Here’s a glaringly obvious statement: People aren’t getting cut out of the new car buying process anytime soon. Regardless of whether you buy from a manufacturer that does direct sales in a state that allows them or buy from a franchise dealership, you’ll probably encounter at least one salesperson, and the experience they provide can be a make-or-break for what you buy. Today on Autopian Asks, we want to know what sort of knowledge you expect to be met with when buying a new car.
If I walked into a showroom to buy a new car, I’d expect a salesperson to have decent product knowledge including which trim level offers which features and which color combinations are permitted, but that’s all stuff that’s easy to glean from an automaker’s website. I reckon it’s more critical that salespeople are knowledgable about the business and ordering side of things. Current subvented rates, special programs, lead times, if a dealer trade is possible, what options are on constraint (meaning not easily available on configured orders), OEM extended warranty options, that sort of stuff.
Let’s use Volvo as an example. Outside of current finance and lease rates, Volvo has special programs for employees of some partner companies, first responders, teachers, members of the military, members of the American Bar Association, American Medical Association, and American Dental Association, as well as people who’ve participated or volunteered in select Volvo-sponsored New York Road Runners events. Assuming a customer’s a New York-based doctor who’s run in a Volvo-sponsored event, there could be serious cash on the hood of a new Volvo that a salesperson not knowledgable about these programs might not know about.
Another example is Porsche’s one-year extended service contract that it sells on top of the existing certified pre-owned warranty. With the same coverage as the two-year unlimited-mileage CPO warranty, it can be a prudent move for someone looking to put serious mileage on a gently used Porsche, but benefits and costs must be properly explained, along with the inspection process to determine eligibility.
Put simply, in the information age, customers know more than ever before about the vehicles they’re buying, but they’re less likely to know about the intricacies of a deal. So that’s what I want to see, though my bar’s not particularly high these days. What about technical things about a car, an understanding of the car in a greater context of the industry, historical context? What level of knowledge do you expect to be met with when you walk into a showroom?
Top graphic credit: Deposit Photos, Entertainment Earth
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I expect nothing at best, and for them to be actively wrong about things at worst.
I don’t expect much technical knowledge of the cars, I do expect them to know how to put a deal together. But I never need to be “sold” on anything, I have done my homework first and know what I want. Make it happen at a price I am comfortable with, or don’t, I have never NEEDED to buy a car – but they generally need to sell one if they want to eat.
I honestly don’t care if they know about the product beyond the basics. If I’m actually going into a dealership, it’s because I’ve been researching the exact vehicle I am looking at for at least 5 or 6 months, so I guarantee I already know everything about every tiny technical detail better than they do.
What I want is for them to be pleasant, not pushy, and allow me to check it out on my own and ask questions if I feel I need to. Likely about availability and lead times since they’re almost definitely not going to have the exact spec I want.
Beyond that, yeah… I want them to know everything about the financial side of things, because that’s what their job is. It’s to arrange paperwork. If I’m in a dealership, I already know the exact spec/options/etc that I want, and I’m just there to drive something similar and make sure I want the vehicle prior to placing an order.
I expect them to know the cars relatively well, and I expect them to know the deals.
Beyond that, I like them to treat me like I’m a human and not a target (and I walk in assuming they’re not vultures until proven otherwise).
They need to know their products inside and out. A salesperson who knows less about their own cars than I do is a problem.
I also want them to know the field almost as well as their own brand. What do their customers cross-shop? Why should the customers choose this brand vs the competition?
Salespeople for specialised items, including software / SaaS, are expected to know all that. Are car salespeople? It hasn’t been my experience, but it’s been a while since I bought a car that wasn’t a specific model I knew I wanted and wasn’t cross-shopping with anything else.
Sadly I don’t expect much, but I’d at least like it if they knew their current deals. When we recently walked into the Honda dealer and leased our Prologue, it was due to the deals listed on Honda’s site, after putting in our zip code.
The salesman was friendly enough and we got the deal, but we had to show it to him, then he had to go talk to his ‘manager’ to get us the deal. Like it’s literally posted on your site, I just want the deal that’s advertised, crazy.
I wasn’t expecting him to even know if the Prologue was electric or not but at least be familiar with the current deals. It’s like walking into a restaurant and asking the waiter what the specials are, if a kid making less than minimum wage can keep notes on that in their order pad, a guy making commission on $60k cars can at least do that.
