“Hi Mr. Baruth. First, I would like to thank you for the opportunity to assist you and please feel free to email or call me at the number provided if you have any other questions you need answered. I have a vehicle with a MSRP of $29,995. I can sell you that for $29,482.” Interesting. In the middle of the American automotive market’s worst implosion in living memory, what car could possibly be so valuable, so desired, so smoking hot that the maximum negotiating room possible would amount to an ungenerous five hundred and thirteen dollars off sticker? Give up? It’s a Pontiac G8. A 2008-model Pontiac G8.
My first exposure to Pontiac’s Holden-by-any-other-name came at the San Diego press launch last summer, and I was so smitten that I permitted myself to be videotaped by the General’s PR flacks gushing incoherently about how the G8 “challenges the BMW 5er on home ground and carries away a win on value” or something equally inane. I also made a call from the hotel that evening to my younger brother, a multiple-Mazda owner and SCCA National Solo trophy recipient, suggesting that he investigate the possibility of buying one himself. I knew he’d been interested in the G8 from the moment the first photos appeared but had been waiting to hear the full scoop on the faux-Pontiac’s over-the-road capabilities.
“Go ahead and buy one,” was my advice, “and the V6, if you’re so inclined, is almost as good as the V8.” That’s true, by the way: it would be perfectly possible for a so-called “performance buyer” to enjoy driving the plain-Jane G8. During my evaluation of the V6 model in the curvy canyons south of San Diego, I utterly humiliated a group of hardcore Ducati-mounted sportbikers in such egregious fashion that I received a written reprimand after the event from a GM corporate toad for “dangerous vehicle operation”. A good car, solidly executed.
I flew home from San Diego full of hope that Pontiac finally had a car for which very few excuses need be made. Yes, the G8 had a few weak spots – flimsy interior pieces, unfortunate color choices, a visual distinction between the “standard” and GT models so miniscule that GM’s own flunkies repeatedly mis-identified the two during the press event – but it also had solid pretensions of automotive greatness. It was worth buying.
Ay, there’s the rub: buying the thing. In the six months that followed, my brother learned firsthand about the misery of dealing with Pontiac dealers. This is the same group of people, remember, who effectively held the first batches of 2004 GTOs hostage, demanding ten-grand markups and no-questions-asked deposits before finally panicking and selling the backlog of unwanted Goats for invoice minus holdback in enormous, humiliating newspaper ads which inadvertently slaughtered the car’s residual value. The attitudes of these domestic dealer ding-dongs, seemingly formed during the brief halcyon days where the Grand Am was GM’s best-selling automobile and served as the exclusive transport option of every stripper, Wal-Mart cashier, and three-hundred-pound, trailer-park-bound, human hippopotamus in the Midwest, could best be described as “aggressively unfriendly”.
My brother’s experience started with an attempt to “pre-order” the car. He was assured time and time again that the cars would be “impossible to get” and that only a sizable deposit would guarantee a spot in line. When the G8 began to pile up in dealer lots despite the predicted shortage, he was repeatedly denied a test drive despite being a respectable-looking thirty-year-old who wore Canali suits and appeared with his wife and young son in tow. After multiple incidents where dealership personnel made it plainly obvious to him that it would be doing him a favor to let him so much as sniff a G8, he gave up and bought another Mazda. I can’t blame him.
Still, hope springs eternal in the human breast, particularly when the human breast involved spent hours watching “Knight Rider” as a child and longingly watching the third-generation Trans Am “GTA” roll thunderously through the neighborhood. With nearly half the G8s ever produced still silently flat-spotting their tires in dealer lots, my brother thought he’d try one more. Again, he visited, called, emailed tirelessly, serenading his office with the sound of the various dealers’ on-hold music via his desk speakerphone, waiting for a low-options G8 GT at a reasonable price. The e-mail which opened this article represents the best offer he’s yet seen. Mark my words: when the last Pontiac dealership in this country is either razed to the ground or ignominiously remodeled to sell Chinese crapwagons, it won’t take a Heinrich Schliemann to discover the story of why GM’s Excitement brand found itself stripped of its flaming chicken wings and buried in the cold, dead ground.
