Man, car dealer stupidity never ceases to amaze me

"Textured Soy Protein" (texturedsoyprotein)
04/09/2016 at 11:40 • Filed to: None

I got a call from BMW Financial about lease-end options on my 135is, and learned that I might be on the hook for $1200 worth of run-flat tires if I keep the car until the end of the lease in June. So, I’ve started looking for an Infiniti G37xS coupe to trade it in on now, and avoid buying tires.

I know y’all had a bunch of suggestions like Audi S4s and VW Golf Rs and whatnot when I !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , but none that appealed to me were really in the same price ballpark. So, I’m pretty dang sure I’m going G37xS coupe.

Sharp readers may have noticed that the car above is a G37S convertible, which only is available in rear wheel drive. More on this in a moment.

As is often the case when looking for a rather specific used car, there are no Infiniti G37xS coupes here in Madison, WI. There are a few regular G37x coupes, but none with the sport package. Last night I found a blue CPO G37xS coupe at a dealer in the Chicago suburbs, and clicked the “get e-price” button on their website hoping to be connected to a mythical internet sales department who would give me the bottom-line price right away.

Hoo boy, nope, that didn’t happen at all. I did this clicking “get e-price” from my phone in a grocery store parking lot and then drove off to the gym, thinking they’d just email and I’d reply at some point. But instead, within 2 minutes, maybe quicker, a sales guy called me and started talking about how they have not 1 but 3 blue G37xS coupes, and starts saying prices.

“There’s one that’s $35k...there’s one that’s $28k....” I stopped him right there, and asked him why he’s telling me $35k when the car I clicked on was $28k on their website. “Well we have 3 blue ones, the most in the nation, the prices are different because of the miles.” I asked if all 3 are all wheel drive coupes with the sport package. “We have 3 blue ones, the most in the nation.” This went round and round a couple more times until finally I told him he wasn’t making any sense talking about a $35k car when I clicked on a $28k car, I was driving, and just email me.

So I get home after my workout, and check my email. There are 2 cars, with the exact same damn prices as are listed on their website. They are two blue 2-door G37s, one the G37xS coupe that I clicked the “get e-price” button for, and the $35k car he was talking about is the car in the picture at the top of this post, a rear wheel drive G37S convertible.

What the fuck man? I asked you “is it an all wheel drive coupe with the sport package” like 4 different times, and it’s a goddamn rear wheel drive convertible! And what the fuck is the point of getting an e-price if you’re going to email me the exact same prices as are on the website? Isn’t the e-price supposed to be some different number?

I emailed him back that no, I don’t want a rear wheel drive convertible, I want an all wheel drive coupe with sport package, and since I’m in Madison, I want his absolute lowest numbers on the car that actually is the one I want. This morning, he called me (I didn’t answer) and emailed me to call him, and asked if I’m driving to Chicago today, as if I’d just do that for shits and giggles without first working out a price.

I really try my hardest to be as straightforward as possible when dealing with car sales people, and yet they manage to fuck up the most simple of things ALL THE TIME.

This car search is getting off to a great start.

DISCUSSION (39)

Sampsonite24-Earth's Least Likeliest Hero > Textured Soy Protein
04/09/2016 at 11:57

I’d like to offer my services of test driving any cars you need that you don’t want to drive all the way down here for haha

RyanFrew > Textured Soy Protein
04/09/2016 at 12:04

I have a similar situation with a Boxster. I literally emailed them and called and gave them an offer within 1.5% of asking, and they won’t take my money.

ranwhenparked > Textured Soy Protein
04/09/2016 at 12:14

And this is why people hate buying cars.

There is no reason for any of this, it’s probably just how somebody trained him to act when he first started out as a car salesman. Tell the customer what they need to hear to get them onto the lot, then sell them whatever once they’re here.

Rust and Dust - Oppositelock Forever > Textured Soy Protein
04/09/2016 at 12:22

Shopping for a slightly used Civic Si sedan years ago, I emailed a Mitsubishi dealer an hour or so away listing an 08 sedan with factory nav, which was about the only option on that car. It was black, which I didn’t really want, but mileage and price were comparable with non nav models I’d found. They promptly called me back, made no mention of the Civic at all, and instead were listing off the different Mitsubishi Lancers they had available. This call ended after I’d explained that I wasn’t just shopping for any Japanese compact sedan, I wanted that certain make and model. Picked up a Honda certified non nav model a week or so later. They proceeded to call, email, and mail me about Mitsubishi Lancers for two months, despite repeated protests that I’d already purchased the car I wanted. Ended up getting a buddy in their parts department to tell the sales manager parts was about to lose an account if the sales department didn’t fuck off over a $20k used car.

