When you go to a dealership to buy a car, you expect the salesperson to be an expert in the vehicle you want to buy. Want to tow a 6,000-pound trailer while carrying your whole family? The sales staff should be able to tell you if the SUV you’re looking at can handle it. But not all salespeople were created equal. What’s the most ridiculous thing a car salesman told you?
For me, this answer is pretty easy. My parents have finally decided to replace the 2011 Chevrolet Suburban 1500 that they use to tow a 6,292-pound, 35-foot travel trailer. On the surface, this seemed fine. The 4×4 SUV could tow 8,000 pounds and had a payload of 1,564 pounds. The camper hitched up to the rear was a 2007 Thor Adirondack 31BH, a 35-foot trailer that weighs 6,292 pounds empty and 7,600 pounds loaded. On paper, that sounds great, right?
In practice, it’s different. The Suburban does an ok job when it’s just my parents and myself. The Vortec 5.3-liter Vortec FlexFuel V8 (320 HP/335 lb-ft torque) gets the job done, but you have to wring it out to get to and then maintain the speed limit. There isn’t much power in reserve for passing, hills, or more weight.
This is demonstrated well when my brother piles his four kids plus him, his girlfriend, and a bunch of gear into the Suburban. The engine may have been near its limit before, but it practically wheezed under the higher loads brought on by a camping trip with my brother’s family. The Suburban also handled much worse with the trailer on the back. The trailer suddenly felt like a boat anchor trying to drag down the Suburban with it.
The problem was clear to me. Everyone was paying attention to just the trailer’s unloaded weight, never payload or anything else. The 2007 Thor Adirondack has an unloaded hitch weight of 736 pounds. Now, trailer manufacturers don’t just publish that weight for nerds like me. Tongue weight subtracts from your tow vehicle’s payload. You don’t need a physics degree to understand this. Something has to carry that 736 pounds, and it’s the tow vehicle. At the same time, the tow vehicle can carry only so much weight. The 2011 Chevrolet Suburban 1500 4×4 has a payload of 1,564 pounds. Take that 736 pounds away and guess what? Now you’re left with 828 pounds to play with. My brother’s family eats up that whole number before they add a pound of luggage and toys.
Unfortunately, my parents somehow managed to buy a worse vehicle for the job. They just brought home a 2015 GMC Yukon XL Denali 4×4. The EcoTec3 6.2-liter V8 under the hood makes 420 HP and 460 lb-ft of torque at roughly similar RPM ranges as the old Suburban’s engine. That’s good. What was bad was the 7,900-pound towing capacity and the 1,492-pound payload. So, now my brother’s family will begin to overload the SUV before they even finish piling in.
So, what gives? How did my parents mess up? I had a discussion with the salesman and he used some really fuzzy math. See, he said payload no longer matters when you hitch up to the trailer. He told me the numbers that mattered were towing capacity and GCWR, which he said were 8,100 pounds and 14,000 pounds, respectively. Since my family’s trailer weighed just 6,292 pounds of the 8,100-pound tow rating, that’s 1,708 pounds they could use for other stuff. Add in what he said was the SUV’s 1,500-pound payload rating, and you have 3,208 pounds that you can put in the SUV. He then told me that my brother’s family can’t weigh 3,208 pounds.
Problem is, that’s 1,708 pounds of free towing capacity. That’s weight for the trailer, not the interior of the tow vehicle. Your payload doesn’t double because you’re towing a lighter trailer.
Sadly, I somehow encountered even worse advice. Another salesman at another dealership tried to sell my parents a Chevy Equinox, saying one of those can tow 7,000 pounds. An Equinox really tows around 1,500 pounds.
Maybe, I haven’t encountered the worst advice out there. Has a salesperson told you something even more ridiculous?
Top graphic sales guy: adobe.stock.com/pathdoc
Not the question you asked, but is there anything that can haul 6 people and tow 7k+? if a suburban can’t do it I would assume it’s impossible
This is the reason the discontinuation of the Suburban 2500 and Excursion hurts so badly.