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I had a very similar experience. Initially, I was completely blown off by the salesman. When I told him I’d like to drive a GT he told me, “All we have available is the one in the middle of the showroom.” He turned and walked away. Nice.
About a month ago I returned and said I was very interested in a GT, in black. A different salesman told me they were “selling like hotcakes” and would call me when they got a black one in. I didn’t even get the standard offer to check the other dealers. I have yet to receive a call and have subsequently stopped waiting by the phone. Perhaps I got off on the wrong foot when my first question was asking how they were going to get rid of all the Solstices outlining the sidewalks of the building (there were literally 20 of them at this small dealer).
But it seems this was a blessing in disguise as the used market for these is excellent… at least from the buyer’s perspective. I hope to get one in the low 20’s this spring after I sell my Mustang.
I can relate; recently I was helping my father with car shopping. Thinking that there were deals to be had, GM being in the shitter and all, we went to the local Pontiac/GMC/Cadillac/whatever-else-they-can-cram-into-a-single-lot dealer to check out a G8 GT. Upon entering the place, the only sales person in the place was a surly old fellow who seemed to have utter disdain for our inquiry. He informed us that the G8 GT was full MSRP. 42 000 smackers (Canadian). No incentives. No zeros to be found in finance rates. He made no attempt to sell us on the car – no deals, no description of how it drives (let alone an offer to test it), nothing. We walked out within 5 minutes. The much-touted incentives are only found on the less (least) desireable models, turds that shame the dealer lot by their mere presence. The G8, apparently, is too good to be affected by the woes of GM. And that’s why they have sold next to none in my hometown (a perusal of the used ads for three provinces came up with one example, a V6, for near-MSRP. That’s not mentioning the fact that you will not see one on the road that side of Montreal). Come to think of it, I’ve only seen one on the roads here in downtown Montreal – a town where you can trip over a 100K+ car every three blocks.
Maybe he can try the Kokomo, Indiana Pontiac dealership that just closed up shop (see http://www.kokomotribune.com/local/local_story_007150438.html ).
Mind you, this was the only Pontiac dealer left in a GM/Chrysler town. Perhaps he can pick one of the numerous G8s left sitting on their dark lot at auction.
Any GM dealership with the audacity to risk a sale with a token gesture in the face of extinction reaps what it sows.
You gotta love those dealers, is there any doubt they are a huge part of why GM is going down the crapper. Oh well in 6 months you can get one for cost.
I’d go for a slightly used one at half price:
http://www.blueknobauto.com/auto_detail.php3?id=48534
Just another example of arrogant shortsighted jer_off dealers needing to, wanting to write a home run deal on a “hot?” car while weeds are growing up around most the cars in his storage lot. They’re always are looking for the next “mark”, the next “score”.
As I’ve written in many threads in recent months, dealers share a significant amount of the blame for the demise of the Big 2.333……The “buyers experience” many people have endured for decades has helped drive customers to the imports. And yes there are plenty of slimy import dealers as well.
G8 sales are very ugly. Little over a thousand cars a month.
Bonus money has an extremely negative impact on a cars future. Just about every car that gets bonus money courtesy of your local dealer, will inevitably tank about a year later. Customers get pissed off and will go buy something else instead of waiting for their car. It’s been proven over and over and over again. But, there is no such thing as integrity in auto sales. Except the dealer I bought my Daytona from. Owners son, that dad would should the doors before he’d ever allow a single car to be sold above MSRP. WOO HOO, an honest dealer… too bad they sell the sinking Chrysler brand :(
If GM had this car 10 years ago that would have been something that might command a first year “market adjustment”.
But now these Pontiac dealers better hurry up and dump their G8s before the cheaper, better looking (subjectively) Camaro comes out, because after that the G8 is dead.
Even now there’s the Hemi Charger and Challenger and Mustang GT for this to compete against, the G8 good but hardly special.
