Went to Gunther Volvo to look at a XC60. MSRP 47,600.
Helping a female friend shop this and a few others.
Sit down and he immediately wants to know what else we have looked at. She tells him the Volvo, Caddy XT4/5, and Infiniti QX50. Right away we get the whole this is a “Volvo”, not some Chevy Equinox or Nissan spiel. Should have known right there.
He comes back with 36/12k for 2888 DAS and 549+tax. Not going to happen. Asked for specifics and he could only tell me 3000 discount. The negative talk about the competition and how Volvo is another level continues. Had to drop that I currently have a E300 Coupe and Giulia in the house, just to let him know that we are not impressed. Nice car but cmon.
Female friend (buyer) wants to walk based on his aggressive behavior and tone but tell her to stick it out. Go out to to walk around and look at the car again. The second she sits in the car, he jumps in the passenger seats and starts throwing numbers around which I can hear from afar. I get in and he changes the topic. Just fishy stuff. Tells us he can do a little better but no specifics.
Decide its time to walk and go back in to get my glasses on his desk and then leave. Sales Manager comes out to say goodbye and I’m getting ready for the whole “sorry we couldn’t make it work” spiel. No - he comes out aggressively. Wasn’t sure if he was going to get physical or talk. It was so weird. Again with the the whole “This is a Volvo” talk. Let him know that I have a Benz and Alfa and got both for 1% and under. He says that rule never includes fees/taxes and those are very rare deals. I shake my head and walk out as he says “good luck with the Chrysler, I mean Alfa”.
In all my car buying over the years and helping friends and family, I have never experienced such a condescending, negative, and hostile approach. Sure they are sharks and the art of the deal/negotiating is something I love but this was a whole other level.
Will be passing on the word to my employees and clients within the county about Gunther.
Sorry to hear you had to go through an experience like that. Deals seem to be the worst from salespeople on the showroom floor. Have you tried getting quotes online?
Also, added a “FL” tag to this thread so folks know you’re talking about a Volvo dealership in Florida.
I’m big believer of treating people with respect and this was just something I don’t think anybody should have to deal with. You don’t like the offer (customer or seller), you walk but getting degrading is just bad practice. I’ll be spreading the word far and wide.
It’s difficult if you’re trying to help someone and they’re test driving vehicles as well. It makes sense to get quotes at the same time but you’re at the mercy of which ever sales person you happen to be approached by.
Like most companies a dealership is only as good as the managers, if they exhibit poor practices so will everyone under them.
Interesting,I had the complete opposite experience at Gunther. I leased two S90’s there. One for myself then went back the next month and got one for my parents. My parents live in Maryland and flew down to get the car and they helped make everything smooth with the out of state transaction. The sales person was clueless however I asked to talk to the sales manager and I dealt with him directly and everything was smooth. Who was the manager you talked to? I feel like dealing with sales people in most dealerships is wasted time. There is so much turnover in the industry they are usually clueless.
Best way to negotiate would be to always start through email so that way when you go into the store there is no games played by neither the customer nor the sales person /sales manager. Certain stores may be able to give a better discount and more “hacker worthy” deal than others…
I feel that the reason why a lot of “lease hackers” get into confrontations when doing in person negotiations is because the conversation is always driven towards price and “well I need 1% because lease hacker says so blah blah blah”.
Was this the Gunther in Delray or Coconut Creek? My parents have bought several cars from Gunther, and my dad is getting annoyed with his experiences with his current car.
You could try Weston Volvo (or are both of you in Palm Beach?). Weston Volvo was accommodating with me a few years ago, but then their only AWD model sold, so I was out.
You should have not step foot in before online discussion with an internet manager. Typical FL dealer. Not all are like that but yes. Dealt with them before and others but sorry to say, All Volvo dealers are like that in FL. Last year, this particular dealer was advertising Costco prices for 3 weeks after Costco deal had ended. So yea figures.
You need to know the selling price, and I’m assuming this is FWD? Is it an inscription or Mom.?
The MF is too high for FWD S60s. Inscription should be 0.00045, and Mom. should be 0.00041.
I approximated this the best I could at the wrong MF, Calc. 1, which means they’re discounting the car more at the wrong MF, so your payment should be lower.
It looks like they marked it down to $41,500, so the payment should be more like $417 + tax (I did 7%, assuming you’re in Broward). Calc 2.
Negotiated the lease of a 2018 Volvo S60 T5 FWD at Gunther Volvo Delray Beach for 36 months at $315 per month (inclu tax) with $600 DAS last summer.
I called Gunther first and asked to speak with the new car SM. I requested that he email me their lease worksheet with all pertinent data. He was very cooperative. I vetted the data, did my research on the sell price, researched rebates/incentives, etc. Finally, I created a one-page lease proposal (all calcs were done using my own lease program that I created in both Excel and Mathematica… screw calculators!). At that point, I was clearly in control of the deal. I emailed the SM my lease proposal and we spent 4-5 days negotiating the sell price (I discovered that southern FL dealers are tough to deal with but, I remained in control).
When we agreed to terms, I requested the SM to email me the completed lease agreement and supporting lease worksheet for my review. All the numbers matched my final proposal and I emailed the dealer provided docs to the customer for her review. Got the okay. Dealer drove the car to her home some 20 miles away.to drop off the new car and picked up her old leased Volvo (there was no trade… she was simply turning it in- no equity and no excess wear/tear charges). She signed all the docs making damn sure they matched those that I emailed her. Bottom line… $315 per month, $600 DAS.
Overall, good experience.
