Awful Dealer Experience in Hollywood

[Tbomb 25]

Originally Posted by Hawaiian

Yeah, the mustang was so iconic in the 90's.... Mmmmmmm rental car fleet.

The coyote saved the mustang in 2011, but the cheap getrag tranny almost sunk it. It has strong sales numbers because of the american power over performance mentality. Things are looking up however with the upcoming redesign and anniversary edition.

Bunches of 90's Foxbodies at the dragstrip and on the streets....anyway enough with the fanboyism...i dont need anyone trying to sell me this car i know what it is and what it stands for which is why im here. As a matter of fact its been awhile for Toyota making something sporting nothing since the MRS but a bunch of rental appliances.Now back to the regular scheduled programs....

[MF_DEUCE]

Originally Posted by MF_DEUCE

Why is everyone mad at a $3k mark up if they're getting leather?
My local stealership is asking $5k over msrp and it's COMPLETELY STOCK with no add-ons. They claim that it's the "current market value"

Following this incident at the same dealership, I decided to pay them a visit on my way home today. I was greeted by a salesman, and told him I wanted to talk about the mark up on the FRS to the owner or manager because I have an issue or concern with your sales approach.
He walks me to the dealer showroom, where he introduces me to a man behind a window in a suit, didnt even have the respect to come around and introduce himself, and says "that mark up is based on the current market value of the car."
So, based off his response and body language I knew this dealership has poor management, I started walking away and two other salesmen stopped me and tried to see how much i would pay for the car. I told them msrp or i leave. They kept saying they couldnt do it, that the current market value states $5k mark up. I leave.


2hours later my dad and I decide to go back, but this time my dad does all the talking since he has more experience and is an adult who has good credit and somewhat knows business.

This time we were greeted by a "customer relations associate" and my dad explicitly said, "i want to buy THAT car for the RIGHT price!" The man, says thats the CMV (Current Market Value) and thats all they can do, so my dad asks to speak to a manager/owner. He takes us inside to his office where we start talking about how, LITERALLY down the street was the PENSKE scion dealership that sells their cars for msrp. We told this sales guy that we wanted to do business within our city, because we live here and the fact they sold all 6 of their cars already. He states, "If you say they are selling to you at msrp, why not just order the car there?"

WTF?!?! I've never heard of a dealership that tells you to leave their lot and go someplace else. How do you do business like that? The ONLY reason they had the Firestorm FR-S was because the salesmen I was in contct with before traded ONE of their cars for that one.

Then that asshole dealer says, We already sold an orange one. I glance at my dad and asked, "you mean the one thats STILL sitting on your lot?" He says yes. then i asked him "THEN WHY IS IT STILL SITTING THERE IF YOU SOLD IT?! He also said they sold SEVERAL already, which I KNOW IS BS because the sales guy i was contacting even showed me how many they were getting which was 3 (Asphalt AT, Hot Lava MT, and my Firestorm MT). "You only sold ONE and that was the first 86 winner WHO PAID MSRP! Why cant I get the same price??" He just winces and says nothing and repeats the CMV states $5k and that the Owner will most likely not be able to see you (never states why).

So, in conclusion stealerships dont give a damn about Scion as an image, dont respect it as a brand, and LITERALLY want to scam you into giving away your hard earned money. It's sad to say that I live in a community that embraces this type of business, I hope that dealership ends up as brick dust soon.

NAME OF THE STEALERSHIP:

NORWALK TOYOTA/SCION
(California)

DO NOT EVER BUY FROM THERE! DON'T EVEN BUY FROM THEIR SNACK MACHINES!!!

[Bristecom]

Originally Posted by Celicadude

^Lol. But in all seriousness this is why I have a problem with non refundable deposits because it leaves you wide open for this kind of crap. To MrFRSLa I use to work in the business and I know exactly why you dealers throw all this crap on the cars and it's to take advantage of hype. It's all about trying to make a fast buck by playing on peoples emotions. Leather seats, edge guard, window etching, it's all just another way to nickel and dime your customer. I've seen it done with new model CRV's, civics, accords etc (Back in the good old honda days). And guess what. They sat on the lot with all these extra add ons collecting dust because everyone went down the street to the other dealer who wasn't trying to pull a fast one. The ones that we did sell sold for a steep discount.

