Bizarre Auto Sales Person.

in the late afternoon on Saturday, the 24th of May 2008 by Tina

Checking out cars, a favorite thing of mine to do… but also since my hubbie’s truck lease next year (he has been leasing the gorgeous Honda Ridgeline), I wanted to see what our next vehicle might be. I like to look well in advance, so I do not feel rushed into a decision. I like to test drive several vehicles, and review each candidate. I realize new vehicles will be coming out too… but want to get all my options lined up. I actually enjoy looking at cars in general!

I am a HUGE Honda fan… I had a Prelude, (Acura) Integra & have an Element. I loved each one of these (especially the Prelude & Element!). But I also like to keep my options open; I like to see reviews on other makes & models. Reliability is a crucial factor; I have always felt in those first few years constant visits to the dealer should definitely not be part of the purchase! (I have known people who had cars with no miles tacked on their vehicle since it could never leave the driveway without a tow truck, that is sad!).

One of my curiosities was the Toyota Prius, so I went to our local dealer to test drive.

Auto sales people are an odd lot… I have seen awesome ones (though they are the very-very few)… and the horrible ones (sadly there are way too many of these)! The test drive I just took introduced me to a very unusual breed of sales person… that still has me perplexed (also very leery about doing business with that particular dealer).

The sales guy was the most pathetic sales guy I have yet to come across! He was under-selling to a pain! I have seen all kinds of sales approaches, from the painfully aggressive to the soft-sell… but this was unreal. I told him off that bat that I am not in a hurry, that right now I am reviewing my options. I asked to take the Prius for a test drive… he immediately let me know that there is a waiting list for the Prius. (I quite expected that, with current gas prices… hybrids and vehicles with good gas mileage have people lined up to grab ‘em). I said that is ok, and repeated… I am not in a hurry for a car…I just want to see if this is a vehicle I might want to pursue. He started to let me know about cheaper options they had… oh come’ on… again this sales approach was pathetic; it was not like he was being informative about the other vehicles, in fact he was quite useless.

When I finished my drive, I asked for some brochures on several vehicles I am currently considering… he said those are so different (really not THAT different… Corolla, Matrix… and the Prius). I said I know (since I did not want to bother with “that” discussion) I am reviewing my options right now… and I want to see which I think will work best for me! He vanished for a significant length of time… kinda wonder if he had to flog himself, or was he just crying… seriously he was that pathetic! I was approached by other sales guys, and I let them know I was being helped… but after awhile, I figured he hung himself, so I asked another sales guy some questions and for some brochures… at that point the wimpy sales guy came from behind a wall… very odd, really odd (how long had he been hiding from me?)! (NOTE: This was not a young sales guy, not a new one… You could tell he had been in the business for some time, so his behavior bewildered me that much more.)

So aside from the dealer, and the pathetic excuse for a sales person… the Prius… NICE! Very quiet, smooth, had nice amount of power, braking was natural too! The interior is gorgeous, driving position comfortable, the cargo area very nice (I am very partial to hatchbacks!). Gas mileage is awesome… 44 mpg avg. So if you have a lot of commuting this is THEE vehicle to check out! Everything here is very convenient so that was not my absolute goal; the gas mileage is just a nice bonus. My interest was because this vehicle is nice looking, well appointed, and the price is not insane for what you are getting… plus it rates well (great reliability & reviews in general are fantastic). Will I get one? Eh shall see… I am pondering several vehicles, and waiting for the 2009 releases to come out… and still have until spring 2009 before we will hand in the truck… but I love being able to look for a vehicle on my own terms!

We also have several more dealerships being built here (and they are planned for our side of town, which will be soo nice!). So I will have several dealers to compete against each other when I make my choice! I have no objection to driving an hour to a dealer either, so I will use Denver area & Pueblo too! When I bought my Element, I drove an hour south because the dealer was wonderful (before, during & after the sale!)… And they had the best price, it was the best experience I ever had buying a car! So if you are in the Delaware/PA/NJ or MD area… and looking for a good dealer check out Price Honda, down in Dover Delaware, that is where I bought my Honda Element back in2003. I would have packed them up and taken them with me when we moved if I could!

Now I shall see if I can find a sales person that awesome with my next vehicle! Wish me luck… and if I come across any more “fun” sales people I will share… this one I could not get out of my mind… And that is not a good thing!

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Marianne Says:
May 25th, 2008 at 9:01 pm Add karma

--1

I found your post amusing.

Many people think that car salespeople make a lot of money. This is for the most part not correct. Many are luck y to be making 30k a year. This is not enough to support a family on.

