Quote:
Originally Posted by notstock71
Maybe someday a dealer will open that realizes volume can be profitable. People will know they are getting a genuine fair price. Building customer relations has just as much value as the sale. Relationships bring repeat business which generates more sales.
My dad was in service for decades. He never sold anything that wasn't needed. He gave customers a heads up on what repairs were coming due so they could plan and budget. Seeing a customer walk in and say just do what is needed because they knew he wouldn't take advantage of them was amazing to me. To this day I still remember that and have the utmost admiration and respect for him.
Maybe that's why car shopping is so difficult, I want to do business where your word and a handshake means something. Your business is nothing without your customers and your employees are your biggest asset. I don't think that business exists.
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Sounds like your Dad was a stand up guy, few and far between in Sales and Service. My mom has a 2008 Camry with 28k miles, she went to the dealer for an oil change and was told her water pump was leaking and needed a battery as well, quoted her $1100 and told her the car was unsafe to drive. She called me and I told her to leave after her oil change. The Adviser told her again the car was not safe to drive and tried to scare her in to doing the work. She stood her ground and left. I went over that night to check the car and no leaks and the battery was load tested and fine. Two years later, the water pump is still fine. Needless to say, I called the dealer and they wanted her to come back and make it right but I told them to screw and proceeded to put up detailed reviews everywhere I could which they replied to again, asking me to contact them to make it right which I replied to as well. They prey on people. Not all of them but certainly most of them so proceed with caution. Coincidentally, my father in law brought his 2010 Arcadia (40k miles) to a different dealer and they did the same thing to him but he had the work done. Must be part of a new training to up sell water pumps, who knows. Nothing gives me more pleasure than kicking the sh*t out of a sales guy for an hour and then walking away.