Car salesperson

Any recommendations on a 'reputable' car salesperson that works at a Nissan dealership? I have been in the Nissan dealership near Wegmans twice now - first time was not happy with person that helped me. Then tonight I stopped by and actually could not get anyone to help me which was surprising. Has anyone been to the Nissan dealership in Chantilly?

 

Hah...Chantilly was worse for us. We were haggling with both Sterling and Chantilly Nissan for my husband's car. One evening the car salesman from the Chantilly called and I spoke to him telling him that we still weren't sure which dealership we were going to go with and whether we were going to buy or lease the car. He proceeded to berate me for basically wasting his time coming up with all sorts of financing solutions to both types of vehicles we were looking at to purchase. Based on that phone call we decided to go with Sterling even though they're pretty worthless too. My husband called back to Chantilly to speak to management there to let them know about the conversation I had with their sales guy because it's the sales guy's job to come up with all kinds of options for us. Too bad if we "wasted" his time (sales guy's words to me).

Chantilly definitely had better perks, but we ended up with Sterling because of convenience and less lousy of a sales guy.

 

We were going to buy a Nissan several years ago and had such a horrible experience at the dealer (in Tysons) that we ended up with an Acura instead (Pohanka Acura). Basically, after weeks of haggling, we finally reached and agreement on the terms of the sale. My husband drove all the way down there to do the deal, arrived there and they told him that they made a mistake and couldn't do the deal at the price agreed. We should have been clued in by the shouting match happening with a customer and manager one time we were there. We gave up in buying the Nissan. The kicker-the new model years started arriving at the end of that particular week and they were desperately calling us to honor their original deal. We passed.

It's been almost 6 years and the TL we bought instead of the Nissan is still going strong and looks like new. So I guess we were very lucky the Nissan dealer treated us so poorly.

Sorry I couldn't help but I wanted to share my story at my failed attempt to buy a Nissan.

 

I had a terrible experience at the Nissan Chantilly also.

 

hubby also bought a TL from Pohanka and their service and sales team's are truly great. I've purchased 2 RX's from Pohanka Lexus- would never buy anywhere else. hubby got a toyota from Leesburg Toyota and has been nothing but disappointed with their service since he bought the car.

If you are thinking used, you can see free CARFAX reports on www.carfax.com to get an idea of the history of area vehicle's too- compare mileage, go straight to various websites from the rpts, etc. Insist on an inspection too, of course, but vehicle history can help in the buying decision as well!

 

Our family is a Honda family and we've had nothing but fabulous service from Leesburg Honda. The service manager, Jason, is absolutely the best, very professional and makes sure you're totally happy with any service you've had done, no matter how minor. We don't buy new cars very often, both our Hondas are seven years old, but have less than 60,000 miles on them (we both have short commutes). Both cars are paid for and I love not having a car payment. That money can go toward our retirement!

 

I second this suggestion. We bought a car this way and it was extremely simple. When we arrived at the dealership to sign the paperwork and pick up the car there was no bait and switch or issues with price at all. This was at the Honda dealership in Tysons but should (note "should") apply to any internet deal you get.

 

I second this (actually both of the points). I can not stand Browns Sterling, and I agree 100% with the internet quotes.

If you really want a Nissan dealership, the one in Winchester is great.

 

For those who have never done this, can you describe the steps to get these internet quotes?

 

Getting internet quotes is very easy.. get on the dealerships web page and request a quote laying out exactly what you want. I would strongly suggest that you avoid turning the email exchanges in to phone conversatoins as you will fall back in to the sales loop.... One thing is that if you do not know what dealerships to look up, you can make a request on the car companies site (i.e GM, Honda, etc...) and then you will have several dealerships reaching out to you.

Keep it on email, let them know your intent and timeline (and that you are providing the same request to other dealerships)....

SEcondly, on buying a car it is never in your interest to negotiate the finance and the car price at the same time. You should negotiate a buying price, research what the car companies themselves are advertising around financing, and then seek external financing and tell them to beat it.....

Keeping price and financing seperate will allow you to negotiate them independently..... This is a great time to buy a car as inventories are high.

One last point..... keep in mind that when the dealerships come back they are likely to tell you about the car they have in stock that has "more than you want" and tell you how you are getting a bargain because you are getting all of the add ons for just a little more than the "more basic" car you were pursuing. This is another upsell scam..... pay for what you want, if their inventory car happens to have "more" than what you wanted that isn't your problem - cash flow is the key to them right now, so they need money in the door, likely profit is a secondary concern

 

Car salesman in general rank next to those parasites that live in your stomach on my social hiearchy list.

 

This just reminds me of how much I hate buying cars.

So if I go to the dealer's website and ask for a quote, how can I be sure this is the lowest price? I would imagine that a dealer would only post their higher price bands to encourage customers to come in and try to bargin with a salesperson?

 

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We just bought a Nissan at Brown's. Worked a little with Chantilly as well, came in with Internet quotes, and continued to negotiate. 5 hours later, drove out with a car. It's rarely a pleasant experience...and if it is, you paid too much.

 

We started with internet quotes and found that actually going in to haggle with them gave us the lowest price (at least we were pleased with our negotiated price/rate). Internet quotes, I think, are higher just to get you to come in.

 

At the Honda dealership in Tysons the internet sales guy said that he doesn't get paid to haggle since he does not get paid on commission. He was straight salary so haggling was not necessary. The internet sales departments typically offer very reasonable prices because they want to make a sale. You might be able to get a lower price if you want to haggle in person with a salesperson but the internet price is usually a good, competitive one, in my experience.

If you do your research on Cars.com and know what the dealer paid for the car, including options, you know where to start negotiating and what a good price would be. Salespeople do deserve to make a profit for the work they do, but I think I've read that 2-5% is reasonable. But don't let the salesperson intimidate you based on that - s/he should work for it. So if you do your research, know what is a good and reasonable price, you can contact dealers via the company websites (in this case, Nissan) and the dealers will respond with their supposed best offers from their internet departments. If you do not feel comfortable with an offer, don't feel obligated to continue.

Some reputable websites to help you with your research are Edmunds.com and Cars.com. I know Edmunds will let you choose a make, model, and options you want and then give you a pricing report on what the dealer pays for each item (aka invoice pricing) and what typical retail (aka sticker price) is. The price you want to pay is somewhere in between, preferably close to the invoice price. The Edmunds website also offers some great advice on buying new cars.

 

Oh, and we're loving the 51 MPG average we're getting with our Toyota Prius! We've had the car since June and haven't dropped below 50 mpg so far.

 

I have heard that the "invoice Price" is a lot of BS that the dealerships use to con customers. The articles I read say that the dealer pays less than what is posted on the "invoice". Anyone confirm or refute that rumour?



As for your Prius, I am envious I have not been able to crack 50MPG for a full tank yet <pout>

 

The invoice price issue you're referring to may be the fact that dealers don't have to disclose dealer incentives and holdbacks which might also apply.

Drive your Prius like you have a cup of steaming coffee in your lap and you'll see a difference in your mileage! When you see the light up ahead is red, take your foot off the accelerator and coast to a stop - let the electric part of the engine do the work.