They're Back(F'n Dealers)

Beamer

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Well today turned out to be interesting. I am at work in the middle of wrapping some burger I had just done up and my cell rings and I look at the number and do not recognize it so I answer it and its Town & Country Toyota calling back because I went there in March in search for an MR-2. Well they wanted to know what was up and if I had sold the LS yet and if I was still considering the Scion tC. I told 'em it was hanging on by a pinky at the bottom of the long list of considerations still and in order to consider I would have to get a hell of a deal.

Anyway they ask if I would care to try and trade in and I said yea but they probably would not get it to work how I want so the guy says give him a bit and he'll call me back after I gave him some info on the LS. So I leave work and call 'em back cause I missed the 2nd call and they wanted me to come down and take a test drive and appraise the car. So I figured it was better than sitting home and I get to drive something different. I get there and the tC was alright, decent get up and shifting nice(manual) but once I got on the HWY and got to 70-75 I saw the rpms up to 3500. Its a 2.4L 4 banger so I expected high rpms but damn, that was almost like my '94 1.8L eclipse.

Needless to say the car is nice for the price and all that but I told 'em to appraise and let me see before anything else. They come back saying my LS is in Good condition and I about went off alittle, its excellent condition in my opinion besides a few things that can be buffed out. Anyway I tell 'em I well think about and got out of there.

The best part was I was home no longer than 30 minutes and I get another call from guess who... Anyone remember that deal that went bad w/ the Cobalt a few months ago? Yea, well it was them. It was some women wanting to know how my Cobalt was doing, I asked "what Cobalt" and told her I returned after they f'ed me for the second time. She was like "oh... Hmmm, let me pull the history and I am going to call you tomorrow." So this is going to interesting.

I figured I had finally gotten rid of 'em and now here they are again lol. I wonder what other of the many dealers are going to call aswell. Just thought I would share.

BTW, got looking at the new Toyota FJ and that was rather neat, do not think I would get one though.
 
Beamer said:
Well today turned out to be interesting. I am at work in the middle of wrapping some burger I had just done up and my cell rings and I look at the number and do not recognize it so I answer it and its Town & Country Toyota calling back because I went there in March in search for an MR-2. Well they wanted to know what was up and if I had sold the LS yet and if I was still considering the Scion tC. I told 'em it was hanging on by a pinky at the bottom of the long list of considerations still and in order to consider I would have to get a hell of a deal.

Anyway they ask if I would care to try and trade in and I said yea but they probably would not get it to work how I want so the guy says give him a bit and he'll call me back after I gave him some info on the LS. So I leave work and call 'em back cause I missed the 2nd call and they wanted me to come down and take a test drive and appraise the car. So I figured it was better than sitting home and I get to drive something different. I get there and the tC was alright, decent get up and shifting nice(manual) but once I got on the HWY and got to 70-75 I saw the rpms up to 3500. Its a 2.4L 4 banger so I expected high rpms but damn, that was almost like my '94 1.8L eclipse.

Needless to say the car is nice for the price and all that but I told 'em to appraise and let me see before anything else. They come back saying my LS is in Good condition and I about went off alittle, its excellent condition in my opinion besides a few things that can be buffed out. Anyway I tell 'em I well think about and got out of there.

The best part was I was home no longer than 30 minutes and I get another call from guess who... Anyone remember that deal that went bad w/ the Cobalt a few months ago? Yea, well it was them. It was some women wanting to know how my Cobalt was doing, I asked "what Cobalt" and told her I returned after they f'ed me for the second time. She was like "oh... Hmmm, let me pull the history and I am going to call you tomorrow." So this is going to interesting.

I figured I had finally gotten rid of 'em and now here they are again lol. I wonder what other of the many dealers are going to call aswell. Just thought I would share.

BTW, got looking at the new Toyota FJ and that was rather neat, do not think I would get one though.
As a sales consultant.......the first part of your post is fairly common. Its called creating "urgency." You'd been in once before and spent considerable time with them in their eyes and they're going to sell you (or at least try to). As for the evaluation of your trade, your car would have to be flawless in order to get that excellent rating. And by flawless, I mean the literal definition of the word. Another thing to consider when taking your car in to get appraised is dealerships don't use kbb to evaluate trades.........they use the black book or NADA. In other words, you're going to get the price that they could expect to get for the car for at wholesale or what the average is for the car across the country. That's just the way it works. Plus, how many cars has kbb ever bought? Something to think about. If anyone wants any more advice on their next car purchase, feel free to look me up and I will tell you how to beat them at their game.
 
DLS8K said:
As a sales consultant.......the first part of your post is fairly common. Its called creating "urgency." You'd been in once before and spent considerable time with them in their eyes and they're going to sell you (or at least try to).

