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How do car salesmen survive in the internet age?

quikah

quikah

Diamond Member
I went looking at minivans over the weekend, planning to buy fairly soon, I just wanted to test drive everything to make a decision. I was planning to go the internet route to negotiate prices, but I figured I would see what kind of pricing I could get while I was there.

The entire experience was frustrating. As I wasn't buying that day I got absolutely nowhere when I tried to get an idea of what kind of price they would sell at. I would ask they would just tell me, "when you are serious we can talk about price". Really? I am serious, I am going to buy in a week or 2, why should I buy at their dealership if they are just going to jack me around?

One guy had the nerve to tell me MSRP, then he goes in back to "talk" to the manager and says he can offer $1500 off. That is the current rebate on the car. I just wanted to punch the guy.

I had one good experience. I happened to talk to the fleet manager at one of the Honda dealers. After test driving the Ody he pulled out his inventory sheet and proceeded to offer it to me for invoice price.
 
No idea. I think there are very different types of people though. People that shop online, peruse craiglist/private sales, care and research about what car they get etc. are not necessarily the norm.

I think plenty of deals are just women walking in wanting X car in the specific color they want. Then get sold/pressured on features and price.
 
I don't think dealers really understand the whole idea of online shopping. All the dealers have web sites, with a button that says "get e price". When I was shoppinng for a new car this summer, not a single dealer (tried dozens) would give me a price online, they all said stop in and we will make a deal. Even after explaining that they were 100 miles away, and without a price, I wasn't driving that far.

Yet amost all the dealers I spoke to in person were more than willing to give me their best price, even after explaining that I just started looking, and wouldn't be buying that day.
 
Salesman survive because not every customer walks into fleet or conducts business over the internet.
 
Dealer websites are usually a joke. They pay some company to build something that (hopefully) looks professional, but no one maintains it and the most basic, useful function (inventory) is never complete or updated very often. The salesmen survive because buying new/used cars is still very much an 'in-person' thing.

It's like asking how realtors survive. Sure, you can get some superficial info off the internet...but you're still gonna want to look at the house...haggle price in-person...ect.
 
You must be new to this.. Every time I talk price at a dealer you pretty much have to sit down and pretend you're buying today. This is not new. They don't want to waste their time "haggling" with someone who is kicking tires.

Just tell them you will buy today if the price is right and see where it goes.
 
Someone has to go for the test drive with me before I buy the car online. 😀

A little thread hijacking here. I'm in the process of purchasing a new car. It's the first time I'm going to try the internet route. Any good sites or pointer on how to go about it?
 
I ended up using TrueCar's guarantee for the Prius me and the GF bought a few weeks ago. I went to one dealership with nothing, and they wouldn't budge below 32k for the model and options we wanted. Did the TrueCar guarantee and got the car for just under 30k at one of the dealers they work with. And it was very quick at the dealership.. We probably were in an out in less than an hour, including the test drive of the specific car we got.
 
quikah said:
As I wasn't buying that day I got absolutely nowhere when I tried to get an idea of what kind of price they would sell at. I would ask they would just tell me, "when you are serious we can talk about price". Really? I am serious, I am going to buy in a week or 2, why should I buy at their dealership if they are just going to jack me around?
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that right there. most salesmen don't consider you a serious buyer unless you are signing papers that day. they might not be selling cars in a week or two. if you knew there was a $1500 rebate, why play that game? You know the number you want to be at, so why waste each other's time? tell them where you need to be and if they can't do it, walk. it's nothing personal.
 
I found my most recent purchase on craigslist (new purchase from a dealer). One of the salesmen had posted it there before it hit their normal website and showroom. I bought it on a Sunday. I bet the other salesmen hate him. I know one of them was trying to sell it that Monday, because they told me about it when I brought it back for the official delivery process (teach me about sync which I already knew, etc).

