When I thought about this month’s article, I was talking with mum and thinking of my own experiences (mostly negative unfortunately) in dealing with car salespeople when I bought my car just over a year ago.
Actually, it was mum who said, “Come on, you need a new car. I don’t want to have to worry about you every time you drive that thing.”
At our first stop, it took the salesman more than 15 minutes to come over and even say “hello”. Now, I know a persistent salesperson in any industry, whether it be cars, clothes or the sales girl at ‘Guess’ (while browsing their new shoe collection when I should have been walking back to the office). They can be annoying coming straight up to you, and getting in your personal space trying to push the sell. But at least you expect them to come and say, “G’day, how are you?”
Not only did this one look quite disinterested, but when I asked the questions, “What kind of engine is it? What is the fuel consumption like?” the answer was “Good”. How does that answer my question?
However, it was a different story when dad came with me. He’d tagged along, simply for moral support when I went to actually buy the car, and to my amazement my questions were answered.
When I got to thinking about this, it posed the questions: Does the presence of a man make such a difference when buying a car? And if so, why?
On my hunt for answers, and thinking about my experiences a year earlier, I stopped in on three different car dealerships to get their thoughts; one in new cars, another used cars and the third luxury sport cars. Two out of the three were very helpful and willing to talk; one, I was directed to go through marketing, and we all know how long that would take.
At my first destination, after looking at a few cars on the lot outside for less than five minutes, I saw the silhouette of a man inside the dealership half-running, half-skipping to the door. He opened the door, slowed down to a stop about 20 metres in front of me and greeted me with a bow. I must admit I was slightly taken aback, but then saw the cheeky grin sweep across his face as I stepped over to him.
Very willing to answer some questions, we went inside, I got my recorder out and started with the questions.
“With your experience being a car sales person and knowing others, do you think car sales people treat women differently when buying a car?” I asked him.
His answer: “Not if they’re any good.”
Talking about his own dealership and the many and varied types of people that he and his team come into contact with, he said they had no choice but to treat everyone equally. Listening to him made me feel as though I had been gypped by the car sales people I had dealt with till then.
My second stop was just as positive with the salesman opening with a joke… something to do with horses. Anyway, again very willing to answer questions, his reply to the same first question was;
“Yes. Yes, we do treat women differently. And do you want to know why? Women are the decision makers in the family. I’m married, I know the deal. My wife makes all the decisions. When a wife and a husband and kids walk in, we sell to the wife, not the husband. And we’ve learnt over time that if we don’t treat the lady well, we lose that business.”
Something else I wanted to know was whether car sales people altered the information they gave to men compared to women.
Both sales guys were again very similar in their answers. Both said that you needed to talk to the person and respond to them, not what they are as male or female.
After grilling both of them about how they work, I asked if they had any tips for women buying a car. Here’s what they had to say.
Tip #1 – Don’t be shy. Not everyone walks into a dealership knowing exactly what they want. Go in open and willing to take on any, and all, advice given. Tell the sales person what you’re looking for, something small or something big, something fast or something economical… and then go from there.
Tip #2 – Set your budget. Know exactly what you have to spend and be confident in it.
Tip #3 – Don’t be a bare-faced liar. Plain and simple, if you are not actually out buying a car – just looking – be upfront about it. No-one likes to have their time wasted.
And if you are looking for something for your ‘aunt/uncle/brother/sister/friend’, also be upfront. Walk in and say this is what he/she wants, this is the budget, what can you recommend that I can suggest to him? This way the salesperson knows exactly what is going on and won’t push the sell on you as much as if you were buying the car.
And if you are the buyer, also be upfront. Being forthright works.
Tip #4 – Dress appropriately. Even when people say they don’t, everyone makes assumptions about your dress (and judges the book by its cover). When going to look at car, dress the part. Dress appropriately and you will get shown the respect of being looked in the eye and not the chest when speaking to a salesman.
Tip #5 – Do your research. Shop around, talk to people and look on the internet for cars. Dealer websites give you a great idea of the car so you can make a short list and go and see them in the metal. Going in with some knowledge will go along way toward making the final decision the right decision.
Until next time darlings…
Stefani M Jelić
Loading ...
Comments
Click here to jump to Add Comment box
How do you get a picture next to your name?
Get a Gravatar. Click here to find out more.
