Glenoak or Suburban?

I heard Suburban employees aren't a very happy crew. My buddy looked at working there, then went to Toyota. He's very happy selling Toyota, and frequently talks about customers who come in and complain about the sh t quality of domestic products...and how they'll never buy another domestic again. Puts a grin on his face, actually.

Personally, I think Ford, GM and Chrysler bring it upon themselves.

Having said that, there was the Mazda sales guy yesterday who proceeded to tell me that Mazda ISN'T owned by Ford...and that it's actually Daimler Chrysler who have controlling ownership in Mazda.

He must have been thinking of their ownership of Mitsubishi.

Yep, no wonder people don't trust salespeople.

 

reminds me, i went up to one of the biggest for dealerships in the state, pulliam ford.wandering around, make my way over to the cobras and roushes. salesman approaches me, starts talking about the car.. I engage in casual conversation with him, and ask him what he thinks of it
"well, i think its over rated, they arent that fast, and not worth that much"
i began to develop a twitch, especially considering the talking up he had just done on the roush stage ONE behind us
"and on top of that, my honda could kick its hiney in a drag race"
i was a little dumbstruck by now, and looked at him with a "WTF are you smoking??" look on my face...he describes the car, and judging by the setup which was VERY similair to a good friend of mines, i knew that combo to be good for high 13s, low 14s...
SO to save myself from a migraine at hearing any more of that, we moved on to the SVT focus, a car that i actually like. IMMEDIATELY, he begins bad mouthing it, misquoting the price (by something like, 6 grand) and saying how the SRT4 is so much better of a deal. Now i know the srt4 is faster, but for gods sake, youre at a ford dealership, atleast lie in FAVOR of a sale!
not to badmouth salespeople at all, that guy was just a tool

 

I have found that as soon as a sales guy finds out you were on the web or know more about the product than they do they treat you like you have leprosey.

I make it a firm policy that if i walk in and end up teaching them about thier products I walk right back out again. I want to deal with somone who can actually answer any questions i have not the other way round

 

I just bought my daughter an 04 V6 at Pundmann Ford in St. Charles, Mo. (Being young, she doesn't have the nostalgic connection with the originals, so she lilked the 04 better than the 05.) The dealership was great! I had read a website (www.carbuyingtips.com) that had me so paranoid about dishonest salesmen that I was totally blown away with their complete lack of crap. I had three pages of notes and a calculator to figure out how much I would be willing to pay on the car I got, and the salesman came in well below that on his first offer. I got him down a bit more, even, but he didn't even try to push the extended warranty, the paint sealer, scotchguard, etc., etc. He said "Why bull@#$% you, we need to get rid of these to make room for the 05s anyway." I got it way under invoice, and they were happy to offer the 0% or cash back. The finance guy went to extra effort to compare the differences between the 0% vs cash, different loan periods, etc. The car had a couple of minor scratches and scuffs, but they had it looking factory fresh in less than 24 hours. If you're in the St. Louis area, I would recommend Pundmann. BTW, I hate most dealerships. I have several in the area that I will never speak to again. At least they're not all jerks!

 

Hi Robert. Glenoak and Suburban are both in Victoria and have the same ownership. I'm between Victoria and Naniamo in Duncan at Ken Evans Ford.

 

WHen I bought the last car, I did some homework, and purchased a "Fighting Chance" package. (www.fightingchance.com). That was the best 30 bucks I ever spent. I used their "fax attack" method to sixteen dealerships. Ended up paying less than invoice, and getting some options dealer-installed at no charge. Basically they got the holdback on the car and that's it.

I do not expect to be able to cut the same deal on a 2005 Mustang. I think dealers will have little trouble moving them early on. But I'd definitely recommend the "Fighting Chance" package to anyone who is leery of daling with salespeople.

 

Something does'nt sound quite right here. In the last couple of years, since 2001 to be exact, I have purchased 2 new vechicles from the same Ford Dealership. I had trouble with the first vehicle, and finally got it straightened out. During a lengthly conversation with my salseman, he informs me that Ford has passed some very stringent rules on how their showrooms look, how their lots look, and also there personal. {attitude and dress} This sounds like one the Ford reps might like to hear about. :nono: :nono:

 

My husband and I have also been discriminated against at various dealerships. We're both 26 now, and 3-4 years ago when he was looking to buy a new F150 with leather & the works, some dealers would ignore us in the showroom. I guess we didn't look old enough to have money to spend on a vehicle.

Since then we've changed how we shop for cars. When he bought his 2004 Jetta earlier this year, he contacted various dealerships through email. The one that didn't respond at all didn't get our business. The one that did had a great salesman and we bought a car from him (at Hewlett VW in Georgetown).

