I tried to buy a new car and ended up not buying anything due to stubbornness of salesmen.<p>I couldn’t care less about personal interaction with sleazy salesman and when buying new car I just need the right price, not the sales dance done in person and all this “let me talk to the manager” BS.<p>When salesman quotes me MSRP on my answer on the best deal - this is conversation over.<p>When they stop treating customers like idiots they’ll get more business and more sales.
So what exactly is the new tactic? I scoured the article but they never seemed to explain what the new tactic is, other than the phrase "working deals over Zoom and text messages."
Car salesmen might have carved for the personal connection and face to face deals, customers dread it. It's much better to have a impersonal buying experience over phone and internet. No wonder dealerships adapted to the new approach thrive.
It was not mentioned in the article, but it seems like there’s also lower inventory on car lots due to the slowdowns and closures of auto plants in the spring.
No HN thread on car sales would be complete without a mention of this classic: <a href="http://www.dougsrepublic.com/PDF/carsalesman.pdf" rel="nofollow">http://www.dougsrepublic.com/PDF/carsalesman.pdf</a><p>(I'd link to the original on Edmunds.com, but it seems to be hopelessly borked with 404s all over the place.)
Two cars in a row on the line are not identical. Options and finish and engine and suspension and extra and milage and maintenance history and colour and metallic or plain.. the idea a car purchase is cookie cutter is probably as flawed as the idea all ThinkPad are the same.
While it's a terrible situation, it is endearing to see people think on their feet during the pandemic. It would be nice to see some of these methods spread and stick around.<p>It's nothing personal but I loathe negotiating and dealing with car salesmen in the traditional process. I want people to get paid fairly without feeling like I'm being taken advantage of.