My Advice?
Go bush. Great service better price. Plenty of dealers in the city struggle with their overheads incompetant staff and competition. Look for a moderate sized long established country town where its most likely they paid 10 pounds for the property 100 years back and the dealership has been in the family for just as long.
How much do you expect to pay? Try 6grand difference between the “highly competitive city dealers” the laid back country folk on a hilux sr5. Ford Focus XR5? was 2 grand better off on a sit down price. I could of hired a bell jetranger to get out there and still been better off.
And you thought all the country was good for is carrots and steak.
Most car salesmen are complete a55holes, but unfortunately it pervades the industry.
Most of my female friends get short shrift in the sales room, the dealership servicing, third party mechanics, tyre shops, everywhere.
Hmmm… not sure your comment there is fair Charlie.
Recently took my aged mother on a ‘car purchasing’ excursion, was astonished at the saleman’s considerateness (and patience); even on the test drive he managed to avoid leaping out the window (which is a perfectly natural reaction when the mater is at the wheel… “Should I turn now…?”… “Holy sheeeeet!”).
Like any industry, there’s good, there’s not-so good, and there’s the bleedin’ ordinary. It strikes me that because new car dealers are limited to their ‘prime marketing areas’ (PMA), they can’t afford to brown-off customers with poorly trained staff… (basically, they can’t afford to crap in their nest).
The manufacturers also have them on a tight rein with staff training. I’ll admit to being a tad biased, got lots of friends in the industry… they’re just making a quid like you and I.
The Insider
Insider - were you there with her? Even if they don’t know that you’re in the industry, there seems to be a marked difference in behaviour when “the” man is present.
That said, most of the industry people my female friends have dealt with have been reasonably courteous…but always assume that their car knowledge doesn’t extend beyond the colour. Which they find galling.
Best advice you can ever have: Never buy a used car from a dealer. Never. Always buy privately. All used car salesmen are.. you guessed it, used car salesmen! Scumbag sharks who have everything to hide, and their only concern is their next sucker.
Buying privately is usually a better experience, it’s more likely you’ll find a sell who’s more up-front and got less to hide. At least in my experience.
I’ve actually had very positive new car buying experiences. My theory is, if you treat the salesman the way you want to be treated (ie with respect), don’t be uncouth when it comes time to crunch a deal (be cool about it), don’t be an aggressive knob, don’t be standoffish, then my experience is they will go out of their way to help.
You catch more flys with honey than you do with vinegar.
The last car I bought, was around $8k under retail, the salesman assisted the process the whole way through, and off his own bat gave me a bottle of red (a nice bottle…).
Previous experience was similar, although no bottle of red.
My first ever new car purchase saw me wander in all gung-ho and I wandered back out again having paid top dollar and been spun a load of bull. I deserved it…lesson learnt.
The right attitude goes a long way.
It does….on both sides.
Men generally get a pretty sweet deal. I know that, when I’m at a workshop or dealership, I get a very different experience to that of my female friends.
They can try and show off their knowledge if they’re there to buy, but they still get treated in a condescending manner. If I’m there, they’ll get treated a bit more respectfully but any technical discussion comes to me first.
Speaking as a female who was once a ‘used car saleswoman’ i must agree that being up front & honest will get you further. if bull gets in the way it makes it more difficult for all involved. also when anyone (male or female, though particularly male) tried to ’show off’ their knowledge to me i generally just thought they were a wanker… also if you don’t know- ask, if you don’t get the answer you want ask again & be specific.
It is pretty much like going to a workshop.
I have had experiences where Alan and I take both the cars to a shop [so clearly, one is mine and having met Alan before, they know which car belongs to him], and yet they will pull Alan out of the waiting room to discuss issues with my car. It isn’t even a matter of asking both of us to go, they specifically say “Alan can you please come have a look”.
When I went to Mazda to buy the MX5, the salesman was trying to persuade my dad into considering the RX8 and talking to him about the specs of the cars [he didn't even notice that I wasn't next to my dad at the time] regardless of the fact that my dad had already told them it was a car for me and not him. Eventually I just got really annoyed at the fact that the only features I was getting told about was what colours the cars come in and said to them “I’m not getting a Rotary because I don’t want to waste money on petrol, oil and replacing apex seals”.
The salesman was relatively nice to me after that.