Car dealers and the games they play

[cheap]

Scenario 1.
Went to buy Mrs a new car. Dealer has stock (but be quick). We can't quite agree on the change over. He calls me the very next morning (literally 3 business hours later).We agree on a change-over. A few moments later he calls me and is sorry as that stock has sold, BUT, he has new stock arriving (at more dollars) or can arrange a lower spec model. Classic Bait and Switch.

Scenario 2.
I find a car on Carsales, ring the dealer, sorry that car has "just sold", but would I be interesting in a Subaru. Classic Ghost car.

Who is monitoring the dealers in Queensland? This is not issolated as nearly everyone I talk to has similar issues. No wonder carsales people are viewed as bottom feeders!

[Smoke Pursuit]

Games games games.... What are you chasing?

[Mowdit]

Went in to buy the Ranger recently
Said I wanted second hand as I can't afford a new one.
30 min later I am test driving a brand new lower model than I wanted.
In front of my partner the idiot said "you don't want second hand, you wouldn't want a second hand wife"!
As my partner has been married before she took offence, as did I, we all but walked out immediately.
Bought the Wildtrak at another dealer, even made a point of emailing the salesman back to let him know where we bought, and how much !
He was peeved (serve's him right)

Play your own game I say

[cheap]

Originally Posted by Smoke Pursuit

Games games games.... What are you chasing?

Mazda CX9 GT. We have one shortlisted, but the games...

[Ben73]

Most do it in one way or another.
My most recent one was buying the Ranger. Back in late 2013 early 2014 Rangers were still in slightly higher demand than availability, in Newcastle at least. Local dealer always had a dual cab XLT as a demo which is fair enough. Every time I hit him up about buying one he always said he can't sell the one on the floor because he needs to for show. He said I could order one in or buy the demo once a new demo comes in. Order would take 8 weeks minimum. I wanted one in less than 4 weeks preferably.

A week later I go in and cannot find an XLT anywhere in the showroom. Salesman comes out and says he sold it to someone, but I could order one in. So much for not selling demos without a new one in place.
So I got on carsales on the Friday, put in NSW and looked all over the state for what I wanted. I ended driving to Sydney on the Monday and got exactly what I wanted. Sure beat waiting 8 weeks and dealing with a useless dealer. The Sydney dealership was awesome to deal with.

[11ford11]

talk to the dealer principal at worst he feeds you the same crap

[Hell Cat]

Buying a new car and the salesman said the maximum he could take off was $250.

I replied "oh, sorry for wasting your time i thought you could move further than that" and went to leave.

I think i ended up getting a good 3k off

[cheap]

Originally Posted by 11ford11

talk to the dealer principal at worst he feeds you the same crap

Waste of time and effort, I have written a complaint to the sales rep and copied his DP. Time to move on, I will however be taking a photo of the purchase from the dealer and sending to these two

[99AUXR]

Repayments on car. Dealer we can finance at 359 per fortnight and thats the best cant move at all.

Ring another finance company sure we can do that cheaper at 299.

Ring dealer back I was actually able to arrange finance from another company for 299 can you please do up a sale agreement, Oh sorry it looks like we may be able to match that. . .

Its like FFS I asked for you best price not to be raped.

[zilo]

Be prepared to walk out...that's the secret.

I negotiated hard, we were about to sign then I bet my son that I could get the salesman's hat (cause my son wanted one just like it) he laughed and said no and we walked out.

He chased us into the car park with the hat...LOL

[richo77]

Originally Posted by zilo

Be prepared to walk out...that's the secret.

I negotiated hard, we were about to sign then I bet my son that I could get the salesman's hat (cause my son wanted one just like it) he laughed and said no and we walked out.

He chased us into the car park with the hat...LOL

How to disrespect people working for a living -that's a great lesson to teach your son.

[Yellow_Festiva]

Dealers play games, and so do buyers.

C'mon - we all say little white lies to get the price down, and they say little white lies to keep the price up. You can't blame the seller and you can't blame the buyer. They are both in it for themselves.

Last 2 cars I bought new I acted all sheepish and didn't really care if I got the deal or not. Don't ever make it obvious that you really want that specific car. There will always be new deals and there are always sales / factory bonuses / interest free etc etc etc.

I got around 20-25% off RRP and believe I got great deal. The first one took them 45min to decide to sign after trying to scrape a few extra hundred dollars out of me and the second one went through 3/4 of a day of negotiations and phone calls back and fourth trying to make the deal better for them.

