We've been looking to get rid of our '05 Altima and get an '02-04 Highlander because we need a little more space. I never thought finding the right car would be this difficult. After a couple of weeks we have found ZERO 4 cylinder Highlanders that are in decent shape and clean. Decided the '03s have a cheap looking interior and have decided to focus the look to an '04. That being said we have found 4 at dealers so far that look great on the carfax. We thought dealers might actaully want to sell a car.

Dealer #1 had one that looked great but it was a smokers car and had a couple ash burns. They tried to say they could get rid of the smell.

Dealer #2 has had this one for a week or 2, wife calls them up to go look at it and asks if it's clean. When she gets there the the car was filthy, had stains on the floors and doors, and had crumbs and dirt just everywhere.

Dealer #3 has one that they just got in last week. Wife calls them up and asks if it's clean. They tell her the car is in excellent condition (KBB says only about 5% of used cars are excellent) and is very clean. She gets there and finds koolaid stains everywhere, carseat wear marks, and the outside looked like someone took it through a briar patch and backed into something.

Dealer #4 I called today and explained I was planning to drive an hour to see the car he had. I explained the other cars we had seen and that we wouldn't be interested in seeing it if it was dirty, in bad shape or a smokers car. He assured me the car was great. We get there and I notice the windows rolled down and figured they were trying to air it out. Walk up to it and the damn car actually has MOLD growing on the door not mildew and a big fucking brownish red stain on the door. Dealer said he was going to get the keys to which I told him don't bother because I'm not buying a car with mold in it.

[RANT]
1. WHY THE HELL IS IT SO HARD TO FIND AN HONEST CAR DEALER THAT ANSWERS MY QUESTIONS AND LISTENS TO MY REQUESTS?
2. DEALERS--YOU'RE A FUCKING CAR DEALER IT'S YOUR DAMN JOB TO SELL A CAR. DO YOURSELF A FAVOR AND HAVE THE CAR CLEANED BEFORE YOU PUT IT ON YOUR LOT. THE BIG NAME PLACE I WENT TO TODAY HAD SOME IDIOT WITH DIRTY CLOTHES AND WAS MISSING HIS FRONT TEETH. HE TOLD ME HE FORGOT TO ROLL THE WINDOWS UP...YEAH WHATEVER MOLD MAN.
[/RANT]

The place we bought our Altima from, however, was awesome and answered all of my questions and listened to all of my requests...too bad they don't have a Highlander on their lot.

9/29/2006 8:31:25 PM

didnt read it.

9/29/2006 9:11:07 PM

well...since ^ didn't read it, i'm not reading it either.

9/29/2006 9:13:30 PM

I wouldn't read it either, I just needed to vent.

9/29/2006 9:17:19 PM

my brother in law may be able to find you one

he works for cary autopark honda

9/29/2006 9:19:20 PM

Craigslist is your friend.

9/29/2006 9:26:05 PM

Quote :

"The place we bought our Altima from, however, was awesome and answered all of my questions and listened to all of my requests...too bad they don't have a Highlander on their lot."

Why don't you ask them to find you a highlander? Most of the time they will keep an eye out for you at the very least, and sometimes they will go out and look for one for you.

9/29/2006 9:30:39 PM

What are the names of the dealers?

9/30/2006 8:02:36 PM

"find an honest car dealer"..... you're smokin too much reefer, come back to reality when you're car shopping!

10/1/2006 12:06:06 AM

i just bought an '03 highlander from charles barker toyota in VA beach about 2 weeks ago

i LOVE my car...it is VERY clean and well taken care of. still has the "new car" smell

they had about 8 to choose from, i know it's quite a drive, but I think it might be worth a trip. try looking at their website

I liked them alot...i didn't feel pressured at all and i talked them into giving me and '03 limited model for the price of their '02 basic model - $2,000 more

10/1/2006 3:02:13 AM

I may have an 02-04(I'm not sure yet) comming in on Monday or Tuesday....do you want to me let you know if it does?

10/1/2006 2:06:16 PM

way too much searching going on for a four cylinder highlander. its one thing to search for a special car, but when you have to look hard to find such a boring one, your wasting time. and in the car market, time is money. so stop wasting your money.

