TLDR: this lady’s shopping for a deal, has been for a long time, I get that. But what can I do or say to change people’s mindset on buying cars?
Just had a fun call with a customer wanting to negotiate over the phone on the most heavily discounted truck in the state. I tell her that we don’t negotiate on our new cars since they are the most discounted in the state, she says that she’s not interested if she can’t negotiate, I tell her if she starts negotiations at msrp and works all the way down to half of our discount then would she buy that truck instead of ours, she says no I want the best price. I call her out for it because she sounds silly, she refuses to tell me where a better price was, i tell her if you can negotiate on a car chances are there’s more money on the table you’re losing, she’s in a mood at this point and stone walls me, I give up on her and let her go.
This lady hates buying cars, has been looking for a better price than ours for over 3 months, and will continue to look for another 6 before she gets buyers fatigue and has a terrible buying experience elsewhere and gets a shittier deal. All of that to say, I’m having a hard time changing people’s mindset on buying a car, what techniques do yall use? If any. I figured that logic vs logic would’ve worked with this customer but it didn’t.
Everybody hates buying cars because it takes 3 fucking hours and the customer never ends up with a price or payment that makes them happy. The entire customer experience is designed to wear the consumer out so at the end they accept the dealers bullshit just to get on with their lives. Why would anyone enjoy buying cars?
Last time I bought a new truck was 6 years ago. 4 Dealers at 2 hours a piece played stupid games trying to figure out how much I want to pay a month rather than tell me a price, or wanted to give me an unfair price on a trade in, or got hung up on how much I owed on my loan (it was paid off).
6 years later 130k miles on my truck and im going to try to get to 300k for no other reason that to not have to go to the dealership to play their stupid games.
I’ve purchased two cars on Carvana. Took me like 45 minutes and a car showed up in my driveway the next day and they pay significantly more for your trade in than any dealership.
I don’t think I’ll ever step foot in a traditional dealership other than to test drive their vehicles.
You might pay a little more on the price but for me it’s worth not sitting in a dealership for a half day.
I once spent 9 hours in a dealership and when we finally settled on a deal the salesman told that he was diabetic and hadn’t eaten since before I came in. Haha! I wore HIM down!
Yeah but a lot of carvana cars are garbage cars. I'm in the car community and I've seen so many horror stories from carvana, carmax, etc. They will take any car and create a price and sell it and then lie and claim they inspected it when they don't.
They lowballed me 5k lower than market on my car. I’ll never use Carvana.
Same experience with Carvana and thought exactly the same thing. Sometimes human interaction ain’t worth it.
Exactly. Buying vehicles is one of the worst things in life.
I showed up on December 30th with a blank check to buy a truck for a business write off, still took me 4 hours of fucking around to get out the dealership.
So many games.
This is why I shop through Costco exclusively for cars. I’ve purchased two new cars and two used cars and it’s been the least stressful ever.
The price is the price. This is what we offer, take it or leave it. Sure, I might be able to get the “better deal” elsewhere, but in/out in 90 minutes is fabulous.
The only quarrel last time, was they made me test drive it. That was stupid. But I get it.
Bought a new car thru Costco, a few years back, and the entire experience was less than 30 minutes.
100% recommend
Costco discounts are a joke. Often times the dealer has things priced far below the Costco discount but then people walk in with a Costco $500 off MSRP coupon and get fucked
Possible, all I know when I bought the Toyota a few years ago with the Costco discount, nothing was remotely close to the price I paid.
I was happy with the deal and it took all of 30 mins.
A lot of stores have a policy that you need to drive it. You don’t even have to leave the lot. Pull it around a row of cars, park it and go inside to wrap things up.
When I was selling used cars we knew the rock bottom price. If you can in with cash, we could often tell you that price and if you agreed I could get you on the road in less than 15 mins.
If you are financing, have your paperwork, down payment and everything WITH YOU. Bank statements, proof of address and insurance etc etc. 90% of the time I wasted with customers was them trying to come up with all the information they needed to finance a vehicle. If you have all that with you, depending on the bank I could still typically get you in and out in an hour or so.
which is wild to me, because I can finance somebody $30k of home renovation is under 5 minutes.
Guessing you don’t ride around town in those renovations, open the hood, kick the tires lol some parts of the process take a moment regardless :-)
No, I don't drive the customers around town, but I do measure an entire house, do a series of calculations, and narrow down the applicable options that work for the house based on those answers.
Touche’
And none of this is meant to be a dick measuring contest, I've just been honestly trying to figure out the last twelve hours what could make the process take so long. It can't be the depreciating value of the vehicle because my HVAC system is worth $0 as soon as we put it in. The only thing I can figure is the number manipulation involved. In our side, they can either apply for interest free, 5 years 6.99, 10 years 11.99, or 15 years 9.99 and their credit dictates what they qualify for. On your side every customer gets their own individual interest rate and the dealership can mark it up as much as they want to.
Of course, I didn’t take it like that, I hadn’t thought of the stuff you mentioned either. I can only speak to what I saw which was mainly dealing with folks that did not have their crap together, poor credit etc. it was generally the customer and the bank that elongated the interaction. Some folks had to go through interviews with the bank etc. for cash sales and folks that came in with their financing together it was a quick sale 99% of the time. Even so, by law, there’s a lot of stuff you’re required to go over in paperwork etc that take time and again, more time if the customer asks questions etc
Just a little more to add here, we made on average about $2000 on used cars. Some cars we LOST money on just to get it off the lot. Some we made much more. It all averaged out in the end. But for us, we weren’t trying to trick people or play a bait and switch shell game.
We bring cars in, fix and service them, detail them, then sell them. All that takes time and money. Which is one of the reasons why the trade in value is often lower than selling your car to someone else.
We put our price on the car and website with the idea that customers expect to come in and haggle. But if your haggle was realistic, it’s often accepted. Don’t come in on a $9,999 car and offer $3500 cash. We will laugh. That’s probably half what we have in the car. Offer $9,500. We can’t just “ask what we want” these days. People see book values etc. it’s all a dance that the customer often is the one trying to keep the music going more than us.
