A "turnover house" is a dealership where, if the first salesman is not making headway with you, then you are turned over to another car salesman. We found a dealership where they are using this technique on the internet.
We began by talking with the internet manager but once the price was mentioned, we were turned over to a sales person. This is a bit annoying because you already have a rapport and relationship with the first person, and then you have to start over with a salesman. The nice thing about the internet route is that they aren't conventional sales people who are in love with the ability to sell.
In other news, we took the weekend off from car buying and picked up the pieces again on Monday. We called all the local dealers back and told them we wanted to close the deal by Wednesday. This prompted a new flurry of price quotes. We finally settled on the Ice Metallic Blue because it will photograph better than the black or dark green. Now we are involved in the final stages of negotiating our best deal. By tomorrow, hopefully, we'll have a final deal and a firm price.
By wobbly_ears
on December 15, 2009
12:54 PM
These auto dealersho[s & their 'methods'.
Sigh. When will this business become legit?
By brn
on December 15, 2009
01:29 PM
In some dealerships, the Internet Guy/Gal is NOT a salesperson. Their purpose is to gather and filter leads. When it comes to the where an actual sales person is necessary, they turn you over to one.
That's different than what the first paragraph of the article describes, which can happen too. However I wouldn't jump to the conclusion that it's a slimy dealership just because the Internet Guy/Gal isn't a salesperson.
By bodyblue
on December 15, 2009
03:45 PM
I like the Smokestone color much better or the Sport Blue.
By legacygt
on December 16, 2009
06:48 AM
Just one observation: You are negotiating with a couple of dealers while publicly posting your experiences on one of the most popular car-related websites. Yet, you have no reason to fear that the dealerships will see the posts. Why? Because these guys never look at Edmunds or other car-related sites. They care little about cars beyond their commission. This has been my biggest observation as I've purchased cars in the past. The people selling them know little about the vehicles and care even less. (They know a lot about financing and that's about it.) It's amazing that they can get away with this. Most buyers don't realize how little the salesmen know. Spend 15 minutes researching a car online and you will know more than anyone at the dealership. If more people did this we'd all be better off. I've had salesmen drop me when I call them on an error or lie. They'd rather deal with the next person in the door who's done know research and will fall for their lies. (For example, a salesman told me that only 1% of Mazda CX-9's had backup cameras. It turns out that we wanted this option and none of his cars had it. Meanwhile, the dealership in the neighboring town had 6 in stock...all with backup cameras.) Sometimes being knowledgeable makes it hard to make a deal because the dealer knows the next guy through the door will likely be a sucker.
By brn
on December 16, 2009
07:21 AM
legacygt, I half agree with you. About half of the car salesfolk don't care about cars beyond selling one. They know what they have to know and that's it. About half are very interested in cars and spend a lot of time on sites like this.
By philip17
on December 16, 2009
12:38 PM
I knew I was taking a risk by posting about my buying experience. However, I've never had it come back on me, which is a little odd. I keep the Edmunds name out of the buying process so I can learn how dealerships treat ordinary consumers. Then, when we fill out the paperwork, I tell them the car is for Edmunds. There is a pause and then a "Candid Camera" style double take.
But Legacygt is right, car salesmen are oddly uninterested in cars and sometimes glarely uniformed about the product they are selling.
Philip Reed, Edmunds Consumer Advice Editor,