10/1/2006 2:21:50 PM

FYI- If you call a car dealership, their no. 1 goal is to get you to come by and visit. No matter what you ask, they'll say "yes." Even if they don't have the car you ask for, they'll say yes. Why? Cause it gets your ass over there. and they'll risk losing face in order to get your there in an attempt to sell you something else, if they don't have the car you asked for. Anyways, about 3/4 of people who go shopping for a car actually get something quite different from what they originally intended... Maybe not 3/4 of the people on this board, but i'm just saying.

10/1/2006 3:28:42 PM

also, more than 3/4 of the people that go to a dealership buy that day, so getting more walk in customers on the lot is a big priority

10/1/2006 3:55:55 PM

call Fast Inc

10/1/2006 4:36:02 PM

Thanks for the input. I checked into the dealer in VA but they don't currently have what we're looking for. We aren't in any hurry to buy a car, so waiting for the right one at the right price is most important. The '05 Altima that we have now, and will be selling after we get a Highlander, is a great car with no stains dents or even a scratch on it but we will need something a little bigger but still gas efficient.

10/1/2006 9:02:55 PM

so youre fine with continuing to make payments on a car you arent comfortable in whilst you search for your unicorn of hondas?

someone kill me when I decide to get a highlander cause i dont have enough room in my altima anymore.

10/1/2006 9:32:11 PM

Considering I owe a lot less than it's worth I'm not too worried about making payments on it. I could afford both payments but would rather only have 1. I've got one kid now and plan on trying for another one soon. Add a dog and a double stroller to the travels and the Altima seems quite small because the dog can't exactly go in the trunk.

I don't follow you on your "unicorn of hondas" If by that you mean that I want a midsized wannabe SUW that still get decent gas mileage, it still beats a minivan.

10/1/2006 10:50:27 PM

by unicorn i meant hard to find.

10/2/2006 1:12:12 AM

Quote :

"so youre fine with continuing to make payments on a car you arent comfortable in whilst you search for your unicorn of hondas?"

Highlander's a Toyota, durrr

10/2/2006 1:18:32 PM

and your point?

10/2/2006 1:28:14 PM

you called it a Honda

10/2/2006 1:54:53 PM

3/4 of people buy same day????

dumb dumb dumb

10/2/2006 2:10:31 PM

Most of the car dealers in this area are TRASH. There's not a single one that hasn't been on the news for trying to screw a customer. Some are even proud of it. The best way I've ever figured in dealing with dealerships is assume they are stupid or just plain lazy. ASK for the manager.

Normal salesman are a dime a dozen. They lie, cheat, and generally don't give a shit about you and only want your money. They don't make good money and are easy to replace with wanna be pimpsters or old fat guys who don't know shit about what they are selling.

When you get in touch with the manager explain what you want. Explain very plainly that you want a car without stains, mold etc... and that you plan to buy it on the spot if they have one. Ask them to get someone to go out and call you back. IF they call you back then consider them. You're spending THOUSANDS of dollars. If they can't walk the fuck outside and look they don't deserve your business. DO NOT wait on the line. Make them call you back.

10/2/2006 2:10:35 PM

majority are a dime a dozen, but i've recently met one who stunned me with his honesty. He was a retired marine and was very cool to talk to. He let me test drive a truck for the afternoon knowing I wasn't going to buy. (obviously he hoped I was, but didn't seem to care.) He would make a very good non salesman salesman.

10/2/2006 2:15:10 PM

rather than start a new thread I'll bttt this one.

What are the typical fees when buying a used car from a dealer? Taxes 3% etc...

10/7/2006 10:26:31 PM

Heh, when my brother was looking for a car he asked the dealer over the phone if it was a 5 speed. The dealership guy said "hold on I'll go look" returned 5 min later saying it was a 5 speed manual. My brother and dad drove 2 hours to see the car and when they got there it was an auto. The dealer even told them he went and looked at it. That would piss me off. Dealers suck.

Last time I went to a car dealer two NISSAN technicians asked if my car was a skyline or if I did a skyline conversion . . . my car is a stock nissan. Also they changed the water pump [i should have done it myself and saved a lot of $] and forgot the fill the cooling system back up...got down the road and it overheated. Went back and they bled the system again. The next day the water pump belt flew into a million pieces while I was driving down the road.

Stealerships suck, avoid them at all costs

[Edited on October 8, 2006 at 12:22 AM. Reason : s]

10/8/2006 12:21:58 AM

^ i thought your car was far from stock - although nowhere close to a skyline

which nissan dealership?

