# My experience at the local dealership/GTO test drive



## SDMF Jon (Nov 29, 2004)

First off, let me start by saying that those of you who own a GTO are very lucky and blessed, as this is truly an awesome car and a load of fun to drive. I hope you get many, many years of safe enjoyment out of your vehicles!
:cheers :cheers :cheers 

OK, so my local dealershiip has four 2004 GTOs on their lot, 3 autos and one manual, which happens to also be Pulse Red. I drove the 6-speed. The 3 auto's are "advertised" as $27,200 in big yellow letters across each of their windshields. The Pulse had no advertised price, just the sticker, which was around $33K, I believe.

The test drive itself: great power and great feel to the car. I wasn't comfortable in it in the sense that it was an unfamiliar car, so that lowered my opinion of it somewhat. I'm sure if I drove it straight for a few days and were more familiar with the feel, I wouldn't be distracted by the "newness." But an overall great car. 

(Side note: I don't see how anyone can get close to 29 mpg on the highway like the sticker says. With the instant mpg showing, I was doing 60 mph in 6th gear (on a flat stretch w/cruise control on), the instant mpg was around 24. I just don't see what highway they were driving on that gave them an _AVERAGE_ of 29.)

Now for the fun part: talking with the salesman....First of all, I wasn't planning on buying today, and I told the salesman that up front. No, wait, let me back up even further.......I stood around in front of and inside the dealership for nearly 15 minutes before I had to ask someone for help. I finally walked into their secret management cube and asked "Are you open for business, because no one is treating me like a customer." It was all ass-kissing after that, but a sad display that I had to seek help in a room full of salespeople.

He goes off to work on a pricing sheet, and comes back with pure crap. First off, they start with the sticker price, even though the other 3 GTos on the lot are advertised as $27,200. They offered $7000 for my trade, a 2004 Chevy Cavalier, which is pretty fair, I guess. And there was a "factory rebate" of $5,500.

I immediately call them on the advertised price of the other 3 GTOs, so why wasn't I getting the same deal? The salesman didn't even know the other ones had sales writing ontheir windshields  , so he had to go back to his manager and "work some more magic." He comes back with SUPER-DUPER bull**** that I'm actually getting the manual for LESS than the autos, because they are taking the $5,500 factory rebate off the "sale" price of $33,000.

OK, at this point I'm upset that insulting my intelligence, especially when the guy _KNOWS _ I've done my research, as I told him upfront I knew what the current incentives were, when they were changing, and when the 2005s were going to be hitting his lot. It's like they are programmed to ignore what you say and just wait for a break in the conversation so they can interject their next sales routine blurb.

Which in fact, came next with "What's it going to take to get you into this car today?" At this point I lost my cool a bit and told him, "You're going to have to give it to me for free, because I told you up front I wasn't going to buy one today. I told you I wanted to drive an 04 so I can compare it to an 05 in order to see if the increased 05 price justifies the increased horsepower of the LS2. 

*blank stare*

It was obvious this guy was ignorant when it comes to the GTO and what is available both now and in the near future. I can accept that, as not all people are enthusiasts, but he continued to treat me as an ignorant customer who apparently doesn't give a second thought to buying a car -- any car.

So, he wanders back to his supervisor for more coaching, and comes back with, "Well, I can't give you a copy of the pricing worksheet we worked out because this incentive is good for today only. Please come back when you're serious about making a purchase."

"OK, thanks." Shook hands and never looked back, nor will I go back when I am ready to purchase. I know I've said it before, but that dealership really is a Stealership. I know not all salespeople and dealerships are like that, and I've actually had several GOOD experiences with dealerships. But this one just continues to insult its customers. 

Oh well, that's my story. I just thought I'd share.


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## Groucho (Sep 11, 2004)

Good move walking away. I refuse to deal with salesguys who think I'm an idiot. If I run across more than one of these condescending salesguys at a given dealership, I won't buy from that outlet. 

This was one of the main reasons I did _not_ buy a VW R32 like I had originally wanted and instead got the GTO...the local VW dealer's people did not treat me like the carefully researching potential consumer of high-performance cars I was. 

Instead, they treated me as if I was distracted by something shiny on their lot as I drove by, and picked that car out because I thought the color was pretty.

Screw those people.

*edited for horrible sentence structure*


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## SDMF Jon (Nov 29, 2004)

Excellent choice of words, Groucho. You summed up perfectly how they made me feel.


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## SDMF Jon (Nov 29, 2004)

By the way, a comment on the Pulse Red color: I was disappointed. All the pictures I'd seen made me think the color was a bit darker, perhaps much like the Corvette's Magnetic Red. However, it was much brighter than in pictures, and next to a Torrid Red, there wasn't enough of a difference for me to prefer one over the other.

Then again, I'm not really a fan of red in the first place _except_ the Corvette's Mag Red color, so perhaps that has something to do with it.


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## ddawson (Aug 12, 2004)

Your experience was the same as mine and I walked.