I've mentioned this before in another post, but if you (the buying public) want to stop these shady practices take your business elsewhere. These aren't limited edition porsches, these cars will be readily available in a few months, so don't fall for the crap. They're just trying to find another sucker. Money is power and if you reward these practices they will continue. Use your money to support good business practices and these jokers will follow suit. I for one don't mind paying extra for good service especially if it means I'm not support bad customer service. I understand dealers are a business and they're in it to make money, I get that, but when you try and sell people what they don't want and then charge them extra for it, you are no longer a legitimate business in my book, and therefor don't deserve my money.

So to the OP, get your deposit back look around elsewhere. Hell wait a few months. All these FRSs with dealer add ons will be selling with deep discounts in no time.

Yep. I used to work at a Mitsubishi dealer and my manager ordered several Evo X's when they first came out with all the options - $2000 aerodynamic kit and $400 aluminum shift knob/handbrake kit. I told him that was a mistake. Well, 1 or 2 guys bought the car when it first came out with those add-ons. Afterwards, the other 6 or so sat on the lot for nearly a year. We had to mark them down massively and my manager later said, "I shouldn't have added those options because that's the reason they won't sell."

You are much better off adding the options later based on the customer's wants. You can always show them the options and have them choose. You will usually get them to buy a few things and that makes them much happier.

Also, we played the $500 wax price game too. Of course, we usually gave them a "discount" on it but a few people refused to pay it and it made them quite mad - and rightfully so as it actually only cost us about 30 bucks.

Personally, I will not buy an FR-S with any unwanted options. If it's tinted or waxed or anything, I am walking away and will look for another dealer that will give me exactly what I want. And believe me, there are dealers who will give us what we want.

So yeah, you may find some who happen to want all those options or some who are simply rich or ignorant and don't mind paying for extras they don't really care for. But you definitely isolate yourself from most buyers and ultimately, you won't do as well as you could have.

But with that said, I do respect the dealer's/owner's freedoms.

[MF_DEUCE]

Originally Posted by Bristecom

But with that said, I do respect the dealer's/owner's freedoms.

I wouldn,t since they dont respect me as a potential customer, they belittle you and won't attempt to work with you as a customer. What does that say about them as a business? They don't care about your wants, just your cash.

[Bristecom]

Originally Posted by MF_DEUCE

I wouldn,t since they dont respect me as a potential customer, they belittle you and won't attempt to work with you as a customer. What does that say about them as a business? They don't care about your wants, just your cash.

I respect their freedom; not their decisions. Although in this case, since Scion promotes "mono-spec," maybe they should enforce their dealers to not add aftermarket options before sold.

[Celicadude]

Originally Posted by Bristecom

Yep. I used to work at a Mitsubishi dealer and my manager ordered several Evo X's when they first came out with all the options - $2000 aerodynamic kit and $400 aluminum shift knob/handbrake kit. I told him that was a mistake. Well, 1 or 2 guys bought the car when it first came out with those add-ons. Afterwards, the other 6 or so sat on the lot for nearly a year. We had to mark them down massively and my manager later said, "I shouldn't have added those options because that's the reason they won't sell."

You are much better off adding the options later based on the customer's wants. You can always show them the options and have them choose. You will usually get them to buy a few things and that makes them much happier.

Also, we played the $500 wax price game too. Of course, we usually gave them a "discount" on it but a few people refused to pay it and it made them quite mad - and rightfully so as it actually only cost us about 30 bucks.

Personally, I will not buy an FR-S with any unwanted options. If it's tinted or waxed or anything, I am walking away and will look for another dealer that will give me exactly what I want. And believe me, there are dealers who will give us what we want.

So yeah, you may find some who happen to want all those options or some who are simply rich or ignorant and don't mind paying for extras they don't really care for. But you definitely isolate yourself from most buyers and ultimately, you won't do as well as you could have.

But with that said, I do respect the dealer's/owner's freedoms.

Oh man glad to see someone else on here who was in the biz that had to bear witness to this stupidity. Don't even get me started on the "paint protection" aka over glorified wax that is 1000% worse than the 20 dollar wax you can get from Pepboys lol. I use to see customers shell out a couple thousand bucks on this crap and fabric/leather protection because the dealer said it was mandatory. I detail cars as a hobby and I try to spread the word to stay away from this crap and any other dealer supplied (ie non factory) add ons (ie pin stripe edge guard etc). The mark up is almost always beyond something ridiculous. If you saw how much a dealer pays for a roll of pinstripe (good for 20 cars easily) and how much they charge, you'd probably want to punch someone in the neck.

The thing that gets me is that they pay these managers ungodly amounts of money to make these stupid decisions, and me a lone detailer, with no dealership management experience could figure out that adding stupid crap that people don't want to cars is probably a bad decision.