This guy knows. No I dont want to test drive 3 models and free popcorn no I dont want to argue with you for extended warranty, just match the payments and interest Im asking
Did you bring comps to show that what you’re asking is reasonable?
And then the deal is done and you spend 1 hr waiting for financing, even if you’re paying cash. Even though the buyer may have places to go and things to do. And then have to through one more round of upsell. You’ve got it backwards: the sell end is the issue, not the buy end. It’s not the case in all sales situations, but it is with cars.
I don’t really like cars but need one to get to work. I stopped buying cars from dealerships because they waste my time. I hate playing the numbers game and then waiting for them to call with their actual bottom number and trying to sell me a bunch of extra garbage and sign a bunch of paperwork. I won’t do it anymore. I just buy used cars direct from people instead so I don’t have to waste a Saturday or make multiple trips.
My spouse still buys new cars and he just emails a bunch of dealerships the same email, tells them what he wants and asks them to give him a price out the door. He picks the dealership, sets an appointment, goes in and pays in cash. It takes less than an hour and we don’t have to play all the stupid time wasting games.
People are over the stupid games.
Tesla gets it. Nobody wants to deal with car salespeople. Sorry OP.
I’m in sales, not cars. I feel like the whole process was designed and, at least was, a negotiating process. Now buying a car is “the price is the price.” The consumer base is trained to “negotiate” with the car salesman because the price and process are not straight forward.
Carvana was as easy as buying something off of Amazon essentially. Car buying should be that simple elsewhere.
Bought my last 2 over the phone and had them loaded on a transport and delivered to my house.
Searched country for color/ options I wanted. Asking price was within my expectations. Doesn’t matter if I get any money off or not. Not losing a specific car over 2k
I love buying cars. Love the negotiations, research, and banter.
You’re right, but what am I able to do about that?
Go into B2B sales where there isn't an endless stream of pissed off customers. Or get good at negotiating and learn to enjoy it. You can't fight the culture of an entire industry.
I've asked the dealer I bought my last car from to put me on their do not call list literally 10 times and the sales people still call me with the line "I know you asked us not to call you but ..."
Fuck off lol. I've blocked their numbers at this point.
Have you sold enterprise B2B to a procurement team?
Nope. I sell industrial equipment. B2B world is big.
Right, which is why saying B2B sales isn’t an endless tread of posses off customers is misleading, if not completely wrong. It totally depends
lol yea I get that last part. Any good B2B niches that translate decently from B2C?
You gotta tell a story about the micro interactions and how you have gained invaluable experience face to face.
You have more face to face in person experience than a shit ton of SaaS reps on here.
Look and try to pivot to other things that are more in person where a quick qualify is important and you'll have a decent shot.
He also can't come off as a car sales guy.
Nothing, but if it bothers you that much, you're probably in the wrong industry.
Get a different job
If you like the car industry get a job at carvana or CarMax. Be part of the solution.
If you just like sales get into an industry where you can actually build long term client relationships.
Any recommendations of moving to a different sales industry from car sales? I've been wanting to for a while but every job posting I see wants 8-10 years B2B sales experience. I've been in car sales for years and do pretty good but I'm tired of dealing with the bull shit that comes with selling cars
It’s a large purchase usually with financing involved, there’s credit applications that need to get responded to be someone at said bank all of this takes time… and yeah when someone says they want to be at $250 a month with zero down on a $30,000 truck the payment is going to be higher than they thought bc they can’t figure out a payment calculator 🤣.. have you ever bought a house? It takes 30 days!
Bullshit dude. Most of the time is spent saying no to all the scummy upcharges you guys try to tack in like extended warranty, vin etching, overpriced gap insurance...
Bingo. I’ve bought two new cars in the past few years. The sales reps were wonderful but the finance managers were absolute condescending douchebags when I denied $500/month in additional add-ons.
The process of buying a house is absolutely ludicrous. So many people and middlemen who do fucking nothing but add paperwork for no reason. And you just need one incompetent person in the mix foul the whole thing up.
Most of my sales are as much as a house or more and I'll tell you, none of them involve even half as much fuckery.
I’ve bought 2 houses and both times someone screwed something up.. I think it’s just because you’re buying property and they have to be absolutely damn sure who is going to be paying those taxes!
I just think it's too many people with their own interests trying to get their own piece of the action. The last property I bought, I used my business attorney, who I absolutely trust and is the only one I'd consider working with. But I didn't realize, he'd only work on the transaction if we used his title agent. Fine. I was also fine with my realtor, but she was so annoyed that I wasn't using her attorney and lender. I got a better deal from the lender I used previously, but he was annoyed I wasn't using his title agent. I had my own inspector lined up, my realtor all but begged me to use hers. Which it was a condo, so I didn't really care but like, it was so important to her for some reason.
And I'm in sales, so I get it. People are trying to make money and there are referral bonuses and people like working with people they know. But this was the easiest fucking transaction you could have and it got sloppy solely because of how many people were involved.
Even realtors themselves offer almost zero value to the process. There are too many middlemen in America that only continue to exit because they bribe politicians for policies solidifying their position. It’s the only reason our healthcare system is so hyper inflated in cost compared to the rest of the world, despite not even being top 10 best.
Both of my buying experiences were just like that lol.. I bought my last house from the owner and didn’t use a realtor I was really happy with how it went overall.
Oh man you telling me. I just really didn't enjoy the process of buying a home. As a soon-to-be 1st time homeowner at the time, things eventually got confusing when you would have different folks in the equation. It's basically exactly like what you said in your other comment as you would have people who wanted you to use their title, loan person, inspector (have another story about this too...but for another time lol) etc. I still remember one of the loan folks got impatient and passive aggressive while waiting for us to make a decision on which loan company to go with.
Hard disagree. I always pay cash for my cars. Two cars ago it still took like 4 hours. Last time I went to a dealership and they wanted the car off their lot. It was an 03 LandCruiser at a Jag/Porsche dealership. Had taken it in trade. Guy told me over the phone the price. I showed up with a check. They had already done all the DMV stuff. Was in and out in 30 min. 10 of which was me shooting the breeze with the finance person because we happened to be from the same town.
