The dealership sales model for new cars needs to die.
The #1 reason I continue to drive old, paid-for cars is because the pain-in-the-a$$ factor of fixing things is still less than trying to buy a new car without getting screwed by the franchise cartels.
Denied a test drive at Honda???
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Originally Posted By: BubbaFL
The dealership sales model for new cars needs to die.
The #1 reason I continue to drive old, paid-for cars is because the pain-in-the-a$$ factor of fixing things is still less than trying to buy a new car without getting screwed by the franchise cartels.
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In 1990, I stopped at the GM dealership in the town where I went to college. It was lunch time, and the owner of the dealership came out. Ir was obvious I had interupted his lunch. I did a general inquiry on an S-10 pickup. I was in the market and definitely was going to buy something. He responded, "you are probably going to need a co-signer, so you should go get that then think about a test drive".
I drove on down the road to the Ford dealership. He had two Rangers there. A red/white one and a blue one. I asked about the price. The salesman threw me the keys and said "[censored], take it for a spin and see how you like it". After the drive, he did a write up. Just starting out in the working world, I did need a co-signer. Talked to my mom who co-signed for me. Wound up driving the Ranger home, for 6 years.
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As a salesman, I've had both kinds of customers. I knew the right questions to ask, how to take control of the conversation, AND I knew my product very well. I gave one heck of a walk around. I.ve turned many lookers into buyers. Many times I've heard "We really weren't planning on buying today.". Lots of customers came in with a $250 per month budget and left with a $400 per month payment.
Then there were those that you knew had no intention of buying but had nothing better to do. One guy admitted that he was pretty sure he would buy from his local dealer. I guess he was just using me to keep his local dealer honest.
Ive also had many customers who bought elsewhere and didnt have a clue as to how to operate many of the new features on their new vehicles because all they were interested in was price and their salesman did such a [censored] poor job. But they always wanted to come to me after the fact for my expertise, for FREE.
Salesmen deal with a lot of low life worms too! And im not just talking low income low lifes either. They come in all sizes, shapes and income levels too!
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I'm at a lost here. Why a person who doesn't in market looking to buy a car drive to a dealer to test drive a car ? Too much free time and nothing else to do ?
If someone is looking to buy a compact sedan, then test drive some cars like Civic, Corolla, Mazda 3 ... to decide which one to buy is one story, just go to a dealer and demand a test drive for fun is another.
I didn't test drive any of the last 4 new cars I bought and I didn't regret 1 iota of any purchase.
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Originally Posted By: otis24
In 1990, I stopped at the GM dealership in the town where I went to college. It was lunch time, and the owner of the dealership came out. Ir was obvious I had interupted his lunch. I did a general inquiry on an S-10 pickup. I was in the market and definitely was going to buy something. He responded, "you are probably going to need a co-signer, so you should go get that then think about a test drive".
I drove on down the road to the Ford dealership. He had two Rangers there. A red/white one and a blue one. I asked about the price. The salesman threw me the keys and said "[censored], take it for a spin and see how you like it". After the drive, he did a write up. Just starting out in the working world, I did need a co-signer. Talked to my mom who co-signed for me. Wound up driving the Ranger home, for 6 years.
Originally Posted By: wallyuwl
Originally Posted By: otis24
In 1990, I stopped at the GM dealership in the town where I went to college. It was lunch time, and the owner of the dealership came out. Ir was obvious I had interupted his lunch. I did a general inquiry on an S-10 pickup. I was in the market and definitely was going to buy something. He responded, "you are probably going to need a co-signer, so you should go get that then think about a test drive".
I drove on down the road to the Ford dealership. He had two Rangers there. A red/white one and a blue one. I asked about the price. The salesman threw me the keys and said "[censored], take it for a spin and see how you like it". After the drive, he did a write up. Just starting out in the working world, I did need a co-signer. Talked to my mom who co-signed for me. Wound up driving the Ranger home, for 6 years.
A college classmate purchased an S-10 that same year. Had terrible paint issues. I think a lot of them that year had issues with the clear coat.
my college roommate was employed as a student intern for his entire college tenure by a very large and well-known company. He had an income and drove a used, tired nissan. when he graduated we drove to the local honda dealer-- two "college" kids in jeans and t-shirts and had questions about the civic and accord. They laughed us out of the lot.
I went home; he went to the acura dealer and walked out with an integra-R, loaded, which he kept for many years.
He never went back to gloat or rub anyone's nose in it. It wasn't the sort of thing that would improve anyone's life. Worked out better for him in the end, anyway. The sale merely went to the better dealership.
-M
Originally Posted By: oilpsi2high
What a joke. I've test driven $50,000 cars with 450hp by myself for hours at a time. If I was denied a base model Honda Civic test drive I would have laughed at the [censored] salesman so hard I probably would have made him lose it right then and there.
Sounds like you already figured out how to handle this. Definitely go back with a pair of sunglasses on and get the name of the salesman, then write the general manager a nice letter detailing what happened. Yeah they work off of commission but they are also paid to be there and do a job. I hope he gets fired.
It's always a chore when the car you want is a "hot" model. Back in 2007 I had decided to buy myself a 50th birthday/semi-retirement present for myself.
My first choice initially was a GTI, but the Louisville VW dealers acted as if ordering a car had the same difficulty level as achieving cold fusion.
