My GF is looking at a new car and she narrowed it down to a few choices: X3, Equinox, or a G6. Quite a broad range i know, but what can i say she is female. Well it came as easy as this she asked 3 dealers to run some numbers for her and whoever came up with the lowest payment sold the car. All 3 dealers said they would get back to her before 3 the same day. The BMW dealer called her at about 3:30. For the last 2 days i have asked her to call the other two dealers and ask if they came up with anything. All she gets is connected to a voicemail that no one returns the calls. Some great service these dealers have and the only reason she tried that many times with the GM dealers is for my sake. This is the 3rd day of waiting for a phone call and still nothing. And mind you that the last car she bought was from the chevy dealer. Guess they dont need the return buisness?

 

I just don't understand things like this.



In a time where dealerships are crying for business...

If she is still interested int eh Chevy or Pontiac, I'd suggest calling another dealership. Or, at the very least, a different salesperson at the dealership you went to.

 

There was a segment on GMtv over the last week that highlighted positive/negative dealer experiences over the industry last year. From what I can remember.... Survey was performed by JD Powers noted the average was 842. Can't remember what the number actually represented. Ford and GM brands scored 7 of the top 10. Actually mostly Ford Brands like: Volvo Jaguar were in the top 10 and only two or three GM brands made it to the top 10. All of GM's brands were above average except for Hummer and one other I can't remember.

So on the whole it seems GM doesn't reasonable well. It is disheartening to hear of bad experience. Though on the other hand I can understand some of the reasoning why some sales experiences are just plain bad. Dealers seem to pay their sales people crap. thus if your paying someone $1200 a month plus commission your typically going to attract a $1200 a month employee. These positions would definitely attract a different employee should the pay be like $35k-$50k leaving commissions aside.

It's unfortunate for the "good" sales people to be brought down by they're lack luster peers and get less income than they deserve.

 

She should buy the Beemer.

 

I've delt with the following dealerships and would put my experience with them in terms of sales practice as well as service department practices in the following order:
Lexus - can't even begin to describe how these guys treat their customers. Better than they treat their own immediate family I can only imagine. My service manager has hooked me up so many times I can't even begin to count. Just come in for a free oil change and get a free lexus loaner with free gas (you aren't ever supposed to fill it back up unless you run out before turning in back in), free detailing, white glove valet service means you never wait around to drop your car off or get the loaner; they'll even send a guy to your house or work to swap cars with you if you're too busy to stop by the dealership. My service advisor always has a smile on his face and has even offered to meet with me at the local sam's club so I could use his member card to get a good deal on some new tires for me Lexus.
.
.
.
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(yes... that much better than the rest, it's insane).
.
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Cadillac - I had a very friendly sales experience here when I went to look at a car but can't speak for the service department.
Acura - Good all around service and sales but kinda standoffish
Audi (good all around but a crappy dealership even if they were selling Kias, much less Audis - they need an upgrade)
Toyota (they're courteous but reluctant to fix things right the first time in my experience which is a PITA)
Chevrolet (this is hard to say because I've had great experience with one dealer and horrible experience with the other two for two different reasons... one sales, one service)
Nissan - no sales experience with them but their techs were assh*les and seemed to just quote skyhigh prices just to get you to leave them alone.
Honda (impossible to get anything done in a reasonable amount of time - waste an entire saturday just for a damn oil change if you can't do it yourself, and then when you fill out the survey after the service is complete they act like you're an assh*le for not giving them perfect ratings)

 

Chevy Service Department in Portsmouth, VA:

I had what turned out to be a exhaust manifold leak at the gasket. They misdiagnosed it and recommended replacing my entire engine. Seriously...no kidding...they were ready to do it.

 

dealerships dont like giving shopping prices... because the chances of that person coming back in a slim to none... if you give the dealership a bit of your time they will return the favor... but when you ask the dealership to waste their time on a slim to none return rate, you might understand the lack of cooperation. where as BMW is a little more forgiving like that... Chevy and Pontiac are both volume not service dealerships unlike BMW, where you are paying for high quality service.

but its all about getting the right salesman and talking with the manager... because at least at my dealership... the desk managers wont work on a deal unless the person is at the dealership... i had to pull my bosses hair in order to get a quote for a customer who wanted the TB SS that we had...

 

That seems kinda contradictory to me. You're saying they work on volume, not on service, so in that case I'd think that 'quick stop' people who don't want to haggle, just want a price, and go would be their dream shoppers because they waste almost no time with them. Just plug the numbers in, give them a call with the numbers, and move on... leave the next move to the potential shopper.

If they can't deal with that, kiss them goodbye becase internet/phone/quick-stop shoppers are becoming the norm at a rapid pace from what I've seen.

 

At the dealer where I bought my GTO they too give you a free loaner with gas that you dont have to refill as well. They don't detail the car but they will run it through the wash for you.
I got a couple free oil changes
I could probably use the tire deal though

 

Do they do that even for an oil change? All I did was drove my GS4 inside the car bay, a valet greated me by opening my door, taking my key, recording what I needed done, handing me the key to another car, having me sign one form, and off I went. They called me when I was ready to go and told me bring the loaner in whenever I got a chance, even if it was the next day.

 

This is true... but when a customer demands quotes... it destroys the dealerships tactics of highballing the customer... so now the dealership now must cut their throat?
there is a difference between shopping prices and selling prices... as most have noticed GM's selling price is far below MSRP.
interenet shopping is becoming very popular on the east coast, but no so much on the west... and like i said it isnt up to the sales staff generally the managment wont work a deal for a customer that doesnt exist... my dealership might be a bit on the backward side due to our sheer size, but when we ask for the customers time, and they arent willing to give it... like Joe Gerard said, its bad for buisness to do call back...if you sit with us... we'll give you whatever you want to make the deal... but if you wont sit with us... we wont work with you either...

if every customer demanded invoice... what do you think is going to happen to the dealership? then some people get below invoice... now everyone wants that... there has got to be a point in which every dealership puts down the line and says... here's MSRP... if you want a better price... come on down and lets talk about it.

 

When I shop for cars I determine a fair price. I call the dcalership and tell the person I'd like to email them my numbers and if my numbers seem doable then let me know, if not, thanks for giving it a shot.

I did that with Acura, Cadillac, Lexus, and Audi my most recent round of car shopping about a month ago. I ended up with the Audi because they were the only ones that came back with a simple "OK" and didn't try to feed me any BS lines about how my calculations didn't work out because of this reason or that reason. From there it was a simple process. I said "OK".

I know the dealer didn't make a killing off of me but they sure didn't have to waste much time on me, either.

And a dealership could easily survive off invoice only sales if their volume was high enough - kick backs and dealer incentives abound for most brands of dealerships I'm aware of.

 

Going to Sams club to get tires....I pray for you.

Sorry to hear about your dealer experiance. I want too happy with mine, so when its time, Ill just hand my car over to them and tell them to have a nice day.

 

well let me tell you, we have a place for people who have done their homework... if you want our vehicle... we'll ask you to bring in all your homework... cars.com price or whatever... and we'll beat it simple as that... but we wont do it if you wont come down to the store, and arent interested in buying... its stupid for dealerships to haggle over prices... like i had a customer who didnt like our quote on a trail blazer SS lease compared to a volvo lease... these are apples and oranges... but we wouldnt give him our final quote because he wasnt ready to buy yet... he still had a saab he wanted to try... and i never heard back from him so i think he went home happy with the saab go GM...

 

I ended up getting a good quote from firestone but what's so bad about Sam's Club. They sell the same tires as many other tire places but at a much better price. Only thing they could screw up is the mounting or balancing, but if they did, I'd just bring it back.