Let's hear your stories, what was the dumbest thing a salesperson has said to you?

[Timpo]

here are some dumb comments made by sales people who I dealt with...

"BMW is the most reliable car on the road"

"Cadillac has much better interior quiality than any Lexus"

"The 2003 Mustang GT handles and accelrates faster than Supra, NSX and RX-7"

"RSX Type-S is basically a race car"

"Ford Focus will hold the resale value better than Corolla and Civic"



These are not my personal experience, but these are what I heard from people how bad their sales people were.

"RX-7 had a V6 engine"

"a Prelude would run low 12s with intake and exhaust."

When he was looking at '70s Mustang: "This car is not like a Honda...it will get you the pussy."

"this is the 94 Supra and it's great because it has AWD"

When he was looking at the Integra Type-R "yeah man, this car can FLY!!!"

 

[matteni]

Re: Let's hear your stories, what was the dumbest thing a salesperson has said to you?

- You can use this 76' 911 Turbo as a daily driver

- You don't need your wife to buy this NSX

 

[DocL]

Re: Let's hear your stories, what was the dumbest thing a salesperson has said to you?

Chevy delaer for new Z-06: "We won't let you test drive this car unless you buy it first."

Me: "Goodbye!!"

 

[Aero]

Re: Let's hear your stories, what was the dumbest thing a salesperson has said to you?

"Why would you want to pay cash when you can finance, its throwing money away".

When looking at a RAM AIR Firebird just for kicks: "This car will do 190mph"

 

[NetViper]

I test drove a Z06 and WRX STI and the salesman told me the STI would smoke the Z06. I just laughed. Moron.

 

[queenlives]

"imagine yourself out on a friday night, wearing this great SEARS leisure suit with bell bottoms, dancing to the bee gee's - man, are you gonna be hot with the chicks."

the older i get, the better i was

 

[nsxtasy]

"Why buy the car for $70,000 from them, when you can buy it for $73,500 from us?"

Yes, they actually said that.

 

[john@johnhudakracing]

Re: Let's hear your stories, what was the dumbest thing a salesperson has said to you?

"East Coast cars are worth less than West Coast Cars".
"I've shopped your car around but that was the best I could get"
"It is certified pre-owned off lease so you know it has been taken care of"
"All that matters is your payments, not how much you owe"
"You can save money by financing"

etc..

Actually the best all time sales topper for me occured just recently. I was checking out a car for a friend on a lot, an 00' S2K advertised with a very high price tag and aside from all sorts of other issues it had 2 different brands of tires on it front to rear. I made a comment about that detail to the salesman whom was watching me like a hawk as I evidentily "needed to cut him some slack so he can close as if I was really a good friend I would want to see my friend happy today and leave in a new car" and his response was "That's how the car came in we don't have any control over that". Of course, every other cheap-fixed car on his lot had the same crappy staggered Continental tires on it, including the one parked right next to it. He was so caught in his lie, and unfortunately some poor kid will likely buy the car and kill himself with those on.

Personally I don't know how people can stand there and lie like that for a paycheck. After many experiences over the years, myself, I made a resolution many years back and can confidently say that I never deal with a used car salesman out of principle ever again. I don't care what they have on their lot.

 

[Acura NsX Pilot]

Re: Let's hear your stories, what was the dumbest thing a salesperson has said to you?

-Thats a pretty nice car (the nsx) but my 2003 turbo supra will blow you away.



-After asking to see the engine on the nsx I say ok and they all go to the front and wait for me to pop the hood. Then when I open up the hatch the guy says " damm that must of been hard to get the engine from the front of the car to the back "

 

[JOPRIMO]

Re: Let's hear your stories, what was the dumbest thing a salesperson has said to you?

Got this just last Friday night looking to get 06 Seqouia for wife...

Me: Whats this $600 item on the invoice listed as "Miscellaneous"?
Salesguy: I dont' know but im sure its required.
Me: Don't you think you should find out?
Salesguy: Why? You're paying for it.
Me: Thanks. Buh bye.

 

[len3.8]

Re: Let's hear your stories, what was the dumbest thing a salesperson has said to you?

-Thats a pretty nice car (the nsx) but my 2003 turbo supra will blow you away.



-After asking to see the engine on the nsx I say ok and they all go to the front and wait for me to pop the hood. Then when I open up the hatch the guy says " damm that must of been hard to get the engine from the front of the car to the back "

2003 SUPRA TURBO, He is a moron.:smile:

When looking at a Ferrari 348, I was told, "I wished I could begin to afford that car" I bet he didn't know how right he was.... Turned out to be a POS. (I didn't buy one, a friend did, and he paid through the nose for repairs.)

 

[sjones]

Re: Let's hear your stories, what was the dumbest thing a salesperson has said to you?

this '04 mustang will be a helluva lot more reliable than any 1991 acura.