Well the first place was incredibly busy or disorganized.. sounds like the second experience was seamless
I might use this in the future lol that’s a great point.
I don’t work at a car dealership anymore but whenever I buy a new truck i totally understand why it’s taking a little while. You’re dealing with the bank finding the best approval, registration of the VIN to a specific plate, printing and organizing all the documents.. most of the time is spent finding the right vehicle and agreeing to payment and price. How quick do out of state deals go when they come in with a certified check for the car they wanted? It’s like 45 mins at most!
And it takes like 4 hours if they drive in if they finance with us lol. Most of that time is my finance manager having to verify identity and 3rd party verification and 3rd party lean perfection yada yada yada.
Get the credit app before they get there and get them approved and have all the paperwork ready!
Just move on bro. The problem with people like this is if you do get the deal, its almost 100% certain you are going to seriously regret doing it within a few days/weeks/months once she starts complaining about the little nonsense stuff she dreams up when buyers remorse hits.
This exactly - these customers are red flags with legs and will absolutely make your life hell after the sale too
If they’re serious. They would call all the dealers of the cars they will accept. Get the best deal in their email by a certain deadline and be buying the car with a deposit and contract for sale within minutes of finding the best deal for the vehicle with the specs they want….for the record. I had a dealer say this isn’t how we work. I said ok. But emailed them anyway with my wants and a request for their best cash price by 5pm on a Tuesday 29th like every other dealer in my area for Lexus….. they responded had the best price and they got a contract and deposit paid and car delivered in n the 31st….. even though they said they wouldn’t respond to my email. I gave them two minutes work and they sold an extra car that month….
Amen bro, DPTB.
DPTB
Lol
People are absolutely ingrained to negotiate at the car dealership. It’s the average persons most obvious interaction with sales… and also why they hate salespeople so much.
You come in to see a car with a listed price, all of a sudden it’s 10 grand more expensive with dealer fees and they keep talking about “per month payments” instead of total costs, and a deal sheet with a better price that you signed 3 hours ago has disappeared and nobody can believe you would ever see a price like that from them.
It’s a bad experience, and people are conditioned to play hard ball against it. If your dealership is trying to buck that trend with transparent pricing and deals, you need to be aggressively upfront about how you aren’t like other dealerships. It’s an uphill battle because it probably doesn’t matter when you’re in a bidding war against 3 others.
Maybe also consider advising her that she has more negotiating power in a person-to-person used car transaction and she should explore that further.
Sometimes saying stuff like that will prompt a customer to tip their hand that they can’t tolerate the risk of used and need max warranty protection or convenience of dealer included oil changes and maintenance. Whatever the buying criteria are that haven’t been revealed but are keeping the customer from moving on with other options.
This comment!!
I worked at a large Toyota dealer that had "no haggle pricing". Works well in a sellers market especially if prices are semi reasonable, but it's terrible in a buyers market. We're in a buyers market, time to pull your head out of your ass and work to get deals done. Even in the best of times we would negotiate on our no haggle pricing if it was the last 2 days of the month. It's part of the game and it's not going anywhere, nothing you say is going to change this.
Your logic vs logic argument is way off base especially when dealers and manufacturers have been completely delusional for years, stop drinking the koolaid. Your whole mindset needs to change, start framing it as you and your client vs the world and you're going to do whatever you can to get them a win (even if it's small). That's how you create buyers that will keep returning back to you over and over again. If the dealer you work for can't do that for you then you need to go somewhere else, and they will get what they deserve sooner than later. I'm not saying you should work with everyone who walks through the door, or even even this lady for that matter, but you should adjust your thought process.
I walked away from a car purchase because the guy started adding in nonsense fees after we’d already agreed on the car and price. When I balked, he started to get abusive which showed I made the right choice. I ended up buying from someone who was open and easy to deal with. His mantra - I knew what I wanted and he either had it or he didn’t. He reasoned I was an easy sale (I was) and if I got what I wanted with no headache I would probably come back in the future and he was spot on.
In an industry with a slimy reputation be the guy people trust, it will make your life easier. And don’t waste time on haggling tire kickers.
I walked away from buying a car once, as I was talking to the salesman an older salesman came by and said “are you guys talking about that car? Someone else saw it this morning and is about to put an offer on it”
I couldn’t contain my disgust
Hey congrats for killing this possible deal as I walk away and your made up customer offer bullshit is non existent.
Yeah that’s some amateur hour selling shit. There’s more authentic ways to create scarcity and urgency without insulting a prospect.
Sadly people fall for this. Like my parents but that’s why I go to the dealership with them and tell them to walk away when I don’t like the seller or where the sales process is going.
People assume car sales guys are slimy and trying to rip them. Tough industry to show integrity
It’s tough to prove your integrity.
I’ve done my past 5 purchases over the phone because I won’t set foot in a dealership and waste my day negotiating at the office when I can negotiate while watching tv at home.
That being said, just tell her the lowest price for the truck for that particular day and say you can have it at this price today if you come down and pick it up today.
If she doesn’t like it, say have a nice day and good luck with your shopping and I’m here when you are ready to purchase. I’ve got other customers that are purchasing that I have to attend to.
Even if you do prove any amount of integrity, the service department is there to destroy it for you. 😀
Pretty much, that’s every dealerships #1 revenue stream. That’s why we’re able to lose so much on new cars.
Someone I know did this to a car sales rep. They eventually came to an agreement and the person bought the car. Then, just a few days later, they claimed they did not like it and wanted to return it and get a full refund, which is wild considering that once you drive off the lot, the car already loses value. Not to mention, you cannot just return a car as if it were a piece of clothing.
They harassed the sales rep and the dealership so much that the dealership ultimately accepted the car back but banned the person for life from buying there again.
So yes, it is best to just move on from this prospect. It can always get worse.
Really hard to defend this point as a consumer, I get margins aren't super high, but most consumers (myself included) also view the intermediary business model as adding 0 value, only cost. Which as a seller is also not an enviable position, unless there's no opportunities in your area to move into a different sales vertical.