There’s a real need for this kind of vehicle.
Now the only options are buying used, cramming 3 people up front in a crew cab bench seat pickup, or overloading a Suburban/Expedition etc.
If you have the funds, anything is possible. I was at a campground a few years back, and a 6 door F350 rolled in pulling an enormous 5th wheel. I asked the owner about it, they had it custom built by a shop down south that specializes in stuff like that, he said there wasn’t anything available that could tow the camper AND fit his family of 7.
Yeah, the fact that stuff like that exists should tell Ford and GM something. Hell GM still makes a Suburban HD for the government, they just won’t sell it to you.
Seems crazy to me but I guess they know/assume all those customers will just buy their trucks anyways.
You are in t dually diesel 4 extended cab at this point. Remember, people count as cargo.
Especially when they’re in plastic bags in the trunk! I learned that one the hard way when I got a ticket for using the HOV lane and the cop wouldn’t hear of it.
A truck for the trailer and a minivan for the people. 😉
I’m reading from advertising materials here so maybe not The Final Authority on the matter, but with the heavy-duty tow package the Ford Expedition claims 9,000 pounds for the extended Max or 9,300 for the shorter version.
Source: https://www.gjovikford.com/research/expedition-engines/
I was under the impression the Expedition was getting beefier over time and effectively supposed to replace the Excursion’s functionality.
The payload will still get you, just like with Mercedes’ family and the Denali. Payload on an Expedition seems to be 1700-1800 lb, so hauling a big family and a heavy trailer at the same time is going to overload the vehicle.
An Excursion was legitimately built on an F250 frame.
That makes sense. I’ve never towed so I was taking it all at face value.
I do like telling the tale of the Excursion’s existence to non- or budding-car people, so this will allow me to appreciate that niche more.
To be clear, Ford’s claim is accurate; the Expedition is definitely capable of towing 9300 lb.
You just can’t do it with 6 people and their stuff inside.
Right, I did understand that, but thanks for clarifying.
That’s what they’d like you to think. Unfortunately, a LWB Expedition or Navigator is no replacement for the Excursion.
Fairly minor but was test driving a 240sx and I kept hitting my heat on the sunroof surround even with the seat in the lowest position, the salesperson said ‘you will get used to that’ I assume once brain damage sets in it won’t seem that important
Hah. Years ago I was comparing Mustangs, Camaros and Genesis. Sat in the Hyundai and my head was touching the roof. Sales guy said “Well, I guess you won’t even be test driving this”. Honestly one of the better experiences I’ve ever had in any sales situation.
And the best part is once the brain damage sets in, you can work with them at the dealership.
This isn’t so ridiculous as it is just amusing to me. Late 2014, went with my mom to look at cars, stop at Honda to look at the facelifted CR-V, and I think they maybe didn’t have one available quite yet as they were just hitting lots. Sales guy isn’t a young guy but newer to selling cars, nice enough, I don’t think he had it in him to be pushy. Chatting in the showroom about when they’ll be in, he’s saying how the new ones are indeed really nice, “they have a Dream Works engine…”
I’m thinking, Dream Works, that sounds off but can’t place it. It hit me later, that’s the film studio and he meant Earth Dreams, Honda’s name for their eco updates on their powertrains back when that was all the rage (like Skyactiv). Or maybe he was right and Shrek was the lead engineer on the project.
As a followup we went back like a week later once they had one in, that sales guy was gone, having gotten a new job I think in management at a grocery store. Figured he was trying his hand at selling cars til something better came along.
“Plug-in hybrids are illegal to sell in Oklahoma.”
In my eyes this is easily top 5 worst in these comments so far. Holy shit.
That was at the Hyundai dealer when I asked about a PHEV Tucson. They REALLY wanted to sell me an ioniq 5.
