Dealer experiences

balthazarr · 02-09-2008, 08:12 PM

I've just recently spent a lot of time shopping for a new car and, for the most part, the experience was a good one.

I'm not going to name any names, but there was one dealership in particular where the experience was not a good one.

As far as I'm concerned, when you're about to drop ~$80k at a dealership, they should be kissing the ground that you walk upon. At this particular dealership, the salesman was arrogant, pushy and downright hostile.

Being introduced to this guy by a friend, and my family having bought 6 new cars from this dealership, I was expecting better treatment.

I'm pretty upfront, so after the test drive, I notified the salesman that I wanted the best possible price - I wasn't there to waste his time or mine - that I was shopping around, and under no circumstances was I going to buy a car that day.

Obviously, he didn't like what he heard. He was saying things like he didn't want to hear that I was shopping around, and that he did not want to give me a price if I wasn't going to commit to buying.

The attitude was abysmal. He gave me a figure - miles above the figure that I already had (and this was supposedly mates rates... "no further discounts or negotiation" - his words) - so I told him that he needed to do better.

"How much better? You already have a price? You didn't tell me that." etc.

There's more, and it's hard to get across how bad his attitude was... but let's just say that I wouldn't buy a car from that dealership if they gave it to me for free.

By comparison, the dealership where I bought the car from couldn't have treated me better. I went for four test drives in total - twice each in an auto and manual, once each on my own. I was handed the keys and told to 'bring it back when you're done'. In total, I probably spent a good 5-6 hours test driving.

To top it off, they gave me a price that most other dealers couldn't or wouldn't match.

Nolz · 02-09-2008, 08:38 PM

Thanks for the post, I'm about to go on the hunt for an XR6T ute and your post was well timed. I'm not exactly spending as much as you however I hope that my experience isn't as bad as your first and hopefully closer to your second

Congrats and be sure to put up some photos!

ps Are you in Sydney?

**fordomatic** · 02-09-2008, 09:15 PM

Nolz a mate of mine got an xr6t ute with luxury pack for 41500 on road, took him four days to get this price but he did.

Nolz · 02-09-2008, 09:35 PM

fordomatic,

Thanks a heap for that info. I've arranged to meet a dealer tomorrow....so here's hoping!

mad cow · 02-09-2008, 10:01 PM

at least you guys got served, when i was looking for my territory i went into the ford dealer in echuca 3 times and the dealer in bendigo twice and i couldnt even get a salesman to come out and approach us. in fact a salesman at ford in bendigo almost tripped over my wife and still didnt even look at her or even say anything. the dealer i dealt with in melbourne was great, although they were a little bemused when i plonked the cash on the counter to pay for it.

**cs123** · 03-09-2008, 08:02 AM

I think you might have to box a bit smarter. If you are really shopping around for the best price then perhaps a brokerage service might pay dividends. Telling the salesman that you are going to shop his price around is never going to end well.

I had a poor customer experience with a dealership, not about haggling prices but just lazy customer service. So I bought elsewhere and then sent the DP a polite email to tell him why he lost me as a customer. We ended up having a good chat over the phone as he didn't want that thing to happen again.

So my thoughts are
- Poor customer service. Email the DP or Sales manager and politely explain your concerns. If you haven't bought yet, then you may get the attention you want.
- Shopping for best price. Don't expect the salesman to bend over. You've put the salesman into direct competition with others. He might not bee very helpful.

sneaky · 03-09-2008, 10:00 AM

i was at a holden yard a few weeks ago. middle of the week, sunny day, not a customer in sight and still no one even looked at me. i was there with my daughter and i look younger than i am (i'm 26 but look 18) and no one even bothered to say hello. i was looking at the new ve's and then the used cars, i guess they thought i couldn't afford anything. oh well their loss as i've now stopped looking at holdens and will now wait for a family member to sell their mazda so i can buy it..

-tim

balthazarr · 03-09-2008, 10:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cs123

... Telling the salesman that you are going to shop his price around is never going to end well.

I understand that the dealer may not be happy with shopping around but, realistically, who is going to pay ~$80k for a car without shopping around?

: Even if you have a relationship with a particular dealership, it makes sense to test the waters, and see what else is on offer.

