NSX snobbery?

D

driftin180sx

Registered Member
Joined
23 April 2002
Messages
17
Location
Oakton, VA, USA
my mother (who is in her early 50's) works as a realtor and makes what I would call a significant amount of money. everyone my family has always driven performance oriented vehicles so it comes natural for us to drive them. anyways her current vehicle is a 2001 IS300 but it doesn't handle or accelerate nearly as well as she would like so she recently she has come into the market for a secondary fun, stress relieving vehicle.
I presented her with several options and the one that caught her eye more then any other car was the NSX. It provids everything she wanted and needed in a car: handling, acceleration, reliability, and being a status symbol.
so here is where my problem stands. when she was taking her lexus in for service the other day they happened to have a 97 on the lot. when they called her to tell her the car was done she asked if they would mind if she took it out for a spin. they said it would be fine. once she got there she talked to a salesperson, whose immediate response to her inquiry to drive it was: "im sorry ma'am this car requires special driving skills which you dont have, and we cant allow you to test drive it" she argued with the salesperson for a while and finally just gave up and he let her sit in the car. after being in the car for a minute or two the salesperson was like "im sorry but you're going to have to get out of the car"
later last week i called up another dealer that had an 94 nsx on the lot and set up an appointment to test drive it for my mom (i didnt specify this at the time). unfortunately i was unable to go with my mom again so when she arrived the people there tried to talk her out of the car for about 15 minutes and again wouldnt let her drive it because they thought it "wasnt the right car for her".
now maybe this is just me but this is just complete bullshit. my mom has enough money to buy the car with cash upfront, why the hell do these people seem to want to take it upon themselves to prevent her from buying one? is it because shes a middle aged woman? to me this is a blatant insult and im making sure i will be there next time she goes to test drive one....

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electron blue RS13 240sx
-CA18DET swap; Norris Designs T28/T3 hybrid turbo; Norris Designs stage 1 chip; 3" downpipe; 3" test pipe; 3" apexi N1 exhaust; K&N filter; modified starion IC core with 2.25" piping; apexi dual chamber BOV; walbro 255 lr/hr fuel pump; centerforce dual friction clutch; apexi S-AFC and AVC-R; HKS turbo timer type 2; 17" ADR revolution rims (volk gram lights soon!); toyo proxies; APR V-Spec aluminum wing; intrax springs on tokico blues (changing to S21 supersports with AGX's soon); greenstuff break pads; full audio system; lots of little stuff(momo interior pieces, clear turn signals, etc...)
 
Honestly Drift, it went something like that for me. (Male 40) I was able to drive 2 Viper GTS, one of which was new, and the 97 NSX that I currently own. Cars that I was not allowed to drive were the C-5 Vette and the Honda S-2000. I don't buy without driving so they self eliminated. Just go with your Mom next time and dress the wealthy part. You can probably get the car out then. Dealers seem to think they know best. Actually the car is very well mannered, maybe they think see can't use a clutch?!
 
Similiar story with me, but on the opposite end.

They wouldn't let me drive it because I was "too young" for them.

It was a sad day for them when I returned 2 hours later with a NSX from another dealer, only to remind them that they lost a sale for being stereotypical.

-B
 
I think this type of treatment towards potential clients happens all the time.

I had a sales person ask me if I was an actor or director and when I said no, they seemed to lose interest and never called me afterwards even though I was looking to buy right away. I guess with some sales people you gotta 'act' the part to get the car. Their loss, they lost an easy sale.

On another occasion, two Mercedes salesmen wouldn't even acknowledge that my brother in law was talking to them. He had the money to buy any car on their lot but the salesmen made it impossible.

Obviously, these rude salepeople already make too much money to make another sale. It's a free market out there. I'd take my money elsewhere.
 
I had the same similiar experience when I wanted to test drive a NSX and S2000. The NSX was at a local dealer Northest Investment Only. They wanted me to sign a bill of sale before I could test drive the car. I even told them they could call the bank and verify funds before a test drive. They still said no. Maybe it's because of my age, I don't know. Oh well, I guess my money wasn't green enough for them. I am on my second NSX, guess what dealership I didn't visit when I bought my second one?


[This message has been edited by nsxxtreme (edited 23 April 2002).]
 
I guess I'm confused... How is this "NSX snobbery"? This is a case of a lousy dealer. I'm sure this dealer would have the same idiotic policy with any similar car.

Just take your business elsewhere.

When I checked out my NSX the dealer couldn't wait to let me drive it. He was nearly forcing me to! He said: "once you drive this baby, we're going to be doing paperwork! THAT'S how confident I am in this car!" He wouldn't even let me sit in a 911NA they had until I drove the NSX. Turns out he was right.

There are good and bad dealers; have to be sure to go with the good ones...
 