10/8/2006 12:45:59 AM

Quote :

"What are the typical fees when buying a used car from a dealer? Taxes 3% etc..."

A lot of them try to weasel in the extended warranties, credit processing fees, vehicle procurement fees, etc. in addition to the standard sales tax on the car.

So you think you're getting a deal, and then after all the paper is signed, you're damn near at the original sticker price.

Fucking cocksuckers.

10/8/2006 3:15:29 AM

I bought my car late August of this year and the dealrship was trying their damndest to get me to buy the extended warranty. At one point, they even said they couldn't sell a car with anything less than 5yr/100,000 mile protection for some b.s. reason. I insisted on "no." My car is a 2007 GM vehicle-a month later I got that warranty for free

10/8/2006 6:28:57 AM

Patient is key when car shopping. You're the one buying and you are in control. They try their hardest to make you think you are being graced by being able to buy a car. I bought my previous car at a dealership on capital (Jeep dealership) and when I got there the salesman who greeted me was like we can't sell it for less than $6000. I didn't miss a beat and went "okay" and walked over to another salesman and said "that guy was trying to screw me. Would you like to make some money?". It works. bought it for $4300.

10/8/2006 6:59:21 AM

As an answer to the previous question you should expect to pay tax tags and doc at any dealer. Anything other than this I would be weary of. Of course it is always going to be your choice as to if you purchase ext warrenties, gap insurance, credit life, or anyother aftermarket products such as lowjack, or simonize. Personally I would never buy a car without gap unless I put 20% down. For a few hundred bucks you wouldnt want to screw yourself over for a few thousand.

Quote :

"Normal salesman are a dime a dozen. They lie, cheat, and generally don't give a shit about you and only want your money. They don't make good money and are easy to replace with wanna be pimpsters or old fat guys who don't know shit about what they are selling."

You sir are an idiot, you are the kind of person that makes other dealers act like they do. There is no reason the sale of a vehicle can't be a professional transaction. People that are paranoid and think everyone is trying to screw them create the situation of the dealer being defensive. I'm not going to lie and say I haven't expereinced dealers that do create unfair practices but for the most part they do not. I think its funny that you want to comment on what a salesman is without ever experiencing it. Your lieing cheating "pimpsters" are the minority. The majority of people that I have ever trained and lasted became professional salespeople. And on the comment of they don't make good money, I can gaurentee you that I make more than 99% of the graduates on this site.

10/8/2006 1:43:10 PM

I highly doubt you make 99% more than grads of this site. Also your income is far from steady, and usually the hours suck. Been there, done that.

10/8/2006 2:52:14 PM

Quote :

"I highly doubt you make 99% more than grads of this site."

seconded

10/8/2006 2:53:42 PM

^^ aye. Been there done that... (worked at Hendrick Dodge for a while...)

I know some people who make good money without having to rip off their customers. In fact, they make good money because they get referrals, which is the key to success in that business. The average sales consultant works 50-60 hours a week and makes $30-40k a year. Those are the desperate douche bags that will try to rip you off (most of them work at private used car dealerships). Its sad that the portrayal of car sales men actually started back in the day when there were horses being sold instead of cars, and "dealers" then would screw their customers into buying a shitty horse for more than its worth. To say that all salesmen(and women) "lie, cheat, and generally don't give a shit about you and only want your money" is no more of a stereotype than saying that all hispanics are illegal immigrants, or some gay shit like that. While most of it is true , I think you only make it worse on yourself if you go in defensively, then causing you to make the salesman feel like he needs to take the offensive (which to is wrong, but wtf, that's a whole another story...)

10/8/2006 3:38:03 PM

Quote :

" i thought your car was far from stock - although nowhere close to a skyline which nissan dealership? "

My car is pretty much stock, just has the nissan motorsports front lip on it and a cat-back, in a few months i might go turbo. dealership was Harrelson Nissan in Fort Mill SC

10/8/2006 5:32:00 PM

I sucks when you are a newbie, but after a few years in the business I work normal hours and have a schedule that allows me to come and go as i need. I don't want to talk about my exact income, but as an idea I will say that an above average sales person can eaisly make 70-120k/yr

10/8/2006 6:24:47 PM

From what I heard, a car salesman earns more money when he sells a used car compared to what he earns when he sells a new car. Is that true?

