My husband and I have been looking at cars since we’re looking to lease in July. We know it’s a bit ahead of time since it’s only March but I really wanted to test drive my top options so I can really narrow down my list. We’ve visited Audi, LR, Lexus, Acura, and Volvo thus far. We never visited on a Saturday, always a weekday around 6-7 pm, and always gave them a heads up days before that we weren’t leasing until July and made an appointment. Yesterday, we visited BMW, and the salesman told us and I’m quoting here “if I was any other salesman I would’ve told you to screw yourself and hung up on you when you told me you weren’t leasing for another 4 months. But I’m doing you a favor.” He then proceeded to explain NOTHING about the X5, and told me the lease payments would be around 1000 a month with around 5k DAS.
Is it really rude of me to test drive this far in advance? Or was the salesman just a jerk? Just wanna know! Thanks
He’s a complete degenerate and you should not give that dealer your business, for both the fact that the dealer employs him and that it is a ridiculous rip off quote.
Try a broker on here.
Leave him a horrible review on yelp.
If it was on a busy Saturday I would have a different opinion, however you went mid week when it was dead anyway. He could have earned your business down the line and represented the dealer in a negative light.
He sounds like a typical douchebag but maybe for future test drives, just say you’re looking to lease ‘soon’ they don’t need to know what your timeframe is, especially just for testing out the cars.
So you really aren’t buying a car. And the sales guy is trying to earn a living.
He was rude but then again if I was the sales guy I would think poorly of you too.
Then don’t ever be a sales guy! What is the purpose of having a huge selection of cars on dealer lots if not to entice potential customers to test drive and then buy?
The other thing I like to do is get into detailed price discussions. Back and forth back and forth. With the salesman. Then with Guido the closer back and forth. Then with the floor manager. Back and forth, back and forth. Head to head.
Then after a few hours of that I just tell em’ - Hey thanks that was fun !
That logic isn’t really applicable here though… I can actually afford the X5, and was actually one of my top options. Now I won’t even consider it because it was by far the worst service I got. None of the other dealerships saw the issue with me test driving early. In fact, they all weren’t even pushy at all.
Glad I’m not the only one! I’ll be working very crazy hours in the coming months so now is when I had the time to do the visits. I was as curteous as could be by not going on weekends and such. And I didn’t even make them crunch numbers or anything for me.
I’d also like to add that there were no other customers there. He was sitting at his desk doing nothing. So I really don’t get his logic, but hey!
There’s a real dissonance between manufacturers and dealers when it comes to test drives. Every automaker seems to encourage you to “see your local XYZ dealer for a test drive!” while the actual dealership wants to help only if you’re purchasing a car. Perhaps that’s why brands like BMW have driving events outside of the dealership network.
If I want to test drive a car, I go in when it’s quiet and tell the representative upfront that I still need to check out competing models. I try to be respectful of their time and don’t bother with requesting quotes. They might hand you off to a Genius or an assistant for the test drive, which is fine in my book.
Our society seems to be heading down a very deep and dark path. Nowadays people are all about the instant gratification…news, information, attention from others by text/Snapchat , etc. is all right there at our fingertips. I may even venture to say driving isn’t as gratifying as it used to be since all I see is people on their phones when they should be driving. My idea here is that the customer experience that many of us still desire is waning. People are starting to expect things instaneously and not work towards a true and trusting relationship. I was just in a Chevy dealer recently and as soon as the salesman knew I wasn’t purchasing that night - he seemed put off. He didn’t even shake our hands prior to leaving. (he even made the comment prior that if a customer leaves - they won’t come back - which was his saying behind trying his best to make a sale now!) It makes me really wonder how lucky these salesmen typically are at getting everyone that walks through the front doors to buy right then and there or is it that there are so many buyers out there that they will just sell to someone else?! In the case of my salesman, I now know why they don’t typically come back to see him. He probably sent them the same “I’m writing you off as a customer vibe.”
I’ve test driven plenty of cars when telling the sales people “I’m just visiting options right now, have no intention of purchasing immediately.” I’ve even returned to some of those dealers where the salesmen were the most understanding or courteous.
Even recommended others to go to those Dealers.
Screw that guy. I’ve worked sales and retail before; ALWAYS be courteous and kind regardless of what you think of the customer.
In trying to lease my current X2 my local dealer gave me an outrageous price about $250/month then I actually leased the car at another dealer thinking I was stupid and uneducated on leasing and the manager comes over and says why dont you leaseca Mazda CX 5 instead…so he wanted me to go to an entirely different automobile brand. Dueche chills. Will never visit that dealer again.
It’s not rude at all. Especially since it’s not on a weekend. I much rather show someone a car than be bored sitting down if I have nothing to do. Salesman was overall being a jerk I agree with some post wouldn’t give him the business.
