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Be careful of car salesman


Trigger Mike

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I took my wife's car for service and like always we strolled the lot to see what they have.  We stumbled on a 2019 Ford fusion titanium,  35000 miles.  

 

A salesman walked up so we asked him how much.  He said 23500 but it had been there 90 days so it had room to negotiate.   I drove it and was pleased.  

 

We told him we'd would research it and get back to him.   

 

I later went to kbb.com to price its value and found the listing of used ones in my area and found that very car on that very dealers listing for 17500.  I was miffed and told him to do better on the next customer and hung up.   

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Last few years I've been looking for a replacement for the wife's car.  This will be the last car I own before the kids take my Driver's license away for me.  A Honda CRV, 1 or 2 two years old with low mileage is what I narrowed my choice too.

 

Two cities away a Honda Dealer had two used ones on their lot.  My research gave me what they were worth.  My budget told what me what my top dollar would be.  I had no intention of purchasing when I went to take a look.  One of the two cars the Dealer had met all of my requirements except one (no power open/close on the rear hatch).  I asked the Salesman why the price on the car's window was higher then what their web site's price?  Salesman gave me a strange look then punched away at his computer keyboard, price shown on the car is what they should sale it for, he said.  Yea sure I thought, they goofed.  I explained to the Salesman IF we agreed on a price, other than sales tax, there would be no "add ons" or "additional charges".  I knew what their sticker price was, and what their Internet price was so I asked him what their selling price was?  The old "I have to check with the boss" routine before the Salesman gave me a price that was lower then my predetermined budget price!?!?  RATS!!!  I hadn't planned on buying!  Now they are making me an offer that would be hard to turn down!   I told the Salesman to write it up and when I saw the bottom line was the price we had agreed on I gave them a down payment using my credit card.

 

I drove back home to get the wife and stopped at the bank for money before returning back to the Dealership.  Salesman told me they forgot that the car had a few "options" that had an extra charge so they reworked the paper work.  The look I gave the Salesman burned holes though his skull.  He quickly showed me the new paperwork, the bottom line (the price we had agreed to earlier hadn't change).  New paperwork just showed the "options" and their cost (Dealer took the hit).  OK, I smiled, no problem.  

 

Salesman said I need to go see their Title man.  Title man was all smiles and started talking about Platinum, Gold and Silver plans.  I asked if he was talking about extended warranties?  He said he was, to protect me from expensive car repairs.  I asked him why would I need an extended warranty on a vehicle I had just been told was highly reliable?  He didn't have an answer and lost his smile.  I drove out with the car for the price the Salesman and I had agreed on.

 

Perhaps the Salesman and Owner could sense that I was more then willing to walk away?

 

 

 

 

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I got fired from a job selling cars after about five months.  I had a good record and the customers seemed to like me, but I wasn't "aggressive enough".  I thanked them and stumbled into the best "job" I ever had...and after eleven years (almost twice as long as any other job I'd ever had) I retired.

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I sold cars between college and law school.  I was fortunate to work for a family owned dealership - 3rd generation.  Their reputation was more important than the bottom line, and they worked hard to maintain it.  No high presssure sales tactics, no unnecessary options or packages, and no lying.  I can't tell you how many customers told me that they were relieved not to have to deal with the stereotypical hard sell.  Ironically, one of the grandsons worked weekends with me; he had two other full time jobs - local politician and attorney.  Add on car salesman, and he hit the trifecta of professions held in low esteem by the public.  Somehow, he managed to excel at all three, rising to become Governor of MA and then US Ambassador to Canada.  We were not all slime.

 

LL

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I have lived in SW Colorado for 20+ years. I came from a place in California that I had lived for almost 60 years. I was used to dealing with a dealership that my family had dealt with for 50 years or so. I knew the owner, so I really never had any problems  buying a car or truck. We moved to Colorado and I went to the local Ford dealership (yes I am a Blue Oval man!) and introduced myself to the General Manager (He is still there). We developed a friendship and relationship that still exists today.

 

I have bought 4 Fords from them since I have been here. All were purchased at very fair prices. 5 years ago, I needed a new truck and was looking for a low mileage, used one. I wanted a F350, crew cab, diesel 4wd truck. He told me he didn't have too many used ones at that time. I bought one that wasn't everything I wanted, but checked 90% of the boxes and I wrote a check for it. About 3 months later I was in the dealership for servicing and was having a cup of coffee with the GM and told him I wished I hadn't bought the truck and waited for one that really was more like I originally wanted. He told me he had about 10 of them like I wanted. I looked and found one that was really nice and less than 20,000 miles on it. He gave me exactly what I paid for the first truck I bought and didn't care for, on trade for the other truck. We settled on a price, I wrote a check and drove out with another truck. It was exactly like I wanted.

 

It doesn't hurt to talk to people at the dealership when you are there for other things besides buying a vehicle.

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A long time ago I found a car listed online and called the dealer who said they still had it on their lot. I drove 40 miles there, only to find once I got there they told me they sold it days ago. I was pretty ticked off, but what could I do. Naturally they wanted to see if I was interested in anything else, and I said no.  A week later I was looking again, and found the same car listed. I called them again, said they had it. I told them they were lying and to take it off their website, then hung up. A few days later the listing was finally removed.