10/8/2006 8:43:27 PM

We ended up getting a 2003 Highlander with the V6 today after looking at it and test driving last night. We were prepared to offer a lowball price and expected to be laughed out of the dealership. We checked KBB $19,190, NADA $19,650, and Edmunds used TMV $19,290 for retail prices. They were asking $17,995 + taxes tag title and doc fees and 7 year 100,000 mile toyota certified warranty. We asked for $17,000 out the door to which they basically said we were crazy. and it wouldn't happen. They said they offer No Haggle prices because they are a high volume dealer. They said we can look at what other dealers offer on sticker but theirs is "always well below MSRP" and "Always under blue book" But we figured we'd give it a shot. After we said that we just won't pay that for this car even if it is worth it, they came back with $18,590 out the door. We said we'd have to think about it. They asked what it would take to sign today and we said $18,000 out the door and we'll sign. They came back with 18.5 we said we think but still wont sign, 18.3, still won't sign, 18.1, still wouldn't sign. Finally they agreed to $18,000 out the door at 6.8% APR. Basically got it for 16,800 + taxes tag title and doc fees with warranty.

10/8/2006 11:47:13 PM

Less than 1% of cars salesmen will make 70-120k per year. And I have to call BS if you say you do.

10/9/2006 12:00:48 AM

Those who can, do.

Those who can't, sell cars

10/9/2006 12:43:52 AM

^^^^ how's o'neal doin these days.. i aint been there i na minute. holla at my boys

10/9/2006 12:51:35 AM

It's funny to me that people that flunk out of the business are the biggest critics. If you know someone whos been in the business and done well with the business for a long time you wouldn't doubt the kind of money they make. I don't deny at all that a small percentage make the money, after all 20% of sales people make 80% of the money. But for exmaple even on the low side, if someone sells 15 cars at $300 a pop plus thier bonuses they will make $6000 a month. $300 a copy is easy.

10/10/2006 5:20:15 PM

i'm glad i don't hustle for my money

10/10/2006 5:37:35 PM

if Ray wont read it, neither will I

10/10/2006 8:02:03 PM

Quote :

"Less than 1% of cars salesmen will make 70-120k per year. And I have to call BS if you say you do."

I'm pretty sure he's getting to about the lower side of that statement after being there just over a year now.

When you first start out you have to work your ass off and every month doesn't always have a good paycheck. But the guys that have been doing it successfully for a while can sit back and work off of appointments and return customers.

Why does everyone think car salesman are just sitting there waiting to cheat people? The general public is much more educated about products and prices than they used to be. The good sales people are just the ones that stay professional in all situations and generate the enthusiasm it takes for the customer to walk in the business office instead of another lot.

and my girlfriend did do some business with MaxxedOut95 this week for the above mentioned reason.

10/10/2006 8:35:48 PM

Quote :

"Basically got it for 16,800 + taxes tag title and doc fees with warranty."

i will never pay a dealership doc. fees to sell me a car.

10/10/2006 9:21:42 PM

^they'll still make money anyway. KBB, NADA and Edmunds put the retail around 19 plus tax tag title.

10/10/2006 9:50:05 PM

You don't really not pay doc fee. If that's the case then its discounting the car more, just like when you're haggling the out the door price. The dealership has to pay the people that proccess the documents some how.

The dealerships will work with you on the price of the car (especially if you take your time, stay realistic, and don't act rude to sales staff). They can make their money by reaching certain units per month and get a bonus from the manufacturer.

[Edited on October 10, 2006 at 11:08 PM. Reason : ,]

10/10/2006 11:04:43 PM

Quote :

"From what I heard, a car salesman earns more money when he sells a used car compared to what he earns when he sells a new car. Is that true?"

As far as that goes, its usually true, but it all depends on the car. When dealing with new cars a sales person doesn't make as much commission per car, but they usually sell more new than used and therefore get a bonus for reaching certain unit plateaus. On the used car side, you can sometimes make good commission but its usually a situation where the used car manager has gone to auction or someone really wanted to get out of their trade, so the dealership owns the car for a low cost. So you can look at two cars at two different dealerships, same options, same miles, same price, etc... but whichever dealership sources their cars at a lower cost is making more money.

But of course that won't happen every day since when you walk on a lot the inventory is at least 80% new / 20% used.

10/10/2006 11:18:11 PM