So of course when there is a $2k upcharge for polished rims, $1k for dealer branded floor mats and a wax coating, and $4k for tinted windows, and other fees, any knowledgeable consumer is going to know it is in their best interest to be A, unwavering, and B, negotiate hard and settle somewhere in the middle.
I do it every time I buy a car, whether or not the dealer only makes $1k above MSRP is not my problem. Everyone's gotta eat but dealerships inherently provide 0 value to the consumer.
You probably can’t change that mindset honestly. Some people need to “win” the negotiation more than they need the best price and logic won’t break that. The only real move is qualifying faster, set the expectation early that it’s a best price store and let the grinders walk without burning your energy
I guess I’m not sure how to qualifying the people who need to win negotiations.
You usually spot them by how they open the convo. If the first thing they ask is “what’s your best price” or they won’t engage without negotiating, that’s a grinder. Set expectations early (we’re a one price store) and see if they keep pushing.....if they do, you’ve qualified them fast and can move on without wasting time
Thanks that’s pretty helpful info.
ofc
They give themselves away, with people like this when I was in car sales I would pattern interrupt them to death, as many times as necessary. If they played along, we build rapport on random shit, then circled back, as many times as necessary. If they didn’t play along I kicked them.
They’re just going to grind you down, regardless of what you do or say. I did it for 6 years only in a highline store between sales and finance and finally got out at the beginning of the fall. Once they realize they can wear you down they’re going to continue til they feel they won, or just walk anyway.
I found setting clear expectations, being upfront and authoritative with your knowledge tends to help most. You need to go from matching their combativeness to being a consultative seller, you’re just there to advise, and point them in the right direction based on the fact you do more deals in a month than they’ll do in a lifetime and you have the education on the brand and the process that they don’t. But when you go this route you’ve gotta take the entire desking process into your own hands, if your dealer has an interactive pricing tool like Darwin and you’re allowed to use it for the first or second pencil before involving the desk it’s a good way not to have to pull the “let me talk to my manager” card and not cede the situation to a greater power which devalues you to the customer ultimately. It’s not about negotiating from a position of strength it’s about avoiding the entire pencil process turning into a dick swinging contest.
Funny thing I used to do was keep a picture of the scene from RoTS where Palpatine says to Anakin “use my knowledge, I beg you” behind my desk. I’d point to it as my reason for even having a hand in the process. Even non-Star Wars fans got the joke there, and it took the temp down a little bit resetting expectations with a joke when is delivered appropriately.
Ultimately, don’t waste your time here, you’ve only got so many hours in a day to make money, and if you don’t sell you don’t eat. Help them as best you can, try to identify what’s needed to get the deal over the finish line, give them what they want or match as close as you can, be ready to put the ball in their court and make it a yes or no then and there. If they walk follow up like you’re supposed to and call it a day. There’s always more fish to fry.
That’s sweet, I might use that in the future.
The whole us vs them mentality is an antiquated way of doing business in B2C transactions. And any manager that tells you it has to be that way is a fool IMO.
Customers don’t want to be worked to death nor feel screwed, best way to avoid that is to be consultative and knowledgeable, customers don’t want to be sold to anymore (besides the old fucks acting like it’s still 1980), they want to be helped in their transaction and see you as a necessary part of helping them get through the second biggest purchase they’ll make outside of a house.
I recently just dealt with an asshole customer who I needed to make feel like he got a big win (tech sales)
In these cases I’ve found that when they keep pushing for more if I say something and be genuine about it “does it seem like I’m holding something back from you or haven’t been straight forward throughout this process?” They’ll always say “no” which is true (!) then say if I’ve given you that impression, I can assure you that’s not the case..
Look! Here’s what I can do… and stay firm on price but give them some freebie bs thing to feel good about
Just let them walk.
Offer tour best price and then let them go if it's too much.
Save your time and energy
Yeah if they truly are offering a low price, just say
“This is the absolute lowest we can go and we are confident that no other dealership will beat it. I know this is an important purchase. Please do your due diligence and call around to see what others are offering. We will be here when you are ready but this vehicle may not”
OPs issue is he’s trying to rationalize with people who are buying on emotion
Bingo.
And i know sometimes for me we are not the cheapest option, but we do provide the best service and customer support, so that can also be a big factor too.
I always outline that alongside my quote
If your dealership doesn't negotiate then what do they need a sales team for?
I work on 25% of the front with $100 minis. I’m happy to sell something for a mini as long as it is quick and easy. I will not chase someone for a mini as it is an absolute waste of my time that could be better spend finding someone who will pay me all the money. If I sell an F150 at sticker it pays me close to 15 minis. I’ve followed that formula for most of the 12 years I’ve been selling cars. Hope this info can help you
To be honest, the car buying industry made personalities like that for a reason. The car industry has always been built centered around the image of sleazy car sales people and negotiations. Understand the consumers climate too to reply with empathy when in a bullshit situation like this. DPTB is right
Buying a car is the worst purchasing experience most of us ever had or will have. This isn't a criticism of you but the car buying process in general. The process is slimy from the start and then they make you wait for hours for what could be done in 30 min. Again, this isn't on you. I'm sating this to provide perspective on how this lady and others think and feel about the entire experience. My suggestion is to remove as many of the shitty parts of the experience, be direct and professional as possible. In the long run this will benefit you as you'll have a book of repeat customers and their friends and family.
“This is our best price and I think you’ll find it’s the best price around. Happy for you to shop around. Call me if you want to move forward and I’ll make sure it’s a smooth process to get you in and out with your new car”
If you truly believe in your price, that’s the best you can do. Be polite. Be firm. And then move on. Arguing with them is only going to guarantee they never call you back.
You’re going to have this until dealerships change their sales methods. I don’t see a problem with trying to get the best price. My customers do it, I do it when I’m a customer. It’s my money and I want to keep as much as possible. You want to take as much as possible. You should be happy that she won’t give you a competitor’s price. That means she won’t give out your price. Just give her your best price and if she buys from you then you win. If you don’t want to give her the lowest price, then someone else will. It’s not like you’re going to offer a service that she can’t get someone where else and that’s worth paying extra for. You’re selling a car. Other dealerships have cars. That’s how capitalism works.
she sounds like a 'sweeper' type customer as in sweep her ass off the lot or in this case off the phone and quit wasting your time.