With the help of these forums I know what others were getting the GTO for so I waited for them to call me back which they did the next day.

At that point I said invoice, plus Rebates plus 3 Certificates. And by the way the color I want isn’t on your lot.
He went and talked to the manager and offered $1000 under Invoice, 2 Certificates and would pick up the car from another dealer.
I took that deal along with the 1.9% 48 month Interest rate.

I’m happy with the deal. I’ve seen others get the GTO for cheaper but the selection was getting thin and I wanted an M6.


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## SDMF Jon (Nov 29, 2004)

Good for you, and congrats! Sounds like you played it right! It doesn't matter that others might have gotten theirs for less, as long as you're happy with the transaction.


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## SDMF Jon (Nov 29, 2004)

UPDATE: Oh man, this just keeps getting better and better.....

In the category of Poor Timing, here's what happened next: perhaps you remember me saying in a different thread that I had contacted the dealership via email in an attempt to schedule a test drive. That was a little over 2 weeks ago. With the _WORST_ timing possible, their Internet Sales Manager contacts me this afternoon (and he obviously didn't know I was there this morning) to tell me that there are $5500 rebates on the GTO just announced.

*NO KIDDING!!!* :shutme

Here's what our emails back and forth looked like (scroll down to the bottom to start at the beginning):



> I'm sorry to hear that and please accept my apologies on behalf of Mr Wiggins. I am a retired Army Ranger and I take great pride in my work and efforts. When something like this happens it really gets me going. I realize its not your fault and again please accept my personal apologies.....Craig
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Jon [mailto:####@#######.com]
> ...


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## Freelancer (Oct 16, 2004)

My experience with the salesman at my local Pontiac dealership was heavenly! I had a day off and figured I spend some time with my wife shopping and having a nice lunch. It turned into HER wanting to look at the Dodge Magnum :confused , which we did. Leaving the Dodge dealership less than impressed with the Magnum we stopped by Acura, Nissan, Volvo & Cadillac dealerships finding nothing very interesting at all, save the CTS-V, which is WAY out of my price range. I suggested that we check out the GTO, of which she knew nothing. Upon entering the showroom, there was a blue GTO sitting there, which my wife thought was a G6 or a Grand Am. My salesman who I like to call Dennis Hopper, cuz damn he sure looked like him, was a charming 50+ year old GTO freak. After the typical sales blather he suggests that we take it for a spin. He gets the keys, plates it up and away we go. He tells me to take it out onto the interstate, which i do. I look down at the miles on the car and notice that there are almost 950 of them. I look over at Mr. Hopper and ask if this is a demo car, which he responds that it is and to feel free to open it up. After hitting 110 then hammering the binders to make my exit, I dump it down to 2nd and throw the thing sideways getting onto the surface streets, power shift 3rd then back off and casually drive for another mile or so to the next right turn which takes us back to the dealership. I do a 4 grand dump and power shift up until 120 then it happens, or at the time so I think it happens. I look over at Dennis Hopper and say "so this thing is governered at 120?" He says "No, why would you say that" and I say "cuz it just cut off at 120, either its governered or we just ran out of gas"

Guess which one it was. 

We coasted back into the dealership and I appologized for running his car out of gas. We went back into the showroom, he took some info from me and I heard from him once asking me what I planned on doing. I told him to call me when he gets his '05 in so that I can take one for a spin. hehehehe.

By the way, the wife was TOTALLY impressed with this car. She said that it has the most comfortable seating, front and rear, that she has ever been in.

Now it is just a matter of waiting for a yellow, 6m to make it to a dealership near me!


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## SDMF Jon (Nov 29, 2004)

See? Now that's awesome, and that's how it's supposed to be! My salesperson knew NOTHING about the GTO. He didn't even know where they were located on the lot. I had to walk him over to their "inventory" to show him.


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## GoatHerder (Nov 21, 2004)

SDMF Jon said:


> See? Now that's awesome, and that's how it's supposed to be! My salesperson knew NOTHING about the GTO. He didn't even know where they were located on the lot. I had to walk him over to their "inventory" to show him.


Sorry you had such a bad experience at your dealer.

Mine couldn't have been better. I walked in, asked for the sale manager, explained to her just was I was looking for, took the only manual they had on the lot for a test drive, and upon coming back to the dealership told her exactly what I was willing to pay for it (dealer invoice, less holdback and floor allowance, and less rebates) and told her what color I wanted and what dealership had it.

It took her a few days to get the car I wanted transferred over and upon my arrival at the dealership, she informed me that she was going to do me one better and also give me an additional $1,000 in dealer incentives that they had to use by the end of the month or they would lose them. They also ordered a couple of the smoker's packages (for the additional accessory outlets) and threw them in as well.

In all, I paid less than $25,000 (including TT&L) before my trade-in, which they surprised me with by offering me private party selling price for instead of dealer trade in.

Good luck in your hunt. I'm sure you'll fine the one you want and I hope you have a better experience at a different dealership.

