A Collection of Dumbest things Dealers have tried to tell you

[PhoenixIce]

Wow, lots of funny stuff in here!

When I went to the first dealership to buy my Camaro, since I wanted the TF3 edition, I specifically asked them to check and double check that they could factory order one in for me! He took off to talk to his manager and came back saying for sure we can order one from factory. This was my first brand new (from factory car I was buying), so I was pretty stoked!

2 days later, the dealer calls me saying they cannot order one from factory as they're no longer taking any orders. Said they found a few out west, they could bring one in for me, but it would cost more money, for freight and for the Hurst shifter! At this point, I called a handful of other dealerships in the area to confirm whether or not they could still order one, even called a family friend who worked at a dealership 4 hours out. All this time, these same dealerships also located the Camaros already on lots out west, which I never asked them to do. So told the dealer I was buying from that I wanted my deposit back as the factory order was no longer the offering. They refused to give me my deposit back. I went down to the dealership with my dad (needed backup) and the salesman stayed completely away from me. The manager was a real tool and was like you made a deal. We said no, the deal was for a factory ordered car, this deal is no longer valid, just give me my money back. They asked to give them until noon the next day as they were going to make some calls and see if they could re-route one coming off the line. Noon the next day, still no call, wait 1 hour, still nothing! Try calling the manager, ignoring my phone calls, try the salesman, ignoring my phone calls. So I called their finance department and told the nice lady that I would like my money back as the deal was no longer valid. Within a few minutes, the manager calls me back, saying I should come in so we could 'talk'. I said, if I have to drive down there again with my dad, things aren't going to be pretty. He tells me this has nothing to do with your dad. I was pretty PO'd at them at this point. I said you told me to give you until noon, you've been avoiding my calls, just give me my money and we will part ways, otherwise I'm calling the credit card company and denying the payment as it's no longer authorized. The manager actually hung up the phone hard on me cause he knew the deal was done. The finance lady called me back a bit later asking me for my credit card number for the refund. She said I could come by and pickup the receipt. I said no thanks, just fax it to me! I knew damn well that the manager was in the office there and if I said I would come pick it up, they would just corner me. Got the receipt faxed and started calling other dealerships. The original salesman called me wondering what I happened and I said the way they treated me turned me off from buying a new car. He was accusing me of going to find a deal somewhere else since the other dealerships had also inquired about the same 'on lot' car he was already apparently bringing in for me. Plus I had told the salesman before the sale, I wanted to drive one, an A6 (since I still had to learn to drive stick), make sure I actually felt comfortable driving one and liked it. He brings me to a M6 which he took me around for a ride, which WAS NOT what I asked him to do... moron!

For me, they could have played it nicer and perhaps I would have purchased the car from them. But being treated like trash on the deal, what kind of service would I have gotten after the fact?

So over the next few days, I managed to find a dealer on the phone, who was nothing but friendly and honest. I told him here's the price, if I get there to pickup the car and you try to charge me $0.01 more, I will walk away! He said no problem. We negotiated the entire deal over the phone/email, never met the guy in person until I picked up the car. In all honesty, I actually ended up getting the EXACT same car off a lot from out west that the first dealer was going to bring in, but that was the upfront deal and we negotiated pretty well. Might of actually have paid them like $500 more, but they didn't try selling me their roadside package and all that other crap with it. They even gave me a mug, Camaro hat and a few other goodies! They had so much attention when my Camaro arrived (they had rolled it into the showroom, since they were calling for rain), people kept walking in to come see it. Guess they saw it driving to the gas station when he took it out!

So in my opinion, don't bother with big city dealerships, take a drive to a smaller town and you'll get treated way better!

Oh, and the original salesman (the one jumped ship from), he calls me on the day I'm going to pickup my Camaro and says "Are you going to pickup your Camaro at this dealership?" I said YUP! and he just said THANKS and slammed the phone down! Wow that dude really must have had a slow 2 weeks to be watching that one car so closely! Hope he enjoyed the shoelace soup!

