I am ticked-off at the fact that I am forced to buy a new car thru a franchise Stealership. Makes me want to buy a Tesla. I have not set foot in a Stealership in 20 years. I do DIY with OEM parts from Amazon or independent mechanic and don't buy new cars. Stealership sales tactics are infuriating and fraudulent.

Of course. They are in the business of selling cars. Just say no.

9 pages of nonsense and it all boils down to those 11 words.

What the hell? People walk into a business that sells cars and then they're offended, because someone tries to sell them a car?

I guaranty, 90% of the folks who bring their golf car in for service, stroll around looking at other golf carts while they're waiting for their's to be fixed. Salesmen aren't supposed to ask them if they'd like some assistance or if they're interested in "trading up"?

I particularly love the people that post about their "secret strategy for car buying", that results in a fabulous deal. With 50 years in and around the automobile business, I can tell you, those are the easiest customers to take advantage of ... a salesman's dream.

There's no one easier for a PRO to deal with, than an amateur who thinks he knows everything.

Like taking candy from baby.

Originally Posted by rogerrice60 View Post Why not buy American, at least the profit
 

Guess again 40% of your "all american " Tesala batteries lithium come from China!

I was at Jenkins Nissan having a service done yesterday, the service writer asked if I was interested in selling my vehicle or trading it in. I politely said no and that was it, no more questions like that or trying to upsell me. No salesmen approached me in the waiting area or outside as I was walking around looking at cars. I have bought many cars (50+) over the years from dealerships and independent car lots and have never had any issues like some have mentioned. I have a thing for cars. I have bought 3 vehicles since moving here. I just tell sales people no thanks and that is the end of it.

There is a difference between a person being interested and one that is not. Obviously, I can’t see how Toymeister showed interest in buying another car. Rule number one in sales: establish rapport. Without finding out how to talk to a client you will not make a deal.

Only because he went to the trouble to make a post on here.

Car dealers depend on pushy salespeople to sell vehicles and to make a profit. That is how they operate. Otherwise, they would charge the same price to every customer. Why do you think they add 8K to 10K to the sticker in worthless add-ons? It would be a mistake for a car buyer to allow a salesperson to establish rapport with them. A buyer needs to do research and know the real value of a vehicle or they will get ripped off.

Hubby used to own a car dealership, he trained both used and new car salesman. Hubby could sell ice to an Eskimo, because first he establish rapport. He could sell anything to just about anyone because first of all, he sold himself. And one if the ways he did it, is to find out what the client wanted and how to best match that, or get the client to want what he had. Can’t do any of that if you do not have rapport.

Lots of horror stories here, most prefaced with the word "Jenkins". Whoever Jenkins is, he surely does seem to own a lot of car dealerships!

Maybe I'm just lucky, but I've never really had a bad experience. Back as a youth and young adult I bought a couple of cars from a local dealership in far Northern MN. The dealer had an interesting way of selling cars. "Just take it home over the weekend and drive it around, and come back on Monday and we'll see what we can do for you". That was the approach used on my '61 Impala and '68 Impala. I bought the car both times.

Beginning in 1995 or so my wife and I established a good relationship with a Toyota dealer in Burnsville, MN. Large dealership, many well-dressed salespeople, and one guy named Bob. Bob never seemed to be in a hurry, and never put pressure on a prospective customer; he was laid-back to the max and dressed VERY casually compared to the rest of the sales staff, but his office was lined with salesperson-of-the-year plaques so he obviously knew his stuff. We bought a total of five vehicles from Bob and he gave us a square shake on every one. One time I saw a Ford Ranger, 2 years old with less than 12,000 miles on it, advertised for $14,900.00, so I stopped in to talk to Bob about it. Unfortunately that Ranger was included in a fleet deal with a buyer who bought something like 10 used vehicles, I supposed to re-sell. I was disappointed as on paper anyway it was a deal at $14,900. Bob and I talked a bit, as he tried to interest me in a couple of other similar vehicles, then stopped and said "wait a minute", and left. When he got back to his office about 5 minutes later he said he could pull that truck out of the fleet deal and sell it to me for what the fleet operator would have gotten. $12,500.00. After a short test drive we concluded the deal.

Bob is unfortunately retired. If he wasn't I'd to to Burnsville, MN to buy from him even today.

Does not seem to be many Bobs out there.

You proved my point. Yes, it is good for the salesperson to establish rapport with the customer. But, the customer will not benefit from it. The customer will benefit with research and knowledge about the fair value of the vehicle. The only way rapport would work for the buyer is if the dealer established a fair price in the first place. Every vehicle on the Jenkins lot has a separate sticker with worthless add-ons (see Post No. 96). It is the salesperson's job to trick the customer into paying for those add-ons and other bogus fees. Uninformed buyers will get ripped off, and rapport will not help.

