close until they leave or even worse, can't get financed. You call them the next day and they bought across town for $100 cheaper than your offer or they realized they can't afford a new car. Sucks to be you huh?
Those were the customers I wanted to avoid, because meanwhile your fellow salesmen are selling cars that you could have sold. Some customers were "lay downs", they were ready to buy, and were simply there to work a price and put money down. As long as you didn't offend them in some way (or your manager loses the deal for you), you were getting a sale, and a quick one.
Unfortunately it was impossible to tell who was there to waste your time, and who was there to "lay down". Personally I did well with single women. I found if you treated them well, with respect, and didn't play games they would be willing to buy from you and not hit every dealer in a 100 mile radius getting prices and not even giving you a chance to beat it. They also gave me referral business within the few months I worked there, which is apparently the key to being successful in that business. With any customer the only thing you could do was get some basic qualifications going early. Ask what their timeframe is. Some are kicking tires, others totalled their car 2 days ago and need something by Monday to go to work. If it seemed hopeless, then you would sometimes try and detach so you could move on. Hand them a brochure and a card and suggest they test drive the Accord or whatever. Just make sure you can explain why you let them leave to the sales manager.
So when I shop I always try to get the salesman to detach, since I know I won't be buying that trip. I tell them I don't plan to buy today, I am researching and seeing if I even like driving the car, and I don't want to waste your time. If they'd let me just drive one, he can take someone else and I'll take his card. It never works though, because the managers treat the situation like the salesman has the power to change your mind somehow. All the sales training (I sat through some) says that "every" customer will say something like that, and to ignore it. So I drive the car longer than they may want to (a 5 minute loop is not a test drive) and then they try and talk numbers with me and I tell them 3 times and to their manager that I won't be buying anything yet. An hour later, the poor guy can finally try and sell a car.
So, this was long winded, but is just an example of what goes on behind the scenes a bit. I understand why they might walk by the young guy who might be dreaming, but you can probably figure out if he is pretty quickly by talking to him. Do it right, and you only waste 15-20 minutes and maybe have a sale on the hook for later in the month. An experienced salesman definitely will be able to. If they give you a test drive, hand you a card and say to call them when you are ready, at least give them the courtesy of a chance to win the business. That is what I would do, and what I did with the car I bought a few months ago.
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Very well put VicVinegar.
I have never been an automotive salesperson, but enough times a potential customer put off by a dealer. Ex, a Ford dealer who sent their new sales boy to waste my time while he drove the car, and he couldn't answer a single question I had. And the Toyota dealer who, despite having a quiet day, couldn't be bothered to show me their vehicles.
My decent salesperson at the Hyundai dealer was an old man. He didn't know much about the cars at all, but he was easy going, gave me time to look around and test drive, and let the sales manager play the money game.
I have never been an automotive salesperson, but enough times a potential customer put off by a dealer. Ex, a Ford dealer who sent their new sales boy to waste my time while he drove the car, and he couldn't answer a single question I had. And the Toyota dealer who, despite having a quiet day, couldn't be bothered to show me their vehicles.
My decent salesperson at the Hyundai dealer was an old man. He didn't know much about the cars at all, but he was easy going, gave me time to look around and test drive, and let the sales manager play the money game.
I've had different experiences with salesmen but never had a problem test driving a car. I've driven cars with prices from 14k-40k. I am a 27 year old male and for the most part look young. Never got the run around. I always thought the 25-30 age range was the sweet spot for car salesman?
As far as dressing the part, ha! All my test drives were done after taking my daughter to daycare and before going into work for the day. Needless to say I look very casual (T-shirt and jeans).
As far as dressing the part, ha! All my test drives were done after taking my daughter to daycare and before going into work for the day. Needless to say I look very casual (T-shirt and jeans).
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I got a test drive of the rs8 when i was in jeans and slippers. Needless to say i told the salesman this is not what i was looking for
I must be getting old. 1.4 litres is the approximate displacement I like to see for each cylinder...
Suck up your ego? For a car? Just buy something else already. No car is worth that.
Originally Posted By: dishdude
The ILX sucks anyway. All the dealers have a ton of them and I have yet to see one on the road yet. 150 hp out of a 2.0L engine? A 1995 Neon had the same specs!
Subaru's 2.0L flat-4 makes 148 horsepower; Ford's 2.0L engine (in the last gen Focus) made 150 hp; the slightly smaller 1.8L in the Cruze makes 138 hp; the Ecotec 2.2L sold in cars as recent as the Pontiac G5 and Chevy Cobalt generated 155 hp.
150 hp or thereabouts is not all that uncommon for a 2.0L class engine today. Reliability and emissions performance are both far improved over older engine designs, and with the same power output.