Damn, that’s a plot twist from what I expected their motivation to be. I assumed they were backwards and hated EVs and EV-adjacent things, or that they just weren’t allocated any.
My personal theory is that the PHEVs move off the lot so fast they they didn’t have any, but they do have a glut of ioniq 5 models because Oklahoma. They probably don’t get allocated many PHEVs, either, because, again, Oklahoma.
Was this Edmond Hyundai? Because if so, I can believe it.
Ding Ding Ding Ding Ding!
Mmm-hmm. Thought so. I live near there. They’re always stacked deep with IONIQ 5s. Meanwhile, the Tucson PHEVs are few and far between, and are likely pre-sold by the time they arrive.
Lol, I don’t know when that was, but I own a PHEV—a 2022 X5 xDrive45e—ordered and purchased from Jackie Cooper BMW…in Oklahoma.
That was probably September of last year? I ended up with a deeply discounted Pacifica PHEV that I’ll keep for a few years before I get something better.
I don’t remember being told anything too crazy by a salesman. The funniest thing though, was when I received two followup calls in 2013 from a Volvo dealer asking about the C30 test drive I had done seven years prior in 2006. Notably these calls happened 10 months after they announced the cancellation of the C30.
This wasn’t advice, but having the sales manager at a Chevy dealership yell at me in the showroom about how I “cheated on them” by having the gall of visiting another dealership after I gave them a deposit, and they were having trouble getting the bolt they promised to find (they did eventually) was probably the low point of my dealership experiences.
On the other hand the most honest thing was when I test drove a Mazda Speed3 in college, and after about a minute the salesman said, “I’m new, I’m sure you know way more about this car than I do, should I just get the keys for a test drive?”
Years back, had to get the hard-to-find G12 coolant for girlfriend’s VW.
Dealership 1 said they were out of stock, try dealership 2. So I go, and upon entry and mentioning 1, guy gets weirdly upset: “why are you going to that dealership?!”
He calmed down after I say “uh, they recommended we come HERE”, but yep, last time I ever went there.
I briefly worked in car sales, I knew more than most of the other salespeople combined. Got out of that industry real fast.
Worst experience on the other side? We looked at a newer car for my wife at a large dealership in town, they were VERY clear they were just a volume dealer. They told me the Jeep we were looking at would get better gas mileage than the Hyundai we had at the time, that we’d be saving money per month and that I should “do what’s right for my family”. So we did, we left. Salespeople are the worst.
I don’t know what the salesman said, but I saw the result. My girlfriend (now wife) was shopping for a new car at a Honda dealer. I was browsing in the showroom while she and a salesman went off to talk. A few minutes later she came STORMING right past me and out the front door. I was standing there confused when the salesman and his manager ran up to me asking where she went and to please ask her to come back. She didn’t go back to that dealer.
You gave us the narrative hook, but I feel like we need to call in Paul Harvey to give us the rest of the story.
I don’t know any more. All she would tell me was “They’re assholes.”
It was probably a, “Did you get your husband’s permission to buy this car, Sweetie?” or some other outrageously chauvinistic discourse.
Salesman: “You should really buy the extended warranty since this truck will break a lot and will be very expensive to fix.”
Me: “You are aware I haven’t bought this truck yet. Is that something you really want to have just said?”
That exchanged ended with me getting $3,000 taken off the purchase price that I already agreed to. Truck has been very reliable, by the way.
was your salesman this man?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wni4_n-Cmj4
That’s about right. Although, the salesman in my case didn’t appear to think he said anything dumb. He seemed genuinely shocked when I got up to walk out of the dealership.
In hindsight, it might not have actually been a dumb thing to say since it must have worked in the past.
My wife and I got the same thing buying her 4runner of all things. He then rattled off the costs to repair all these new fancy features on cars today (none of which it had). Tried to sell us gap insurance too when we put 50% down
It was something along the lines of: “You may not pay over MSRP but SOMEONE will! Everyone is paying over MSRP these days! It’s normal! You must not know very much about cars!”
