Another dealer rant

[dkn1997]

They just can't help themselves.  They just have to lie and act like the back end of a horse. 

I'm looking to buy a used car, a pontiac G8 GT.  I find one in Michigan for a good price,  17K on it, GM certified (adds a year and 12K miles onto the balance of the factory bumper to bumper and you get very good rates from GMAC)  this place tells me 2800 for my trade (99 gtp grand prix, 114K, good shape, no major issues at all) and it's the color I want, silver.  I start thinking about driving 10 hours each way and a very tight work sch and start thinking that silver may not be worth 20 hours of my time.  I keep looking and find a black one locally, starting price is what I negotiated the other one down to, it only has 10K on it.  I'm thinking as long as it's not beaten to hell, it's a win win.  I'd have been happy going in there, getting 2500 for my trade, maybe they come down 500 on the price and everyone's happy.  I make my way down there tonight after work. 

That's when the trouble started.  First off, this car is perfect in every way.  black is so unforgiving and this thing didn't have a scratch on it.  Now I'm pumped.  The salesman brings the keys out and we start it, like I really need to hear a car with 10k on it run.  yeah, maybe it needs points and condensor? lol   Then I say lets go for a ride, he says no, have to talk numbers first and i can drive after. I should have left then.

Then he says, so....we are asking$>>>>>  and it's a grand more than the internet price.  After i told him I was going to make him eat his shoe, he comes off that and says 1st.."the owner put it on the site and didn't tell us what he listed it for" 5 minutes later :"that's the web special price, but we can do it for you"  Now I'm getting pissed. 

Then he tells me 1800 for my car.  I said no way in hell...he doesn't make one single call and goes up to 2500 which I was ok with.  Then i find out this car is not GM certified (it's at a GM dealer, the one the car was bought from new)  He says that's a grand more?  and...they can't get me the 3.99 that the michigan dealer already got me. then says they won't even take a penny off the asking price.  After telling that i'd rather die than pay anyone's asking price for a new car, I gave him my card and told him to call me back if he changes his mind and also ran down his list of lies. In a nutshell, my experience was this:  "NO, you can't drive it.  The asking price changed since you walked in the door. we are lowballing you on the trade, you can't get GMAC for this even though another dealer can, F U if you want to pay less than the asking price and we are going to steal a grand from you for a BS certification that we likely don't pay GM a dime for" ( I really don't know if they pay or not, but a few friends who work at GM dealers don't seem to think so)

who the F sells a used car and expects to get the asking price.  are there actually people out there that just pay it?  I'm not a cheap bastard but at least knock off a few hundo so It fells like you bought me dinner before you F'd me!

Needless to say, I"m still looking.  I may just eat it and drive to detroit and get the silver one.  It is my first color choice and If I can get a friend to go with me, it won't be so bad.  We will see if that deal "changed" over the holiday weekend. 

Rant off

[chargergirl]

OOOOHMMMM! Now try walking onto that lot as a chick...it's even more stupid!

[Silver R/T]

I don't get it how they don't sell cars when someone's wanting to buy. It's not like economy's booming and everyone's buying cars. When I went to look for a truck I stopped by a dealer and checked out one the trucks they had. They woudn't budge on the price much and I ended up getting different truck from another dealer.
The truck I was looking at still sat there for over a year, in same spot! I don't know how dealers runs their business but if they don't sell cars how can they stay in business. There's so many overpriced p.o.s's out there. That's why hard working people can't afford to get into another car.

[hemi-hampton]

What if you drive all the way to Detroit & get the same treatment LEON.

[dkn1997]

What if you drive all the way to Detroit & get the same treatment LEON.

Good point.. but they already negotiated, and the financing would be in place before I go, and no extra for certified.  Those were my 3 major problems with this local guy.   In my eyes, the only variables in that deal would be me getting there and the car is not as perfect as he said or they say they won't give me as much on my trade. 

I have my grand prix for sale locally and I'm still showing it. I figure if I get 3300-3400 for it, that will make up for the tax break I would have gotten trading it and pay for a plane ticket for me to fly there.  That would totally make my life easier. 

[Cooter]

Bottom line? There's a sucker born every minute....

You just gotta figure out if you want to be lumped into that category or not....Evidently, you didn't, so move on as it's obvious, when buying a used car, your gonna get F'd, you just have to decide how bad...I see it everyday at the shop..."I can't believe they'd sell me this like this"...

Well, one born every minute.....

[Troy]

When I bought my Tahoe I made them certify it for me (got the extended warranty, 6 months of XM, 6 months of On Star, and the lower financing). They charged me $400 which they said was their cost and as long as I paid to have it done it didn't hurt them - but it certainly helped me! I was getting a killer deal on the vehicle any way so I didn't argue (the lower financing saved me something like $2,000). I was told that most dealers won't certify every car that they could because of this cost. It depends on how much they stand to gain/lose on the vehicle.

The last two car dealers I've had to work with have been very good. Up until that point (mostly Dodge dealers unfortunately) it's been a waste. The salesman might just be a nimrod. If you like the black car contact their "internet sales specialist" - or even talk to a different salesman - and try again. I can't imagine that guy will be working there long. On the other hand, if he's been there a while already then write off that dealer as one you'll never revisit. In this economy/market no one should be turning down a sale - especially one that's practically guaranteed. I have been told in the past that once a car gets listed on a site like Autotrader that they are pretty much already at their bottom dollar (presumably because most people order the results by price and they want to be at the top of the list). The dealer website doesn't carry the same exclusion.

Troy

[chargergirl]

I knew a guy once that was amazed that people would follow a guy he worked with to every dealership he went to. They were loyal to him not the brand. The guy I knew was carrying on about how this guy was still making money even though things had slowed and how he couldn't make any money. I said, "He treats them like friends. You treat people like marks". He and I never talked after that he was so mad. Every person walking on the lot was a sucker, ready to be plucked dry according to him.

[b5blue]

It's management that sets the standard, that's what your seeing. Stop trying to "compare" used cars. Every single one is different, the situation is such that they may have gotten the car you love for more money in it but the one next to it that's very close for less for reasons you'll never know. Auctions, Trade in's, Repo's and such give any used car a variable bottom line. It's a game you have to play so treat it as such, leave emotion out of it.

[Old Moparz]

It's a game you have to play so treat it as such, leave emotion out of it.

I agree fully, the emotion part is why people overpay for things all the time, especially on ebay. When the prices on everything were at an all time high I couldn't believe what people were willing to pay for certain things. I'd watch an auction for a part I needed, like a $100 to a $150 item, & see people bid close to $500 for it because they "had to have it". Same goes for cars on lots. If a salesperson knows you "really like & want the car" you're screwed.

[dkn1997]

I decided to let patience prevail...told the detroit guy no thanks and I won't be reaching out to the local dealer with the black one.  One of my friends said the same thing that most of you guys said:  it's a business deal, to them it's a hunk of metal worth money.  don't get mad.  honestly, if the black car doesn't move and they decide to call, i'd take that call and try to work it out even though they pissed me off.  I won't initiate that contact though. 

I just have to keep looking.. so if anyone knows of a silver/black G8 GT with under 15K on it within 200 miles of long island, pm me!!  lol..  In the meantime, my GTP is a 240hp supercharged daily driver, so I'm not exactly suffering lol..