Clueless dealers do the Scion FR-S and Subaru BRZ no favors

[bpmorgan7]

Just saying, apparently the guy who sold me my car sold it to me for so low that he got fired. Subaru jerked me around for a few days about picking up my car because there were trying to make up excuses on what to tell me and find a new salesperson to sign off on the car. Don't know if I was the only one who sold to for low, but I know if there were more, I was one of them!

[Shourewaters]

Originally Posted by congee

This.

Marketing team for both scion and subaru need to be dumped. All the marketing material I found for the brz/frs was from this website or from subaru/scion youtube. Thats pathetic.

Yea seriously. This whole "hip cool trendy" marketing done by Scion is so stupid. idk what jackass in their marketing department thinks that it a good idea. When i first drove an FRS, it was at the LA auto show and the scion guy who went with me was some hip cool trendy hipster who knew NOTHING about the car except for all the 10 series features (keyless start, frameless mirrior,etc,etc). I had to tell him what the 86 meant and that it had a flat four and was rwd with 200hp. He apparently was some guy's friend who organizes those test drives at auto shows and the guy just give him a job. He said he knew nothing about cars or was even a car guy. Those are the people they hire to try and sale you a car. Some hipster who walks a fixie everywhere. Hell even the guy who sold me my FRS didnt have a clue about it except that it was a 10 series.

This video sums up the problem with Scion.

yea maybe that works for the xb and tc but the FRS shouldve been marketed like the first BMW Mini and the FJ Cruiser. They both showed off the cars/trucks heritage and capabilities. Bar the first 2 15 seconds commercials that showed the FRS on a mountain road, all they done is stupid stereo typical marketing to the "hip artsie trendy" types that arent the ones who are interested in the car.

[humdizzle]

Only way you're gonna find a salesman that knows about a car inside and out is if you go to a high end lambo/ferrari/porsche dealer.

[Hoahao]

It took me four hours to buy my car, fuck if I know why.

Your lucky; it took me 8. One of the strangest experiences of my life. I don't think they really expected me to show up after I contacted them by email. Went and saw it before walking into the stealership. Hot Lava Monogram Automatic sitting dusty, unloved, and forlorn for six months on their lot

People who want Hot Lava hardly want autos. People who want auto Monograms hardly want to stick out in Hot Lava. I love the color and wanted to see what the fuss about paddle shifting was all about, so 27K with some extras thrown in seemed a good deal.

A real mad scramble for them to get it detailed and checked out on a busy Saturday afternoon. They were busy charging the battery, updating the software, changing the oil, etc. So far, the car runs like a top.

[rxlynn]

When I test drove BRZ, went with a car buddy of mine (I'm female, he's male). Salesperson came running out of his office with a big smile on his face, and said "Hello, you must be the Harrisons!". Turned out he was expecting a couple who were picking up an Outback. He recovered fairly well after we explained that we were there to drive his MT BRZ sitting right outside the door, but clearly we knew much more about the car than he did.

[Spectral Entity]

Oh, I have to chime in on my experience a couple of weeks back!

I stopped in the local Subaru dealer to see a BRZ up close (switched from FRS after learning about "Pure Pricing", plus the interior is nicer).

Luckily, they not only had an automatic Limited, but the door was unlocked!

Anyway, a little sales lady made her way out to up me and I could tell she was new. She how she loved the look of the BRZ but can't drive stick so never really bother with them. I point at the gear shifter and say "Get an auto!" and she had the most amazed look and exclaimed "Shut up, I never knew they came with an automatic!!"

As a former salesman of 7 years, it amused me quite a bit. (Let it be known, I was the one salesman who actually knew my product - which was Hyundai! Was a fan first, then a salesman!)

I casually browsed around the lot as I had my mother with me as well and she's interested in the brand through me, which the little lass was glad to show her she SUVs, but it left a bit of a sour taste in my mouth when she outright bashed the safety of Hyundai when she said "Subaru always has like, 5 star ratings where Hyundais have like, 1 stars and stuff." This came after me sharing mom enjoyed the safety features of Hyundai and I had been impressed with seeing Subaru on a lot of the IIHS lists along with Hyundai.

Originally Posted by Hoahao

[People who want Hot Lava hardly want autos. People who want auto Monograms hardly want to stick out in Hot Lava.

This right here is my ideal version of the twins!!