Quote:

...
- Shopping for best price. Don't expect the salesman to bend over. You've put the salesman into direct competition with others. He might not bee very helpful.

His/Her job is to be helpful, and convince you to buy the car from them. With the dealership that I mentioned above, the attitude was as if they where the only place on the entire planet that I could buy my car from.

As I mentioned in another thread, the service you receive is as important, if not more so, than the bottom line. Ultimately, the $$$ will come in around the same, no matter where you go. I'm happy to pay a little extra to the guys that spent the time to listen to my questions, give me ample opportunity to test the car and basically were a good bunch of people to deal with. If, as in my case, they also give you the best price - all the better.

Regarding my particular experience, the attitude did not begin when we were haggling over price - it began before I even took the car out for a test drive.

Hally · 03-09-2008, 11:31 AM

I have been looking to buy a car for a few weeks now, either second hand or new. Short listed a couple and now have made a decision, based on the price quoted and the service given at the slaesman level.

The car I decided on is a Nissan Maxima ST-L. The sales experience went like this.

- I saw an add for a Maxima i the paper with a drive away price. I rang the local dealer to discuss availability and price some options.
- Made an appointment with the salesman for a test drive next morning, before dealership openning time. He turned up on time and went on a very decent test drive.
- During the test drive I made mention of a rattle in the car, and how it would drive me nuts.
- Got back to the dealership, asked me to wait a minute and brought out one the senior mechanics, who explain that the maxima's had a couple of known rattles and went through what they do to fix them. I also had servicing concerns about it having a CVY gearbox. the mechanic spent about 10 minutes explaining the workings, service requirements etc, not just of the gearbox but the whole car.
- Salesman was honest that he told me a new model was coming out Q1 2009, nissans strategy on the runout etc. Advised the driveaway price was not going to get lower (at retail level) and would guarentee a price refund if it did!
- I was happy with the advertised driveaway price to start with. During the test drive, the slaesman asked a number of personal questions e.g what do you do for a living, do you use the car for work etc. Back in the showroom he mentioned that he needed to chat quickly with his manager. he came back and said based on the business use they could do a further fleet discount. To my suprise gave a further $2400 off the driveaway price. Said he wanted to sell me a car, and was quite confident any other dealer would not match him.

To sum up, great experience and I will be buying a car off him in the next few days.

Cheers,

Andrew

Abacus · 03-09-2008, 12:18 PM

^^^^

Good choice.

The Maxima is a bloody good car, probably the most under-rated 6 cylinder out there. Build quality and standard equipment craps over Ford from a great height. The CVT is a nice drive too.

If I didn't insist on having LPG there would be a Maxima in my garage now.

Hally · 03-09-2008, 03:08 PM

An ST-L at $33,000 driveaway in my mind is unbelievable value. Combined with the dealer experience it is a no brainer for my circumstances and needs anyway.

**Polyal** · 03-09-2008, 03:12 PM

Well I have a bad story, the partners father is/was after a new small car. We stir each other about Ford etc even though he has no brand loyality.

After ages I finally convinced him to have a look at the focus range. Now this bloke has vast amount of money and could buy many FPV's if he wanted to, but his not into cars that much.

Long story short he brought a Golf last week, Ford dealership in Hobart didn't even go up to him and ask if he was interested etc.

Its quality issues and the Ford dealership network that are to blame just as much as Ford themselves for the current situation.

Bloody disgraceful.

Cabbage · 03-09-2008, 06:48 PM

Have to agree with Balthazaar, I don't understand why salesmen burr up because you are going to shop their price around. Surely they have to expect people are gunna try and get the best deal by comparing prices.
Also I wouldn't buy a car purely on price although it would be a major consideration. I think good customer service before you buy and again after you buy is remembered long after you've bought the car.
Whether you are a serious buyer or not I think you are entitled to be a little respect.

RATT · 03-09-2008, 09:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Abacus

^^^^

Build quality and standard equipment craps over Ford from a great height.

Not anymore.

Rodp · 03-09-2008, 09:51 PM

My dealer experiences that comprised of visiting several Ford dealerships that literally laughed at me for trading in an XR8 pushed me to another marquis.

