Stellantis was running their plants at full speed ahead of contract negotiations with Unifor and the UAW. Several of their model lines have huge inventory despite uneven sales.

 

I agree. If this was pre covid, more work for the dealer would be needed. Nowadays, let the customer walk as there are no deals to be made.

 

i've tried conversing with my hyundai dealer about the ioniq 5 about fhe deal that is ON HYUNDAI'S WEBSITE and no response.

 

Im good at reading people, it’s what I do for a living. I never sensed any frustration or hurriedness to get rid of me or any sign that they didn’t want to do business with me. In all of these events they offered to do some legwork and get information back to me and never followed up. Really strange.

Ive negotiated many many many cars in my life, and that’s actually not true, especially in the luxury space. People don’t walk in and buy today, and in none of those situations did anybody try and get me to sit down and look at numbers there in person, which in and of itself is kind of unusual.

The Chrysler guy yesterday, I told him I was ready to buy immediately and still nothing.

Thats just the thing, there are deals to be made. There are rebates and such and inventory that has been sitting for months.

 

I would narrow down what it is that you actually want (brand) and then call the GM of the dealership and explain your experience at their dealership. Tell them you are ready to pull the trigger (have been for days), and that you are looking for a frictionless purchase experience and that typically you wouldn't be asking for assistance but in this case you can't get anyone to help you purchase. Ask for them to help champion the deal and to stay involved. Will ensure it gets done, and done correctly.

 

I'm going off what a sales manager at a Ford dealer told me.

He was trained that if someone comes to the lot and leaves the dealership to "look around", or "think about it", chances are they never come back.

That's why the urgency to close.

He also said if the customer is "ready to buy" you have 48-72 hours before they buy it from someone, hopefully you. Lol

He said the tire kickers, don't waste the time, too much work for a possible slim chance of sale.

Not sure how much is true but he said that's what the numbers came down to.

Aka they are mostly looking for a fast close from someone ready to buy today, in general.

Have no idea if it's true but I thought it sounded good.

 

maybe the salesperson was sincere but then their boss said "don't waste your time".

did you have a deal on numbers then (your trade, new car price, terms, interest, financing/lease, etc)? if so, why didn't it close yesterday?

right but there's "deals" and there's "DEALS". you want a "DEAL" and the dealer probably doesn't.

they still have to agree on terms/price no matter who wants it done.

post of the day.

 

That's very odd, as you said normally high end dealers are more than happy to let you look around and show you what you want to see.

The people I've interacted with never gave me a problem even when I told them I just outright wanted to look at a new midrange model with no actual interest. They understood I was simply curious about the new features/chassis/trans etc and let me look around as much as I wanted. The Mercedes dealer was fantastic about that and let me look around a W222/224 pair in the showroom for two hours and drive their Maybach.

Honestly surprised me since Lexus just doesn't let anyone really look at their in stock LC500s unless they make sure you want to/can buy it that day. I was annoyed enough that I told them they are acting like they are selling an AMG GT when it's nothing like that and I KNEW the car was a dealer demo that is passed between 3 lots. Sales person I guess didn't like the fact I parked a German car by his showroom or something even though I told him I also have two LSs at the time.

After that I was fully prepared to have to deal with max condescending attitude at Mercedes/Audi. Ironically that didn't happen and the service writer at Audi shocked me with how she handled the recalls. The whole thing actually went how I want it to including a multiple calls to ask me the oil spec I wanted and to ensure me my tune file was undisturbed. That exceeded expectations in a way I've never had happen in a CS interaction outside my high end handguns.

 

This is all accurate, but I'm clearly not a tire kicker, and that doesn't really translate into the business today especially with luxury cars.

Certainly possible.

No, he needed to get those numbers. He needed to get the payoff from Chrysler, they need to see and appraise the Pacifica we have, he needed to check the lease rates and the rebates, gave him scenarios for the lease and that I also would buy it if the numbers didnt work there. At least $6k in positive equity on the trade.

I had set up an appointment with him to look at that specific van.

I'm really not, nor did I ever telegraph to any of them that I was looking for an aggressive deal, just preliminary numbers to start the process. Super weird.

 

I realize you're not a tire kicker but you didn't have your trade with you so there was no way to close the deal.

This is a Chrysler dealer not MB. Lol

 

Wasn't looking to close the deal right there, thats not how I operate. They can send me numbers and I will review them and respond. Its how I have bought every car I have ever bought. Also wanted to add, I was dealing with the internet sales manager, so this is how they are supposed to do business. The other guys were just regular salespeople and I was a cold up off the street at least.

I'm well aware of how to buy a car, thanks lol

 

I hear you friend.

But, from your own testimony something has clearly changed in the business.

If you have ideas, please tell cuz I'm out of ideas.

 

Really weird. As I posted in another thread, the last couple of weeks have been rough in the car industry nationwide where sales were very low and those in the industry are concerned. Sounds like the opposite is happening to you where they don’t care. Very strange indeed.

 

well...

they can and do too.

it seems to me the "internet sales manager" is a title they just pick out of a hat each morning.

as for how you operate, as margate says it's quite possible dealers are changing and if you're not ready to buy there and then, they're not really interested no matter what they say.

 

Clearly not because I'd love to go buy the car today lol

I don't think thats what it is, given what I am seeing with other people I know both in person and online that have been buying cars, and like I said this salesperson at MB I'm dealing with has been interacting with me as I would expect.

We see it in our business too, I think that these salespeople have been used to it being really easy to sell cars for high profit, and now that its not they don't know how to actually sell anything. I think a lot of these salespeople will wind up out of the business. Same way with our business, the last 2-3 years have been easy to sell houses, but its not as easy now and you see lots of agents that have no idea how to build a pipeline and generate sales in an environment where there isn't a line out the door.

Another interesting thing, I submitted for a KBB instant offer last night for the Pacifica we have, I have been inundated by calls and emails trying to BUY my car. Not so much sell me a car, but they want the car I have...