Car Sales

14 years ago, I bought my first new car. I worked for a radio station at the time and the top sales rep's husband was the General Manager for a car dealership. I worked out the pricing before I ever showed up. I paid $1 over invoice. I thought I got a great deal (until after I purchased, I found that was the deal for everyone and that I can usually get below invoice if I am patient... but I digress).

After we worked out the details over the phone, I came to do a test drive and make sure that I liked the car okay. I liked it fine.

Because the General Manager doesn't want to be saddled with the details of one car sale (I don't really blame him for that), he called one of his salesmen over to complete the transaction. The salesman did nothing more than fill out a sheet or two of paperwork and then hand me off to the finance office.

After I sat and waited for the finance office for about 4 minutes, I noticed the salesman walk over to their big board of sales and write:

"Smith, Ford Escort, $12,740, Sold" continue reading...

Low and behold, the pricing wasn't the same. The reason it wasn't the same was because things weren't included in the original price. These were things that I had told him I wanted. These were things he repeated back to me that he understood. These were things he simply left out because he was trying to keep the price low.

When I did get the price that finally included everything I wanted, the number I saw was for a 72 month purchase and not the 60 month purchase I requested. He just couldn't seem to listen to what I wanted.

So, I decided to wait. Again. continue reading...

Two weeks ago I determined that I want a new, smaller truck. I need a truck because of my hobbies, but I want a smaller truck because of gas prices.

I went to the dealership and in about 15 minutes I had my truck picked out. I gave the sales rep my bottom line price - $325 per month. He told me that if we do business, he could meet that price.

I called him about an hour later and said I was ready.

The price came back to $367. Yup... he wanted a lot more. And he didn't even see it as a problem that I was already quoted almost $50 less.

Idiot.

I then called two other dealerships. This time I didn't tell them where I wanted to be but that if they could give me their best price for the truck and it fit my budget, I would buy before the end of the week. They never called me back.

It is awful hard to show value in your product if the customer experience that you are fostering is that of complication and deceit. I guess I'll wait a year and try again.

Sale lost. continue reading...