General Ask a Nissan Salesman Thread

[McLovin157]

welcome to the forum @McLovin157

you have entered the car version of the lions den. we have been waiting for the Z for what seems like forever. we are desperate and hungry for any and all information to devour...

I've been trying to poke at Dan Passe with no success the past few weeks. I am just as eager as everyone else to find what I can about this new Z.

 

[RicerX]

I completely agree…however I can’t believe that mark ups would be any good for the manufacturer reputation, I feel these types of things only give them a bad name even when it’s not their fault. This is the reason more manufacturers are looking to sell direct …to keep their image intact

This is a massive uphill battle in the US because lobbyists (that represent dealer networks) in the majority of states have blocked the legality for manufacturers to sell direct. This is why you can't buy a Tesla in all 50 states - you have to drive or otherwise have it shipped to you.

Once direct sales are 50 state legal, dealerships will go away, because dealership business models are based on extorting as much money from you as possible. Before the internet, they were the sole source of product information, service, accessories, etc. The internet has nullified most of the value they can provide on that front. Most, if not all, dealerships in the US will become premium service centers and parts suppliers. The smaller volume dealerships, like my local Infiniti dealer, might just die off entirely.

 

[McLovin157]

To start buy new January through April and when rebates are available. I'm on a short break from work, but I'll tell you everything I know. Don't buy a thing once in finance those people we're once the #1 salesman on the floor. They will be out of a job if they aren't upselling you GAP, maintenance packages, or forging signatures.

A lot of that is true, in fact that is pretty much the industry standard of how things work at almost all dealerships.

 

[McLovin157]

taking bets we never see this guy again lol

I have a 2 year old and work 50+ a week so it's hard to reply consistently. I'm going as fast as I can I swear. ?

 

[McLovin157]

I 2nd, 3rd and 4th this. There are some slimy salespeople out there but also some solid ones. However I don't think I've ever dealt with anyone in finance who wasnt a scumbucket.

Anecdote time: This time last year I had just purchased my girlfriend a new Fit. I found the car I wanted online, made my appointment (covid) drove an hour and a half to get there. This car was probly the lowest priced new vehicle on the lot. They gave me a new kid. He had about 6 months under his belt before covid hit, and I was his 2nd customer on day 2 of his return from furlough. He was good. He tried to bullshit me about the Type-R they had on the sales floor, but didn't really try to upsell anything. I knew exactly what I wanted and all I needed was to verify the car was good. I was also ready to drop another couple grand on factory accessories, but his sales manager wouldn't come down on a pretty steep parts markup. I said fuck it I'll buy the parts online and have my local Honda install them. This is where things went south. My assigned sales rep got called into the finance office which was right across from where I was sitting and I watched the poor kid get screamed at for about 15 minutes straight. As a customer, I was satisfied with the treatment I received from the salesperson, even if we couldn't come to an agreement on the accessory parts. I can only surmise the dressdown he caught was because he didn't successfully press me. After that the finance guy snuck an extra $1400 on my balance which took two months and several phone calls with the GM and emails cc:d to Honda corporate to get rectified.

TL;DR - IME finance managers are scum and screwing over customers and even their own sales reps is the air they breath.

I have also never worked with a finance manager that wasn't a total scum bucket either ?. They are the last line of defense when it comes to making money for a dealer.

 

[McLovin157]

I don't think anyone want to talk to a salesman, we just want the car. we want to buy it at MSRP and don't get screwed over. If I can do everything online I would go ahead and do it but Nissan won't let us do this.

why should we buy from you? what make you different than others?

I'm not asking anyone to buy from me though I will say I would love if you did. The online route is growing super popular but with how many issues Carvana has had being banned from multiple counties and what not that avenue still has a long way to go. The manufacturer likes the dealership model because the dealer becomes the face and body of the entire experience. The manufacturer can take a step back and not have to handle the nightmare that is the average car buyer.

 

[West Aussie]

This is a massive uphill battle in the US because lobbyists (that represent dealer networks) in the majority of states have blocked the legality for manufacturers to sell direct. This is why you can't buy a Tesla in all 50 states - you have to drive or otherwise have it shipped to you.

Once direct sales are 50 state legal, dealerships will go away, because dealership business models are based on extorting as much money from you as possible. Before the internet, they were the sole source of product information, service, accessories, etc. The internet has nullified most of the value they can provide on that front. Most, if not all, dealerships in the US will become premium service centers and parts suppliers. The smaller volume dealerships, like my local Infiniti dealer, might just die off entirely.

Again agree…and would that be sad, that the dealers are the architects of their own demise

 

[McLovin157]

This thread hurts! All this silence from Nissan is dumb. Shawn is that salesman from Orr Nissan that promised nothing over $5K on MSRP, will see about that, too much promises and only words for now, really.

1000000% agree. I understand trickling info to build excitement but the stand still on info is negligent.

 

[McLovin157]

Even 5k is too much. If Nissan thought it was worth 5k more, or that as a company they could make 5k more to help them get out of debt then they would of set the price at that.

For me it’s a moot point.
I’m an Aussie, so we don’t pay it…but if dealers want to come into a forum and say “ask me a question” they need to be ready for anything, and it is/was a genuine question
If it can’t be answerEd in an open conversation, well then he is just here to sell cars and not really here for open and honest discussion that might not always go in the expected direction.

We already know what the car looks like, what’s in it…we have Dan Passe on board that pops his head in whenever there are false claims, i could be wrong but feel we really don’t need a salesman here unless they are selling cars at msrp or a marginal increase, or offering a group discount . 5k on a 40k car is over ten percent of the original cost, and that’s not a small amount on a big purchase such as a car. For many it could be the amount that tips it into the unreachable area.

