Only place i had issues was trying to drive a GTO. One dealer wouldnt let me unless i put down a $500 deposit. Found another dealer that had no problem with me driving it the way i wanted.

Maybe its an liablity thing where they think drivers wont be able to handle high powered cars.

 

MB here in Cherry Hill NJ are nice.... across the street Cherry Hill Lexus are bunch of snobs....
same goes with Cherry Hill Nissan. When Wife wanted a G35c, the Holman Infiniti gave us nothing but #1 customer service.

 

Image is a crock. I know a couple millionares who dress in cargo shorts and Billabong hoodys!

I hate shady salesmen. I got jerked around at the local Acura dealership so I ended up going to an idependant one.

 

It's cool when someone bumps a thread of mine from almost 2 years ago.

 

Precision Acura in Princeton was pretty good to me...

 

Morristown MB has been nothing but absolutely unbelievably nice to my mom, and extremely helpful.

 

Did your freind ever buy a Z06?

 

i just flash my dad's black card and things go my way regardless of whether it's a chevy or mb stealership...

 

I had an experience like that at a Lexus dealership...

When I first got there one sales man greeted me but has in the middle of setting up a test drive. He told me someone should be able to help me out inside. I went inside waited for about 15 min for some help to look at IS300's, at one point the an older sales man walked in and walked right past me to an older woman looking at an SC430. She had just walked in, also ends up just looking around and dismisses him. As he is walking past me, I have to stop him and ask for help. He gives me a quick thing, like this is the IS and thats it. I ask if I can take one out for a test drive. He said no they don't have any available and just blows me off.

At that point I was bullshit, i said what kind of salesman are you, in a stern voice and walked out. As i am walking out the other salesman who greeted me sees but it still tied up with the customer. He asks how i liked the IS and i told him i barely got a look at it and what I was told. He then looks at the lot right at a dozen IS's new and used sorta dumbfounded. I just said have a good one and took off.

I was about to buy an IS300 but that experience completely turned me off from Lexus. I didnt want to be a snob like that. If i got to talk to the first sales man, I would probably be driving that Lexus right now.

Other than that, the only other bad experience i had was at the Pontiac dealership.

 

You know what cracks me up about salespeople at high end stores/auto dealers? They have a quarter or less of the education I have; make substantially less; own not one thing from the very store they work at; and yet, try and treat me like I'm some sort of fuckin' peon. Some dick in Montreal selling Cole Haan shoes tried telling me the shoes I was looking for were the Cole Haans made in Brazil rather than Italy and they were inferior as a result. It wouldn't have been so bad except he made the further comment: you wouldn't appreciate the difference anyways. To which I replied: Yes, but at least I can afford to buy buy anything in this store and have you not only fetch the shoes but put them on me, meanwhile you won't be eating next week w/o this week's paycheck. Stunned silence. And that's just it, I don't let any of these condescending pricks believe for a second they are better than me just b/c they think they are royalty by association.

 

I walked into a dealership ready to just look at the GTO, not a test drive. Next thing i know the sales guys are talking me into a test drive. After some initially resisting due to time restrictions i had, i agreed. I got inside, they take my info and go off to get plates, keys etc.

Next thing i know the sales manager comes over and sits down. He asks so when are you going to take delivery?!? I told him what i told the sales guy, I am just looking, comparing. Then he procedes to tell me all this crap about how they dont test drive these cars without deposit, my 2000 dollar liability if something happens to the car, people want low miles etc... i should have said something about the 1500 miles the car we started up the lot had...

i just looked at him and said, why did you and your sales people waste me time! Got up and left, as I was leaving I told him and the sales guy I was going to direct my friends in another direction. 2 bought GTO's from a different dealership later by my suggestion...

so....

 

 

Hahahahahaha! Awesome! It's been awhile since I've had someone treat me like crap anywhere, but I've been at this point before. I think the only place I still get ignored is the Ferrari and Lamborgini dealerships.

 

Maybe they only let adults test drive cars?

