anyone else have as easy time at the dealer as I did?

[that_one_guy]

Originally Posted by BRGT86

for the FRS purchase, the salesguy even told me that i probably know more about the car than he does so we went straight for a test drive instead.

This is probably the best thing a sales person in almost any industry can say. Seriously, a quick lesson to all guys/gals in sales on this forum, yes be confident, but be equally confident in what you don't know as you are in what you do know. Also, if you are talking more than your customer, you already lost the sale.

[PhantomX]

Originally Posted by that_one_guy

This is probably the best thing a sales person in almost any industry can say. Seriously, a quick lesson to all guys/gals in sales on this forum, yes be confident, but be equally confident in what you don't know as you are in what you do know. Also, if you are talking more than your customer, you already lost the sale.

I think honesty plays a bigger factor. The guy was honest. It's true that most sales consultants don't know much about the car, but what about those of us who know it like the back of our hand? Personally, I flat out ask my customers how much they know about the car. It lets me gauge whether or not I need to show them the car or just go straight to the test drive.

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by PhantomX

I think honesty plays a bigger factor. The guy was honest. It's true that most sales consultants don't know much about the car, but what about those of us who know it like the back of our hand? Personally, I flat out ask my customers how much they know about the car. It lets me gauge whether or not I need to show them the car or just go straight to the test drive.

That played a big factor in my dealings. The sales person flat out said "I know nothing about these cars". After we chatted a bit and I started showing her some of the basics she said "you sound like you know lots could you show me some more". Now, I was already sold anyway but if I had been on the fence, the very act of keeping me talking and getting more excited about the features would probably have won me over.

[that_one_guy]

Originally Posted by PhantomX

I think honesty plays a bigger factor. The guy was honest. It's true that most sales consultants don't know much about the car, but what about those of us who know it like the back of our hand? Personally, I flat out ask my customers how much they know about the car. It lets me gauge whether or not I need to show them the car or just go straight to the test drive.

We're talking about the same thing. When you ask how much the customer knows about the car you get one of two answers; 1. "I've been researching this car for 3 years!" in which you reply "great, what drew you to it?". 2. "Nothing." and you say "well, what drew you to it in our showroom?". In either case, you are talking as little as possible and the customer is getting themselves excited.

Like what Tcoat said, he knew he wanted the car walking in, at that point the sales person has to sit back and not do anything to mess it up. Because his sales person was generally interested in what he had to say, he got himself excited enough to buy it right there instead of possibly waiting, or shopping around. Exact same thing happened with me, except the sales manager barged in right when we were having a light conversation about the differences between the FR-S and BRZ. Sales manager started his speech about how I can get a body kit and exhaust completely out of nowhere, I didn't even mention I wanted these things. I told the sales guy I'd come back. I came back the next day when the sales manager was gone.

This is the reason I can never even make small talk with gym membership sales people and some car sales people, they feel like they can convince you instead of just connecting as a human and leading the conversation.

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by that_one_guy

Like what Tcoat said, he knew he wanted the car walking in, at that point the sales person has to sit back and not do anything to mess it up. Because his sales person was generally interested in what he had to say, he got himself excited enough to buy it right there instead of possibly waiting, or shopping around.

Just to clarify, I already had shopped around and knew it was a great deal too start with. It was the show room car for showcasing all the TRD parts so was loaded up with all the parts they could get at the time.
So even though already a good deal I still did the old "not so sure I can swing it with the cost of all those add on extras" and walked away for two days. Wound up with the tint, spoiler, sway bar, drop in filter and clear bra for free and TRD exhaust and RSR lowering springs at cost with no labour.
Not my first new car by any stretch so I can play the game as well as the dealership.
Would have talked to the salesperson for hours anyway just due to the short skirt and tight sweater she was sporting! Sexist? Yes, but for which one of us, me for looking or her for knowing she had my attention??

[Bergen23]

@Tcoat every feminist in the world cringed while reading that last line! Haha!

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by Bergen23

@Tcoat every feminist in the world cringed while reading that last line! Haha!

Ahhhh but like I said did she wake up in the morning and go "damn all I have that are clean are these very form fitting clothes" or "this will get them to talk to me"?

[PhantomX]

Originally Posted by Tcoat

Ahhhh but like I said did she wake up in the morning and go "damn all I have that are clean are these very form fitting clothes" or "this will get them to talk to me"?

I have a co-worker that knows this very well. She wears clothes that show off her curves extremely well. She's even informed us some of the wives/girlfriends of her customers forbid her customers to talk to her without their presence.

