Sales Knowlege!

I agree that it is laziness on the part of the salespeople. I always try to get as much info as possible about future vehicles because I know that there are so many knowledgeable consumers out there. I have been in retail sales for about 10 years and like to buy products from knowledgeable, polite, and respectful salespeople.
On another note, how do you like your III? Mine is currently being made and I hope to have it within the next 3-4 weeks. Are there any things that you don't like/would do differently if you were the designer?

 

If incompetence were ever made a crime think of the prisons we would have to build.

 

Except when I was very young buying my first one or two cars, I have not bought a car from a car salesman that I wasn't happy with. Not that I haven't encountered incompetent or hard-sell types, I just refuse to deal with them. Interestingly, the ones I would not deal with never had the best price anyway.

Negotiating the price on a car is a contest between the buyer and the dealer. But the trick is, to never act like it's a contest, too many buyers make that mistake. They get confrontational or act like they're trying to put one over on the salesman, you will never get the best price that way.

You read it all the time, but people get too wrapped up and forget, you have to be patient. You have to be willing to walk away. If you're in a hurry, the dealer will win every time. Some people just have to have a car right away for whatever reason, but you should try to avoid putting yourself in that situation if at all possible.

I enjoy the process of buying cars, most people get all stressed out because they just don't understand how to play the game. You can bet the dealer knows...

 

My Experience with Freedom Toyota in Hamburg, Pa. Last summer we were at a shopping mall and my wife saw a Prius on display and said she liked it. We listened to a presentation by a factory rep at the Kempton Energy Fair and she was more interested. I had read about the development of the third gen in Automotive Design magazine. We stopped in the dealership in June 2008. The sales person said he did not have one to drive, they had a 30 person waiting list and could no longer order an 08. He talked us into a $500 depost and wrote up an 09, even though I told him several times we wanted to wait for the next gen drive. In September 08 they called to tell my wife her car was in. When I explained that we did not order an 09 and the 10's were not availalable yet I was told it would be May or June before we got a vehicle. I once again explained we were not in a hury and wanted a 2010. I was nieve enough to expect some type of priority for an existing customer order. I have since learned a lot about the Toyota distribution system from other members of this forum. The vehicle is announced Jan 12 and no word from the dealer. Pricing comes out in April and still no word. Why take a deposit? We had to call to get a brochure that was already available on the Toyota web site and they still had not processed an order, or so we thought.
A week later I stopped at the dealer and told the salesman we were looking for package v with AT in Sandy Beach. Two more weeks go by and still no phone call that it has been preferenced. When I inquired again on June 1 I found out they preferenced a vehicle based on the 09 sales order. When I questioned what had been preferenced I was told a new order would need to be placed with Toyota because no vehicle matching what we requested was available in the region. Having learned a lot regarding this screwed up Toyota distribution system, I suggested that placing a new order would take 2 to 3 weeks for the build, about a month on the ship and another 10 to 12 days to reach the dealer. Our June 2008 deposit might get the vehicle by August of 2009?
We had to switch to Barcelona red, which was not one of the top 3 choices we had given to the salesman. They are now saying the vehicle will be in port on the 22 and expect delivery on July 4th with floor mats and some other options I really would not have gotten. They claim Toyota is equiping all of the vehicles in this region with the options.
Yesterday I was on the Toyota web site and found a listing under find vehicle which said another local dealer (Performance) has inventory. We stopped by last night and there was a silver 2010 sitting out front. The doors were unlocked and we did get to try it out. We did not speak to a sales person until we went into the showroom to see if they had any others. The one we were in was the first delivered and it was alredy sold, so we sat in someone elses vehicle. Sorry to be so wordy. I think Toyota really needs to take a look at how they communicate with the dealers and how frustrating they can make it for customers. My wife agreed to take the red to avoid waiting till August. Wish Jabber was here rather than Chicago.