I had a very similar “if you don’t buy this car, someone will. We sell hundreds of cars a month, we don’t need you to buy it”. Well damn dude, just lay all your cards on the table why don’t you?
Had a dealer try telling me that they sell 400 cars a month and would have no trouble unloading this manual transmission Cruze they’d had in inventory for two months.
LOL! When I bought my manual transmission Cruze, they were practically jumping for joy. They got it shoved onto their inbound truck and wanted it gone. I happily took it off their hands.
Ah, see your folks should have gone OLDER, not never, with the Suburban purchase. The GMT800’s (01-06) were available in a 2500 series with an 8.1L big block. Sure, it’d only get single digit fuel economy while towing, but it would easily do the job, and cost much less than the Denali. The also have a 38-gallon fuel tank (IIRC), so the range is still further than one wants to go without a bathroom break.
As far as the question at hand, years ago I was told by a salesman that the Saturn Vue had a low range transfer case.
the GMT 800 2500 was also available with the 6.0. Thats what my neighbor drives.
Yeah, the guys who are super into those say the 6.0 is the way to go if you plan on engine mods. Not much support for the 8.1L.
There are ways to make big power from an 8.1, but they are expensive.
https://www.raylarengineering.com/vortec-8100-496cid-truck-performance-parts.html
I looked into them when I owned my Avalanche but it never made sense.
yeah, they changed it JUST enough from the 454 to make it a PITA. The guy that did our supercharger and exhaust just put a marine block 502 in his.
Totally unrelated to article, but shout outs to the Suburban 2500 in general. What a boss that thing was.
I grew up with a GMT400 k2500. 454 vortec that was supercharged with a procharger. What an animal it was. Still a GM so basically crap anywhere but the mechanicals, but what a towing machine.
I have zero need for one, but I’ve wanted one something fierce for a few years now.
It’s up there with the V10 Excursion for me. I need neither, and they would both be so old now I don’t want them, but damn if I don’t WANT them.
YES! I kinda want one of those too. They’d make cool off-roaders or overland rigs with all that room and the solid front end. I’m image 37’s aren’t that hard on one of those.
The worst part was I was on the phone during the transaction and trying to get them to not sign on the dotted line. Salesman talked about how he knew GM trucks and campers from selling both, so he knew what he was talking about. He assured them there was no way you were overloading the “truck” unless you managed to park a car in it.
Eventually, I heard the transaction getting completed in the background, so mission failed. Guess I’ll get to see how this thing tows…
At least the 6.2 has more grunt. Maybe airbags in the rear could help. I don’t know much about towing so that’s all I got.
It must frustrate the heck out of you that your parents do not consult you, an extremely knowledgeable auto journalist, about vehicular purchases before leaping into things.
Airbags might make it feel better, but won’t increase the payload. Maybe in the rare case where the springs are the only difference, like some 3/4 vs 1 ton trucks.
The GMT900 Suburban and Avalanche were also available to civilians in a 3/4-ton. It was the last such time. I believe, even now, they still make a 2500 for the Suburban, but it’s limited to government fleet purchases.
When I was shopping for my Land Cruiser I was calling all over the country. I specifically wanted one with the factory front and rear locking differential pack that was popular, but not universal. I can’t tell you how many times I had to explain that lockers didn’t mean central locking.
“Does your Land Cruiser have the locking differentials?”
“Yeah it has a locker.”
“So It has the dial to the left of the steering wheel”
“It has central locker.”
“No, I’m not looking for door locks, I am looking for a specific feature, it looks like this and its located here.”
“Im sure this has central locking sir.”
And the bad part of that is that if they didn’t know that was a desirable option that people will pay a premium for, they do now and may adjust the price accordingly.
I remember when I was shopping for a 3rd gen 4Runner, zooming in on pics of the dash, hoping to see that locker button to the left of the steering wheel. I ended up giving up on that BTW, and increased my budget 4X and bought a 5th gen.