Prior to all this, when I bought my 2000 Mustang GT in April 2000, my salesman was pretty much the nicest man ever. I wanted a specific color, with specific options. He searched the whole state for it! He actually found it in Spring (near Houston) and had it brought to the dealership. I wish every salesman could be as great as Red Ables!

 

Or not.

BMW is hardly the model of fine customer service people might think. Ask anyone who's had to work with dealers on steering retrofits, aux fan recalls, M54B30 engine fires, etc. Every car has problems, but the important thing is how they're dealt with.

With some exceptions, I think brand name has less to do with quality of service than the individual dealer you work with. Infiniti is the only brand that comes to mind that seems to have universally outstanding service, consistent from dealer to dealer.

Just wondering how long it will be before we can all buy direct. For those of us who do our homework, dealers add very little value. Sad, because there really are some good PROFESSIONAL salespeople out there - just few and far between.

 

My friend's dad works as a salesperson at Al Piemonte Ford in IL, one of the largest. I found out that Ford requires a certain wattage light bulb to be used on the huge lamps in their lot so all the cars look showroom quality even at night. Kinda neat that level of detail (now just take car of the personnel and we're all set).

 

Infiniti, and even more so, Lexus.

Lexus is unsurpassed in almost all surveys for quality, reliability, attention to detail and customer service, both during and after the purchase. It's the model all manufacturers should follow, frankly. And if they don't, then they don't deserve the business.

Part of the reason why there is such a discrepancy in quality of salespeople, is because it's not a career that requires any post secondary education. No offense to salespeople, but I see so many that are really just selling cars because they don't know what else they want to do...or they're young and it's just a "job along the way to a career"...or they don't want to go to school and are looking for an easy gig...or they've been doing it so long and got stuck and don't think they can do anything else...that sort of thing. It's a job that's not that hard to get, frankly, and so those who drift into it usually don't make great salespeople. You also find they don't stay long, either.

It's the same with "retail" style sales everywhere. I've lived it, I've digested it, and I'm very happy to be long since out of it. :shock:

The good ones are born to it and genuninely like what they do. Good sales is an art and those that do it well are to be commended.

 

:notnice: I have dealt with many Ford sales people and have been unimpressed 90% of the time. Ford needs to realize the reason their market share is declining is because of unprofessional sales people. Remember, employees are a reflection of management. I am lucky to know a sales manager with ford, so I will not have to worry about being "Punk'd" by a lousy sales person.

Is yellow for sissies?

 

when the 05 hits the dealers...you will NOT see sales people calling customers to move the product. unless the car starts spontaneously combusting on the floor, the dealers will be selling every car they get...without phone calls. the advice i offered was NOT for the new mustang....maybe in a year or so but in the beginning of it's intro...it's definitely aseller's market.

one last bit of advice regarding buying a car: NEVER buy a car when you MUST have a car, either because of a need or a desire. at that point you're easy meat for the sales force. always look and shop BEFORE it becomes an absolute necessity. obviuosly, if your ride gets totaled or it needs majorsurgery, then it can't be avoided. but to go into a dealership and shop for a car that you just gotta have...good luck with price negotiation. jackg 90seville 95k

 

Infiniti, and even more so, Lexus.

Lexus is unsurpassed in almost all surveys for quality, reliability, attention to detail and customer service, both during and after the purchase. It's the model all manufacturers should follow, frankly. And if they don't, then they don't deserve the business.

Part of the reason why there is such a discrepancy in quality of salespeople, is because it's not a career that requires any post secondary education. No offense to salespeople, but I see so many that are really just selling cars because they don't know what else they want to do...or they're young and it's just a "job along the way to a career"...or they don't want to go to school and are looking for an easy gig...or they've been doing it so long and got stuck and don't think they can do anything else...that sort of thing. It's a job that's not that hard to get, frankly, and so those who drift into it usually don't make great salespeople. You also find they don't stay long, either.

It's the same with "retail" style sales everywhere. I've lived it, I've digested it, and I'm very happy to be long since out of it. :shock:

The good ones are born to it and genuninely like what they do. Good sales is an art and those that do it well are to be commended. [/b][/quote]
You are also buying cars at Lexus that ALL generate $6-9,000 in gross proffit from customers on EVERY, SINGLE, DEAL. They are $150,000+ a year salespeople. This should be named the STEROTYPE thread. There are TONS of people in government, I.T, medical, law enforcement, legal, production, that STINK at thier jobs too. In practical experience, in this world only MAYBE 30% of people do everything they should and can do at their jobs, maybe. Not to mention personal financing situations. Its always customer perfect-salesman bad. If you can't walk up and buy what you want cash, or have to 'budget' to make sure you do not waste money, then you are not a 'perfect' customer either. And why exactly did you pay full price last time you went to best buy? People lay down for a 50% margin on electronics and a 800% margin on clothing everyday, yet female dog and moan for about 3 or 4% on a car.