 

I haven't gotten a 2010 and I don't know if I will yet. But when I went to get my 2005 the salesman didn't know a THING about it. And he couldn't find it right away so he tried to sell me a diffrent car! My husband had found the car online and it was exactly what I wanted (used 32K option 6 silver) and I had no desire to look at anything else. Then he didn't know how to open it, didn't know how to start it, didn't know how anything worked. Then as a 'service' he moved my babys (then about 4 months) carseat from my old car to my then new to me prius and he installed it all wrong.
THEN his manager that I was doing all the paperwork with tried to give me 17% I told him we already qualified for much better rate with our credit union and if he couldn't beat it we would go with them. He still tried to make me sign it "just in case". :roll: I didn't sign it. But I got the car I wanted right away instead of waiting 8 months or whatever the list for a new one was at the time. However with knowing which car I wanted before I even got there I was still there 8 HOURS!

I went in the other day to look at the 2010s and the guy there just told me they had sold out about 3 hours after they came in. He did offer me a brochure but I told him I had already seen the one online so he just gave me a card. He put me on a short list he had of people to call when the next ones come in. I don't know if I want one though. I especilly hate leather seats.....

 

I've owned MGs, Volvos, Hondas, Saabs, a VW and one (soon to be two) Toyota. I've yet to meet a salesperson who knows as much about the car we're discussing as I do. It's really kind of remarkable.

I am strictly a layman, with very limited mechanical skills, but with an abiding curiousity, and some research skills acquired in college(pre-internet.)

This is not to say that I've not found most of my auto transactions friendly and pleasurable (especially after learning - via Bangkok cab drivers - to enjoy the art of negotiation.)

It's just always a little disappointing to run up against that blank look upon mentioning what seemed like a readily available chunk of information.

I guess I'd have to admit that there are aspects of my job about which I am incurious, but I'm pretty careful to avoid getting caught with my pants down.

 

I'm like you, I tend to learn everything I can about big ticket items before I purchase, so it's not that important to me if the salesperson knows much - although it's easy to tell when they don't know and when they actually do (and can be helpful). When I go to buy something, I have already compared the options and 9 times out of 10 I already know exactly what I want. Not good or bad, just how you (and I) are wired.

I don't disagree with you, and it's not confined to car dealers, most of retail sales seems to be that way. But since it's so common, I conclude it means most of the buying public is even less well informed than the sellers, otherwise they'd all be starving. From my experience, most buyers don't know what they want, so the seller is just prodding/listening for a hint as to what the buyer is after and who's making the decision (which spouse). Then when they get a sense of what it is 'I think I like that red one' or 'my girlfriend has an XXX and she likes it' --- they just reinforce the hell out of what the buyer thinks they want, telling them 'I think you've made a smart decision there, let's write it up.' The buyer thinks they're smart because the salesman told them so!

It's a battle of wits where both parties are unarmed, the buyer slightly more so...

 

And most sales people are probably not NEARLY as obsessed with the prius as majority of us on here.

This is their job and maybe not "fun", like it is for us. But I kill time at my job having fun on this forum. And, like we've all said, if I am going to spend $22k plus on ANYTHING you can bet I will know everything there is to know before I buy. I think most priuschat folks do their research before they impulse buy.

I have SO many friends who just say "I need a new car" go test drive like 30 vehicles in 30 hours and leave with their new car. And 90% of them are unhappy with something within a week. And I listen to their "if only...."s. I am confident I will not have any "if only...."s (and if I do they will be tiny, nit-picky items...like having sks on my passenger door).

My experience with local dealer so far isn't BAD but it isn't great. One salesman we deal with is nice and admits to not knowing everything but hard to get updates or return calls on my deposit prius that should be in soon (next week??). And here in WA, the dealers were all trying to scare us into buying 09s with the "no tax on hybirds" will be gone by end of June for sure. Well, they were wrong but not by as much as I was hoping (Aug 1) but plenty of time for me to order and receive my PREFERRED vehicle and not settle like many of them pressured. All in all, Toyota has impressed me and I am very thankful for everyone on this forum.:cheer2:

 

I'm near Chicago and I'm waiting for a few months looking for $1000 below MSRP no dealer add ons. But if I had a "no tax on hybrids" until Aug 1 in my state, that would be worth almost $2000 where I am, so I would make sure I had mine at MSRP by Aug 1. The economics are clearly against waiting where you are.

 

Ya, midpack, I will be happy with MSRP. But I am hoping to get them to take some $$ off if I agree to some dealer add ons (window tint, coat protector, etc.) so I get more for same $$. And if they will half the cost of mats with me...well....:hug: I'll be so darned happy!