I next landed on the Mazdaspeed 3; the attitude of the Louisville Mazda dealer I visited was:
So you want a Mazdaspeed 3? Well, sign a buyers order, put down a deposit, and we'll let you test drive one. Oh yeah, we don't do dealer trades, so you'll, just have to wait until we get one in the color you want. And when we DO get it it will have a big ADM sticker on the side window.
The dealer I eventually bought from(Kings Mazda in Cincinnati) did all the right things; the salesperson followed up on my internet request, encouraged me to take a test drive, and found the exact MS3 I wanted- he even had it flat bedded in at no charge from Wooster Ohio. It also didn't hurt that the guy was also a SCCA racer and owned several Triumph bikes.
I think there are 2 perspectives here.
And many of you are commenting from the perspective of the Dealer/salesperson saying that's a poor way to run a business and that dealer sucks.
Sure that's great, but unless you are the owner of that franchise, who cares. That doesn't help you get a test drive.
Instead, put yourself in the perspective of the OP and the goals of what the OP wants. Does he want to have a test drive? Then he has to play the game a bit to improve his chances. Answering "Might be buying today" is not a huge burden like filling out forms and putting down a deposit.
Things are not always going to just fall in place for you every time and people aren't always going to bend over backwards for you.
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If the dealership has enough customers that they feel they have the option to turn down anything that doesn't look like a sale that day, then they're selling cars at a good rate. If they're hungry enough, then anyone who walks through the door is treated like royalty. If you're not...then they've got a good amount of business already.
Originally Posted By: raytseng
I think there are 2 perspectives here.
And many of you are commenting from the perspective of the Dealer/salesperson saying that's a poor way to run a business and that dealer sucks.
Sure that's great, but unless you are the owner of that franchise, who cares. That doesn't help you get a test drive.
Instead, put yourself in the perspective of the OP and the goals of what the OP wants. Does he want to have a test drive? Then he has to play the game a bit to improve his chances. Answering "Might be buying today" is not a huge burden like filling out forms and putting down a deposit.
Things are not always going to just fall in place for you every time and people aren't always going to bend over backwards for you.
Originally Posted By: MCompact
It's always a chore when the car you want is a "hot" model. Back in 2007 I had decided to buy myself a 50th birthday/semi-retirement present for myself.
My first choice initially was a GTI, but the Louisville VW dealers acted as if ordering a car had the same difficulty level as achieving cold fusion.
I next landed on the Mazdaspeed 3; the attitude of the Louisville Mazda dealer I visited was:
So you want a Mazdaspeed 3? Well, sign a buyers order, put down a deposit, and we'll let you test drive one. Oh yeah, we don't do dealer trades, so you'll, just have to wait until we get one in the color you want. And when we DO get it it will have a big ADM sticker on the side window.
The dealer I eventually bought from(Kings Mazda in Cincinnati) did all the right things; the salesperson followed up on my internet request, encouraged me to take a test drive, and found the exact MS3 I wanted- he even had it flat bedded in at no charge from Wooster Ohio. It also didn't hurt that the guy was also a SCCA racer and owned several Triumph bikes.
Originally Posted By: Leo99
It's strange how so many dealers don't want to sell cars. I went to 3 Toyota dealers to buy my new Camry. One didn't want to play ball and gave me an initial price $1000 over MSRP. The second didn't come down to what I wanted to pay. The third gave me their best price right off the bat and we made a deal in 15 minutes. $5000 less than the first dealer.
I have owned 11 Hondas and Acura's since 1986- first was the Integra LS in 86.
I currently own a 2013 Accord Sport- phenomenal gas mileage. However Honda quality is down these days. Cost cutting is one of the reasons. My 2010 Insight and this Accord
both have suspect paint, lower build quality and to this date Honda has never solved the road noise issues even with the Accord and its active noise cancelation hardware.
Plus their suspensions ride over bumps instead of absorbing them.
I'm not a Toyota buyer per say but the new Camry has a super Lexus like quietness to
it and better at absorbing harsh roads.
Maybe he did you a favor. Since Subaru has been getting good press they to have started the Honda snob routine. I talked to my local Honda salesman a few days ago. He wanted me to get another Honda and I told him my concerns and he is an honest guy and he agreed 100%.
I also told him that when I trade in a Honda I get great resale value. Other dealers love that trade in. But when I try to trade a Honda back to Honda I get a song and dance and the lowest value.................. True! And he agreed.
Good Luck
James
The one time I bought a new vehicle (the Honda Ridgeline) at a dealer, I sent emails to several dealers asking what their best price would be. At that time (which was right after the economic downturn that began in late 2007), Honda was offering a $4500 incentive to move the Ridges off the lots. I test drove a Ridge at the local dealership (or should I say, stealership) but they did not give me a good price. After dickering with several dealers in various Alabama towns on prices, I finally got an offer that I could live with from a dealership in another town and went with it. They got a Ridgeline in the color and trim I wanted from a dealership in Tennessee and even drove it over to my house to close the deal. I never set foot in that dealership to buy this car! So, some Honda dealerships are capable of giving decent service to customers - you just have might have to shop around a bit.
I agree.
My local Honda dealer thinks every cent they take off is killing them. They honor no buying service pricing. You just go elsewhere.
Originally Posted By: HTSS_TR
Originally Posted By: Leo99
It's strange how so many dealers don't want to sell cars. I went to 3 Toyota dealers to buy my new Camry. One didn't want to play ball and gave me an initial price $1000 over MSRP. The second didn't come down to what I wanted to pay. The third gave me their best price right off the bat and we made a deal in 15 minutes. $5000 less than the first dealer.
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