badride42

iTrader: (10)

I got my 2001 Z-28 for 13775.00 drive off I have LS6 intake, 3.23 gears and aluminum DS. Only 20000 miles on it. I was real happy with the deal..

99z284speed

last month i wanted to trade my 99 z28 for an 02 ss, and the stupid *** dealership tried to give me only $7500.00 for it. i was really pissed and left

CaptUSA

iTrader: (5)

LMAO You got a better first pencel than I did. They offerd me $6,500 for mine. Had 42k miles on it w/ current mods (minus the chassis stuff). :Jest: I told them no thanks, and started to leave.... "Wait wait!! we can maybe do a little better than that" the guy says. I'm like "No thank you buddy. That was just Too insulting for me to do business here." And I turned around and left. Boy, I'll tell you.... I don't think I've EVER seen a guy look more depressed than that guy did as I pulled out of the lot.

baddogz28

iTrader: (6)

Okay... You have bought 2 cars so that MUST make you an expert, huh? That doesn't mean ****. I eat people who think they are good negotiators for breakfast. I have probably bought 10 since I was 16. I have sold hundreds. I have dealt with and sold bigger ******** than you probably come across in your life. If you go into every car deal thinking (knowing ) that there is $5,000 in markup in every car, you are going to get tossed out of a lot of dealers in your life. If I have the room to move that much on a car, I may do it. But If I don't, I'll tell you what I can do and tell you thank you for coming, keep me and this dealer in mind before you make your decision.

As for MY saving somebody $5,000... The point was, that I didn't have to give him the $5k, I coulda made him negotiate for it. Saving $5,000 before rebates can really only be done on a few really high priced NEW cars ($40k+), or used ones with big markup (the dealer you bought the Camaro from was trying to split your head open- or they owned the car real cheap on trade.) Since you are such a good negotiator, why don't you go to a Ford dealer, pick out a Focus, and negotiate $5,000 off of sticker BEFORE rebates, then post up your results. The fact is, the dealer only HAS SO MUCH MARKUP BEFORE they are paying you to take the car. This may be impossible for you to fathom, but the avg. dealer makes about $1k a car including MFR kickbacks when new, or total profit used. Sounds like we really make a killing.

Let me know how the Focus negotiation goes.



By the way, what do you do for a living, LuvmeZ28?

baddogz28

iTrader: (6)

If you had to buy your car to sell it, how much would you pay? Remember, you want to try and make some money reselling it.

Kevin Hall

They're letting me order the parts. I'm getting Motive 3.73's from New Era, and adding a MAC Girdle.

02blkragtopz

iTrader: (1)

I sold new & used cars (Dodge & Chrysler) for about 5 years. Don't claim to know everything but there are some good guys out there. First off NEVER let them tell you that they cannot refund your down payment this is BS. There is no depreciation if the vehicle is not titled. Miles on a vehicle are called TEST DRIVE MILES. I have sold Dealer trades with over 400 miles on it. Hell my 02 had 370 on it because it was driven up from MIS to my local dealership. If it is still on MSO (Manufacturer Sales Order) then it is still brand new.

I could not agree more. However you for got to mention that not all of this "profit" goes to the salesman. For instance when I was selling them Neons held a whopping $900 in profit that I the salesman could work with. So if I gave the customer a $400 discount, then paid the dealership (yes we have to pay them for the privelage of working there either called a "pac" or "lot fee")in this case it was $100. So now I have a whopping $400 in which to get paid my commission on which is.........25%. Yes folks I just made a cool $100. After negotiating for a couple of hours, helping prep the vehicle and deliver it. This is one day, tomorrow I may not sell crap! No cars sold=No money made. Sitting there all day and not making any cash...SUCKS!
This is why I no longer do it. I was too honest and did not make ****!
On the plus side, I live in a small community and everyone knows me and where I used to work so when it comes to deals they are all up front and honest. I know what to look for and how dealerships can "skew" the figures to make it look like you're getting an awsome deal.
Dealerships will make money on you. That is what they are in business to do. The trick is to not let 'em pick up, turn you upside down and shake every last dime out of your pockets!