Greg


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## Tuxedo Mask (Sep 13, 2004)

My experience witht the dealer here in Las Vegas was horrible. I totally felt like fresh meat near a vulture swarm. I totally called out the salesman on the GTO sales. He tried to lie to me about GTO's selling pretty good. Well, after reading the GTOforum, i told him that he was full of hot air. i have only seen one GTO out here....and that's ME! Never again. i let it be known on the GM survey about how unhappy i was with the dealership.


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## Joey Waid (Oct 28, 2004)

Jon is not Making things up. I bought my car from said dealership.I tried going one city up and it was worse. If it wasnt for the good deal and 3 free tanks of gas I dont know what I would have done. I bought my car straight of the truck with less than 1 mile. They didnt hardly knock the big chunks of dirt off. when I got it.If you are wondering about the gas? 1 tank was free with purchase and 2 more were for if I would lie to GM on survey. Which I did.


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## capra2d (Aug 3, 2004)

SDMF Jon observed:
"(Side note: I don't see how anyone can get close to 29 mpg on the highway like the sticker says. With the instant mpg showing, I was doing 60 mph in 6th gear (on a flat stretch w/cruise control on), the instant mpg was around 24. I just don't see what highway they were driving on that gave them an AVERAGE of 29."

Well, in my M6, if I set the cruise in 6th gear at 55 mph on a straight and level highway, the "instant mph" readout bounces between 27 and 30. Not exactly "excitement for the soul," or whatever Pontiac calls it.


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## Chuck (Nov 7, 2004)

GoatHerder said:


> Sorry you had such a bad experience at your dealer.
> 
> Mine couldn't have been better. I walked in, asked for the sale manager, explained to her just was I was looking for, took the only manual they had on the lot for a test drive, and upon coming back to the dealership told her exactly what I was willing to pay for it (dealer invoice, less holdback and floor allowance, and less rebates) and told her what color I wanted and what dealership had it.
> 
> ...


When are they closing? I may be interested in some of their remaining inventory.


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## EdwardC (Oct 8, 2004)

Why should anyone be surprised by auto salesmen/women even if they peddle the GTO? The evolutionary path leading to **** sapiens can be depicted as follows:

Normal human beings
^
^
^
bacteria
^
^
^
attorneys
^
^
^
auto salesmen/women
^
^
^
prebiotic chemical slime


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## Whiteshadow (Sep 28, 2004)

For the guys who had bad experiences at the dealership, I'm curious to know your ages? I'm 20, and got treated very well by all of the salesmen at the dealership (probably due to the fact I know a few of them, and my father is in there every few months buying a new car it seems). 

I've sent a few of my buddies to a few dealerships to test out a GTO and see what they thought. I mean if nothing else, the lease deal is KILLER. They've all said they had a tough time getting anyone to talk to them seriously about the car. Not one of my buddies was allowed to drive the car!

I know if we ever check out different vehicles in different towns, we always take the Corvette. Sales people will always rush out to talk to the guy with the nice set of wheels who might not be remotely interested, but for the guy who is ready to deal that day, and pulls up in the family van... well you get the idea. 


PS: If you are looking at the instant mileage gauge, and actually believing what it's telling you, you need to be checked out. IMO, the instant mileage screen is just as worthless as the instant mileage gauge on a BMW 3-series. They are not always correct!


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## LS2GTO (Nov 28, 2004)

Im 21, and I usually get treated pretty good at the dealerships around here. I usually just sit back at first, see how full of sh*t the salesman is, and then let some tidbits o' knowledge leak out and they get the picture that I know more than them, and not to f*ck w/ me. Im actually lookin to get a job as a salesman, so Im taken alot of notes of what not to say to a customer.


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## SDMF Jon (Nov 29, 2004)

I'll be 32 in a few days. And no one saw me drive up in my Cavalier because they were ignoring me.


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## lambertgoat (Oct 24, 2004)

My salesman had already owned a GTO for a few months, so was very knowledgable on the subject, and was impressed with the homework I had done on it also. After test driving an A4 we sat down with the finance lady who proceeds to give me a line of crap about how many they had been selling and so on and so forth, and gave me numbers of about 650 bucks a month on the damned thing. I got up and walked out of the dealership. My salesman caught me in the parking lot and asked if he would talk to the store manager if I'd stick around and see what they could do for me. Yet again they throw crap in my face and I get pissed. I then ask the manager how he expects to get rid of 12.....yes i said it 12 GTO's by december....3 months a way? See they hadn't told anyone about the 05's having the LS2 or the hood scoops and all the jazz....but my salesman did tell me that they would cost about 4 grand more than the 04's. I asked him if they were gonna eat the taxes and everything on the 04's sitting on the lot because people know about the 05's and are not gonna buy an 04 if all they have to do i wait a few months.......that got em good, to make a long story short i got the M6 Barbados GTO with still oweing 2 grand on my trade in for under 23,000. If anyone got theirs cheaper i'd like to know how.....!!!

Oh yeah, i was right they've only sold like 2 goats since i bought mine 2 months ago


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