Cars are a commodity. There is literally no USP. Maybe that lady saw the same car for cheaper online.
Maybe she is willing to go to a different state to buy the same car for cheaper. What's your usp?
Move on and don't think about it, you don't have the cards.
Just let her walk. Time spent chasing deals that aren't going to close is eating into time that could be spent on real opportunities.
You “I understand you refuse to purchase today if it is not a good buy” Her “ yes take 10,000 off and include the floor mats” You “ there is the door … good bye!”
Ask her what she thinks the is a good price. Reject her from there and do not offer your own pricing until you hear hers.
1/2 your job in sales is know who is a qualified buyer and going for them, while leaving people like this in the dust.
You ever posted something for sale on FB marketplace? Is the person who messages you saying “ill do it for 1/2 asking price” the one who actually buys anything? No…
The person who is going to buy asks questions
I had a dealer try to negotiate with me by asking how well of a negotiator i am?? needless to say i left right after
Yea that’s weird. A sales rep at Best Buy tried to sell me AT&T and after I told him I just bought a phone he said “oh well everyone makes mistakes”. I was appalled.
I hit the internet sales division for a lease at a local dealer a few years back.
Negotiated EVERYTHING over email before going in.
It FUCKING STILL took over 3 hours.
The industry is aids.
Guess what guys. The days of msrp and your limited supply are over. Get used to your mini deals because those of us who knows the business. Are coming back with a vengeance.
But step up your salesmanship game.
Not in car sales - what's a mini deal? I'm assuming churning small commissions?
It’s where a car salesman whines that he should making $2000 commission plus spiffs on every car sold. That the owners are cheap and the customers are stealing from them and their hard work.
Usually around $250.
The sad part is most car salesman know less about the product then the customer.
But they’ll be first still brag about clubbing the old lady on the back end for $7000 on her trade. While they’re making a $5000 gross on the front end. That’s before F&I get ahold of them holding points on rates and selling them useless protection plans
Fuk I think you would want to do that quickly all day (if possible) - keep it moving. Surely bigger checks will come.
Car sales is the worst and in this economy I’m surprised that anyone would buy a car. Thank god , for the company car .
Lmfao, I am so tired of car sales people thinking there isn't 10000 other dealerships to go to who might lower their price more than you lol.
Car sales is PURE unaltered lowest price wins. Pure and simple. Some won't ask, but over all of course.
Car sales isn't real sales, you are retail, just instead of selling toys at Walmart you sell larger toys. You are just a body to tell them how to sign the contract. You aren't a sales person any more than a best buy worker is. The fact you earn commission doesn't really change that lol. Let's be honest here.
You have absolutely ZERO value over your competition, which means you literally have no leg to stand on making a nickel on that. lofma.
I bet you don't even iron your shirts lmfao.
This is further proven by the fact you have to sneak shit in and lie to get a sale. That alone proves you aren't a salesperson. You have to pretend you can't get a certain interest rate or payment, and try to make them feel like they "won" by knocking you down a few" You make it take 10 hours while you "pretend" to negotiate with your sales manager.
The fact you have to go to a manager for every little ask means you are a peon at best. So sit down, answer my questions about the car and go back to being an order taker.
I had a car salesman who did very well and did it for a long time in my family, and I STILL think yall are sleezy as fuck. again, having to hide or lie at ALL proves that the entire car sales industry is a cesspool of people like you lmao. And if you have to lie to sell, you aren't selling, you are defrauding.
The reason why I say that we have the best discount is because it’s true. Not to say I don’t get what youre saying here (nobody has ever said we have the worst discounts lol) but we pay people to wake up every morning to look at everyone else’s discount and beat it by 1,000 at a minimum. We lost over 30,000 dollars in new car sales last month.
Regardless, this comment is neither informative nor helpful and is rude.
Because you aren't selling... gee wonder why lol. You might think you do, but here's a phrase I see (we beat all other offers) meaning, no matter what you put, those people will beat you.
Also, The number of people you have doing that x the time they are doing it means they are HIGHLY unlikely to get EVERY single one with certainty. PLUS, you are assuming no one else ALSO does that every day too. I mean, if YOU DO it... where did the starter of that process get that idea? just saying haha
Also, if you think I care a car salesman thinks it's rude HAHAH, coming from your post. That's rich.
And here's the stupid (best) part. You may be right, she may be unrealistic, but if you don't give it to her, and she does get "fatigue" guess what, she won't be coming BACK somewhere, she will just buy it at the last place she is at. So if you want that to be you. MAYBE bend over more. People will pay for what they see value in, if you have none to offer, it's no wonder they aren't buying, provide value to your customers above and beyond. Why buy from you over someone else?
MY guess is she will win, as that year model comes to a close and the new ones come in you WILL be dropping your price to make room for new inventory, and you need the sale, she clearly doesn't NEED the car just yet. So she's going to win that argument and you know it lol.
I came here for advice, not to be disrespected by someone who thinks they’re better than me. I know it’s not your prerogative to give a shit, I’d imagine you probably got into sales with higher training or education, you project yourself like someone in medical sales. And we are selling, we quadrupled our output from last year.
Then don't shit on your customers lmfao.
What do you mean?
Im not in the industry, but id imagine car manufacturers and dealerships costs increase over time. Especially on new inventory due to parts, labor shortages, and unpredictable tariffs. These costs will likely increase at either the end of December or the end of June as that is when most of these companies fiscal years end. Depending on what kind of truck shes looking at you can Google from there. So while shes spending time trying to shave off as much as she can, while waiting she could be screwing herself. Also- what if someone was to come buy that lowest cost truck in the state? Time is against her. Now id imagine you can likely go ask finance or leadership to take a little more off just for her. At that point if she walks then you've done all you can.
Recently it feels like that’s the story of my career in sales.
Just depends on the prospective buyer tbh most people and companies dont have oodles of doodles of cash laying around. Something like the purchase of a car means a loan they'll have for several years after the sale is closed. If its not a decision to make lightly. I will say 3 months of pondering does seem long- again im not in the industry so idk whats typical. Maybe ask some questions around what their target budget is - you'll do your best to get there. Often times when I ask a customer this and they give me an answer ill do my best to get lower. That said, not every sale is winnable, sometimes you just need to let the customer know youre there for them when they need you.