See I see “central locker” and think about the center diff lock. The thing about the central diff locker that irks me is that people that are less knowledgeable about 4wd systems think it gives it superior performance offroad to a part-time 4wd vehicle. I recently had to explain to a 3rd gen Taco owner that his t-case operated exactly like a locked center diff in 4wd.
I had a similar experience when I was buying a 2015-16 LR4 HSE Lux a couple of months ago. Most of them lack the HD package (full-size spare, 2-speed transfer case, locking rear diff, rock-crawl mode). Finally found one 6 hours away.
Oh I got one when I bought my first new car in 2005 with godawful credit they saw an easy target. It was the finance guy but it was in the process of buying the car so it counts to me.
I was told that if I didn’t get the extended warranty then my interest rate would be something like 12% but if I did get the extended warranty my rate would be 8%. Even as a 24 year old idiot I wasn’t falling for that. I ended up getting a slightly better rate from my bank and he was so annoyed with me but I didn’t give a fuck.
This happened to me once, I bought the warranty and took the lower rate, then cancelled the warranty directly through the manufacturer a bit later for a full refund.
Ooooh that’s clever. I’ll keep that in mind if it ever happens again.
Yeah it only works on the legitimate warranties through the OEM. Some of the scummy third party ones probably don’t allow you to cancel.
exactly what I did.
Same thing I did when I bought my first new car (a 2014 VW Jetta SportWagen TDI). I took the lower rate and canceled the warranty for a full refund against the principal.
I’ve purchased one extended warranty in my life. Used Dodge conversion van. I think it was three years for around $500 in the late 90s. Engine grenaded in year two and I got it replaced under that warranty. I think I’ve used up my good luck with extended warranties.
reminds me when I bought my VW sportwagen. They were offering $2000 cash back but you had to get their financing or their extended warrantee. I found out that you could cancel the extended warrantee after 6 months and get most of the money back prorated. I confirmed with the salesman – “so I can cancel this is 6 months and it wont have any repercussions.”
Yeah, you can, but that’s bad for me so don’t do that. Let me know and we will switch it to the ARP deal if that’s your plan.”
“Oh I was just curious.”
*signs deal with warrantee*
*Cancels Warrantee 6 months later*
Bad for the salesman means it’s good for you. Haha.
Its a good rule of thumb
When I bought my Focus in 2010, after significant back and forth online with them about them getting exactly what I want (done), I’m ready to set foot in the dealership. When I get there, obviously new salesman assigned insists on showing me one on the lot, to go over its features.
Figuring it’s easier to not argue at this point, I ask, “so tell me about these features.”
He then replies by basically describing the vehicle’s visual characteristics. I look expectant. And then it hits him…”and it has crumple zones!” He was so happy, so I did my best to keep a straight face.
I once had a dealer try to sell me on what was essentially the TruCoat from Fargo. The Car in question was a used NB Miata… with rusted out rockers.
Yeah, that Lundegaard guy is a bald-faced liar.
Best part is it was called an “EPA Fee”, which makes it sound like it was some kind of governmental requirement. Nope. $1000 for Environmental Protective Application so something like that.
“The subject is fleeing the interview”
Yup. I wasn’t planning to buy that rustbucket anyway. It was already massively overpriced. I just wanted to see what he’d sell it for so I sat down with him. His explanation of that fee was the exact moment I got up and walked out.
Many years ago, I stopped by a dealership to look at a used base model Dodge Dakota with a friend. We drove up in my base model Dakota. The sales guy starts in on the V-6 engine and I stop and tell him that truck has a 4 in it, you can tell by the magnum badge on the fender. Sales dip proceeds to tell me how the Dakota never had a 4 in it. He continues on that line even after I tell him I own one. After much arguing, he goes and gets the key mumbling about let’s see this 4 cylinder. I open the hood (he couldn’t figure out how to open it) and the guy takes a beat and then starts in on how the Dodge 4 is more powerful than anybody else’s six.