[Hoahao]

I think this is the last one in the US. Better hurry!!

http://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-s...84697385&Log=0

[GotBRZ1691]

When test driving a Corolla S with my gf, I had to tell the sales person that the Gt86/FRS/BRZ was rear wheel drive

[vividracing]

Buy your car out of state, over the phone. That's what I did. More cause I had to. My exact car (BRZ/auto/limited/Galaxy Blue) was extremely rare and only 1 instance of it was coming at the time I was shopping for it in San Diego.

I told them I want this car, gave me their price, said meet me here (which they did), and I put a deposit on it. When it arrived, got a 1 way plane ticket, drove it back home in AZ. I filled out all the paperwork from a notary that came to my house.

No dealership salesmen BS. Just one 10 min phone call, 30 mins of paperwork, 1 hour flight and finally 1 hour to get to the dealership, pay my down payment, finish some other paperwork and drive out.

Oh, and it helps a lot to have $15,000 as a down payment, for some reason they're really nice and helpful with that involved.

-RyanG

[rucfj159]

I went to the dealership specifically for an FRS base 6speed. While I was there they tried to sell me a camry, tacoma and an automatic FRS release series 1.0. The salesman who sold it to me had no idea about it, but he didn't even try and spout nonsense at me.

[JoeSubaru]

SMH...

I sell Subies for a living, I'd like to think I know my product pretty well...

But lets be honest, some of you guys out there are Hardcore, it's like when you come in you TRY and ask a question some of us can't answer.

Very rarely am I stumped, but when it does happen, I let them know and try and find them the answer.

My biggest problem selling a BRZ, is overcoming peoples expectations that the car is fast. When you have the WRX in the same price point and the fact its a more practical car (4 doors, real back seats - more power)

I get that there are a ton of clueless salespeople, and some can't be trusted. But usually buyers are bigger liars.

My biggest issue is when I spend hours demoing and educating a customer, and they call another dealership that beats me by $100 and they buy from them without giving me a chance to match or beat. - Rewarding the ignorance

[Jfheisenberg]

When i got my series blue brz, the salesman person at the stealership told me that the vsc sport option was to give more throttle response while driving. I tried that option but i never noticed anything other than being more happy tail, i wonder what im doing wrong.....

[JoeSubaru]

Originally Posted by Jfheisenberg

When i got my series blue brz, the salesman person at the stealership told me that the vsc sport option was to give more throttle response while driving. I tried that option but i never noticed anything other than being more happy tail, i wonder what im doing wrong.....

You needed to get the Super Secret Series Blue with the Throttle thingy...

[HunterGreene]

Originally Posted by JoeSubaru

SMH...

I sell Subies for a living, I'd like to think I know my product pretty well...

But lets be honest, some of you guys out there are Hardcore, it's like when you come in you TRY and ask a question some of us can't answer.

Very rarely am I stumped, but when it does happen, I let them know and try and find them the answer.

My biggest problem selling a BRZ, is overcoming peoples expectations that the car is fast. When you have the WRX in the same price point and the fact its a more practical car (4 doors, real back seats - more power)

I get that there are a ton of clueless salespeople, and some can't be trusted. But usually buyers are bigger liars.

My biggest issue is when I spend hours demoing and educating a customer, and they call another dealership that beats me by $100 and they buy from them without giving me a chance to match or beat. - Rewarding the ignorance

I totally get your POV, I never sold a car but I have had quite a few friends that have spent time in the automotive sales industry. I think the issue that the majority of people posting in this thread is dealing with pompous sales people that instead of saying

"I don't know, let me check into that for you!"

say

"Let me tell you XYZ that I heard while I was BSing in the break room with other pompous salespeople that have bits and pieces of information but not the entire picture and I want you to like me so I want to sound smart so I am going to spurt ever piece of information I have whether or not I have fact-checked it in an effort to look smart."

I respect salesperson #1 a lot more than salesperson #2. My experience was a decent one, the saleswoman didn't know much about the car other than research she did through the purchase process, but she got the "enthusiast" element of my desire to buy the car (her husband has had a love affair with Mustangs for decades). She was also willing to admit when she didn't know something, and got back to me fairly quickly with answers. I was also fortunate that the guy that did my financial I had previous dealings with (he had been recently promoted from service rep), so the normal BS he would throw at me was left off after a "Are you interested in any of the other stuff? No? Ok, good, moving on..."

Lastly, in my experience, there are Three (3) types of car salespeople--Those who care about the cars, those who sell the cars, and people who just need the job. In that order is the level to which they "know" or care about the product beyond an income stream. Unfortunately, those people that care about the cars are usually the shortest-lived in the position and become jaded very quickly. With the day and age we live in (the internet age), I think a Tesla-style experience, with minimal interaction with a sales force, is what people really want.