Need a gift idea for a car salesman

[pnad]

Cliffs:
Nice salesman quoted me a great price
used his number to leverage a deal at a local dealer
feeling guilty about not buying from the nice salesman.


Here is the scenario:

Wife was shopping for a new car. Thinking about an 09 Sonata SE V6. Call the salesman we bought my 09 Sonata GLS from and ask, "what kind of deal can you get me?" He calls me back 5 minutes later and quotes me $24,500 MSRP down to $18,260. Saweeet.

We haven't driven a v6 Sonata yet and wanted to compare it to the Accord we drove earlier. Kinda late on Monday night (7pm) to drive all the way up to Amato so we hit the local dealer in Racine for a test drive. As luck would have it, the wife loved it. So for the heck of it I tossed the Amato's price at them.

We went back and forth, they said my guy was crazy or lying to get me in the door. I called him several times to verify the price, no funny business etc. He just said "Come getcher car bro."

Finally they come back for the forth time matching Amato's price. Turns out Amato didn't have a black/black car on the lot so we bought the car.

If it wasn't for the quote from Walter @ Amato we would not have gotten this price. I don't know what I cost him by not buying from him but I would like to give a little something.

Nice restaurant gift card?
$100 Bestbuy gift card?

He is a late 30's black guy if that makes any difference.

[88Nightmare]

best buy would be cool. everyone loves electronic gadgets

[Myles]

Pet badger?

[DirtyMax]

I heard there's gonna be a goat that needs a home soon... that'd be a great gift. If he sells cars, he might not have time to cut grass so the goat could be a pet and a helper.

Just make sure he doesn't live in South Milwaukee... :goof

[Waver]

Pet badger?

lol


seriously though, you could of had your sales person do a locate and have gotten the vehicle....but hey, I wish more people would be like you.....nothing pisses me off more than giving a customer a killer price (like 500 under invoice or more) and having them still shop the competition.....however it is the nature of the business.

honestly you can never go wrong with electronic shit, every one can use it, from dvd's to tv's, that gift card will go a long way

[juicedimpss]

real cliff notes.

never give prices out on the phone

provide the BEST service experience so they dont shop somewhere else

seal the deal on your customers

[Crawlin]

if i was given a gift from someone who didn't buy a car from me, after the scenario you described, i would break/rip/tear/etc... whatever it was right in front of them.

that's the shittiest thing to do to someone. cause now who are you going to if you have an issue with the car? that first dealership doesn't want your business, and the second who knows how they will treat you? fact of life, we'll go above and beyond for those that are in our "family".

NOW... having said that, i'm basing that statement on the fact that you didn't know that a dealership could do a dealer locate and find you that car you wanted, and that you couldn't wait one more day otherwise the bank would foreclose on your house and you'd lose your job all at once.... hahah

otherwise, personally, it's an insult

[Waver]

real cliff notes.

never give prices out on the phone

provide the BEST service experience so they dont shop somewhere else

seal the deal on your customers

I dont give the best price over the phone....I do it when they are here if it is necessary......this happens more so when they are here and I give them a kick ass price......

[pnad]

I know it was shitty, hence the guilt. During one of the phone calls to him I even gave him $100 via CC for a little earnest. I called him the next day and asked him to please keep it for his effort/trouble. He told me not to sweat it and he never even ran the card.

I didnt plan to buy local, just wanted a test drive. It might have been some sort of 'girl thing' with my wife as both the sales manager and salesperson were women. Pretty damn tenacious women that made it hard for us to walk away. In hindsight I never should have made an offer on the car.

I do hope to trade the 4cyl Sonata in for a Genesis coupe at Amato when the turbos hit the lots.

So you guys are salesmen? What did I realistically cost him by not making the sale?

[88Nightmare]

good luck getting ANY sort of a deal on one of those, I'm sure no dealer would budge on the price.

[Exitspeed]

A nice pen. Seriously. I sold retail for a long time and a good friend of mine got me a nice pen when I stood up in his weeding and it was one of the best things he coulda bought me.

[Voodoo Chick]

Really, really bright plaid sportcoat.

[awsomeears]

if i was given a gift from someone who didn't buy a car from me, after the scenario you described, i would break/rip/tear/etc... whatever it was right in front of them.

that's the shittiest thing to do to someone. cause now who are you going to if you have an issue with the car? that first dealership doesn't want your business, and the second who knows how they will treat you? fact of life, we'll go above and beyond for those that are in our "family".

NOW... having said that, i'm basing that statement on the fact that you didn't know that a dealership could do a dealer locate and find you that car you wanted, and that you couldn't wait one more day otherwise the bank would foreclose on your house and you'd lose your job all at once.... hahah

otherwise, personally, it's an insult

x 1000

I couldn't agree with you more !!!

[BoosTT]

I would just let it go and if he calls give him some bs that your wife is being layed off or something.

[Crawlin]

honestly, total cost is hard to guage....

it's a new car? so it was probably a $100-150 minimum commission on it since it was such a good price. plus most places only pay a flat fee. now if the car was picked by the manufacturer as one of a "group" to sell(like right now chrysler has $75 for every town and country you sell). If he ends up being one short of his next tier based on total volume it could cost him $400. but then it'd be his own fault for not hustling more and calling everyone at the end of the month since he knew he'd be one short.

i'm just a finance manager at a dealership, so it wouldn't really affect me, but on the flip side, i would rather just have someone say they bought elsewhere. but it all depends on the person.

[lordairgtar]

Nothing less than a nice 50 inch or larger flat screen oughta do it.

[johnny--2k]

Chris, don't forget he probably would have gotten a spiff if there was financing and also for selling a repeat customer anywhere from $15-$30 each.

[Waver]

honesty is a rare thing.....people say that car sales people are crooks, in my experience it is the other way around.......

[88Nightmare]

I never thought car salesmen were crooks. Its a legitimate business that is trying to profit. Everybody wants the best deal possible, but it seems lately a lot of people have a steak appetite on a hamburger budget. I'm not saying this is the case with the OP, its more along the lines of continuing Nicks previous post. Everybody wants an awesome deal, and the dealership offers the best possible deal and for some reason people still dont think its good enough so suddenly the salesman and the dealership are crooks.

If they are crooks, then go buy your car privately :)

[formul8]

The best gift you can give a sales person is referrals. ;)

[Reverend Cooper]

i honestly would give the guy a card with a hundo in it