[fistpoint]

Originally Posted by Bristecom

Yep. I used to work at a Mitsubishi dealer and my manager ordered several Evo X's when they first came out with all the options - $2000 aerodynamic kit and $400 aluminum shift knob/handbrake kit. I told him that was a mistake. Well, 1 or 2 guys bought the car when it first came out with those add-ons. Afterwards, the other 6 or so sat on the lot for nearly a year. We had to mark them down massively and my manager later said, "I shouldn't have added those options because that's the reason they won't sell."

You are much better off adding the options later based on the customer's wants. You can always show them the options and have them choose. You will usually get them to buy a few things and that makes them much happier.

Also, we played the $500 wax price game too. Of course, we usually gave them a "discount" on it but a few people refused to pay it and it made them quite mad - and rightfully so as it actually only cost us about 30 bucks.

Personally, I will not buy an FR-S with any unwanted options. If it's tinted or waxed or anything, I am walking away and will look for another dealer that will give me exactly what I want. And believe me, there are dealers who will give us what we want.

So yeah, you may find some who happen to want all those options or some who are simply rich or ignorant and don't mind paying for extras they don't really care for. But you definitely isolate yourself from most buyers and ultimately, you won't do as well as you could have.

But with that said, I do respect the dealer's/owner's freedoms.

That reminds me of the $23000 Corolla I saw when I was test driving tC's a few months back. I told the guy there is no way in hell someone will buy that in place of a Civic Si for a few hundred more dollars.

When I got to testing the Si weeks later, that one too had absurd add-ons...specifically some 17" wheels and tires. The irony of that add-on was the fact the car already came with 17" wheels. So not only was the customer paying double price for the dealers wheels of the exact same size, but they wouldn't get to keep the original set!

[LightningRed]

I want to see these 3k seats. I want to sit in these three thousand dollar seats. That's $250 a month for a year to save for these seats. I could understand if the economy was thriving and gas was $2 a gallon. Maybe then they can justify being ridiculous. Eh maybe not. Yeah never mind. Swindlers I tell you! Swindlers!

[Moto-P]

I just linked this to Scion USA HQ... This is unreal...how much SOME (not all, by any means) dealers are abusing the new car buyers with the FRS.

[Zgrinch]

Originally Posted by Moto-P

I just linked this to Scion USA HQ... This is unreal...how much SOME (not all, by any means) dealers are abusing the new car buyers with the FRS.

It's crazy the number of recent posts stating this or that Scion dealership has a markup. Can't imagine what these same clowns will charge in thier service departments.

[moniz]

Originally Posted by Zgrinch

It's crazy the number of recent posts stating this or that Scion dealership has a markup. Can't imagine what these same clowns will charge in thier service departments.

Exactly. Anytime I've had a good sales experience with a dealer, I will service my car there, so selling below or at MSRP, they will make money off me long term by my servicing. Treat me like crap and even IF(a big IF) I even buy the car from a that dealer, they'll never see me darken their service door.

Classic case of dealers, cutting their nose to spite their face. And car sales guys wonder people put them in the same league as politicians!

[wu_dot_com]

Originally Posted by Lonewolf

What happens if your dealership goes out of business?

then you just grossly overpaid for an unwanted leather upholstery. which hurts the resale value of this car

[blu_]

Not saying this to stir the scion v subaru drama pot, but isn't part of the reason Scion is struggling because their whole business model is based on putting a bunch of high margin crap on a car to double its sale price? It seems like its part of their business culture. Or do you actually choose all the PPO's and accessories yourself when you buy their cars normally?

Either way I remember spec'ing out an xB years ago when I thought they were cool and found that I could easily double the base MSRP of the car.

[Capt Canuck]

^Agreed.

I have never given Scion a look in before the FRS, so apart from their 'Pure Pricing' mantra I assumed they were trying to be down with the kids, but were otherwise a normal Toyota dealership.

It does appear their managers, or whoever makes their dealership decisions, has simply graduated up the sales rep food chain from cellphones to cars. There appears to be no view of the larger picture and they just try for cash grabs and there appears to be no industry nous on display.

They're not selling those cube dealies, they are selling a car that has piqued the interest of a very clued-up part of the car buying market. Is it maybe that they are simply out of their depth and cannot make the required adjustments to sell this car and instead are going by their standard, load the car with tat approach?

At some point I will stop in at Oakland Toyota/Scion and another one or two and hopefully they can prove me wrong, but right now I do agree that Subaru seems to have a better setup*

*Leaving aside that both marques have a number of dealers in 'markup' mode at the moment.