Your most memorable car buying experience.

What mind games? You made an offer, they made a counter offer.....I don't see mind games, I see a negotiation.

 

I've had so many cars over the course of my 45 year driving career, it's hard to single out any one experience. Some have been great and others have been just so-so... I too have walked away when it wasn't looking good. The last time I bailed was when the local Jaguar dealer didn't take me as seriously as he should have, hence leaving me know choice but to go to the East Bay Area to get my wife's new XF. Big mistake Rob, huge!

I'll have to say though, my greatest positive experience and greatest overall score was when I bought my Classic Mini a couple years back. The car was owned by a friend of my racing buddy, who owns a large bit of acreage where we store the race trailer. He's got a very large barn on the property and it's been full of cars and motorcycles for years. Though I never saw much of the inside of the barn, I had been told that he had a real deal, rare Mini in there. It was a Sunday, and my wife and I had just come home from 10 days in Hawaii. While looking through the Mini Mania website, in search of some parts for my 64 Cooper, I decided to take a look at the cars listed for sale first. I spotted this very cool car for sale in my area and thought that barn in the background of his photos looked somewhat familiar. Even more familiar was the front of the race trailer out behind that barn. I picked up the phone and called Bob, the owner, and asked if I could come look at the car provided it was still for sale. Well, sure he said and in an hours time I bought the Mini on a gentleman's handshake. Cash was exchanged four days later and the rest is history.

 

Another story

It was'86 and the Acura Integra had just come out. It was time for my wife's new car. We went to the newly opened Acura dealer and did the usual look over and test drive.

When it came time to talk they said since it had just come out they wanted sticker. I said you guys have a Honda dealer too right. How about I take the Integra and a CRX Si what can you do then? They brought back some very nice numbers and we drove the Intega home. I picked up the CRX a few day later.

I was friends with the sales guy, manager and service manager for years. I'd show them tweaks and tunes for the cars (in '86 there wasn't much Japanese tuning in the US and none in Ohio) and they got me parts at cost.

 

A colleague had just paid off of a ship after a 4 month voyage, he had a wad of cash and he wanted to buy a new Porsche. He went to a Porsche dealer, wearing what he always wears, denim bib overalls, red Converse high top tennis shoes and a flannel shirt.

The Porsche sales people completely ignored him, so he went down the road and bought a Mercedes Benz. He said that the Mercedes people treated him real nice.

He did drive his new 560 SL to the Porsche dealer to show them his new car.

 

There are million stories like this.....I wonder how many are true and how many are just urban legends.

Mine went like this.....a very young couple - looked like no more the 16 - came into our dealership and wandered over to a red 911 on the showroom floor. Everyone ignored them so I went to talk to them, they were very shy, wouldn't make eye contact etc. I even offered a test drive just to see if they might come out of their shell a bit, but they said no thank you, took a brochure and my card and left about 20 min later - they wouldn't even get in the car!

An hour later I got a call from an attorney for the family asking what the total would be on the red 911 including tax and lic, and hour after that I had a check in full and the family chauffeur picked up the car. Never saw the kids again but their dad called one day and said thanks for helping them, turned out there were married and 18, and dad bought the car as a wedding present.

 

I only saw the boy once after that, in the service dept for the 1000 mile checkup......I don't know if they went off to college or what after that......I moved to Sandy Eggo shortly after that myself.

 

In the same vein the Wash DC Ferrari/Lambo dealer sales guy told me that

they can't blow off anyone who comes in their door because of their dress or

how they talk, in the past they could/did that but not in these MODERN times.

 

In the early 70's Roger Penske owned a Chevrolet dealership in the northern suburbs of Detroit. In 1972 I was at his dealershiip looking at used Corvettes. I ended up buying a used '71. The purchase was all very pleasant. The good news came after the purchase. In those days the dealer would give a 30 day guarantee on a used car. The car was only a year old but it had already run out of the new car warranty that used to be provided back then. Immediately I began having small, nagging problems with the car and made a number of trips back to the dealership. Finally they seemed relieved to tell me that my 30 days were up and there would be no more consideration for any problems I might have.

To let you know what kind of a guy Roger Penske is: I wrote him a very polite letter explaining the various problems I had experienced and also any and all the little nit picking things that were still on the car. I played up the reason I bought a car from him in the first place was because of his reputation in the automobile business. I received a letter from Roger stating that any and every problem I had with the car would be taken care of properly and that I would be provided a loaner while the work was being done. The car ended up being as good as if it were new.

Edit: Just to give you an idea of what inflation means; the car (convertible) cost me $4,200.00.

