Floyd Norris had an interesting article in yesterday's New York Times about the state of the auto industry. He notes that car buyers in general are coming back and, as he shows in the second graph, there's been a sharp uptick in consumer purchases.
But I'm not one of these buyers, and am not going to be for quite some time in spite of the fact that my current car is almost seven years old and that I've never had a vehicle this long before. The reason? Somehow the experience of buying a new car has become even worse than it was before the economy in general and the auto industry in particular tanked and it's simply not worth my time or frustration.
So I'm voting with my feet...and wallet.
It's not for lack of trying on my part. As I first described last May, I've made several attempts. But the most recent...which have occurred over the past four weeks or so, have been even more infuriating. They've included salespeople who:
- Know less about their products than I do
- Don't know who to ask when they don't know the answer to a question
- Think it's my responsibility to find the person in the dealership with an answer
- Don't return phone calls
- Don't get back to me even within a day of when they promise
In one case I walked into a dealership knowing what I wanted and prepared to buy, but after 30 minutes couldn't get a salesperson to work with me.
I left.
In another, the deal being offered didn't add up. I don't mean that it didn't make sense; I mean the numbers literally didn't add up. When I pointed that out, they were unwilling to change them.
I left.
Online sales have been just as nonsensical. When I get a response at all, the e-mail I get about a particular model says nothing more than come on in. (Note to online sales people: IF I WANTED TO COME IN I WOULDN'T BE CONTACTING YOU VIA E-MAIL!). In several cases the car I wanted and which supposedly was in stock didn't actually exist. Twice I was told that the car shown on the website had been sold more than a month earlier.
And all of this was as true of dealers for foreign and domestic manufactures.
I'm not sure whether the problem is fewer qualified people wanting to be salesmen and women because there's less money to be made, dealerships cutting back on training and quality control to save money, or a total disdain for the consumer.
Here's my bottom line: if auto companies want to sell more cars, they had better realize that the buying experience is as important as the quality of the vehicle.
In the meantime, I'm going to start learning more about quality repair shops.
Sales Weasels
Let's compare war stories. Nobody will win because if you are comparing how bad things are, there is no winner. But I did end up buying a car...
First dealer: Knowledge of vehicles was very good, but he could not get the car I wanted with the package I wanted. Sure, he could get the loaded version (about $2k more), but not the mid-range. Plus, charged an extra $750 due to being in the Southeast US (nothing he had control over). Then, when a deal was made (he came down a bit on that $2k) with the promise the car would be delivered in 3 days, initially refused to return my deposit when the car was NOT there in 3 days. Ultimately, the deposit was refunded.
Second dealer: One of last two vehicles of model year was my target. Weasel offered $400 discount for older model year. I showed them how this vehicle's resale value was $1,500 less than the current model year. No change in offer. Plus, offered $250 for trade-in (about 20% of its real trade-in value), computing that by taking (approx) Kelly Blue Book trade-in value, then decreasing amount due to age, mileage, condition, etc... I thought the KBB value already took that into consideration? Walked out.
Third dealer (the worst): Walked in, told Weasel what I wanted. He looked at available cars, read off retail price (research had shown retail was $2-3k higher than going rate), told me I could not get what I wanted in my price range. Tried to test-drive car, but gates were closed, so test-drive was 1/8 mile at 16mph. Gave Weasel my desired monthly payment and time frame, and he disappeared, only to reappear and say he could not do it, but if I extended my payment length by a year, "and that should be easy!", it was a deal! I asked him for $6,000, and he gave me a dumb stare. I stated "if 12 payments of $500 was that easy, then he should be willing to give it to me right then and there." Continued dumb stare from Weasel, and I walked.
Fourth dealer: I gave up on local dealers, and went out of state (near family). Not only was the $750 surcharge not an issue there, but the car market was down quite a bit and they were willing to deal more. I asked why I should buy from them instead of cross-town rival who offered and additional warranty. Phone Weasel stated his dealership was thiiiiiis close to getting the same absolutely wonderful warranty. Via email and phone calls, made a deal for a car, and arranged to fly up to get it. Got a call two days before the flight and was told the car would not be there when I needed it, but *might* be there the next day (I had already made arrangements to meet with clients the next day on the drive home). Told him that was unacceptable. Plus, the extended warranty he was thiiiiis close to getting fell through, and he started to spew on about how they are not that great anyways.
Fifth dealer (the winner): Cross-town rivals of fourth dealer. Took two emails and two 15 minutes phone calls to get the car I wanted (already on the lot), in an acceptable price range, with a loan a full percentage less than any other I had been offered (2% less than my credit union offered). Flew out, showed up at lot, car was there, paperwork was signed, deal done. Nothing to it. Salesperson (definitely NOT a weasel) would not let me drive away until spending almost an hour going over EVERYTHING in that car with me. It had features I had not realized, and repeatedly going through safety features was nice (and all after papers had been signed).
So, don't give up hope... My in depth scientific/anecdotal studies show you may have luck with up to 20% of dealers you visit.
Minor correction - drop that to maybe 10% - I forgot to add the dealers I contacted that failed to call me back within 2 months...
you simply lack motivation
you simply lack motivation :-P
People need to understand its
People need to understand its almost 100% a lack of communication between both salesman, and customer. Salesman have a bad reputation of being liars, but even worse is us as consumers lie 10x as much. Being direct and to the point with your salesman is the key to an effortless transaction. Remember, dealerships are like every other business, they WILL offer you something different. Go to a movie theater, ask for a medium popcorn, they offer you a large for $.50 more AND you get a soda. What is wrong with offering people some choices?