Grin_and_tonic

At Ferman Acura in Tampa the other day, I was looking at the TL and TSX. I inquired about the changes that would show up in the 2006 TSX, and the salesperson proceeded to tell me that there would be no new changes. LIE.

I told him that I would probably like to wait for the 2006 instead of buying a 2005, and he then told me that they wouldn't even be out unti January. LIE.

They suck. My

CGTSX2004

iTrader: (1)

Well, the price might not be a lie because the dealer can choose to take the hit in profit to sell more cars.

But not being out until January is total

vger105

You might entertain the notion of telling him: "Liar liar, pants on fire."
That ought to fix him!

feliz

Liar liar, pants on fire
Nose is longer than a telephone wire

At least when I was a kid

Powered by Honda

I think its a requirement to suck and not know a thing about the car you sell.

Grin_and_tonic

"Well, the price might not be a lie because the dealer can choose to take the hit in profit to sell more cars".



I was not asking about price changes. I was talking about feature changes on the 2006 TSX. I should have been a bit more clear.

Did I mention that they are liars?

feliz

Yup. Wouldn't a salesman gain credibilty by just being honest and saying " I don't know but I'll find out ) rather than lying?

Eeyore

I hear story after story like this. It really is surprising that the people who should have the most information are often clueless.

Especially in this case since mentioning some of the new things in the 2006 might end up steering a customer away from a competitor's car and towards the TSX.

jlukja

The salesperson probably thinks he's being sly and steering you towards the 05 model which he needs to clear off his lot.

manda

Yesterday, I stopped by a local Acura dealership to see if they had copies of the brochure. They sent out this saleslady who was seriously clueless AND rude. She didn't bother saying "I'm not sure, let me check for you" - she just tried to BS.

I wonder if they sent her out cuz I'm a girl. Hahaha...

RadYOacTVe

I bought my car there. I got a quote online for $500 less than MSRP. I went there to look at the car and showed the salesperon the online quote and he said "that's great, we don't usually discount our cars, they sell themselves." I pull out a quote from another dealership in Lakeland and had them match the price which they did.

z-tec

hold on there folks...

sure, we've all had our run-ins with crappy salespeople, but we've got quite a few dealers/ salespeople on this site and i'd say they are neither full of shit nor liars. they've been a great source of info and very helpful so let's not start to generalize....

my

Motohip

My dealer gave me the most current info available. He even gave me a link to TOV when the 06 info and pictures were released. He must have missed the training where they tell you to play dumb and lie.

Grin_and_tonic

That was precisely his motivation to be dishonest, for he was really pushing the 2005 - "What can I do to make you drive this car home today?" and all that crap.

I do realize that it only takes a few bad apples to unfairly change people's opinions about an entire group.

TacoBellSauce

my salesman fell asleep during the test drive

russduck

I went to look at 06's (not in yet) and talked to a salesman who was knowledgeable (ie, memorized the details of the car such as air bags, etc.) but knew nothing about the changes on the 06. One would think a sales person would take the time to research their product and be informative. On the other hand, he did have 3 2005's he needed to unload. 06's due in in 3 weeks (early December)

weapon-x

You obviously didn't drive it like you stole it. I think the older salesman I had the first time I took it out almost had a heart attack when we hit 80mph.

joerockt

Personally, I could give a shit less if the sales person dosent know what their talking about. I mean, dont most of you guys do your research on the intarweb now-a-days? Who the hell would listen to the crap that sales people pitch? I dont ever really ask questions since I've already learned most everything I can about the car on paper.

The last two cars I bought (my TSX and my wife's 06 Accord) were a quick test drive and after the drive I'm talking to the sales manager buying the car. Quick, easy and no bullshitting with sales people. In fact, the sales woman who sold us the Accord actually told us she hated her job! It was such a pathethic ploy for sympathy which neither of us were buying. Unreal what these people will do for a sale.

Eeyore

West6MT

Ya there are a lot of crappy salesppl out there, but some really good ones too. Whenever I go to a dealer I hope I get a good one AND one that takes me seriously despite my young age,..I GET SO MAD when they dont.

I always find it interesting to see what the salesppl know about the car or what BS they try to spin on you when you go in. I always know everything about a car before I go in, and just ask questions I already know the answers too/or cant remember. If they are rude/lie/bs me/ or dont respect me cause of age,......I go elsewhere but am always polite and thank them for their time nonetheless. My dad is thinking new car now,....so I guess I will have to go through the process again cause he makes me do it,...sigh.

theElio

My salesman forced me to take on ramps at 50 in 2nd and pushed me to 90 on the highway. Lol, I was doing 40 in curvy hilly suburbs in the Bay Area and he told me where all the cop encampments were. He then taught me manual when I bought the car. Great service, I had no problem buying from him. (Michael Andrew - Hopkins Acura) So, I bought for 28.2... But good service.

joerockt

Whats about the sentence? Maybe there was truth to it, maybe not. But how unprofessional is that when you tell customers that you hate the job your working??? I mean, we were getting the "Oh, its hard being a woman in sales", "Todays my kids birthday and I'm working", blah, blah, blah...We're really convinced it was her "schtick".

bullyx2

I know there are probably horror stories about dealers everywhere, but my

I live in the Tampa Bay area as well. Bought my TSX from Crown in Clearwater. Could not have been happier. I was VERY close to buying a Dodge Magnum RT, but the sales guys at the Dodge dealer were AWFUL. Went to Crown and it all just went as smooth as could be. Sales people, managers, and finance guys were all low pressure, pleasant, and knowledgable. Best I've ever been treated at a dealer.

polytsx

From my recent experience my salesman was pretty good, far more up on the TSX than I would have expected...about the only thing he didn't know was if it was a timing chain or belt...he thought chain (anyone know this one ???).