Even Pontiac-Buick-GMC dealers in tiny Winnipeg, Canada have a similar snotty attitude…twice I’ve walked out (from different dealers on different sides of town) after being subjected to the same crappy attitude others describe here. And I was only enquiring about Allures (LaCrosse) and G6s. The attitude I got was as if I was trying to buy a $100,000 car dressed in dirty jeans. Now those same dealers have G8s, G6s, G5s, and G3s (Wave/Aveos) overstocked and overflowing from their lots. I will look at the 2010 LaCrosse when it comes out, but I won’t buy from any of the local dealers…likely get better service from an internet retailer. That snotty GM dealer attitude is a huge turn-off. Don’t know where the dealers and their staff learn this behavior from, but you have to wonder if it’s part of GM culture.
I was a little surprised to see a new G8 on display in front of our local Costco a couple weeks ago. Apparently it’s covered under the Costco fixed price car buying program, FWIW.
I wasn’t given the opportunity to drive a G8 either, but I didn’t press the point. It wasn’t that offensive because I wasn’t in the market to buy one immediately anyway. The problem is, I won’t consider a car I can’t test drive, so this dealership won’t see me again when I’m in the buying mood in a few months.
Amusingly enough, the Porsche dealer I also visited was much more friendly. I’ve no doubt that if I’d wanted to try one of the lower-rung 911s, he’d have been fine with that.
A friend of mine had her heart set on a beautiful blue Chevy Cobalt. She’d gotten her Nissan Sentra in a wreck and said it’d feel weird to buy another.
A couple days ago she texted me, saying the deal fell through. Apparently, they were assholes at the dealership and so she’s going to be driving her mom’s Hyundai for a little while longer.
Her next vehicle? Probably a Hyundai Tiburon.
This is part of the reason why I dread getting my next car in maybe another three years. No good vehicles on the market, the recession will make sure R&D stagnates so I’m stuck with the choices they’ve got right now. No good fuel-efficient trucks. No decent fuel-efficient vehicles that can go down a mile-long dirt road day after day without falling apart.
And if things go as they’re going right now my choices will be Ford, Hyundai, Toyota, Honda and Nissan.
Man, the more I look at the auto market the more I think it sucks.
So, why don’t we get our story straight here. There is huge criticism for massive discounting, red tag sales etc as destroying the value of a vehicle. Yet, you lament the absence of huge discounts on a G8?
The Pontiac dealer here isn’t bad… it’s pulled up by the fact it’s also an Acura dealer.
Shame that at the same time, it pulls down the Acura dealer.
“Perhaps I got off on the wrong foot when my first question was asking how they were going to get rid of all the Solstices outlining the sidewalks of the building (there were literally 20 of them at this small dealer).”
Its called being civil. Why would you start out in a confrontational manner? You probably got what you deseved.
Saw a G8 GT at almost $5K off MSRP, but that’s still $10K more than that deal Sabastian pointed out.
the Grand Am was GM’s best-selling automobile and served as the exclusive transport option of every stripper,
Hey, now. My ex had a Firebird. Later, she leased a new 750i.
Most strippers own Acuras, Toyotas, and Mitsu Turbo Eclipses. Or so I’ve heard.
When I went to test drive one the dealer was much the same way. He said that they were selling all of them for above MSRP. “Selling all of them? What about the six on your lot?”
“…”
“Thought so.”
They’re all the same. This guy wouldn’t let me test a new chevy pickup when I went to the dealership, said he’d let me drive one at some “huge indoor sales extravaganza!” that was coming up. So, like a fool, I went. And he balked again.
So I bought a Mustang over the phone from a small town dealership. 3 days after I bought the car Ford lowered the price by 6 grand. A few months later I took the car in for a block heater install, and the tech left out half of the coolant, causing my next-to-new car to overheat a mile out of town.
The car dealers, their culture, their practices, all very instrumental in their demise. Don’t get me started on how people get treated buying houses around here. You’d think that those in the business would be licking your boots when you’re buying the biggest ticket items in your life. Know why we’re disadvantaged when buying? Because we don’t have any CASH. They have the credit, they have the power. You don’t feel like strong bargaining when you’re trying to trade in your 3 yr old Mustang that you’re 5 grand upside down on, despite a big down payment!
