Not really an excuse for her paying the higher charge, but it does sound like they ripped her off.

"Key machine charge"? C'mon... that's nuts. I worked at a hardware store all through highschool and college... we charged 99 cents for a single sided key, and $1.99 for a double sided key.

I think Home Depot charged about $2.99 or so right now for a key... I can see the dealership's being high, since it's OEM, and everything OEM is 400% more than other sources ( )... but she got robbed here... and it sounds like it was intentional.

The ONLY way I can see them charging more is if the key was a theft deterant and had a resistor chip, or something like that... those key's are more expensive than a standard blank.

 

Sorry I missed the part about her calling.

If it was a 00 wouldn't it have had some sort of anti theft thing in it? My 97 MC has the VATS key.

 

I'm trying to remember... my wife (fiance at the time) had a 2000 Blazer LT... don't think it had a special key, but it's been so long , I could easily be wrong.

 

No, they shouldn't have to reserve one as a demo. They SHOULD allow you to drive a car you're going to buy, but who the HELL would want a demo Solstice everyone and their mother drove before buying something else? I wouldn't...would you?

Dealers should not be allowed to be ******, but there is no reason they can't make $$. Would YOU want to sit on a hot product you had the chance to make a couple grand on? I didn't think so...

 

Yes, I'd sacrafice the sale of ONE hot car in order to potentially gain many future customers by letting them demo how great the car is, and to avoid pissing off serious customers by telling them "sorry, you have to buy it before you can drive it".

I mean, let's consider long term sales here, as that car isn't always going to be this hot... is selling that one extra high demand car worth all the people who you could 'retain' as potential customers by letting them drive it. "Wow, that car was awesome, can I buy one?" "No sir, we don't have any more available for sale for another two months" "Well, after driving it, I can tell you it's worth the wait. Put me on your list and call me when I can pick it up".

Instead of "well sir, we can't let you demo the car because we sell them all, but we can get you one in a month and a half". (we'll assume you can get him one a couple weeks earlier since you had one more in inventory). "Like hell I'm gonna wait 6 weeks for a car that I've never even driven and you're aren't even going to let me drive before I sign the dotted line".

 

I've purchased a few cars over the years, and the only time that I didn't wish I was getting my teeth drilled instead, was when we bought our Acura RSX. The salespeople were friendly and respectful, took their time to thoroughly discuss financing options and the different features of the car, pulled the car inside the showroom to allow my fiance to sit in the car, put the plates on it right there, installed a couple of options on the car while we waited (sipping coffee and watching tv), and gave us 3 free service appointments. I was very impressed, and just shake my head at the way most salespeople treat customers. If Acura built a V8 powered, rear drive coupe, I wouldn't hesitate to buy another car from them. I'm guessing Jimbo is talking about Dueck GM. I've never had a good experience there. In fact, they told me my '87 IROC needed "a complete and total electrical system replacement" costing some $1200, when all that was wrong was a loose wire under the hood. That was the last time I took my car there. Actually, I've never been to a local GM dealer that I would go back to twice.

 

The NSX is RWD and 2-door and will soon be V8 when it gets completely refreshed (unless the rumors have changed, I dunno), but if it's anything like its predecessor it's not going to be a compelling performance for the dollar ratio at all. As much as I appreciate Acuras, I'm not sure I'd ever buy the NSX unless it changed dramatically from what it is today and looks like it'll be in the near future.

 

Dueck

 

Latest rumor: NSX is dead.

 

I try keeping out of "dealer hate" threads for obvious reasons, but I have to chime in with some real perspective.

The sad reality is that people who buy limited build, rare, expensive, high performance, and sometimes just out of the ordinary specialty automobiles don't want other people driving/sitting "their" car. Hence no test drives, and often even not allowing people sitting in them. Large metro-city dealers with massive allocations often do have sports car demos, but then again, how many dealers have this much allocation to do this? Not many.

Fact is that a dealer is a business, and a business to make money like every other. Sure a dealer could give up a hot item car for test drives, but what's to say that customer will actually wait for the car to come in off an order and not buy from a different dealer that has one already? Sad fact number two, they rarely, if ever, do. This means the dealer literally waisted a saleable car. Often enough, dealership employees are also retricted from driving these models too, so you're not alone.

Remember, the market dictates the service in this arena.

