Exotic car salesmen Snobby or Lazy? Or Both?

My diving buddy's friend is a major exotic salesman. Nice guy, down to earth and on the ball. His customers are repeats typically, so he knows the buyer already, but that does not excuse rude salesmen.

I will not accept ****ty service, I walk within seconds.

Hope you find someone decent, don't tolerate that crap.

 

Ever seen the movie Pretty Woman? Go to another dealer where they treat you like a
serious buyer and with decent human respect and buy your car THERE. Then drive
back to the first place, find that jerk salesman, and say '... BIG mistake - HUGE' and
walk out, get in your exotic and drive off.



Jedi

 

A lot of guys just stop in to have a look, and dealers know that. They aren't going to pounce and swarm like Toyota salespeople.

Did you clarify your request with the receptionist? Not sure I understand what happened here, but I really don't understand why you just left.

Frankly, the guys at Ferrari of San Diego have been cordial and helpful. Ditto Ferrari of Denver. Ditto the guys at Symbolic Motors (Lambo dealer). In fact, every time I've been to any of these places I've learned something about these cars. I think the good salespeople take genuine pleasure in what they sell, and the fact that they're dealing with clients with very specific tastes. (Face it, we talk about contrasting stitching, brake caliper colors and a dozen different aftermarket exhausts on this site...)

Go back, have a positive attitude and remember that they get 99 tire kickers for every guy who has the bank balance.

 

As a followup to both my own post and Bullfighters, I had GREAT respect from the
guys at Ferrari of Seattle - I was bashful going in, and said I was 'just looking but
want to purchase soon' (this was last January). The salesman Craig was as nice
as could be, and told me "just like Match.com says in their commercials - it's OK
to look"! I spent half an hour looking at everything, with lots of explanations and
bonnet popping. Then he took my name and number, but alas I found my car in
March before he had come up with what I wanted.

They ain't all bad, these dealers.

Jedi

 

Isn't Expo the same dealer that has had that 355 GTB TDF blue for like 20 years?? If so, Go elsewhere...I had a nice talk with the sales manager about there piss poor salespeople very recently...

 

Hello, 1st post!!!

I think Bullfighter put it well.

 

Usually an exotic car buyer will approach the salesperson and say I want to buy that car, how much?

A Toyota buyer doesn't have to say anything, like Bullfighter said they will gang up on you

 

It's stupid to expect Toyota treatment at a Ferrari dealership. You should be happy they are not a high pressure outfit. They are happy to let people gawk, happy to answer questions if asked, and happy to sell cars if needed. If you go in with a chip on your shoulder because you are used to being swarmed over when buying ordinary cars, and expecting ten times more ass-kissing because you have finally saved up the beans to buy a Ferrari, then you will be disappointed.

 

I will never forget when I went to Silicon Valley Auto Group in Los Gatos.

I'm 18 and it was pretty apparent from the second I stepped onto the turf of the dealership that I wasn't in the market for a car at this point in my life, but the salesmen insisted on showing me the cars inside and out and telling me about them. Also, when I asked about the veyron they had, he went in the back and took off the cover that was on it and showed me it from top to bottom. Real nice guy.

I asked him why he would treat someone like myself with such respect and his answer was simple: guys with such a will to obtain an exotic will get one eventually. Therefore, why destroy a potential future sale?

I could tell he was very happy to show me around the cars. I will be going out of my way to purchase my first exotic (if they have what I want) as I was completely floored with their service.

Dan

 

Sounds like you guys are buying illegal drugs, not cars. If you want to buy ASK the salesman. If he doesnt budge then tell him he just lost a customer and go elsewhere.

 

My experience has been, if you're serious and professional, so are they. But, buying an exotic is not like buying a Toyota. An exotic sales guy sells one or two a month. At a Toyota dealership, if they don't do that by lunch, they may be out of a job.

Every sale with this much money involved takes time and is a long process. It's not like driving into your local Ford dealer with a Taurus and driving out with a Mustang 30 minutes later. Salesmen know this.

They also know that people with enough money to buy one don't want high pressure to buy. No one really NEEDS a Ferrari. They want one. Anyone seriously walking in already knows what they are getting into. So, they give you your space and let you browse without breathing down your neck until you are ready to talk.

There are a lot of wannabees that show up at exotic dealers. There are toursits that walk in (you should see the line at Penske-Wynn in Las Vegas). There are people that walk in and have no idea what they are doing. There are posers who try to shoot the bull with them all day as a form of entertainment. You can't assume the salemen are mind readers and size you up as soon as you open the door. Depending on the location, out of the 50 people that walk in, maybe only one is a real potential customer with cash in his pocket.

Now, if you feel you're not being treated correctly, walk out and find someone else. There is no reason anybody should be treated unprofessionally if you are being serious.

One thing that can really help is to CALL and make an appointment. Ask the dealership that you want to speak with a salesperson. Make an appointment, show up on time, look serious, and have the good manners not walk in with a T shirt, shorts, and flip flops. Think of it as you would an interview -- because to some degree it is.