What Mazda did he buy since he didn’t get the G8? I had thought all this time he was looking at a 1 series, not the G8. I was convinced he was buying a 135 for a while.
I have personally experienced the same treatment at numerous GM franchises and at a Dodge dealership. Even my 58 year old retired attorney father experienced the cold shoulder when trying to purchase a new Corvette.
Egregious case #1 is when I went to a local Chevy dealer specifically to look at and price out one of the new Malibus. This was a month or so after they were introduced, and the dealer had several in stock at varying levels of trim.
When I asked about them, the saleswoman’s response was “they’re great cars, they put everything else to shame…but we’re not doing test drives, we want to save the cars for serious buyers.” I may have been a buyer had I driven the car, but we’ll never know. I still don’t see many Malibus on the road.
Egregious example #2 is when I was shopping for pickup trucks. Dodge was running some good deals last winter, so I stopped in to look at the leftover 2007 Rams. I was not greeted on the lot so I went in to ask about a specific truck. The salesman was the biggest jerk I’ve ever met…for example
“Yep, that’s a nice truck.”
“Nah, that’s equipped just the way buyers want, there’s no incentive on that truck.”
“If you think you need to drive it first you’re obviously not a serious buyer.”
The best dealership experiences I’ve ever had were at a very big Honda dealer, two different Audi dealers, and a BMW dealer. All I need is a pleasant greeting, someone to talk with about the car, and a little respect. Doesn’t seem too hard to me.
My friend got a test drive in a G8 GT this last October.
He told the salesperson that he had driven the Charger R/T earlier in the day (he really did), and the Nissan Maxima earlier that week (he really drove that too), but wanted to see how the G8 compared. They let him drive one just like it was a G5.
Still, I’m not sure what kind of price offer they gave him.
I just want to get the GM attitude typology straight … it’ll be on the exam. The dealers are ding-dongs, and the corporate lackeys are the flunkies, right?
Shame about the car … nice Blaupunkt audio system!
So this is why I’ve only seen one G8 on the road near me…
Sounds to me like the dealers are just waiting (praying) the market picks up so they can inflate the price again.
Huh, around here you can get them for a song…maybe another sip of Bob’s Kool Aid is in order.
I can’t speak from personal experience when it comes to Pontiac dealers. However, I think it’s fair to say that the issue of poor treatment by dealers isn’t limited to the domestics.
The worst service I’ve ever experienced was with a BMW dealer and the best was undoubtedly Saturn (both for buying and service). When we were shopping or a Mazda5 a couple of years ago the only dealer near us who had what we wanted (a loaded model with the manual trans) was such a jerk to my wife that she vowed to never give them our money. We eventually found one at another Mazda dealer 30 miles away. Most of the contact was by phone and when we got there they had the car waiting and were great to work with.
For a good amount of time, Saturn had the best customer satisfaction going but their sales still sucked wind due to a dearth of interesting cars. Toyota has consistently ranked pretty poorly in terms of sales and service satisfaction but buyers appear willing to deal with it.
Likewise, I recall back in the 1980s when Hondas were super hot (so much so that some of their U.S.corporate folks ended up in jail for taking bribes from dealers for more inventory) buying one was extremely painful. They got used to taking orders, marking up their cars, and making money hand over fist that they eventually had to relearn how to “sell” cars when things slowed down.
GM is like a broken record. Will never forget in the summer of ‘80 (I was 10) when my family went to the Olds dealership to test-drive the new Cutlass Supreme that all the moms on the block had to have. I remember the salesmen gathered at the window in their plaid jackets, one of whom pointed and laughed as we pulled up in our ‘woody’ 72 LTD wagon (we were not affluent then). Mom was so humiliated she cried. Never forgot that.
That experience spared me the ‘GM ownership experience’ of DexCool meltdowns, plastic manifolds and hardware coming off in the hand. My extended family has bought more than 26 cars in that time, and not a single one wore a GM badge.