luvmeZ28

iTrader: (3)

pretty good deal,mine also cam with LS6 intake and alum. shaft




not trying to say im an expert. just saying ive sat in on probably 15 cardeals, because ive always been interested in the way they work, and ive seen car dealers at their worst. only seen one at his best, but he quit to go do something he says is "worthwhile". and i asked him, and he said that the lot he sold at, ALL AMERICAN CHEVROLET, of LITHIA group, made alot more than 1k on sticker, even on cavaliers! and he was like you say you are, he told people straight up what he could do for them. he says that sometimes that meant he had to sell 2, or even 3 cars to equal what some of the "********" made on one comission, but he always had the most repeat customers. he also told me that most of the "rapes" happened on slightly used cars.

and as far as what i do, im basically a 2nd assistant manager at a store, of large chain of convenient stores based here, also throughout texs and parts of new mexico. so i know about having to deal with ********. people treat us like we are lowly can collectors, so i know a little about being treated bad. im waiting to get in to the police academy. now that the mess of the run off elections are over, that should be in late sept. early oct.

luvmeZ28

iTrader: (3)

oh,and thats a great attitude for a car saleman to have.

pacmantravis

I just recently quit my job selling cars for a Ford dealer in SoCal. I worked as a salesman for around 8 months and then as an Internet Sales Manager for about 4 months.

This salesman/dealer bashing gives me a bad taste in my mouth. As a salesman AND a customer I understand both points of view with the car buying process.

I prided myself on "product knowledge" of every vehicle on the lot. From the Base Focus LX to the Limited Excursions to the F-450 Chassis Cabs. I would actually make around $100 every week because our dealership would have product knowledge quizzes and whoever got the best score would get a $100 spiff. In my relatively short time (1 year) selling cars, Ive learned a few things about sales and customers.

I try to sell every car for as much money as possible. Why? Because I need to feed myself, pay my bills and mod my car. I understand that people want a good deal and I respect that. Whenever I was selling a car and the negotiating got too tiring I would just get the Invoice from my manager and show it to the customer. I would explain everything on the invoice to my customer. Including holdback.

I would show them the Invoice price, and the Memo price. For those that don't know, Memo is basically the price that dealership REALLY paid for the car. Usually memo is around 3% below the invoice price. I would explain that the 3% is used to pay for the dealerships overhead (lights, porters and so on) and that it would be almost impossible to get the vehicle for that price. I would then tell them that I would work with them on a "Cost Plus" basis based off the invoice.

You know what happened 90% of the time I did this? They wanted to get the car for UNDER the memo price. I guess they assumed that everything I was telling them was a crock and that they could get the car for wayyyy cheaper. This is what I get for being honest and upfront with a customer?!?

Ive had customers yell and scream at me telling me that Im trying to rip them off. But what can I do when they expect to have a $350 a month payment on a $35,000 car with No Money Down?

So then guess what happens? I get them a payment they are comfortable with and then 2 weeks later I get a call saying that I ripped them off. How did I rip them off? They say that theycalculated that they are going to be paying over $50k for a car that costs $35k. I say "Yes, you will be paying that much if you decide to pay off the car. The only way I got your payments to where you wanted to be was to put you on a 5 year lease......"

No matter what, I end up the bad guy. Why? Because they are going to be paying for that car for so long, and if they want to trade it in they are going to be so far upside down it's not even funny. But wait a second...did I do anything wrong? No, I didn't. I merely did what was needed in order to get their payments in the price range they wanted.

After this long as story, my whole point is. Be EDUCATED. Don't just think you can get X-amount of dollars off a car just because your friend said he did. Im sure everyone has lied at least once in a while on how much their car cost. Why? Because they don't want people to think they got put together. Go to edmunds.com or kbb.com, do your research. Run your credit before you go. Know what to expect. But please, please, please, do not expect the absolute worst.

