Nospinzone

The wording in the lease doesn't sound like it is referring to excessive wear and tear.

Also, unlike the lease with your John Hancock on it, that email isn't signed. Which do you think will stand up in court?

FastTags

Who sent you the email? Salesman or a Manager? If its a salesman that it is most likely BS as sales people dont know jack and will lie just about anything. Manageres dont do that, not in writing at least.

wasjr

I suspect the lease agreement has a comment toward the end to the effect "This Agreement contains the entire agreement between the parties and supersedes any previous agreement (written or oral) between the parties." Which clause renders your emails worthless.

mjr24

Sales manager emailed this......would be extremely poor taste for them to lie about this, IMHO.

FastTags

In that case I guess you clear. Indont think the would lie, but at then end they could say that they mAde a mistake and its up to you to read all the details.

SW17LS

It would, but they lie ALL the time, and even if they aren't lying, a lot of times they just have no idea what they are talking about. I would read the document yourself.

rxonmymind

Bingo. Why even get into that sort of lease and drive it for the next few years with that hanging over your head? Will I? Won't I?
I've seen mgrs fired and their fall back is "he no longer works here and he shoudn't have said that. Your still obligated for the residual" Contract stays, managers and sales people come & go. Then you'll have to get your emais, lawyers get involved and it's a mess. Get a CLEAN lease without that in there.

SW17LS

I agree 100%

mmarshall

It also brings up a question I've often wondered, that if managers have to personally review and OK every purchase-order or lease-contract at the dealership, then why hire salespeople in the first place? It's just a redundant operation.....essentially two cooks stirring the broth.

SW17LS

You're missing the point of a salesperson. The salesperson doesn't do the paperwork necessarily, the salesperson deals with the customer, helps the customer wade through their options and come to a conclusion, then the office handles the particulars. The salesperson and their skills are very important to the sales process. We're a pretty resourceful bunch, we could walk in and order a car directly but most consumers need to be handled and sold by a salesperson.

What also colors your perception is the fact that car salespeople are, on the whole, completely incompetent and terrible salespeople. They rarely understand the product, they rarely have any customer service or sales skills or instincts.

The sales manager is not a salesperson, and if they had to administrate the sales floor in the dealership, approve deals and check paperwork AND deal with the hands on sales needs of the customer, the process would be much worse.

mmarshall

As far as product knowledge goes, I've seen some excellent salespeople (such as the late AsianGirl007 [Liz] right here on CL), and I've seen some that couldn't find their way to their own desk. Also, despite me being a CL Editor and an experienced car reviewer, my own video/computer skills are not particularly good. When I review a complex vehicle, the salesperson sometimes has to demonstrate and set up hard-to-use features like self-parking, BMW's I-Drive, or Audi's MMI. But, you're right on one thing....outside of complex electronic screens, I usually end up explaining things to THEM about the car, not the other way around.

SW17LS

There certainly are salespeople with excellent product knowledge, but its the exception not the rule.

One of the big reasons for that is that people who are good salespeople typically move on to industries where they can make more money than cars. No training, revolving doors of salespeople. Its a mess.

mmarshall

Well, no arguments there. Money talks. Some salespeople, though, make a bundle.....others can't make ends meet at all. I liked the old Saturn system where salespeople weren't paid commissions, getting a guaranteed salary instead, sold everything at list/no-haggle prices, and wore white or colored T-shirts with the company logo on them instead of business suits. Even the sales managers wore T-shirts. (I bought a Saturn myself under that no-haggle system...an SL2, and liked both the system and the car).


Anyhow, back to the original question. I think the Porsche dealership is trying to lowball him on realistic lease-payments and then stick him for the balance of the actual depreciation so they're not stuck with it. My advice would probably be not to sign the contract. Do you agree?

SW17LS

Thats just how sales is. You're going to have people who do very well and people who don't. Its not easy, and its not for everyone.

Good salespeople won't want to work on salary either, because they won't get paid as much as they will on commission. Basically those Saturn guys were just customer service reps, not salespeople.

It could be a lot of different things, could be a poorly written ad and the sales manager is right, could be that its a lease product the sales manager doesn't really understand and the ad is right. Gotta see the documents.

No way I would sign it until I read the document fully.

mjr24

I'll give the guy credit....the ad originally said 10k miles per year...and when I emailed him he said that was wrong (that it was only for 5k) but that he would honor the 10k/year.

Obviously I would want to review the contract......and yeah, sales people, managers, etc. lie all the time....but I like to negotiate everything in writing (terms, payments, figures, etc) so I can go in and sign the paperwork and be done. My whole issue is I'm a busy person....I don't want to be bothered going in there ready to buy a $115k car and then get BS'ed around. My time is worth much more than that. Plus, in this day and age of social media....it's just bad business to pull stuff like that because the word does get out when dealers do this as opposed to 10-15 years ago.

Also, someone mentioned MB balloon financing earlier in this thread....the MB balloon is not a lease....you actually own the vehicle.