In Christmas 2005, I bought Mom a new Honda Accord, my wife a new Odyssey, and myself an Accord EX. Cash all…around $2-3k off msrp each with virtually zero pressure. GM wasn’t even shopped. Memphis Honda dealer even delivered the Ody to the house on the 25th with a red bow, which they provided.
Honda thrives (or at least survives). GM can, should and will become a historical footnote. Mediocre cars, childish marketing, abysmal customer treatment.
My dealership experiences have been extremely varied, regardless of brand. There’s only one exception to this which was Saturn, but unfortunately I haven’t had any interest in any of their products for over a decade.
I’ve bought a number of Hondas, and the dealers have ranged from amazing to abysmal. One of them couldn’t be bothered to walk across the street to see if they had any Civics with manual gearboxes; my choice was to drive an automatic within spitting distance or leave. I left.
Toyota dealers have been pretty universally awful with arrogant, mean, and aggressive staff. Take-a-number-and-we’ll-get-to-you mentality. Like buying a car from the Soup Nazi.
I tried to buy a 3 series twice. One dealer refused to even accept that I knew which car I wanted, and proceeded to jam the wrong trim level, transmission, and color down my throat. The second BMW dealer, upon learning of my poverty-stricken desire for a mere $32,000 car, directed me to a sofa to pass the time as “there are several 7 series customers coming in so you’ll have to wait.” Like a stooge, I sat there, and as various salespeople streamed past my cushy leather perch I learned my priority level before the hour was up. I bought another make of car.
VW was okay as far as the sales experience was concerned, but the car was so deficient in quality and the service department so combative when asked to correct said deficiencies that I doubt I’ll ever be back.
Lexus has ranged from creamy smooth to sandpaper (I’m looking at you, Jim Falk…)
I don’t think the dealer situation is at all particular to GM. Clearly these folks are real dolts if they don’t see the need to discount the clearly-unpopular G8 to move them off the lots, but I don’t think it’s a Pontiac thing. It’s a car dealer thing.
An interesting story but, as other have pointed out, far from an isolated incident with a specific marque. There were undoubtedly Pontiac dealers unwilling to come off MSRP for the abysmal Aztek a year after it was introduced, too.
In fact, the classic example of the “that’s the price, take it or leave it” attitude would have to be the original VW Beetle. It would seem to be one of the first (at least in recent memory) where the salesmen were specifically trained to never budge of MSRP. That kind of no-haggle attitude went a long way to eventually driving VW sales into the ground years later. My dad bought a much larger, more practical ‘64 Valiant instead. Of course, VW’s still selling cars in the US and, apparently, is in much better financial shape than Chrysler, too.
There was a G8 GT up here in the Twin Cities recently with 7,800 miles on it selling for $19,xxx.
Pontiac dealers in our area have for years continued to newspaper advertise one year old Grand Prixs at basically half of MSRP. An amazing and recurring customer training program to virtually guarantee that any person with a brain would NOT pony up to buy any new Grand Prix. Add this to years of horrid styling examples and the Pontiac brand has managed to destroy its own stature.
When I was in the market for a new car in fall of 06, I had my heart set on a GTO. There are two pontiac dealerships in town, one had 10 odd sitting on the lot, I showed up, and well, walked out of there in under 5 minutes because of the “customer service”. The other had 2, one manual and one automatic, I went there, got a test drive in the auto after a bit of asking, haggled, and haggled some more and got out of there with an 06 brazen orange GTO. The customer service at the place was not great, but it was not bad either.
Not all GM dealers are bad. Over the past few years, I have bought four vehicles (3 full size pickups and car) from two local GM dealers and I would go back to either of them in a moment.
The car (Buick) had a few build problems and long-term mechanical problems. The three pickups (2 diesel) have been virtually perfect. Only a door squeak during warranty on one of the three trucks.
I never felt disregarded or put down at any time. On my last diesel, they practically begged me to test drive. I passed since it was virtually the same as the truck I was turning in.
