Dealership Knowledge vs. Forum

[MiracleAces]

Originally Posted by HDRDTD

If that was the case, that's all they would have had to tell me, and I'd be glad to wait some more, but nobody would come up with any type of answer, so I drew the line in the sand as far as waiting, canceled that order and bought locally the next day from another dealer who HAD a car.

You would hope so. Again, not speaking for them. Just trying to put out some info that others may not be privy too.

[B1G-AL]

Originally Posted by MiracleAces

Do you know 100% everything about being a marketing major? Do you think the person teaching you knows everything about marketing? Not trying to push the issue, but everything needs to be put into perspective.

Unfortunately 95% of sales people in the auto industry are in and out within a few months. Every dealership has a very small core of sales people that are good at what they do. Most dealerships (not all) hire four a five people at a time and leave them to the wolves hoping one survives. They tend to repeat this process every 6 months or so. Most sales people simply arent given the chance to learn all the product because they are simply trying to learn to survive in a very competitive field. It takes a lot more than product knowledge to be a sales person. I'm defending all of them. I am again just trying to put everything into perspective. We've all had to stumble along and make our mistakes within our careers. I'm not saying the auto industry is the only super competitive field with bosses that dont always care, but these sales people are a product of these dealerships. We are a small dealership and give proper training and only hire as needed (rarely) and the sales people actually support each other. We have one sales person here who does know more than most likely anyone here on these forums, but I can say with 100% honesty that he doesnt know how to sell a car. This debate certainly has merits on both sides, but the generalizations I am seeing are sad. It's easy to pile on.

I'm not trying to attack salespeople personally, they are trying to make a living just like the rest of us...I'm still in touch with quite a few of the salespersons that have sold me cars in the past. I just think dealers should stress product knowledge with the people they hire, even if they give them little brochures to refer to when selling that vehicle. It would make car buying for the average person and not an enthusiast a more pleasurable experience and generate more business for dealerships. I do understand where you are coming from though

[TSSUNAMI]

First thing, if they won't give you an order number for the car that YOU ordered, then tell them to eat dust. You have the right to know that number as it is your means of tracking your vehicle's progress. Their inability to provide you with critical information could be for any number of reasons, (none of them valid) If you put a deposit down, get it back and cancel your order. Talk to one of our forum Vendors, they are all tip top. (I bought my SS from BeckyD, and she was flawless. No pressure, honest answers, sold me what I wanted, rather than pushing whatever was best for her. A+++)

Onto the whole dealer knowledge topic.

As long as YOU know all you need to know about the car, then you are set. You will learn more on these forums in a week than most dealers will in a year of selling thesee cars. If you find that rare gem of a dealer who knows the car, even owns one (or two) then consider yourself lucky.

[HDRDTD]

Originally Posted by TSSUNAMI

If you find that rare gem of a dealer who knows the car, even owns one (or two) then consider yourself lucky.

Becky currently owns two camaros (one is a pace car) and I believe she's on the list for a ZL1 as well.

AND she is very active in the local Camaro club.

She doth knowith what she speaketh of.

[jshaf]

ye it's pretty bad when you have to show the salesman how to operate items on the car, I even answered questions he had about the car. should have asked about my cut of the commision

[Jeff_J]

great posts from the dealership sales managers...nice to learn info from all sides.

[GrandPrixGXP]

Thanks for all the responses! That does it. I'm going to my dealer this morning (Friday) and if they don't give me my order number, I'm cancelling! I hate to to this. I've waited for so, so long, scraping to save money, and I don't want to delay this anymore, but I now understand it's complete b.s. not to have my order number. I talked with another dealer in the area before going to this one. In fact, they apparently made the comment to someone that I never gave them the chance to deal or negotiate, so I can just go back to them. i went with this dealer because they're in my back yard and promised me another $500 on my trade in.

[B2k4E]

Originally Posted by jshaf

ye it's pretty bad when you have to show the salesman how to operate items on the car, I even answered questions he had about the car. should have asked about my cut of the commision

Probably because they dont watch the sales DVDs that they get. My dad had a dealership. (had to close because he couldn't compete with the big dealerships and local banks were stingy with money) He had a whole bunch of those DVDs and I took the C6 Corvette ones. I opened one up, popped it into the DVD tray and after about 45 minutes of it I took it out; and it was just getting started on chapter 3 out of 6 or 7.

My dad never used em tho because he already knew a lot about GM vehicles. I'm lucky too because he was a service manager at the time that my car was produced, and before that he built complete pro stock chassis out of aluminum and chrome molly, as well as engines.