My car buying experience and car Karma (long)

[90Carat]

Sometimes, Karma is a bitch.  This is kinda a long story, that starts about 5 years ago...

About 5 years ago, my wife's 95 Subaru Legacy LS decides that it is not going to start.  A little fiddling with the keys in the ignition, it starts.  This behavior keeps up, so we take it to a well know Subaru repair shop in Boulder.  They can't figure it out, but they replace some stuff, and it stops.  A few months later, the problem comes back, but it takes a little more fiddling to get the car to start.  Take it to the shop, they're stumped, do something innoculus, problem goes away for awhile.  This goes on since then.  Different shops, mechanics, me getting into cars, nothing really solves the problem, but it slowly gets worse.

Last month, Subie decides it is going to take about 30 minutes to start, but only every now and then.  Most of the time, Subie fires right up.  Wifey says, "Well, time for it to go."  There are now a bunch of little problems, windshield, worn seats, exhaust issues, all the typical stuff for a car with 180,000 miles.

Last week, I find a car, and the old Subie pulls a massive "No start incident" on my wife.  It died in a Commerce City truck depot, in front of about 4 truckers.  Time for old Subie to head out to pasture.  The car I find is at dealership in Littleton.  Ugh, but there are literally 6 of these for sale, in the color she wants, in the country.

On Saturday, I head down and check out the 2006 Subaru Outback Sedan LLBean edition.  One sweet ride, and I want it.  The saleslooser and I start working the deal.  He is talking all the crap that they do, not knowing that I know something about cars (not much, but more than he thinks).  He is actually treating me like I am deaf, dumb, and blind, but this is the car I want.

Last night I meet Wifey at the dealer to buy the car.  Until yesterday morning, I was undecided if I was going to sell it on my own, or trade it in.  I drove Ol' Subie in to work yesterday, yeah, trade it in.  There were a couple more problems that my wife didn't disclose ("When did that shimmy start?")  So we start the paper work, and the Used Car Manager takes the keys to Ol' Subie, starts it up, drives it around the lot, and parks it. 

$500 for the trade in.  I try to push it to $1000, then $750, but they aren't budging.  Crap!  Fine!  The reality is that New Subie is a good deal (for a dealer), so we start moving on the paperwork.  At this point, Wifey leaves to pick up the dogs from day care.

Oops, my wife didn't sign the title, and it was her car.  No problem, she can come in sign it later.

Today, my wife heads over to the dealer to sign the title.  The Service Manager greets her, and starts their tale. 

Service Manager: "We had some excitment with your old car last night.  After your husband left, the sales associate came back in and was in a panic.  He couldn't start your car.  A bunch of us tried, but none of us could get it going.  We left it for the techs this morning, but it took them about 45 minutes to get it going (that is about right).  They parked it out back, and now it won't start again."  Wifey tries to start it.  Yeah, dead as hell.

So for all the crap they spew, the snide comments ("you probably could've got $1500 with a private sale"), and just plain BS; I get a decent deal, and they get car that will be nothing but a complete pain in the ass for them.

[Docwyte]

I'm sure they were going to wholesale it anyways...

[90Carat]

I'm sure they were going to wholesale it anyways...

Yes, yes they were.  But now it is just a bigger pain in their asses.  That makes me happy.

[92UrS4]

Tom, dealers are always a pain in the ass. We as consumers want the best thing for the least amount of money and they want to sell you the best thing for the most amount of money. It that whole negotiation and coming to the happy place that makes the deal work that sours our dealership experiences so much.

Well at least you guys gut a new Subie.

[90Carat]

Tom, dealers are always a pain in the ass. We as consumers want the best thing for the least amount of money and they want to sell you the best thing for the most amount of money. It that whole negotiation and coming to the happy place that makes the deal work that sours our dealership experiences so much.

Well at least you guys gut a new Subie.

Yes, I want something for nothing.  Yes, the dealer wants a pile of money for for nothing.

Though, do dealers have to be (in general) such jerks and a-holes about it?  I hate being treated like crap, and flat out lied too. 

Example:  New Subie could use new tires.  Saleslooser says they don't have a tire shop, so nothing they can do about it.  Complete lie.  I walked right past their tire shop on the way to the showroom. 

If they didn't want to help with the tires, just tell me that, or offer me a good deal on them.  Don't say, "We don't have a tire shop" b/c now I think the Saleslooser is just being an ahole.

I wish I could say it was just one dealer, but it wasn't.  I visited almost a dozen dealers in the past month.  Most of them either didn't know the car they were selling (including new cars, I expect the VW saleslooser to know about VW's) or just flat out lied about stuff to make them seem more knowledable. 

The only exception was Prestige Audi.  They knew their product (new and used) and didn't spout any BS and lies.   

[92UrS4]

Those guys are all about the sucker, the guy/gal that walks in gets suckered into everything and asks for nothing in return. They will always play dumb and act like you know nothing.

In my opinion, the management is the problem. They are just focused on numbers, and the sales people are just focused on commissions. I dealt with a great salesperson at McDonald when we got the Passat. He was very frank about what they could and could not do and he was really no pressure. He was willing to negotiate where they could and knew that I would walk at the first sign if me not liking something.

I guess as it turns out he is a long time employee and one of their top performers. Anyone can be a salesperson, but to be good at it and successful you have to know the balance. Bulshitting people will get you some sales, but eventually it catches up the the ruse is no longer profitable. It always circles back to honesty is the best policy.

As a consumer I am not offended if a sales person says hey, this is the absolute bottom I am willing to go on this price. I know you know what cost is, but I am not in business to sell things at cost. The whole idea is that everyone walks away feeling satisfied with the deal and I agree, there is no reason it needs to be done in such an asshole fashion.

If the car needs new tires, don't lie. If it has to do with cost then say, well we can do tires, how bout we split the cost? They are more focused in closing the sale by flat out lying than saying, hey, if I help this guy out, then when they buy their next car they might come back. Or maybe they will tell their friends?

It seems they just think about the present, not the future. Which is why they will probably not be selling cars a year from now, or if they are they will be at another dealership doing the same garbage.

[03Indigo]

I want to see pics of the new scoobie

[90Carat]

I want to see pics of the new scoobie

Yup!  It'll get it's own thread.  Unfortunately, with the days so short, and it being a black car, I really haven't had a chance to get a decent shot of the car.