Anybody looking for a sweet car?

[Flight_740]

I have been seeing this car for the past couple of days parked by my work on 92nd and oklahoma. It is parked with a for sale sign in the window on 92nd street. It's a very clean and hott looking 75 formula. It's black with a silver stripe. The car sounds like a monstor. It has a SBC but sounds like it could be a stroker. It also has a nice stall converter. No price listed. If you stop to look at it, stop in the dealership on the corner. Im the younger guy in the office. You might want to look at this thing. It's nice.

[SlowStee]

dude you work at merrit motors? i came in there last week, cuz i wanted to test drive a GTP....i live like 1 block away from there

[Flight_740]

Yea, I remember you. Sorry I couldnt let you drive it but my old man is pretty hard on stuff like that.

[SlowStee]

some other time ? :D

[Poncho]

bwa hahaha...... soon enough the GTPs will take over......

[02hawk796]

Originally posted by Blown_Gtp
Yea, I remember you. Sorry I couldnt let you drive it but my old man is pretty hard on stuff like that.

In summer '01 I had decided I was going to get a TransAm, with every option I desired. Went to the dealer nearest to my hometown, where all the Pontiacs I'd seen as a kid had come from. They had a Firehawk, I didn't know much about it, but the options were much more impressive than anything else Pontiac offered. I asked to test drive it. Dealer said no. I asked to test drive any of the half dozen T/As they had - no. They said they let would let me test drive a Formula. I checked to ensure I understood that they would let me test drive a Formula but not the Firehawk or any T/A, even though the Firehawk was what I was interested in - they said yup, I couldn't test drive them because "I wasn't a serious buyer". I test drove the Formy.
I found the dealer I would order my Hawk with. When I was in the area of the first dealer, I stopped and asked if they'd like to try to make a competitive offer. They made an offer that started off $3000 more than my initial offer with the best dealer (mine). I laughed at them. They started calling me, lowering their price until they were only $1000 over the price I was going to pay. They didn't stop until I clearly told them "Sorry, you are just not a serious seller".

Selling cars but not letting people test drive them? My money goes elsewhere.
Had they let me test drive the Hawk they had, I would have given them the extra 1K even if I didn't get that particular Hawk. Telling me "no test drive" means they will have to work A LOT harder to get my business.

BTW, the Hawk that my dealer ordered and delivered to me, which I still own, has the highest MSRP of ANY Pontiac sold in the State of Wisconsin, ever. It's also the highest MSRP of any vehicle, any make ever sold by my dealer (they tell me). Remember, dealer holdbacks and incentives are a percentage based on the MSRP.
I suspect I, and my dealer, had the last laugh.

[Flight_740]

Well, you have to understand where "us" as the dealers are coming from. I have a car on the lot for sale and not for pepole just to try. I ask If the customer likes the car, will they buy it today? If the answer is no or I will be buying in a month or two, No the car is not going anywhere. Why would I let someone drive a car if they are not ready to buy? This car won't be here in a month or two. Come back when you are ready to buy.

I also have pepole take cars out for a ride and tell me that the car isnt a good color for them or it has to many miles. What the hell did you just drive it for than? You just wasted my time.

There is than the guy that can't afford a bike let alone my $18,000 Lexus on the lot. You guessed it, He wants to drive the most expensive car on the lot. I quiz pepole that want to drive our cars to see if they are buyers before I say yes or no.

Than we get the kids in here that just want to go beat the snot out of our cars. Is that fair to the person actually ready to buy the car or us. How would you like to buy a car after every kid in the area has just gotten done beating the crap out of it. We don't say no to test drives just for us but also for the person that will actually buy the car.

We also have the guy that comes and seems able to buy the car. He takes it out for a ride and offers me $2000 below what I even paid for the car and $4000 under our tag. ****, I wish we made that much on a car. Pepole seem to think we are making tons of money here and thats crazy. I like to tell pepole that we are firm on our price before they even drive it and if they have a problem with that to not even drive the car. Some of those guys say ok ok, thats fine and they come back and still hit me below the belt and there was nothing wrong with the car.

Ahhh, the fun of retail. Those are only some of the reasons that our cars don't go on test drives.

