Chevy refused a test drive

[bubbatime]

Originally Posted By: cadfaeltex
Business manager tore up the check for the entire price of the vehicle because he wasn’t going to accept a personal check (already cleared with owner mind you). Salesman turned a color I don’t think I’ve ever seen on a human being. Parents just said ok and we’re walking out. Salesman sprints for owner and sale is made.


My last several vehicles I have always put down a $5000 personal check as down payment, plus my banks pre-qualified loan paperwork. Easy as pie. No problems.

On the last dealership purchase, on a Sunday at 630PM (banks closed), I wrote a personal check for $5000 as I always do. Finance guy is a total dunce. Goes on and on and on about how he will come repo the car himself, and send the Sheriff to arrest me for writing a bad check if it bounces. Tells me he doesn't like taking personal checks, and that he is DEAD serious. If I write a bad check, the Sheriff is coming to arrest me. At the time I was a Sheriffs deputy, so I highly doubt that I would throw away a $55K a year job plus benefits to write a $5000 bad check. Idiot. His attitude almost nuked the deal.

 

[DuckRyder]

The problem for me is the whole “buy it today” - that is a huge red flag. Next thing you know he’ll be asking you what you “want your payment to be" and drawing a 4-square.

“Nope" is the proper answer. (actually “NOT from you” is the proper answer) Though I’ve been known to answer “sell it to me for half what it is worth” or similar to “what can I do to get you to buy today”.

I actually had a guy say that was refreshing honesty and we talked for quite a while, though I told him early on to feel free to bounce if a paying customer came in.

BTW, this Dealer actually seems to have pretty good reviews on www.dealerrater.com which would lead me to believe they would like to know about this.

 

[NHGUY]

I'm pretty sure if I drove my 88 to a new dealer,asked for the keys to a 2017 Hemi,with no intention of buying (and huge hatred of the complexity and fragile-ness of todays vehicles) they would tell me to pound sand and go visit the local junkyards for a "new" vehicle...and they would have every right to.Lucky for them,I wont be visiting any of them soon (maybe not ever),even if I won the lottery!

 

[xfactor9]

Originally Posted By: cadfaeltex

Reminds me of a loaded GMC my parents bought. Business manager tore up the check for the entire price of the vehicle because he wasn’t going to accept a personal check (already cleared with owner mind you). Salesman turned a color I don’t think I’ve ever seen on a human being. Parents just said ok and we’re walking out. Salesman sprints for owner and sale is made.


I wouldn't be surprised if this was choreographed to endear the buyers to the salesperson... To show this salesperson has your back. The buyer will remember the experience and recommend him to your friends. It's the good-cop / bad-cop routine

 

[SirTanon]

Originally Posted By: mightymousetech
"Joyride" a truck. Now I have heard it all.


Years ago, I worked at a Ford dealership. Took more than one F150 Lightning truck out for a spin. Boy, were those things a blast.

 

[Eddie]

If they have only one of these vehicles then I see the reluctance to let it out just for the fun of it. I do believe the salesman approach should have been more accommodating, even to the point of mentioning that they were waiting for a customer. When I buy new, I want a new vehicle with less than 5 to 10 miles max on it and not some vehicle that has been test driven for a few hundred miles. Ed

 

[demarpaint]

Originally Posted By: Virtus_Probi
Originally Posted By: demarpaint
This got me thinking. I turned away a lot of people that wanted to test drive the Civic SI back in my Honda selling days. Kids as we called them, would come in with a fresh drivers license and wanted a test drive. We turned away about half a dozen of them on Saturdays and another half dozen or so Sundays for quite a while. Some left in a huff, it happens. Management would give the salesman a good chewing out for letting them take a test drive. OTOH if they came in with a parent and we felt they were potential buyers they took the car for a ride. In all honesty time is money, especially when you're working for a commission.


A buddy of mine had parents who ended up doing quite well in our HS years and he used to take their nicest car (Porsche, BMW, or MB depending upon the exact time) to luxury dealers and try to tell the salesmen that he was thinking about upgrading to something even nicer.
Didn't work even once.


The kids I was dealing with weren't that smart. LOL

 

[demarpaint]

Originally Posted By: Eddie
If they have only one of these vehicles then I see the reluctance to let it out just for the fun of it. I do believe the salesman approach should have been more accommodating, even to the point of mentioning that they were waiting for a customer. When I buy new, I want a new vehicle with less than 5 to 10 miles max on it and not some vehicle that has been test driven for a few hundred miles. Ed


The salesman handled it wrong. There are ways to handle it with someone who is reasonable w/o [censored] the person off. Been there done that.

