Have you ever been taken advantage of by Car Sales Person?

Bretrick

Bretrick

Well-known Member
Location
Perth Western Australia
I welcome the day the Federal Government introduces more stringent laws
dealing with buying a Motor Vehicle.
Salesmen can spot a sucker instantly and will take full advantage of them.
Several years ago I went to a Dealership to purchase a $14,000 vehicle.
By the time I walked out, the price had risen to $21,000.
With the sales person pressuring me to add all the extras such as $1000 for window tinting.
Rim Insurance, their Car Insurance etc. I later received a refund for the rim insurance because it was found to be illegal.
My wish is that before the contract is signed the full cost of the loan must be shown to the purchaser. That way they can make an informed decision.
Drive away, No More to Pay should also be obligatory.

With my latest purchase I had someone with me for moral support.
I went in and said I want to buy that vehicle, at the advertised price, with no extras.
The salesperson person agreed and I drove away pleased.
 

I remember back in the 60’s and 70’s car sales people liked to sell undercoating. They would tell you that it keeps the car from rusting out underneath. It was a coating of tar that some dealerships were caught dumming down by adding kerosene to thin it out and make the gooey tar go farther. Instead of getting maybe 20 cars out of a drum, they would get almost twice as many cars.

People were suckers for that service. I think it cost about $69 or more for a treatment. My dad bought a new Mercury right after I came home from Vietnam and he was telling me about that stuff and he said he had to take his new car back to the dealership the next week to have the application applied. I told him I read it was all a come on and a way for the dealerships to make a lot of money. He canceled the appointment. He had the car for five years before he traded it and it was fine underneath.
 
I call them sleaze bags , New car sales people are a little higher class cause they get others to do their “dirty work”

When we bought our Nissan Qashqai brand new in 2020 we paid for it, I hate debts so I declared I’d never agree to buying another car till we had the savings to pay for it in full .

After the purchase we got shuffled to 4 different offices to add extra costs to our purchase :cautious:…one was window tinting …..next seat treatments to repel stains ….next …paint protection ….next …insurance costing an arm and a leg …if we agreed we’d get free car servicing for the 12 months ….we refused them all ..then negotiated With the actual salesman for a better deal on the window tinting we got for $250 instead of the $1.500 the sales lady offered us as a “good deal”
Al up we would have been up for an extra $7.600 if we’d taken up her “ good deal packages“
Nah I’d prefer to do my own shopping if we wanted all those extras
 
I do my research in advance, know what car, model, and accessories, as well as what it should cost. Test drive, and ask for a price. Act disappointed with the quote, inquire if they can do a little better or add an accessory at their quoted price. If I become a sufficient pain in the arse we usually agree on a price.

BTW Consumer Reports can be a good source on brands and models. Love my Hyundai Kona.
 
Sometimes I'm proud of myself because I feel like I held my ground. But I probably got screwed anyway. I'll be interested in seeing if these new Federal rules do anything. Now that I'm thinking about it, there were 3 or 4 times when know I was not fooled, when I got so turned off by car dealer sales tactics that I just walked out, with a salesman following me all the way to my car. I didn't get a car, but I felt good about it.
 
Years ago, when I got out of the military, I took a job as a salesman at a Pontiac dealership....while I was gong through a series of job interviews with Honest companies, THAT was an Education. Every morning we had a meeting with the sales manager where he told us the latest ways to "fleece" the customers. In the 4+ months I worked there , I can only recall One customer who got a decent sale....and that guy hung around so long making the salesmen, and other customers 'uncomfortable' that the manager finally told the salesmen to give him a good offer just to get him out of there.

Now when I change vehicles, I research the price on my vehicle, and whatever I'm thinking of buying. Then I stand my ground on the price difference, and if the dealership is trying to get "rich", I walk out. Invariably, I get a call later making a far more reasonable offer.

When I was working, I serviced computers at a couple of big car plants in Kansas City, and I saw how much it really costs a manufacturer to make a vehicle. Small economy cars have a very low profit margin, whereas big pickups can have a profit margin as high as 40%...and that doesn't include how much the customer is charged when the dealers profit is added. That's why so much advertising is about pickup trucks. Back then, a pickup cost little more than a small car to make, but the customer paid almost twice what it cost to make, and I'm sure those numbers are about the same today.

When shopping for a vehicle, the customer MUST do some research beforehand, and put their "emotions" aside.
 
oldman said:
I remember back in the 60’s and 70’s car sales people liked to sell undercoating. They would tell you that it keeps the car from rusting out underneath. It was a coating of tar that some dealerships were caught dumming down by adding kerosene to thin it out and make the gooey tar go farther. Instead of getting maybe 20 cars out of a drum, they would get almost twice as many cars.