From the first minute I made 2 things obvious to the salesperson:

1) I'm ready to buy and pay today if the deal is right.
2) Don't stuff me around with BS.

[2011G6E]

Phht...been going on for decades in Queensland (and no doubt elsewhere in this big brown land), and won't ever stop.

Back when I was 17 in 1982 I was looking for a second car...I already owned my little Austin A30 but wanted a bigger car to go to work in on a farm 15km out of town. I saw an advert at the local Holden dealer, with a "large stock of trade in cars that MUST go!"...first come, first served, doors open 7am saturday morning. They had a full page advert in the local paper, and my eye was drawn to a P76 with the desirable V8, but no so desirable auto box behind it. Two months rego, $150. Other tatty but registered cars were similar prices.
I trundled off in the A30 at 06:30 and was waiting with maybe fifty other guys for them to open the gates. Got let in...to see a mostly vacant back lot with half a dozen old Kingswoods, a couple of XB Falcons, and a few Toyota and Datsuns, only half of which were even registered. "The others all sold between the time the advert was placed and this morning...if someone wants a car we're not going to tell them No...but we do have great deals on new and near new cars out front!!"
Classic bait and switch...I doubt the other cars even existed.

Other gems from my years of buying cars? The same Holden dealer offering me a stupid trade in price on an immaculate Sunbird I owned, and refusing to give the keys to my car back until I signed the papers...said more in veiled threats than openly...they virtually weren't going to let me leave the office. I asked for the phone to "ring my bank about finance", and called the local police...by very visibly dialing 000. That got my keys back before I'd even spoken three words...

A car dealer who took me for a test drive in a new Falcon (XE "Family Pack" sedan) who wouldn't let me drive it...flat out wouldn't let me behind the wheel at all, just wanted me to pay up.

Others occurred over the years. The last one was back about late 2010 when we were car hunting and had narrowed it down to a G6E or an SV6...either one, we liked them both for different reasons. The missus was down in Bundy visiting our daughter and I told her to go take an SV6 for a test drive...I'd driven several new Commodores at work as rentals and knew what they were like but She Who Must Be Obeyed would be spending a lot more time behind the wheel than me, so it was important she see what they were like, and she'd already driven a Falcon.
The salesman showed her around the car, all the features...and then refused to let her drive it..."Maybe you should wait until your husband is here". He just wouldn't let her drive the thing on her own, full stop. Checking the calendar on her phone briefly to see that she hadn't entered a time slip to 1955, she asked again, and he still was adamant she should come back with someone with a meat and two veg in their pants before he'd let her drive it. Amazing.
I emailed the dealer late on saturday afternoon after she told me about it, well after the dealership had closed. I was polite, but firm. I said exactly what had happened, I was very calm and collected, but told them in no uncertain terms they had just lost a deal from people with the cash to walk out with a car right now, and I would be telling everyone I knew to avoid them...and amazingly within half an hour of clicking "send" I got a phone call from the dealerships owner! And by christ was he angry. Not at me...at the salesman. He apologised profusely, and said in a menacing tone "I'll be calling him in first thing monday morning and if that's his f*#@ing attitude he'll be down the damn road!".

As opposed to when my missus went to the Holden dealer in Rocky, and told him about it...he was ready to throw the keys of anything at her, even pointing out a flash new SS Commodore they'd just got and asking "You want to take that one for a run too?".


I think game playing is how they pass the time sometimes...

[Sam_Boss260]

Originally Posted by Yellow_Festiva

Dealers play games, and so do buyers.


From the first minute I made 2 things obvious to the salesperson:

1) I'm ready to buy and pay today if the deal is right.
2) Don't stuff me around with BS.

This is what I do. I make it clear that I will buy if we can strike a deal. I'm a bit of a research nazi, so will research, gather my facts and do my homework.

With the G6ET, I had it narrowed down to two. And I knew what I wanted to pay. I simply went with my first preference, a black one, and tried to do a deal. I made it clear to the sales guy that I will be buying a car by the end of the week. They wouldn't budge on the price at all, saying it had been discounted before already and they gave me a crap trade price on my XR8. Sales guy said that they would wholesale the car if they couldn't get their price. So I went with the second option, a silver one, and they did the deal and price that I was after.

