Car Dealership Etiquette

[smarterthanu213]

Recently my boyfriend and I went out looking for SUVs. We are planning on getting married soon and starting a family and would prefer to get an SUV instead of a minivan. We have some cash in savings specifically for a vehicle and were wanting to know if we could get a good SUV for that. We went to a Dodge dealership and test-drove a used Durango. Before we test-drove it, we told the salesman that we were pricing vehicles and wanted to see if we could get what we wanted within our price range. We also told him that we had cash and so we would not need financing.

We are very private people. We do not give out personal info. We gave him our names, but we would not give him our addresses or phone numbers or anything else, because (a) we don't want to get calls/mail from the dealership and (b) we don't want them to run a credit check on us when we might not even buy from them.

So after we test drove the vehicle, we tried (again) to get him to give us the price on the vehicle. He told us he didn't remember, he had it written down in his office, and he would go get it for us. Instead of allowing us to wait outside, he made us follow him into the office (I hate going into dealership offices because it's like when you enter you're halfway into their clutches) and sit down. he again began pressing us--almost rudely--for our information. After twenty minutes we told him that we had to leave for an important dinner with his family, would he please tell us the price so that we can discuss it. He refused. I stood up to leave, boyfriend asked me to go get the car and he'd try to get the price out of the guy. Finally, 15 MINUTES LATER boyfriend comes storming out of the dealership office. The salesman had been nearly harassing in his attempts to get our personal information, all the while refusing to give us the price on the vehicle. Finally, boyfriend said, "I have to leave, we're already late." We'd been at the dealership for 2 hours altogether, which should had been plenty of time to get the info we needed. The salesman once more refused to give boyfriend the price without contact info. Boyfriend said, sorry, you can't have it, I have to leave now. Salesman followed boyfriend out the door insulting him and saying things like "When you're *mature* [I can't believe he threw that in!] enough to buy a car, come back and we'll go through the proper processes.

Now tell me, why do I have to give out personal information just to get the price on a car I'm considering buying? Now, of course, I have NO INTENTIONS of buying from that dealership--especially since almost all the other used cars had prices on them. Is it just me, or was that incredibly rude of the salesman???

[Reika]

To me that was pretty rude, if you were clear up front about how you were doing the purchasing I don't see how he would need your personal information. And two hours is just way too long, the only time I spent that much time at a dealership was when I went during a sale that had triple the turnout the dealership expected.

Definitely go somewhere else and let the owner of the dealership know what you went through and why you won't shop there and will likely discourage friends and family from going there also.

[Chartreuse]

Other than proving you had a drivers' license and insurance (in case of the worst during the test drive), I can't imagine why they NEEEEEEEEEEEDED that information?  I'd be miffed as well.

[CocoCamm]

I'm really confused as to what personal information they could have needed to give you a price. If I were you I would send a letter to the manager of the dealership as well as someone higher up in Dodge.

[thebadchemist]

If you don't mind my asking, how old are you?

I'm in my mid-20s. Right after college, my BF decided to buy a car. He had a huge college fund (parents planned very well) and he worked through college and really didn't use much of it outside of tuition and rent. His parents told him he could use the remainder for whatever he chose, so he decided to buy a car.

He LOVES station wagons, especially Volvos. We went to a Volvo dealer and it was bustling with salespeople and potential customers. BF asked to take a look around and a woman decided to take us on a tour. BF started with the used cars, but he wanted to see the new ones. Keep in mind that it was a group of the three of us, me/BF/his friend and the saleswoman. We're fresh out of school and, while well-groomed, we were still wearing fairly casual clothes and looked young. While we were walking around, she gives BF the third degree about his life. He told her that he was a recent graduate and is currently job-hunting. He left the "I have the money to pay for this" out of it because he knew the pressure would go way up if they knew he'd pay for it in full.

Apparently, three young people and the potential buyer without a job was enough for the woman to REFUSE HIM A TEST DRIVE. We saw over 10 salespeople on the floor and she told BF that he needed to make an appointment and come back during the week. The gist of her reasoning was that these salespeople were for "serious buyers only" and that she was not going to waste time giving him a test drive. He raised his eyebrows and told her he'd come back. He never did. His friend and I were about to scream. We told him that he should find her manager and complain about her. He said no and drove to a Volkswagen dealer. The salesperson there was fantastic. Took BF out for a long test drive and enthusiastically described all the models and the options, blah blah blah. He didn't ask too much about BF's life or finances other than "What brings you in today?"

