Why American car companies suck - Page 7

Weasel · #61 03-15-2009, 10:36 PM

Maybe this explains why GM is in such bad condition... BMW vehicles sell themselves once driven... you would think GM in these times of need for them, about to file chapter 11, would try that approach with what is supposed to be a great car. But it is their mistake, thus their loss.

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ylwjacket · #62 03-15-2009, 11:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by B-Line

If you walk into a BMW dealership wearing a ripped t-shirt and jeans, they assume you are there to buy a car.
Clearly if you call into a Cadillac dealer and try to arrange a test drive, you are just some poor slob off the street that can't really afford the car anyway.

It's a prejudiced way to do business and it pains me that it's the American car companies that do it. I've walked into Porsche wearing sandals and shorts and they throw me the keys to anything...

I don't need to showcase my wealth to "earn" a test drive from some Cadi dealer... I'd rather drive a Schwinn.

you're crazy. i got into my cts-v because the bmw dealer wouldn't let me test drive a 6 series. This, in spite of the fact that i was returning a leased 4.4 X5. they sized me up, evidently decided i couldn't afford it, didn't deserve it, or they could treat me like pond scum and i'd want it so bad that i would deal with anyways.

they were wrong, and i bought the v.

flash forward a few years ahead. that same dealership, who i vowed to never return to, has a new attitude. so much so, that i have bought 3 cars in the last 4 months from them.

it's not the brand - it's one stupid dealer.

ylwjacket · #63 03-15-2009, 11:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by blondboinsd

To 90% of the population the AMG Benz and entry level Caddy are millions of miles apart. It's just life in LA LA land

Then 90% of the population doesn't know cars, or is stupid, because the CTS-V is hardly an entry level vehicle.

B-Line · #64 03-16-2009, 12:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ylwjacket

you're crazy. i got into my cts-v because the bmw dealer wouldn't let me test drive a 6 series. This, in spite of the fact that i was returning a leased 4.4 X5. they sized me up, evidently decided i couldn't afford it, didn't deserve it, or they could treat me like pond scum and i'd want it so bad that i would deal with anyways.

they were wrong, and i bought the v.

flash forward a few years ahead. that same dealership, who i vowed to never return to, has a new attitude. so much so, that i have bought 3 cars in the last 4 months from them.

it's not the brand - it's one stupid dealer.

Interesting....

When the sales person sized you up and didn't allow you to drive the 6 series, did you ask to speak to the manager? Did the manager say no to the test drive?

Cause after we asked the sales person, we escalated the issue to management who insisted that he would only let us drive it after we had a deal in place.

If it was only on the sales level, I probably wouldn't have bothered mentioning it. But I went over his head to management. And once you go to management, you would assume that you are serious about the car and would make it happen.

I also hate to repeat, this happened at two dealers.

B-Line · #65 03-16-2009, 12:16 AM

I should also mention, that by refusing to allow us to test drive the car, that kept us from even showing up at the dealership. And since that dealership is also Chevy, effectively, their desire to try to Glengary Glenross sell me prevented me from seeing any other vehicle also available by Chevy or Cadillac.

Maybe we might have been interested in a Camaro, or Escalade, or who knows... But when you give your customers the five finger stop sign, you lose any and all potential business.

I might go into Porsche, test drive a Cayenne and not buy it, but that doesn't mean I might not buy the Audi Q5 parked next to it..

Again, it's just stupid salesman ship.. And if I were the owner and I knew about this, or GM for that matter, I would be pissed.

blondboinsd · #66 03-16-2009, 02:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ylwjacket

Then 90% of the population doesn't know cars, or is stupid, because the CTS-V is hardly an entry level vehicle.

Like it or not perception is everything.

blondboinsd · #67 03-16-2009, 02:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ylwjacket

you're crazy. i got into my cts-v because the bmw dealer wouldn't let me test drive a 6 series. This, in spite of the fact that i was returning a leased 4.4 X5. they sized me up, evidently decided i couldn't afford it, didn't deserve it, or they could treat me like pond scum and i'd want it so bad that i would deal with anyways.

they were wrong, and i bought the v.

flash forward a few years ahead. that same dealership, who i vowed to never return to, has a new attitude. so much so, that i have bought 3 cars in the last 4 months from them.

it's not the brand - it's one stupid dealer.