[GbrilliantQ]

Overheard a salesmen tell an older couple that they can only recieve half of a $1000 rebate, because "We have to pay for the lights somehow"

[Kamaro223]

My favorites when I've tried to trade my car:

1. Coupes are hard to sell. We only have a one month window in this area.
2. No one will buy a rear wheel drive car in this area.
3. Your car is out of warranty.
4. Banks will not give a loan on a car this old (6 years) so we will have to sell it for less and therefore give you less money on trade.
5. Well, that's what we can buy it for at the auction. (this is usually when I leave)

The best ever was when my girlfriends 09 Malibu was leaking water from somewhere when it rained. Sunroof? Door seal? There was literally 4" of water on the passenger floor one day. They magically fixed it and it didn't leak for about 18 months (it recently leaked again). As they were trying to diagnosis the problem they actually said "It's leaking because of how you are parking in you driveway? Maybe you shouldn't park in your driveway". Well thank you for your brilliant suggestion. Good day!

[Edzo]

My wife went to buy a Camry a few years ago at Boch Toyota. I asked the salesguy what she should use for gas. I knew the answer was 87 octane, it's a four-banger. Anyway, the guy says 87 but "you can put in 93 if you want a little extra boost"! Extra Boost! Didn't know Toyota made a KITT-like Camry!

[Ryanbabz71]

Originally Posted by Edzo

My wife went to buy a Camry a few years ago at Boch Toyota. I asked the salesguy what she should use for gas. I knew the answer was 87 octane, it's a four-banger. Anyway, the guy says 87 but "you can put in 93 if you want a little extra boost"! Extra Boost! Didn't know Toyota made a KITT-like Camry!

Back in the 80's the camrys had a turbo boost button on the shifter. Have no idea what it did. My grandpa would use it and we never noticed anything haha


Ryan

[swiftdog01]

I have a couple from the same dealership chain:

Before I bought my GTO in 2005 I was comparing the GTO and the Mustang. Test drove a left over 2004 GTO and liked it. Went to the Ford dealer and asked to test drive the Mustang GT. The sales-pri*k said, "We don't do test drives in the GT. If you want one you have to order and buy it sight unseen." I said, "You expect me to pay $30k for a car I can't test drive?" He said, "That's what I did." I replied, "I'm sorry, but I'm not an idiot like you."

At that point the manager came over and asked me if there was a problem. I said "Yeah, apparently you people don't like to sell cars because your policy is no test driving the Mustang GT". He said, "That's right. If we did we'd have every 18 year-old in town coming in to test drive them." Now, mind you I was 31 at the time. I replied, "That's a silly policy. Why do you care how old the test driver is? If Mommy & Daddy want to spoil their kid with a new car it's money in your pocket. Besides, I just test drove a GTO, which retails for more than the Mustang, by myself with no issues."He said, "Oh that's like comparing apples & oranges. That GTO is only a six cylinder." At that point I told him that he shouldn't be selling cars because he had no idea of what his competition offered and walked out. I ended up buying the GTO.

A few years later when I was contemplating the Camaro, I stopped in at the same chain's Chevy dealership (I know, stupid me) and got the same line of BS when I asked to test drive the SS. "We don't test drive the SS" this different sales-pri*k tells me. Walked out and went to a different dealership a couple towns over and test drove the SS. Bought my IOM M6 from that dealer a couple months later.

If you live in MA, you probably know the dealership chain. It rhymes with "jerk" but starts with a "Q". Never, ever buy a car there. Bunch of dishonest morons.

[2012-1822]

Originally Posted by 95birdible

Back in August of 94 I went to the local Pontiac Dealership to buy a 94 Sunbird that I had my eye on. First new car purchase for me ever. My wife just got a new Grand Am and I was driving a 77 Bonneville with only 60K on it. I pulled up to the dealership after I got done doing about 10 hours of yardwork. I was dirty, smelly, and looked like I just crawled out of a swamp. Sat their for 15 minutes while every salesperson except one just looked at me and walked the other way. Finally, one came over and said can I help you sir? I said since you were the only one to acknowledge me, I am going to buy a car from you. I did and that was one fun car. 3.1 V6 with a 190HP motor along with the police suspension package. I did send off a letter to the GM of the dealership stating how all the salespeople profiled me and only one didn't.