People were suckers for that service. I think it cost about $69 or more for a treatment. My dad bought a new Mercury right after I came home from Vietnam and he was telling me about that stuff and he said he had to take his new car back to the dealership the next week to have the application applied. I told him I read it was all a come on and a way for the dealerships to make a lot of money. He canceled the appointment. He had the car for five years before he traded it and it was fine underneath.
Click to expand...
it seems to me that in snow country with all the salt on the roads cars tend to rust out underneath.
 
Oh yeah, I have been taken. But I no longer buy cars from any used lot. Rather, I buy a used car from a dependable new dealer. Used car lots typically buy auction cars and do virtually no repairs since all the needed repairs would eat up all the profit. New car dealers, on the other hand, tend to only sell trade-ins that are in decent condition and will overhaul the brakes, put on new tires, etc. The trade-ins that are in too rough of shape go to auction and then a used lot.

The new dealer I have bought from even includes a 30 day warranty.
 
A ploy I’ve encountered is advertisement for a vehicle that you want at a discounted or special “sale” price. When the deal proceeds, you are then offered a low-ball trade-in price for your used vehicle which offsets any advantage that you may be getting for the special sale price. Do your research and insist on getting the full Blue Book value for your trade; bring documentation of what that assessed value is.

Dealerships also push “extended warrantee” packages heavily on any new or used vehicle that you buy. Such warranties are usually expensive, add significantly to your cost, and are a big money-maker for the dealership. Be a broken record, and say “no” as many times as it takes for them to give up pitching for such packages which seldom benefit the customer… 😼
 
Michael Z said:
Oh yeah, I have been taken. But I no longer buy cars from any used lot. Rather, I buy a used car from a dependable new dealer. Used car lots typically buy auction cars and do virtually no repairs since all the needed repairs would eat up all the profit. New car dealers, on the other hand, tend to only sell trade-ins that are in decent condition and will overhaul the brakes, put on new tires, etc. The trade-ins that are in too rough of shape go to auction and then a used lot.

The new dealer I have bought from even includes a 30 day warranty.
Click to expand...
here buying a car from a new Car dealer who takes trade-ins, means you get a 3 month warranty...
 
Who knows! 🤷‍♀️

I buy a new car every 10-15 years.

I try to do a little homework, not fall in love with a specific vehicle, pushback a little, and be ready to walk if things don’t sound quite right.

I feel like a do ok but am never sure how much money I may have left on the table.

If I do get taken advantage of the amount is spread over so many years that it doesn’t amount to much.

IMO there is no way to ‘win’ and a car
is never an investment so it’s best to buy something fairly basic and save your money for more important things.
 
Bretrick said:
I welcome the day the Federal Government introduces more stringent laws
dealing with buying a Motor Vehicle.
Salesmen can spot a sucker instantly and will take full advantage of them.
Click to expand...
So you're saying you want the government to regulate an entire industry to protect against the gullibility of some people?
What happened to personal responsibility?
 
While I was inspecting this used car to determine if I wanted to buy it or not, I told the salesman that the red overheating warning light was on. He said it was nothing but an electrical glitch and said not to worry because he would fix it so that the glitch light didn't show. I did notice that he was uttering profanities, as he struggled to turn off the alleged glitch and assumed that they were not being directed at me.

Well, I took the car on the freeway a few days after the purchase, and suddenly heard what sounded like a distant police car siren gradually getting louder. Yet I couldn't locate one in the rearview mirror or anywhere else nearby. Then I gradually realized that it was actually steam venting from the car's overflowing radiator.

I tried to take off the cap and the antifreeze threatened to shoot into air like a volcanic explosion. Had to keep a safe distance until it it bubbled down and drive carefully to the nearest repair shop a few miles down this country road. It turned out to be just a stuck regulator. Now, the car salesman could have simply told me and saved me the hassle. But of course, he feared I would then demand to pay a few bucks less for the car and he wasn't about to allow that.
 
oldman said:
I remember back in the 60’s and 70’s car sales people liked to sell undercoating. They would tell you that it keeps the car from rusting out underneath. It was a coating of tar that some dealerships were caught dumming down by adding kerosene to thin it out and make the gooey tar go farther. Instead of getting maybe 20 cars out of a drum, they would get almost twice as many cars.

People were suckers for that service. I think it cost about $69 or more for a treatment. My dad bought a new Mercury right after I came home from Vietnam and he was telling me about that stuff and he said he had to take his new car back to the dealership the next week to have the application applied. I told him I read it was all a come on and a way for the dealerships to make a lot of money. He canceled the appointment. He had the car for five years before he traded it and it was fine underneath.
Click to expand...
My stepfather was one of those suckers. He traded in often so it only hurt his pocketbook. Many weren’t so lucky. There were all kinds of problems because of it.
 
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