Shit People Say When Trying To Reduce The Price Of Your Car

[Berk]

A couple of years ago, when I was 18, I was selling my old '90 Toyota Surf (Import), the nice Asian lady who was having a look asked me casually if I had had it since new.

I looked at her for a couple of seconds and just said "No".

[GoldZilla]

A VW dealer in Parramatta tried to charge my mum a fee ($50) to screw her numberplates on to her brand new Golf.

I was with her when the Salesman tried this one on; would you like to guess where I told him to go?

And this is a dealer that supposedly prides itself on their "Premium" service...

LOL, I was with my old man just the other day (Friday the 28th) at that dealership, and the guy we dealt with (very briefly) acted as if we were wasting HIS time even though we'd been there for less than 10mins. Both my parents went back there without me on Sunday and got the same vibe off him.

If and when they go back there, and if this particular salesman approaches us with the same attitude, I'm going to make a scene (probably loudly say something along the lines of "Well, if you're not willing to help us, I'll go and speak to someone who is") and walk to someone else's desk.

I wonder if it's the same guy...

[Raysboostin]

How can you quote an interest rate of 20+% interest? Are you a business manager that works for Toyota? No.. in fact our interest rates 9 times out of 10 SMASH the banks.

Ok $1000 for tinting is a joke, the boys out the back here charge $200 for all 4 windows dark as you want, that was 1 bad experience you had with a dealership and now you're going to tell everyone about how much of a rip off all car dealerships are.

i havent been within 100m of a dealership since i bought my first stagea 4-5yrs ago. chatting with a mate yesterday apparently car yards are desperate to sell now days. most of them offering 0% interest finance. he just bought a new toyota at 0% which is a huge saving over a bank. live and learn.

its hardly 1 bad experience. i chose to only mention the very worst account. there has been dozens more where dealers are taking a very large profit on an accessory. which i think is unacceptable given the profit they would already make on the new car. there has been 1 or 2 occasions where the prices where reasonable, but its rather rare. i always tell ppl to price up accessories aftermarket before they go to buy a new car as the savings can be significant.

A couple of years ago, when I was 18, I was selling my old '90 Toyota Surf (Import), the nice Asian lady who was having a look asked me casually if I had had it since new.

I looked at her for a couple of seconds and just said "No".

LOL gold!

[richzx]

Just remember that they are making plenty out of you on the sale price for 0% finance. You can generally only get the cheap finance deals if you pay RRP but you may be able to get the car a lot cheaper otherwise and this may make up for the interest cost of a bank loan especially if you can pay it out early with no penalty.

[zei20l]

no one is offering 0% interest rates.

and AFAIK, Toyota finance is probably the best out there, many dealers offer their product no matter what they are selling.

had plenty of idiots call me regarding cars. I REALLY enjoy the SMS offers before looking at the car. what I love the most are the people who are 'overseas' and want to pay more than im asking but they want it shipped to X destination - which they will organise. but please supply my bank details and all my other details too and they will make the deposit tomorrow blah blah

[Seano350GT]

I work for Toyota and have worked for a few different companies and i too beleive that our finance is top notch. I barely ever lose a finance deal to the banks, they almost always fall short of our finance terms. But bear in mind, when there are ridiculously low interest rate offers there are other ways we can make money off your finance such as extended warranty, there could be a baloon payout at the end of the loan (called a risidual which is definitely not something you want to do) and other things like accessories (fusion pack- tint, paint protection, electronic rust proofing, leather care etc..)

[bigkevracer]

I work for Toyota and have worked for a few different companies and i too beleive that our finance is top notch. I barely ever lose a finance deal to the banks, they almost always fall short of our finance terms. But bear in mind, when there are ridiculously low interest rate offers there are other ways we can make money off your finance such as extended warranty, there could be a baloon payout at the end of the loan (called a risidual which is definitely not something you want to do) and other things like accessories (fusion pack- tint, paint protection, electronic rust proofing, leather care etc..)

OT, but if you work for Toyota you have driven an 86. Why do you still have the V35?

[Seano350GT]

Yeah, i was one of the first to drive one at my Dealership. Haha, well i didn't really like the power to be honest. I know they are fantastic in the corners but it just seems to be seriously lacking power. If only there was a turbo option..

[Duncan]

interesting deals being offered from Nissan on the leaf at the moment.

You can buy at $55k with 0% finance. Or $47k cash. Goes to show the value that they put on 0% finance vs their usual rates over 3 years. And FWIW banks don't come anywhere near dealer rates unless you have some existing/larger relationship already with the bank.