 

There are some ethical salesmen out there, though. Once I looked at a used car, and told the dealer I would go home and think about it. A few hours later he actually called me back to inform me that the car had just sold, and he wanted to let me know just in case I was about to drive all the way up there again.

.

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Arnold had an answer for the used car salesman during a test drive in True Lies.

ValidHastyGrebe-small.gif

 

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The last two cars I bought were on the Internet. Most big dealers have guys who do mostly internet sales. The first car I never left the house. They delivered it free with all the paperwork.

 The next one, I had to go to the dealer because I had a trade-in to drop off. I did it all through e mails and never even had to talk to a salesman on the phone. It was great. I’ll never walk into another dealership.

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Howdy,

A car can be sold and not sold at the same time.

It was sold last week but the deal isnt final until all the paperwork is done.

Cars get put on hold for a good customer...etc.

Even if the car is driven off the lot, the deal can still fall apart.

They may be trying to keep buyers on the string while the last paper gets processed.

Best

CR

 

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My two highest honors as a cop

1st   Put handcuffs on my granddaughter's father

2nd   Put handcuffs on used car salesmen

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I bought a new car this past June.  The finance/paperwork guy laid a new one on me.  After I had listened to his schpeel on extended warrantees, etc., he told me he had to do this work for free.  The only way he was paid was through a cut from these add-ons.  Wiping a tear before it could drip from my eye, I managed to leave without buying a warranty out of sympathy. 

(Hey, buddy.  If you're dumb enough to work for free, don't expect me to make you well.  Guess Junior won't get those new shoes.)

Is this normal or was I fed a "line"?

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When I bought my used 2006 Mazda Miata the high end used car dealer I bought it from had all 5 star reviews on Yelp. When I got to the dealership he told me straight up. “This car is $1000 over blue book. It’s in excellent condition. I will not budge on price. 
I bought it after a short test drive. 
This car is excellent but I waited 3 months before I gave him a 5 star review. At my 30,000 mile service on my 14 year old Miata everyone that worked at the dealership had come to check out my car. The mechanic offered to buy it for $1000 more than I paid. I smiled and said “No”. 
Best used car deal I have ever encountered from the best used car dealer I ever encountered. 
 

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1 hour ago, Joke 'um said:

The finance/paperwork guy laid a new one on me.  After I had listened to his schpeel on extended warrantees, etc., he told me he had to do this work for free.  The only way he was paid was through a cut from these add-ons.  Wiping a tear before it could drip from my eye, I managed to leave without buying a warranty out of sympathy. 

(Hey, buddy.  If you're dumb enough to work for free, don't expect me to make you well. 

Is this normal or was I fed a "line"?

He's a used car salesman, what do YOU think?!

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I went to buy a new F-150 several years ago.  I shopped around and ended up at a local Ford dealership.  The salesman told me to just pick any  F-150 truck on the lot and they would knock $12,000 off the sticker price.  Just add tag, tax and title.  So I eventually find the truck I wanted to drive for the next 10-12 years and we headed in to do paperwork.  My plan was to write a check for the truck and have no payment.   The salesman told me that Ford Motor Credit offered a $1,000 rebate if I financed through them and that was part of the $12,000 reduction in price.  In other words, if I didn't finance through Ford Motor Credit, the price of the truck went up $1,000.  No problem says I.  I've got good credit.  The payment book showed up in the mailbox in about 3 weeks and I wrote a check to pay off the truck.  Silly games they play. 

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Local Ford Dealer. We had a 3 YO SUV with low miles. But we needed a truck to tow a horse trailer for daughters High School Rodeo stuff. We're negotiating and they test drive our car. Salesman comes in and say well your car has an engine knock. We need to cut our offer to X. I countered with, I'm a mechanic, the car is 3 years old and there is nothing wrong with it. This was said as I walked out fo the office. I drove 40 miles to another dealer. We have been going there ever since. A few years later the owners on was arrested for selling drugs along with some of the sales staff. They had to sell the business.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I worked in the auto business for 40 years as a finance manager , used car manager and new car manager . I worked for three different dealers during my career and all were independent owners . Our goal was to sell at a fair price for both parties and selling more than one vehicle to family and friends over the years. I retired in 2005 and internet sales were just getting popular. I still buy local for everything I can just to have a relationship with whom I deal with. I still help friends negotiate a fair deal but will not take kick backs from a dealer or cash from anyone I help. I would like to say that none of my customers ever lied to me about their trade in vehicles and will let all of you think what you may. Do you homework on buying a vehicle and be prepared when you go shopping and you will not have any issues. I enjoyed talking to the old car guys from the 60’s who loved to say, “ Buyers are liars”, even though I never used that term myself.

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Several years ago my youngest son was looking for a replacement for his Ford Focus. He found a Honda CR-V at a local dealer that he liked, and it turned out that we knew the previous owner, who bought the car new. We also knew the salesman really well. They wanted $11,000 for the car, which booked out on every car value site on the Internet at $8700, including CarFax. He called the salesman and offered the $8700, telling him where all we had looked and that he would only pay that price or they could sell it to someone else. He's been driving it since 2015...

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