Are car salesmen all pathological liars?

The problem is that not only are car salesmen liars, but some are either not very intelligent, or just pretend to not understand valid questions.

I'll walk you through my dad's attempt to buy a car.

We discussed (beforehand) exactly what kind of car my dad wanted.
My dad wanted a 2007 Infiniti G35, in any colour but white.
I believe it to be by far the best sports sedan available for ~$30,000
It's rear wheel drive, has 306 bhp, a 20 gallon tank, Bose sound system, Slip differential, and tons of other cool gadgets.

The reason my dad wanted a 2007 is cause that's the year they did the redesign, and he wanted to get one that was about a year old, as you can save around $6k.

So, we saw a nice G35 at Riverton Chevrolet

The website claims "the exterior is flawless."
In fact, checking the site now STILL shows the claim of being flawless
My dad went up and test drove it. He really liked it.
The problem is, the exterior was FAR from "flawless."
It had a really thick scratch on both passenger doors.
Can you believe my dad had to argue with them to repaint it ?
Their initial response was "Oh, someone must has banged it opening their door."
who care why it happened! the point is, they were advertising the car which they claimed to be flawless for a certain price, and were still charging the same price with scratches. Ridiculous!
After some discussion They agreed on $30,500 OTD (Out the door, including all taxes and fees), providing they fixed the scratches on the door.
He said he didn't want to buy it until I test drove it also. He asked them to hold the car for him until tomorrow, when he could bring me.

I went up with him. I was the one who recommended he look at getting a G35, so obviously I was keen on him buying it. We basically went there planning on buying it right there and then.
I test drove it. It was fantastic.
My dad goes in, to basically buy it.
He says to them.
"What's your price?"
They tell him $30,700. $200 more than they'd told him the day before.
My dad obviously complains and they give some pathetic excuse.
Get this though, they then acted like they were doing him a huge favour to 'knock it down' to the previously agreed $35,000.
disgraceful.
Anyway. Annoyed at this point my dad says
"I'll buy it if you fix the scratch"
they say
"We'll fix it, but we can't guarantee it will look flawless"

They wanted him to pay for it now, and pick it up a few days later after it had been fixed.

So, my dad asked the obvious question.
"What's the guarantee that after I pay for it, you'll make an effort to really fix it?"
Obviously, once they've sold it, who's to say they care about you?
The salesmen gave some ridiculous pitch about caring about their customers.
Yea right, like my dad's going to just take his word for it...

So, my dad come up with an alternative solution.
"Why don't you first fix it, and I'll come back and look at it, and if it's fixed to my satisfaction, I'll buy it."

Now, honestly, doesn't that seem like an extremely reasonable thing to ask?

This was the response he received:
"We actually have another customer coming to look at the car tomorrow, so if you don't buy it now, we'll sell it to him"
(even though he'd supposedly held the car for us)
my brother muttered under his breath just loud enough for the salesman to hear "I'm sure you do."

What kind of ridiculous attempt at intimidation is this?

Then, he came up with another genius response.
"We would be taking a risk by fixing it. What if we pay to fix it, and then you don't want it? Then we've lost that money."
Is it as obvious to the rest of you as it is to me that this salesman is a complete idiot?
So, he's saying that if we didn't buy it, he'd be worse off, because they'd now have a better car????
Is this guy an idiot?

Well, to cut a long story short, my dad just walked out. The guy was really pretending they had another buyer.

Funnily enough, this was 2 weeks ago. You guessed it, it's still there. Still available. Still scratched.

How on earth does a car salesman manage to not sell a car to someone who actually wants to buy it at the asked price???
It's like a teacher who makes you forget what you've learnt.

All I can say is be careful when buying a car. Especially of those claiming that every car you're looking at has other interested potential buyers. Especially of Riverton Chevrolet.

[EDIT] My dad did offer to put down a deposit for the car while they fixed it, which they didn't accept. As I'd mentioned, they told him they had another buyer, so obviously, they had to pretend that his definitive buy would be better than my Dad's deposit. They also said no to reducing the price and having us get it fixed.
Seriously, some people as so greedy they become stupid.

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2 comments:

  1. Steve Olsen said,

    I recommend everyone read about these car dealer scams. Car salesmen have a bad reputation for a reason!

    on 3/5/08 17:06


  2. Anonymous said,

    Having worked in the automotive industry, it really is unreasonable for the customer to expect the dealer to make a repair without any sort of commitment, at the very least a deposit. It is a used vehicle. If the value added becuase of the repair was more than the cost of the repair then the dealer would have more incentive to fix it (or would have fixed it as part of the "reconditioning" that dealers would do). We would a lot of times put new tires on a vehicle or other things to make the used cars ready for the road. If there is doubt that the dealer can fix the scratch to the customer's satisfaction (doubt on either the customer's or dealers side setting the situation up for a negative situation) then best thing to do would be to negociate for a sale as it and let the customer get it fixed at his trusted repair shop.

    on 24/6/08 12:57