If you do not like the treatment you get from your local dealer, go to another one. Look at it from the dealer’s standpoint for a minute. Probably get 3-4 people a day trying to drive a G8 with no intention of buying one. Then, if you go in there with an attitude,or trying to talk price BEFORE the test drive,his motivation wanes. Putting miles on a new car makes it harder to sell.If I was a Pontiac dealer I would screen my customers before the test drive to see if they are really interested in buying one and also have the means. Or are they an enthusiast trying to compare it to their own car. I would not let everyone drive. Maybe most of the posters failed the screening process.
Shame on those Pontiac dealers for trying to make money on the only decent product they have that they can make money on!!!
One of the final straws for me with a Detroit brand was when I showed up at the local Ford dealer for one of the numerous attempts to fix one of the many problems on my brand new Expedition. They canceled my appointment when I showed up because they said they only allowed Saturday service for vehicles purchased at their dealership and they noticed an out of state dealer sticker on the back.
Contrast that with the BMW service manager that went out into a dark parking lot at closing time and removed and replaced my radio from the dash to get the security code to re-activate the radio (the car had been in storage for a while) and charging me nothing. Or when I had my brakes and rotors replaced at 38K miles and was told “no charge – it’s covered under the maintenance plan.” In addition, every time I’ve been in for service of any type, I’ve received a follow up call from BMW to find out how the service call went.
Both the BMW and Porsche dealer have little social events like family barbecues, cocktail parties, and driving events. They know how manage a good customer relationship. Something other dealerships, both Detroit brands and otherwise, could learn.
Think of the average gross profit per car at the local Ford dealer and the average BMW dealer or Porsche dealer for that matter and the differnce should be clear. They simply can afford to pay people more and get more dedication from them.The average Ford store cannot afford spending big money on social events right now.
Also some dealers want to take care of the people who buy cars from them, their competitors.
For the record, guys, I’m not naturally a Detroit basher, and I’ve worked in the dealership biz myself.
I would suggest that it’s normally possible to get slightly better treatment from a Big 2.8 dealer than one would from a Nissan, Honda, or (particularly) Toyota dealer. Toyota dealers are almost the worst in the business; if it weren’t for the collective cabal of goat-ropers and chicken-rapers known as “Volkswagen dealers”, they’d be at the bottom.
The specific problem I wanted to point out is that Pontiac dealers, as a group, have reacted to having “hot product” with the worst, least productive attitude humanly possible, and that they’re gonna suffer as a result.
When I sold Fords in 1995, the Explorer was as hot as hot got… but we sold them fairly, without drama, with plenty of test drives, plenty of sales effort, and reasonable pricing. That attitude made the Explorer a 420,000-unit sales success that year, and we ended the 1995 model year with empty lots. Compare and contrast with the G8.
My story in buying my 2002 Prizm is a little bit different. I went out car shopping on my mountainbike in February of 2006 because my previous car had died. I saw the Prizm advertised online so I went out to the dealership on my bicycle. After seeing the car I checked it out thoroughly for accident damage repairs, and looked at it underneath to check for any damage or leaking fluids. While I was doing this the salesman walked out and asked if I needed help. I told him to go get the keys because I wanted to check it out under the hood, and open up the interior and trunk to check them out.
After he opened the car for me and I looked it over I told him I wanted a test drive. He let me stash my bike inside the showroom of the dealership while we test drove the car. After coming back from the test drive I told him I was interested and showed him a local competitor’s ad for an identical car that was priced lower. He went to his sales manager and offered me a price that beat the competitor by a good amount, and I told him that it sounded like a deal and to show me the total with all the out the door costs. I had previously called three notary publics in town to find out what the title transfer costs would be through them, so when the sales guy came back with the dealership’s higher paperwork costs I told them he’d have to match the notataries price if I was going to take the car, and he did. Mind you I did tell him I was paying cash and would take the car that day.
