"I'm never shopping THERE again!" Share your story!

[Otterpop]

MamaMootz, I think all us 40 somethings should go into a Lexus dealership and ask to test drive a Lexus IS now.  I'd like to see them deter me!

My husband drives a red Mustang GT convertible, the only car he ever wanted in high school (and did not get) because he can afford it 20 years later.  He looks HOT!  And 50K for a 20 something?!  What are they thinking?!!!

[MamaMootz]

MamaMootz, I think all us 40 somethings should go into a Lexus dealership and ask to test drive a Lexus IS now.  I'd like to see them deter me!

My husband drives a red Mustang GT convertible, the only car he ever wanted in high school (and did not get) because he can afford it 20 years later.  He looks HOT!  And 50K for a 20 something?!  What are they thinking?!!!

And that's the thing that gets to me - are there not a lot of grey haired men driving around in convertible Corvettes, Camaros, etc.? Does that make the car any less muscle-y? No. So the thought that a Lexus IS is only for 20 somethings becomes even more ridiculous in my mind. My 49 year old husband just bought a convertible Camaro - because he can afford it and he loves the redefined look of the car. That wasn't $50K but the same principle applies. Should the Chevy dealer have turned him away because he's 49? 

[Lorelei_Evil]

Well, once the car is off their lot, they really don't care if you actually pay the loan or not.  The finance company has already given the dealership their money, and the terms of repayment are between the finance company and the borrower.  So sure they market to the youngsters, they sell cars, they aren't credit counselors.

[MamaMootz]

Well, once the car is off their lot, they really don't care if you actually pay the loan or not.  The finance company has already given the dealership their money, and the terms of repayment are between the finance company and the borrower.  So sure they market to the youngsters, they sell cars, they aren't credit counselors.

I never said they were credit counselors. But refusing to sell a car to someone who is willing to buy it because they are in their 40's just makes no sense. They are in the business of selling cars. Should it matter who they sell it to, as long as it's a sale?

[Lorelei_Evil]

Absolutely, she's a lousy salesperson!  Must not like to make money.   

[gramma dishes]

Maybe she's still employed because she's married to the owner ... or something.   

[Lorelei_Evil]

Certainly isn't working on commission, or you would have had the most expensive car on the lot in 20 minutes.   

Yeah, I did date a car saleman once.  They had weird "rules" about who they did and did not want to sell and market to.  It was strange.

[Sirius]

MamaMootz, I think all us 40 somethings should go into a Lexus dealership and ask to test drive a Lexus IS now.  I'd like to see them deter me!

My husband drives a red Mustang GT convertible, the only car he ever wanted in high school (and did not get) because he can afford it 20 years later.  He looks HOT!  And 50K for a 20 something?!  What are they thinking?!!!

And that's the thing that gets to me - are there not a lot of grey haired men driving around in convertible Corvettes, Camaros, etc.? Does that make the car any less muscle-y? No. So the thought that a Lexus IS is only for 20 somethings becomes even more ridiculous in my mind. My 49 year old husband just bought a convertible Camaro - because he can afford it and he loves the redefined look of the car. That wasn't $50K but the same principle applies. Should the Chevy dealer have turned him away because he's 49? 

My grey-haired 55+ sister drives a Mustang convertible, and if the salesperson had told her she didn't "fit the demographic" she'd have told them what they could do with their demographic. 

[gramma dishes]

Yes, we bought a beautiful cranberry colored Trans Am when we were in our fifties.  They were absolutely delighted to sell it to us.  Our insurance company was considerably less happy because we had three teen drivers at the time, although they were rarely allowed to drive it.   

[Virg]

Otterpop wrote:

"MamaMootz, I think all us 40 somethings should go into a Lexus dealership and ask to test drive a Lexus IS now.  I'd like to see them deter me!"

I suspect that unless you chose that particular dealership, you'd probably get a test drive without comment.  We should consider that it might not be Lexus that determined that MamaMootz wasn't right for the car, but instead just a foolish salesperson.  I bet a letter to Lexus corporate would have garnered an apology and a call from a Lexus dealer who would have been more than happy to offer MamaMootz a car to try out.

Virg

[Trogdor]

The horrible car salesman story reminds me of one that happened to a lady my husband works with. She had purchased a car from 'dealership' and it arrived off the delivery trailer with several small marks on the door and one on the hood. When she complained the salesman said (warning: put down all sharp implements, swallow drinks before reading) "Why do you care? You're a chick, you'll just have more dings on this thing in no time!"

She refused to accept delivery of the car until all the marks were fixed. She complained about the salesman, but I don't know what (if anything) was ever done about him.

[siamesecat2965]

The horrible car salesman story reminds me of one that happened to a lady my husband works with. She had purchased a car from 'dealership' and it arrived off the delivery trailer with several small marks on the door and one on the hood. When she complained the salesman said (warning: put down all sharp implements, swallow drinks before reading) "Why do you care? You're a chick, you'll just have more dings on this thing in no time!"

She refused to accept delivery of the car until all the marks were fixed. She complained about the salesman, but I don't know what (if anything) was ever done about him.

This kind of reminds me about when I called to cancel my cable service (I had switched to another provider)  as always, they had to try and retain me, and made me an offer.  little did he know it was a done deal already, but I mentioned one reason was that new company offered certain channels cable did not.  I specifically mentioned the NFL Network, and he said oh, well, we're working on getting that, but the best part is what he said after "And the men will love that"  Excuse me?  I'm female and I live and breathe football during the season.  I just politely thanked him and said please cancel.

[Elfmama]

I was pleasantly surprised during our recent search for a new car -- not one of the salesmen showed me the vanity mirror! 

However, the Buick dealer lost a possible sale when he ignored me completely and talked only to DH. 

[jedikaiti]

When I graduated from college, my parents decided to buy me a car as a graduation gift.

This was when Saturns were still a bit new-ish and their "no hassle buying" was a bit of a novelty. They went to a Saturn dealership to look at some cars and test drive. They left after they realized that "no hassle" also meant "no service" - they had to all but tackle someone to get ANY information, and out of all the dealerships they went to, that was the only one that didn't give them a courtesy call in the next day or two - the other ones didn't do any high-pressure tactics (AFAIK), they just called to see if my parents had any questions, or wanted to test drive the car again, etc.

I got a Chevrolet for my gift.

[Friday]

I went into Closest Dodge dealership to me with my hubby to buy either a Challenger or a Charger.  Had to be Hemi and higher end model.  We are in our 40s, but actually look younger.  I always attributed the younger looking to why the salesman kept trying to steer us towards the lower end cars.  He was also very reluctant about letting us test drive either.

We (me) did get to test drive both, but we were sincerely unhappy with the deal the salesman tried to make.  We went to Farther Away Dodge dealership and bought Dodge Challenger RT.  Its a serious vehicle - hubby tunes it and takes it to the drag strip for the "fun" races on off days from his bracket races.

was it retalitory rudeness that when I finally got my test drive, I scared the salesman?     I can drive pretty well.....