 

[aquariuscsm]

Originally Posted By: cadfaeltex
Reminds me of a loaded GMC my parents bought. Business manager tore up the check for the entire price of the vehicle because he wasn’t going to accept a personal check (already cleared with owner mind you).


I would've been tempted to break his arms!

 

[aquariuscsm]

Originally Posted By: DuckRyder
Next thing you know he’ll be asking you what you “want your payment to be"


When my gf's dad goes to buy a car and they ask him what he wants his payment to be,he always responds "Nothing!" haha. Brutally honest to a stupid question haha. Last new car he bought was a Hyundai Santa Fe. He brought his checkbook,wrote a check for what he was willing to pay for it and put it on the salesman's desk,went to the lounge area and went to sleep haha. Drove it home!

 

[Wolf359]

Originally Posted By: bubbatime
No test drive? Not buying the car. Period.

I cannot fathom what these idiots are thinking.


I like the ads that say "No test pilots".

Originally Posted By: bubbatime
On the last dealership purchase, on a Sunday at 630PM (banks closed), I wrote a personal check for $5000 as I always do. Finance guy is a total dunce. Goes on and on and on about how he will come repo the car himself, and send the Sheriff to arrest me for writing a bad check if it bounces. Tells me he doesn't like taking personal checks, and that he is DEAD serious. If I write a bad check, the Sheriff is coming to arrest me. At the time I was a Sheriffs deputy, so I highly doubt that I would throw away a $55K a year job plus benefits to write a $5000 bad check. Idiot. His attitude almost nuked the deal.


Last time I used a personal check, it was for 10k, it was a small independent dealer that went to the auctions. He basically took it without any questions, although we knew the same people and I was a referral of someone he knew. I was ready to bring a bank check too but he told me to just bring a personal check.

Originally Posted By: DuckRyder
The problem for me is the whole “buy it today” - that is a huge red flag.


That's probably a standard question. They want someone who's ready and not a tire kicker. They know that once you walk out, there's less than a 10% chance you'll be back. I've actually had sales people say to me that they didn't think I'd be back. They're probably right 80-90% of the time. That's also when you make your best deal, start to walk out and then you'll know what their lowest price is.

 

[ArcticDriver]

Originally Posted By: FordBroncoVWJeta
Originally Posted By: ArcticDriver


Lol...have you got quite a bit of experience at the management level of Corporations Mr 18-year-old?

Good lesson in life:

"Don't sweat the small stuff...and its all small stuff".

hats off to ya on your work ethic and logging the big hours to get ahead in life.
Did I ever claim to hold a management level of a corporation? No? That's right I didn't. Now I did claim, that I work for a corporation. If I was being that big of an [censored] and they called corporate on me, I dont think I would have a job.

"I raised my kids to sort out conflict or miscommunication by desling with it through the chain of command instead of running to me every time they don't get their way. I look at this as a miscommunication that could be resolved with the manager." Often times going to corporate is next on the chain of command. They love hearing about this stuff. Also I dont run to my father with my problems. Believe it or not I have my own big boy panties unlike some others in my generation.


You're taking it all too personal.

The salesman is going to have a Sales Manager.
The Dealership is going to have a General Manager.
Chances are the Dealership is going to have one or more owners.
Each of these would be a link up the CoC in that order.

Our society has turned into a bunch of spoiled brats trying to get everyone in trouble when they have a perceived injustice when 90% of the time it was simply a misunderstanding.

Step #1: Give both sides an opportunity to tell their version of events. You would expect that same courtesy if you were the one being accused, right?

 

[ArcticDriver]

Originally Posted By: bubbatime
At 34 Ive owed at least 30 cars in my life. I used to buy, fix up, sell for profit a lot of cars. More for fun and as a hobby, than to make money.

Ive had cash in my pocket, ready to buy several cars, when the owners said, "Nope. No test drives." I even had a guy take me around the block in a truck once. I told him to scoot over so I could drive. He said, nope. No test drives."

No test drive? Not buying the car. Period.

I cannot fathom what these idiots are thinking.


Bubba,

When you are buying & selling vehicles you have fixed up, you must surely be able to recognize tire kickers from ready buyers by now.

How much of your time are you going to give to a guy who says he is not interested in buying your car but wants to test drive it? And with a bit of an attitude about it as well.

You seem to me like you would have about zero patience for such nonsense. Same as most of us.

This thread and the tractor parts thread make me wonder if BITOG is actually some sort of group therapy for people To sort out personal issues & unresolved angst towards dealerships and auto parts stores? If so, then many here have alot of work ahead.

