I'm a car salesmen, Go ahead and ask me anything

[Sylvanfan]

I have a 2002 Mustang GT Convertible with about 24,000km on it. I hardly ever drive the thing so it's like my garage collector car. I was considering the idea of selling this car and looking for something like a mid 90's Porsche 911 with a decent number of km on it, and stuffing that in my gargage as my seldom used sportscar that I'm holding onto for no good reason. Certainly a Porsche will be expensive to maintain and if you ever need to do work on it good luck finding someone to fix it. But when I was in highschool in that era that was my ultimate car type of thing. Also with a pending move to B.C. I won't be dealing with Alberta roads and might actually be able to drive the car for more than one month a year. Roughly what price are you looking at for one of those, and in your opinion is there any year or range of years I should avoid, if I decide to proceed with such a crazed idea? Or should I just keep the old Mustang instead and forget my nostalgic high school reminiscing.

[TimSJ]

i have an 05 911 if you are interested..lol a bargain at $100k. http://www.tristarmercedes.ca/detail...ofVehicle=Used

I am a bad one to ask on this one. I am constantly buying toys that i really have no need for. So i say do it. As for a car it really depends on how much money you want to spend. Personally i have been looking for a 97-99 911 to buy as a toy just haven't found the right one yet.. ZR Auto in Calgary does a lot of high end stuff and might find you the right car at the right price.

[DuffMan]

I just called a dealership to ask about some pricing they had listed in the paper, and I ended up chit chatting with a salesman for about 5 minutes. At the end of the call he asked my name, and then he asked if I had a number he could contact me at. I said, not really, I'll call you if I need anything. Is that common to ask for people;s numbers, was i rude?

what I talked to him about was how could you pay $250/month on a $26,000 vehicle. It was a 10% down + 4 year lease @ 0%. If a person did lease, and at the end of the term wanted to keep the vehicle, could the dealership have the option of keeping it, even if the consumer wanted it?

[I-Hate-Hulse]

Does the concept of dealer holdbacks (whereby the mfg pays for interest and promo costs) exist in Canada, and if so, what's the best strategy to be able to take advantage of this (from the buyer's point of view) to reduce the purchase price of a car?

[jharp]

Originally Posted by TimSJ

a corolla might be a good choice jharp

How are Maxima's? Specifically 95 GLE with 200k?

[I_H8_Crawford]

Originally Posted by DuffMan

I just called a dealership to ask about some pricing they had listed in the paper, and I ended up chit chatting with a salesman for about 5 minutes. At the end of the call he asked my name, and then he asked if I had a number he could contact me at. I said, not really, I'll call you if I need anything. Is that common to ask for people;s numbers, was i rude?

what I talked to him about was how could you pay $250/month on a $26,000 vehicle. It was a 10% down + 4 year lease @ 0%. If a person did lease, and at the end of the term wanted to keep the vehicle, could the dealership have the option of keeping it, even if the consumer wanted it?

Just IMO and I could be wrong, but you shouldn't ever put money down on a lease - it is essentially like throwing that money away.

If you want to put money down, and you plan on keeping the car, I think it would be better to finance it and pay the higher monthly payments.

[DuffMan]

Originally Posted by I_H8_Crawford

Just IMO and I could be wrong, but you shouldn't ever put money down on a lease - it is essentially like throwing that money away.

Wouldn't that money go directly against the principal.

[I_H8_Crawford]

Originally Posted by DuffMan

Wouldn't that money go directly against the principal.

It does, but you end up paying more.
For example, I am looking at the Infiniti G35
Price is ~51000

If I lease over 36 months with 10K down, I will have monthly payments of 559.93 so over the life I would pay 20157.48 + 10K + residual of 25266. Total cost for car is 55424K plus any extra KMs I may have gone over.

Financing I put 10K down over 36 months my monthly payments are 1218.27 so overall I pay a total of 53857.

So it does save you some cash. Only do that if you plan on keeping the car however. Also don't forget that a lease is always listed as a liability for you when you apply for other loans, unless you are able to write it off as a necessary tool for your job....

Guess it is up to you, I'm positive there are people on here who know way more than I do.

[TimSJ]

All you are doing by putting a down payment on a lease is prepaying lease payments. No real benifit other than getting to a payment you are comfortable with.

[TimSJ]

Originally Posted by jharp

How are Maxima's? Specifically 95 GLE with 200k?

don't really have that much experience with them.. sorry. at 200k timing belt likely needs to be done.

[TimSJ]

Originally Posted by I-Hate-Hulse

Does the concept of dealer holdbacks (whereby the mfg pays for interest and promo costs) exist in Canada, and if so, what's the best strategy to be able to take advantage of this (from the buyer's point of view) to reduce the purchase price of a car?

Holdback does exist ot a certain extent. although it really is not that much money. maybe 2%... it does not figure generlaly in to the dealer costing of the cars.

[TimSJ]

Originally Posted by DuffMan

I just called a dealership to ask about some pricing they had listed in the paper, and I ended up chit chatting with a salesman for about 5 minutes. At the end of the call he asked my name, and then he asked if I had a number he could contact me at. I said, not really, I'll call you if I need anything. Is that common to ask for people;s numbers, was i rude?

what I talked to him about was how could you pay $250/month on a $26,000 vehicle. It was a 10% down + 4 year lease @ 0%. If a person did lease, and at the end of the term wanted to keep the vehicle, could the dealership have the option of keeping it, even if the consumer wanted it?

It is pretty normal for us to ask. it is punded into our heads in sales meetings get a name phone numeber and appointment with evey call. and we get turned down all the time so don't worry about it.

with regards to the lease. generally the customer always has the first option to buyout the lease at the term. Generally though it is not a very good deal to buy the car at the end. it usually is cheaper payment wise to jsut get a new one.

[Deelow]

What is the expected profit margin on a trade in?
I bought a vehicle for $17,000 4 months ago, recently I inquired about getting something newer and trading the vehicle in and they said they would only give me $10,000 trade in for the same truck. Seems like BS to me.

[urban1]

1) What do you as salespeople think of negotiating over the phone?

I know the exact car and options I want. Will you guys negotiate as much as if someone was in front of you in the showroon? Id rather call 2 or 3 dealers rather than drive to 2 or 3. How about email?

2) Ive never leased. You say its not worth buying it out at the end. Ive priced out a couple of cars online and looking at the end value of the lease seems pretty reasonable. For example, on a 2007 Civic or Mazda 3, the residual value can be around $11,000 (depending on options) after a 3 year lease. You cant find a 3 year old Civic or Mazda 3 for $11,000 when looking at used cars. Am I missing something here?

[DuffMan]

Originally Posted by TimSJ

with regards to the lease. generally the customer always has the first option to buyout the lease at the term. Generally though it is not a very good deal to buy the car at the end. it usually is cheaper payment wise to jsut get a new one.

what if I plan on keeping the vehicle for a long time, like 10 + years. Also, it would have really low mileage, probably 10 - 15k/year, as I live and work in a small town, and ride my bicycle to/from work most days in the summer?

Thanks again for answering all of our questions.

[BlackEleven]

Here's a stupid question: why do car ads always talk about moonroofs? Is that the new name for a sunroof or is there some sort of difference between the two?

[TimSJ]

moonroof is glass generally and a sunroof is steel.

[ken0042]

I always thought that a sunroof can open; whereas a moonroof stays fixed and closed.

[TimSJ]

that could be as well. would make sense

[Bill Bumface]

Originally Posted by ken0042

I always thought that a sunroof can open; whereas a moonroof stays fixed and closed.

Moonroofs open as well. I've never really figured out the whole thing myself.