Don't Get Burned By Car Dealer Tactics
Almost everyone I know has a story about at least one bad
experience at a car dealership and it is interesting to look at
some of the things they will do to try to make a sale. I can
remember hearing about someone having the keys to their car
thrown on the roof of the dealership so they couldn't leave,
granted that was a while ago.
Most dealerships have rigid sales systems that they follow to
ensure that they get the highest profits and close as many sales
as they possibly can. One of the main components of the system
is the salesman. In case you didn't know it, the reason these
salespeople will fight for an hour over $100 is because they
typically receive 20-35% of it as commission for making the
sale! This is also the reason why YOU must be educated and look
out for yourself because the salesman is definitely looking out
for themselves.
Dealerships spend thousands of dollars on training systems to
teach salespeople all the closing techniques and "tricks" to
turn shoppers into buyers and increase profits. There is a
multi-million dollar industry in training automotive sales
people. These companies usually come to the dealership and teach
salespeople through audio, videos, and seminars and many
guarantee results to the dealership so they are confident in
their methods.
One thing that many dealers are trying to do now to get past the
old image of the car salesman is to have the salesperson present
themselves as a "trusted advisor". You need to always remember
that almost all dealers still pay their salespeople by
commission with the exception of Saturn, and even those that pay
a flat rate usually pay bonuses for more sales so they still
have something to gain to get the sale. Don't trust the car
salesman, that would be like letting the fox in the henhouse!
Another key part of the system is the advertising. I am sure you
see tons of advertising in your area from car dealers. They
usually dominate local Sunday papers and the visions of the
screaming car dealer on TV will stay with us forever. It is
quite obvious that these businesses make a lot of money;
otherwise they could not spend so much on advertising. One of
the tricks that they still use that is amazing to me is the old
bait and switch. That's where they will have an ad in the paper
with a car at a super low price and then in tiny print it they
list a stock number and says only one available at this price.
You go to the dealer and it has already been sold. Don't get
taken by this.
Hopefully this has helped you to see some of the tactics used by
auto dealers.