A salesman just LOVES it when they offer an Explorer for 3500 off sticker, and 5000 in rebates, and spends 3 hours making sure its the right vehicle for the customers stated requirements; and the customer cant come up with even $500 bucks down and has a 490 beacon score because they pay EVERY bill they ever had late, and the customer thinks the car is a 'rip off'.

 

Glad that guy isn't my salesman.

 

Kev, your absolutely right.
However, being in the industry that you are....your fighting a losing battle, as a majority of them DO stink, and its harder to find one that doesn't, than one that does....

I agree about IT as well...I know SO many people that can't do their jobs, I wonder how they keep them, and good guys are out of work.
And they too are becoming the new 'mechanic' of the 21st century.
25 bucks to install ram....come on....

 

Well I'm being devils advocate here.

"EXPENSIVE" is a relative term to a person's perception of value. The service on a 45k camry that the salesmen makes almost 2,000 on will usually yield better service. Yet I know ones that are still total asses. An invoice deal on a Focus that the average salesman makes 60 bucks on yield different service. That a salesman will offer full service for the customer and follow up to make sure everything is ok is outstanding actually. I have never disiminated the type of service a customer gets wether its a Harley Davidson diesel at sticker or an Explorer for under invoice at 10pm on a friday night(when I was supposed to get off at 5pm). Your dentist wont even give you the time of day if he thinks he will loose $1 on is $1900 half hour of work. Nor do anything about it if it falls apart in 3 years, other then bill you again.

 

Almost any job you will find a huge number of idots, wether its any office, any food service place, any hospital, police station, retail store, service station, public service, etc. People buy plastic TV boxes for 4,000 and never think about the proffit margin, and buy it from some idiot kid. Only cars have this reputation, where you can actually get money off its list price, and in the meantime people lay down for everything else they buy like sheep. THEN act like they got ripped off on the CAR while talking to me in the showroom with $150 Nike's on. Nobody ever worries about resale value on the TV they just bought that will be outdated in 2 years. I think a lot of it has to do with so many people buying more then they really 'can' afford in the car industry.

If you looked at it like anything else you buy, you should never be trading a car in with under 150k miles on it and 10 years old. People WANT things they CANT afford and get so distressed about it with vehicles. Even if its a payment issue, coming in on a 27k car and expecting a $250 payment because $450 sounds 'too high'. When every day they buy a pack of smokes, a starbucks($5 coffee, what do you think the cost is per cup of that?) Mc donalds, maybe a 7-11 stop for some snacks, and say a few stops to the machine for sodas at work, at a cost of over $600 a month. Its a pretty strange phenom if you think about it. People that make $10,000 a month, have a $2,000 mortgage and a $700 car payment and they struggle with bills every month. The stress of a car payment comes from having priority issues.

 

Yep, there are some Ford Dealerships I won't even step foot on to, because they are a bunch of HineyHoles!

 

That sounds kinda goofy. If they were going to check something, wouldn't they check that black box or whatever that captures your RPM and speed? And as I understood it, at least, aren't SVTs meant to be raced? I mean SVTOA has track days?!

You were probably joking there, don't know really, but that is a pretty naive and judgemental comment.

A lot of the problem, though, is that perceived quality numbers on domestics are WAY behind where actual quality numbers are on domestics. Just the opposite is true on a Toyota or a Honda so customers blindly believe that nothing is more reliable and better built than the Japanese brand. Korean cars suffer from the same stigma as American cars in that vein. Most Korean cars actually meet or exceed the Japanese now.

That happened to my family when we were in the market for a pre-owned Jaguar XJ-series. We had enough money (in cash) to buy one, but the Wilde Jaguar dealership that we went to, hoping for a test drive didn't even look at us twice because we were wearing average clothes and didn't probably appear rich. (The fact that we drove up in a 1995 Sable LS probably didn't help either .) We walked around the lot for about 45 minutes and I even saw men in the dealership, but not a one of them approached us. They were however staring at us .. hmm, probably thought those rednecks were going to break into their posh cars. Well, needless to say we found a good 1996 Jaguar XJ6 on the Internet for a good price and we're happy with it. Sorry Wilde Jaguar, looks like you lost a cash deposit.

Bing bing bing bing bing! We have a winner. So many people buy cars on loan payments now that they can just barely manage each month so they can keep up with the Jones's cars .... that causes them to be stressed each month about their payments and when something goes wrong on the car they become furious. Ah, I like how we buy all our cars with cash. (No, we aren't rich, we just know that old saying from Ben Franklin: A penny saved, is a penny earned.)

[edit] *doh* I didn't read far enough. You said the same thing, didn't mean to steal your thunder [/edit]