Guess what BF bought?

I realize that, being a salesperson, it's annoying and have to spend time on people who are not serious about buying your product. However, it does pay off. Had that salesperson at the Volvo dealership put her prejudices and her assumptions aside and treated him well, she would have earned one hell of a commission.

These tactics, making you leave your personal info or making you make an appointment, is to get you to prove that you're serious about buying. I think they're completely unnecessary and prejudicial. I haven't been car shopping since, but since then, BF and I have gone house-hunting. How we dress and appear is apparently very important (I see why, but I don't like it). If we go in t-shirts and jeans, we get written off or get a long lecture about how we should forget about houses and look at condos only, since it is "what we can afford". They have no clue about our finances at this point. However, when we put on dressier clothing, they're courting us like we're royalty. "Oh! This is a fantastic home for a family!" "This is a perfect starter home!" "A house is PERFECT for a young, up-and-up couple like you two." Really? That's funny... I didn't realize that my outfit increased my income, too!

Anyway, sorry about the rant and the hijack, but your post struck a nerve in me because I've been there, too. The salesman was out of line. Too bad, because he just cost his dealership a good sale. It bothers me that there are many salespeople out there who just presume that younger people cannot handle large purchases. Sure, I know that there are people out there who just mess around, but really, snap judgments and broad generalizations can be very costly.

It isn't just cars and houses. I know a woman who works a Bloomingdales and she said that she spent an hour helping a customer looking for a good winter coat. The customer didn't buy anything, but liked her so much that she took her card and promised to come back and look for her. My friend said that yeah, it's disappointing when they don't buy, but she considers her time to be a good investment.

Edited for grammar, etc.

[Shoo]

My guess is that they would have attempted to get credit information so they could see if you qualified for a higher purchase.  Then he could "upsell" you.  High pressure tactics.  Very snakey.

I'd report that salesman to the general manager.  I wonder why you didn't request a different salesperson.  After the first refusal to give you the price of the vehicle (which would have been on the window sticker, wouldn't it?) I would have demanded to see a manager.  After the 2nd time, I would have walked out the door.

Please remember this car buying advice from Consumer Reports:

Never discuss how you intend to pay for the vehicle, or how much you are willing to pay, UNTIL you've agreed on a purchase price.    It's none of their business, and this information will only provide ammunition for them to upsell you or try to get you into their financing program, which makes a lot more money for them.

Again, do NOT tell them how you intend to purchase the vehicle.  If they ask (and they will), say you're undecided, but will let them know if you can agree on a purchase price for whatever vehicle you're interested.  Repeat as necessary.  If they become overly pushy about it, walk out and definitely let the next dealership know why you aren't doing business with the previous one.

You don't have to take it.  You need to take control of your car buying decisions and not give those sleazy dealerships anything to work against you with.

[Rei-chan]

I had a funny car buying experience about 6 years ago. 

So I walk into Local Honda Dealership and the saleswoman shows me around.  At first, she didn't ask anything about payment or personal questions.  Once I picked out what I wanted, we talked about prices and financing options.  I got her price on a business card (15,999 this is important later) and told her I would think it over.

She proceeded to call me every day for 5 days.  What she didn't know was that on day 3, my Dad went into the dealership and asked for her specifically.  He told her he wanted a car for his wife and gave her the exact specs of the car I was interested in.  He even looked at the car I test drove (we know this as it was the only blue/teal car they had in stock).  She then quoted him a price (14,047) and wrote it on a card for him.

On day 5, I called her and said I would be in to purchase the car that afternoon.  When I entered the showroom, she made a beeline for me, at which point i smiled and said:

ME:  Let's discuss that price again.
HER:  That is really as low as I can go for you.
ME:  {Gesturing to the door}  In that case, I would like you to meet my Dad....oh wait, you have!  {Holds up Dad's card} Why don't we talk about this price.

At this point, she goes WHITE and gets us into her office quickly.  Once we got there, she starts in on all the "extras" like special wax job, etc. and states that she already had it done in preparation for my arrival.  At that point, I got stern, letting her know that I didn't order that done and would not be paying for it.  I then asked for her boss. 

