New job

[Murgatroy]

1 hour ago, Whisper said:

You might want to read some reviews of the Stinger.  Oh, my.  I don't need one, but I sure do want it.

I have two black labs, I need an SUV or wagon. It is uncomfortable for my heathen and my babies all in the back seat. The wife wants four wheel drive. I don't want to spend $40k. Unfortunately as a Ford family, nothing interests her (I really like the Ecosport, cause small capable 4x4s are awesome, but it is too small I think.) We have been browsing for a year or two, and the Subie Outback ticks all the boxes. She likes the 4Runner too. I like them both, but the price on the Outback is more my flavor, I am cheap.

 

[A.J. Holst]

In my line of work, I've been exposed to car dealerships since 1992.

Best advice I can give you, whether you're selling cars, flooring, or hot dogs - ask opened ended questions to create a buying environment.

Folks hate to be sold, but they love to buy stuff.

Ask what they need, want, and desire; (specifically in that order for a car) this may uncover hidden needs your customer didn't know they had, and gives you the opportunity to  present a custom tailored solution to fill what they want, and you got a good shot they'll buy.

Best price? In this day and age, folks, all of our prices on the internet, if we were overpriced, you probably wouldn't be here.

"Hi, my name is Steelharp, and this is going to be the best experience you've ever had at a car dealership!"

Ask for referrals and send thank you cards. 

Edited April 6, 2018 by Gotthegoods

[A.J. Holst]

3 hours ago, Murgatroy said:

I have two black labs, I need an SUV or wagon. It is uncomfortable for my heathen and my babies all in the back seat. The wife wants four wheel drive. I don't want to spend $40k. Unfortunately as a Ford family, nothing interests her (I really like the Ecosport, cause small capable 4x4s are awesome, but it is too small I think.) We have been browsing for a year or two, and the Subie Outback ticks all the boxes. She likes the 4Runner too. I like them both, but the price on the Outback is more my flavor, I am cheap.

 

To help a newbie out, KIA Sportage? Small cargo, but rear seat down may works for the dogs. If need both cargo and seats, only option is the Sorrento.

And yes, the tricked out Stinger in the $50 - $60k trim levels approach high end Eruo and Japanese luxury sport sedans.

The 18 sportage seems to be near the pinnacle of design comparing the last 5 years (I may lose my company car so have been looking and this hit my radar)

Remember Killed in Action when you saw one broken down on the side of the road in the mid 90s?

[Defender]

 congrats on the job.  I just bought a 2018  kia sportage ex.  Decided what to buy by doing research and knew what I wanted when I walked into the dealership.  They didnt have what I wanted at rivergate so i went to antioch.  Had a crap salesman who didnt know his product at all.  If I hadnt already decided before I fgot there, i woulda walked out on him.  He didnt try to upsell me, but he just winged answers to my questions that were simply incorrect.  His loss as therewere two models( and ex and a higher end sx) i had picked out and wasnt sure which one...i ended up buying the cheaper of the two, and he coulda easily sold me the higher end one by only being honest.  He actually undersold me  and i should be careful when I say honest.  I dont think he lied, but he didnt know the answers and rather than saying that and finding out, he just said what he though, which wasnt factual.  In the end, Im happy with the ex I boiught, but i probably would sprung for the sx just to get the extra bells and whistles.  So, yeah, best advice,  be honest and learn your product.

[E4 No More]

1 hour ago, JAlexanderMSgt said:

 congrats on the job.  I just bought a 2018  kia sportage ex.  Decided what to buy by doing research and knew what I wanted when I walked into the dealership.  They didnt have what I wanted at rivergate so i went to antioch.  Had a crap salesman who didnt know his product at all.  If I hadnt already decided before I fgot there, i woulda walked out on him.  He didnt try to upsell me, but he just winged answers to my questions that were simply incorrect.  His loss as therewere two models( and ex and a higher end sx) i had picked out and wasnt sure which one...i ended up buying the cheaper of the two, and he coulda easily sold me the higher end one by only being honest.  He actually undersold me  and i should be careful when I say honest.  I dont think he lied, but he didnt know the answers and rather than saying that and finding out, he just said what he though, which wasnt factual.  In the end, Im happy with the ex I boiught, but i probably would sprung for the sx just to get the extra bells and whistles.  So, yeah, best advice,  be honest and learn your product.

There's bells & whistles on a Kia??? 

[MacGyver]

Don't underestimate the Koreans.  When Hyundai and Kia first moved over here, they were definitely lower priced budget cars - and that 10 year warranty was a necessary item.

But, as they've iterated through their manufacturing process refining as they go, they're turning out some decent competition these days. I've recently driven several rentals more than 1500 miles over a couple of days and was impressed by all of them.

[peejman]

23 minutes ago, MacGyver said:

Don't underestimate the Koreans.  When Hyundai and Kia first moved over here, they were definitely lower priced budget cars - and that 10 year warranty was a necessary item.

But, as they've iterated through their manufacturing process refining as they go, they're turning out some decent competition these days. I've recently driven several rentals more than 1500 miles over a couple of days and was impressed by all of them.

Kia and Hyundai (same company) were some of my customers when I worked in the auto industry. I'll be honest and say they were horrible to deal with. They hadn't the slightest idea what they wanted or why they wanted it, but the world was gonna stop if they didn't get it yesterday. 

That said, they were smart enough to know what they didn't know, and work on improving that.

They knew their quality was subpar so they poached a few key people from Toyota and implemented their quality system. It took years to permeate their culture, but they've made huge strides in that regard.   