After we setteled on the price I rode my bicycle out to the bank to get a cashiers check for the car, and to go home and get the plates off my old car. I really didn’t have to as the salesman offered to drive me the 5 miles to my house to get my old plates, but I refused. I came back on my bicycle within the hour with the check and my plates and in the meantime they had washed the car for me. I gave them the check, put the plates on the car myself, threw the mountainbike in the trunk and drove home.
The creepy part is that the salesman who sold me my car sends me cards for Christmas and my birthday with his business card inside.
Bridge2far x2
To those who defend the dealers I say this- All of these bad experiences damage not only their own businesses but the entire brand. Car manufactures should protect themselves by requiring dealers to provide a positive experience.
Personally the most offensive practice is selling above MSRP. The nerve!
The G8 is a 32k car, it’s not like its a Porsche.
Even if the dude at hand has no intention of buying the G8, if its really so awesome that might change, and at the very least he’s going to be telling people how cool the car is. Adding a few miles to the odometer in exchange for good word of mouth is probably a wise decision.
> If I was a Pontiac dealer I would screen my customers before the test drive to see if they are really interested in buying one and also have the means.
And how would you do that? Would you require potential testers to be, old, white, and wearing a suit? Do you suppose anyone else might “have the means” and the desire?
This view is fundamentally shortsighted. Word of mouth can be such a strong influence. Every positive experience I have, I spread to as many people as I can. Negative experiences, even more. This networking effect isn’t apparent when you’re superficially judging that single customer, but you can be certain that it’ll affect the long-term business of the dealership.
Like others, my best experience was in a Saturn dealership. No pressure, very pleasant, and made me want to buy a car. The pity of it was that the Aura I tested was inferior to the Malibu across the street. $2000 less, yes, but still inferior. Even the Sky Redline failed to pique my interest.
“Look at it from the dealer’s standpoint for a minute. Probably get 3-4 people a day trying to drive a G8 with no intention of buying one”
Those words “look at it from the dealers viewpoint” should be on the tombstone of dealers.
YOU NEED TO LOOK AT IT FROM THE CUSTOMERS VIEWPOINT not the other way around.
You have 5 people come in to look at a car and they want a test drive. Four of them are time wasters but one of them is a serious buyer. The problem is that you really don’t know which one of them is the buyer.
Do you really think its better to blow off all five in order for the one buyer to prove himself as the serious buyer, or should you treat them all as serious buyers in order to land the one that actually is one.
Any dealership that does that deserves to go out of business.
I have had that experience (being denied a test drive) years ago at a Nissan dealership. I’ve had numerous friends and family experience that. We were all serious buyers. Its not the true customers fault that there are a lot of lookey loo time wasters that by appearances are identical to serious buyers.
Why the hell should I look at it from the dealers standpoint if I am a serious car buyer. Its your job to give me the test drive and if your any good as a salesman you should be able to run my credit and qualify me as to whether I am a buyer or not during the test drive.
God I hate lazy people is it asking too much if someone goes to a dealership for a test drive that they should be able to do so in a respectful manner? I ‘m worth a lot of money and I dress like crap. I’ll give you a secret a lot of successful people don’t care too much about things like clothes and outward appearance. My parents were millionares, my brothers are (were one is deceased) millionares and i am close. You would never guess it by our looks or our cars ( Corrola, Taurus, Intrepid, Xb) (except my one brother with the LandRover)
gomboy:
The market adjusts to your behavior
Doesn’t seem to be adjusting very well lately.
One of my favourite anecdotes comes from the father of one of my good friends -
A self made man, this fellow doesn’t flaunt his wealth. He dresses in jeans and polos, and aside from his choice in cars, you wouldn’t guess he was a rich fellow. Back in the late 80s he stopped in to a Porsche dealer to look at a 930 turbo. He waited around, asked one of the sales guys for info, and got blown off. So he left without making a fuss and drove across town to the other Porsche dealer. He told them about the jerks at the other place, got all the help he needed, and bought the car on the spot. Once he had his 930, he wheeled across town again to the asshole dealer, parked out front where the salespeople could see him, walked over to the salesperson who blew him off, and bought a Porsche hat. That, my friends, is why you do not make assumptions about the customer.