 

The best way to deal with it is just not buy a car there. Go somewhere else and get the Vette. Then drive it to that dealership that snubbed you and when they ask if you need help, say "I did last week, but got this instead". Then leave. Just know that they will probably be fired soon or eating Raman noodles for lunch everyday.

I can't stand condescending car dealers.

 

Somewhat off topic, but many years ago I had the opportunity to work at a Mercedes Benz dealership during the summers while attending university. It was a very good experience and I enjoyed it very much. Midway through the first summer I had made some interesting observations:

1) NEVER judge a potential client by gender, age, or dress. I sold SL's to individuals who's entire outfit they were wearing that day didn't exceed the value of a Timex watch. In fact many times the individual who dressed extremely well and strutted around couldn't get qualified in the finance office.

2) The individual who tried to impress you and expected you to kiss their ass while informing you of their accomplishments, education, and possessions were usually so heavily financed on other items they couldn't pay cash for a tank of gas.

3) The quiet, soft spoken, and courteous customer was most likely the one who had done his or her research on a car and was fully qualified and prepared to buy.

My favourite customers were 35-50, casually dressed, soft spoken, business owners, and often displayed a confident but respectful attitude. Of course there were others who looked the part that were indeed capable of purchasing an expensive car that were pleasurable to deal with, but three summers of selling these types of cars taught me appearances can indeed be deceiving.

In 1997 I experienced being judged by my appearance when wanting to purchase a new 540. I initially went into the dealership after climbing out of my pickup still wearing my farm clothes, and most of the salespeople chose to ignore me when I entered the dealership. The salesperson who did indeed approach me and spent time with me eventually sold me the car, and another a few years later from another manufacturer. It's unfortunate that salespeople still judge potential customers by their outward appearance.

Terry

 

Sounds like me in the showrooms- I usually dress in Levi's and some combination of clothes that, including my Land's End boots or older basketball shoes, costs less than $150 total including underwear, if I'm not wearing one of my $20-$40 plastic watches.
I try to act courteously and professionally when looking for/at cars. I did test drive or looked at several cars in suit pants while on the way to the office from court before (I'm a lawyer, but dress in jeans in the office), but didn't notice any difference in service compared to casual dress.
I've only tested cars I was qualified to buy, so I have no idea how a Ferrari or Lambo drives. On the other hand, those Kias... oh, never mind...

 

Yea the first thing you learn in sales is not to judge because of image. Asking what they were wearing is total BS. Anybody can put on a suit and look like they have a little money, and what about when you pull up to a dealership driving a nice car and they give you the royal treatment. I drove a 96 Camery, when I graduated from college with a BS, and MBA I had a little money in my pocket to buy what I wanted, because I pulled up in my Camery should a sales guy assume I can't afford a Z06? Should I rent a nice car just to go and buy another one.

Tell your friend to buy the Vette somewhere else and go back to the dealership that treated you all rude and ask to test drive something then and see what they say.

 

the worst episode for me in under-estimating someone sitting nearby was when I was in Como, Italy eating lunch in the piazza w/ my wife in 98. At the next table was a guy wearing Wrangler jeans (cuffed no less) and a t-shirt that said "Do it in the Dirt." (dirt tracker fan) and drinking a can of Bud. I said to my wife something like nice outfit or something. The next day I met the guy, he was on the same tour as I was for the Italian GP. He owned 4 furniture factores in Malaysia, was a multi-millionaire, owned homes around the world and was one of the nicest guys I ever met. Talk about gettin' it all wrong-I sure did!

 

A whole other page???? I find this funny....

Yeah he did buy a Z06 from another dealer. Then he wrapped it around a pole avoiding an older driver slamming on their brakes at a green light cause she thought it was red. What she saw was the red turn signal, the light was green.

 

Aren't people like that interesting? I've met a few people like that as well, and although very unassuming by their outward appearance, they have been the most interesting individuals I've ever encountered.


Terry

 

to the appearance rant... I purposely go car shopping in something very casual, shorts/tshirt/flipflops, etc... I like to catch them off guard, they think i am just some punk kid until the run my credit