Subnote: The photo of the convertible looks like it was taken in an abandoned warehouse, walled off in plastic in preparation for a homicide. Oddly fitting for Chicago, but not something I’d expect from an Infiniti dealer.

PS9 > Textured Soy Protein
04/09/2016 at 12:36

This bullshit right here is why I’m going to do everything in my power to avoid buying through a dealer. When the time comes to get something nice, it’s going to be direct from a previous owner or not at all.

Tesla won’t destroy the dealership model due to the patchwork of state laws propping them up, but god do I ever wish they could. Fuck dealers, seriously.

Honeybunchesofgoats > Textured Soy Protein
04/09/2016 at 12:37

“We have 3 blue ones, the most in the nation.”

Kinja'd!!!

That’s real special. Here, have a flower.

jimz > PS9
04/09/2016 at 12:38

the more influential Elon becomes (whether through Tesla or SpaceX) the better chance he has at getting those laws changed.

OpposResidentLexusGuy - USE20, XF20, XU30 and Press Cars > RyanFrew
04/09/2016 at 12:40

When the lease on our ‘05 Tundra was up they wouldnt take 2k under the inflated buy out price. Then, when they put it through auction I think they sold it for 4k less then we offered.

That's gonna leave a mark! > ranwhenparked
04/09/2016 at 12:41

Go on YouTube and look up the videos on selling cars, specifically the 4 square method. These are training videos for car salesmen. It’s like getting a copy of the other team’s playbook.

That being said, not all salesmen are the same. If you are lucky you can get one of the 10% that are playing strait. They probably don’t last long in the business however.

Textured Soy Protein > PS9
04/09/2016 at 12:43

In this case I’m pretty much stuck with dealers since I’m looking to get out of my lease early. I’d need a dealer to handle the buyout from BMW Financial, since selling a leased car to a private party is doable, but a major hassle.

TheRealBicycleBuck > Textured Soy Protein
04/09/2016 at 12:52

My experience buying my WRX was very different. The price listed on the Internet was the price they stuck with and it was between invoice and MSRP. I called the guy who emailed me and he gave me the details. I put $100 earnest money down and scheduled an appointments for the next day. After a quick test drive, I bought it. It was the last new WRX hatch available in the state. Yes, I checked all the other Subaru dealers and every hatch was spoken for. This was right after the new model year was announced and Subaru said they weren’t making a hatch.

Good luck on your search. Most, but not all dealers are a real pain to deal with.

E92M3 > Textured Soy Protein
04/09/2016 at 12:54

“We have 3 blue ones, the most in the nation”

What a stupid thing to say. First. I know damn well he hasn’t the checked stock of every dealer in the country (Though he could be correct, even if he’s rambling out of his ass). Secondly this insinuates you have too many of the same variety, and you should be willing to move at least one of them so you have a better variety of cars. Obviously they aren’t hot commodities, or you wouldn’t have 3 of them.

Sadly this is typical salesmen behavior. Even the handful of no haggle dealers aren’t attractive because their pricing strategy is above what you could haggle the price down to at a conventional dealership. And so the game must go on.

Steve in Manhattan > Textured Soy Protein
04/09/2016 at 12:55

The Car Guys got a call a while back about just this situation. They suggested next time the leaseholder turned in a car, go to a junkyard and get 4 lightly used tires that match. Put ‘em on the car and turn it in with a straight face.

Textured Soy Protein > TheRealBicycleBuck
04/09/2016 at 12:59

For me, there are several of these cars available in the Chicago area. They’re all used, and so far all of the dealers are holding very firm to the prices they have listed on Auto Trader and their websites. Which seems like a load of crap on used cars. Used cars are always negotiable.

Textured Soy Protein > Steve in Manhattan
04/09/2016 at 13:00

BMW specifies that the tires need to be the exact same as OEM and sufficient tread depth.

Textured Soy Protein > E92M3
04/09/2016 at 13:05

In my experience, Chicago car dealers are a special brand of stupid. I did this same merry go round nonsense back in 2008 buying a CPO Mazdaspeed 6. But that time, the Mazda dealers were at least haggling by email. It’s line these Infiniti dealers are all colluding together to stand firm on their advertised prices. So far one has offered $150 off and that’s it.