I'll take it, JJ. But you have to buy this new $2,000,000 Civic for the deal. Let's shake!

Skip

Well, there’s one of two ways I can see myself shopping for a car; either I see one on the lot I like, and the price is worth it to me (I don’t really care what it is worth to other people that much I’m not flipping) on my own without help - like going to an open house. Or I have an exact list for a new model to be delivered with those specs precisely - like a new built home. I already know what those prices should be. I’m not sure I need a salesman for much.

I agree, but you cannot order a car without going through a dealer and paying their bogus markups. The vehicle industry needs to get rid of salespeople who work on commission and sell the cars to everyone for a fair and published price. Until then, uninformed buyers will continue to pay thousands more than informed buyers. It is sad that a totally uninformed buyer can go into a dealership and pay more than $10K above what an informed buyer will pay for the same vehicle.

That happens everyday in real estate, correct? It's capitalism. Nobody said it was perfect.

I think there is a distinct difference between real estate and new vehicles. Most retailers have eliminated the price haggling routine, except for vehicles. Real estate is unique, especially with respect to resales. The developer in The Villages seems to do a good job of holding their customers to a fixed price on new houses. They don't allow haggling. I think that is a good thing.

Haggling as you call it happens on almost every resale home. They just don't call it that.

In my opinion, you haggle with a car dealer, but you negotiate with a home seller.

"Haggling is about offering your product for a reduced margin – you're simply making price concessions until the buyer says yes. Negotiation, on the other hand, is about getting something of equal or higher value in return for any concessions you make."

I don't have an issue with negotiating to buy a preowned house, but I think car dealers are taking advantage of people who just want to buy a car at a fair price, and to not pay more than another customer. To do that, dealers tell a lot of lies. The first one they tell is that the "invoice" they provide is their actual cost for the vehicle.

Grownups call it negotiation. Cars, airplanes, boats, antiques, art work, services and of course, real estate.

it seems fine for most every other business, but for a typical person's 2nd largest purchase, it's characterized as a scam & sleazy.

Sure, you start off using common sense.

One, by refusing to pay for something you didn't order.
Two, not knowing anything about what you want in a car.
Three, letting a sales person keeping you waiting for hours while he's
taking a ****.

I have no problem with somebody trying to make a buck. That said, however, I cannot help but wonder if how various businesses see TV and Villagers in general, and how that influences their business practices. Making an honest buck is one thing. Bilking someone is quite another.

Back in the world, car dealerships depend a lot on repeat business. Not only that, but intergenerational as well. As a teen and young adult, I dealt with the same dealership that my parents did because, in my parents' estimation, they were treated fairly. Same thing with the Toyota dealership in Burnsville, MN. I bought five vehicles from them in 15 or so years because I was treated fairly. Had I not been, I would have been out the door as soon as I perceived that I was being taken advantage of, never to return.

It is an entirely different scenario here in TV. There are many businesses here who try to establish a good reputation which leads to repeat business. Many have been mentioned here. Sumter Tire and Auto for example. Several plumbers. Some insurance agents. Landscapers. And others. (Unfortunately, even within those ranks, there are plenty who don't). But to be honest, TV'ers are a transient population. Landscapers depend on repeat business because they deal with us every 90 days or so. But what are the odds that an 80-year-old who buys a new car at whatever dealership is going to show up at the same dealership in 4-5 years to trade? And even if he is lucky enough to reach that age (the odds don't favor it) what are the odds that his wife (or a court order) will have already pulled his keys? And, of course, intergenerational reputation isn't even a factor. Are kids back home in Montana or Michigan or wherever aren't going to drive here to purchase a car from a dealer in Ocala just because we did.

Looking at it that way, there is no valid business reason for car dealerships (as long as things stay within the law) NOT to try to pry as much money out of us as possible. They'll have one shot at us. Maybe at most, two. So why not put the squeeze on us? If I were a car dealership I might have a hard time looking at myself in the mirror the morning after I sold a 91-year-old a new car that he absolutely didn't need (I read about that happening here about three years ago) but other dealers might not have that problem.

That’s what senior abuse is all about. Taking advantage of the vulnerable. We have to be proactive in this area. Capitalism needs safe guards or it degenerates to survival of the fittest.

Oh please with the senior abuse nonsense.
We live in a retirement community that has exceptional levels of talent, education and work experience.

The problem is so many of these exceptional people come from bumscrew area where they still think the world is Mayberry RFD.

I’m talking about the 91 year old mentioned above. I understand that some people have no shame, no morals etc but I have zero tolerance for child or senior abuse, personally.

I go along with dealerships being sleazy

I think you're splitting hairs here. But we can agree to disagree, it's all good.

You're painting with a broad brush if you're saying all dealers are bad. Although there are some crooked ones out there, there's also many good ones. You just have to be smart about it and find them.

With the internet and social media it's fairly easy to research and find out which ones are the best.