Whose Fault Is It?

Captain Jim · August 4, 2009

Car dealerships are closing their doors left and right in my area. From what I understand this is pretty common across the US. I have to tell you that I don’t have much compassion for these guys. Their refusal to treat customers with straight forward integrity just amazes me. I never for a second thought I’d get such sleazy treatment from the Lexus dealership in Orlando. Lexus??? I was 100% positive I’d walk in having already agreed upon a selling price, they’d politely great me, I’d be offered a beverage, they’d stroll with me as we discussed my new car, we’d sign a deal and I’d leave feeling like I was one of the “special” folks who in this economy was lucky enough to be able to afford the Lexus treatment. Instead I was bum rushed at the door, hit with high pressure tactics, lied to, hit with a bait and switch and then treated like a fool who had money hanging out of his pocket and didn’t have a clue how to spend it.

In this day and age of technology haven’t we grown past these types of sales tactics? Lexus of Orlando didn’t stand a chance at scamming me into paying more than I should, so why did they try? Why did they treat me so badly that I’d never want to set foot in their dealership for the rest of my life? Was it worth it even if they got me to pay a tiny bit more?

In my book selling a car should be 90% customer service. Treat the customer so good they won’t want to go anywhere else. The last 10% should be the price, only because today’s customers can easily find out what they should be paying. Sell 70% of your cars via the internet, 30% in house. Swap the size of your showroom with the size of your repair waiting room. Treat us like gold when we are waiting for our vehicles to be fixed. That’s where you make most of your money anyway.

In my book auto dealerships do every step 100% backwards from the way they should be operating. It’s no wonder they are closing.

SW03ES · August 6, 2009

With all due respect, you really don't have a good picture of what you are talking about.

Your situation is unfortunate and we've all been supportive, but I have done business with car dealerships for many years and I can tell you first hand that most of them are run by very honorable businesspeople in a field that it is increasingly difficult to make a living in.

Its a two way street, and when you are a salesman with a family to feed and work on 100% commission and a customer comes in with a Edmunds printout trying to take every dollar of the whopping $300 you'd make by selling him a car...you might over time get to a point where people would think you are nasty and underhanded too. Its a two way street, and car buyers give it back to car dealers as good as they get it.

People aren't interested in a fair deal that benefits everyone anymore.

In my book selling a car should be 90% customer service. Treat the customer so good they won’t want to go anywhere else. The last 10% should be the price, only because today’s customers can easily find out what they should be paying. Sell 70% of your cars via the internet, 30% in house. Swap the size of your showroom with the size of your repair waiting room. Treat us like gold when we are waiting for our vehicles to be fixed. That’s where you make most of your money anyway.

That is exactly how car dealerships would like to do business, however most consumers don't care about customer service and have zero loyalty, so they will leave the dealership that has invested time and effort into helping them over $500. Over time...salespeople start to expect thats going to happen and start cutting out the customer service, even when they have a consumer who won't actually treat them that way.

The real reason all these dealerships are closing though is because detroit automakers are cancelling their franchise agreements, in many cases with dealerships that are very profitable.