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I feel that I need to preface this by saying that I have not personally been suckered by any of these dealers and I am not complaining based on personal experience. I've bought over 20 cars and trucks in my short life (as well as buying and selling thousands of cars and heavy duty trucks for work) and am pretty familiar with what is and isn't a good deal and how it works.
This post was merely an observation of local dealer practices based on their advertisements. While it is true that the manufacturers don't have a large amount of control over how a dealer does business, they can certainly exert influence. Generally the Japanese and German brands have very strict dealer standards, less so for the American brands, but they are getting better. However, it seems to me, at least in NJ, that Hyundai exercises very little control over their dealers and their practices. For a car company in ascendency this can be a major issue.
I happen to like several of the new Hyundai products, but all of my local dealers seem to be run like a bait and switch three ring circus. So, while I wouldn't personally fall for it, it makes it very hard for me to want to do business with them. I was really trying to see if others had seen this in their area's as well. It was meant to be a topic of conversation, not a rant about a personal experience. Perhap's the dealers felt that they needed to be gimmicky to sell Hyundai's 5 or 10 years ago, but as the product has dramatically improved, the dealers still seem to be relying on the same hokey sales tactics.
Good points. As an experienced buyer, your experience is certainly very valid.
I disagree that consumers cannot affect dealer behavior.
Perhaps a letter to Hyundai NJ or whoever the controlling enterprise is, explaining what you've said here, could catch an ear.
If you don't write, you certainly won't catch an ear.
An example on a much smaller scale: About 15 years ago all the practitioners on my unit were in New Orleans for a train-up.
We stayed at a fancy hotel, very nice classy Old Family place. Fine china, silver service, something like 150+ a night.
Downstairs they of course had morning coffee. I forget if it was free or a buck or something. Doesn't matter, what did matter to me was the disconnect between their fine service and their styrofoam cups they served up the coffee in.
Yes, at Motel 6 or Holiday Inn you expect coffee in styrofoam or cardboard. But this was no Motel 6, it was a very ritzy joint.
So after returning home, I wrote a letter to management or the owner, forget who exactly.
A few weeks later I got a return letter from someone well up the chain. Perhaps the owning family. He said they had considered my comments and suggestions, and they were changing their policy and would be serving coffee in mugs, cups, something with a tad more class than styro.
Smart move on a couple of fronts. Ahead of the anti-styro curve, adds class, recycles mugs.
Of course, all management isn't this aware and open to suggestion. Perhaps it's a New Jersey thing with your H dealers.
But you're absolutely correct, a company putting out bang-bang-bang fine new product does not need Snidely Whiplash type sales tactics. This is how you stifle success, PO lots of potential customers, and build bad rep that is very hard to work off.
As GM discovered, the good times don't last forever. But people who are getting rich quick, and management who is isolated from the customer, have a way of forgetting that fast. Or they don't care, they're in it for a quick buck and are not concerned about ethics, reputation, or long term relationships with loyal customers.
I usually buy a new car every year or so. The SOP on visiting Chevy dealers throughout the 1990s was these company-guy types in their 50s who appeared to have spent their entire careers at the same dealership, using the same "tactics" if you can call it that, since I thought tactics are designed and implemented to assure victory.
To a man, their pat answer was You Will Pay Stickler For This Car. They knew nothing of their products. Not unusual for car salesmen, but still...
Once I remarked about the wing on a trunk, which I didn't like. The sales guy said, Oh you can just take that off, bondo the holes, and paint the trunk lid. On a new car. Yes, right. I looked at him, shook my head, and departed. Never to return.
I bought many Chrysler LH cars during the 90s, not one Chevy.
I had a great salesman who cut through the BS, not one who created it.
Write Hyundai HQ. The worst they can do is ignore you, I think they're too savvy for that.
Quote:
Originally Posted by NJGOAT
OMG...I think I am going to give up on this thread. The intention was to discuss dealer sales tactics and advertising as they relate to the perception of a brand. In this case the local Hyundai dealers all personify the worst car dealer stereotypes. It's not about whether or not you can get a decent deal from them, but more about their general method of doing business. Out of probably 100 dealerships in my area with the exception of 2 Dodge and 1 Chevy dealer, none of the other dealer brands engage in this type of advertising or gimmicks. I was trying to get to the point that if Hyundai (a brand in ascendency and gaining market share) wants to continue to build on what they are doing, they need to take a firmer stand with dealers engaging in this type of behavior.
I wonder with so many ppl hitting up internet sales managers online for quotes, do dealerships still get a good percent of their sales from walk-in customers? I would think the old hard-sell strategies used by floor reps would be almost laughable considering consumers now have instant access to invoice/rebate data through sites like Edmunds & Kelly Blue Book.
I don't think people use the internet salesman all that much. I would think that having a good internet department would broaden the dealer's trading area (a dealer might get a few customers coming an hour or two for a hard to find car, perhaps) but of all the new cars I see and from the trunklid decals and plate frames, I'm pretty sure nearly everyone purchases from one of the two or three closest dealers for that brand.
I don't think people use the internet salesman all that much. I would think that having a good internet department would broaden the dealer's trading area (a dealer might get a few customers coming an hour or two for a hard to find car, perhaps) but of all the new cars I see and from the trunklid decals and plate frames, I'm pretty sure nearly everyone purchases from one of the two or three closest dealers for that brand.
They still may purchase from the Internet department.
It depends on the store, but I have some friends who tell me Internet makes up almost 70% of their business some months.
For instance, I was chatting with the Mazda guy, and he does Internet sales. The store does 75 - 85 cars a month and he does 25 - 35 of that.
The only thing I used the internet for on the last car purchase was to look at dealer inventories (was looking for the impossible to find Camry CE, never found one within 300 miles).
The only thing I used the internet for on the last car purchase was to look at dealer inventories (was looking for the impossible to find Camry CE, never found one within 300 miles).
Dealer inventories online aren't that accurate.
And the trend is definitely going towards Internet shopping. The percentage of sales by Internet department is trending higher and higher.
I was talking to some guys from the dealer arm of the company that I work for and the internet sales thing came up. It seems like at least for the dealerships that are part of my company it is very brand dependent. For instance, Lincoln and Cadillac do virtually no internet sales, but Mini Cooper does about 70% of their business that way and BMW does around 40%. So, I think the internet angle really depends on the brand and the location. That was all I remember out of the dozen or so different dealer brands we have, but it was all over the board. They did mention that internet sales were most key on used car inventory and the used car guys attribute about 80% of their sales to internet marketing and sales leads.
As for the internet being a resource, it has certainly changed the car sales game. People now have access to a ton of information regarding pricing, everything from MSRP to invoice to true dealer cost is out there. You can even get info on dealer direct cash incentives and quota incentives. Not to mention the ability to check inventories and get competitive bids.
I think that the good dealers have adjusted to that and they are more or less counting on their customers having that info and they try to get to a fair price quickly. The sales end now seems to be more about helping a customer reach a decision and guiding them through the process than actually selling. Of course there are still guys like the Hyundai dealers I mentioned who will descend on you like mutton in a shark tank and whirlwind your way through the experience from picking out the best car for you, to having their "manager" give you the best deal ever, to lubing you up before you get sent to finance who will have called in a "favor" to get you approved.
The Hyundai dealer near me has a scam called "tires for life." The catch is that you have to have ALL of your service, even oil changes (at an inflated price) done at the dealer...and you have to have everything done in the "dealer recommended maintenace" which is over and above the manufacturer recommended maintenance. Then every so many years, they'll throw a bottom-of-the-line set of tires at you. And if you don't follow their service schedule to a T, they void the offer.
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