Actually, I had that same experience with the BMW dealer. I was shopping around information on cars for my sister. I went into the dealer and wanted to talk to someone. I had to go find someone myself, and even then he wouldn't go out of his way to get me the information I requested. It should be noted I dressed like a college kid that day. But it was still upsetting. I made it a point to pull by the front of the store before gunning it.

Oddly enough, I had a somewhat similar experience at the VW dealer as well. By far the nicest dealer was the Volvo dealer.
 
Here is my story. Me and Wifey jump in the Ferrari to check out a potiential new toy. The Mercedes dealer lets us take the $100k SL for a couple of hours. Then we thought lets check out the NSX. They acted as if the car was made out of solid gold. They would not let me test drive it. I was about 40, he saw me get out of the Ferrari and he too wanted me to close the deal before any drive. I laughed at him, told him that he was nuts and left.
 
I have never had a problem test driving anything. I just posted about my test drive of the 02 7 series a couple of weeks ago. I spend a couple of weekends a summer test driving new models. I have never been told no. I only ask to drive the high end cars as well. I dress ok but not as though I stink of money or anything. One thing I do before I go to the dealership is a lot of research. I try to know as much about the car as the salesman does. This always seems to give me the upper hand. Puts the salesman off balance. I think it also shows that I have great interest in actually making a purchase.
 
Hey, no sweat this happens to everyone if you look at enough cars. I'm 40 and get pre-qualified when i'm on a showroom in jeans and a t-shirt, and can write a check for most of the cars on the floor. Just move on to someone else. If you see a car that you like and have enterest in and they act like a jerk. Level with them, its your money. Don't miss out on a car you want because some guy is a fool. I have found that the older the car salesman, the better they are at not judging a tire kicker. If they see you pull up in a Lexus they jump yet if you pulled up in a pick-up they won't even give you the time of day, don't worry abount it just don't waste their time either if your not serious.

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yeah this is more to do with the dealer then snobbery due on the part of dealing with the nsx, but the yeah the strange thing is this only happened to her with the NSX. the same lexus dealer had no problem letting her take out the SC430 (80k) or LS430 (54k) before she ended up getting her IS300 from her. she also had no trouble test driving a Z8 and M5 at the local BMW dealer (which also happened to be the second dealership i mentioned in the story).
i guess the salesmen at non-acura dealerships seem to think this car shares the driving difficulty that other exotics seem to exibit which we all know is just simply not true. but regardless i find it excusable to make that judgement automatically based off apearance.
as far as knowledge of the cars is concerned i dont really need to do any research as i spend way too much of my free time knowing everything possible on specs and tunning pretty much every japanese performance car that's out there... i guess its more of an obsession then a hobby.
 
oops... you all dont have an editing option on this forum. sorry for all the mispelling, i didnt proof read my last post
 
Originally posted by driftin180sx:
oops... you all dont have an editing option on this forum. sorry for all the mispelling, i didnt proof read my last post
Click to expand...

Yup, there is. It's the third of the four icons right next to the time of post, the one with the pencil and paper. Put your cursor over it for a moment, and it'll say "Edit/Delete Message".

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1995 NSX-T
1999 3.2TL
2001 Odyssey
1992 SC400
 
oops again then... thanks for the info. i thought that was a PM or email button
 
I'm 56 and have my own software development business (lots of contracts with the Federal Govt). My normal dress is jeans and t-shirt or flannel shirt (winter). I pay cash for anything I buy. I also drive a '93 Corola as my "client" car. I never let a client think I have lots of money, it only creates jealousy and possible loss of business.

When I go to a car dealer in my Corola and dressed in my normal clothes, I feel like I am the only person there. I am invisible. I can't tell you how many dealers have lost out because of this. Last year when I was looking for an NSX, I went into the closest dealer to look at a new Yellow one on the floor. The sales manager refused to take it outside for me to get a look at it in the Sun and possibly drive it. I bought a new one in Ft Lauderdale about a week later.

Many of these idiots are not properly trained, and should know that only a small percentage of people that walk in will eventually buy a car from them, so to get that percentage up they need to greet everyone thinking they will buy.

(BTW Jaguar, BMW, Cadillac & Mercedes are the worst offenders - IMHO)

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I had similar luck with the BMW dealer, didn't even bother to unlock the car for me (and I had cash to spend and indicated I was very serious). The Lambo and Porche dealers were much easier to deal with and were eager to let me drive the NSX.

My neigbor simply flashes his business card that says Doctor on it and the red carpet is rolled out no mater where or what he looks like. Software developers like me get no such perks.

I ended up going with a private sale, I saved $, and got a well documented car for a little extra effort.

hg
 
I have had some trouble driving cars before. I am 26, and generally I drive cars that are in my ballpark. I.e. 91-92 NSX's or 99 vettes. I have never had a problem driving NSX's, but vettes have not been so good.

I remember I was in dallas and just test drove an NSX. I went over to the vette dealer looking at 97's that were in the same price range as the NSX. The guy would not let me drive it. Finaly i said, "look, i just drove an NSX, which is 10x the quality of this car and obviously you are not much of a salesman." That was that.

