pextron
Eastern USA
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mockturtle wrote:It reminds me of a trip I made to a car dealership many years ago. I wanted to buy a Toyota Camry, so I found one I liked and asked the salesman how much it cost. He said he'd get the manager. The manager said it depended on my trade. I said I didn't have a trade-in and I wanted to know the price. He hemmed and hawed around while I tried to pin him down to a price. He finally, red-faced and really angry, said "Lady, you can't just walk into a place and buy a car like you buy a watermelon!" Honestly, that's exactly what he said! I walked across the street and bought a Honda.
Now that was... priceless. 
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2inAlabama
Huntsville, AL
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pextron wrote:Number one, "A poorly written subject line", also applies to some forum posts.
I agree, such as "Help me". It doesn't say anything so I ignore such posts.
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Huntindog
phoenix arizona USA
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Well since the seller is paying for the ad, he can list it however he thinks will get him the best response.
I sold my 2001 Wilderness on Craigs list last year. It was a rather unique unit and I wanted top dollar for it. I did list a price, but fortunatly Craigs list allows plenty of room for photos and description,,,, and it's free.
Since people could see just why I was asking top dollar, it worked.
I had people standing in line to give me my asking price.
Now if I had been advertising in a newspaper or another publication that charged by the line/word,,,,I would've needed to talk to the prospective buyers to explain why I wanted that much.
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pextron
Eastern USA
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Huntindog wrote:I wanted top dollar for it.
Most sellers usually do.
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Godsey97
Dayton,Ohio
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It irritates me too. I kept running into it when looking for our unit. Many of the websites had the disclaimers that their agreements with the manufacturer only allows them to post MSRP or they will lose their supply agreement, so "Please call or e-mail for price".
I tried that with one unit at a particular dealer and even entered the trade-in information in the provided blanks on the "Quote Form". I added that I wanted to try and trade the TV and TT as a unit towards the Class C. They sell motorhomes/TT's AND used cars on the side. I got a really curt response about the price of the Class C, but a snide comment about not having a market for the used units, even though they have several on their lot and seem to have a lot of turnover of stock as I drive by frequently.
I gave them the benefit of the doubt and thought they did not want the TV (Toyota Tundra) involved in the equation since Toyota is having a bit of bad press lately.
I nicely sent another email request asking for clarification and offering to split the pair. The next day I again got a curt response about the trade, and a lecture about their pricing being low and any other dealer would just rob me on the trade or hide the numbers in the deal.
I know that sometimes written communication can be "mistaken" as to it "tone", so I had two other people read the responses and both thought that it was rude. The only reason I pressed the issue was because the price was really good and I was willing to take "Trade-In Value" for my unit.
I sent them a third reply letting them know that I was not "tire kicking" and was going to buy. I also suggested that if they were not in the market for used units at this time they should note that on the website instead of prompting people to put the trade in information in the form. I closed by telling them I would wave when we drove by their dealership in our new unit. They replied with a "new" attitude, but still did not want to get involved in the trade, which is their right, it is their business. The last reply was much better worded and explained things better, but the damage was done.
""Off Soapbox now"" LOL
Where we bought our unit it was listed on the internet inventory as MSRP. But I did a tone of research and knew about what to expect as far as discount from MSRP (THANKS TO THIS AND OTHER FORUMS). I knew what was fair to expect and we worked out a deal.
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pextron
Eastern USA
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Godsey97 wrote:It irritates me too. I kept running into it when looking for our unit. Many of the websites had the disclaimers that their agreements with the manufacturer only allows them to post MSRP or they will lose their supply agreement, so "Please call or e-mail for price".
Some manufacturers do their very best to hide the MSRP from the general public. Mahindra tractors are/were one such example where I had a heck of a time determining what a fair price was for a new tractor I was thinking about buying a few years ago.
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pextron
Eastern USA
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This is slightly off topic but something about ads from private sellers that always makes me suspicious is that some of them feel the need to indicate or explain why they are selling "it".
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Earl E
Green Valley, AZ
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I tried the Call for Price several times, including putting in Trade-in, etc. Would get a call from a salesperson that acted like they had not even read what I wrote--would just start in on their standard sales pitch. Decided I wouldn't deal with anybody that wouldn't post the price and be willing to negotiate by email.
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pextron
Eastern USA
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Earl E wrote:I tried the Call for Price several times, including putting in Trade-in, etc. Would get a call from a salesperson that acted like they had not even read what I wrote--would just start in on their standard sales pitch. Decided I wouldn't deal with anybody that wouldn't post the price and be willing to negotiate by email.
I feel the same way.
It's almost as if some of these dealers don't realize, or don't care, that they may be several hundred miles away from me, which means that there is zero chance that I am going to drive to their dealership or spend an hour on the phone with them just to get a price. Granted, most of us consider any price that is listed as a starting point for negotiations unless stated otherwise, but it at least gives the buyer an idea if they can afford to buy it.
And for the dealers that like to pull the F&I (financing) card out of their hat, some of us only pay CASH.
Don't get me wrong here, I'm not knocking all dealers as I am sure there are some honest ones out there... somewhere.
* This post was
edited 07/30/10 10:43pm by pextron *
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ROBERTSUNRUS
Lakewood, Ca.
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 Hi, the best price isn't always the best deal. It doesn't hurt to call them for a price, but they can low ball the price and get it back other ways. I shopped around and got a very good price from a local dealer, but he was a jerk and was playing games, so we didn't buy from him. I found another dealer that quoted a good price. Even though it was quite a bit more than the jerk's price. Bottom line, I got a better deal. I got for free: a belt line moulding, a hitch, a brake controller, and because of a temporary law, I didn't pay any sales tax. Not to mention a next year model that was at the factory being built instead of on the lot being abused by Looky Lews. The hitch and brake controller were installed free and there were no B.S. set-up charges, that some dealers charge.
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