They knew their styling wasnt exactly "upscale" so they poached a few German designers and their styling improved dramatically. 

[MacGyver]

South Korea went from a third world country to a first world economy in a generation.  I suspect they became pretty adept at “borrowing” their share of good ideas.  

[Steelharp]

6 hours ago, JAlexanderMSgt said:

 So, yeah, best advice,  be honest and learn your product.

If I could get on with Ruger or Glock..

[tnhawk]

Congrats on the new job!

[Defender]

20 hours ago, SWJewellTN said:

There's bells & whistles on a Kia??? 

lol, youd be very surprised...Ive got heated seats, heated steering wheel, electric front seats,  heated side view, folding mirrors and lane warnings for my blind spots...full retracting sun roof, etc...

[MacGyver]

5 words that my 18 year-old self never thought I’d hear my 43 year-old self say, “these heated seats are amazing.”

[Garufa]

4 minutes ago, MacGyver said:

5 words that my 18 year-old self never thought I’d hear my 43 year-old self say, “these heated seats are amazing.”

I’m still not convinced.  The first time I rode in a car with them and didn’t know about it I thought I had an accident, lol.

[Steelharp]

The more I learn about them, the more impressed I am. The features per dollar are pretty amazing, compared to others. Test drove today a Rio (small and quite snappy, good starter car), a Forte, a Soul (6 speed manual transmission, I WANT THAT CAR!!), and a Sportage (comfy, feature filled, just not my personal cup o' tea).

[TripleGGG]

The more I learn about them, the more impressed I am. The features per dollar are pretty amazing, compared to others. Test drove today a Rio (small and quite snappy, good starter car), a Forte, a Soul (6 speed manual transmission, I WANT THAT CAR!!), and a Sportage (comfy, feature filled, just not my personal cup o' tea).

I was GM at a Kia dealership for 4 years. Great vehicles. Hold up great in crashes. Should see the pictures of a Sportage customers brought me from a wreck they were in. They walked away unhurt, and I don't know how they even survived it was crumpled so bad.  

 

 

[MacGyver]

1 hour ago, Garufa said:

I’m still not convinced.  The first time I rode in a car with them and didn’t know about it I thought I had an accident, lol.

Once you decide to get over yourself they’re awesome. 

Playing jokes on your friends never gets old, either.  

[DaveTN]

On 4/6/2018 at 10:46 PM, Steelharp said:

If I could get on with Ruger or Glock..

Nothing at Beretta? 

[DaveTN]

I sold cars for a year prior to everything being on the net. So I’m sure it’s very different today. Good luck.

The only advice I can give pertains to what happened with me the last few new cars. I buy vehicles the same way I buy guns; I do my research online, know what I want, and know what they cost. At that point I’m just looking for who has it, and the lowest price. I don’t want to go “looking” I want to go “buying”.

The last one I emailed all the MidState dealers with the specific requirements I had. Most replied with a canned “Come on down!” reply, only two responded with specific information on what I told them I wanted. I went to see both. One lied to me about price; the other made the sale. The one that made the sale had an “Internet sales” person that didn’t try to hide pricing or tell me I had to come in to get a price. What an easy way to Buy/Sell a car.

Don’t overlook the folks that use the email option on the website.

[MacGyver]

The modern car dealership is really three businesses under one roof.  The first is the sales side where you go through this dance of selecting a car and agreeing on a price.  It’s helpful to understand that he second business is the one that “helps” you find a way to pay for that vehicle.  This second business is where a dealer typically makes its money before manufacturer incentives.  The third business is the parts/service business.  

This model breaks down a little bit with Kia because they depend so heavily on manufacturer incentives.  There are plenty of dealers that are actually underwater on sales pricing just to move product and make money on financing and incentives.   

 

[E4 No More]

On 4/7/2018 at 2:55 PM, JAlexanderMSgt said:

lol, youd be very surprised...Ive got heated seats, heated steering wheel, electric front seats,  heated side view, folding mirrors and lane warnings for my blind spots...full retracting sun roof, etc...

I couldn't get by the hamster car and the special ed bus. In my mind Kias were cheap cars aimed at millennials so I ignored the brand. My wife traded in her Cadillac XTS for a Nissan Murano last summer/fall, and laments doing to. I must say that I don't blame her because the magnetic ride was real nice. My Silverado 3500 rides much softer than other brands of lighter capacity too. I am not a brand snob by I think GM is really kick'n it! 

[mikegideon]

1 hour ago, SWJewellTN said:

I couldn't get by the hamster car and the special ed bus. In my mind Kias were cheap cars aimed at millennials so I ignored the brand. My wife traded in her Cadillac XTS for a Nissan Murano last summer/fall, and laments doing to. I must say that I don't blame her because the magnetic ride was real nice. My Silverado 3500 rides much softer than other brands of lighter capacity too. I am not a brand snob by I think GM is really kick'n it! 

You won't fit in a Kia anyway  

[E4 No More]

3 minutes ago, mikegideon said:

You won't fit in a Kia anyway  

This is true. I usually don't fit into any clown car high mileage vehicle.

[Steelharp]

Sportage will fit pretty much any fat a... 

[E4 No More]

24 minutes ago, Steelharp said:

Sportage will fit pretty much any fat a... 

Yes, but does it fit tall big people? To put it this way, I couldn't even get into a Cadillac CTS 2-door with the seat at its lowest setting. We had to go with a XTS 4-door, and it's still hard to enter/exit. Once I got into it it was great!

[mikegideon]

1 hour ago, Steelharp said:

Sportage will fit pretty much any fat a... 

He's a big ole boy. He was before he got fat