Your experience isn't unusual. Looks like you still got you first choice from another dealer, something I wished I had done too.

Rev28K · 03-09-2008, 10:47 PM

Hmm. I may be in the catbird seat here.

I’m going to be getting a new car in 6-12 months. I am not in desperate need of a car so I can afford to wait. I won’t be offering a trade in and I’ll be getting the car serviced by an independent mechanic (mate) so therefore I am not that concerned by after sales service. I probably won’t be buying another car from them so I don’t expect to be treated like royalty (but who knows I can’t predict what I’ll be doing 5-10 years in the future (Can anyone?))

I will definitely be shopping around, I’ll let the dealers know this and they can give me their best price. Whoever is the lowest gets my business.

The local Ford dealers are friendly enough, and the sales guy I was dealing with had a bit of knowledge so if their price matches the lowest I’ll buy from them. The big city dealer seemed pretty good too (but desperate for sales). It’s nothing personal, I’ve worked hard for my money (and been taxed for it) so I’d like to keep as much of it as I possibly can.

(I still remember the test drive of my current model of car – the sales guy had raced in production car races and took me around the local twisty “hero” road at a very impressive velocity. I was sold on the spot!)

robjh80 · 04-09-2008, 08:29 AM

I visited my local Ford Dealership to look for my XR4 last year when they had just come out, I always at least "try to shop local" and give local businesses the opportunity to take my hard earned.

I was completely upfront with the salesman and told him that I could get one for $25.5k driveaway from another dealership, which was absolutely true.

He immediately put on his usual "arrogant and hostile" Ford Sales Act and told me that there was "no way I could get one for that price" and "if I could then go and buy it" attitude whilst laughing to himself, he was basically calling me an outright liar.

I took great pleasure in dropping in there to pick up an oil filter a couple of weeks later in my new XR4 with the opposition dealers number plate surrounds and stickers on the car.

I parked it right outside the new car sales office for all and sundry to view, the sales idiot I had previously conferred with saw me and my new car, recognised me and stayed well away.

One of his colleagues came out and had a chat with me as I started to look at a couple of the new cars on display, he didnt see me get out of the XR4 and must have thought he had a prospective customer, I told him the story of how his mate had lost the sale with his arrogant disposition, I then pointed out my new car and what price I had paid for it.

He was a good bloke and told me that the dealership had not sold many XR4's since the launch, apparantly they had only managed to shift 3 of them so far at near list price plus onroads, which at the time was nearly $28k, apparantly they were not discounting them at that time at all.

He then tried to tell me that they could have easily matched the $25.5k driveaway deal,..... "well you guys had your chance" was my reply!

Of course today the XR4 is readily available for that sort of money and sometimes even less, it just goes to show the dealers must have the profit margin in the cars to start with, "even though they try and tell you otherwise".

**DFB FGXR6** · 04-09-2008, 12:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mad cow

at least you guys got served, when i was looking for my territory i went into the ford dealer in echuca 3 times and the dealer in bendigo twice and i couldnt even get a salesman to come out and approach us. in fact a salesman at ford in bendigo almost tripped over my wife and still didnt even look at her or even say anything. the dealer i dealt with in melbourne was great, although they were a little bemused when i plonked the cash on the counter to pay for it.

Hmmm. Had the same response from the echuca dealer as well. I wandered around the yard for ages an not a single person bothered to come and see if I needed help. Ok , so I didnt need help. But how did they know?? They must be loosing a lot of business by running their sales dept like this , as you can attest.
I bought my new car in melb after the shepparton dealer treated me in much the same , arrogant way. The salesman fobbed me off many times as a tyre kicker and wouldnt even give me a brochure!!! Probably has a lot to do with me being only 21. In the end a person will tyre of being treated as trash and will go elsewhere. The melb dealer treated me as valued customer , like he wanted buy business and therefore my money. A good salesmen should NEVER assume how much a customer wants to spend based on appearances or age.

Fev · 04-09-2008, 01:24 PM

If your look in sydney, Power ford in castle hill in the north west sydney region is a great dealership. I've never bought a car from them per'se but ive been in there for a few things and the spares dept is great, friendly fast service and if your on the plot you'll get atleast 1 guy come up, maybe have a chat whichever.