The creepy part is that the salesman who sold me my car sends me cards for Christmas and my birthday with his business card inside.
Usta Bee, I wouldn’t consider this creepy. It’s good business practice. In sales trainings I’ve taken, a common recommendation is to ask customers for the names of n people who would also like to buy or receive service. And maintaining good, persistent relationships increases the chance that the salesperson will gain additional business (commission).
Sherman Lin :
January 10th, 2009 at 1:12 pm
“Look at it from the dealer’s standpoint for a minute. Probably get 3-4 people a day trying to drive a G8 with no intention of buying one”
Those words “look at it from the dealers viewpoint” should be on the tombstone of dealers.
YOU NEED TO LOOK AT IT FROM THE CUSTOMERS VIEWPOINT not the other way around.
You have 5 people come in to look at a car and they want a test drive. Four of them are time wasters but one of them is a serious buyer. The problem is that you really don’t know which one of them is the buyer.
Do you really think its better to blow off all five in order for the one buyer to prove himself as the serious buyer, or should you treat them all as serious buyers in order to land the one that actually is one.
Any dealership that does that deserves to go out of business.
I have had that experience (being denied a test drive) years ago at a Nissan dealership. I’ve had numerous friends and family experience that. We were all serious buyers. Its not the true customers fault that there are a lot of lookey loo time wasters that by appearances are identical to serious buyers.
Why the hell should I look at it from the dealers standpoint if I am a serious car buyer. Its your job to give me the test drive and if your any good as a salesman you should be able to run my credit and qualify me as to whether I am a buyer or not during the test drive.
God I hate lazy people is it asking too much if someone goes to a dealership for a test drive that they should be able to do so in a respectful manner? I ‘m worth a lot of money and I dress like crap. I’ll give you a secret a lot of successful people don’t care too much about things like clothes and outward appearance. My parents were millionares, my brothers are (were one is deceased) millionares and i am close. You would never guess it by our looks or our cars ( Corrola, Taurus, Intrepid, Xb) (except my one brother with the LandRover)
Precisely. The mantra about customers always being right only goes so far, but it does have a good deal of traction. The dealer exists to court potential buyers and provide them with the means and information to buy a car. It is not to drive away anybody but those ready to buy this moment with cash in hand. If this other guy is a dealer/salesman (as I suspect, as he’s spouting this “dealer’s point of view” bs), he’s not a very good one. But then again, most aren’t. Common sense dictates this. Treat everybody well. Don’t get yourself taken total advantage of as a seller, but look at every person as a potential buyer and give them a reason to buy from you. Or, at the very least, don’t give them a blatant reason from the beginning not to buy from you.
Of course, the adversarial nature of US car dealers is wholeheartedly nurtured, promoted, and rewarded by state franchise laws (negotiated largely by – you guessed it – dealer-affiliated special interest lobby groups) that make it impossible for the manufacturer to set prices and levels of service.
It seems like what drives most of these guys is the idea that for every lost sale due to a poor approach, there are always two others to be made. That, plus the exceptionally thick, indifferent skin they have to develop in what is just about the most ruthless, cutthroat business extant. It’s the nature of the business and it’s not for the faint of heart. Unfortunately, that kind of cold-hearted survival instinct shows through, all too clearly, in far too many potential customer exchanges.
Frankly, the best auto deals I’ve ever done were those where the salesperson quickly realized that I was serious about buying, had done my research and knew my stuff, then handed me off to the sales manager to conclude the deal. Both of them knew and understood their jobs. I think the key to a successful, painless auto purchase (at least for those who want to buy a car with a minimum of hassle) is simply being able to get rid of the sales drone fast and getting down to business with the person who is really going to approve the deal. The whole experience then hinges on the skill level of that guy. The point is, the faster you get to see the sales manager, the faster you’re going to know if you’re really going to buy a car or not.
If you have a lousy salesman, then a miserable sales manager, either of which are incompetent or want to play games, well, it’s time to walk.