I've just had the misfortune to shop for a new car, well a 2/3 year old one [img]tongue.gif[/img] The first salesman today was good, said hi and left me alone to look, answered a couple of questions and again left me alone. A great start just my sort of salesman, available but not monstering you.

#2 new jack about cars and tried to bluff his way through a lack of mechanical knowledge. Instead of trying to go to the service dept or admitting he did not know he just bullshited. #3 slimy, and would not leave me in peace even after the most unsubtle hints. He even followed me onto the road as I tried to get away from him! #4 slimy...but gee he thought he was the funniest guy. #5 #6 #7 slimy overpowering ECT

Finally at a car yard I saw a car I was very interested in. I'm cashed up and ready to talk, but no salesman! 10 minutes, 15 minutes, 20 minutes, and still I'm hanging around and no one comes out of the showroom [img]graemlins/wow.gif[/img] Buggered if I'm going in to chase them, so myself and my money just walked.

Anybody else have the same troubles? How do the ladies get on?

When my wife and I were looking to buy a new car, we had similar experiences. We had one salesman who actually told us "If you had been here two days ago when our sale started you could have bought . . ." and he proceeded to list 4 or 5 cars that we could have bought.

We eventually bought a car from the nicest salesman who was not pressuring in the least.

I wonder if there is a genereal increase in "informed consumers" who know what they want and really don't want to be pressured into making a decision.

Or maybe I'm just letting my "issues" with salesmen cloud my opinion.

<font color=skyblue>I was a salesman for a month. At Flow Chevrelet. I knew nothing of cars, and I was not getting paid any commission...FOr the first three months, I made a flat rate to learn how to do business. I ended up quitting because I did not like trying to push myself on anyone. I was too friendly and never jumped at opportunities, is what my boss said to me.

But when I wanted to sell a car, I had to compete with anyone else that was standing there in the doorway or walking the lot. Sometimes that meant 5-7 guys! When I did get a chance to talk to somebody, I casually walked toward them and pretended not to be too interested in them. The people still were stand=offish, and even though I did nothing to them, sometimes people would shoo me away very crudely. Anyway, When I wanted to make my move, I had a manner of handling it. I would walk up to them and hand them the keys with the intro of "Looks better from the inside!" They would take the keys, iopen it up themselves and play around with the cars, though this pissed my boss off! He wanted me to lead the way things went...but I did not do it his way. Sometimes people wanted to test drive. I'd say, "let's go...I need a break from this place!" And we would take off. One poor kid really wanted this five-speed S-10, but it was manual shift. I promised to teach him in twenty minutes. He accepted, learned how to drive it from me, and drove it home. That along with four other sales made me the top rookie salesman in the 1 month I was there, as nobody had ever sold five cars with no experience. Still, I hated the job. My bosses were always telling me how to do it, though I am sure I could do better than they...by treating people the way I want to be treated. NOT HOUNDED!</font>

Hey Father Bronze It sounds like your first salesman had more teeth than IQ. :D


A lot of salesmen in the shops are the same. I remember a couple of years ago in an superstore, after I told him I was just looking thankyou, "what are you looking for in a fridge sir?" ... "beer" came my reply. Is there not a training school for salesmen?

I had one of the salesmen come up to me in the car yard and asked how much money have I got to spend....the cheek! :mad:

[ 07-20-2003, 07:25 PM: Message edited by: wellard ]

Larry

Your sort of sales barter is the sort I like, not the 20th salesman in a day wanting to talk weather and be my best mate. Just make me feel comfortable about looking and be there when I have a question. How hard is that? or am I not a typical buyer?

hmm havn't had that many bad experiences but have had a few sales ppl try n sell me a horendous car i have no interest in and when i do like a car i see they're like ohh yes well and i kno they're thinking prolly can't afford it so won't waste my time lol so i walk out with no and and my money, but have bought a car from a person who knew what he was talkin bout and wasn't a smoozer [img]smile.gif[/img] however i like auctions the atmosphere's so cool!

<font color=orange>It's amazing that Car Salesman are the same the world over. My dad used to sell copiers and postage machines for a company named Pitney Bowes. Worked for them for 35 years. When he retired (took early retirement), he thought he'd sale cars for a while. When he applied for a job with a friend of his, he was told that they knew he was a fabulas salesman, but that he really didn't have the right attitude to sell cars. What it came down to was they were looking for someone who was pushy and would be a real go getter and not let people leave the lot. They weren't looking for someone who would be like Larry. It's a sucky industry.

Now he has his own pest control business. He really enjoys it. I wish he'd have started it thirty years ago.</font>

[ 07-21-2003, 12:04 AM: Message edited by: Sir Taliesin ]

I was trained to be a car salesman (when I was a little younger) and the company training me wanted me to lie as much as I could get away with. And this was a large chain of dealers in the DC Metro area! I couldn't bring myself to totally abandon my ethics, so I split. No, I didn't get paid at all.

The best way I have found to buy cars is either from Costco if it is available in your area, or online. I bought my last car online (in 1997) and have been tickled since. I found the price and car I wanted and went in the showroom and signed paperwork. That was the whole thing. No song and dance and it took less than 2 hours. The reason it took that long is because they wanted to clean the car first.

If one is to buy a car, try not to haggle. If they don't accept your price, don't bluff - walk. The salesmen are generally trained in questionable methods (knowing a few people in the business) and I wouldn't want to deal with them any more than necessary.

I have also worked at truck dealerships for a few years (delivery driver) and the salesmen in that dealership scared me with how hungry they were for sales. They were ruthless.

Be careful out there.

I know I'm lucky. We have a dealership up here that prides themselves on not haggling, just offering a good price, being real good with customer service, and not pressuring anyone. They seem to understand that if they make people happy, not only will they return for their next car, but they'll tell their friends and family to buy from them too.
They started off as a small place, now they're a huge dealer of many brands of cars, but still the same great shopping experience. When I got my Corolla from them last year, the price they offered me was a few hundred less than what I was trying to get, so right off the bat I was happy!!
I went to a few other dealerships first. One was so uninterested, and I was not happy about him going with us on the test drive (every other test drive I was able to just go out). I like when there's no salesman there because then I could talk to my BF while on the ride about what I like and don't like with the car and get his opinion. We both look at about 10 years younger than we are, so this guy probably thought we were kids with no money instead of well off professionals. I really wish salesmen would learn not to make assumptions like that. Anytime I fell like someone's doing that to me, I walk and take my money elsewhere.

Did the online shopping myself - wanted and found a Black Mustang Convertible - and in the price I could afford. Bought it off the Manager of the dealership. The guy really babied the car (only drove it in the Summer - had it for three years and only had 13,500 miles on it) and he told me where to service it in my area (where I bought it was about two hours from my apartment). All in all, it was very much a positive experience...except for the new car payment... ;)

BK