heat010

Hi Everyone,

I know there are alot of new car buyers in this forum. I just wanted to get a general consensus about how you people feel about the dealers you dealt with.

When it came to setting an initial offer price you wanted to pay, were you treated with indifference, laughed out of the dealership or did they respected your initial offer and dealt with you seriously and maturely.

I know the answers will be different with younger and older buyers, men and women etc. I think the dealers perceptions would be really different as they see customers come in.

I personally have done plenty of homework, but when I come into dealerships, I'm pretty much left alone. I'm seen by many to be younger than my actual age. They probably see me and think I'm not a serious buyer. Maybe a little dealer snobbery. It's a weird vibe. I dress casually and normal. Nothing to set them off. Oh well.

Anyhow, looking forward to hearing from everyone.

bugfighter

You have to be firm with these guys. Always remember they're salesmen more than anything, and car salesmen above all else.

When I bought my SLK 32 AMG, I was going through euphoria and let myself be suckered. It was a 3-year lease, and the salesman was talking about how much I wanted to pay per month. And I let him get away with it, instead of establishing the complete total price first and working backward from there to determine the lease payments. I said yeah-yeah-whatever (going through euphoria and my business earnings were good so I thought WTH), and later seeing that they tacked $6k or so over MSRP.

I bought another new car (E320) from the same dealer a few days later, and this time I was more firm. I guess there was no choice in this one because I was putting down cash for the total.

But geez, I don't care how friendly these personalities may be, a salesman is a salesman.

BigBadDad

I guess I am in a similar situation to heat010. I'm 34, but look much younger. I frequently get carded for buying liquor , even when I have my kids with me. In fact, when I started dropping my daughter off at preschool, the other parents (moms) thought I was her older brother... Anyways, back to the MB dealers. I have never had any problems being taken seriously as a buyer. I do avoid dealerships uless I am ready to buy, so I pretty much have made up my mind on what I want and maybe they can sense/smell that. Also, I haven't tried dealing on our new MB purchases. so an offer of MSRP hasn't been a problem. I also am not looking for them to be super nice to me. I don't want to be their 'friend', I just want to buy a car. Well, that's my take on it.

-John

JamE55

Same situation here with BigBad and heat... when i was initially looking to get my very first MB i looked around and did my homework. After checking out the models and seeing what else is out there i said to myself i'll settle for an E320. So i went to a dealer close to where i live and checked out the car and then test drove it. There was also an E55 AMG sitting in the showroom and kinda wonder what the difference is between the E320 and E55 overall. So i told my sales guy to see if i can test drive the car. At first he was kind of hesitant because i look young and he didn't think i can afford it so after going back and forth he decided to let me test drive it. After that the rest was history! Actually toly my sales guy that i will be buying this one but not from this dealer just because the way they treated me. So i special ordered it from another dealer which they treated me with respect.

TimmyC230boy

My dealer treats me very well concidering my age. Even for something like an oil change they bring a car for me to drive on a flatbed, take mine away and then bring it back again. I wonder if it has anything to do that mom and dad bought a a CLK55 from them not to mention the ml and the other mb;s in the past. But I think that anyone compitent enough to buy a mercedes should br treated with the same respect.

moxieman2

Never been dissatisfied. I love my Benz dealer.

young

hey john, which dealership did you not get the car? and which did you end up getting it from? (and where is your new bmw coming from, you sly dawg! )

anyway, i go shopping in very casual clothes. i've been snubbed by jaguar, bmw, acura, mercedes, you name it. but, i've also been treated very well by jaguar, bmw, acura, mercedes, you name it. so it definitely isn't a brand specific issue. it is an individual dealership issue.

3 rules for me...
i don't want to dress better than the salesperson. (same w/ some waiters at restaurants) but that means, sometimes they don't treat me very well. oh well.
i'd like to like the salesperson - but we're not friends - it's business.
prepare to walk at any time (sort of like in Heat w/ bobby deniro)

JamE55

Hey young!

I got mine from the House Of Imports in buena park. Was actually referred there by my sisters husband and they treated me pretty well (even though i came in with my pajamas on lol! :p ! j/k)

And i think it's how the sales person look at you. (there's really got to be something about that??)

CLK 320

When car shopping, I try to remember that, long term, my realtionship is going to be more with the service department than the sales department. Hence, I always go by the service department and ask customers how they have been treated. In my opinion, a determining factor in choosing a dealer.