So be it, Colin! I guess a dealer overpaying can happen!

Fair enough on the Honda / Acura opinion.

All I can say is that I love my (new) S2000 and I couldn't be happier.

Best wishes from New England. -- C

 

My experience is varied. Here's what i've seen:

Audi - Nice experience when there aren't a lot of salespeople working. They become jackals when there are. But the Audi salespeople get a big thumbs up in my book because they insist on driving the car off the lot and for the first part of the test drive (ok that part's insulting) and then scare the living sh!t out of you by driving like they're in a formula 1 tyryout. (S4's Rock)

BMW - 1 BMW dealership for an area with more than 1 million people? Don't expect much off the sticker.

Ford - Wouldn't let me test drive a Cobra because "too many kids come in here wanting to test drive them and don't have the money to buy them." OK - but I'm 31, can afford it, and drove a 3 year old Mustang GT here.

Toyota - The salesperson I went to was a friend of my girlfriend, she was with me, and he still lied to me every chance he got.

Honda - The industry leader in dealer installed markups.

The bottom line is: If you find a decent salesperson - keep their card and make an appointment with them when you are ready for a new car.

 

BDMonk - I resemble that remark! You hear that guys? MAKE an appointment so YOU can choose your sales consultant! Otherwise, they choose you!

Chazmo, one quick point, I always try to remember that we don't buy and sell cars in a vacuum. In other words, your (or my) car was not the only one like it sold in your town that month. A good deal is all relative. When our store purchased the S2000 that I now own, they did not overpay! They bought it about $4000 less than the going rate for that car back in November of 1999. Knowing this, that is why I picked it up. Trust me, in June of 2000 when our store had 5 in stock, I paid invoice (employee price) for our second S2000. Now the good stuff, did you get your car! How is it? Are you near the computer or still out driving around!?

 

Colin, I think the hard thing is that when you're looking to buy a car, you don't know what the salesperson is like, so making an appointment is like taking a random guess at who's good. When I was shopping for my S2000, I started out with the Internet sales contact for Honda in Hawaii (turned out it was Pflueger Honda). They didn't have the color I wanted, so I went to another dealership - Honda Windward.

I bought a car from Honda Windward in the past ('98 Accord), and my salesperson sucked. Didn't even give us a free tank of gas. I spoke to a co-worker who wanted and Accord, she went to Honda Windward, got a different salesperson, and had a great experience including a free tank of gas. Anyway, I went there shopping for the S2000, and luckily I got a really cool salesperson that gave me the best car buying experience ever.

Had I known that you sold Honda's as well (I only knew that you sold Acura's when I first met you when I was interested in an Integra), I would have gone to you since you were helpful for that experience, and I already had experience talking to you as a salesperson and thought you were very enthusiastic and very helpful (that and you put me on your mailing list for your newsletter which I thought was very cool).

My point is, that unless you know someone who's had a great experience with a salesperson, it's very hard to choose one. Now that I know you, and referred people to you with success, I wouldn't hesitate buying a car from you, cause YOU DA MAN!!!

So guys, if you're looking to buy a S2000, come to Hawaii and see Colin!

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Colin

 

I've got to Chime in on this one.. cause I too am unhappy... Not at the sales people but more like the SALES manager... So I had bought my Civic 2 years ago from this dealer here in Miami (BRAMAN Honda to be exact). The gave me this nice coupons with some benefits (I.e. discounts on oil changes, rotations things like that). They also had some referral benefits in there. Now I had co-signed w/my bro on that car, and I of course paid for it (You'll see my point later). So I referred someone to the dealer and got $50 in Pre-paid gas last year. So now My dad was telling me that his friend wanted to buy an accord I go hey why doesn't he go to Braman I hear they got a sale going on... needless to say the guy goes and BUYS a car... and So I was like cool now I get $100 worth of pre-paid gas.. my dad even went and spoke to the guy I purchased the car from and he said NO problem.. but guess what.... ERRRR WRONG!!! The "new" Sales Mgr. refuses to give ME the gas BECAUSE my name isn't on the 'referral coupon' my brothers is, and my brother didn't refer the guy my father did. I WAS LIKE WTF? It's MY Car (Needless to say I don't own that car anymore but shhhhh) I pay for it and I was the one who told my dad to send him their. I guess I was wrong for sending him there.. then the guy starts YELLING at me because of what I'm telling him. Telling me it doesn't matter even if my name is signed on the paperwork it's who's name is on the coupons. UGH! I was sooo MAD!!
So I had given Mav (he's on S2Ki too) the other coupon for $150 worth of pre-paid gas since of course he's getting a new S. (I told him I'd give him some of the pre-paid cards). He calls the guy after telling him and pisses Mav off too. The guy said I started "screaming" at him when he was the ONE screaming at me!!! UGH I wont refer ANYONE else to buy a car there. The service is good but their sales SUCKS!!!!! I was so unhappy with that.

I know you might think who cares if you don't own the car anymore... but if you think the service is good and you thought the sales people were good too when you once bought a car there and so you refer someone there then WHAM your wrong. It's not the factor of the pre-paid gas (which would have been nice) it's the fact the guy had the NERVE to start screaming at me!!! OK I've vented.. thanks!

 

i totally understand you. sometimes even the guys up top are assholes. but you know what? when you buy the S, Honda of NA gives you a little ring asking you how the experience was etc. always always ask them for a phone number you can reach them at if you have troubles with a dealership. in most cases, dealerships don't readily give up information about Honda of NA or their regional dept. because they fear bad reports.

apparently dealerships are rated on a 1-5 scale, and anything below a 5 is considered not-passing. ultimately this rating affects the amount of cars that are allocated to them, what type of cars, and other important aspects that affect the dealership's business. althought the fleet manager was an ass to me one time out of the 6 or 7 times we spoke, after he sold me the car and it was shipped out, he practically begged me to give his dealership a top notch rating. The dealership even had a representative call me to see how i like the car (it's not here yet) and to remind me to give them a 5. i'm not sure i like the approach they took in selling me this car. although i had no problem getting the price i wanted, the experience of the fleet manager accusing me of perhaps trying to cheat them into sending me a free car completely ruined my car buying experience. under no circumstances should a sales MANAGER let alone a fleet manager raise his/her voice or yell at a customer. it just shows poor communication skills and lack of courtesy. maybe when my car comes in, i'll change my mind about the rating i'll give them, but as of right now, i'm not very satisfied with them considering i just spent over $30k.

 

give 'em hell, secret!

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by rstark
[B]Colin, I think the hard thing is that when you're looking to buy a car, you don't know what the salesperson is like, so making an appointment is like taking a random guess at who's good.