IS THAT GOOD BUSINESS?

“Is that good business” - a segment dedicated to discussing and exposing the frustrating aspects of capitalism in our day to day life that leave us questioning, “is that good business?”

Car Dealerships

My wife and I were looking to purchase a car this weekend. We had spent a couple of months researching and looking online, Craig List, Car Max, E-bay and the like, but none of those avenues had panned out. It did however; give us a good barometer of the kind and price of car that we were looking for, so we felt well equipped to purchase.

We set out to several nearby car dealership in Richardson TX, dealerships that are close to Campbell and US 75… after taking my wife’s advice, I have decided not to put the name of the dealership in the blog, but if you contact me, I will tell you each dealership name and the name of the sales person that helped us.

Dealership #1

My wife and I enter the establishment and were quickly greeted by a Salesman, we will call him Bob. Bob small talked a little and ask us
“What kind of car are you looking for today?”

We explain that we are looking for a used vehicle that we can purchase with $11,000 cash.

Bob nods in agreement that he understands what my wife and I just said.

He took us around, showed us a half a dozen cars, none of which were up to my wife’s liking.

Bob then asked the great line – “What do I need to do to get you into a car today?”

I replied – “Bob, I need a car that my wife likes and that you are willing to part with for $11,000 cash.”

Bob nodded in agreement like he understood.

He then showed us another half dozen cars, all of which were $16,000 and up.

“Bob, this car that you are showing us looks good, after a test drive and if we like it, will you part with it for $11,000?”

At which he responds – “that’s a Sales Manager question, I just show the cars.”

Bob doesn’t ask or make a move to go get the sales manager. We then start walking back to the store, at which point Bob asks,

“What do I need to do to get you in a car today?”

I replied – “Bob, I need a car that my wife likes and that you are willing to part with for $11,000 cash.”

At this point, Bob looks confused as we walk back to the main building. My wife and I thank him for his time and we leave.

Dealership #2

Before my wife and I can even get out of our car, we are greeted by a salesman, we will call him Ted.

Ted asks: “What type of car are you looking for today.”

“Ted,” I said,

“I need a car that my wife likes and that you are willing to part with for $11,000 cash.”

Ted, pretending to understand, nods his head and proceeds to show us several car with price tags in the high teens, lower 20’s.
After trying to get on my wife’s good side, Ted convinces her that we need to take a test drive on a Toyota Camry, approximately $19,000. I’m starting to be beaten at this point so I agree to test drive the car.

When we return to the dealership after the test drive, Ted asks us if we liked the car.

“Yes” my wife says – “I do like the car but I want to think about it. Can I get your business card?”

Ted, pretending to understand, nods his head and invites us into his office to get a business card.

After waiting in his “so called” office, which is nothing more than a “community” cubical that is up for grabs to the first Salesman to grab, Ted walks up without and business card but with a Sales Manager, a heavy set 6’6” middle age man.

“So, how did you like the Camry?” – the Sales Manager said.

Stunned and confused at this point, I starred at Sales Manager.

“No, thank you” my wife responds, “We’ll just take your business card Ted, thanks.”

We leave, confused and very annoyed. Thank goodness my wife was there to stay firm!

Dealership #3

My wife and I park and graze the front lot for a few minutes before venturing inside the building. This dealership is very busy and it takes a good 3 to 5 minutes before a salesman helps us. We will call this one, Jeff.

Jeff sits us down in his “community” cubical and takes down some information from us:

Name
Phone number
What car are you interested in.
How do you plan on paying?
Lease, finance or loan

I respond – “I need a car that my wife likes and that you are willing to part with for $11,000 cash.”

Jeff pretends to understand and nods. Jeff then takes my wife and I around the lot for about an hour and a half, showing us this and that and convinces us that we need to take a car for a test drive.

After just sitting in the car, my wife says that she doesn’t like the car and we proceed to go back inside to find Jeff and give back the keys.

Meanwhile, Jeff had taken the opportunity to go look at my car and value it for a trade in to see if he could rival that price I have quoted from Carmax.

After about 20min, we find Jeff and give him the keys so that we can go. Jeff then says he has another car that “just came in, that we have to look at.”

- “(How convenient)” – I thought.

At this point, I’m pretty beaten so we go look at the car and it turns out that this is the type of car that we were looking for from the outset of our day.

My wife and I take it for a test drive, and while on the drive, my wife and I discuss purchasing the vehicle (Jeff did not go on the test drive, he was back at the dealership doing the “paperwork.”)

We get back from the test drive, clearly sold on the car and tell Jeff that we would like to review the CarMax report and think about the car overnight. Jeff quickly agrees and escorts us inside to his “community” office.

He then leaves the office to do more “paperwork” and to work on getting us a “hard” quote on the trade in of my car and a quote for this new car.

After another 20min, Jeff finally comes back, and gives me a piece of paper with the number $1,400.

“What is this, Jeff?”

“This is the price that it will take to get you into the car. I have valued your car at $21,000 (this is 2,000 more that CarMax and this is just by looking at the car, no investigation on his part). And the difference with your car, what you owe and the price of the used car, we are looking at a difference of $1400.

My Car Value: $21,000
Note on my car: $7,000
Difference: $14,000
Price of used car: 15,400 (plug figure in order to owe 1400)
Difference for me to pay: $1,400

“No” – I said. This is about the time a heavy set Sale Manager walks into the “community” office as says:

“What will is take for you to drive out of the lot today in that car?”

To which I responded:

“Jeff, maybe you didn’t understand me when I said that I want to pay $11,000 for the car. That means I want to pay $11,000, which mean I wouldn’t owe any money on the car. Also, your value of my car is a “Soft Number” since you didn’t have a technician look at it, which makes me think the actual value you’re going to give me is the price that CarMax would give me (19,500). So instead of $1400, I would pay an additional $1500 for a total of $2900, out of pocket.”

“Oh, so you don’t want to pay any more than $11,000” – Jeff said.

“RIGHT” – I said, clearly annoyed. “Any what about the Carfax Report?”

“Right, let me go get that for you” Jeff responds.

He then leaves his “community” office to go into the next door “community” office to talk with the sales manager. 5, 10, 15, 20 mins pass and at this point, several salesman, along with Jeff, are in the office talking with the sales manager, laughing and talking loudly… not about work either.

Clearly annoyed and borderline rampant at this point, I tell my wife that we are leaving. She tells me to go get the car and she will stay to get the Carfax report.

I leave.

After waiting in the car for another 10 min, my wife finally makes it out of that HOLE with a Carfax report.

She then tells me that after I had left the office, Jeff had come in to the “community” office to change his offer from $1400 to Zero.

My wife said thanks; we will call you and left.

Time Total at this dealership alone was almost 3 hours, after which I had nothing to show for it but higher blood pressure!


Conclusion
I hated to walk out of the office and be so disrespectful to Jeff, but he was not very respectful of my wife and I, and it was only after I walked out of the office that Jeff started paying attention to us. In fact all of the salesmen that my wife and I were helped by were not respectful to us. There goal was to pressure and force me into purchasing a car at a higher price than what I told them I wanted to pay. I addressed the salesman straight forward and with respect. I told them exactly what I wanted and how much I wanted to pay for it. Instead of saying that they didn’t have a car for me in that price, they wasted my time by trying to dupe me into purchasing a higher priced car, making me wait and making empty promises about what they could deliver. And even when I found a car that I liked, they tried to “sweat us out” and make us wait for 40min for no reason other than to show that they have power to do so. As a result, they lost a sale of a car that day, and I will never shop there again. IS THAT GOOD BUSINESS?