Oh BOY Have I been there. Before I got my 2004 X5 I was told by my local dealer that "I must not be able to afford it!" of which I made a note and bought a more loaded X5 from Beverly Hills BMW and made sure to have it serviced at the local dealer so the sales person knew EXACTLY what he lost out on.

I work in sales and trust me 90% of car sales people drive my insane. It's rare I run across a sales person who I actually like. Usually I give them a run for their money and walk away. Once I find a good sales guy I keep going back and I refer people to them because I reward a good intelligent business person. When I work I give everyone I run across 100% respect and a non-attitude environment. That is what I feel creates success.

ylwjacket · #68 03-16-2009, 08:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by blondboinsd

Oh BOY Have I been there. Before I got my 2004 X5 I was told by my local dealer that "I must not be able to afford it!" of which I made a note and bought a more loaded X5 from Beverly Hills BMW and made sure to have it serviced at the local dealer so the sales person knew EXACTLY what he lost out on.

I work in sales and trust me 90% of car sales people drive my insane. It's rare I run across a sales person who I actually like. Usually I give them a run for their money and walk away. Once I find a good sales guy I keep going back and I refer people to them because I reward a good intelligent business person. When I work I give everyone I run across 100% respect and a non-attitude environment. That is what I feel creates success.

It is absolutely amazing what a little respect will do. As I said, I've bought 3 cars from the same guy now over the past few months, just because I like him, and feel like he treated me honestly. And this is from the same dealer that made me swear off BMW a couple of years ago.

It isn't that hard to do, really. I'm sure you're much more successful for it.

ylwjacket · #69 03-16-2009, 08:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by B-Line

Interesting....

When the sales person sized you up and didn't allow you to drive the 6 series, did you ask to speak to the manager? Did the manager say no to the test drive?

Cause after we asked the sales person, we escalated the issue to management who insisted that he would only let us drive it after we had a deal in place.

If it was only on the sales level, I probably wouldn't have bothered mentioning it. But I went over his head to management. And once you go to management, you would assume that you are serious about the car and would make it happen.

I also hate to repeat, this happened at two dealers.

As a matter of fact, I did. In fact, the parallels were pretty similar. I wanted an M5, but they didn't have any yet, and weren't going to get one before my lease expired on the X5.

So, I wanted to test drive a 545, and a 645, then make a decision. They told me they didn't let people test drive 645's - they were too expensive to use as demo cars. The manager (or at least someone who claimed to be the manager), agreed. They also only were going to let me drive a 525 or 530 (whichever they made then, I don't remember), because they only had a few 545's, and they didn't want to put miles on them. I told them I had just bought an Escalade, and if they were going to be jerks, I'd go take serious look at the CTS-V (first gen). They told me nobody cross-shopped their cars with Cadillacs, so that wasn't going to pursuade them to let me take a test drive.

So, off I went, and bought the V.

Again, I drove in there, saying my X5 lease is up in 45 days, and I need a new car. Somehow, they evidently didn't think I qualified, even though I was drove there in one of their cars.

As for CTS-V's, at this moment in time, I have no doubt that some dealers are being jerks about them. The new factor is still there, and I'm sure dealers get all sorts of crackpots wanting to take a 560hp car for a spin.

If I were you, and I really wanted to drive it, I'd probably go in there.

However - this hardly a GM problem. It is one dealer being arrogant, because he probably misjudged the allure of his offering, and your desire to buy it.

So, since he's stupid, he lost a sale of a $65k car.

FSETH · #70 03-16-2009, 09:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ylwjacket

However - this hardly a GM problem. It is one dealer being arrogant, because he probably misjudged the allure of his offering, and your desire to buy it.

Actually, as B-Line said, it was two dealers, so once again it may be a GM thing.

Also, BMW is in a much different position financially than GM right now and when you were shopping cars. I don't think GM can afford to be snobby about it. They need to do whatever thy can to move cars, not turn people off. Hell, they owe all of us test drives after all the charity we gave them.

Not trying to be a jerk, but at the end of the day the CTS-V is just a Caddy with a Vette engine, and while very nice, neither of those things are "rare" by any means.

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