Oh, having a hot chick at your side never hurts either!

 

I've watched the guys at Algar work with potential buyers several times. Some looked like European royalty, some looked like they couldn't afford the bus token to ride home with.

All were treated with respect and approached much the same way. There never appeared to be any lack of attention, any disdain for any prospective customer. I've never seen them leave a guy wandering around the showroom, unless that person made it clear that they were just browsing and didn't want any attention paid to them.

I guess it depends on the dealer. Clearly at Algar, they've been taught not to assume anything about someone who walks into the showroom. You never know when some Main Line blueblood will wander in looking a little tatty, with $100,000,000 sitting in their operating account for the estate house, looking for a nice new Ferrari or Maserati to travel about town in.

I've been treated worse at Acura, BMW, Ford, and a Toyota dealer than I've ever been treated at Algar. From the first time I walked in, probably as a wide eyed teenager, until today.

Anything less than the best from your salespeople, and I don't care if it's a Toyota, a BMW or a Ferrari, just makes for bad business.

DM

 

+1 about Algar.

In the 70's I went into the old Algar in Paoli to look at the cars. The salesman Phil Tegmier just gave me the keys to a 308 GT4 and said bring it back in an hour( Those were the days) . I brought the car back and bought an Alfa Romeo Berlina that day. Been friends with Phil ever since and bought a number of cars from Algar.

Went in to buy a Porsche in Tysons Corner VA in the 80's and the salesman required me to put down a $3000 deposite to test drive a 911. I gave hime the finger and left. I have hated Porches ever since that experience.

Ferrari of Atlanta and Ferrari of Washington are great as well.

Some places are great and some just suck

 

+ 2 about Algar.
Great service from Patrick.
It's not always easy to find.
Eric

 

No offense but how did you look when you strolled into the dealership. I hate to say but exotic car dealers get a lot of posers that couldn't afford a Hyundai, so yeah first impressions are lasting impressions and if they don't already know you and you look like average joe (Even if you have six figures to spend). They are going to go back to those magazines that they were reading as you were walking in.

 

I found lambo dealers to be allot nicer than ferrari.

 

For comparison, when I went into Miller Motorcars in Greenwich, CT, simply walked in to buy a cap for my stepmother, and at least 2 salespeople asked me if I was being helped.


I was the only person there, so perhaps that was why. Still, I felt good that they actually considered my presence even though I really wasn't there for anything important.

 

That comment struck a nerve
I never really look like i could afford an exotic since i work many hours a day in a fairly dirty place.
Best not to prejudge in sales but you are correct.You will probably always be treated better if you are well dressed.
Eric

 

+1

I know many 'wealthy' guys who work construction and landscaping, who will show up to our local Ferrari dealership in a pick up truck and work boots after the workday.

They certainly bought a Ferrari regardless of their wardrobe.

 

I am only 25 and the chaps in our local 'exotic' dealer have always approached me and been helpful and polite. They all now know i like to pop in for a look and even the boss approached me and i had a great chat with him about cars. He even ended up trying to sell me a 911. When i am in a position to buy a ferrari i will not forget this.

My mum turned up to our local MB dealer to buy an AMG (no messing, she knew what she wanted), she turned up in a friends (very average) car on crutches with a broken leg and was virtually ignored. She went along to another dealer and was treated impecably, and would not dream of going to another salesman now for a Mercedes, let alone a different dealer and this guy has already had repeat business from her.

I think you get some pretty arrogant people working in these kinds of places, so my answer would be snobby. I have encountered the same kind of people in estate agency, and discovered a long time ago that you never ever judge anyone on their appearance.

 

OKA,

There is no excuse for the sales people not being helpful. I sell Mercedes, and the times people don't get helped it's because of lazy sales people or just simply because they don't think they're there to buy. Find A dealer that is all about their customer service and give them your business.

 

You have to deal with poor attitudes in all walks of life. I refuse to shop on Worth Ave. in Palm Beach because you have to dress like a walking fasion show to get some common courtesy from sales people staffing the high end boutiques. The idea that I have to dress up to impress some sales clerk pulling in less in a year than I make in a month just irritatates the hell out of me. I refuse to be judged by people with this kind of mentality and shop elsewhere. If you don't believe you are getting the service you deserve. Simply take your business where it is appreceated.

 

OT - do you know what came first at that location - the street name Worth, or the high end boutiques?

+1 Funny how it works sometimes.

 

Good post. I haven't been 18 for a long time (), but I remember visiting Marshall Goldman in Cleveland back when I lived there. I was a 20-something, probably in jeans and polo shirt, neat and clean, and I looked like I'd be careful around their inventory. They let me spend some time there, though at the time there wasn't much other than a Porsche 944 that I could aspire to. At any rate, now that I can actually shop there I keep Goldman on my list of 'approved' places.

True, but see my comment above. Imagine you have a showroom of cars with an average price of $200,000. Someone comes in wearing dirt-caked jeans, a T-shirt with grease spots and has black grime under his fingernails. Do you want them sitting in your Ferrari with beige seats?