jont- wrote:hir wrote:And, to bring us back to where we started, which is about car salesmen being trained to sell cars and finance and not understanding most of the details, we can now understand that a salesman's job is to sell us the bundle of extras, half of which we don't want or need, and then persuade us to buy it because although it adds another million zillion pounds onto the list price it'll only cost another £10 a month over five years on his amazingly cheap finance deal. He doesn't tell us that it will just add a million zillion pounds to the balloon at the end of five years!
Don't forget the "residuals" BS line too
Absolutely, right. They're highly trained professional salespersons. They're programmed to get you to sign the paperwork regardless of what you actually want.
When it comes to buying a new car "the punter's wife" can be a big sales lever for the salesman. They want the wife to touch the car, get in the car, fall in love with the car, and woe betide the husband/partner who disappoints his wife by not buying the car of her dreams, the car which will set her apart from all her friends, the car that will be announced on Facebook, Twitter and Snapchat.
Some years ago my wife decided she wanted an Audi A3 Fastback. She chose the speck and I went alone to the local Audi Main dealer to place the order. I hasten to add that what follows was all pre-arranged between my wife and I. My opening gambit to the salesman was... my wife wants an Audi A3 Fastback; whats the best discount you will offer? The salesman responded... has your wife been to see a car here? To which I replied... no she hasn't, but she's seen the car she wants and knows what she wants, here's the spec. The salesman's response was... I suggest that your wife comes to the showroom and has a look at an A3 and then we can talk price; we can't talk price until she's seen a car. I told him that I wasn't going to let my wife anywhere near his showroom until he'd agreed a price with me. He was simply programmed to get both of us to the showroom where I would not be allowed to walk away from the negotiations leaving my wife devastated with disappointment because I was too mean to pay the showroom price. Needless to say he eventually relented and my wife got the car of her dreams at a price (12% discount) we were prepared to pay.
It's not that I don't like car salesmen, I like them a lot, I enjoy negotiating with them, it's just that I always want to come away with a deal thinking that notwithstanding all the devious sales training techniques that they have tried to employ in my direction, I got what I wanted, at a price I was prepared to pay.