<VV> Re: Car Salesmen - You dont have a clue (no Corvair)

[mhicks130 at cox.net]

OK John, so salespeople don't like buyers, (since we're all unreasonable liars) and WE don't like salesmen (since you're all lying idiots).  Fine.  Why do I have to use a salesman?  Why can't I just go to newcars.com and put in my order and have it delivered in a week just like on Amazon?  In fact, why can't Amazon sell me a new car?  That way you're happy (you don't have to put up with those unreasonable buysers) and buyers are a happy (no hassle buying).  The car buying process here in America is messed up in my book.  Oh, who'll take care of my car for me after purchase?  Hopefully not one of the "skilled" dealer mechanics who have worked on my cars lately.  Independent repair stations couldn't be worse.

Somewhere between your fantasy extremes of buyers who only care about color and buyers who want the salesman to know every little possible detail of a car, is the reality of buyers who are trying to decide between different cars and are trying to figure out which one will be best for them.  I have never had a salesman know more about a car I was interested in than I did.  I know, I just happened to run into all the bad salesmen, the rest were good.  And I DON'T care about what color the the bolt heads are.  

It's a little different now with all the internet resources but back in the day, the only way to learn about a car was to go to dealer and ask questions and check it out.  Yeah, sometimes you "wasted" a salesman's time but it's not unreasnable for people who are about to spend a bunch of dough to investigate what they're buying first.  I always tell the salesman I'm just researching and yet time after time they expect me to buy right then.  The cars I've bought from a dealer have always been from a salesperson who was low key and just let me check out the car.  

I'm sure there are good car salespeople and but there are PLENTY of really bad ones.  I acknowledge that there are also plenty of bad buyers.  In our defense, it's not our job to be good buyers, it is a salesperson's job to be a good salesperson.

mike