The Combined Sales, Service, and Product Experience in Modern Car Buying
Not trying to ignite a shouting match between, say, the F and C American brands in trucks or cars. Power to yah, you have your reasons for choosing either. My reasons for staying with two brands...one JPN and the other EUR...are about as much the dealer experience and ongoing maintenance as the vehicle capabilities. I cannot be alone in feeling this way.
JPN brand: I've bought several vehicles from one guy, at one dealer (of several) in the area. He plays it square, objectively, on deals and that seems to be the brand's philosophy, too. He haggles, but we work things out: I come in armed with data, he tries his best to make a buck, we hit in the middle. Fine. He's got my business, and that of two friends. Later, for service, this dealer hasn't tried to take me for a ride. They aren't saints, and I double-check what they do (and propose to do), but they are overall competent and just. Doing work at a dealership is a "meh" proposition, from a cost perspective, but the *consistency* is important to me, in both sales AND service. We're talking long-term, now at 11 years with this brand.
EUR brand: similar concept. The dealer where I live is a chain of at least four, not far from one another, handling four brands (three German, one Swedish). Everyone in Sales and Service I've dealt with at two of the four dealers has shot straight, been accommodating and FAIR (that word again) in the deals, and (later) service. Same caveats to service as above, in the JPN dealer.
A third brand, also JPN, has what I feel to be despicable business practices in Sales. Not just one dealer, the three I've visited. Their products are by-reputation OK to good, however. Every time I walk in, hassle ensues from jackass salesmen. They are almost certainly trained to close-close-close, assuming every swinging dick through the front door is a "mark", which is exactly the wrong philosophy for some types of customers. Namely, me. Thus, while I respect (some of) their PRODUCTS, they will never, ever, receive a thin dime from me due to Sales "experience." I am only mildly curious how they are on Service, since the first part is such a turn-off. Shame, I guess, but I don't...need...the...hassle.
Or, more-properly: I refuse to play anymore, unless I get the Whole Enchilada experience. QED.
JPN brand: I've bought several vehicles from one guy, at one dealer (of several) in the area. He plays it square, objectively, on deals and that seems to be the brand's philosophy, too. He haggles, but we work things out: I come in armed with data, he tries his best to make a buck, we hit in the middle. Fine. He's got my business, and that of two friends. Later, for service, this dealer hasn't tried to take me for a ride. They aren't saints, and I double-check what they do (and propose to do), but they are overall competent and just. Doing work at a dealership is a "meh" proposition, from a cost perspective, but the *consistency* is important to me, in both sales AND service. We're talking long-term, now at 11 years with this brand.
EUR brand: similar concept. The dealer where I live is a chain of at least four, not far from one another, handling four brands (three German, one Swedish). Everyone in Sales and Service I've dealt with at two of the four dealers has shot straight, been accommodating and FAIR (that word again) in the deals, and (later) service. Same caveats to service as above, in the JPN dealer.
A third brand, also JPN, has what I feel to be despicable business practices in Sales. Not just one dealer, the three I've visited. Their products are by-reputation OK to good, however. Every time I walk in, hassle ensues from jackass salesmen. They are almost certainly trained to close-close-close, assuming every swinging dick through the front door is a "mark", which is exactly the wrong philosophy for some types of customers. Namely, me. Thus, while I respect (some of) their PRODUCTS, they will never, ever, receive a thin dime from me due to Sales "experience." I am only mildly curious how they are on Service, since the first part is such a turn-off. Shame, I guess, but I don't...need...the...hassle.
Or, more-properly: I refuse to play anymore, unless I get the Whole Enchilada experience. QED.