Longer story short:  I got my car at my price and got a 7 year warranty thrown in for free.
Moral of the story:  Salespeople work on comission, so they are going to do whatever they can to boost that comission.  Have a plan and be prepared for it, and if they get rude, walk out.  That will hurt them where it counts, in their pockets.   

[Quossum]

Sometimes you just have to be firm with those people.

The DH and I were looking at SUVs a while ago.  I was interested in the Xterra, so we went in and test-drove one.  The salesman was evasive as to the price, kept wanting to go back into his office and "talk to his manager" and so on and so forth.  Finally the DH said, "Look, if the next words out of your mouth aren't numbers, we're out of here."

"Sir, if I could just--"

"Good-bye."  We stood and left.

Went on to an Isuzu dealership where the salesperson gave us the keys and let us take the car out by ourselves with absolute minimum amount of hassle.  We ended up buying a Rodeo there.

Another time the guy left us sitting in his office for over 15 minutes, and that was just to go get the keys so that we could test-drive the car!  We stood up and walked out, and he chased us down at the door, begging to be given a second chance.  We left and bought a car elsewhere.

In short, no, you shouldn't have to put up with any sort of manipulative behavior in order to be allowed to spend your money.  Don't put up with it.  Leave.  There are plenty of car dealerships where you'll be treated well.  My best experience was with a dealership that had sold several cars (over the years) to my dad.  They treated me like a princess.  Having that "inside track" was nice!   

Check out "Confessions of a Car Salesman" at Edmunds.  Very interesting reading.

http://www.edmunds.com/advice/buying/articles/42962/article.html

--Q

[ShadesOfGrey]

Please remember this car buying advice from Consumer Reports:

Never discuss how you intend to pay for the vehicle, or how much you are willing to pay, UNTIL you've agreed on a purchase price.    

Really? I've never heard that... May I ask why they suggest that?

I actually had a friend that was able to pay for her car in full, in cash, on the spot (ok, so she actually paid with a check).  She negotiated a price with the dealer based on her paying in full, and then she financed the car.  Or maybe it was the other way around... Either way, she negotiated a lower price based on her form of payment, then switched to the other, and paid in full in the first month of owning it...

[JuicyLife]

Hi

Although I'm in Oz, I've NEVER heard of anything like this! Over here, the prices are either painted on the car's window or displayed on a huge banner across the bonnet of the car. Also, the price is always included on an info sheet that hangs in the driver's window (facing out) that tells you how old the car is, whether its manual or auto etc. Maybe its very different in the US, but this just seems so odd to me!

Cheers,
Alison

[smarterthanu213]

That's the funny thing. Nearly every other car in the lot was priced. Most cars had the price painted on the front windshield. Others had a pricing sheet on the inside of a window. But for some reason this bulldog of a man wouldn't let us know the price on that particular one. Had we picked nearly any other car on the lot, we could have seen the price immediately. We probably were just too nice to the salesguy.

[Heavenly]

Funny how one bad salesman can leave a bad taste in your mouth about all salesmen. 

My father was a saleman by trade (not cars) and he was always fighting the reputation of the salesman that proceeded him.  It was very frustrating for him.

However...

I have heard more horror stories about car salesmen than any other salesman.

PP are right that the salesman is trying to upsell you, and will employ any strategy that he/she thinks will work.  When I was 24 I was in an accident that totalled my car.  Insurance gave me X amount of money to buy a new car that I hopefully took to the "mega block" car lot in search of a replacement car.  We (my father came with me) told the salesman how much money we had up front--no trade in or down payment.  He proceeded to show up several models that were "in my price range" and we looked them over and decided on one that I really liked.  The salesman then took us to his office to firm things up and then disappeared to "talk to his manager".  When he came back he told us that we could have that model for $1500 more than what we had.  When we protested that we had told him what we could spend, he looked at my dad and very sweetly said, "Well, I'm sure your dad will kick in some money to help you get this car.  Won't you Dad?"  My dad replied evenly that he would not and if we couldn't get this car for the money we specified, why the hell did he show it to us?  The salesman then said NONE of the models he showed us would fit into our budget (Dad was really ticked at this point) and offered to show us the ONLY MODEL (his words) on the ENTIRE LOT that we could afford.  It was a stripped down Ford Fiesta (it didn't even have a radio).  I was in tears at this point and my dad turned to the salesman and told him he was a crook and a "bait and switcher".  Then we left...with the salesman sputtering behind us that we weren't going to find a better deal anywhere.  Ha!  I ended up getting a newer Chevy Corsica with the works for $10.00 under what I had--the dealership cheerfully wrote me out a check.  LOL  I loved that car.   

edited for clarification.   

