grrrr!! dealers!!

[the fat bastid]

another tale of poor dealers...
let my preface this by saying i went in thinking that most dealers where just guys doing thier job, paying the rent, etc, and where just normal people.
so showed this guy way too much kindness..

so i went to the local l/m dealer to take the marauder for a whirl since i'm getting close to buying this exact car.

i walk on to the lot and i noticed that they moved the rotting marauder (the one i keep telling you about with the 400 miles on it, etc ,etc) from the back lot to the front with a big red sale tag in it for $28,299 after all the rebates (the $3500, the $500 aarp one, and the $500 loyality one). Not a good sign, thats a terrible deal considering i saw an ad for a new one in pa for 27,500.

i walk into the showroom and ask to take it for a drive. the first thing he says? "how do you plan on paying for it?"

uh...what? i should have walked right then. but i ignored it and sat down with him at his invite.

so then he basiclly berates me for the rest of the conversaion.
he said i didnt make enough to buy it.
he told me i was too young.
he told me i didnt want it.
he told me that the 400 miles on it was the reason its $300 over invoice.
he told me i shouldnt test drive it, i'm "just gonna put miles on it"

looking back on it, i wish i left and/or put up a better fight. it was almost harrassment but he was doing the ol' quick talk and shuffle and i'm not very experienced in it so i got taken for a ride.

i'm thinking about going down to the mini place (where they threw me the keys and let me take one for a test drive by myself), buy a mini, and drive it right into thier showroom.

spell checked? no way...too pissed!

[grzellmer]

Its funny, you know the young are treated rudely by most car dealers. They don't seem to realize that todays teens are tomorrows retirees. Same thing happened to me over 25 years ago. To this day (14 new vehicles later between wife & I) we still have yet to buy a Chrysler and probably never will.

[DLoreanMARAUDER]

Yea, when I went to buy my MM they totally ignored me at first When I started asking questions. one guy even said "ehh thats not the car for you." I walked to another guy and he just BSed me, then my dad walk in the door (after admiring the car just outside) and it was like he was a new man, treating me very nice and finally offering me a seat. the first guy even came back and said "thats the perfect car for you guys." oh well live and learn. its not just car dealers its just about anybody, anywhere. dont let the dealers discourage you! the MM is an awsome car and if anything the dealers are hurting sales. You'll find your car, and hopefully a nice dealer too!

[jgc61sr2002]

When the salespeople saw you walk through the door the figured you were too young to buy the MM. Thats a common problem salespeople have, Judging a book by its cover. Enjoy see you at the next meet. John:D

[martyo]

Don't get me started on the dealers. I just dropped my car off for a pre-scheduled service appointment. The guys says "Oh we'll have to call someone to come look at the remote start...." I said "But that was why I brought the car in in the first place....."

Then he says, "Oh we'll have to have the body shop come look at the paint......." I said "But that was why I brought the car in in the first place....."

I'm telling you, it was like Abbott & Costello. Who's on first.........

Sometimes I wonder how these guys find there way to work in the morning.

It's service like that that has me filling out those surveys just so LM knows how crappy their dealers are. The real questions is "Do they care???"

[duhtroll]

Wow, Fat -

are you sure you don't live in IA? That is *exactly* what I heard from my dealer here. They wanted to get me into a car I could "afford" since I offered them less than MSRP.

Wait til I show up with my brand new MM and parkin in the customer area just to walk around "browsing" just so they can ask me which car is mine . . ..

-A

[Sean]

I hate dealers. They lie so much...

I test drove a marauder they had listed as a grand marquis.... it was only $22,000 (with 80 mi) and i was going to buy it ... because it was a great deal. I test drove, it, recorded the vin #, the miles, etc. I come back in 2 days, ready to buy the car..... GET THIS!

(2 days prior)
we test drive car and go like XXXmph, cornering hard, jammin out on the stereo...etc etc etc...(the usual test drive stuff)

i say im interested and want to buy it asap, so ill go talk to the bank.

2 days later....
me: Ok im ready to buy the marauder now...

them: ok which one

me: that one (the only one on the lot)

them: ok. would you like to test drive it?

me: no, i already have

them: no you havent...we have never had a marauder before today.

me: yes... i did...it was $22,000. My friend was in the car also!

them: you must be mistaken...we have never had a marauder before. This one is only 32,000...its a steal.

:mad2: WTF? tell me you made a mistake... dont lie to me and tell me I NEVER TEST DROVE THE VEHICLE BECAUSE IT DIDNT EXIST!!!

[RF Overlord]

Originally posted by martyo
The real questions is "Do they care???"

I think we all KNOW the answer to THAT one... :shake:

[Butch]

My local dealer is GREAT!
Gate City Lincoln/Mercury of Greensboro.

