Customer inquired about an 18K (20Kish after TTL) vehicle:
Customer: I have 15K cash burning a hole in my pocket and nobody seems to want it!
Me: Do you have another 5K in the other pocket?
Customer: How dare you! You can’t talk to me that way. I am going to come down there and make sure nobody is ever spoken to like that again.
Me: No problem Sir. I work Tuesday through Saturday from 730AM to 5PM. Have a wonderful day.
I can’t actually pick fights with customers and you never know who is going to be a nutbag that brings in weapons or who is some kind of awesome MMA ninja, but I am also comfortable enough with boxing that I don’t let cyber-wieners push me around.
Two weeks later he comes in, doesn’t mention ANYTHING regarding his interaction with me, works with a floor guy, and buys the car at the asking price. Also he financed most of the vehicle so it does appear the cash burned a hole in his pocket completely which resulted in the money falling out.
Was looking to snag a 2020 Bolt from a Maryland dealer on April 30. I sent them a GM sign and drive deal created from their own website. They called me and said you can’t lease a 2020 any longer. After I told them you certainly could they called me back and quoted me a payment that was almost $400 more than what I sent them. Basically full MSRP and missing the Costco cash.
I really do wonder how these places stay in business but then remember it is used cars and service that pull in most of the revenue.
Sent out some offers over the weekend thru Monday (last day of April programs). Some offers were just payment, DAS and MSD; and the rest were with a full breakdown.
Thought this correspondence was bemusing.
Thank you for your spreadsheet. Before we work on this I wanted to point out some errors. The MSRP of the vehicle is $___
The Doc fee is $__ not $___
Plates are $___ not $___
Are we speaking about the correct stock number _____?
OK, maybe that’s all technically correct (although I have my doubts about plates). MSRP varies very slightly based on which BS accessories incl. floor mats, cargo net, rear bumper applique, etc are there or not so I picked an MSRP in the middle for my calculations and didn’t bother updating for every single minor variation. But I’m not interested in trench warfare arguing over every line item. And I’m not interested in paying more just because your doc fee is so far above the state average (if you want a big doc fee, it comes out of the selling price). So I figure a shift away from this approach might help and just say yes, I’m interested in leasing that stock number.
His reply:
Ok, you might want to check your numbers then… The MSRP, Tags, Doc are incorrect
While shopping for an Audi, I had one dealer pretty much make fun of my offer. In her initial response, the employee’s tone (although it was via email) was condescending. After I stopped responding to her follow up emails last week, I decided to let her know that I was no longer interested in working with her or her dealership since I had finalized a deal.
The Customer Experience Specialist (no lie that was her title) still wanted to know if there was anything she could do to earn my business. I told her NO.
Has buying/leasing cars gotten worse during Covid? It was never like this when I got my first lease 3 years ago.
Ask and you shall receive. I asked for 13% off MSRP and they countered with 5%. Told the dealer I was going to pass on their offer, but I guess they did not get the memo.
I can’t match that trade-in ($39,000 vs $41,000). We have a 180-inspection to make it a certified vehicle that would leave us no profit after reselling it.
key, check. wipers blades, check. seats, check. windows, check. brake pedal, check…
i’m not knocking on mechanics or the inspection, but i bet that 90% of the items are very basic items that are within that point checklist.
Small freaking world.
I dealt with that dealership 3 years ago, when I was looking to lease an A4. Although, I did not deal with Suzanne then, I did not end up leasing from them for a few reasons.
I can’t believe folks like her work with customers on a daily basis. Maybe they deal with enough walk-ins who will pay whatever the dealership offers.
