Confused how some dealers stay in business

Since last Friday (7 days ago) I have sent 5 different emails to 5 different employees of a dealership asking how much a lease would be on a car that has the biggest discount I have seen. If they don’t respond, I move on and send another email to another employee. My email is really nice and basic. I am not even trying to hack it at this point.

I finally broke down and called today and they confirmed the price. I asked if they could please send me a quote and they said they would have it to me in an hour. It’s 5 hours later and nothing. It makes no sense to me as a business owner that I can’t even get a response. I’d be out of business if I treating inquiries like this.

Why are you asking 5 different salesperson of the same dealership?

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1 was the internet sales manager. He assigned 2 salesmen to it Friday. I reached out to them. Got no response. Followed up again. Got no response. Reached back out to the internet sales manager and sales manager. Nothing. So I called today.

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Find a different dealership easy and simple as that.

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This story would have been better if you had waited until the ending.

PS - the ending is that the price online included 8 stacked purchase incentives that you don’t qualify for. Sorry to spoil it for you.

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I wish that was the case but it isn’t. There is a $750 lease incentive.

The mystery car sounds like a Honda, :crystal_ball: but at least it’s off ramp, so that’s okay

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Not far off. It’s a Toyota.

If a dealer is this unresponsive I have no idea why you would want to keep trying, there’s a crap ton of Toyota dealers out there. With volume makes I feel like there’s almost no incentive to go with any particular/local dealer, there’s usually no perks like luxury brands with loaners etc

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But this one might be different!

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Have you tried this? Most manufacturers have something similar that helps get a baseline

It’s not about being different. Just figured a basic question would get a response.

Thanks. I appreciate it.

They’re probably too busy assembling their army of labor day sale lawn inflatables to deal with your shenanigans.

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You are probably right although I didn’t realize confirming price and asking for pricing on a 24/12k lease with zero due at signing was shenanigans. Thank you for clearing it up. I’m learning.

There’s some dealers/brokers on here that post some great Toyota deals, depending on your secret location

You’re welcome. Just patiently wait until they’re done blowing up this bad boy to attract alllllllllllllllllllll the car buyers, then they’ll get back to you.

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Thank you for pointing that out. There are some great dealers/brokers on here. Figured I would give it a whirl first.

Just like the trophy garage, can we get one thread of all the tent sale blow up critters in one place? I might just got spotting Labor Day weekend.

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I think that the one thing that people are failing to point out is that dealership sales people get paid on commission. 100% commission. And they do not get paid unless you buy and answering your question does not result in getting paid (yes, they are all short sighted). So, the reason you likely are not getting a response is because the people you are contacting are not getting the sense that you are ready to buy and it is probably because you are asking open ended questions (over the phone no less). Now don’t take it personal, you are doing what any sane consumer would do which is to get a feel for what you are gong to spend before really settling in and going for the deal and investing the least amount of time possible (a phone call). This is the age old dilemma and while dealers exist, this type of brush off behavior will exist.

The good news it that like others HAVE pointed out, there are ways to get an idea. If you are looking for a Toyota, you are in the best position possible. Cody Carter from Tustin Toyota has a thread on here, and on that thread he shares spreadsheet with all his deals. These deals are among the best deals (read good price) and can actually be done (are real). Head on over there and get that sheet. Then don’t even think twice about why some dudes (or dudettes) from a certain dealer won’t call you back.

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