Is this what car shopping is REALLY like?
I’m an 18 year old college student, and the only car I have ever owned was purchased second from a private party in a newspaper advertisement. Aside from that, I’ve had no experience with car shopping.
Yesterday, I received an advertisement from an auto dealership saying that they were giving away free raffle
I figured “Hell, why not? It should only take a few minutes for them to tell me I don’t have a enough credit, and I can still try for a Corvette.”
I drove over, and one of the salesman said that in addition to running my credit, he could do an appraisal for my current car to get a trade in value, and while he did that I could look around and select a car I would like. I thought that was okay, and he asked for my my keys, which I gave to him.
While I looked through the car lot, another dealer constantly followed me around, practically breathing down my neck and giving long winded speeches about each car I approached. Resisting the urge to backhand him, I went into the building and took a seat to wait for the one who said he would check my credit. He appeared shortly afterwards and asked if I had selected a car, to which I claimed that I had not yet. He strongly urged me to go back out to the lot and choose a car.
Extremely annoyed, I went back out and “chose” a car just to humor him–all I wanted at this point in time was the f’ing raffle ticket so that I could see if I had won, and then leave.
He excitedly told me that my credit was approved, but I needed a cosigner. I told him I did not know anyone, but he said “Oh come on, your mom and dad loves you, right?” and lead me into an office and pointed to a telephone. He watched me as I dialed a number (which was actually my voicemail), and at this point in time, I didn’t even want the raffle ticket anymore, I just wanted to go home. I pretended to leave a message and said to him “No one is home–can I just have my keys now? I really have to get going.”
He said that “the technicians” were still appraising my car, but he would go find them…in the meantime, try thinking of some other numbers to call and ask.
He did not return for a solid 45 minutes, and searched all over the premises for him, demanding his whereabouts from any employee I came across. They all would tell me they would page for him, but nothing happened.
After he appeared again, I yelled for him to give me my keys, but he kept saying things like “But don’t you want to see if you won the Corvette?” or “You’re telling me you don’t want a shot at $50,000″ He asked me if I had even tried asking anyone to cosign for me, and I said “Yes, and the answer was no. The difference between me and you is that I know what the word means!”
He said he would give me the keys if I called them back, put them on the speaker phone, and let him do the talking. I said okay, and he turned on the speaker phone. I dialed a number, and when the person answered the phone and said “Avondale City Police–how may I help you?” he immediately pushed the hook, handed me the keys along with his business card and said “Think it over, okay?” I shoved him to the floor and left.
After this ordeal, I don’t think I’ll ever go to another car dealership. Has anyone ever deal with this before when they shop for a car? How do you deal with it in order to buy a car that you would really like instead of acting under duress?
KB: He said “the technicians” needed to fully evaluate the car, and I saw no problem with it. *smacks himself over the head*
April 20th, 2010 at 2:39 pm
you gave him your car keys
why?
April 20th, 2010 at 3:34 pm
Welcome to the real world of auto dealers. These scum suckers work for commission and do not get paid unless they sell a car. It really sucks, but that is how it goes. I hate buying cars at dealerships. It is a great big joke!
April 20th, 2010 at 3:43 pm
It’s scumbag dealers like this that give the entire business a bad name. And the good dealers complain about the bad image because “they” don’t use such practices. If they had any good sense, they would create a dealer organization that polices itself and culls out such dealers. The NADA is worthless in this respect.
April 20th, 2010 at 4:28 pm
Yea, it is. That is why I do all my car buying on craigslist. I hate car dealerships.
April 20th, 2010 at 4:46 pm
Sad to say about 1 dealer in 5 will try almost anything to make a sale, and they make it much more difficult for the 80 Percent of dealers who will actually a) listen to you and b) work with you to help you choose the right car for your needs at a reasonable price.
Any reputable dealer / sales representative will honor your space if you say you just want to look around, but expect them to remain within easy hailing range ( maximum 100 feet ) so that they are readily available to answer any questions – but they should not follow you around like a lost puppy!
First: The entire deal was a clear set up and any dealer which has to use a “Giveaway” to get customers through the door obviously has such a poor local reputation that they deserve to get a call made to the Local BBB by you to lodge another complaint.
Second: The old caveat still stands strong “If it sounds to good to be true – It probably is not”
Third: The best possible car for you to buy is one that you can pay cash for. Period. It is less expensive to maintain and repair a used vehicle than it is to make payments and pay interest on a new one.
And by all means never ever Fleece (Lease) any vehicle for personal use – the actual costs are far higher than that of financing and at the end of the lease you will have nothing – except the likely hood of a massive over mileage charge and excessive wear and damage charges.
Even worse than a fleece are the “Buy Here – Pay Here” lots which will give you a nice low weekly payment on a car they are selling for usually twice the fair market value at an interest rate that would make any loan shark smile, on a note that will enslave you for the next 5 years at least on a car which is almost guaranteed to die in 2 years or less!
It is far more cost effective to purchase and maintain a used vehicle and save the difference for a newer and nicer vehicle a couple of years down the road. An older vehicle will also save you money in the form of lower insurance costs too!
Avoid the clutches of the predatory lenders – Buy Cash, Pay Cash. Live Cash and build real wealth.
April 20th, 2010 at 5:01 pm
OMG salesmen are sooo annoying! Thats’s why I always go look at cars on Sunday without the hassle! But it’s bad when you go to these expensive dealers(i.e. Acura, BMW, Lexus) and they don’t even bother coming out to help you because they feel you’re not gonna buy anything! ugh the agony!