Before they even got their first Marauder in, I had talked to them about looking at one. As soon as the first one came in, which was supposed to be pre-sold, They called me and asked me to come look at it. I was there in 10 minutes! I couldn't drive it since it was already sold, or so they thought. The person that they had pre-sold it to, couldn't get the loan, so they called me up and said that since I seemed so highly interested in it, would I like to come and actually test drive it now. I was back there in 10 minutes and within 3 hours, the car was mine!

When my salesman retired a couple of months ago, the new salesman even called me to make sure I was still happy with the Marauder. I thought that was the best thing I had ever seen a dealership do!

The service department is great also. They have done everything I have asked, with no questions asked. They usually just want to go for a REAL ride in it, not just around the parking lot!

[cyclone03]

I quess I could cut and paste pieces from above but I'm too lazy today.
First all dealers sux!
That said the dealer I got mine from sux a little less.
More correctly my salesman was a pretty nice guy,another salesman helped him out because my first guy was unavailable,he was a good guy too.I later found out that the second salesman lives less than 1/2mile from me!
I walked into the dealership last June and looked the car over and talked with the first guy,he wanted to run credit etc,etc,AFTER our test drive so I said OK.Now as usual for me in June I was wearing the uniform of the day,shorts,tee shirt tennis shoes.Hey I live in TX.!So I in no way LOOK like a L/M customer.
Well later that day I take the wife over and she HATES the MM,still does BTW.So it's not happening that day.
Aug. comes around and I get my MM for $3500 less than in June,dealership never treated me like I didn't belong.
So Far so good.

My good friend came into A LOT of $$$ in 1987,had all ways wanted a 300ZX twin Turbo.Walked into the Nissen dealer ready to buy.Could not even get a test drive!He had the cash in his pocket!They wanted to run crebit checks,etc...........He said no I'm paying CASH.
I watched this display for almost 1/2 hour before we left,drove 110 miles to Tucson AZ.Bought the car,drove back to Scottsdale and dragged the manager out of his office,and the 2 salemen involved that morning.My friend then made sure they knew who blew that sale that day!
In the end it didn't make any difference,both dealerships where owned by the same people.

[RF Overlord]

How much did being nice to Butch cost that dealership?

NOTHING!

It not only cost them NOTHING to be nice to him, but they sold a car, which in all probability would have sat on their lot for who knows how many months, 3 hours after it came in...

They COULD have been patronising, condescending, or blown him off...and they would have lost the sale...

NOW how much would it have cost them?

COME ON, DEALERS!!! WAKE THE HECK UP!!!

[cyclone03]

Yea,they also had to do no selling because the CUSTOMER knew what he wanted and they didn't have to lay any BS on him,proving how little THEY knew about there product.

[LincMercLover]

^^^Agreed!^^^

If there's no one in site on the lot, why act so impersonable? And why shun away a potential buyer? I could understand if there are a few people out in the lot and here's someone that you don't see fitting the profile for the car, thus ignoring him, but if he was pretty much the only one there, why the neglect?

Now AFTER you buy the car... that's a different story. You're lucky if the dealer even remembers what you bought, much less get any "bonus'" for buying from them when they know there's plenty of competition.

[tomd]

Originally posted by Sean
I hate dealers. They lie so much...

I test drove a marauder they had listed as a grand marquis.... it was only $22,000 (with 80 mi) and i was going to buy it ... because it was a great deal. I test drove, it, recorded the vin #, the miles, etc. I come back in 2 days, ready to buy the car..... GET THIS!

(2 days prior)
we test drive car and go like XXXmph, cornering hard, jammin out on the stereo...etc etc etc...(the usual test drive stuff)

i say im interested and want to buy it asap, so ill go talk to the bank.

2 days later....
me: Ok im ready to buy the marauder now...

them: ok which one

me: that one (the only one on the lot)

them: ok. would you like to test drive it?

me: no, i already have

them: no you havent...we have never had a marauder before today.

me: yes... i did...it was $22,000. My friend was in the car also!

them: you must be mistaken...we have never had a marauder before. This one is only 32,000...its a steal.

:mad2: WTF? tell me you made a mistake... dont lie to me and tell me I NEVER TEST DROVE THE VEHICLE BECAUSE IT DIDNT EXIST!!!

You were in the Twilight Zone!
:D :P :rolleyes: :lol: :bounce:

[WolfeBros]

Originally posted by tomd
You were in the Twilight Zone!
:D :P :rolleyes: :lol: :bounce:

If he thought he was getting a new Marauder with 80 miles on it for $ 22K he was.

Come on guys......getting one at $27,500 is a steal.
Some on here sell our cars wayyyyy short.:confused:

[Blue Marauder]

Originally posted by Sean
I hate dealers. They lie so much...

I test drove a marauder they had listed as a grand marquis.... it was only $22,000 (with 80 mi) and i was going to buy it ... because it was a great deal. I test drove, it, recorded the vin #, the miles, etc. I come back in 2 days, ready to buy the car..... GET THIS!



Personally, I doubt the validity of this entire story.

