u/Medical_Gift4298

Hey everyone,

I really need some honest advice because I’m honestly frustrated and confused right now.

I recently went to a dealership (Mazda in Bayswater), and initially everything seemed fine. I showed interest in a car and even made an offer. When they came back with their counter-offer, I just asked for one day to think about it — pretty normal, right?

That’s when things went downhill.

The manager suddenly became aggressive and disrespectful. He raised his voice, showed zero customer respect, and at one point even removed his shoe and said something like “Do you want the car for free?” in a very mocking way. I’ve never experienced anything like this before at a dealership. I walked out feeling really bad.

red flag for a shitty dealership - hard avoid

Some good tips here:

1. Start by asking 7-10 percent off MSRP
2. Don't worry about all the garbage the dealer is throwing at you, keep your eye on one number: the OTD
3. Call/email SIX or more dealerships before making a decision on who you're going with, get deal sheets and be prepared to show them to dealers to prove you have better offers
4. Say no to everything the finance guy offers you
5. For a power move, if the F&I loser is dragging things out, call another dealership while in his office and see if they can offer a better price. Watch him start working on your deal faster.
6. Don't let them run your credit until you've signed and agreed to a price, but also KNOW your credit score before you walk in.
7. Verify your deal sheet against the purchase agreement and bank contract—that's where you'll find out if they're crooked.

that guy has people willing to drive three hours but he’s just a stroker - not ready to sell, he just wants to play games and not get serious about giving them a deal.

not to mention anytime anyone points out how shitty dealerships are, the salesmen all come waddling in here, weeping and shrieking about how buyers can just walk away and go anywhere - even buy from distant dealerships… where the sales slugs will make it not worth your time.

so yeah, get screwed by a local dealer or a distant dealer!

This is a post about the deceptive sales practice and bait and switch experience my spouse and I had at Gillman Honda Fort Bend.

We corresponded with one of their internet salesmen, Parsa Chinehkesh. We submitted an out the door offer on a 2021 lexus Rx450h on Saturday 4/11/26. Parsa responded, "let's do it." We set up an appointment to meet with him on 4/13/26 to sign papers. We also confirmed, via email, that he understood our offer was an out the door offer. He replied, "I understand." on 4/13, we drove 1.5hrs to Rosenberg from N. Houston for our appt time. We ask to start the paperwork when a manager came over and said they wouldn't sell it 'out the door' for that price. We said that Parsa agreed in writing. The manager said, "He is a salesman. He has no authority to make that commitment." They said they would do out the door for $1000 more. We left and have filed complaints with the BBB, TX Attny General, etc for deceptive trade practices, bait and switch, etc. Let this serve as a warning to all who deal with Gillman Honda Fort Bend. They do not honor a written agreement. I am happy to provide all documentation to support these facts.

I have a 2013 F150, leather seats, all the extras and in great condition, with relatively low mileage for its age. Problem is it’s started to do the old cam phaser rattle. Local mechanic said last f150 they had in for the same thing ran a $8-9,000 bill. Apparently trade in for my truck is around $12k…

Thing is, it only rattles for a second, once every 3 or 4 cold starts, so it’s not obvious at all. My thinking is to trade it in so that the next owner might get it covered under warranty by the dealership who will be able to fix it for far less than they would charge me. It would probably eat their profits off the resale, but the repair makes it a write off for me.

Is this a dick move?

EDIT: It is a dick move. It’s the first trade in I’ve done, and I thought dealerships might offer a 5,000km limited, peace of mind warranty for the next buyer. That’s not the case apparently, so I would be screwing the next guy, which I have no desire to do. I’m glad I came here and asked first, thanks for your feedback folks!

Customers will pay something like 5 percent more to avoid dealing with a shitty salesman and savings have to be in range of 21 to 36 percent for most customers to be interested in bargaining... given salesmen always say there's such small profit margins, it sounds like they can't possibly offer discounts deep enough to make it worthwhile for most customers...

So, that pretty thoroughly debunks the salesman lies that:

1. Customers insist on negotiation and would never accept just a basic price.
2. It's customers who make things complicated by haggling over everything.
3. All people want is to fuck the dealer (it turns out, all they want is to AVOID the dealer!)

We can stop bringing up those stupid arguments now...

But I suppose some salesmen will waddle in to this thread and repeat all of them... what do you expect from a bunch of people who have so little understanding of actual business concepts?

>Scout remains undeterred, convinced that selling directly gives the company more insights in the artificial-intelligence age, while creating a better experience for its customers, Chief Executive Officer Scott Keogh said.

>“You can be dramatically more efficient with every single car that you make and exactly where that car goes,” Keogh, the former CEO of Volkswagen of America, said at an event in suburban Detroit this past week. “And yes, we want to squeeze out every last bit of opportunity there. I think there’s no debate that the system now is inefficient.”

Interesting, because I've always been told that manufacturers think that spreading their inventory out to a bunch of unpleasant, high-overhead shithole buildings off the interstate, staffed entirely by mean-spirited high school dropouts who don't understand basic business principles was what the manufacturers really wanted—and what consumers love!