I expect nothing. On occasion I am pleasantly surprised. And a time or two it has influenced a sale. But that’s just an added bonus.
that said, having lived in the same town for 20+ years, there are three sales people that I have actually purchased new cars from multiple times. Biggest advantage was very easy access to unlimited test drives.
I expect the salesperson to know how much the dealer actually paid for that sweet factory true coat.
If they also shed light on why the Finance guy requires me to visit his spider hole for an all cash sale, well that would be helpful too.
I expect them to be knowledgeable enough to make sure the paperwork has no errors regarding registration, titling, the associated fees. I have probably read everything regarding features I am looking for and reviews about the car already.
Other than that, I expect them to leave me alone and keep quiet if I ask to be left alone. If I walk into your dealership, I have already decided to buy something I saw online as long as the test drive goes well. During the test drive, I also expect you to let me drive it on a route of my choosing. If you must ride along, I expect silence while I test the sound system. I am very upfront in communicating this, because I am not playing games. I’m there for the purchase, not the process. I don’t even haggle. I want speed, not salesmanship. I have had salespersons say that they can’t accomodate my requests, and I say “ok” and leave. They usually then try to say that they ‘need to speak to their manageer’….but ***k that. We both know that they don’t. C-ya.
I never wait until I NEED a car to buy, so if you are a sales person reading this doing a hard sell or are otherwise annoying, a lot of us will just go somewhere else. I’ll be the easiest commission you’ll ever ever make…just be quiet unless I have a question. I’ll either have a cashier’s check for the price and pay the remainder with a credit card or wire the money because I’m ready to buy that day. Not finance…not haggle….buy. There will be no trade, as I always sell privately. A salesperson’s commission is not my concern. I care about how fast can I get out of there with keys and paperwork in hand.
If I could buy cars like other consumer goods (choose, self checkout, leave), I would.
Last week the wife got a new Civic Hybrid. Had to bite my tongue when the salesman assured me it had a transmission because it had shift paddles. You know, the ones that set the regen braking level because HONDA HYBRIDS DON’T HAVE TRANSMISSIONS. And that’s not new either! It’s been at least 5 years of that tech.
A CVT is still a transmission.
They don’t have a CVT either despite Honda’s marketing. The engine drives a generator that powers the electric traction motor/battery, and at highway speeds there is also a lockup clutch to drive the wheels directly.
That’s wild.
First if you are going to buy anything you will interact with a salesperson. Frankly any really knowledgeable sales person will probably try to override you with their knowledge and screw you. I prefer a representative of the dealer who is knowledgeable on the different programs and financial options outside the brand. Imagine one store you go to that represents all cars and has access to all financial services. What do you want? What do you have down? What is your trade in? Here are the cars from all the available dealers that fit your needs and the financial programs we can provide you.
Not very. Even for the brands I like with dealership networks they still make some awful cars, yet as the salesman you can’t say such.
I wouldn’t recommend any Toyota Hybrid with a turbocharged direct injection engine and traditional automatic transmissions.
I don’t recommend ANY new Toyota with an Automatic Differential Disconnect due to how easy it is to grenade it under light load completely stock on a light trail turning your 4WD Truck into a 2WD Truck with extra parts and weight.
If for some reason I became a Car Salesman I’d spend most of my time helping the guys in the shop in exchange for info on which cars are having the most problems, so I could give informed answers to people looking to buy a car, for which I’d almost certainly be promptly fired for providing.
I don’t expect reps to know much about cars, and that’s not a bad thing. Non enthusiasts couldn’t care less and enthusiasts know what they want. A good rep knows people and will guide them through the business process.
I want them to not lie to my face and make up stupid claims on top of being argumentive and problematic. I expect them to be as dumb as a bag of doorknobs. I’ve found if you can find a fleet sales guy at a bigger fleet dealer it’s your best bet. I once had a guy who was going by the name “max power” tell me that power folding mirrors were against the law. The truck he was showing me had power folding mirrors.
I expect someone to be knowledgeable enough to say things like
“I’m not sure. Let me find out for you.”
Car sales aside, that seems to be an incredibly difficult phrase for anyone to mutter.
Beyond that, as long as they don’t try to BS me, I expect very little.
My last purchase was with a total new salesman. I had so much fun training him as he did the required see my manager as I told him what he would say. Then finally I made my final offer for a beater that would have been sent to auction prior to limited inventory. I said final offer $3k out the door. He came back $3k plus everything. I said thanks got up walked out the door was chased down and told he okay you’re getting a great deal you are lucky I have a pool tournament to go to. As the lying sales manager worked out the $3 k out the door I explained to the rookie salesman how it all worked.