BTW, great thread. There has been a real increase in lowballers with the ease of sitting down with websites and a mobile for a few hours a day. Maybe 1 person in a hundred was desperate enough to sell for that asking price....but even so it was worth the buyer's time making all those calls.

[Seano350GT]

Speaking of low ballers- There was a red S15 Spec R for sale locally up here, not sure on what year/km's but it was bone stock apart from some coilovers. The seller had it up for $18,500 i know a guy, that knew a guy, that offered them $10,000 cash and they took it.. he was desperate to sell it clearly.. or it had some issues aha.

[Shoota_77]

I also work in sales at a car dealership.

To start with, you would all be amazed at how little we make out of a new car. Most money in a dealership is made through servicing and parts (counter sales only a small amount, mainly to service department and panel shops).

The average gross (profit excludiung holdback (don't ask!)) that we make at our dealerships are a lot lower than would be expected. Think under $1000 most of the time.

Obviously this varies each month and will rise when there are new models about and fall when there is an advertising campaign or the range is ageing. Every now and then we will do a fairly profittable deal ($3000-$4000) but VERY rare these days. We do a LOT of nil gross deals just to get numbers on the board. In the 12 months I've been with VW, avg margins have dropped about $500 per car. That's a massive drop.

An example of how low margins can be is the VW Polo offer we just had. The base model at $16990 driveaway left $35 in it!! No word of a lie. what a joke that was. It just goes to show how aggressive the brands are at the moment because of how tough it is in the marketplace. Car sales are still strong but only because of the aggressive pricing and/or the abovementioned 0, 0.5, 1%, etc finance offers.

Most of the major financiers - Toyota, BMW (Alphera), Esanda, etc will smash a bank finance rate. They specialise in them rather than trying to serve all sectors of finance (home loans, businesses, personal, etc) so are a lot more competetive so they don't lose their share of the market.

I hope that gives some sort of insight into dealership life! Not all of us are like the redneck dickheads mentioned above. Some of us have regular training and actually care about our customers. We all have our bad days though when we get sick of getting our balls busted all day every day over $50. No one can cop that without letting off a little steam now and then. Some sales people just take it a little too far though...

[Seano350GT]

Ewan, you need to be in Used Cars mate! I work in usedies for Toyota, the profit i get in some of these cars is mental.. i have just recently sold a 2009 L/C 200 series V8 with $9400 profit.. minus the roadworthy costs etc. So much money to be made in Used Cars you just have to get over the fact that most people think your a dodgy c*nt used car salesman. I love it!

[Shoota_77]

Wow!

It's worth the shite "used car salesman" tag for grossies like that!!!

Provided your commission structure is good though.

[Seano350GT]

That's not to say that every car has over 9k profit in it, but the ocassional cars do. From last months 18 deals delivered i did my average grosse profit was around $3500.

Yep certainly is, i've been in new cars before and the money is much much better and my god is it easier to sell haha.

I make 7% of the profit per car, when i reach 10 cars it goes to 9% and back tracks on the previous 9 cars. Hard to understand but i think you would know. Plus we have monthly incentives on "old stocker" cars. Last month we had a bonus on each car over 100 days old, i just sold the oldest car in our stock 218 days old and made $1000 bonus in my back pocket. I'm telling you man, used is the go. Really keen for next weeks payday haha, too bad all of it is going on the car.

Edited January 2, 2013 by Seano350GT

[Shoota_77]

Sounds like a good structure provided the gross stays good.

Ours is a lot more convoluted but ranges from a min commission of $50 for gross under $500 up to 20% on a car we gross over $2000 on.

Best commission I've ever made was a bit over $1000. They don't come along often enough unfortunately....

[Seano350GT]

Sounds like a good structure provided the gross stays good.

Ours is a lot more convoluted but ranges from a min commission of $50 for gross under $500 up to 20% on a car we gross over $2000 on.

Best commission I've ever made was a bit over $1000. They don't come along often enough unfortunately....

Yeah each businesses will have their own structures. I work with a guy that is an absolute gun, makes well over $100,000 a year and refuses to be a manager he wants to keep selling because he's damn good at it.

Really? How long have you been there for? I was in fleet before and made close to 10k in a month.

Now i'm just in 4x4 used cars and i have realised how much money there really is in this game, i've got $3600 secured bonus to be paid next week plus my commission and weekly retainer which i will obviously get taxed every cent of.