 

[Panzerman]

Yeah, I heard the same thing over my gun store rant that I need therapy too. Some people just handle eating a [censored] sandwich better than others.
When we were looking for a Dodge Challenger. The local Dodge dealer where I bought my truck 10 years ago, the sales manager came out and told us take a New Challenger Scat Pack home drive it to work if we don't like it bring it back, no hard feelings. My wife said No she felt funny about doing that, I was all for it. We ended up buying the car but this wasn't the first dealership that did this.
Several times I did take a Cadillac for the weekend.
We bought some, just returned others. No pressure or issues as promised.

 

[Panzerman]

I also had a coupon to take a Toyota Tundra for a ride when they first came out with the 5.7. $50 Visa card. The dealership wouldn't let me drive the truck because it was raining and signed the coupon.
Toyota emailed me I told them I didn't get to drive the truck so they sent me another coupon. Went back and they still wouldn't let me drive the truck because it was parked and blocked in. Signed the coupon again. Ended up with a $100 and a bad taste for Toyota dealership.

 

[OhOMG]

Originally Posted By: Bgallagher
You should have taken his card and said you will pass it around for your friends and family to not see him considering how rude he was. I think saying your son is coming to driving age and you were interested to see how it improved since your vehicle would have been more honest/got you a drive.
Originally Posted By: umungus1122
What you should have done was explained to the owner/ manager how this salesman lost them your business.


Call Corporate.

 

[Mr Nice]

Salesman didn't want to be bothered. I can't blame the guy but he should have said something nicer to OP.

 

[stockrex]

Originally Posted By: ArcticDriver
Originally Posted By: bubbatime
At 34 Ive owed at least 30 cars in my life. I used to buy, fix up, sell for profit a lot of cars. More for fun and as a hobby, than to make money.

Ive had cash in my pocket, ready to buy several cars, when the owners said, "Nope. No test drives." I even had a guy take me around the block in a truck once. I told him to scoot over so I could drive. He said, nope. No test drives."

No test drive? Not buying the car. Period.

I cannot fathom what these idiots are thinking.


Bubba,

When you are buying & selling vehicles you have fixed up, you must surely be able to recognize tire kickers from ready buyers by now.

How much of your time are you going to give to a guy who says he is not interested in buying your car but wants to test drive it? And with a bit of an attitude about it as well.

You seem to me like you would have about zero patience for such nonsense. Same as most of us.

This thread and the tractor parts thread make me wonder if BITOG is actually some sort of group therapy for people To sort out personal issues & unresolved angst towards dealerships and auto parts stores? If so, then many here have alot of work ahead.

True, it is therapy, oil therapy, car buying therapy, rude sob sales therapy.

Storytime: Every morning at 9 am Ms Ruby (the janitor) come over to my office room to collect the trash, I acknowledge her and converse with her with the same attitude as I do when the CIO swings by for a candy bar. Oh yeah, Ms Ruby gets a candy bar too.
Another poster had posted and I agree, you can tell a lot about a person by how he/she treats others and especially under pressure.

Was I surprised by the salesguys attitude, yes. But it is his and chevy's loss at the end of the day.

Good point on the tirekickers, most of the guys in my fishing club give their stuff away and never go garage sales etc, who wants to deal with rude people? not me.

 

[ARCOgraphite]

We are just ugly blobs of organic slime and mostly water - as one alien put it a few decades ago.

I AM NOT - special

Wa Wa.

 

[Leo99]

Originally Posted By: bubbatime
Originally Posted By: cadfaeltex
Business manager tore up the check for the entire price of the vehicle because he wasn’t going to accept a personal check (already cleared with owner mind you). Salesman turned a color I don’t think I’ve ever seen on a human being. Parents just said ok and we’re walking out. Salesman sprints for owner and sale is made.


My last several vehicles I have always put down a $5000 personal check as down payment, plus my banks pre-qualified loan paperwork. Easy as pie. No problems.

On the last dealership purchase, on a Sunday at 630PM (banks closed), I wrote a personal check for $5000 as I always do. Finance guy is a total dunce. Goes on and on and on about how he will come repo the car himself, and send the Sheriff to arrest me for writing a bad check if it bounces. Tells me he doesn't like taking personal checks, and that he is DEAD serious. If I write a bad check, the Sheriff is coming to arrest me. At the time I was a Sheriffs deputy, so I highly doubt that I would throw away a $55K a year job plus benefits to write a $5000 bad check. Idiot. His attitude almost nuked the deal.


I bought my Camry with a no money down 0% interest rate loan. Signed some papers and drove the car home. My wife paid cash for her Rav4. Just signed a sales agreement and they said they'd sent us an invoice in a few days.

It's amazing how much one dealership differs from another.