Classic our brand is best because I say so with zero facts because facts don’t make sales and emotions do.
Friend of mine got a ’84 F150 as his first vehicle. His dad shopped around for something basic, underpowered and reliable so he found one with the straight six in it. I was looking it over once he got it home and stared point blank at a 5.0.
“Uh, that’s a v8.”
“No, it’s a six. The salesman told me so.”
*proceeds to count plug wires on the convenient front-mounted distributor* “1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.”
“Huh…”
That truck did wicked burnouts, by the way.
Give that salesman a trophy for that whopper. He did your buddy a favor.
My Mom liked my SHO so I went with her to the car dealer to look at one. As we’re sitting in it, the salesman proudly declares, “How about that turbocharger?!!” I told him there wasn’t one. “Of course, I meant SUPERcharger!”. I looked at him and said, “Nope.”
“Right! A car like this has a V8!”
I never did tell him it was a DOHC V6. It was proudly displayed at the driver and passenger doors, and this was ’93, so the SHO was sold for four years at that point.
It was then that I realized that car salesmen are not usually enthusiasts, and don’t actually read the literature about their own products.
Way back in 2003, a salesman tried to convince my parents that there was no such thing as a factory-installed hard top for a Jeep Wrangler, and that every single one they saw on the road was using an aftermarket hard top.
(Yes, they went to a different dealership after that experience.)
yeah, that’s some pretty crappy math and a pretty normal level of dumb from sales people. I learned a while ago that sales people aren’t car people. I basically ignore anything technical a sales person tells me.
Car salesmen don’t get into that business because they love cars. They do it because they love money.
100% It’s business and thats fine.
There are exceptions to the rule, but you’re correct about the vast majority.
I was shopping for a new compact – specifically test driving a Sentra, to give an idea of the size I was looking at – and the salesman said “guys like you usually buy trucks.”
It has been over a decade and I still don’t know what that means.
I think he was hitting on you.
On one hand, he was kinda cute.
On the other hand, that comment wouldn’t get me into any kind of bed.
Certainly not a truck bed.
I’m going to guess he was trying to emasculate you and make you think that you NEED a truck to show how manly you are in hopes of getting you into something you don’t need while making more off the sale.
Yep, salespeople hate selling compacts and will aways try to get you into the bigger vehicle
You see, size matters.
Size of the commission that is.
That wasn’t really the vibe I was getting – just the inexplicable comment and then immediately moving on – but then again I’m confident enough in my gender that trying to convince me that a truck was the real man option for man men wouldn’t work anyway so maybe I didn’t catch on to it.
Around ’06 I was walking around killing some time, walked into a small used car dealer lot to see what they had. A sales person comes up and asks what I’m looking for. I say you got any sporty or fun cars? He says “not really-but you know I do have this nice Buick sedan…”
To make this even worse they actually had a Chevy Cobalt SS sedan on the lot-which I wouldn’t have wanted since it wasn’t the turbo version BUT as a 20 something asking about sporty cars why why would he not suggest the Cobalt to me??
On the opposite side of that coin, I got the idea that the Taurus SHO didn’t sell well because the salesmen were trying to sell performance-oriented family men on the Mustang, when the SHO could hang close to it and seat five adults! And probably would have netted more profit than the ‘Stang.
Interesting that doesn’t surprise me to be honest, the Mustang was what they had known and the Taurus SHO was an almost unheard of concept for an American car company. Though did it not sell well? At least anecdotally I’ve seen enough SHOs on the road for me to think it did reasonably well…
Car sales people really are kind of the worst but they’re also in a shitty industry. A co-worker of a friend way back was involved early on with eBay motors after having run a number of used car dealers and he told my friend they preferred car sales people who didnt’ know cars because it was easier for them to say “oh yeah you bet it’s got the thinga-ma-jigger” if they didn’t really know much about cars. A sales manager at a car dealership my dad knew told him when I had expressed interest as a young car guy in maybe trying to get into car sales-“it has nothing to do with selling cars, a good sales person could just as easily sell refrigerators”
I’m going to try my luck in trading in my Model 3 on a new Rav4 Hybrid after work today and so not looking forward to dealing with a stealership again so I might have a story to tell later tonight…
OK how did it go?