[VorFemme]

Really? That's funny... I didn't realize that my outfit increased my income, too!

I read on another site that a mother & daughter were out shopping at an up-scale department store (not top of the line - upper middle I guess you'd have to characterize it as).  They were in clean denim jeans and nice tops with casual shoes, as they had been cleaning house at the ranch earlier that day............they were almost ignored - until someone spotted that the older woman's purse was a COACH leather bag (even on eBay, a used Coach bag rarely sells for less than $50 USA - new is four times that price or more - real leather, stamped with an ID number, and a LIFETIME warranty where you can send it back for repairs/refurbishing of hardware or lining).

Suddenly, they had plenty of help............but weren't too impressed with the store's attitude. 

There are a lot of people out there with money who prefer to put CASH in their pocket, wallet, or purse instead of spending a chunk of money on the wallet or purse to put what is left of their money into. 

The writer commented that when her (late) father had bought the purse as his last gift to their mother before passing away, her brother had made the comment at the store that "you could buy a SADDLE for that much money!" 

Her mother was still using that purse years later - and remembering their father (her husband) every time she picked it up...............so, in the daughter's opinion - it had been worth every penny it cost and MORE to have a gift that would  last her mother's lifetime as a reminder of her husband's love. 

The same thing may be coming into play when house hunting - the agents are "guessing" your income level and probable price range based on what you are wearing instead of what figure you may be giving them.

As a plus size woman over forty-five, I find that I get ignored (more or less) if I dress down to go out shopping - say stop cleaning house or painting to run to the hardware store for more paint, a part to do a plumbing repair, or a tool............  If I go out AFTER showering, shampooing, and "dressing" nicely - say the way I would be dressed if I were coming home from work - I get more attention from store clerks - especially when looking at clothing.........

I bought an evening dress two weeks ago - showering, shampooing, and wearing good clothes was part of getting ready - if only because I would not want to try on clothes that someone else might have tried on without showering.........  I didn't want to have to take it immediately to a dry cleaners before being able to wear it (I've had fabrics that did not look the same after being cleaned for the first time - no matter HOW the instructions said to clean them).

House hunting and car buying are usually an activity that is planned ahead - checking that you are NOT in dirty jeans, a torn t-shirt, and worn out cheap shoes is probably a good idea - unless you are a recognizeable rock, sports, or media star who can pay cash without thinking about the price!

If "stars" go out looking at cars, clothes, or whatever instead of having the clothes or cars DELIVERED to their door for them to try at leisure..........not having that kind of fame or money - I have not the slightest idea how it might work.............

[nutraxfornerves]

I'd agree that they wanted to run a quick credit check on you, not necesarily so they could upsell you, but so they could try to get you to finance the car through them. Some dealers make more money on financing than on car sales. Getting your credit info gives them an idea of whether or not you are a good candidate for them to sell financing.

And, of course, they will want to call you in a week or so and bug you about buying the car.

[ShadesOfGrey]

As a plus size woman over forty-five, I find that I get ignored (more or less) if I dress down to go out shopping - say stop cleaning house or painting to run to the hardware store for more paint, a part to do a plumbing repair, or a tool............  If I go out AFTER showering, shampooing, and "dressing" nicely - say the way I would be dressed if I were coming home from work - I get more attention from store clerks - especially when looking at clothing.........

I think the above is true no matter what size a person is. 

The same thing may be coming into play when house hunting - the agents are "guessing" your income level and probable price range based on what you are wearing instead of what figure you may be giving them.

This is probably the case.  As much as we shouldnt judge people on their appearances, the truth is that, we do, albeit everyone to a different extent.  The (not-so-off-base--if-stereotypical) assumption is that those that dress nicer have more disposable income.  While this does not excuse rude behavior, it is a reasonable assumption (even if you are just running out the door for XXX/dressed casually today/etc) to make.