Annoying sales guy at Fletcher Jones Fremont
08-19-2008, 02:53 PM
#26
Oh ya, one more thing about the idiots at Brumos. I finally found a great sales guy who I love, Paul over at MB of Orange Park. Great guy, low key, zero pressure, and actually knows what the hell he's talking about. A real rarity. Now, MBOP is owned by Brumos, and a couple months ago there was a car on the Brumos lot that I wanted, but I refused to deal with anybody in Brumos' sales dept after my last 'experience'.
I called Paul, who talked to the manager over there, and they wouldn't let him sell the car even though they are all the same company. So that's another one that's still sitting there. Also, FWIW, the two dealerships are maybe 8 or 9 miles apart from each other, it's not like it would have been a hassle for anyone involved.
Just to be fair, Brumos' service dept. has always treated me right. Stay away from sales, though.
I called Paul, who talked to the manager over there, and they wouldn't let him sell the car even though they are all the same company. So that's another one that's still sitting there. Also, FWIW, the two dealerships are maybe 8 or 9 miles apart from each other, it's not like it would have been a hassle for anyone involved.
Just to be fair, Brumos' service dept. has always treated me right. Stay away from sales, though.
The problem is Chris, the area we live, you have a captive dealership (Brumos) for the run from Orange Park to Jax and through Daytona and Ormond,(unless you want to go to Orlando) so arrogance in high end cars has always been the standard there. There's not much alternative unless you want to drive to Hogtown or south to Lauderdale or Miami. The guys from Calif , Chicago, NYC and NJ have more dealers to deal with, so that is a consumer advantage. I have always bought out of state and never had a problem and either picked the car up or had it shipped.
08-19-2008, 05:27 PM
#27
Super Member
Thread Starter
I live on the west side so I almost never go to the East Bay. Chances were slim that I would buy from FJ. After this stellar incident chances are nil I'll buy there.
CoolCamden, that sucks. Bad sales people are the bane of the car industry. We should WANT to go to a dealership to check out cars. After all, what should be more fun than looking at what has become our ultimate grown up toy?
I've had nothing but STELLAR experience with FJ of Fremont. A+ in service AND sales (though I never bought from them). They tried hard to help me out of a royal screwing by MBUSA and went the extra mile every time I've taken my car in for service. Mo (in service) is just about the coolest, most well informed, professional service advisor I've dealt with.
And I have no $ interest in saying so, nor did I buy a car from them. Its just that when I get treated right, I want to spread the word...
Sorry for your experience but I'd suggest giving them a chance. I can call and ask for the name of the sales guy I talked to before (super nice, slight accent).
Best,
Skeeter
I've had nothing but STELLAR experience with FJ of Fremont. A+ in service AND sales (though I never bought from them). They tried hard to help me out of a royal screwing by MBUSA and went the extra mile every time I've taken my car in for service. Mo (in service) is just about the coolest, most well informed, professional service advisor I've dealt with.
And I have no $ interest in saying so, nor did I buy a car from them. Its just that when I get treated right, I want to spread the word...
Sorry for your experience but I'd suggest giving them a chance. I can call and ask for the name of the sales guy I talked to before (super nice, slight accent).
Best,
Skeeter
08-19-2008, 05:29 PM
#28
Super Member
Thread Starter
"Jimmy, You know what's really funny?" "When I come back and buy this car, I sure the hell aren't buying it from you" -- His smile was wiped off his face quicker than ever.......
Some of these guys really just don't get it -- Jimmy's one of them......
Oh yeah, he had two Pechanga Dollar Chips (local Indian casino) in his hand that he kept flipping over one another as he was talking to me. These were his self proclaimed "lucky chips".....what a real smutz!
Some of these guys really just don't get it -- Jimmy's one of them......
Oh yeah, he had two Pechanga Dollar Chips (local Indian casino) in his hand that he kept flipping over one another as he was talking to me. These were his self proclaimed "lucky chips".....what a real smutz!
Good one, man. 
08-20-2008, 08:47 AM
#29
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'08 Dodge Dually 3500 CTD, '07 Suburban, 2007 MB S550, 2008 Z06, 2008 997TT
Ya, you hit the nail square on the head...
99.9% of the time, I know more about the car I'm looking at than the salesperson does. I have had horsepower figures misquoted to me, curb weights, option packages, and prices misquoted, the whole 9 yards really. There are some conscientous ones, but they are few and far between. Most of them don't seem to take a whole lot of time to familiarize themselves with the products they're selling.
And I get that it's all a negotiation, but I have also run into some sales guys, and even a sales manager, who are just plain idiots when it comes to talking numbers. About a year ago I was looking to get a new car, and wanted an AMG. I ran all over the state driving probably 10 or 12 E55's which were, by and large, all totally misrepresented cars. After a failed negotiation on the ONE I found that was actually in good condition, a private-sale '04 E55, I wound up finding an older '02 S55 I liked at Brumos.