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by PhantomX

I have a co-worker that knows this very well. She wears clothes that show off her curves extremely well. She's even informed us some of the wives/girlfriends of her customers forbid her customers to talk to her without their presence.

There is that aspect for sure. When wife came in for the financing part (that is what she does for a living) there was a noticeable chill in the air and it was still July!

[PandaSPUR]

Come on... yea car sales are all a bunch of mind games, but at the end of the day both sides want the same thing. A simple easy process and a good deal.

Obviously you don't want to run into a dealership and let them see you're so excited you'll take any deal just to drive home with your dream car today.

But at the same time, there's no point in hiding the fact that you know exactly what you want. It saves time for both parties. I don't have to listen to salesmen spew bullshit about why Scion/Subaru is better than Honda, Ford, GM, etc. I don't have to suffer through salesmen trying to pick my brain to figure out what car they think "fits you better." I don't have to suffer through salesmen trying to shove me towards a more expensive car, a higher trim level, or a bunch of random accessories. And they don't have to waste time on that either.

Acting like you're disinterested in a car won't guarantee you the best price, it'll just stop salesmen from giving you a ridiculously high one.

Know what you want, call a bunch of dealers, cut the shit, and find the best price.

[Dr Speed]

I had the WORST experience at the Subaru dealership, where the sales lady would not let me take the car over 4,000rpm - She told me she would kick me out of the car and I could walk back to the dealership... No Joke and I'm in my 30's.... The next Subaru dealership spent 50 minutes trying to figure out the price of their BRZ on the lot... and finally told me "about $35,000"... and the scion dealer promised to bring around a manual trans FRS for me to test drive and then brought me an automatic.... TWICE... go figure on that one...

I ended up not buying... that was about 1.5yrs ago

[PandaSPUR]

Originally Posted by Dr Speed

I had the WORST experience at the Subaru dealership, where the sales lady would not let me take the car over 4,000rpm - She told me she would kick me out of the car and I could walk back to the dealership... No Joke and I'm in my 30's.... The next Subaru dealership spent 50 minutes trying to figure out the price of their BRZ on the lot... and finally told me "about $35,000"... and the scion dealer promised to bring around a manual trans FRS for me to test drive and then brought me an automatic.... TWICE... go figure on that one...

I ended up not buying... that was about 1.5yrs ago

Well the 4k RPM thing I can understand, you're not supposed to go above 4k before the first thousand miles. I'm actually happy to hear the dealer didnt let you redline the car during a test drive. Doesn't matter what your age is, the engine doesnt magically break in when the driver is a certain age ;p

But your other experiences sound terrible... those sales people probably didn't last long, they sound idiotic lol.

[echo419]

Originally Posted by PandaSPUR

I had a pretty good (but hectic and high paced) time last week. I finally got my work done, graduate thesis done, etc so I had time. And I realized it was suddenly the end of the year, so dealers must be feeling a bit more hasty than usual to make a sale right?

So I started with online quotes, dealership sites, cars.com, truecar.com, etc. Got a starting price of 26.8k for a 2015 BRZ Limited and then started calling dealers from there. Ended up talking to three dealers and had them each beating the other's offers.

The next day, I walked into a dealership and put a deposit down for 28.5k out the door, including taxes, dealer fees, DMV fees, etc. The breakdown of the price had the car itself at 25.7k

I did not have similar luck with Scion dealers however... It seems like the FR-S is a lot more in demand, this combined with Scion's true price thing made negotiating any price hard.

shit. I paid to much.

[NOHOME]

Originally Posted by jblmr2

No offense OP, but my experience has been that if you have as easy time of it as you say you did, you probably left a lot of money on the table. Dealer margins on new cars aren't that good, so they fight for every penny. Maybe you caught them in a weak moment. If so good on you.

I tend to be like the OP...I have already decided what the car is worth to me. If they can provide the car on my terms, good, if not, I go away. ALL my barganing is done by the time I meet the salesperson.

A lot of people like playing the car buying game thinking they got something for nothing. That is a hassle that I would gladly pay 1k to not go through; got better things to do with my life.

As to the OP's question, my purchase was easy-peasy at Toyotatown Once I convinced them that such a car actually existed and that they would be selling it sometime in the summer of 2012. (I was there in March) Price was MSRP+ deliver fees+ 13% tax, minus a hospital employee discount. Yeah, they did make me sit with the guy who's job it is to sell you a lot of useless shit for twice what is is worth, but I told him up front that he was talking to himself but go ahead.