 

[SoCalDude]

Re: Let's hear your stories, what was the dumbest thing a salesperson has said to you?

A Volvo salesman asked if I was interested in their SUV. I said no. I was just looking for my wife. I told him I was looking to get a sporty car like the NSX and Volvo doesn't have anything in that category. He said "C70" with a smile!

 

[95NSXT]

Re: Let's hear your stories, what was the dumbest thing a salesperson has said to you?

1. I was driving my Sti. I refuse to use the subaru dealer where I live now because they're idiots. I went home for the weekend and tried to get in there at the Subaru dealer and couldn't so I ended up going to the old faithful Honda dealership. They are really good guys. Well my car was idling in the service bay and a salesman came in from out there and said to the service guy that was writing me up "man, that rotary sounds sweet!"

The service guy said nothing to him and I said nothing to him because he kept walking, but hopefully someone informed him later.

2. I was killing time at the same Honda dealership looking at the 2002 Si when it came out. I had an 00 Si at the time. One of the guys came out because I was looking at the engine, or maybe he came out and popped the hood, I don't remember. Anyway he was like "Yeah it's a great engine blah blah, I'd love to see it in the last.....actually I can't really remember what he said but it was something like having that engine in a 96-00 civic body which pretty much IS the 99-00 si plus ~20lbs of torque. Ok this story sucks, just reread my first one:biggrin:

 

[whealy]

Re: Let's hear your stories, what was the dumbest thing a salesperson has said to you?

Back in 88 (well I guess I’m dating myself) a friend of mine was looking at a GM Beretta. The salesman comes up and starts in with saying it was Motortrend car of the year. I said no, that was the Ford Thunderbird. Then he said, he meant last year. I said no, that was the Pontiac Grand Prix. He finally just walked away.

There was the salesman that drove for literally less than 2 minutes from the lot on a test drive to hand it off to me. It was an Acura Integra R (I think). In that time he literally had three near accidents. When I got in he said, if you don’t want to drive it like that you don’t want to spend the extra money for the R version.

I was test driving a M5 on a windy road and we had some slow traffic in front of us. The salesman said “Climb into his trunk, he’ll move”

I was leasing a Pilot. I went in and the lease payment was completely off base. When I went back through my notes after the fact, I realized that we had discussed purchase price, term and mile, but not payment (money factor). He walked away to the sales manager’s desk. When he returned, I had the Honda web site pulled up with the appropriate payment. Again he went back and this time came back with a special that was in place until the end of the day that lowered my payment by 25%.

I was dealing with a dealer that took my trade and didn’t payoff my car. It was going on 45 days and collection agencies were calling me. I finally went back to the dealership and had serious words with the owner. My salesman (that really was a great guy – just caught up in a less than upstanding dealership) asked why I didn’t come to him with the problem. I explained it wasn’t a sales issue and I didn’t think it was his responsibility. He said he had a letter to deal with the situation. I said if you have a letter to deal with this, there’s a bigger problem because mine was not an isolate case. Just a few years later a dealership under the same owner had their new cars impounded. Seemed they didn’t pay their floorplan and the bank foreclosed.

Best I can come up with for now …

 

[akira3d]

I remember back when I just started working full-time (early 1990s), I was having my '79 Celica serviced and decided to take a look at a new Celica on the showroom floor. The salesperson asked how much money I made and, when I told him, he flatly said, "come back when you can afford one."

I never went back to that dealership.

 

[mickeylex]

Re: Let's hear your stories, what was the dumbest thing a salesperson has said to you?

I've heard lots of dumb things come out of the mouths of car salesmen (interestingly, the women I've met in the business don't tend to say these stupid things).

Recently (Jan. 2006) when shopping for a 04/05 S2000.

Me: "Do you have any S2000's on the lot?" (of course, I searched their inventory before I got there, so I already knew that they had three of them)
Him "Wow, those are really rare, but we have a red one in the back. Let's go see it" - [stupid comment #1 - the S2000 is hardly rare in CA]
Me: "Why does the red one have "SOLD" sign on it with the "Fleet Sales" note on it?"
Him: "Some guy put a deposit on it, but I can still sell this car to you" [stupid comment #2 - trying to sell me a car that is sold]
Me: "So, then what's the deposit for?"
Him: "That just makes it so that we take the car off of the main lot and put it in the back". [Stupid comment #3 - sounds like a lie to me]
Me: "Well, that one is sold, do you have any others?" (of course I knew they had a leftover 05 in front)
Him: "Yes, we have an 05 in the front. These 05's are really rare now. You can't get these anymore" [The best stupid comment of all - no sh!t dumbass, it's 2006, so yes, the 2005 model is out of production]

We left and bought from a private party the following weekend.

 

[MegaZap]

Re: Let's hear your stories, what was the dumbest thing a salesperson has said to you?