I have had trouble driving BMW's also. I guess most of their salesman just think BMW's are made of gold. I went out with a friend of mine(who is 50 and rich) and we drove the new 7-series. Half way through his drive, my friend said "How would you like to take over".. I could just see the fear in the salesmans eyes. But what was he going to do at that point? So I got to drive. (it is amazing, by the way)

Anyway, sometimes I think these sales people are total morons. With all the stuff that has happened with the .com boom and sink etc.. There are a lot of 20-30 y/o's with a lot of money to spend. Salesman really need to stop overlooking that fact and treat everyone as an equal.

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NetViper -= 100% Stock EBP 2000 Civic Si =- Still looking to get an NSX, but at least I can live life at 8,000 RPM!
 
Originally posted by tabasco:
I'm 56 and have my own software development business (lots of contracts with the Federal Govt). My normal dress is jeans and t-shirt or flannel shirt (winter). I pay cash for anything I buy. I also drive a '93 Corola as my "client" car. I never let a client think I have lots of money, it only creates jealousy and possible loss of business.
Click to expand...

This is by far the best peice of advice for anyone in business. I live by this rule.
Originally posted by NetViper:



I have had trouble driving BMW's also. I guess most of their salesman just think BMW's are made of gold. I went out with a friend of mine(who is 50 and rich) and we drove the new 7-series. Half way through his drive, my friend said "How would you like to take over".. I could just see the fear in the salesmans eyes. But what was he going to do at that point? So I got to drive. (it is amazing, by the way)
Click to expand...
It is an amazing car. Did you feel any body roll while driving? It seems as though no matter what the driver does the car will offset the force that is normally there.


Originally posted by cojones:
has anyone test-driven a new 02 NSX yet ??
Click to expand...

I went to my local dealer (35 miles away). The salesman said they would not even be getting one in.




[This message has been edited by steveny (edited 24 April 2002).]
 
quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Originally posted by tabasco:
I'm 56 and have my own software development business (lots of contracts with the Federal Govt). My normal dress is jeans and t-shirt or flannel shirt (winter). I pay cash for anything I buy. I also drive a '93 Corola as my "client" car. I never let a client think I have lots of money, it only creates jealousy and possible loss of business.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This is by far the best peice of advice for anyone in business. I live by this rule.
Click to expand...

I have been on the other side of this issue, having my contractors visit me in Lexus's, big BMWs, etc. and it angered me. I wasn't so much jealous, just felt they may have been throwing their stuff in my face. This is good advice. Thanks



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Originally posted by tabasco:
I also drive a '93 Corolla as my "client" car. I never let a client think I have lots of money, it only creates jealousy and possible loss of business.
Click to expand...

Gosh, I wish more people realised how important this is. It is mentioned in "The Millionaire Next Door" but it doesn't seem to have sunk in: I used to work for a guy who would show up at clients driving a car that cost more than most of the people he was dealing with make in a year, wearing a watch that cost as much as their car, and wearing enough other jewelry to buy them a nice cruise. He got told to his face that he was losing a client because of it but he just didn't get it...
rolleyes.gif


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Andrew Henderson
The NSX Model List Page

"We have long acknowledged that enthusiasm for things automotive is a sure
sign of emotional instability if not outright dementia" - Brock Yates

[This message has been edited by lemansnsx (edited 24 April 2002).]
 
I once pulled up at the nearest Lotus dealer in a relatively new 928S4. My friend and I were the only people in the showroom of this Porsche/Lotus/Land Rover establishment. We circled the new Esprit on the floor for a good 15 minutes while the only salesperson visible totally ignored us and went on making phone call after phone call. The calls that were so important as to lose a potential sale? She was making follow-up calls for service appointments... needless to say I've never been back there.

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Andrew Henderson
The NSX Model List Page

"We have long acknowledged that enthusiasm for things automotive is a sure
sign of emotional instability if not outright dementia" - Brock Yates
 
I remember in 1992 when the NSX was still commanding premiums, a friend of mine (we were both in college at the time) made me a bet that he could test drive the NSX. We had already gotten to drive some vettes, etc. etc, and this game of ours got to be a bit challenge to see who could con their way into test driving the hottest car.

The red 1991/1992 NSX was sitting in the middle of the dealer floor surrounded by red velvet ropes. My friend was a nice guy of middle-eastern descent wearing shorts and a polo shirt. When the salesman came up to us, my friend surprises me by putting on a totally fake middle-eastern accent, telling the sales guy that he was graduating next month, and his “fatter” told him he would buy him any car he wants for his graduation present.

Guess what? The next thing you know the sales manager comes out. This fake accent thing goes on for a couple minutes. The sales manager nods his head, and next thing you know, they are taking down the ropes and warming up the engine!

I guess the morale of the story is that a little theater goes a long way with some of the dealers out there.
 

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