Warning: Rant & long story!

Yesterday I decided it was my day to go buy a Honda Sport Automatic Fit at a good price, and the bottom line was that I succeeded finally at Sunnyvale Honda (bought at MSRP, no haggling). But the road to that purchase resulted in going through a few other (closer) dealerships first.

Before I went to do my shopping I emailed some local Honda dealers for quotes. One of them in particular, Salinas Honda, said:
Little do they know I got a quote for MSRP from Sunnyvale Honda. So I went to them, with printouts of these two emails, naively hoping for the best.

A young salesman greeted me, and I told him that I already test drove the car, and I was ready to talk about pricing. I gave him the price ($16420, including dest), and told him I am asking for this price specifically because of the low price policy. So he went to his manager to talk about price. It must have caught the manager off guard to see that some other places were offering MSRP, so the young sales rep came back and said He can offer down to $16600 including dest.

I got wide-eyed and asked him "what about the $100 low price policy?", and he went back to his manager. What happened after that was a whole bunch of back-and-forths between the sales rep, me and the manager. It came down to that the manager didn't want to do the price match because the competing Honda dealer's quote said "$15970 + fees + accessories", which this manager said they couldn't do a price match for because (according to him) who knows what accessories that other dealer was adding in.

I was really irked because their original email to me didn't say "price with accessories", but rather just plain ol' price. I told the sales rep that if he really wanted a comparison with accessories, call that dealer (and confirm it with my ears) to ask the competing dealer which accessories came with the FIT. The young sales rep actually did do that, and I confirmed it with him that the other Honda dealer could have a Sport Fit with ZERO accessories added on.

However his manager still wouldn't budge, and neither would I. I got the price down to MSRP, but the manager wouldn't honor his original statement of $100 off the lowest price. Eventually I got the manager to come out to speak to me, and he told me he wouldn't do the price match because it wouldn't be exact since the other dealer's quote to me "included the word accessories". I told him he simply wasn't keeping his word, and playing semantic games. I also told him if that he could confirm that the other dealer did infact have no accessories if he called them -- of course he refused to do this. Then he gave me the standard "oh we're not making hardly any money off this car anyways, and you're down to MSRP now" -- as if this sale with me is the ONLY sale they're making this month. I hate any talk about "oh we're not making THAT much!", especially seeing the markup on almost all their vehicles on the lot. Even at $100 off a Honda Sport Automatic Fit will provide at at least 5% profit of MSRP (if you include holdback), which I consider very fair. And yes, I did tell him all this as well.

I told him that if I wanted MSRP, I would have gone to the other dealer first, and that the reason I came here is because I thought this dealer had a good low price policy and would actually honor their advertised words. I told him I wouldn't budge on principle of honesty and integrity, which is true -- I like salespeople to keep their words.

We argued some more about the meaning of wording of both the other dealer and his email. So the deal fell apart, and I basically said goodbye to them. I felt quite angry about the manager playing semantic games and being quite shady with me, and I vocally told them this as well. All just to make more off someone else who would have bought the car with a high markup. I have no angst against the younger salesman; I think he was actually quite helpful and trying to convince his boss that he should probably honor the low price policy.

Maybe I should have seen it coming. According to the site carbuyingtips.com, this kind of low price guarantee almost never happens. I guess it just doesn't hit you until it happens to you personally.

Well after this incident I went to other Honda Dealer that was offering at MSRP, and I DID in fact get MSRP on a new Nighthawk Black Honda Fit, so it made my day at the end any. But let this be a lesson to you all, be wary of low price guarantees! And don't buy at Shady Salinas Honda!

/rant off

 

What dealer didn't honor the $100 off best deal?

 

Salinas Honda didn't honor the $100 Low Price Policy.

 

Sorry to hear... Some dealerships just do not know hos to earn the customer's respect...

 

I do not take into consideration any extraneous buzz advertising for any product from any source least of all on a car purchase. Bottom line is, when you walk into a dealership you are entering a 100% free enterprise zone. Everything is subject to negotiation including every bit of advertising "promise" because there is always a loophole. That is reality.

That's why I hate shopping at Walmart, no negotiation!

PS - There is nothing a car salesman secretly enjoys better than when a customer tells an absolutely outrageous lie with a straight face as a negotiation ploy with the customer knowing that there is no way the salesman will swallow it.

 

GodofGamblers...I'd report them to the BBB.

 

I'm not sure exactly what to take of the PS statement. I certainly wasn't lying to the dealer or you guys, and I have the emails to prove it. But after yesterday, I now know it's true that the dealearship is "free enterprise zone" -- even if that means being dishonest to the customer. But hey, "free enterprise zones" probably would be more profitable in the long run if they had better customer relationships =).

 

doubt it.

people have little loyality towards auto dealerships, regardless of how they are treated.

customers shopping around for price will not go back to a dealership, even if they are treated well. however, even if they are treated not very well, the next time they are in the market for a car, you quote them a low enough price, they will come back.

i've seen customers that gave horrible CSI scores come back to the dealership to buy another car, just because we are the cheapest.

 

Send the salesman a link to this site: tell him he's now famous. Gota love the net!

 

That's not entirely true.

I purchased a 2004 WRX from Fitzgerald Subaru in Rockville, MD and not only would I never go anywhere else to purchase another Subaru product, but I have referred dozens of people back to them, at least 5 of which have purchased cars there.