To put the salesman at maximum disadvantage, I generally take money out of the equation, and instead make the deal contingent on factors he has absolutely no control over. Things like the seat isn't comfortable, or the hood is too long to see over, or there's a big blind spot in the back. Its funny to watch how they react to stuff like this, especially when I make it clear these are dealbreakers, and that the other cars I tested don't have these problems. More often than not, they sweeten the deal to make a sale in spite of these issues.

As an aside, and this won't apply to most of the kids on this board because you're all broke and don't buy new cars for yourselves, but buying a new LS on Ford's X-Plan gives you a good non-negotiable price that makes dealing with the dealer very pleasant.
 
Yeah my broke kid a$$ is going to be smarter than you and get the A plan.
 
As for the evaluation of your trade, your car would have to be flawless in order to get that excellent rating. And by flawless, I mean the literal definition of the word. Another thing to consider when taking your car in to get appraised is dealerships don't use kbb to evaluate trades.........they use the black book or NADA.

Todd is right about the condition. There is NO SUCH THING as an excellent car unless it was hermetically sealed right off the assembly line and kept in climate controlled storage for the past 4 years. lol. When they told you your car was in good condition, that was a compliment. "Good" is the best you will ever do when trading in a used car.

Now, as far as books ... black book? sometimes. nada? never (nada tells me my 8-year-old volvo was worth $8k, while the real number was $4k). galves? yes, depending on the region. kbb? again, i've seen some use it, they've gotten a bit better at evaluating trades the last year or so. auction reports? definitely! any successful dealer is using auction reports, something that the common shopper does not have access to.
 
DLS8K said:
If anyone wants any more advice on their next car purchase, feel free to look me up and I will tell you how to beat them at their game.

I'd be interested in getting the inside story. Dealers have been one nut I just can't crack. I bought my LS 6 months ago paid KBB retail. Was at a dealership a few day back they said would allow me 10,500 on a trade. I live close to the Manhiem auto auction here in PA so the dealers around here know what stuff goes for over there. There game seems to be trade in at wholesale price and sell a KBB retail. That usually a $6,000 profit per sale. I guess that's why there is a dealership on every corner.
 
My broke ass has bought a couple cars new, hmm anyway. No since is getting something really new anyway, not much out there that I like.
 
My ass ain't broke, hasn't been since I was his age. I learned my lesson well...
 
My last "new" car was a 2000 Nissan. I will never buy a new car again. You take way too much of a beating on a new car. Since all dealers will only offer about 1/2 of what your car is worth anyway, just sell it yourself. Not bitter, just the facts of doing business. Used to, when you bought a car, you kept it until it was paid off. Of course, I am going back a looong way. I guess my 53+ years are showing. I mean, my 2003 LS looks just like an '06 to 99.9% of the people out there and has the same performance for a lot less money than a brand new one. I did not want the inherent problems of the pre '03 models and I wanted the warranty. I was trying to sell mine, but quickly realized it was a silly idea and I will just keep it.
 
LINLIN said:
I'd be interested in getting the inside story. Dealers have been one nut I just can't crack. I bought my LS 6 months ago paid KBB retail. Was at a dealership a few day back they said would allow me 10,500 on a trade. I live close to the Manhiem auto auction here in PA so the dealers around here know what stuff goes for over there. There game seems to be trade in at wholesale price and sell a KBB retail. That usually a $6,000 profit per sale. I guess that's why there is a dealership on every corner.
That sounds about right actually.......and it all depends on what evaluation method they are using but you understand the basic concept. When taking a trade-in, they have to build a cushion to recondition the vehicle, run it through the shop, and advertising fees. This comes nowhere near 6K, however, they also have to accept the fact that they may not be able to sell it on the lot and would therefore take it to wholesale and get their money that way......wholesale being one of the last options because you typically aren't going to make much at all taking to the block.
 
Just a little update for who cares:

Well today I got the call back from the Dealer who screwed me twice. This time its a woman instead of the sales guy I had last time. She asked about my previous experience w/ them so I gladly told her what happened and the almost fist fight w/ "the man behind the desk." She was surprised and asked what I would want on a Cobalt if I chose to come back so I told her and she went and talked to a Manager of some sort and called me back saying that the Manager would to personally have a face to face and apologize for my previous visits if I would give them a chance to set things right. Now I felt like saying "f**K off" but instead I told 'em I feel pretty reluctant in returning to their dealership do to how I was treated and not to mention the trip and time it takes to get there(45mins of stop and go and wanting to kill people). She said she understood but I said that one more time, I figure maybe I have the upper hand going in this time and kind of have their balls compared to going in blind like any dealer.

I know they are going to do a little sweet talking but it won't work for me, I make sure any dealer knows that I am not one to d!ck around with, especially now. I am pretty interested in seeing what happens know, just have to wait till monday because I am f'n busy the next 3 days.
 

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