The Wholesale Shakedown

Dealing with dealerships just makes me like buying private more.

As soon as I walked in the door, a salesman approached me asking what my price range is. I told him that "if I were buying a car now, something modest." He proceeded to show me a very nice XLR-V. I said it was too much car, he pointed me towards an STS in the wholesale line. I said I really liked the car, and would have to think on it. He said "these wholesale deals go fast, do you want to put down a deposit?" At that point I said "thanks, but I need to talk it over with my folks" and immediately booked it into the nearest strip mall, as soon as he was out of sight, at least. When I got home, I hopped onto Craigslist and found a nice 190E for $2500. It might be time for me to buy an old Merc.

Is it a 16V 2.3L?

captdownshift wrote: Is it a 16V 2.3L?

I wish. 8v, but two new sets of tires.

Manual by chance? (Not that it's a major concern with a Benz as they do make the best automatics in the world)

captdownshift wrote: Manual by chance? (Not that it's a major concern with a Benz as they do make the best automatics in the world)

No, but everything works including the sunroof and the heated seats.

at least they talked to you. at slightly older than your age, i went to a dealer in my $500 crown vic winter beater with cash in pocket to take home the 93 z28 they had. salespeople looked out window, looked at the pile i rolled in, and closed the blinds and did not come out to talk to me. left without talking to a single person, and would never go back based on that.

try rolling in in a corvette. the vultures can't get out the door fast enough. i felt like seeing what a v8 lincoln ls felt like, within 2 minutes i had the keys and was going for a ride without even giving them my license.

patgizz wrote: try rolling in in a corvette. the vultures can't get out the door fast enough. i felt like seeing what a v8 lincoln ls felt like, within 2 minutes i had the keys and was going for a ride without even giving them my license.

There was a dealer like that in my hometown, sold VW, Pontiac, Saturn, and Oldsmobile. Family once went in driving a Windstar to look at a Firehawk, dealer was a massive dick to my older brother, treated us like we were wasting his time. Few years later, we went in driving a Phaeton (purchased at a different dealer that could actually sell them) and a salesman threw my brother the keys to a golf R32 for a test drive-without copying his license or grabbing the dealer plate. He tried to send me out in a Jetta GLI, but i was 14 and didn't have a license! Not that he knew, because he wasn't checking that day i guess...

Shortly after that they sold the VW franchise to a different dealer, which was followed unexpectedly by the economy tanking and Saturn, Pontiac, and Olds going away. Oh what a shame.

patgizz wrote: at least they talked to you. at slightly older than your age, i went to a dealer in my $500 crown vic winter beater with cash in pocket to take home the 93 z28 they had. salespeople looked out window, looked at the pile i rolled in, and closed the blinds and did not come out to talk to me. left without talking to a single person, and would never go back based on that. try rolling in in a corvette. the vultures can't get out the door fast enough. i felt like seeing what a v8 lincoln ls felt like, within 2 minutes i had the keys and was going for a ride without even giving them my license.

this needs to be passed on to the sales manager … especially AFTER you buy a car somewhere else

I'm all over ripping the lazy/incompetent shiny happy person sales staff for crap like this

Took the family to a Ford dealer last Sunday. Test drove a Focus. Wanted to see if the 2.0L with a manual was decent to drive. The only non ST on the lot was a base model. Drove pretty well. But base model? Power windows in front, roll-up windows in back? Anyway, I get the 'Are your buying today?' spiel. Me - You don't have the car I'm looking for. He says 'If your buying today, we will find a car'. Me - If you don't have the car I want, you cannot sell me a car.

I'll start a new thread on this adventure in the near future.

trucke wrote: But base model? Power windows in front, roll-up windows in back?

That was the "Optional power windows" on PT cruisers and dodge neons for a while...

and dealers wonder why the direct-sales model is so popular with the public...

trucke wrote: Took the family to a Ford dealer last Sunday. Test drove a Focus. Wanted to see if the 2.0L with a manual was decent to drive. The only non ST on the lot was a base model. Drove pretty well. But base model? Power windows in front, roll-up windows in back? Anyway, I get the 'Are your buying today?' spiel. Me - You don't have the car I'm looking for. He says 'If your buying today, we will find a car'. Me - If you don't have the car I want, you cannot sell me a car. I'll start a new thread on this adventure in the near future.

If they could have done a dealer trade and got you what you wanted, would have been interested?

logdog wrote:

trucke wrote: Took the family to a Ford dealer last Sunday. Test drove a Focus. Wanted to see if the 2.0L with a manual was decent to drive. The only non ST on the lot was a base model. Drove pretty well. But base model? Power windows in front, roll-up windows in back? Anyway, I get the 'Are your buying today?' spiel. Me - You don't have the car I'm looking for. He says 'If your buying today, we will find a car'. Me - If you don't have the car I want, you cannot sell me a car. I'll start a new thread on this adventure in the near future.

If they could have done a dealer trade and got you what you wanted, would have been interested?