When looking at a new 1984 Chevy Celebrity Eurosport station wagon (back when the kids were little of course) I had my leg up on them because I had a GM employee's printout of the actual cost of the car that was sent to me by a friend. :wink: The printout was for a loaded car and the REAL total dealer's cost was $11,300. The car I was looking at on the lot was a used one they were asking $11k for and it didn't have a lot of the options listed. When I said the car didn't have fuel injection, didn't have this and didn't have that, the salesman told me it was fuel injected. The hood was open and we were both looking at a carburator just a few feet away. When I pointed that out to the dolt he quickly changed the subject and spent the next five minutes looking for a remote release for the tailgate that also wasn't there. Then he borrowed the list and went inside to chat with his boss.
20 minutes later we drove away with the car for $8600!

That's the ONLY time in my illustrious history of car buying that I knew without question that I got a good deal from a dealer.:biggrin:

Zap

 

[710]

Re: Let's hear your stories, what was the dumbest thing a salesperson has said to you?

A friend of mine recently moved to Australia, and is looking for a cheap car before he buys a new one. He knows a lot about cars.
He is shocked at the high price of used cars compared to here so he is having a hard time finding a car and getting frustrated with hearing rubbish from used car salesmen.

He walks into a used car dealer, and the salesman says welcome and then actually hugs him!!!!!

 

[RED/BLACKUK3.2]

Re: Let's hear your stories, what was the dumbest thing a salesperson has said to you?

When looking at my 2000 3.2 coupe, the sales man said:

'Senna actually drove this very car'......

Ddidn't even have the heart to say anything, my jaw just dropped....unbelieveable!

Matt.

 

[KGP]

Re: Let's hear your stories, what was the dumbest thing a salesperson has said to you?

When looking at my 2000 3.2 coupe, the sales man said:

'Senna actually drove this very car'......

Ddidn't even have the heart to say anything, my jaw just dropped....unbelieveable!

That's so sad its not even funny. In retrospect, you should have asked him to make note of that in a sales agreement or something.

 

[Inexcess]

When looking at the first 1986 Acura Legend which only had cloth interior the salesman said:

"The American public does not want leather interiors".

When searching for an NSX years ago, an Acura dealer said:

"You'll find the Audi TT is a much better car, We have many of them on the lot".

 

[AU_NSX]

Re: Let's hear your stories, what was the dumbest thing a salesperson has said to you?

1. Speaking to a Lotus dealer about an Elise...

He was explaining that they are the best handling sportscar in the world and compete on the track in the Lotus Trophy Class competion in Australia... I mentioned that I knew about it as I had a little track experience myself... That's when he asked what expereince I had. I replied that I had a Twin Turbo NSX which had previously competed in the Targa Tasmania... His retort was:

"Oh well, you wouldn't have a hope of keeping up with these Elise's on the track..."

Oh and this one is not a salesman but a Cop and it was not me but I was with him...

2. Pulling onto the freeway my friend floors the 911 so that I can appreciate his new sports exhaust... Get to 100kph and merge into traffic. shortly there after a police car pulls us over and askes the driver out of the car. Says to the driver that he was "going a bit quick up the on-ramp" driver replys " I had it flat out until I hit 100kph, at which time I was at the appropiate speed to merge into the traffic"

Traffic cop put his hand down on the bonnet of the car and says "It's not hot." Driver responds " That maybe because the engine is in the back..."

3. Similar story with another member of this forum who was also the driver when the police pulled us over because some of the cars were heavily modified....

Police get to XXXXXX's NSX and tell him he wants to inspect the engine bay... Driver says "certainly sir" but is a bit hesitant about what to say when the Police officer proceeds to the front and is standing at the bonnet.... I beg him to open the bonnet and see what the cop says next... But alas, Fellow NSX Prime member makes the cop save face buy just hopping out of the car and opening the hatch without comment...

 

[jlindy]

Re: Let's hear your stories, what was the dumbest thing a salesperson has said to you?

Mine has nothing to do with lies or deception, but instead the cheesiest line I have ever heard from a salesguy trying to get you to come in and buy a car from him. About 8 years ago, I called this dealership to see if they had any of the cars in stock that I was looking for since it was about a 45 minute drive. The guy I spoke to on the phone said that they in fact did have some in stock, so I decided to make the drive in. When I asked him who to ask for he said, "My name is Mike Z. That's Z for Zorro because I slash prices". I was truly embarassed for him and couldn't bring myself to ever buying a car from someone who called himself Zorro the price slasher. :biggrin: Years later he was hired at a company I was working at and I made sure I gave him plenty of trouble for that.

 

[Acura NsX Pilot]

Re: Let's hear your stories, what was the dumbest thing a salesperson has said to you?

Saw a Maxima with a VTEC sticker ...