[SlowStee]

this is all new to me, as far as i know,. i know tons of people who have taken cars out at merrit motors, just for test drives....of course they were looking for their next car, but not ready to buy

[02hawk796]

I fully understand where the dealer is "coming from". I was trying to point out that sometimes, the customer is right. And if the dealer thinks the customer is not right, the customer can very easily waltz his business and cash to the competing dealer. I understand that you think you have a unique view and a unique set of circumstances/obstacles. Perhaps you don't fully understand the way retail works. The customer is always right because the customer is the one who decides to part with his money.
Are you a used car dealer? Or new?
Let's review:


Originally posted by Blown_Gtp
I have a car on the lot for sale and not for pepole just to try.
Oh? Why not? If you want to have the car that each customer wants, just order every color, style, and every combination of every option available for every model you carry, and then each customer will have the car they actually want on your lot, and you can let them test drive it before you sell it to them. That's pretty simple, isn't it?
Of course, that might get expensive for the dealership to rent all that parking space.
A more reasonable plan might be to order a "representative" vehicle, with many common options for people to check out (and to ensure it will eventually sell), and let buyers test drive it to see if they want to order the right color from you (or have you get a dealer trade for them). A reasonable, honest dealer doing this can win over a customer's confidence even without the large inventory of the dealer across the street.



I ask If the customer ... or I will be buying in a month or two, ... Why would I let someone drive a car if they are not ready to buy?

Here we go again. You are the dealer. The dealer is always right, right?
So you are perfectly willing to throw away next month's sale?
The reason you let the buyer drive is so they will return to buy a car from you. I think I read "GTO" so I'm thinking you are a new dealer, but I'm not sure. If you are a new car dealer, "retail sold" car orders are the lifeblood of any future you might have. (example - when I ordered my Hawk, my dealer had allocations for 2 F-bods per month, F-bods being the highest margin and most desirable unit to have, but most dealers are limited to how many they can order for "dealer stock" based upon sales history. "Retail Sold" car orders are not counted against the allocation. My order was the 3rd order that month for my dealer, and it pushed their figures high enough that they got bumped to 3 allocations the next month - and all future months. This means more future higher profit sales for them - plus more traffic off the street when they see a sweet car out front.)
So you WANT the customer to come back, whether you have that same car in stock or not. How many cars do you think that customer will buy this year? Why not encourage them to give you their money, rather than the other dealer that let them test drive?

[Flight_740]

We are a small family lot and all we sell is used cars. I am not rude in any way when I tell pepole no. Now are customers always right? no. Do we let them think they are? No. If we feel like we are getting screwed, I will tell them. We price our cars great here. There is no reson for us to have to kiss ass to sell cars. If they can't handle it there is another dealership down the road that will wine and dine them but they will be paying about $3000 more than they would with us. Is that worth it to the customer? probably not.

Again, like I said. The cars are for sale today and not in a couple of months. If in a couple of months, you decide to actually buy a car, come back and see what we have than because this car won't be here so you may as well not put miles on our cars, beat on our cars, waste our gas, or risk an accident. Thats the way we see it. I am always very polite in saying this also.

[SlowStee]

how should you know what kind of car your going to buy, if you've never driven the type of car you want

[animal]

As far as the miles and beating on cars, perhaps you could ride along with them or something? When I test drove a lightning the first time they had no problem letting me test drive it but they also rode along in the car to make sure I wasn't some punk giving it a beatdown run. As far as gas, if youre with them, they aren't going to drive THAT far. a couple miles and the nominal price in gas can't be that much, especially considering a main part of the "game" is getting them into your establishment in the first place. And lastly as far as accidents are concerned, I'm sure insurance takes care of this doesn't it?

[Flight_740]

I would ride along but I am usually here by myself. About the accidents, It's just a big headache and it would be the customers insurance that would take care of it and you just hope they have it.

[Flight_740]

Originally posted by FoRmuLa_DriVa
how should you know what kind of car your going to buy, if you've never driven the type of car you want

Good question. I have a better one for you.

If you like this car after you drive it, are you ready to do buisness?

[SlowStee]

no, i know what my next car is then, and i look at other prices and styles....gotta start somewhere right

[SlowStee]

sorry if my posts r seeming mean or anything, its not a big deal at all, im not complainin hating on your business man

[Prince Valiant]

In any event...took a look at that pontiac...surprisingly clean. Wish one of YOU guys would buy it :cool:

[Flight_740]

Originally posted by FoRmuLa_DriVa
sorry if my posts r seeming mean or anything, its not a big deal at all, im not complainin hating on your business man

Oh man, no stress. Im just trying to let pepole know how we operate.

Back to the subject, did you take a look at that car? Very sweet. I just wonder how much he wants. I will be watching for him.