Used car salesmen and dealerships suck

R

RAG

New member
Yet another thread in my "things that suck series."



Is it like a rule or something that used car dealerships have to be shady and their salesmen have to be shiesters? My brother was one for a short while, and just couldn't take it anymore.



This topic is fresh on my mind becuase I'm looking to hire an employee and decided to drop some business cards off at a near by used car lot because every single one of their cars (literally) are riddled with rotary buffer swirls and I figured they'd could really use a guy that knows what he's doing. Wrong - it seems my prices are too high, so I doubt they'll be calling me. But seriously, how stupid is this thinking....for an extra $100 they could get it done right, making them money. Their cars look horrilble, as whoever is buffing their cars out isn't even removing the washing swirls...so they have rotary halograms on top of washing swirls...ON EVERY SINGLE CAR in the lot (and they are high-end cars).



Until this trip, I've always made it a point to stay away from used-car lots, just knowing that they will use every trick in the book to take advantage of you. Just talking to these guys for a moment I could tell they were the prototypical used-car shiesters...must be a job requirement; okay...I've met a couple that weren't, but only a couple.
 
I think most of them will do or say anything to make a buck.



I recently traded a 1997 Accord in on a new vehicle. The used car manager wanted to deduct $800 from the trade in value because the timing belt was old. He insisted that's what it costs to replace. I knew that the car would be going to auction and probably on the fast track to Mexico, and they had no intention of doing anything to it. I also told him that I could get the belt replaced at several places for $300.



Anyway, told him I'd take my business elsewhere. They quickly changed their tune when the realized they would lose a $30K sale over a few hundred bucks.
 
[quote name='RAG']every single one of their cars (literally) are riddled with rotary buffer swirls and I figured they'd could really use a guy that knows what he's doing. Wrong - it seems my prices are too high, so I doubt they'll be calling me. But seriously, how stupid is this thinking....for an extra $100 they could get it done right, making them money. Their cars look horrilble, as whoever is buffing their cars out isn't even removing the washing swirls...so they have rotary halograms on top of washing swirls...ON EVERY SINGLE CAR in the lot (and they are high-end cars).



Here is the thing RAG - I owned a new car dealership for decades and I now own a used car business again. The extra $100 could be mine and not yours! The customers have no clue what a swirl ro a halogram is. Multiply the $100 additional x the 30 cars on my lot at any given month and thats $3000 additional that can be used to pay my bills. If customers complained about swirls and halograms instead of tires and brake pads, you would be my priority.



If I get a real turd of a car, Ill pay my clean-up guy $140-150 to clean it vs. the usual $100. Lately, I have been doing them myself when I can to relax. There is no value to have the cleanest cars in the used car business, 99.9998% of the people that are buying them have no clue what they are looking at anyway.
 
steveo3002 said:
yeah all the ones ive had any dealings with are dirtbags..the sort that sell their own grandmother to make a $
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Typically car dealers have been sleezy in their practice so everyone bashes them . I do also. There are a lot of sleezy pieces of sh!t in this business that I have to deal with daily. I am straight with the customers because I dont want vandalized cars on my lot or to be embarassed when I am out with my wife. I also sell used cars that cost between $35,000 and $100,000, much different sale.



The $800 timing belt thing is a little scummy, I would have approached it a little differently. Trying to collect on upcoming repairs is a tough sell.



Remember - I opened this business to make money for me, not a customer I do not know.
 
jsatek said:
Typically car dealers have been sleezy in their practice so everyone bashes them . I do also. There are a lot of sleezy pieces of sh!t in this business that I have to deal with daily. I am straight with the customers because I dont want vandalized cars on my lot or to be embarassed when I am out with my wife. I also sell used cars that cost between $35,000 and $100,000, much different sale.



The $800 timing belt thing is a little scummy, I would have approached it a little differently. Trying to collect on upcoming repairs is a tough sell.



Remember - I opened this business to make money for me, not a customer I do not know.
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jsatek, good luck on the car lot. Used car sales have changed quite a bit over the last 5 years. There still are a few high pressure guys out there but most of them dont last long. Now days Most buyers are pretty well prepared and just need a salesman to help them make it work. Most of the old time car sales guys are now selling time shares..
 
chris a: you are correct! Thanks for the well wishes. Yes, the dinosaur used car salesman is almost dead, and the business has taken a big turn since I was in it. The internet, bad past experiences, and consumer education have changed the busiess. I have no manger, no offical salesman, I have 1 person to show the cars by appointment. People find my cars through the internet and know all about them and whay to pay.

In the past week I have sold a 06 CLS55 and an 02 M5 and never met the customer! I didn't even have to go to my office to do the deals.
 