So I started talking with the sales guy, and went for a test drive. I have a friend who builds his own motors, races, just an all-around car nut, and asked him to go back with me and look/listen to everything. He agreed, so we went back to the dealership for a second test drive the next day. The original sales guy completely ignored us, so I walked up to him and said "I'd like to go for another test drive", to which he said "give me a minute, I'm busy". I didn't have much to do, so I actually stood around for 20 minutes. Finally, I went in and walked up to another sales guy I saw and introduced myself and asked to go for a drive. He went to get the keys, and we went. Car ran nice. I decided to make an offer, and after doing a LOT of research on values, it looked like the car would be a good deal at around $36k, including the 3-year 100k CPO extension. I also told them to shove their dealer fee. At the time they were asking $38,995, but even back then that price was absurd.
I knew the warranty normally goes for $3885, and we were about about $3k apart on price on top of that, but I also knew they took the car in on trade so I figured they had room to play. Plus, at the end of the day, it really wasn't worth more than I was offering, since comparable cars were selling for $30k-$33k, and all I did was tack the warranty price on top of that to get to the $36k I was going to offer.
So I faxed my offer to them along with printouts of manheim prices, completed ebay auctions, edmunds, blue book, black book, and a printout of every Gen-1 S55 for sale on autotrader, all of which showed I was making a fair offer. I got a call back from the sales guy, who started yelling at me on the phone and said (exact quote) "your offer is an INSULT", before he came out with another gem in the form of "It's not MY fault YOU can't afford the car!".
So I decided to call the manager, who asked me to come in and talk with him. I did, and he was just more of the same. Told me my offer was a "lowball", and acted generally condescending and rude. I told him I wanted to leave my name and number, and when it didn't sell in a few months (which it wasn't going to, at that price), for him to call me back. I was walking out of his office when I heard a tearing sound, and looked back to see him tearing up my card and tossing it in the trash, before he shot me a nasty look as I walked out.
So I wrote it off and bought something else. Fast forward 14 months, and the car is STILL sitting on their lot! As you can see in the listing:
http://www.brumos-mercedes-benz.com/...g-2479926.html
, the price is now down to $26k, and that's probably still high at this point considering the time frame for putting it under a CPO warranty has now expired. What morons! I can't imagine what it's cost them to have that thing sitting there, eating up interest on their floorplan financing, getting detailed every month, washed every day, and taking up space on their already-small lot. They could have sold it over a year ago for $10k more.
Anyway, by and large, I think the quality of highline sales staff has fallen dramatically in the past 10 years or so. I remember going with my dad when he would look at/buy cars when I was a kid, and it was always a great experience. You'd sit in a cushy office, and they'd bring you drinks and stuff. The sales guy would send you Xmas cards, and you were always addressed as "Mr.", and everything just generally seemed pretty low-key. Now it's all high-pressure, high-stress, and these guys are egotistical in an "I'm better than you" sort of way that wasn't the case before. The Mercedes dealers, at least around here, have worse attitudes and service than the sleazeballs at the "Buy-here Pay-here" lots. Not sure what changed, but I sure don't like it.
Lexus is still A#1, though. They seem to be the only company concerned with customer service anymore.
99.9% of the time, I know more about the car I'm looking at than the salesperson does. I have had horsepower figures misquoted to me, curb weights, option packages, and prices misquoted, the whole 9 yards really. There are some conscientous ones, but they are few and far between. Most of them don't seem to take a whole lot of time to familiarize themselves with the products they're selling.
And I get that it's all a negotiation, but I have also run into some sales guys, and even a sales manager, who are just plain idiots when it comes to talking numbers. About a year ago I was looking to get a new car, and wanted an AMG. I ran all over the state driving probably 10 or 12 E55's which were, by and large, all totally misrepresented cars. After a failed negotiation on the ONE I found that was actually in good condition, a private-sale '04 E55, I wound up finding an older '02 S55 I liked at Brumos.
So I started talking with the sales guy, and went for a test drive. I have a friend who builds his own motors, races, just an all-around car nut, and asked him to go back with me and look/listen to everything. He agreed, so we went back to the dealership for a second test drive the next day. The original sales guy completely ignored us, so I walked up to him and said "I'd like to go for another test drive", to which he said "give me a minute, I'm busy". I didn't have much to do, so I actually stood around for 20 minutes. Finally, I went in and walked up to another sales guy I saw and introduced myself and asked to go for a drive. He went to get the keys, and we went. Car ran nice. I decided to make an offer, and after doing a LOT of research on values, it looked like the car would be a good deal at around $36k, including the 3-year 100k CPO extension. I also told them to shove their dealer fee. At the time they were asking $38,995, but even back then that price was absurd.
I knew the warranty normally goes for $3885, and we were about about $3k apart on price on top of that, but I also knew they took the car in on trade so I figured they had room to play. Plus, at the end of the day, it really wasn't worth more than I was offering, since comparable cars were selling for $30k-$33k, and all I did was tack the warranty price on top of that to get to the $36k I was going to offer.
So I faxed my offer to them along with printouts of manheim prices, completed ebay auctions, edmunds, blue book, black book, and a printout of every Gen-1 S55 for sale on autotrader, all of which showed I was making a fair offer. I got a call back from the sales guy, who started yelling at me on the phone and said (exact quote) "your offer is an INSULT", before he came out with another gem in the form of "It's not MY fault YOU can't afford the car!".