The S40 I looked at and the Volvo salesman was a complete waste of time...I have never met a worse salesman. Imagine a salesman asking you "why would you want a standard ?"

The Subaru salesman was awesome...knew the product inside and out...the downside was his dealership was one of those big sticker no dicker types...a good thing for me as that ultimately led me to buy a TSX instead of the WRX I was going to buy...

tcwatkins

I went to three dealerships when considering the purchase of a TSX. One salesman was super, one sucked and one was just ok. The super one arranged for me to test a TSX for two nights. The average one was nice, no BS but not real helpful. The awful one first tried to sell us a used car then demanded our unlisted phone number or we could not test drive the new car. Guess which one I bought from without even talking price to the other two?

Moral of the story? It's good to live in a place with several Acura dealers!

playdoh

Either they all lie or are uninformed, which is just as bad.

Oh, and by the way, never ever go to Acura of Valley Stream in NY. Horrible experience there.

Colin

I study, research, and drive everything we sell. It is rare to find a customer that knows more about our product than I do. I feel strongly that it is supposed to be that way. I am nowhere near the top of the sales heap in our store, but that suits me fine. My 99.2 (on the year) CSI score is more important than selling the most cars.

However I am shocked how uninformed some of our staff is, but the kicker is that they will often outsell me!

What does this teach us? You don't need to know the product to be succesful in sales.

Eeyore

I was trying to figure out if the saleslady was doing it just because she didn't know any better, or if it was a ploy to gain sympathy or make the sale easier. My guess is she didn't know any better, but then again I wasn't there.

Jason

You know your knowledge is second to none. The vast majority of all automotive salespeople are less educated than the average participant of this forum.

Why do you think those people outsell you? Are they cherry picking or is the system fair?

JimintheOC

At Tustin (Calif) Acura, my wife and I showed up, a person came out (I can't call him a sales person, he couldn't sell gas to a Suburban owner). We asked to look at the TSX, he never gave his name, never asked ours, did not offer a card. Was not prepared to unlock any of the cars for us, had to disappear for several minutes at a time to get a key. Did not offer any info on the car as we looked at it. Did not offer a test drive. When I asked about other colors, they only had 3 silver ones on the lot, he said they have other cars, but he didn't know the colors and would have to look them up, but then wouldn't go do so. When I asked if the offer loaner cars when in for service, he said they did not, unless it was warranty work, but that these cars never needed warranty work! Yeah right!

I've bought a lot of cars in the 31 years I've been driving, even ran across a plymouth salesman named "Harvey Wallbanger" once. But this guy at Tustin Acura has to be about the worst. It's not like they were busy either, we were the only ones on the lot! I know where I WON'T be buying a TSX.

Colin

Here's the thing. Everyone wants a good deal right? How much money do you think a salesman makes on a car sold at or around invoice? At most stores is a mini commision between $100-200.

Now everyone wants good service and to be treated professionally right? Well, how does the industry attract a professional when the pay will be less than 3000 per month?

Now some of you will say that its too bad, if the guy is starving, maybe he should quit so I can get a good guy to work with. In most cases, he will be quitting, probably in another month. BUT then you get another 'greenpea" that doesn't know the product.

As you can see, its a never ending cycle.

:disclaimer: All this is IMO naturally :/disclaimer:

Jason

My guy at my dealership broke it down for me similar to that. In order to make a few bucks you need high profit vehicles like the MDX (though that's starting to go down). The TSX is ok he tells me, but the RL and TL are killing him. RSX is off the maps. Just hang on until the RDX arrives. You're going to make a mint off that one.

Colin

Oh, to answer your earlier question. I won't lie to make a sale and I only handle my own repeat business and internet clients. I don't do walk in traffic. At first this sounds like I get the "first crack" at everybody since most people use the internet. However here in Hawaii, we are the only Acura store. The simple truth is that most people come to the store first, then go home and e-mail for a better price. But now they "belong" to someone else.

Remarkably, over the last few months, I've closed 75% of the contacts that I met for a test drive, the industry average is around 25%. I just didn't do enough test drives!

tzakiel

The guy who sold me my acura suggested we get hookers and liquor to celebrate. 3 times. I can't make stuff like this up...

Colin

Did you? Maybe there's a future in car sales for you!

Jason

That actually makes perfect sense to me. I didn't realize you are the internet manager. I figured your repeat business is tremendous so I didn't understand why your sales might be low at times. That answers my question. I have to believe if you were on the floor you'd eat their lunch. Which begs the question: why aren't you on the floor?

tzakiel

Did I make it up? Or did we get hookers and liquor?

Most certainly not, to either question

Colin

Man thats just nuts!

yukit

It is interesting to hear from the insider.
Here in the Bay Area, I have about 4 dealers to choose from.
I hope to find someone reliable, probably get a referral from here or TL board.

I certainly hope Acura service is better than VW. I am a Passat refugee looking at TSX or TL, possibly Audi A4 (but I hear Audi dealers are not good either)

theElio

Hey yukit, I live in San Carlos. I got my Acura at Hopkins Acura on El Camino Real in Redwood City. Michael Andrews was my salesperson and I was very happy with the service. Go there, ask for him, and tell him Elio sent you.