I assure you, if you come prepared things will be much smoother. If you don't like your salesman, find another one. If you're salesman feeds you a bunch of BS and you know for a FACT that it's BS, then find another one.

Thats my rant.

luvmeZ28

iTrader: (3)

props to you guys who are familiar with the cars you sell. and i can definately respect that you are looking out for yourself first. you do have to put food on the table. i just dont like the guys that say/try to make you feel the are championing for the customers interest first. thats dishonest. and people who are only worried about the payments, very much deserve what they get. how hard is it to understand the longer you pay for something, the more its gonna cost? but yeah, the uneducated people often bitch about the deal after they make it. the two cars i have bought, the end result was satisfying. i didnt let myself get taken. and i am always very respectful to the salesman in interactions. i couldnt even tell you the countless lots i went to looking at cars, and having the guys feed me lines and b.s. about cars/trucks, making empty promises, or just really not seeming like they know what the hell they are doing. thats what gives me a bad taste in my mouth. and ive made the conclusion that there are more of those guys out there than you good guys, because ive mostly come in contact with the bad ones. and thats here, in DFw, san antonio, and abilene. theres only one i have found that i would go back to, and thats the one in abeline, because the salesman was nice and respectable, and really wanted to deal with me. it was the guys he worked for that made buying my car difficult.

02blkragtopz

iTrader: (1)

All of the above...ClASSIC!

OMG!! I could not have said it better myself. Except when I was doing this (around 6-8 years ago) It was the nothing down $250 a month ride that cost $30k everyone wanted. I would tell 'em pretty much what you did. "Sure we can get you there, all I need from you is a down payment of $15K."

You know what, sometimes that is exactly what they would do!

Kevin Hall

Never underestimate the predictability of stupidity

If you only show them MSRP, and knock a few bucks off, they know they probably made you some money, but have no idea how much. When you show them the MEMO price, they still expect the same few bucks off, and fell just as ripped in the end, as though you manufactured that number from thin air, and still want to make yourself some coin

Buying private has always been easiest for me.....

Seller - I'm asking $2950, I've got over $5000 into her
Buyer - It needs tires and a windshield, I'll give you 1750
S - I need 2500
B - 1500 cash
S - 2000
B - 1750 cash
S - Alright, you can't beat cash in hand

Done - no payments, short haggling, and the handful of cash is always yours until you decide the number is right

Dealerships on the other hand either bought the car, and are turning it over, or have some money into repairs, and have to cover that.......I never know who to curse......there are bad buyers, and bad dealers

Know your stuff, and know the market. Just because one dealer makes an offer to you on a new car, doesn't mean thats the best that can be ahd. Don't get angry at the guy until you find a better deal elsewhere. Then ask the salesman to come for a ride with you in you new car. They usually figure out at that point that they screwed themselves

Keep the horrors COMING!!!

luvmeZ28

iTrader: (3)

from the couple of you guys that have pronounced yourselves as salesman,id love to hear some of your horror stories of ahole potential buyers. there has to be some good stories out there. anyone wanna share?

02blkragtopz

iTrader: (1)

OMG! How much time do you have?!!?

luvmeZ28

iTrader: (3)

sometimes just have trouble sleeping. i usually work weird hours.

02blkragtopz

iTrader: (1)