You don't, you just handle them with customer service. Always be nice and helpful .
I was ready to buy a used car. Knew exactly what I wanted, model color price. They had it in stock, car salesman said no can do on price. I told him I would buy it that day, said no go. I went to different dealer and bought car in different color same day.
The original dealer calls me back next day saying he can in fact do that price.
If customer is serious buyer and saying what they want, you get to make the choice if you want that sale or not at the price they are asking. If don’t want to, let them move on
Discount by a dollar
You could try the assumption close…. The dinosaurs didnt buy cars at sticker price and look what happened to them!
Idk when you are getting a loan or a lease there is always room to negotiate, even if it's getting an upgrade. There's no reason people shouldn't max out the value of their money.
I just bought a used car for the first time and I asked if there was any room for negotiations, he showed me their receipt for the car purchase and I totally understood based on how much they paid there wasn't going to be a negotiation. That's fine with me. It made sense. He said if I got a loan instead they could take a few hundred off because of the commission they get from the lender, but that made no sense to me because the interest would be more than what the discount was.
If you aren't willing to justify your price or can't communicate the value, then people are going to keep trying to get a better deal. Get better at communicating the value for the price.
I worked in an Industry where people wanted to haggle constantly. I would just show them my entire quote right off the bat, and add all the discounts I could and not fuck around. They usually just appreciated the transparency and the fact I went out of my way to lower the price before they even asked. If they still wanted to haggle I would tell them they needed to give me their max budget and I would find an alternative to fit it, but it wasn't going to be their first choice and wouldn't have all the features they wanted.
Stop entertaining bad negotiators
If nobody negotiated the car dealers would just sell the cars without salesmen. You are wishing for the end of your job.
never pitch the bitch - boiler room
The car sales industry has trained people over decades that they’re only option is to negotiate.
It’s been pretty shown over the years that you can get deals on cars.
And it is a generally slimey industry. Last year I got 3 very different offers from 3 dealers on the exact same car.
I also was at one just today; and he opened with asking where I want to be price wise. We’re groomed and openly offered to negotiate when buying cars
Sounds like she has a relationship with you now. She might just like having someone to talk to and tell her “No”.
You work in CAR SALES. It's basically cat and mouse. Give and take. People go online and price the car they want, find the best price and look for a local dealer to match it. That's it. You either match it or you don't. If they love the car they will be back...its not hard bro.
lol, let's think of your role in customer minds through tv shows and media that tells us people in car sales are the epitome of what consumers think of in for a 'greasy salesperson' trying to rip people off with their tricks and lies. Add to that people's advice talking about how to 'beat the system' and 'getting the best price'.
You telling her 'it's the best price upfront and you can't go lower' is just going to trigger suspicion that you are pulling the wool over her eyes.
If you are so confident that you are the best price for this vehicle, give her a challenge, ask for a time limit, and let her think there is a reward. If she leaves her name and can find a better price anywhere in the week that you can validate, you will give her a 5% discount on top of that price.
If you have the cheapest car in the state, just hang up confident she’ll call back
The whole thing where you feel that car dealership want to sell loans more than cars is really grinding as a customer. Even as a sales person, buying a car is no fun. As a woman it can be straight up demeaning
I am confident if you looked you wouldn't find a better deal on a like for like truck. We are trying to move these and have our best price on them already. Move on.
Apart from a home, it’s the largest purchase that most people will make in their lives. It’s stressful for many people, and they want to make sure that they’re getting the best deal.
I’ll match any price I can get in writing, and they can never get it in writing lmao.
People have been raised on buying a car that way. Why are you surprised? Frankly, with the price of cars these days, you could offer it to me at true cost and I still wouldn’t believe that there was room! They are outrageously priced!
Maybe you’re in the wrong line of business… Maybe CarMax is a better fit for you. To get butthurt about negotiating when you work in car sales seems strange to me.
Buying a car is easy. I sold cars for a year, the trick is to wait until the last day of the month and go in to buy the car you want. You will get the best deal ever because they want to make any last minute sales. Done that’s it. You’re welcome.
Just stsnd your ground on it. Someone tries to negotiate? Tell them the prices aren’t negotiable. Don’t even need to give them a reason why it’s not negotiable unless they ask.
Something i’ll do to cut through the bullshit snd this ultimately tells me how serious they are (in a different sales industry than you but it actually translates pretty well):
After you tell them prices are not negotiable, offer a more affordable option; “i hear you- well if all you are worried about is the price of vehicle A- have you tried looking at Vehicle B? Similar to the Vehicle A but the price tag is lower.”
You’ll cut through the headaches and the serious clients real quick I bet.
Negotiating car sales is part of the culture
Some people just want to do the negotiation and have no interest in completing the sale. They drag their feet and just want to wait for the perfect deal. Doesn't matter what you do, they are not ready. Like the others say, I would just give the number you can and let them decide. Move on and hope for the best, but don't expect anything.
If for some reason I didn’t want this customer to just walk away, I’d make a play where you tell them you really can’t move on the overall price, “but I do have latitude on xyz if you are ready to buy today” (or this week or whatever). Maybe xyz is interest rate or throw in floor mats, clear coat, free oil changes or whatever levers you actually have to sweeten a deal.
But only if customer is able to purchase today bc the incentives to this dealership expire soon.
I’d walk away. But if you really want to win her business, you might make like you are playing her game and giving her special insight.
Tell her to come in two hours before closing time on the last day of the month, and your manager will be the most motivated they will ever be to approve exceptions. Tell her to know which exactly which in-stock car she wants and what price she wants to pay and see what happens. At least you are only out two hours of your time this way.
You seem to lack some self awareness about your industry.
You have the lowest prices posted online? Yeah gonna doubt that myself, considering I've had dealers tell me the same then literally knock thousands off the price when I get them to compete with other dealers.
But even if you really do have the lowest prices, the auto industry is notorious for lying to customers and ripping people off. Especially on used cars. So don't be surprised if people don't believe you when you say you can't go any lower.