They are a no-haggle dealership, and they always fit their prices just about spot-on to CarsDirect's "target" price, give or take a tiny bit. They are quick and efficient during the buying process.

My car was a factory-ordered vehicle, so it wasn't like it was sitting on the lot, but I still got it for very close to invoice, and it's a fairly desireable vehicle, not something that tends to get discounted heavily.

But yeah, they were just completely a class-act during the process. While they F&I guys were doing my credit report and determining my rate (1.9% at the time), the salesman and I took a spin in an STI (not generally available for test drives) and then later, he gave me a tour of the service dept because I said I was interested. I was treated very well and even though I no longer own the car, I'll still stop by once in awhile and say hi to the salesman (he's an avid Subie enthusiast).

 

All speech is a form of deception, that's reality. Think about it, why did humans create speech in the first place?

Negotiation, horse trading, is a great thing to do. It seems so much of modern life has become stunted and constrained. We need a bit of the old horse trading spirit and matching wit. When I was negotiating my 2001SE Miata, my salesman told be that his brother had just won $10,000,000 (it was in the paper the previous day that someone had won $10 million). You have got to love a bit of off hand B.S. like that and he still gave me a good deal.

As for becoming indignant, well, haven't we all noticed that no one lies so much as the indignant man?

 

Not so much a smarmy dealer, but a pain in the butt who just couldn't figure out that I wanted the BLUE one.

I went to the dealer last Thursday to test drive / purchase the FIT. The one they had on the lot was it - the blue Sport 5mt. THE CAR. I drove it, we sat down, did all the paperwork. And then the salesman disappeared. Only to reappear 15 minutes later to tell me that the car I had just driven, the one I had just done all the paperwork on, had already been sold. Nice, eh?

Well, that's okay, he says. "I'll call around and get you the one you want."

Great, I leave a deposit and go merrily on my way.

Jackhole calls me today to tell me that there's nary a blue 5mt to be found in Ohio, but he has a Silver Storm that I can have today. I've been very clear since the beginning that I want the blue one. I'm willing to wait. Ah, but no. He decides he wants to badger me into taking the Silver. Telling me, "Oh, you already have a blue car, don't you want a change?" and "It's only the exterior, it's not like you'll see it when you're driving." And just plain being pushy, trying to talk me into buying a color I don't want.

Grrrrrr...

So as of this moment, I have a Blue 5AT Sport on order from another dealer. And Rick Case Honda in Cleveland can kiss my hiney.

 

[quote=TrafficChick] I've been very clear since the beginning that I want the blue one. I'm willing to wait. Ah, but no. He decides he wants to badger me into taking the Silver. Telling me, "Oh, you already have a blue car, don't you want a change?" and "It's only the exterior, it's not like you'll see it when you're driving." And just plain being pushy, trying to talk me into buying a color I don't want.


hey TrafficChick! good for you for sticking up for yourself...and what you want! i bet you'll be super pleased you waited for the perfect blue one!

 

Why would they? Dealerships have nothing to offer the consumer except for the price itself. The entire business model is outdated; reality just hasn't caught up yet.

What a beautiful day that will be.

 

For those that live near Redondo Beach and Torrance, CA, Scott Robinson Honda is another smarmy dealer. They had nearly a $2000 markup on their Sport Fit there. Plus they don't really have any in stock.

-Ed

 

What dealer? I am getting my Fit from Jack Matia. I have called all the others and even shopped around a bit (secure with the fact that I have had my deposit at Matia for months now) and most of the area dealers suck. I am west side of Cleveland by the way. How about you?

 

indeed... now arent you glad that you will never see that day??

 

I'm confused. Shouldn't a business model be based on reality, instead of the other way around. I'm not a business man, so excuse my ignorance.

 

This is something that I wonder about.

Auto Dealers exist solely because there are franchise laws in place to protect them, nothing about the current dealership structure makes sense from an economic standpoint. The United States has laws in place that prohibit the OEM manufacturer from selling vehicles directly to the consumer, hence the need for franchised auto dealers.

The OEM's *hate* this. In every country where they can get away with it (i.e. Japan), new cars are sold straight from the OEM to the consumer. If you want a Toyota, you go to the Toyota store, owned and managed by Toyota, and you buy one. It makes for lower prices, better service, etc... It gives the OEM's direct control over their sales & service reputation too, which they love. If anyone ever gets around to overcoming the dealer lobbyists and changes the laws there will be a MASSIVE shakeup, because every single OEM in this country will dissolve their franchises in a New York Minute, given the chance.

Until then, I guess we're stuck with the current system, which I guess is fine for me, because if there were no dealers, my REIT wouldn't have anyone to lease dealership property to and we'd go out of business, and I'd be out of a job, lol.

 

Don't be so smug. The current industry structure only exists because of franchise laws. The automotive industry is unique in that OEMs are required by law to give their franchisees incredible amounts of latitude - latitude that you don't see in any other franchise business in the country. The automakers would absolutely love it if they could exert more control over the dealer structure. They would gain greater consistency in dealer structure, greater control over pricing and dealer location, be able to cut out the whole holdback structure which does nothing but complicate accounting at the OEMs, and in general be able to run a more efficient business. All this is prevented because of a law that's almost 100 years old, and is pretty outdated from where I'm sitting. (BKKJack, this is why reality hasn't caught up with the business model - because the business model is artificially protected by legislation.)

In an economy that prides itself on market efficiency, the auto industry is truly an anachronism.