Ok but it's a long one.
I used to work at this dealership in the Metro Detroit area, Bob Saks. This location was in the area of Chrysler and Ford so we would get a lot of job transfer people. You know like engineers from China, etc. They would come here be in country all of two weeks wanting to get there new house set up and bring thier family over but first they needed a new "Minivan". No credit history in the US, barely any credentials showing who they are (Pre 9-11). Anyhow one day this guy comes in and I ask him how I might help him and he says I would like to look at a Dodge Caravan. Ok, I say we have quite a few any particular color? Lighter colors darker colors ya know the basic salesman shpeel. Anyhow he said that he likes Dark Green, he wanted one fully equipped. (Heres a quick tip for all of you car shoppers, pay close attn.) so I took him to one with nothing on it. Your basic plain jane auto. My gosh I remember this thing even had crank windows. The reason we are supossed to do this is to get you used to a lower sticker and let you justify the "pricey" options on your own. If we start on the expensive vehicle we have lost. Anyhow this worked. The guy looks at me and goes "this has nothing on it". My reply "Oh yes it does c'mon lets go look at the sticker" I begin reading off the basic options I wanna say this thing stickerd for around 23K. The guy goes "I don't want this one, I want bla, bla on mine" I say "Oh ok I just wanted you to see this one for comparison". I now take to the one with everthing he wanted on it and this I think stickerd for like....I can't remember 29k-34k something like that. The guy goes "Wow, thats alot of money" "Yes it is" I replied, "would you like to go and look at the other one again?". No he says I would like to test drive this one. I get the keys we go for a little ride. He likes it. Now we come inside to talk price. I knew by the way, what the first words out of his mouth would be before I even showed him the price we could sell it for "TOO HIGH". NOT BEING RACIAL HERE. However other countries have a different way of shopping where they dicker and deal on everything they buy unlike us here the US of A. I couldn't imagine dickering with the shoe sales person at Saks 5th. But they are usually dealing with the owner of the store not a lowly sales guy. So thier first response when told a price is to say "too high". So anyhow we go back and forth until I get to my bottom price. He says "still too high". "This car isn't even new" "What?" I said. The guy goes "yeah, I noticed when we were test driving it it had 74 miles on it". I explained to the guy that this was a dealer trade, it had been test driven by others etc.. Now my manager overhears whats going on and calls me in his office to get the scoop on whats happening. I filled him in and he says "let him go" you've spent too much time on him he's lookin for a free car! So my manager and I go back out and thank the person for stopping by but are sorry to say that we cannot come to agreement so perhaps we should call it good. I walk the guy to the door very politely we get out side and guy goes, "I really want that car but I want a new one with all of the options on it I ask for". Now I'm pissed I have just spent like 2 hours with this guy. So I looked him straight in the eye and said "Come with me, I want to show you something". At this point I quit being the nicey nice sales guy and was talking to him pretty shitty. I didn't care if the guy left pissed or not but he was taking this f'n car home. We walk back over to the car I said to him, "Point out for me on the sticker what option this car doesn't have that you want". (you can't really point out something that isn't there but, you guys know what I mean) "Oh this one has all of my options" he says "but I want one without any miles on it". I'm like "Hey, thats pretty much impossible, we get them with no less than 3 miles on 'em" He just stands there looking at the sticker............ . I go " Allright then c'mon". "Where are we going?" he asks. "We are going in to my desk writing this car up for you on the price we said and you are taking it home to your wife today" Again ...... So I just started walking and he follows. Halfway through writing this guy up on the deal my manager peeks out of his office and signals for me to come and see him. I excuse myself and my manager goes "What the hell are you doing with that guy I thought we sent him down the road" I just looked at him and couldn't beleive I said this but I'm like "He f'n pissed me off so now he's taking that POS Green Caravan home today!" My manager smiled and said "go". I wen't back out finished the deal got the car preped while we signed paper work and sent him on his Merry F'n way. And yes he was happy and even thanked me upon leaving.
Probably not my worst but this one just popped to the front of my head. I'll think of a better one and post up a better one for all to chuckle over.
Wholly Crap I just read my preview! I won't make it this friggen long again though!

luvmeZ28

iTrader: (3)

lol, the frustration levels are off the charts! LOL. keep em coming though, good story.

BlackFormula01

This needed to be repeated. I work for a dealer, and the simple fact is that most new car dealers are not the slobs or scum that they are portrayed to be. If anyone is ever in Elkhart, visit the local Pontiac dealership. You wont be dissapointed.
Ed

baddogz28

iTrader: (6)

Baseball players get paid to hit the longball, I get paid to be a better negotiator than ALMOST everybody.

What's wrong with that?