I get this 100%, that’s why we offer invoices and the profit sheet to all of our customers who ask for it showing that we are genuinely losing thousands of dollars to make friends with people. Last month we lost 30,000 dollars in new vehicle sales. I say this verbatim to everyone and it’s still not convincing enough even with all the info right in front of them.
It's not convincing because you wouldn't be a business if you weren't profitable. Clearly you're making money off your customers somewhere. Also it's 2025, we know about holdback.
I'm not going to argue with you about your industry, but it's clear that it represents one of the last examples of what people hate about salesmen. It largely doesn't even need to exist, especially for new cars. Tesla pretty much ruined every argument you have for why a new car dealership is even relevant anymore.
So people treating you like a roadblock to a lower price do that because it's largely true.
This is how car sales are now. A family member of mine just retired as an absolute crushed car saleswoman for the last ten years or so and post covid she’d just tell them there’s zero negotiation and when they pushed back just say call back if you want it at that price and say goodbye. That’s it, that’s the deal. There’s no point arguing with these people, they think they can turn it into a negotiation.
It’s even worse when Indians and East Africans and the like come in to buy since they’re culturally ingrained to try to negotiate everything, even like basic retail stuff that is never negotiable in this country. She’s had Somali families come back like literally half a dozen times until they finally just actually accept she’s not pulling a tactic and actually won’t negotiate. I think she may have had a couple of bs promotional throw ins she’d use like “offering them a free car wash” on the new car… which is something they do for everybody without saying, but just made them feel like they got SOMETHING so they’d give it a rest.
So yeah, there’s no arguing with these people who think they can still negotiate cars.
You can play the monthly price game with some people too, and they’re dumb enough to think it’s a negotiation.
If there is no price negotiations involved what value does the sales person actually add? Why not just make it a “buy now” purchase on the website (like Tesla). Genuinely curious
This is without a doubt in the car industry as more customers prefer this. However, you’ll notice most companies don’t offer a buy now option like this, partially because they’re protective of the dealer model.
As somebody said below, guiding you through features, setup, what car you want, etc
From the dealer’s perspective, selling add ons and financing, which is where literally all the profit is anyway. Dealers don’t actually make money when they sell new cars any more, they make money selling warranties, other premium ads, financing, and service. A saying in dealerships is service keeps them open month to month and selling cars keeps them open year to year, ie the only real purpose of selling the cars is to maintain a new customer base of people who bring in the car to service
Curious about this too. It’s frustrating because I want to negotiate too but Im not allowed to, all the numbers are in my managers hands.
OP find the make / model / features you want and call dealers in 300 mile radius ask for bottom out the door price over the phone. Confirm there are no add on or extra charges. Get it in writing. Tell them you’re buying and want the lowest price. Once you find the lowest price go buy it. Dealers did this to themselves.
You need to read, How to make friends and influence people “. You telling her she is wrong and making her defensive will never get you a commission check.
We don't get a shit about what you think is discounted or not. If we have the money, we have the choice, no point in getting upset IMO, it's your job to sell cars and it's the client's job to take care of his money.
Actually the process is important as well.
Dealerships are going the way of the horse. Gone unless you want one.
They have been saying this for a long time, but dealerships have a lot of structural protections. Tesla pioneered D2C car sales, and had to fight tooth and nail with state governments who had laws on the books prohibiting the sales model.
Tell her the price is $3K higher than what is listed. Then ‘negotiate’ down to sticker.
Car sales just aren’t real “sales” and I’ll never be convinced otherwise.
The skills maybe but the job itself? No.
This woman clearly felt the same way.
This lady is lonely and has found a solution for engaging with the world.
Instead of « price, » focus on a « time limited » special insider deal. Add an option or other service at cost.
Now you’re not a « commodity broker » but a niche » marketer.
Make sure that the offer is very « time limited » and that you look forward to her next visit.
Sometimes, you gotta let people spin their wheels. For some people there’s a cultural component that makes bargaining necessary, other times it’s just their nature. You can’t reason with it. If you have the lowest prices in the state, then encourage them to shop around and say “make me your last call.”
This way, they either call because you are the lowest, or they call you with a slightly lower price that you can possibly match.
Also, the person that takes months to shop has months to shop. Hang up the phone - there are people who have to move a lot faster.
So for many years car prices were bullshit and you had to negotiate to not pay way too much. We get it, you'd LOVE everyone to overpay for you to be rich for no reason but sadly we're on planet earth. It does seem that recently car prices are more set and it's not so commission driven but the public doesnt know that
You need to control the negotiation. You are at a fair price. You will take $250 off in good faith. You sell a quality product at a good price. Ask for the business. I was in the car business then left for door to door sales. Saw many more prospects and learned that people will to agree to it if it makes sense. Ask them if they want a cheap car? If the car was in good working order and i take $250 off to help you get some floormats would you take the car home today?
I'm so tired of people NOT negotiating
This one is simple. Step one is to give them the "courtesy discount". Step two is to ask them to show you an offer for a comparable vehicle that's lower than yours. You know how this works. Sales 101.
I’m gonna say for one that car sales is not designed to wear consumers down. It’s designed to vet actual buyers and establish reality and kill delusion in them. The problem with car sales and new car buyers is they think there is thousands of dollars to be shaved off ANY new car. This is false. I would wager that 2/3 of the new cars the dealer I worked for were sold at a loss.
There is very little margin in new cars. And when buyers want this that and the third plus absurd discounts or trade valuations it kills deals every day of the week.
Just come in researched to the tits on what you want, know your trade in value and your amount owed, have a pre approval for a certain amount of money, and don’t be shy about saying so. Don’t tell them the exact dollar amount of your pre approval, as the deal will magically be $3 under that. Follow those exact steps and your buying experience will be under 90min-2hrs I guarantee it.
Edit; that’s just my advice for “buyers”. 95% of the problems “buyers” experience at any dealership are entirely brought on by themselves. Salesmen want to sell cars, sales managers want to sell cars. The sales MGR is in charge of discount unless you have a very senior salesman. Realize that you’re negotiating the desk and not the friendly face and the salesman will move mountains for you.