NO ONE knows pricing as of yet, or when deliveries drop.
So quite honestly I question why you would come in a forum and not expect to get grilled.

I'm a salesman I came into this expecting the fires of hell but that doesn't bother me. I cant speak on how things work in different countries I'm in the US and working under our rules. As far as marking up the cars though if the manufacturer marked the vehicle up 5k that wouldn't solve the issue on the dealer side. That just means that the price we pay for the cars would raise as well. plus the car itself isn't where dealers make money. The profit margins on some models that are built in at whole sale price from MSRP are laughable. The Versa as an example at MSRP makes a few hundred depending on trim and you can't pay you people and bills with 1-3% margins.

 

[McLovin157]

I won’t pay an adjusted market price, but I understand why it makes sense for a market good. I see corvettes ordered for $75-80k by customers being sold on the used market for $95-100k. Why should a dealership sell a vehicle on the lot to a consumer at below market rate and let that consumer pocket a big profit? Im a VERY pro-market-regulation guy, but even I see this as something for the market to price. I hate it; I won’t pay it, but I understand it.

100% respect that to. Hell a few months ago there was an article written were GM was trying to legally make it to were C8 owners couldn't sell their cars for 1-2 years to prevent that exact scenario. People were just buying them up at MSRP and selling them with 30-50k mark ups on them.

 

[McLovin157]

Yes…but that still doesn’t really explain it…as I said…car shortages are a world wide issue, not confined to the us and manufactures pulling rebates, incentives and bonuses I would also assume to be world wide.

so …how come every other countries dealers can afford 0 mark ups, whilst you guys are talking a minimum of 5k?
What is different in the US to anywhere else, especially given you have the largest market share and will receive ( im guessing) far more cars than any international dealership?

Internationally I can't speak for I have no knowledge or experience with non US markets. Now a few theories how other dealers can make this work around is selling halo cars (C8 and MKV) at MSRP and marking up commuter models. The traditional idea of "we will sell the car at MSRP but you are required to buy warranties, service plans, etc." I know a dealer here that does this. Closing the business all together, a long standing name here has closed 8 of it's 11 locations in this market. Cutting staff, less salesman, service advisors, techs, lube techs, parts, etc. is also a common practice. Or what I imagine a few are doing is taking the losses on new cars and making the money back on the used market. Used cars are insane right now so some may have a business model set to lose money on new cars and recoup the losses on used car sales.

 

[McLovin157]

the Manufacture put the fair price on the car, you the dealership get a discount on the car as you are a wholesaler . you are still making money either way, it's not my job to pay the difference to the dealership because they used to make money.

Again the profits built into the whole sale for some cars are laughable. Then a dose of reality is the consumer always get the short end of the stick when corporations aren't clearing their numbers. Wood, food, metals, hell everything has risen in price and the consumer is the one who pays for the market not the ones at the top.

Touching back on profit margins in a car. The average car has a built in profit margin of 1-10% from whole sale to MSRP but furniture averages 500% and most goods are 200-300%. Plus let's be real most of the people on this thread are the 1% where the dealer will most likely lose money on a deal just to move a unit.

 

[West Aussie]

Internationally I can't speak for I have no knowledge or experience with non US markets. Now a few theories how other dealers can make this work around is selling halo cars (C8 and MKV) at MSRP and marking up commuter models. The traditional idea of "we will sell the car at MSRP but you are required to buy warranties, service plans, etc." I know a dealer here that does this. Closing the business all together, a long standing name here has closed 8 of it's 11 locations in this market. Cutting staff, less salesman, service advisors, techs, lube techs, parts, etc. is also a common practice. Or what I imagine a few are doing is taking the losses on new cars and making the money back on the used market. Used cars are insane right now so some may have a business model set to lose money on new cars and recoup the losses on used car sales.

it doesn’t make sense, but thanks for trying, like I said, you guys will get far more inventory than any other country, all countries have been short cars, yet the US is charging and no one else is.
Warrenty is moot because every car now comes with a long warranty included, and must also offer service plans…(at least they do here in Aus ) included in the price.

To me it sounds like people are trying to justify a markup when there is no justification…
like I said at the start, always felt we would disagree, but well done from not walking away from a tough conversation

 

[McLovin157]

I completely agree…however I can’t believe that mark ups would be any good for the manufacturer reputation, I feel these types of things only give them a bad name even when it’s not their fault. This is the reason more manufacturers are looking to sell direct …to keep their image intact

The manufacturer doesn't really get any of the backlash. That's why they like this model of business because they can put all the bad publicity on the dealer and not themselves. The manufacturer can hide behind the blind of "we legally have no control over what dealers charge" and can make false claims of "we will cut off inventory from (insert dealer) to discourage this action".

What is really happening is the manufacturer is using the MSRP hikes as front page news to hide the fact that they should have fixed this inventory shortage or at least mitigated it instead of the continued issues we are having.

 

[McLovin157]

it doesn’t make sense, but thanks for trying, like I said, you guys will get far more inventory than any other country, all countries have been short cars, yet the US is charging and no one else is.
Warrenty is moot because every car now comes with a long warranty included, and must also offer service plans…(at least they do here in Aus ) included in the price.

To me it sounds like people are trying to justify a markup when there is no justification…
like I said at the start, always felt we would disagree, but well done from not walking away from a tough conversation

I encourage the tough conversations. Thank you for being congeal, I really do appreciate that.