It is true, everyone has the right to shop, but what car dealerships need is to hire just a couple of “test drive guys” and pay them hourly for people who have no intent to purchase, but just shop around and compare. This would be better for the customer who does not want the help of a salesperson and it would also be good for the salesperson who (as we all know) only work on commission and never see a penny until a car is sold. It may have never occurred to you that your “weird” salesperson had a wife and kids to feed and thought suggesting something that was more available and even more practical in the long run, would benefit him and you…even though you were “not in a hurry”.

But really, it might possibly be of greater benefit to you to have listened to that “weird’ car guy. Consider this — choosing either of the other cars that he suggested, rather than the Prius…even though it is a hybrid, would NOT save you money in the long run…it would cost you more. This is something that many new car buyers have just not taken a pencil to. Even though it can get 44mpg - this is city only —on the highway it is usually less ( I know because I have had one before). For the average driver who drives 12-15,000 miles per year…when compared to a good trouble-free economy car that gets around 35mpg…the hybrid will only be saving you around 80 to 100 gallons of gas a year. At $4.00 per gallon you are talking a savings of $400 a year at most in gas. Beyond this, the maintenance and repair on the hybrid is significantly more than with an ordinary car and will easily make up for the money you thought you saved on gas. True it is great for the environment. The consider the battery on the hybrid and what that does to the environment once it is disposed of?

So, your weird car salesman really only made the mistake of not being bold enough to completely inform you.

Just as a side note: “Weird car salesman guy” makes a lot less money on his other suggestions than he does on selling you a Prius, so perhaps, even though you may not agree, he really did have your best interest at heart.

As far as the brochures, brochures are ordered through the parts department (at most dealers) and it could be that your salesman had to wait for a parts order to be filled out and then have them picked from the parts department in order to get the brochures….this would have taken several minutes even if he was the first one to be waited on at the parts desk which is almost never the case. He may not have just been behind a wall, but perhaps down a back hallway to the other department. Also, since you said you were not in a hurry, he maybe thought it was OK if he was not quick like a bunny.

Matt Says:
May 25th, 2008 at 9:06 pm Add karma

I am speaking as a former car salesperson.
People like you are the reason I am a former car salesperson.

Tina Says:
May 28th, 2008 at 9:44 pm Add karma

Ahh nice to see people who obviously miss the point of what I wrote..
As far as making money as a car sales person.. I never said they made a tone of money. I have worked plenty of sales jobs myself.. Regardless of the (low pay) I always believed in customer service 1st.. and this guy definitely wasnot into customer service, not in any way shape or form!
Brochures in the service department.. that is idiotic, and if a dealer has them there, then they are painfully disorganized! What the heck does the service department need new car brochures for???
That takes time from the sales person, from the customer.. and just plain stupid!
Another guy was able to get the brochures in 2 seconds, the other guy was stll gone!
I was very-very patient.. and again I have worked on the sales side of the fence.. i am very respectful to sales people.. but if a sales person is otherwise, i will certainly not be as kind in return.
That is life.. so for the one who is no longer a car sales person because of people like me, sounds like it was your failing.. and the customers are definitely benefitting from your change in occupation.
for the person who babbled on about a variety of things.. one I have commented on …about the $$ a car sales person makes/or doesnt… again oh please, spare me!
Test drive.. had the sales person been different, i would be sure to return to him.. but with the response he gave me, there is no way I will purchase from him, and I highly doubt even from that dealer. So his 1st impression means alot.. which is why dealers do not have someone just for test drives.. you do not know the intent of the customer.. and that 1st impression will make orbreak it.. if you have good sales people, then you have won that customer.. if not.. well that is a fault of the salesperson & dealer!
My interest in the Prius was not exclusive to gas milage, but because I love hatchbacks, I love the reliability, and features of this car. Knowing that the Prius would also be a car that would be hard to get, i wanted to test drive NOW.. while one was available.. and I knew there would be a waiting list.. so I wanted to see if it might be something I would want to pursue or not.. and I did lay all those facts down to the sales person right off the bat. I am an honest customer.. I was not playing a game!
I go into a car purchase as an informed consumer.. I do not just blindly choose a car!
So your comments were definitely off in so many directions.. obviously you have “issues” regarding this that you have not conveyed to your therapist???

Tina Says:
May 28th, 2008 at 9:55 pm Add karma

PS… I wanted to add one more comment to the 1st response. About price and the contrast of mpg….

The Prius is around $28k, and inlcudes leather, navigation, and all the toys you could want. The price is equivalent to other vehicles with nav & leather.. but just happens to have the bonus of awesome gas mileage. So it is not a matter of will you make up the price… because it is not an over-priced vehicle.

Bizarre Auto Sales Person.

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