Now that the holidays are behind us and baby TJ is only waking up once per night, (this kid eats like a horse) I’m back in the swing of things and ready to kick off the new year! I wanted to alert you to a story I heard 2 weeks ago, and in case you find yourself in the same situation, I hope you will know to run the other way!
I received a phone call mid-day on New Year’s Eve from a customer who had gone to a Honda dealership to service his car that morning. While he was there, he drifted away to the showroom and started looking at a new Honda. Three hours later, he found himself being pressured by a salesman saying, “This is a great deal. You’ve got to take it home today. We are giving you top dollar for your trade-in.” and so on…
He remembered one of his friends talking about my
Do-It-Yourself (DIY) Dealer Report®. Unfortunately, my website was down for several hours on New Year’s Eve, so he called me instead. After hearing his situation, I told him to definitely hold off. Whatever deal they were trying to do for him, I was sure they could do better the next day.
After disconnecting our call, the salesperson told him to take the new car home for a few hours and test it out until his old car was finished being serviced. He took the new car home and then returned a few hours later to the dealership. He was pressured a bit more, ended up signing lease papers and drove off in his new car. He told the manager that he would be checking the deal against my
Do-It-Yourself (DIY) Dealer Report® and if the report numbers were much cheaper, he would like them to change the deal. They agreed that they would if the deal made sense.
Later that same day, my website came back up and he purchased the
Do-It-Yourself (DIY) Dealer Report®. Unfortunately, the report showed that he should be paying $140 a month less than was actually on his contract. After going over the numbers and finding where the differences were, he decided to take the
Do-It-Yourself (DIY) Dealer Report® back to the dealership and have the dealer match the numbers as they agreed. The problem was that the dealership had agreed that if “the numbers made sense”, they would then change them. I told him when he returned to the dealership, if there were any issues he could have the Sales Manager call me and I would walk him through the numbers.
He did go back and showed them the DIY numbers and, of course, they said my numbers were all wrong. I called the Sales Manager and he said he would never:
-sell a car behind invoice which is why they were $500 over,
-give back any part of the holdback (another way of saying “sales commissions) as that’s what “keeps the lights on”,
-give the customer the flex cash incentive of $750,
-remove the Honda maintenance program for $500 because he thought the customer needed that or take off the $500 dent protection plan because he felt he needed that as well.
They had also underestimated his trade by $1,500.00.
6 Mistakes You Should Never Make
1) Spending more than an hour at a dealership, is too long. Salespeople are known for going the distance.
2) Never buy on the spot. You have nothing to compare it to.
3) Anytime you’re offered to take a car home for a few hours on an extended test drive is never a sign you’re getting the best deal. If they were making nothing on you, would they make this offer?
4) Anytime a Sales Manager says “it has to make sense” – He is talking about profit for himself.
5) Don’t buy from Sussex Honda – they believe you should be paying their electric bill.
6) Never check the numbers on your new car against my Do-It-Yourself (DIY) Dealer Report® after you pick it up. You’ll be miserable driving it after you see what you really should have paid.