Eric @ opposite-lock.com > Textured Soy Protein
04/09/2016 at 13:19

One of the many reasons I buy used cars from individuals... Car dealers make most of their money on used cars and service, so avoid them unless you want a new car.

Textured Soy Protein > Eric @ opposite-lock.com
04/09/2016 at 13:21

If I weren’t trying to get out of a lease early, I’d have more options. But I need to trade in to a dealer to take care of the lease.

Canajun_eh > Textured Soy Protein
04/09/2016 at 13:24

I will admit that in car sales its a fine line between helpful and pushy, but more often than not car salespeople are “order takers” and not “order makers”.

I once went to a Cadillac dealer wanting to drive a CTS-V. I had 3 weeks left on a 335i, so I need to make something happen. I parked right out front of the showroom, got out wearing a suit. Wandered around for a while, no one. They all evaded my gaze. Went to reception and had her call for a salesperson. All deaf apparently. I finally went out to the Caddy I was most interested in and sat on the hood . Nothing. Two sales guys came out and started to walk past me. At this point I was curious to see what would happen, so I didn’t make a scene but merely waved at them. They had a smoke not 100 ft from me, WAVED AT ME AGAIN WHILE SMOKING AND AS I SAT ON THE HOOD, then walked away. I went in and asked for sales manager. Not around. I emailed him and told him my story.

2 days later I bought a C63, after the completely opposite experience there. 11 days later I got a reply from the GM sales manager saying how I really should try again cos they have the best service. My only reply was a picture of me shaking hands with my MB sales guy, in front of my new car.

Lesson? Some car sales people simply cannot be underestimated.

Canajun_eh > Textured Soy Protein
04/09/2016 at 13:26

I can vouch for this. Here is what you really want to do about that though.....get new tires right away! The RFT are shit, and you know you will go through at least one set so it might as well be the good ones. Get a set of real rubber, run it in to the ground, put the RFTs back on and return the lease. Only way to fly.

E92M3 > Textured Soy Protein
04/09/2016 at 13:32

That’s crazy, I’d expect that at a Honda dealer not Infiniti. Even they will do better than $150 though.

Steve in Manhattan > Textured Soy Protein
04/09/2016 at 13:42

Hmmm ... wonder if there’s any money to be saved in a mildly used set. And they’d likely be difficult to find, then have them mounted.

Textured Soy Protein > Sampsonite24-Earth's Least Likeliest Hero
04/09/2016 at 13:57

I’ve driven a G37x without the sport package and a rwd stick shift G37 IPL so I figure between the two of them I have a pretty good idea of how a G37xS will end up driving. ;)

Textured Soy Protein > Canajun_eh
04/09/2016 at 13:59

There’s only 2 months left on the lease.

Textured Soy Protein > Canajun_eh
04/09/2016 at 14:07

I checked out a G37 IPL coupe here in Madison at a Kia dealer. The sales lady reeked of smoke. I couldn’t tell if the car had been smoked in or it was just her. At every point in the visit, every time I’d go up to the door of this dealership, one or more sales people were puffing away right in front of the front door of the place.

If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent > Textured Soy Protein
04/09/2016 at 14:07

Maybe -and this concept might be a bit far-fetched so just bear with me- Maybe he keeps offering you the $35k car because IT’S HIS JOB to get you into the more expensive one?

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent
04/09/2016 at 14:17

It’s not his job to “get a sale” in such a way that results in no sale at all, nor is it in his job description to be completely ignorant of what his inventory actually is. Nor yet is it very smart of him to maintain the line that what matters most is the loose model and color when any fool could tell that the convertible customer set and the sports coupe customer set are not 100% overlap.

Sampsonite24-Earth's Least Likeliest Hero > Textured Soy Protein
04/09/2016 at 14:24

That’s why you gotta get away from the city. The dealer we bought our Explorer from gave us almost a grand off the price they had listed. And I get claridon hills isn’t the city but it’s still a yuppie suburb lol

If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht
04/09/2016 at 15:20

We, who go shopping for cars knowing exactly what we want and will except nothing else, are an extremely small subset of the general population. The vast majority of car buyers are susceptible to upselling. You can’t get upset at a salesman using tactics that work on ninety-something percent of people. That’s like complaining that the restaurant should have automatically known you were gluten free and brought you a special bespoke menu.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent
04/09/2016 at 15:35

Again, it’s not just about the upselling in this case. That’s only a small portion of the overall picture. He did several things in the first turnaround that immediately said “I am a dumbass”, like copying and pasting the website listings without clarifying anything or answering specific and direct questions. He didn’t even deflect (the smart move), he just went on script on and on, “HURR DURR DURBY NURRR”. Most people don’t actually want to do business with a dumbass as such and don’t like it. And yet...