[Butch]

I don't doubt the validity.

When I was looking for a Marauder to show up in ANY dealership within 200 miles of me, Most of the Mercury web sites would have a car lookup feature. I used the lookup and found that any Marauder that was listed would come across as a Grand Marquis, with a price of only 22k-25k. When I asked about it, they said that Mercury had screwed up the website and was trying to get things ready for the intro of the Marauder and they had messed up some of the dealers inventories by saying that the Grand Marquis that they had on the lot were actually Marauders, which was not true!

My dealer was honest with me, and I knew what a Marauder should really go for, so when I went in to buy the vehicle, I didn't try to play any games with them and get the car for 25k. I knew that this was someone I would bring my car back to for service and didn't want them pissed at me for being an a-hole customer.

My dealer admitted that they knew very little about the Marauder and that the person that was going to help me was the only one that had read/looked at the Marauder sales info. This person was in my eyes, very knowledgeable about the car. He was able to tell me stuff about the car that I had not even read about.

I think that I am just lucky enough to have a dealer who is VERY proactive towards their customers and wants to make sure they are happy.

When I bought the car, they even had the service manager COME TO ME in the sales area to introduce himself! Does your dealer do that?

[LincMercLover]

Originally posted by Butch
When I bought the car, they even had the service manager COME TO ME in the sales area to introduce himself! Does your dealer do that?

I had to walk to HIM... Bastages...

[Thomas C Potter]

Browns LM in Fairfax VA was great, no bullshix. But I'm a 44 yr old middle aged fart............

[ITZAMERC]

My test drive:

Have myself convinced that MM is what I'm buying. Like the Sport Vic, so MM can only be better. Local dealer has one 300A in main showroom. Showroom closes by 6 PM weekdays. Maybe 5 PM Saturday. That's at least full hour earlier than all other dealerships, any brand. Guess if all your clients are going to dinner at 4PM, lot gets no traffic in the evenings, eh?

Same dealer's satellite lot also has one 300A, outdoors. It's been collecting dust and scratches since whenever it arrived, probably when Marauders were first released.

Went to see the showroom car (on Satruday, the only time I can get there) since the outdoor MM's paint already looks 5 years old. Got a price, not bad, around $28,500. Higher than this site says, but surprisingly competitive for this area. Said I wanted to test drive. They hemmed, hawed, resisted. I insisted.

So, they put air in 2 tires that were almost flat. Battery very dead, so gave it a jolt and started MM. Salespeople had to move 2 other cars, get MM out, go around the block to put enough gas in for a test drive. So, I still am sitting 25 minutes (no lie) after I expressed the need for a test drive, waiting for them to get the car ready.

Drove car around for 25 minutes, Interstate & local. Not at all impressed w/ stock performance. Slipping shifts, hunts gears noisily on hills, suspension is too soft, 'way too much of that luxury ride. If there's 300 HP, I don't feel it. There is no, um, thrill in this car.

Think "I am just being b*tchy today. I'll see what husband thinks." Take MM home, shut off ignition. Battery too dead to restart, have to jump it. Husband drives. I say nothing. He says buy a Vette, buy an F-250SD Powerstroke, get anything but this car. "Muscle car for old people, maybe" were the final words.

Okay, it was an all-around bad experience and we both grew up driving those big old MOPARS that really were muscle cars. I bought a used Vic as daily driver upgrade. Needed to do that anyway. Now I can at least get out of town. My "Real car" purchase is still on hold. Might give the '04 MM another chance, somewhere else. Guess you can take me off the Ohio club roster.

[jgc61sr2002]

ITSAMERC - Sorry about your bad experience. Thats the problem with cars that are in a dealers inventory for almost a year. They are beat. The attitude of the sales people should be a lot more positive. Most just don't seem to care. IMHO. Good luck with the Vic. John

[RCSignals]

Originally posted by Sean
I hate dealers. They lie so much...

I test drove a marauder they had listed as a grand marquis.... it was only $22,000 (with 80 mi) and i was going to buy it ... because it was a great deal. I test drove, it, recorded the vin #, the miles, etc. I come back in 2 days, ready to buy the car..... GET THIS!



:lol: Sean, if that is a true story, and you didn't drive a Black LSE, ( a few were delivered to US dealers early on) You know your mistake. You never should have left without completing the deal right after the test drive. A $22,000 price on a brand new Marauder is a gift.

[Sean]

Yeah, it existed, i have 4 people to prove it. It was a marauder. (not an lse)... I know my stuff. I couldnt get financed for it because it was used and i have no credit (always paid cash!)...i went to get outsourced credit.... lo and behold the car is still sitting there....but they tell me that it doesnt exist... They later moved it to a different dealer... the one in my town, and sold it for 32,500 to some guy who is a school superintendant that was "stepping down" from a mark 8 lincoln.... what a shame... i would be overjoyed to have it... sad to see how people dont appreciate a good thing.... or know what they have...