Unfortunately, it was one of those vehicles that price just doesn't get negotiated on (much), so that part didn't really enter in to it.
 
i've had it both ways. I have completed entire deals over email and flew out to pickup the car and drive it back, others refuse to even discuss unless you are face to face. I have no issues not working with those dealers.
 
iamwiz82 said:
i've had it both ways. I have completed entire deals over email and flew out to pickup the car and drive it back, others refuse to even discuss unless you are face to face. I have no issues not working with those dealers.
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This happened to me once, when I was first looking for a truck. I spoke to the "Internet Sales Guy" who talked up the truck, no price talk off listed price until face-to-face. After a 25 mile drive got there and saw a Silverado with a brake controller (good) but with giant bolt-holes in the bed, for a fifth wheel mount that had been removed. "Oh yeah, the guy hauled horse trailers around." Leaky pinion seals, suspension was iffy, didn't even drive it fearing the transmission was buttered...no thanks.

I swear they low-res the images so you can't see things like this online.
 
I also had an "internet sales guy" put in a price on truecar and then refuse to honor it (and ask for $2k over MSRP), so the internet sales guys can be scum too.
 
I would work your way around, and try to find a dealer that actually treats you fairly.

The one car I bought at a dealer, I had negotiated a price in advance. Checked around with other dealers, and it was indeed the better of the offers I was going to get. Went back, and they proceeded to attempt to not honor it. I should've walked when they started messing with me, but it was the color/options that I wanted, and the price was pretty close to the right ballpark. I ended up giving in at $200 over the original agreed upon deal.

If I could do it again, I'd get up and walk out after one failed attempted of negotiating. If I am sitting in their office with the intent to buy, and they won't meet me at the agreed upon price, I'll find something else.

Depending on how much time you want to put into it, just go sit down and talk with some with the intent to buy. Don't buy the first one you look at unless the price is excellent when compared to TrueCar.com and other sites. Just work them against each other a time or two until you can get the best deal. If they don't treat you right, move on to the next one.
 
Dealers consider Internet shoppers to be just that, shoppers. Very few online inquires translate into real sales.
 
mvbighead said:
Went back, and they proceeded to attempt to not honor it. I should've walked when they started messing with me, but it was the color/options that I wanted, and the price was pretty close to the right ballpark. I ended up giving in at $200 over the original agreed upon deal.
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I had a dealer do that on me with my last car. I negotiated the price and had my friend drive one hour to get there. At the last possible minute, they added $100 to the final price and when I complained, his response was something like, 'hey you didn't drive all the way over here just to leave right?' I could not believe he was nickel and dime-ing me on a $100,000 car! Acted all hurt and surprised when I gave them negative reviews in the follow-up survey.
 
madoka said:
I had a dealer do that on me with my last car. I negotiated the price and had my friend drive one hour to get there. At the last possible minute, they added $100 to the final price and when I complained, his response was something like, 'hey you didn't drive all the way over here just to leave right?' I could not believe he was nickel and dime-ing me on a $100,000 car! Acted all hurt and surprised when I gave them negative reviews in the follow-up survey.
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Shoulda walked.
 
madoka said:
I had a dealer do that on me with my last car. I negotiated the price and had my friend drive one hour to get there. At the last possible minute, they added $100 to the final price and when I complained, his response was something like, 'hey you didn't drive all the way over here just to leave right?' I could not believe he was nickel and dime-ing me on a $100,000 car! Acted all hurt and surprised when I gave them negative reviews in the follow-up survey.
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What kind of car runs $100k? My first house was less than that!
 
I bought my 350z 2 years ago in FL. I'm from MA. The car was 3 years old with 5100 (yep 5k) miles. I had the dealer show me pictures of EVERYTHING. Got them to knock off $3k from the asking price, paid for my flight there and picked me up. When I got there I wrote a check for the car and drove 27 hours straight home.

I wouldn't hesistate to do again. I don't believe in compromise when it comes to buying things you want, esp when they are pricey. If you have to pay for it, it better be absolutely exactly what you want.

In a year or 2, when I buy my 911 or Viper, I will do it the same way.
 
JoeyP said:
I am totally serious. I can see a few niche cars, but I don't think the term "plenty" applies.
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There are A LOT of cars that sells for over $100K. BMW, Mercedes, Cadillac, Corvette, Viper, Land Rover, Nissan (GT-R), Porsche, Lexus, Maserati, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Bentley, Aston Martin, Roll Royce, and countless others.
 
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