Dealer stories
 

So I go to my local Toyota dealer and walk up to the front door where I'm greeted by a salesman right away. Two 86s are sitting by the front door.

I tell the salesman I am interested in an 86 and here's what happened:

1. He says, "We have good deals on Camry V6s and they are fast"
2. He shows me an automatic and I tell him I prefer a manual. He then tells me they don't have any manuals. I point to the example 10 feet away and say, "That's a manual".
3. Then he tells me "We don't sell many of these". I tell him that's because there is a Subaru dealer across the street. He agrees, and says, "Yeah...the Subaru one has a bigger engine".
4. I tell him I'd like to drive it and when we get in the car it's completely out of gas. I tell him we need to put a drop or two in it and he says, "No, we aren't going that far".
5. Test drive was nearly all interstate....really! We did do a side street and an alley.
6. I tell the manager on my way out that I'd be happy to do a video about the car and upload it to YouTube about how well the car fits a 6'5" 260lb guy. No other small car fits me as well...the 86 is actually quite comfortable. He pretty much ignores me.

It's almost like the dealer didn't want to sell these cars.



Anyone have anything like that happen to them?

Here's a good tip, coming from someone who works at a dealership, screw walking into the door. Get with an internet sales associate instead, not only are they much more willing to work with you, you also get better deals with them.

I work at a Subaru so I can't say for sure that they all work like this but I've heard from sales people at my dealership that Honda and Toyota work similarly, the "floor sales people" as they're called, are the ones waiting to greet you up front in person, their goal is to make profit. The "internet sales people" are the ones who contact you after you request a quote online, their entire goal is to move inventory, so naturally you're going to get a better deal with them, when I bought my Toyota 86 I did so online, requested a quote on a 2017 blue Toyota 86 manual 90 minutes from me, got a call from a saleswoman within 5 minutes, went and bought the car the following day.

I've heard a lot of similar stories where dealers just don't know HOW to sell them. I think it also depends on the region.

Both times I test drove mine in Northern California, the sales guys (two different onces) were super knowledgeable and actually huge fans of the car. My test drives were on winding little barely 2 lane roads specifically so I could put it through the paces properly with only a return trip on the interstate to give me some variety. The dealer I bought mine from (Hansel Toyota in Petaluma) was pretty much amazing and full of good people who love fun cars and even their service department was enthusiastic about my car and asking about what my plans were with it.

I feel bad for the people who didn't have those experiences, but I guess if you're a dealer that's mostly selling just Camry's and Corollas you just may not waste your time learning about a car that you don't think you have a market for.

The dealership I was purchasing my car from was only 30 minutes away and the car was coming fresh off the boat.

I exchanged all information and inquiries I needed by email and a couple phone calls. Within a couple days of the car arriving at the dealership, we scheduled a day for them to DELIVER the car to my house and sign here.

I never stepped one foot into that dealership and managed to get nearly $2000 off of sticker.

It was a great purchasing experience.

Well, I can't give them too hard a time. I have never been to a dealership where anyone on the sales side knew as much about cars as I do.

I was at a Carmax once looking at a Mercedes SLK and when I asked the salesman if I could put the top down he said, "The top doesn't go down". I proved him wrong.

yeah, you did lol.


I worked at Toys R Us for 10 years of my life. First job, full time through college, and as a second job post college. With THOUSANDS of products in the store, we did the best we could to at least have a general idea about products to answer people's questions.

You're at a car dealership, you're selling cars, you should at least have a general idea on EASY answer questions that a customer may have......Especially since that's your paycheck.

I bought my car from my local dealer 10 min away. I delt with internet sales guy.
We exchanged a few e-mails and a few phone calls.
A day later I went in and purchased my 86. I received $1000 off the sticker and a car cover. Plus 0% financing. I forgot to mention I did approach three Subaru dealerships before buying my 86 and none of them had any interest at all in selling me a car. The excuses ranged from we don't have one at this lot, let me check what we have and I'll call you back which they never did, and I don't think we have what you're looking for and never called me back. I even walked into one dealership and was told why would I want the Brembo break option package no one needs that it's stupid . I did call Subaru PR and let them know my feelings on the matter .
Ron

I got one,

My Subaru dealer in town turned my car into a jingle bell after warranty throwout bearing replacement.....Drove the car back and service manager just tell me he can't hear it at all. (He probably can't admit they did something wrong or some ppl can sue?)

My day was already terrible but the service advisor top it off by saying that I "can" drive the car back to work and drop it again tomorrow cuz they "don't" have time to look at it till the end of the week. So I ask them how about rentals cuz my gold plus warranty covers it? He just said no cuz they run out of loaner.........when he obviously just hasn't thought about it before hand... & is full of :bs:


POS dealer :mad0260:

When I bought my FR-S, the salesman admitted he didn't know much about this car.

I said that all he needed to know was where the keys were ......;)


humfrz

Here's mine: I took my 2014 BRZ to Subaru of Georgetown (TX) for the 60K mile service, which includes changing the plugs. I needed to get it done before driving the car to Florida for a move. They did it by the book, lifting the engine to access the plugs. Everything seemed to go well.

A couple of days later I moved to Florida. The following week I happened to catch the light just right to realize those fuckers put two dents in my driver's side fender by leaning on it while doing the plugs. They're pressure dents, not impact. It was just carelessness.

I considered following up with them, but what could I do? It was several days and several states later. Even if they wanted to work with me, I couldn't take it in to them.

So all I can do is hope they go out of business.

You should post the name of the dealership here and a repost it in Yelp. I think the dealership owner & sales/service/parts managers would be interested in addressing this behavior. Potential revenue loss from car sale & service due to an idiot salesman is not something they'd take lightly.

I received a call from the dealership I bought my frs from. It was a Volkswagen dealership. They told me blah blah blah we want to buy your frs because we need inventory. Give me 120% blue book value. Seems like a good deal. I mentioned my frs was not stock and they'd probably not want it back. Made an appointment for Sunday for shits and giggles. See if I can get a newer model with lower miles maybe. If not we'll take my wife's car in and try and trade it in for something else.

Many car salesmen are transients that take this job until something else comes along. No point in knowing about the product line, especially since most consumers want appliance cars that more or less fits within their budget.

Oh and I used to sell hondas back in 2006/2007 I made it my goal to learn about all the different models that Honda offered, most of your typical customers don't want to know about the car. They want something that looks good, gets good gas mileage , and fits all the kids. Too much knowledge just confuses your clientele.