The ILX sucks anyway. All the dealers have a ton of them and I have yet to see one on the road yet. 150 hp out of a 2.0L engine? A 1995 Neon had the same specs!
Subaru's 2.0L flat-4 makes 148 horsepower; Ford's 2.0L engine (in the last gen Focus) made 150 hp; the slightly smaller 1.8L in the Cruze makes 138 hp; the Ecotec 2.2L sold in cars as recent as the Pontiac G5 and Chevy Cobalt generated 155 hp.
150 hp or thereabouts is not all that uncommon for a 2.0L class engine today. Reliability and emissions performance are both far improved over older engine designs, and with the same power output.
Great story.
I don't dress in expensive clothes. I've noticed that certain dealerships won't even acknowledge me. Same thing when I was house shopping. The builder's salesmen would ignore me. Assuming I was poor.
The thing that always amazed me was that I had more money than the people who were judging me on my looks.
I don't dress in expensive clothes. I've noticed that certain dealerships won't even acknowledge me. Same thing when I was house shopping. The builder's salesmen would ignore me. Assuming I was poor.
The thing that always amazed me was that I had more money than the people who were judging me on my looks.
If you are truly interested in buying one, I would no doubt go in and talk to the GM...
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Originally Posted By: Cujet
The thing that always amazed me was that I had more money than the people who were judging me on my looks.
Apparently it's a very subtle thing to some people that having money is a separate thing from spending a lot of money on "stuff".
The thing that always amazed me was that I had more money than the people who were judging me on my looks.
Apparently it's a very subtle thing to some people that having money is a separate thing from spending a lot of money on "stuff".
I don't think age is the problem here, nor how you dress, because younger folks may buy new higher priced car with parents money, and many rich folks dress sloppy in shorts and drive expensive cars.
The likely scenario is it is a busy day and you act like you are not ready to buy or even know you are planning to buy a car any time soon. VicVinegar explains the rest pretty clearly.
Another reason is probably ILX is so new they have no problem selling it at a markup, that they know you are not going to be paying too much for it, and they'll wait till some young kid who only want this car and parents will pay MSRP + more.
If you go to this dealer again and say you want to test drive a slow moving model, on a slow day, they'll probably spend a lot of time with you.
The likely scenario is it is a busy day and you act like you are not ready to buy or even know you are planning to buy a car any time soon. VicVinegar explains the rest pretty clearly.
Another reason is probably ILX is so new they have no problem selling it at a markup, that they know you are not going to be paying too much for it, and they'll wait till some young kid who only want this car and parents will pay MSRP + more.
If you go to this dealer again and say you want to test drive a slow moving model, on a slow day, they'll probably spend a lot of time with you.
I saw one on the road and it looks boring, just an upscale Civic.
Originally Posted By: PandaBear
I don't think age is the problem here, nor how you dress, because younger folks may buy new higher priced car with parents money, and many rich folks dress sloppy in shorts and drive expensive cars.
The likely scenario is it is a busy day and you act like you are not ready to buy or even know you are planning to buy a car any time soon. VicVinegar explains the rest pretty clearly.
Another reason is probably ILX is so new they have no problem selling it at a markup, that they know you are not going to be paying too much for it, and they'll wait till some young kid who only want this car and parents will pay MSRP + more.
If you go to this dealer again and say you want to test drive a slow moving model, on a slow day, they'll probably spend a lot of time with you.
So true !
When I take my E430 to the dealer for free car wash and Starbucks coffee, many SL63 and other high priced MB car owners wear short and flip-flop. From the look of their cloth, it hard to say they are the owner of $100k+ cars.
I don't think age is the problem here, nor how you dress, because younger folks may buy new higher priced car with parents money, and many rich folks dress sloppy in shorts and drive expensive cars.
The likely scenario is it is a busy day and you act like you are not ready to buy or even know you are planning to buy a car any time soon. VicVinegar explains the rest pretty clearly.
Another reason is probably ILX is so new they have no problem selling it at a markup, that they know you are not going to be paying too much for it, and they'll wait till some young kid who only want this car and parents will pay MSRP + more.
If you go to this dealer again and say you want to test drive a slow moving model, on a slow day, they'll probably spend a lot of time with you.
So true !
When I take my E430 to the dealer for free car wash and Starbucks coffee, many SL63 and other high priced MB car owners wear short and flip-flop. From the look of their cloth, it hard to say they are the owner of $100k+ cars.
Those guys might be the household help of the filthy rich owners. Why would they personally waste their time hanging around a dealership while their car is getting serviced? They have their employees to do that kind of waiting. Their time would be worth at least $1000 per hour or more.
OK, I am joking
OK, I am joking
Probably not, they just figure with what it cost to fix those Euro bombs, that's all the money the owners have left.
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