 

This is especially true in Silicon Valley, but it still happens.

 

Not a car story but similar to the ones above. In the mid '80s I was sales manager in a computer store when a guy came in in ratty jeans and a worn tee shirt. None of my sales people thought he was worth the time. So I talked to him about what he needed. Turns out he was the it buyer for the Dayton public schools. It was a nice sale and a good relationship. Taught my sales people a lesson.

 

MCS02, as I said before, I was in the car business for about 30 years......I've seen it all and if you read my other posts above I described myself as being a sales manager for large San Diego Porsche+Audi dealership.

What you consider mind games, like the 4 square, is just a way of getting to a deal.....there are no games involved except trying to maximize the profit to the dealership - which is why they're in business. Of course they take your keys, how else are they going to appraise your trade in? An no, they don't throw them on the roof, that would be stupid and it's an urban legend. And of course they want you to keep the keys to the new car, they want you to imagine owning it and driving it home. That's not mind games, that's simply good salesmanship.

The thing you describe about listening on the phone is against the law, no legit dealership does that.

I think the issue you have is that you assume they're out to get you and go in with an adversarial attitude.

I approached a gentleman just outside the showroom floor one day and the first thing he said to me was "I don't expect you to tell me the truth, but what......"

I cut him off right there and said "We haven't even introduced ourselves and already you accuse me of being a liar? You don't even know me! Let's try this again, Hello - my name is....how can I help you?"

He did buy a new car from me that day, and over the course of the next 5 years bought many more, for himself, his family members and sent friends in to me too.

All you guys can complain about the lousy sales staff, but when you all want to buy a car at invoice or lower - you do know that salesmen are paid on a commission based on the profit from the sale? How much effort would you invest in a customer to make a $25 commission? Especially when he assumes you're a lousy lying cheat the minute he meets you and you haven't said a word to him yet?

 

I had a similar story......a fellow walked into my Porsche store and asked about the 911 factory slantnose turbo in the showroom - at that time it was the most expensive 911 you could buy outside of a racecar - this was mid 80's and it stickered for $117,000! He was dressed in old clothes and had been working on his house so he was disheveled looking, had a 3 day beard and none of my salespeople - who knew better and had been trained otherwise - seemed to want to talk to him. I spent about 10 min with him, he took my card and left....this was late on a Sat afternoon. Monday morning he called me and said he'd take the red one (we had a red and a black at that time) we talked for a while and wound up adding about $10K in additional equipment he wanted, tax title and lic it came to about $145K - he wrote a company check for it. Turned out he owned the local wholesale paint stores, he had about 15 branches all over the county and did millions of $$$ a month in sales.

I had 4 very unhappy salespeople that Monday, cause the commission on that sale would have been about $5K under our current compensation plan.

He was a genuinely nice guy and I sold him many more cars over the years.....

 

This thread is turning into a what oil is best & how often to change it thread. No one will ever agree on either & the same goes for this thread. :yesnod:

Change your oil every 5,000 miles with an OEM or Mann filter. Mobil 1 0w40.

 

Not at all, I've posted several of my favorite buying experiences - just as the seller, not the buyer! :biggrin5:

However MCS02's favorite buying experiences all seem to involve rancor.....

 

I was that guy on the side of the desk where the drawers opened for an adversarial type sales dealer for a few months. Mid-eighties, Ford, Lincoln-Mercury, Jeep, Renault and Yugo dealer. We did all the tricks to get you buy the car today. I hated it. Except for when I'd take the Mustang SVO's or Thunderbird Turbo Coupes out for test drives.

 

There's no question some of 'em do it "wrong".....I worked for one of those guys too, for a couple of months then I headed off for greener pastures.

Here's one of my favorite car buying experiences from my side of the desk...

I was working at a Porsche dealer as the parts manager, one of my customers was a "regular", he was a drunk and was in buying parts to repair his cars about every month. One day he asked me if I knew anyone who could work on a Ferrari. I told him I could, so he said come out and have a look.

He lived in a development called Lakewood, way out on the east side of town and it was the dead of winter. When he opened the garage door it was like sunshine coming out from under the door - not the lights - the car that was in there, sitting on jackstands - a 1970 Ferrari Dino in Ferrari red! God it was gorgeous.

Instead of working on it I offered to buy it on the spot - we shook hands and I spent the next three months in the coldest garage in the world, winter wind coming off the frozen lake. He had blown the engine instead of wrecking this one and could not get it back together again, but he had all the parts so I went to work on it. Sometime in early March I turned the key for the first time, a few days later I drove it home!