In the following days, I say the black car price drop twice on the internet, but I had already bought the second option as I meant what I said, " I will be buying car by the end of the week".

Literally the day that I picked up the silver G6ET, the first sales guy calls me and says to come in to do a deal. Too late my friend. I mentioned that when a man person says they are committed, that it isn;t necessarily always BS.

[Smoke Pursuit]

I always go in prepared to walk out with a car.

When I bought the last Mercedes I had done my research, looked online, rang a few dealers and when I found the car I wanted I chucked my credit card on the table and said, do this this and this and we have a deal. 10 minutes later I had paid the deposit and the deal was done. Dealers will negotiate but they don't like negotiating to have you walk straight back out the door. It ****** them off. You have to have your guns loaded and be reasonable. Theres no point going in with unreasonable expectations because you will only look like a fool.

[danzvtil]

My fav was the dealer who saw which car I was interested in, pointed to it and said he had a phone call about just this car 10 mins ago by a guy who was bringing his wife in to test drive it this afternoon.
Thought, good one, do I look like an idiot?
Another was a dealer who when I listed all the options I wanted, said he couldn't list them on the bill of sale, I had to do them as a separate transaction with the ming mole. I stated that the discount im expecting is to INCLUDE all the fitted options, but nice try, I bought from another dealer.

[blackf6]

Just put lipstick on your dipstick when you trade your bomb. And demand top dollar.

[Stefan]

I bought a subaru H6 outback, 5 years ago during GFC. I walked in the car was 30K, cheapest private I found was $27. I told him it was perfect in every way, I drove it and loved it, kept complimenting the car. I reckon he walked in the office and laughed his **** off, he had a live one, ready to tear me a new a-hole.

It was a Saturday, and in my hour there, no-one had even set foot on the lot. We walked in to do the deal, he was getting my details etc etc, I say, "20K we have deal", he chuckled thinking I'm joking but soon realised I was serious. By this time he'd counted his commission but saw it slipping through his fingers. after 30 minutes of negotiation, walking out once, I bought it for $22K. Best deal I ever closed on a dealer.

I sold the car 12 months later for $25K with 30,000 more on the ODO. HAHA

I miss that car, was one of my favorites ever.

[Ford17]

Years ago (1990's perhaps) car dealers in Brisbane at least had a habit of erecting a hessian bag fence around their used car yards.

It was supposedly some sort of invitation-only event, and geared up for the weekend.

Never knew the full story behind this sales tactic, but always suspected it was done to try and make a regular used car sales weekend look more important, as though there were big deals to be done.

[MercurySilver]

I'll give you 12 grand for youra xr8 ute
Ford offered me 15.....a complete bluff.
Sorry can't match that.......
Until I get home and the phone rings within an hr with a trade in offer of 14900.
Sorry
Should've offered me that price first.

[brett4777]

My younger brother has worked in the car selling game for years, so any automotive related purchases we make I always take him as the look on a salesmans face when they are being raped by one of their own is priceless, just recently we screwed a jayco dealer on a new camper trailer by telling them the options I wanted and how much I was going to pay, when they said it couldn't be done we walked.Amazingly I didn't get more than 50 metres before he changed his mind funny that.

[damo6]

Originally Posted by Ford17

Years ago (1990's perhaps) car dealers in Brisbane at least had a habit of erecting a hessian bag fence around their used car yards.

It was supposedly some sort of invitation-only event, and geared up for the weekend.

Never knew the full story behind this sales tactic, but always suspected it was done to try and make a regular used car sales weekend look more important, as though there were big deals to be done.

Still do,complete with a walk thru marquis at the entrance and a card table with name tags on it for you to wear! Wouldn't let me in once because I refused to play their stupid bloody game

[05_ENFORCER]

My BIL is laughing his *** off right now reading this over my shoulder.

He has been in the car game for 10 years.

Honda, FPV, HSV, Mercedes and now BMW.

He still gloats on how he has taken so many suckers for a ride.

And yes, he is an lying *******..................


.

[Romulus]

Originally Posted by Smoke Pursuit

I always go in prepared to walk out with a car.

When I bought the last Mercedes I had done my research, looked online, rang a few dealers and when I found the car I wanted I chucked my credit card on the table and said, do this this and this and we have a deal. 10 minutes later I had paid the deposit and the deal was done. Dealers will negotiate but they don't like negotiating to have you walk straight back out the door. It ****** them off. You have to have your guns loaded and be reasonable. Theres no point going in with unreasonable expectations because you will only look like a fool.

