I just drove by Hendrick Honda in Woodbridge, VA. I had emailed them before I bought my Fit. Long story short - they quoted me $1600 over MSRP before taxes, tags and everything else. They also had added a special "dealer package" that I think was something like $1500. When I asked what the price would be without the package, they never emailed me back. It gave me great pleasure to drive up in my Fit and tell them how much I love it.
They had two Fits on the lot (both Sports). They had a Milano Red Automatic and a Vivid Blue Pearl Manual. They were marked $17,000 something for the red and $16,000 something for the blue.

 

do you honestly think they care??

 

No, but it felt good to know they lost out on a sale none the less.

 

The salesman at the first dealership I dealt with in Vancouver wouldn't budge at all. I just found it a little funny that when I shopped around the APA deal, it was the first dealership that called me first at 8:30 am.

In the end, it's that first salesman who will be handling my delivery when it comes in. lol

 

I am not too far from you and we currently have a black 5 speed manual sport in stock. I have more coming and we are not marking them up over MSRP. The only thing we installed was wheel locks and they are $69.
Let me know if you are interested,
Neal
ngoldberg@mileone.com

 

I already bought my Base Automatic in Storm Silver, but thanks for the offer.

 

Am I the only one annoyed by this 'salesman'?

 

Of course not!

 

Only if they are reasonably intelligent.

 

if they really are intelligent.

then every dealership would hold msrp on every single car.

 

always with the remarks hehe...

 

Nope. It they are "reasonably intelligent," they will keep the prices high. It's called the law of supply and demand. Someone is bound to have either the money or the desperation to purchase it at their price.

 

Intelligence has little to do with caring. Caring is an emotion and that is where our annoying salesperson is coming from. Car sales people have no real emotions so they won't care.

 

I take offense to that statement. I am a car salesperson that has been awarded for the past 6 years by my customers for the service that I provide. I have sold Parents their cars, then their kids, friends, family. I have a very loyal following of customers.

However I have heard some horror stories about how people have been treated as well and that pisses me off because it tarnishes my reputation.
Neal

 

i had no trouble with most my salesperson - it was the financial guy. man they are the worst. i think its either one or the other - good cop bad cop. one will get you.

 

I also take offense to this. Not all sales people are money hungry a**holes. I DO have real emotions. A lot of the other dealers here do too. There are a few salespeople on these forums. Please watch their behavior and label us fairly. Don't lump us all together just because of some "bad eggs".
Russ Swinnerton
Faulkner Honda

 

My statement was that dealers care about their reputation and how their customers feel if they are reasonably intelligent.

That's not the law of supply and demand at all. That's smart and lasting business.

 

I now ask salespeople how long they have been at the dealership. The last three times we've bought new cars, the salesperson quit/moved on to another job, during or just after purchase. My loyalty is to the product, not to the salesperson telling me what they think I want to hear.

 

No dealer stays in business without caring about their reputation and customer satisfaction. Assuming the goal is to stay in business, then yes, intelligent business practice does include caring.

Of course this doesn't mean that they care about the actual customers. The term "care" applies to selfish factors just as well philanthropic ones.

 

You can sheer a sheep many times but you can only skin it once.

Unfortunately alot of car salesmen are lucky to last 2 months at a dealership before moving on to the next and then the next so they don't give a rats about customer relationships, the particular dealers rep or anything except making as much commission as possible. All about the fast buck.

Of the dozens of car salesmen I've dealed with over the years I've only come across 2 that were professional, loyal, lifers. Both were near retirement age and worked at the one dealership (in each case) for decades, built up relationships with customers where they came back every few years to buy their next new car or one for their kids, friends, relatives, etc. No BS pricing or tricks because they didn't need to. Sadly they are few and far between and a dieing breed.

In Australia every other product sold just has a price but cars are price plus taxes, dealer charges +++. These charges would be the same each time a particular vehicle is sold yet they have to sit down and calculate the cost as if its never been done before every time. Every car company that has come along and offered a drive away no more to pay price policy on a particualr model has sold bucket loads of cars yet the rest just can't comprehend that this is what the majority of people would like and probably why so many people hate the car buying process.