Triple-H

My dealer story, dumbest thing I have ever heard.

In the area that I live there are 4 Honda dealerships that are what I would call local. I have had a LOT of service done to my track car at local Honda Dealer A for the past 6 years. I discovered on this site local Honda Dealer B was listed as a friend of the marquee.

I go to Dealer B and ask to get S2000 at MSRP + hardtop + extended service. They say yes, I get MSRP for both car and hardtop plus the installation fee is waved along with the dealer's car prep fee and a good price on warranty. I'm happy it is a good deal, and I have had no past buying experience with this dealer.

Now I go to Dealer A and I speak to the Sales Manager. I tell him the deal I have been offered at Dealer B and ask him if he can beat it because I would like to get my car from the same place it is going to be serviced. I let him know the frequency the car will be serviced because it is a track toy so he can get a scope of the dollars to be spent. He speaks to the General Manager and comes back to let me know he will match the offer but will not beat it. I say no thanks, have a nice day, here is my card if you change your mind. I go home.

I'm back at the same Dealer A a week later to check out the new Suzuka color. I start up a friendly conversation with the Sales Manager and mention that I was really surprised he was not willing to beat Dealer B's price by even $100. And he says to me...
There is no way I will beat the price from Dealer B. I was interested in matching it but I will not beat it, I don't have to, nor should I. I look at him confused and said something like what do you mean. He then goes on to say that because I am a long term customer in the service department I should be willing to pay an extra $200 or $300 to support his dealership where I have my service done. I was completely baffled by this.

I just smiled and said it is my job to get the best deal possible and it is his job to sell cars. I win, you loose, enjoy your day.
I should be happy to spend $200 to $300 dollars more so I can support the service department of my choice, what was he injecting???

WebGod

I just shake my head every time I hear something like this. Salesmen never fail to make themselves look like asses...

charlie

We have a local dealer here who has a rep for a superior service dept. That being said everyone wants to have their car serviced by them and not the one down the road.

Guess who gets the preferred time slots andthat quick emergency service that sometimes has to be performed at the service dept.....

Being a small business owner I believe in loyalty and believe he was fair in matching the price. I hate to nickle and dime people and hate when others do it to me.

But hey its your cash

IMHO of course

Triple-H

Hey Charlie, you signature pic just cracked me up, too funny! Your dog obviously has a great personality. I can only hope you are going to use this image in other places, happy holidays.

I understand your idea about customer loyalty and I have to agree with you. I guess if the guy had not acted so haughty and had actually matched the deal dollar per dollar and offered to toss something extra in, I may have responded better. The thing is, until I mentioned I had gotten a deal at MSRP from their competitor he was not even willing to wave his ADM (Additional Dealer Markup), I remember thinking the word greedy at the time.

Bottom line - I'm happy to substantiate that Holtz Honda in Rochester NY is a friend of the marquee and they clearly took care of me and I have never worked with such a great salesperson before.

oublaj

I am not a car dealer but I do own a small business and I have to say that I sort of agree with dealer A. I am constantly being told by my customers that one of my competitors says they can perform the same service that I do for less money. I actually used to go along with lowering my price due to fear of losing that customer but eventually it got ridiculous so one time I suggested that the customer avail himself of the services of the lower priced competitor and see if in fact they really did compare. They came back with all sorts of horror stories and I now get 30% more from them. I hope that your experiences with dealer B will be good but really, couldn't you go back to dealer B now and say that dealer A matched their price and that you demand that they lower their price by $100? If they say no will they to be stupid? Quality doesn't always cost more but I have found that it is true. You normally do get what you pay for.

Swurvydel

tell him then he should be happy you're not buying the car from him to save his people the paperwork

Triple-H

don't confuse the service department with the sales department, and don't even suggest the sales department offers a service or i will know you are yanking my chain or have Honda dealers a whole lot better than the ones in my area!!!

i will continue to give dealer A my service and i know they are making a profit, and i'm also getting great service - an equal trade. the idea i would hand over $300 more than i need to, just to support a dysfuntional sales department is just plain stupid in my book.

nEVERCLEAR

I guess the dealer A is selling his S2000's for more than he would have sold yours to you for. There is a threshold where a dealer will loose a few dollars to retain a good customer over selling to a customer that may or may not bring the service dept. revenue. I guess you should try to pad the deal the other dealer is giving you next time so you have built in savings. There is nothing wrong with using the dealers tactics to get your price. And to those who say its not war to buy a car think again.

Red Blur

These salesmen are too much. When I was looking for S2K's I was talking with this one salesman that knew NOTHING about cars. When he asked me what I drove, I told him a Mitsubishi 3000 GT. His response was, "GT? That's a Mustang, right?" I simply just walked away. There's always a good dealership story out there...

bguernsey

My wife's friend's husband is a car dealer and I was chatting with him one day about dealing for a low price or buying from the internet and he gave me the dealers take on it... (and I'm not sure I buy it...but...)

He said that when he gets people who are interested in getting a car for the lowest price, its a hard to please customer. He said they tend to complain about things being wrong with the car and cost the dealer ship money by demanding free fixes for every little squeak. But yet they demand to pay the minimum price possible for the automobile. He also said they don't make that much on service (not sure if that is true either).

But at the same time he said that if they pay $200-$500 more at his dealership, they are paying for the 'dealerships quality'. He said he likes to give free fixes and TSB's and even grant out of warranty service for some things...but that that is part of what they are buying by spending the extra $ at his dealership and not demanding low ball sales.

Now that seems fine and dandy- you pay a little more and you get a bit more perks and consideration if something goes wrong that is questionable or out of warranty, but I don't know if that is the reality of most dealerships- but I bet they'll all say that.

-B