Why Buying A Car Is Hard

[Mitchy_G]

Talking about test drives, the salesman that came with us when driving the XR6T was directing us where to go at all times and ordered us to do a U-turn at a round-about and go back to the dealership ( which was no more than 2-3 kays away )

We also drove an XR6, which looked like it had be taken for a bit of off road driving in the mud, and the interior looked like someone had emptied a bucket of dirt in it.

These salesman are supposedly trying to sell a performance car, although they only let you test drive it on roads where your max speed is 60kph, not to mention their total lack of product knowledge.

I serioulsy doubt whether our family would have bought the T if it wasn't for this forum, simply because on our test drive we had no idea what the T is capable of.

I wonder how many more car sales could be made if all salesman were like the ones first mentioned in Dallas 's post

Salesman should be able to do better than this!

[Zeke]

Yeah, I agree.

The sales guy was genuinely enthusiastic about the turbo. He drove it like he stole it for a few K and then invitied me to have some fun! That test drive was the just what I needed to make up my mind and I was sold from then on. We live in an area where it's easy to get onto rural roads and away from 60k limits.

The same thing happened many years ago when I bought a Laser TX3 because it was fun - and the sales guy just about had to twist my arm to get me to test drive it in the first place.

If a car is good enough (as the XR6T is), the sales guys should realise that it will sell itself given a proper test drive and a potential buyer who's genuinely in the market for a car in that range and even several levels above!

But a lot of sales people are fairly niaive and just don't have the people skills to know who might be genuinely interested. So they get lazy and don't try unless the punter in the showroom matches their pre-conceived image of a buyer. I also think there's often a degree of arrogance in that they think they're pretty crash hot at sussing out the punters that they've got some show of selling to - and I reckon they're often wide of the mark.

I reckon there are a lot of cars I would've bought over the years if the salesman had've concentrated on getting me to take them for a decent test drive instead of feeding me bucketloads of hype and bullsh*t. Instead, I just kept what I was driving for a bit longer because it wasn't worth the hassle to buy a new car!

zeke

[KrasH]

  Zeke said:

Yeah, I agree.

The sales guy was genuinely enthusiastic about the turbo. He drove it like he stole it for a few K and then invitied me to have some fun! That test drive was the just what I needed to make up my mind and I was sold from then on. We live in an area where it's easy to get onto rural roads and away from 60k limits.

The same thing happened many years ago when I bought a Laser TX3 because it was fun - and the sales guy just about had to twist my arm to get me to test drive it in the first place.

If a car is good enough (as the XR6T is), the sales guys should realise that it will sell itself given a proper test drive and a potential buyer who's genuinely in the market for a car in that range and even several levels above!

But a lot of sales people are fairly niaive and just don't have the people skills to know who might be genuinely interested. So they get lazy and don't try unless the punter in the showroom matches their pre-conceived image of a buyer. I also think there's often a degree of arrogance in that they think they're pretty crash hot at sussing out the punters that they've got some show of selling to - and I reckon they're often wide of the mark.

I reckon there are a lot of cars I would've bought over the years if the salesman had've concentrated on getting me to take them for a decent test drive instead of feeding me bucketloads of hype and bullsh*t. Instead, I just kept what I was driving for a bit longer because it wasn't worth the hassle to buy a new car!

zeke

That was one drawback when I went car hunting for the T. I went to one dealer a few times and no salesman would give a toss what I was doing. I actually bought my T from the dealership that had a salesman that came outside in the cold to say g'day and we started talking cars. I ended up going with another salesman at that dealership, because I filled in one of those Online quotation forms on ford.com.au and got a call the next day. The salesman that came out was sorta "upset" when he found out that I had already been contacted by another salesman. But then again, everytime I'd go into the dealership, that orginal salesman would always say g'day and have a chat.

[Guest jaskel]

Its amazing what a little customer service does. Its a pity all the other dealerships arnt like that.

[Guest DEVO]

I got a letter and follow up call after my purchase- and I didn't spend near that much. I do see how a salesperson's opinions can ruin your hunt for a good bargain though. Living in Mackay for a number of years, it was cane cocky's and miners and they didn't necessarily dress up when they headed out to purchase their new toys. But the dealerships new they couldn't give everyone exemplery service, because one daggy teenage kid could be a member of the biggest cane family in town- bang, there goes 25 car purchases over two years! I bought my last 3 cars wearing shorts and a t-shirt- it's how I dress on the weekend.

[Redhawk]

Well, I can honestly say my Ford Dealer (Lane Ford, Mandurah) is one of the best!!

Not only did I get a champion deal on the Silverhawk, they immediately gave me full fleet discount, but EID and I got two, yes two test drives, mind you my second one was a lot more spirited than the first. :D

They gave me a XR8 for a run (on my own) and a GT-P for EID and myself for a few hours (also on our own!)

I have also found out that the deal they have given me on the GT is about the best I can get in WA.

Cannot complain about the sales dept at all (before and after purchase). The service dept are good although you have to have your sh!t together with those guys. :o