What you have here is the trouble with modern sales practice: namely, that the easiest sales tactics to implement with a lot of sales staff churn are pressure ones, because if a salesman who is an absolute fucking moron is taught the pressure tactics correctly, he will be able to repeat himself over and over and over without being smart enough to realize when he’s overdoing it. To the point where some people will crumble. That actually makes being an inept fucknugget an asset to making the sale enough of the time that the environment favors the dumb, because anybody “smart” is not successful enough with the basic tactics and never gets to “advanced”.

There’s a missing element: part of doing really well and not just “high-mediocre” would be identifying when somebody knows what they want. These are lost sales. Period.

This is not failing to identify a gluten free customer when they walk in the door, this is telling someone who requests gluten-free “EVERYBODY LOVES GLUTEN” and bringing a basket of rolls to the table. “HAVE SOME FUCKIN’ ROLLS, THEY’RE GREAT”.

If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht
04/09/2016 at 17:57

To be fair I also shove bread in GF people’s faces and scream the same thing.

Textured Soy Protein > If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent
04/09/2016 at 21:03

It’s not like he said “oh that one is a convertible, have you thought about a convertible.” He just kept saying “we have 3 blue ones” and not answering my question about how many of them were all wheel drive with the sport package.

Canajun_eh > Textured Soy Protein
04/10/2016 at 14:54

Stay classy, Madison!

Textured Soy Protein > Sampsonite24-Earth's Least Likeliest Hero
04/10/2016 at 23:20

I’m really going to where the cars are, that’s it. I did a search within a 150 mile radius of Madison. Most of the cars are in the Chicago burbs.

BBlades > Textured Soy Protein
04/12/2016 at 14:32

Are your reasons for getting out solely due to lease return issues? Do you have positive equity in the car? Perhaps consider buying the vehicle outright and then selling to a private party?

Textured Soy Protein > BBlades
04/12/2016 at 15:06

I don’t have positive equity. The payoff is likely a little bit higher than the trade value. Buying it then selling to a private party is too much hassle.

What it comes down to is I have about $1200 worth of lease payments and disposition fee remaining, plus my tires are likely going to the point where if I turn the car in at the end of the lease, I’ll be charged for tires (or I’ll have to buy tires before returning it) which is another $1200.

So let’s say I trade the car in now and they give me $1000 under the payoff, I’m slightly ahead of the total remaining payoffs, and I don’t have to buy $1200 worth of tires.

BBlades > Textured Soy Protein
04/12/2016 at 15:51

Does your $1k under payoff account for the remaining payments? It sounds like you would in for $2200 under that scenario as opposed to being in for $1200 + dispositional if you wait it out. Lease trade ins are always pretty ugly, I tried to do one last year and I would up just keeping the car until the lease was up.

Textured Soy Protein > BBlades
04/12/2016 at 17:56

The payoff is the all-in cost to walk away from the lease. When the leasing company receives the full payoff amount, the lessee is no longer liable for any remaining lease payments. Whoever pays the payoff then owns the car. Dealers will talk about being on the hook for remaining payments but that’s not quite how it actually works.

Case in point, we just traded my gf’s leased Honda Civic for a Subaru Impreza. Her payoff was $12,500. The Subaru dealer paid that to Honda Financial, and the Subaru dealer now owns the car.

The payoff on my 135is is $31,375. If the Infiniti dealer valued my trade at $30k, they would still pay $31,375 to BMW Financial, and the Infiniti dealer would own the car. But, I would have to kick in the $1375 difference between the trade value and the payoff.

My total cost if I keep the 135is until the end of the lease is:

2 lease payments: $894
Disposition fee: $350
Replacement tires: ~$1200
——————————-
Total: $2444

If on the other hand, the Infiniti dealer pays off BMW Financial and gives me $30k trade value, I’m on the hook for $1375-ish, but I save over a grand compared to keeping the 135is through the end of the lease.

BBlades > Textured Soy Protein
04/12/2016 at 20:34

I honestly never knew that, all the dealers tried to sell me on “paying” the remaining payments and then making the purchase. Good luck with the G37, I really like my Q50.