Spot on. No point negotiating if you're not prepared to buy the car.

I shopped around between a few Ford dealers for the Mrs new SZ MkII Territory Titanium RWD diesel; $11,000 difference in trade-in allowances for two cars I was trading between Ford dealers!

[Bill M]

Car sales people sell cars all days of the week, they are good at it otherwise they wouldn't be there.
They can afford to play the game, how often does one buy a car?
Bill.

[Franco Cozzo]

They took a $200 deposit on my Focus after I refused to give them 10% up front lol.

When they got the car in I gave them the rest.

Rules can be flexible

[Big_Daz]

Originally Posted by Smoke Pursuit

I always go in prepared to walk out with a car.

When I bought the last Mercedes I had done my research, looked online, rang a few dealers and when I found the car I wanted I chucked my credit card on the table and said, do this this and this and we have a deal. 10 minutes later I had paid the deposit and the deal was done. Dealers will negotiate but they don't like negotiating to have you walk straight back out the door. It ****** them off. You have to have your guns loaded and be reasonable. Theres no point going in with unreasonable expectations because you will only look like a fool.

Totally agree with the above... Im in the process of getting a new lease car (new job, etc) and have been dealing with Dealers from a few Makes (Jeep, Subaru, Mazda, Hyundai) and have been 100% up front with them about the fact I am comparing a few cars and driving them all to come to a decision and that I wouldnt waste their time with pricing stuff (apart from Retail to get a basis for comparison) until I was ready to sign on the dotted line, which they seemed to appreciate... A few even told me this straight up...

[blueoval]

I have found some dealers don't even want you test driving their cars unless you are 100% committed to buying a car from them, which I find this pointless.

Then you get some buyers who come in, pick the car to absolute bits, then try and low ball a price in an attempt to 'get a bargain'. If you are that picky, why offer a price?

[GasoLane]

Originally Posted by blueoval

I have found some dealers don't even want you test driving their cars unless you are 100% committed to buying a car from them, which I find this pointless.

Then you get some buyers who come in, pick the car to absolute bits, then try and low ball a price in an attempt to 'get a bargain'. If you are that picky, why offer a price?

Ah the joys of living in a country town.

Most car yards around here need to be straight up or word gets around.

A few years ago we were looking at a Falcon (at a Holden dealer) the salesman said to take it home for the weekend, and no, he wasn't a mate

[Spurious]

In my early 20's I approached a used car dealer in Canberra.

I had cash in my pocket & spied a rough XE wagon for $1600.

I gave him my licence, they gave me the keys & I drove it for about 40 minutes. The first thing I noticed was it would almost stall when I opened the throttle on take off. So there was money to be spent even before the sale was made.

I brought it back & said I wasn't interested.

The boss had me in his office, with a colleague standing in the doorway.
He stated that I had wasted his time & he demanded I pay for the 8 odd litres of fuel he'd put in prior to the test drive.
Funny considering I too had put $10 fuel in it on my travels!

He also accused me of "joyriding" as he saw me pick up a friend about 50 metres down the street.
It was merely a coincidence that I spotted a mate & dropped him off a few K's away.

He made it clear, in a shady subtle kind of way, that I wasn't leaving until he'd been compensated with some cash. I refused & encouraged him to call the police, as he'd threatened to do so.
He sent me on my way, but refused to return my licence & stated HE would be going to the police to take action against me.

The following afternoon I rang the police station & they had indeed received a visit from the dealer but took no action as obviously no crime had been committed. The cops also took my licence from him, & returned it to me when I went in, no questions asked!


In the last 15 years since that incident I have bought all my vehicles privately.
My current AU2 was bought as an "as is, where is" trade in, from a ford dealer. He refused to budge on the $4990 price but he threw in a 12 month aftermarket warranty for no extra charge. That $700 cost would have been covered by his profit margin so I was happy with the deal.

The BEST thing you can do is go in cashed up, state what you want & what you're prepared to pay & be prepared to walk. The dealer WILL try to BS you, that's a given.

My sister did this in 2005. She spied a $6500'ish VT wagon, she looked at it, walked into the office, smacked $5000 cash on the desk & said "I want that one". Done deal, the only thing the salesman had to say was "the money isn't drug money or stolen is it?" LOL, & she sold it with new 18" rims 3 years later for $5000.