So I decided to call the manager, who asked me to come in and talk with him. I did, and he was just more of the same. Told me my offer was a "lowball", and acted generally condescending and rude. I told him I wanted to leave my name and number, and when it didn't sell in a few months (which it wasn't going to, at that price), for him to call me back. I was walking out of his office when I heard a tearing sound, and looked back to see him tearing up my card and tossing it in the trash, before he shot me a nasty look as I walked out.
So I wrote it off and bought something else. Fast forward 14 months, and the car is STILL sitting on their lot! As you can see in the listing:
http://www.brumos-mercedes-benz.com/...g-2479926.html
, the price is now down to $26k, and that's probably still high at this point considering the time frame for putting it under a CPO warranty has now expired. What morons! I can't imagine what it's cost them to have that thing sitting there, eating up interest on their floorplan financing, getting detailed every month, washed every day, and taking up space on their already-small lot. They could have sold it over a year ago for $10k more.
Anyway, by and large, I think the quality of highline sales staff has fallen dramatically in the past 10 years or so. I remember going with my dad when he would look at/buy cars when I was a kid, and it was always a great experience. You'd sit in a cushy office, and they'd bring you drinks and stuff. The sales guy would send you Xmas cards, and you were always addressed as "Mr.", and everything just generally seemed pretty low-key. Now it's all high-pressure, high-stress, and these guys are egotistical in an "I'm better than you" sort of way that wasn't the case before. The Mercedes dealers, at least around here, have worse attitudes and service than the sleazeballs at the "Buy-here Pay-here" lots. Not sure what changed, but I sure don't like it.
Lexus is still A#1, though. They seem to be the only company concerned with customer service anymore.
08-20-2008, 10:26 AM
#30
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2016 C63S,2013 C63 AMG Coupe, 2002 C32 AMG (gone but not forgotten)
I get pretty lucky at dealerships. Because I'm brown, salesmen usually think I'm Mexican or Indian [I'm neither], and either start off with "Hola!", or "What part of India are you from?" or the best one, "Parts department is on the side of the building."
Typically they just leave me alone for fear that I might have an accent, or cannot afford to purchase a car.
I've seen it all. My best purchase experience was at Nalley Audi in Atlanta. I called and spoke to the sales manager prior to coming arriving. When I arrived, they had already washed and parked the S4 I was interested in right in front of the dealership. I was so impressed with their service, I bought the car immediately.
Salesmen usually have no idea what they are talking about. The best salespeople make no assumptions about your knowledge of or ability to purchase an automobile. It befuddles me to think that in a broadband world, salesmen think they have the most knowledge regarding the product they are selling.
Typically they just leave me alone for fear that I might have an accent, or cannot afford to purchase a car.
I've seen it all. My best purchase experience was at Nalley Audi in Atlanta. I called and spoke to the sales manager prior to coming arriving. When I arrived, they had already washed and parked the S4 I was interested in right in front of the dealership. I was so impressed with their service, I bought the car immediately.
Salesmen usually have no idea what they are talking about. The best salespeople make no assumptions about your knowledge of or ability to purchase an automobile. It befuddles me to think that in a broadband world, salesmen think they have the most knowledge regarding the product they are selling.
08-20-2008, 10:38 AM
#31
MBWorld Fanatic!
It's nice, detail it up a bit and you will "look like" you spent 190k. If you want I would LOVE to go by and test drive it for you 
The S65 is really nice but it may be a 8.5 out of 10 but the S63 is a 10
08-20-2008, 11:39 AM
#32
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SL600
I swear though, I don't know what it is with me and Mercedes dealers, I have the worst luck with them, except for MB of Orange Park. On that S55 at Brumos, even at their $38,9k asking price it was still under the price cap I had agreed to with my family, with some room to spare. I could have bought that car at full price if I wanted to, but the guy was such a complete douchebag and it was so overpriced on top of it that it made no sense.
And the thing I don't understand is, even if somebody can't afford a car they have on their lot, then why would they want to make people feel bad about it anyway? That would just cost them potential sales down the road, and so I don't get the logic behind their attitudes.
When all was said and done, I ended up paying the same amount of money I was going to pay for that one for my current car, except it had 18k miles on it instead of 60k, and it was almost $8k under its book value at the time vs. the S55 that was about $6k over its book value. So in the end I definitely came out ahead, and after all this time they're still sitting on that overpriced W220.
I had also thought about getting an R230 SL500, since there were a lot of decent ones with 40k-50k miles (i.e. still warrantable) for around $40k, but I figured it would be bad for business so to speak to have a newer model SL than my Dad. Also, they're slow. 300hp in an almost 5000lb car just isn't enough. I had wanted an E55 initially, but I just couldn't find one without some issue or another, and gave up after a couple months. They were all ragged out, had lifters that sounded like a cement mixer, knocking noises, trashed paint or interior, etc. etc. I think the 55k's tend to get dogged more than "normal" cars.
08-20-2008, 12:01 PM
#33
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