I remember going to a smaller GM dealership and the guy KNEW I wasn't gonna buy but we took a Camaro out anyways. It died because the battery didnt have enough juice to keep it going from sitting so long lol.

 

I actually went and looked at a Malibu about 10 days ago. My finacee would really like to get a Malibu SS..I was there picking up a part for the Camaro so I figured I'd check out prices. I was actually in the show room looking at a yellow 06 Vette when I was approached by a salesmen. He asked if there was anything he could help with, and I mentioned looking for a Malibu SS to get an idea of price, etc. He took me out to the car, got the keys, showed everything to me, got me a brochure, and offered to let me take it out. I told him I was just curious about pricing as my finacee was interested in one. He said ok, gave me his card and told me to call him when me and her wanted to come and drive it. He was pretty friendly, overall a positive experience. I was just wearing a t-shirt and khakis, so I wasn't dressed up or anything. He also had no idea what I was driving, because I was parked in back by the parts dept. and I just walked up front.

The SS they had was a tad under $25k. I'm not sure how much they would deal from there, but their service certainly has not discouraged me from going back.

 

I am 19, 20 in june.. I drove up to a dealership in my fathers Duramax(crew cab leather bose etc...) Salesman didn't give me the time of day, asked what I was there to look at, said new tahoe and Z06.. said oh you aren't seriously looking to buy anything then, goodbye..

I am getting a good job here pretty soon and I will be able to afford payments on either of those cars, little does he know... In a place like I live you never know who's kid you're talking to, or what the person has.. If I was a salesman I would give everyone a fair shot, never know when they might want to buy or bring someone else in

 

How many were you expecting?

 

Reading the original post is the kind of thing that makes my head hurt. I don't care whether you look like you have 2 nickles to rub together, or you roll up in a new STS...you TAKE CARE OF THE CUSTOMER. Even if all they want is a damn brochure. My last GM sale will be to a guy I dealt with over a year and a half ago on a GTO...he ended up deciding against it. He's waiting until Saturday to come back and see me on my last day to set up the order for his 2007 Solstice (no, we can't place them yet, but he wants to be first in line for when we can order one).

This guy didn't even remember my name, but after going to 5 different Pontiac dealers for the GTO, he remembered I was the one that was best to him, and now I will get a sale out of it (sort of...I'm leaving, so I'll never get paid on it when it comes in ). If I catch any of my salespeople doing that at the new dealership, I'll club them.

I'm not kidding, either. Capital punishment should be allowed in the car business for stunts like that

 

A couple years ago I pulled up in my 3 year old 50-something thousand dollar (when new) GS400 and asked to test drive a Cobra that they'd had sitting on their lots for quite a while (so obviously it was no zero-mile fresh off the truck car). They told me the only way I could drive it was if I bought it first. I laughed and asked if that wasn't kind of backwards? They said if I wanted to buy a Cobra, I'd know it without even driving it.

Then the manager 'generously' offered to let a salesman drive me around in a GT so that I could get a feel for what the Cobra was like.

I'm guessing they didn't see what I pulled up in and just saw a 21 year old guy and made assumptions? I dunno, but I left and never came back. I'll never ever do business there again, for any reason.

By contrast, the '06 A4 I own at the moment had roughly the same sticker price as that Cobra, yet not only was I immediately met while looking at it, but met with the keys in hand, encouraged to drive it on as long of a route as I'd like, and then at the end of the day when I said I needed to think it over and ask my wife about it, they insisted that I drive it home, keep it overnight, and even let her give it a spin (even when they knew she wasn't the best at driving a manual transmission). I can promise you that if I'd been treated like I had at the Ford dealership, I'd never buy an Audi in my lifetime. But because I was treated so well, not only did they sell me the A4, but I'd be open to future sales as well.

I know that there are exceptions to every brand out there and that not every Ford dealership sucks and not every Audi or Lexus dealership is great - but my point is that a single impression from a single salesperson can impact a person's perception of that brand for the rest of their life. Even if they can't immediately afford the car they're looking at, they probably will be able to sooner or later.

 

I had a similar experience trying to buy the GTO at one dealership when my friend and I arrived in his 2006 WRX STi.

I then had the same problem when I drove my girlfriend (in the GTO) to look at Jettas at a VW/Audi/Jaguar/Porsche dealership. Actually, I didn't have that problem because no one came out to help us after standing around for 20 minutes. That really burned me, but hey they lost out on a sale.

I did have very very good luck dealing over the internet. It probably has something to do with age - evidently our money is not as green as someone who is 30+. But it seems to happen just about all over because they probably get a lot of younger tire kickers.

 

My experiences with GM dealers has most often, been the worst compared to all others when shopping for cars. Hell I even worked at one for many years.

The worst example was when I took my wife car shopping last year, and we went to just about every major car dealership around, at least 15 of them. The two GM dealers we went to were nothing short of horrific in comparison to all others. My wife had no previous bias, and now looks at GM as a joke. It was that bad. One saleswoman was a literal nutcase that needed to be on Prozac.

Nissan and Honda had the best dealerships organization wise. Toyota had some retards and did not seem to care if we bought, because their showrooms were packed.

 

I went to a Suzuki dealer to get a free football (I got a flyer in the mail) They just gave me the football and I left, They didn't even ask if I was interested in a car.

 

Hey Jimbo what dealership was it

 

I have had some pretty crappy experiences at the Pontiac and the Nissan dealerships around here. The closest Chevy dealership is usually pretty good though. Sometimes you get lucky, sometimes you don't.

 

I agree with the needing to treat customers correctly, but how many 20 year olds could afford a new z06 or a new tahoe. The guy didnt want to get jerked around because you . Now, jerking you around probably wasnt the best idea either, but he just thought you wanted a ride and were not really interested in the car. As for not being able to drive a cobra, I think I heard that pontiac dealerships were doing the same thing for solstices b/c they were selling faster than they could be made. For the higher dollar/rare cars, that is not too uncommon. But I agree with the statement, that some dealerships are good, some are not. It also depends upon the sales person that you deal with. Also, what does the car you are drive up in have anything to do with how the sales person should treat you? Who is to say that it isn't your parents car, roommates car, friends car, brothers car, neighbors car, or a stolen car? Not sure why you are dressing up to go to a dealership anyway. It isn't like the way you dress is going to matter. It is all about negotiating and knowing what you can get the car for.

 

The local Chevy dealership charged my wire 25 dollars to get a Key made for her 2000 Blazer when she locked it in. 10 for the key, and 15 for a Key Machine Charge. That is absolute Bull****. My brother had one made in a different town for his 2000 S10 (same key) and it cost him 8 dollars TOTAL...

It's ok though, I drive a company vehicle (Pontiac GP 05) and they do all of the service work (without question from me - not my money). Also, once this hits 200k we'll be looking for another one. I'll threaten that business when I go for my service tomorrow if they don't refund 15 bucks...

Ridiculous. They probably saw a young woman and thought, awww hell she won't know. Worst part was they told her 7-8 dollars over the phone before she drove there...

 

Or that is just the price they charge. Not everyone charges the same price for everything. Perhaps your wife should have asked how much it would be up front. If she thought it was to much she could have gone elsewhere.

 

If that's the case they need to reserve one car as a demo car, end of story. Somebody wants to come in and look at buying one, sorry, you can't drive the exact one you want until you actually buy it, but you can get a feel for what you'd be buying for trying our demo car.

Regardless, obviously they were in no short supply of Cobras... this one had been sitting on the lot for several months.

It might not belong to him, but it probably does - just like a 21 year old probably can't afford a new Z06, but still might be able to.

If you're going to make assumptions based on one trait, why not make them on others?