It's nice and cosy to think that every dealer will keep aside a new Z06, GTO, Solstice, GXP, Camaro, etc. just for our driving pleasure and for test drives. But the real world doen't work that way.

Now in the original case, the car they come in, the way a person's dressed, etc. should have little bearing on how you should be treated. Notice I said little and not "no". A customer has to be taken care of, no doubt, but when it comes to sports cars, especially, literally four out of five people are spooks. Being that this is a forum designed around the hobby of sports cars, this number varies, naturally. Again, the customer should be taken care of, period. But if it becomes apparent that the customer is not in the market and won't be anytime soon, the "using" of a salesperson's time when he could be actually selling a car vehicle to someone else is actually taking money out of his/her pocket.

In the case mentioned at the top about an Impala or Malibu, I honestly can't figure out why you were blown off. It doesn't make sense to me. But another reality is that, sadly, there are stupid people working for dealerships. What else can I say?

Best thing to do is find a dealer that really wants your business, and you'll usually find them in rural areas with small to medium sized dealerships. Then you'll be happy.

Another point to bring up is how people are expected to be greeted. Some want immediate assistance. Other don't want any at all, and I do mean any. So being that there are two totally different ideas here, there are two responses:

1. I want help now but received none: Go to the dealership office and ask for a sales consultant. One will come willing to help.

2. I don't want help but am being greeted: Ask for the salesperson's card and tell him/her that you will get back if there is anything you need.

Hope this gives some insight.

 

Couldn't have said it better

 

Well, whether the NSX name is dead or not, there is a replacement due for it in a few years. It is likely going to be v10 powered, not v8 powered.

 

which one is that? ( i need location... is it the one on marine drive??)

talking of which, so i went to go and order my car, the civic si, this was 3 weekends ago...

i go, with my parents (i'm 23, but they're the ones i'm borrowing a little extra cash to buy it from...) we enter the vancouver honda dealership, now this was at 12pm on a sunday, it had just opened, no one was in there customer wise...

we walked around OBVIOUSLY looking to buy a car (remember, i'm 23, my parents are rich (although i'll never see their cash, nor do i) - so we're not trashy looking...), and no one comes to help us, nothing.. salespersons walk by... nothing, i'm like wtf... so i went to reception and asked very abruptly if i could have a salesperson come and help me buy a car... at which time my father just went and picked out someone...

seriously, whats wrong with ppl in vancouver, are they really that stuck up? this **** (he was a nice guy, admittidly, and i got teh civic si at under MSRP, which is unheard of, for the most part) made a small little packet of comission, and we were the ones who went and got him... i feel we should have gotten the sales comission off the price of the car, seeing how the salesman did nothing...

and one last point, why can salespersons not make a single decision themselves? everytime we counter offered, he'd go running off to his manager, like, wtf... i even made the comment " can you not make any decisions for yourself?" - we're talking a $50 difference in the deduction (i really wanted my $500 off, out of principal, and was being offered roughly $450... - i got hte $500), whats the point of salespersons?? i should have gone straight to the manager, and talked to him/her, would have saved me 20 mins of my time...

ok, thats my story... jimbo, why are u looking to get rid of ur 1 yr old car?? seems crazy for a 19 yr old to jump from one new car to another

 

Well she was told 7-8 dollars over the phone. And then a 15 dollar machine charge just magically appeared on the invoice. (we live less then one mile from the dealer). Also, the closet Chevy dealership other then this one is 15-20 Miles away in the next town.

No. It's just a plain jane key. No Vats. It's ok, I'll remember that. Unfortunatley, there's no dealership closer as that makes it harder to take my business somewhere else... And they probably know it too.

 

I was a GM (Chevy) guy for many years. My wife like Acura's. We compromised and have purchased 3 Nissans over the past few years. I know everyone has their own experiences, but IMHO Chevy and there dealerships have a long way to go. I'm tired of having to have to pay for rental cars and taking time off from work to get warranty work done. Until GM gives at least a 5 year/60K bumper to bumper warranty and 10K/100K mile powertrain warranty, I will not buy GM again. Three Nissans, not a single warranty issue with either of the three over the first 40K miles and counting.

I still like my Camaros though. I purchased a used 2001 Camamro SS last year. In true GM fashion, after having the VIN #run, there were many warranty items performed on the vehicle. But I think the first owner got those all out of the way for me. The car has been excellent, knock on wood, to this point.

polo2001SS