My experience is that is just a ruse to make you sit for as many hours as it takes for them to get you to buy their inventory. It seem like a good time to give them an email address and they can search on their own time.

logdog wrote:

trucke wrote: Anyway, I get the 'Are your buying today?'

If they could have done a dealer trade and got you what you wanted, would have been interested?

I bought a car a few days later from another dealer.

trucke wrote: Took the family to a Ford dealer last Sunday. Test drove a Focus. Wanted to see if the 2.0L with a manual was decent to drive. The only non ST on the lot was a base model. Drove pretty well. But base model? Power windows in front, roll-up windows in back? Anyway, I get the 'Are your buying today?' spiel. Me - You don't have the car I'm looking for. He says 'If your buying today, we will find a car'. Me - If you don't have the car I want, you cannot sell me a car. I'll start a new thread on this adventure in the near future.

This is why dealers are great in concept, but sometimes lacking in execution.

MrJoshua wrote:

logdog wrote:

trucke wrote: Took the family to a Ford dealer last Sunday. Test drove a Focus. Wanted to see if the 2.0L with a manual was decent to drive. The only non ST on the lot was a base model. Drove pretty well. But base model? Power windows in front, roll-up windows in back? Anyway, I get the 'Are your buying today?' spiel. Me - You don't have the car I'm looking for. He says 'If your buying today, we will find a car'. Me - If you don't have the car I want, you cannot sell me a car. I'll start a new thread on this adventure in the near future.

If they could have done a dealer trade and got you what you wanted, would have been interested?

My experience is that is just a ruse to make you sit for as many hours as it takes for them to get you to buy their inventory. It seem like a good time to give them an email address and they can search on their own time.

Way back in 2003 when I bought my Civic new, they didnt have the color/transmission I wanted in stock so they dealer traded and had it the next morning. Last fall when we bought the Ram they didnt have what we wanted, and neither did anybody else, so we ordered one to spec. So sometimes it's a legit question to ask somebody.

he also wanted to drive one like he wanted … so if they didn't have the car he wanted, then the "are you going to buy a car today" was a waste of oxygen on the sales guys part …Trucke had already told them what he wanted .. and they didn't have it …

most dealership sales trons I've run into DON'T listen …

I was at a ford dealership in Fenton, mi, called Lasco Ford. I wanted to see 3 or so year old focus in the $10k range. The saleman finally brought the "sales manager" in for the kill when he couldn't convince be to buy new. The sales manager I think was frustrated, because our income and credit score could have gotten us a very nice brand new car, but I told him I wasn't interested in buying new, as I usually only end up owning a car for about and hour and a half, and the depreciation hit on a new car is too great if you turn around and sell it immediately.

So he asks me why I would want a used focus with a manual. I said hey, it depreciates like a rock (hence not buying new...it loses half its value in three years???) and I can get nearly as much car for much less money. He says "well, you don't want a used manual trans focus, you know a car like that had been beat on by some kid". So I said, "what your saying right now, is that focus don't hold up? Why would you expect me to pay twice as much for a new one if a used one doesn't last??" Not to mention kids don't drive stick shifts anymore.

And that was my wasted Saturday afternoon at Lasco Ford. Ended up with a thoroughly boring but very nice loaded 2008 ses with manual trans for 5k, private party that we love for its boringness, and get high thirties for mileage.

Joey

In 2005 I might have bought an RX 8 instead of a Mustang if the sales associate had not turned her back and walked away from me when I said I would be buying in a couple months. Her loss, and I went back by in the Stang a week later to tell her so. She seemed happy.

Car salesmen don't want to deal with enthusiasts, they prefer to deal with suckers.

trucke wrote: Took the family to a Ford dealer last Sunday. Test drove a Focus. Wanted to see if the 2.0L with a manual was decent to drive. The only non ST on the lot was a base model. Drove pretty well. But base model? Power windows in front, roll-up windows in back? Anyway, I get the 'Are your buying today?' spiel. Me - You don't have the car I'm looking for. He says 'If your buying today, we will find a car'. Me - If you don't have the car I want, you cannot sell me a car.

Their goal is not to sell you a car, it is to get your signature on a contract. "We'll deal with that pesky car stuff later...."

There are so many stories like these. It is sort of step number one in convincing many young people view cars are an expensive PITA to be avoided.

I've had both good and bad experiences at a dealer. Based on personal experience, I think anyplace that advertises being the "biggest" dealer in any area is likely to give a bad experience.

That said, as bad as the salespeople can be, the Finance people are seriously aggravating.

Brett_Murphy wrote: I've had both good and bad experiences at a dealer. Based on personal experience, I think anyplace that advertises being the "biggest" dealer in any area is likely to give a bad experience. That said, as bad as the salespeople can be, the Finance people are seriously aggravating.

Yeah, I hate F&I with a burning passion. They can turn a $23,000 car into a $28,000 car in a New York minute.

I think this thread is about The Retail Shakedown. The Wholesale Shakedown occurs when you pop your trade on them, that's when they offer you retail pricing on their car and wholesale for yours.