Just pull out the invoice.
Say I will sell you this car for invoice - rebates.
No need to hide anything
In this scenario you can ask, “if you shopped every car dealer in the country and found that we had the best deal, would you buy it from us?” There’s your commitment. Then help her shop to prove you had the best deal. If she still refuses, flip it back on her by saying “you told me you’d buy from us if we had the best deal, what does that deal look like for you?”
Hmm shouldn’t of gotten into car sales then
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Move on quick. lady{name}, you got my best price and my phone number call me when you find out it’s the best price. Anything else I can help you with today? No? Buh-bye. I gotta run, I got someone who wants to pay your price for that vehicle waiting in the showroom.
Brother let them walk and come back. But don’t be confrontational about it. Try “listen I know you’re going to shop around for the best deal. We’re confident this is the best deal but feel free to explore and we appreciate you checking here first.” Then call them back in a few days and see how’s it going. Tired of these high pressure car salesmen who can’t make a connection and bitch about trying to move over priced rolling boxes
Some people are just fucking stupid and you can’t talk someone out of being stupid. 🤷♂️
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Tell her she is looking for the used car section and it's right over here. Oh, you want a new one? They are XYZ expensive.
Excuse me I need to speak with this paying customer real quick. BRB.
I did get a scorching deal on a new range Rover once. I stopped in, offered a price and they laughed.
I kept stopping in each month for like 8 months and just kept offering the same price. Then I bought it for that price.
But I was more in love with my price than the car.
Then put the ‘out the door’ price next to each car - and a list of down-payment + monthly terms in a table sorted by credit score. Hand a customer that sheet next to the POS
Must be such a good deal hence why it’s still on the lot. You’ll negotiate, just not right now.
I always pit the two nearest dealerships against each other on a similarly equipped vehicle. I let them both know that I'm also working with the other dealership. Its amazing how much they will drop their drawers over the course of a week or two of me playing the game. Once I'm satisfied I've squeezed the last drop out of them I buy.
But most ppl hate buying cars. Move the needle to a different car you can give a deal on, or tell them when to come back to see YOU for the same car. Maybe timing is wrong, obviously if she urgently needed a car she would have bought it months ago when she started looking. You can definitely tell her when the best time of year is to come back and you're going to hook her up. Then you don't lose a sale you just move it. If you think this is the right car, right price, right customer, then you need to get them in to your dealership to try the car. If she's ready to come in, and get off the phone, then she's ready to buy.
I don’t like to waist people’s time or my own. I wanted to buy a Truck. Find Truck $57K. Find same exact truck with less miles with slightly less features. Didn’t have moon roof. It was $2k less. Call the dealership who has the more expensive truck. Tell them I’d like to buy their truck but want some type of deal since I could get the other truck with less miles for 2k less. Tell me they can’t discount the price any more. I say that’s fine, what can you do? They say we can work something out. Go in. They 100% won’t budge on anything. Keep me there for 5 hours. I left pissed and took the $57K I brought with me. All they had to do was tint the windows or throw in a bed liner. I would have handed them $57k.
“If you find a better deal, buy it. If not, call me and I’ll wrap it up.”
Idk I have no sympathy for anyone selling cars. It’s less the sellers fault and more the industry, but it’s nothing less than predatory. People should be doing nothing but negotiate and waste a dealerships time until the industry wakes up that dealerships operate like criminal enterprises.
The technique you need here is qualification. This is not a qualified buyer, so go find another one. And if you’re lucky, sometimes just telling a prospect that you have no interest in continuing the conversation the will convert them.
Don’t work in an industry known for dishonesty in pursuit of commission.
Say what CarMax says." We don't negotiate". And just keep saying it until they give in or leave..people want to feel like they win. And this ses like she cannot really afford the vehicle she wants. There is enough information on the internet for people not to get ripped off on cars these days.. if they want an outrageous price then they have not done their research and cannot afford what they want. Actual price of the car does not matter if they finance it..monthly payment and interest rate are what matter. And anyone buying a new car cash is educated enough to know a realistic price and do the research. I would not waste anymore time with the tire kicker..
I can tell you right now if you said that you would never get a sale in your life. lmfao
This part also proves you are mathematically illiterate too.
Does it though? This lady has been in the market for months. She is indecisive. Not alot of mark up from invoice/cost( if used) and MSRP/ advertised price.. what's a couple thousand do on a 5 yr term? Unless the vehicle is way over market value which would he the customers fault for not doing research the actual price does not matter as much as APR and monthly payment with a client that's shopping around. She probably can't finance a hotdog. In which I would not spend time in her..
Base your sales tactics on a failing business, great idea....
From an outsider looking in, and to your dismay, I think social media is working its way to destroy the car buying process and industry. You go on TikTok and see Billy, delivred, etc offering services now to negotiate and basically beat the brakes off dealerships to get the deals they want. So much so people are PAYING them 1000.00 to do it. I’m not here to question your integrity or I’m not here to say you are like all the rest, but I think your industry is under “attack” and going to be forced to change. The only “salesmanship” IMO that really happens now would be on a low credit high risk buyer or a first time naïve buyer. Anyone with a reasonable credit score and access to social media with a head on their shoulders sees what’s going on and I believe at this point is simply calling to get the rock bottom best deal. And if a dealership refuses to negotiate or “we only negotiate in person / refuse to send a OTD price” it’s on to the next. If I had to drive 2-3 hours to another state but I’m saving 3-7K on a car for a better deal when all is said and done I’m gonna do it. I think the rates / economy and all is not helping you either. Good luck, sorry people are a-holes to you over the internet
I helped one of my friends start his wheeltor business. It’s a big hit for the right people.
Boo hoo.
The planet needs about a million less cars.
Sell something other than cars you fucking leach
It’s “leech” you basement dwelling pot smoking gaming vibe coder. WTF?
Side note for everyone: I don’t care what your perspective is on dealerships, none of you would have the stones to talk this amount of shit to me in person so stop spewing your toxic filth online. I posted this for advice and for the people who have left their two cents I appreciate it.
You can hate my profession without being disrespectful.