Since I'm about to lose my job my thoughts have turned to what I can do to be more fiscally conservative in my life. I'm sure you and I just had the same thought... BUY A NEW CAR.
J and I have been looking at cars for a bit and while I still like the Jetta, I keep gravitating towards a car that has a little bit more staying power in the inclement weather, yup, I want to join the SUV crowd. I don't need the Expedition or the Land Rover Mountain Mover, but the Toyota RAV4 or the Highlander appeal to me.
With the end of the year approaching, and me technically still employed we decided to drop by Toyota of Bellevue to see how hungry the sales folks are. Well... in spite of a front page story in the national news about Toyota posting a loss for the first time ever, they aren't very hungry.
Alex, our "prospective buyer consultant" lost J at hello, lost his dad when he marched us through a 4 foot snow bank to a car that wasn't what we wanted and lost me during the 45 minute wait while they "appraised" my car.
The manager came back with the printout of the Kelly Blue Book value (that we had looked up at home in under 45 seconds) and then offered us $2000 less than the posted rate. Before J could rip the 'manager' a new place to pooh, I quizzed him on why the value was less than the quoted price. The manager started some song and dance about the features on my car being "basic" but when I let him know that the site took that into account he moved on to the resale and the inventory of used cars not moving very fast. I couldn't stop myself so I told him that it didn't look like the inventory of new cars was moving fast either.
He then asked if I owned the car outright, and I said (mostly to let him know that we had come to buy a car) "Yes, in fact, the title is in my purse right now." His tone changed a little, but I was done especially since they weren't willing to offer any incentives (cuts in price) on the car we were looking at.
We left feeling very frustrated and it is doubtful we will return in the near future.
You know I don't react well to crappy service, and this wasn't the worst service I've ever encountered (Maggiano's Little Italy, Bellevue WA - is in the #1 position currently) but as for feeling like they were trying to sell me a car, this guy sucked.
2 comments:
I think you never get full value on a trade-in. Doesn't KBB give a dealer price, a private party price and a trade-in price? They were $2K below the "trade-in price"?
I'd say negotiate your best price and then let them know you have a trade-in, if possible. Be sure you have all the invoice price info and stuff, try to pick a vehicle they would like to get rid of because others don't want it (since they are financing everything on the lot), be indefinite about a trade-in (don't ever let them know you have the title in your purse before you get the deal you want, or they will think they have you), get them to a good price and then drive the thing home with the trade-in. Get them down as far as you can and make it clear that there is still a distance between you and press them to close the gap. Then right when they think you are done, say something like "I'll tell you what, if you get me $X on the trade-in, we can start on the paperwork" (making sure you have built some give into X so you can go a bit lower).
Another good thing to tell them near the end is that they have your word you will get all the service done at their shop. That's often where they make most of their money. It probably is a challenging time for trade-ins. They have to turn around and offload the thing to some intermediary, and they aren't interested in losing money on that transaction, and probably are accustomed to making some money. Trade-ins are not a service for the customer, they are a profit center for the dealer.
Also, try not to be distracted by things like how respectful they seem. If they are really disrespectful, leave. Short of that, just ignore it. And I have found asking questions like "why is the price X?" to be less effective than saying "I need the price to be Y." (Or, if they want to charge you something, better to say "I don't think I should be paying for your overhead" instead of "What is the advertising allowance?"). They are prepared for all the questions. They are less prepared to be told things and then have you leave if they don't accommodate you.
If you want to realize more value from your existing car, sell it yourself.
I think it would be kind of dumb to choose a car based on the weather we are having right now that we almost never have. If you want an SUV, just get one, but don't try to justify it with "inclement weather". It's like, if I wanted to go back to nesting in the woods (NOT!), I wouldn't make up some dubious justification for it like "she occasionally still does come back to the condo."
Post a Comment