The biggest problem with used car dealers, besides the shady ones you find out there, is that once a car is buffed to perfection the car then will be washed by the lot boy and re-induce the swirling that the owner just paid $100.00 to get out. Unless that lot boy is going to properly wash every car , dry it properly and then QD it, it doesn't make any sense. If I was a dealer and a customer complained about the swirls (most won't), I would work a deal to get it detailed to his satisfaction to make the sell. Maybe you can offer the used car dealer a special for after sales care and give him an end of the month discount based on the amount of cars he sends you.
 
We sell ALOT of used cars at our dealership. I think there are a few things that most average people look at (besides the mileage, age, etc).. car interior looks and smells good (ours are excellent compared to most others, and we don't/can't use silicone products) as far as the exterior... if they have scratches or damage it is touched up/repaired. They are not usually buffed to look like a new car (they are all under 5yrs old... so they aren't TERRIBLE) but to the average person they just want a quality used car to use as a daily driver. Most of our "Optimum" cars are $9000-$25000 for a Cadillac.



We have 1 person that just does the cleanup of used cars. He works 8-1 so in 5hrs he is able to do a detailed cleaning of the interior, including shampoo the carpets, and engine/exterior wash. The car might have scuffs/swirls/scratches but its't not really his job to do them. If the car needs buffing I'll end up doing that.



So 5 hours for a basic car cleanup.



Now today was a slow day, so I pulled in a 2001 Cadillac Deville to give it a quick buff job and slap on some paint sealant. I only used rubbing compound on the trunklid, the rest of the car was in OK condition. I just used 3M swirl mark remover on the whole car (still has scratches in, but looks SHINEY to any average person). It's a big car, so the whole process of washing it, claying, buffing and paint seal took at least 4 hours. This is just a quicky, cause I really can't spend more time than that on a car, as I have so much other stuff to do..



Keep in mind I live in a town of 35,000 people, with 3 new car dealerships (GM/Ford/Chrysler) and a handfull of used car dealerships.
 
jsatek said:
Typically car dealers have been sleezy in their practice so everyone bashes them . I do also. There are a lot of sleezy pieces of sh!t in this business that I have to deal with daily. I am straight with the customers because I dont want vandalized cars on my lot or to be embarassed when I am out with my wife. I also sell used cars that cost between $35,000 and $100,000, much different sale.



The $800 timing belt thing is a little scummy, I would have approached it a little differently. Trying to collect on upcoming repairs is a tough sell.



Remember - I opened this business to make money for me, not a customer I do not know.
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Sorry bud...but at I did say I've come across some good ones. And hey, if you're a straight shooter and it's readily apparent, people will do business with you for just that reason.



Regarding the buffing, I hear what you are saying about saving $100 per car is $$ in your pocket. But I don't agree with this logic (though I'm sure you know better than I). I detail a lot of cars for people selling their vehicles on the private market, and I've always believed the more you spend on detailing, the more $$ you'll get from the sale; maybe one time it makes no difference, but the next time you are able to get an extra grand from having a 4 year old car that basically looks new!



I know a lot of people don't know what buffer swirls are...but the ones on the cars I'm referring to are unmistakable - they might not know what they are looking at, but if the sun is out, you can be sure they are wondering what the heck is wrong with this paint. AND, even though the majority doesn't know or really care about paint, when paint is buffed out properly, it just looks good/clean...most people will simply assume it's been pampered and well taken care of by previous owner.
 
Just a word of advise. If you are going to buy a used car I would go to a dealership not a used car lot or a used car dealer. Much better off going to a new car dealership and getting something off of their pre owned lot
 
Darren F said:
Just a word of advise. If you are going to buy a used car I would go to a dealership not a used car lot or a used car dealer. Much better off going to a new car dealership and getting something off of their pre owned lot
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For sure! You dont want to go and buy a used car that was purchased from an auction block with who knows what background...most of those are repos anyway so you have no info on the previous owner.



I have dealt with dealerships too however where their previously owned vehicles are driven by some of their employees and they beat the shi** out of them...it's a shame...
 
That is going to depend on what kind of dealership you go to...I sold Lexus before and am now selling Mercedes and I can tell you the pre owned cars there and the pre owned cars we have here are all top notch cars, even the ones that arent Mercedes or Lexus
 
I too had a used car dealership back in the day, ran it with some friends of mine. Detailing beyond "clean and shiny" was a waste of resources, the customers simply didn't notice/appreciate anything better.



In my area I don't see any huge difference between independents and dealers. "Reputable" dealers have sold "story cars" to people I know while a certain independent is well known for no-problem cars (I sold them my WRX, just the kind of creampuff they deal in).



Every now and then you find a truly OK place. This March, I got my '97 M3 from an independent called Car Locators in Cincinnati, OH. Their inventory isn't detailed to Autopian standards or anything, but they aren't bad. When I spotted the Dewalt rotary and the Cyclo in their shop we had a talk about how they prep cars and I'll at least give them a "you could do worse" rating. After I got it home, a lot of people were checking it out at my mechanic's while he was working on it; when he said I was going to detail it, they always said "why? it looks great the way it is". Not *one* person saw why I wanted to improve it.
 
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