I don't usually go into this kind of detail, but what the heck, my first car was a brand new 1994 S Blazer that my dad bought for me. I don't know if he had made arrangements in advance or not, I didn't think so at the time. But we went down to the lot on a Saturday morning, I guess they had several and I picked a black one for a test drive.

Anyway, it's what my dad was wearing that always struck me as funny, nasty greenish sweatshirt, crappy hat, faded blue jeans, worn out yard work tennis shoes. At the time his salary was literally one million dollars a year(I didn't know it at the time exactly, found out later in life). It was all about giving the salesperson, and the salesmanager in particular, the wrong impression up front.

I remember the jive the sales people tried to give us on the deal. They said they didn't know where we got our information from about how much profit is built in to these cars, the answer was a VP at Regions Bank who had been a close personal family friend since well before I was born and was well versed in automotive financing, information was pretty accurate, but hey, it's all about the thrill of the hunt and the deal.

[Angrybird 12]

A couple weeks ago I was driving by a Chevy dealership and saw a new 2014 Impala sitting out front. At that time I didn't stop because I was going somewhere else. Last week I drove by the same dealer but the Impala was gone. I pulled in and a salesman came out. I asked him if they had any 2014 Impalas I could look at. He said no nobody will get one until September, they haven't even started making them yet. I said well I saw one sitting right there last week. He then said let me check then... I drove off while he was gone.

[LStick]

I think my favorite one was my one and only new Ford truck purchase.
New Ford base truck, all vinyl interior.
All-vinyl like the back of a Police cruiser.

I go to sign the papers and the F&I guy is pleading with me what a great deal his "Scotchgard Environmental Package" is, and how it will protect the interior of my new truck.
Asked him, "You do know that this truck has an all vinyl interior?"
Without missing a beat, he stated that the treatment would protect the vinyl, and make it last longer.
I passed on his "product" , but I will give him props for being able to BS quickly on his feet.

[Nate1LE]

Originally Posted by Angrybird 12

A couple weeks ago I was driving by a Chevy dealership and saw a new 2014 Impala sitting out front. At that time I didn't stop because I was going somewhere else. Last week I drove by the same dealer but the Impala was gone. I pulled in and a salesman came out. I asked him if they had any 2014 Impalas I could look at. He said no nobody will get one until September, they haven't even started making them yet. I said we'll I saw one sitting right there last week. He then said let me check then... I drove off while he was gone.

LOL awesome

[BlackJack8]

Originally Posted by 65TIMM

When I paid cash for my vehicle and they tried to sell me GAP insurance .

LOL!!!!

[Crand]

Went to a dealer this past October asking about the 1LE. Sales guy didn't have a clue what it was. I asked if they had any material for me to look at, catalogues and such so I could look at paint colors, etc. He said he didn't have anything and that I could just go to the Chevrolet website. He also took the time to mention that the stripes on Camaros arrive at the dealer in the trunk and that he has a good stripe guy locally if I really wanted stripes. I walked the eff out of there, loudly cursing him on the way since I drove through 5:00pm traffic for an hour to meet the guy. Stripes in the trunk...

When I went to the right dealer, I mentioned the 1LE, they said "oh yeah, the one with the black hood and wheels, we have one out back". Turns out they didn't, they had sold it just the day before. So she says "well then, let's go order you a Camaro!" which is what I wanted anyway. The whole process from there was smooth as silk.

[Dirtdog]

There is a 2009 model year

[Crand]

Originally Posted by SeriouslySinning

Guy tried to sell me a 1LS for 28k @8.99% interest over 7 years lol

A dealership in Chandler, AZ wanted to sell me a $42k 1LE @ 29%!!! I almost ran them over on the way out because they surrounded my car.