[Mr 20Valve]

I also work in sales at a car dealership.

To start with, you would all be amazed at how little we make out of a new car. Most money in a dealership is made through servicing and parts (counter sales only a small amount, mainly to service department and panel shops).

The average gross (profit excludiung holdback (don't ask!)) that we make at our dealerships are a lot lower than would be expected. Think under $1000 most of the time.

Obviously this varies each month and will rise when there are new models about and fall when there is an advertising campaign or the range is ageing. Every now and then we will do a fairly profittable deal ($3000-$4000) but VERY rare these days. We do a LOT of nil gross deals just to get numbers on the board. In the 12 months I've been with VW, avg margins have dropped about $500 per car. That's a massive drop.

An example of how low margins can be is the VW Polo offer we just had. The base model at $16990 driveaway left $35 in it!! No word of a lie. what a joke that was. It just goes to show how aggressive the brands are at the moment because of how tough it is in the marketplace. Car sales are still strong but only because of the aggressive pricing and/or the abovementioned 0, 0.5, 1%, etc finance offers.

Most of the major financiers - Toyota, BMW (Alphera), Esanda, etc will smash a bank finance rate. They specialise in them rather than trying to serve all sectors of finance (home loans, businesses, personal, etc) so are a lot more competetive so they don't lose their share of the market.

I hope that gives some sort of insight into dealership life! Not all of us are like the redneck dickheads mentioned above. Some of us have regular training and actually care about our customers. We all have our bad days though when we get sick of getting our balls busted all day every day over $50. No one can cop that without letting off a little steam now and then. Some sales people just take it a little too far though...

Utterly off topic, but this reminds me of something a friend told me the other day - they're a marketing head for Panasonic - apparently they've been selling plasma & LCD TVs at a LOSS for the past 2 and a bit years just to keep their name out there...

The Korean made stuff is at a price point that the Japanese made brands can't match.

My apologies for the distraction.. Please go about your business.

[Shoota_77]

Really? How long have you been there for? I was in fleet before and made close to 10k in a month.

I've been in sales for 8 years. Sales manager for almost 5 of them.

I started in fleet too but got bored very quickly. Sending faxes and emailling fleet companies lacked a little human warmth for me!

Good luck with the 4X4's, sounds like a good gig.

[shane344]

Was selling my Toyota Pupra, it was a shitter, for 2500.

It was pretty low, I told the dude to go carefully down the curb as the exh scraped a little if you went on the wrong angle.

He dumped the clutch on the top of the drive and bottomed both ends of the floor pan out and I hit my head on the roof and could only laugh.

He proceeded to try to max the speedo out on the straightest country roads near my house when I said no more.

He asked if he could fang, I said I didnt care it was his license but I dont shit where I eat..

I have distinctive cars in a small area, only takes one Mrs Crabtree to get my name in the watch lists.

Good thing he bought it.

Drove it away unlicensed with some plates he 'aquired'.

Edited January 2, 2013 by shane344

[S T A R 3 3]

A dad and his son came and looked at my 76 RA28 Celica and straight away the dad was into the car and trying to downplay it.

"Those tires arent flash, they'll probably need to be replaced before we take it anywhere.." -- The tires weren't the greatest brand, but for a car that sat in the garage it was good enough and less than 500kms on them. "they're fine to drive on", I responded.

*after the test drive*

"It's a bit squeaky don't you think? hahaha" ... I was thinking, "you're face is a bit squeaky", but I said, "the car is pushing almost 35 years old, could do with some new bushes here and there". He responded, "I think it's way past that."

*looking underneath the car*

"There's abit of rust here.. I thought you said you got rid of it all, it's pretty bad." I responded, "I got rid of the major rust and what you're seeing is exactly what was described in the ad, and exactly what is shown in the pictures you requested.. I don't know why you're surprised?"

At this point the son seemed really uncomfortable..

the dad persisted..

"The interior isn't original, is it? You have definitely lost value by replacing it.." -- I'm selling the car for $4000.

By this point, I had enough, I shut the doors and headed towards the front door and he offered me $3000 for it. "No thanks mate".

"Ok, good luck with it then.. hahahhah"

Later that night, he called up again and offered the $4000. I was relunctant to sell it to him, but fortunately took an earlier call from another guy who was driving down from NSW to look at it. So I said he would have to wait.

The dad then offered $4500 to pick it up there and then.

I ended up selling it to the NSW dude for $4000 a week later.