Unfortunately no crazy story for you all, although I forgot exactly how horrible the dealership experience was until yesterday:
New car: Rav4 Hybrid Limited with the options I wanted – $43,869 at Camelback Toyota in Phoenix, AZ.
Trade-in: 2018 Tesla Model 3 Long Range (silver/black) w/FSD and 27,300 miles (I work from home) – Offered me $18,000 then raised to $20,000 when I said no way.
They also added around $7000 worth of BS dealer adds, like extended warranty, paint protection, $699 to tint the 2 front windows, etc. So it ended up that I would be financing $40,000 after trading in my car on a $44,000 vehicle, so basically me trading in my car would have saved me a whopping $4000 off of the sticker price! I asked for my spare key card back and got the heck out of there!
Wow 🙁
Oops too late to edit my above comment but I just wanted to add that I’m not one of those people who think my Model 3 is magically worth some ungodly amount of money because it has the FSD package, but Toyota’s own website gave me a trade-in range of $26,000 to $28,500 so Camelback Toyota’s offer of $18,000 was WAY too low for me to even consider.
A lot of cars are starting to build up on lots and you can get discounts, but as far as I know the RAV4 hybrid is one of the few that’s still kinda hard to find. Unfortunately, that means they’re gonna play games with it.
OK how did it go? Seconded.
See comment above yours. 🙂
Oh, I win. Overheard a salesman talking to a woman in for service who had a black car. She wanted a blue one, but (during covid times) she couldn’t afford a new car (and she was in for her 10k). She said her brother had a body shop and he could repaint it for her, so she wasn’t interested in upgrading.
He told her if she repainted her car her insurance would total it and she would lose all her money.
Like, not that it was in a collision or anything. He actually straight up said, convinced he was correct, that if she repainted her brand new car a different color the insurance company would just total loss the bitch.
Mind blowing stuff.
Oh, I do have a good one for this. I once took my parent’s Altima to the dealership for an oil change. While there, the Salesperson did her absolute best to convince me that the Nissan Rouge, Star Wars Rouge One edition would appreciate in value over time due to its rarity.
Forever the dumbest crossover (hah) in history.
Is it dumber than the Marvel Hyundai?
Frankly, Marvel pales against the Walking Dead Tucson, because nothing sells cars like a society where you drive what still runs and has a tank of unspoiled gas.
Although, the ending of Rogue One is pretty bleak too, that might beat out the Tucson.
https://www.motortrend.com/news/hyundai-tucson-walking-dead-edition-will-save-you-from-weak-zombies/
didn’t know that was a thing. I’m sad.
On a road trip last week I saw like 4 of them in one day, it was insane. Apparently the marvel Hyundai sold pretty well in the northern half of Utah?
I know somebody who took drivers Ed in one of those, because the drivers Ed company inexplicably bought one?
Maybe because red cars are popular.
Rogue. Rouge.
These are two different words.
Not if you have dyslexia! In that case, they’re 201 dfferent words.
In fairness, a lot of people bought Thunderbirds and PT Cruisers under this premise. LOL
This is not exactly in the spirit of the question maybe, but it is fresh in my mind and I literally laughed out loud.
A salesman was trying to get me to bite on a Z06 at $10,000 over sticker and specifically used the words “once in a lifetime opportunity”. I declined, and less than a week later he somehow had a completely different Z06 in stock that he also asked me to buy at $10K over. Maybe it was a twice in a lifetime opportunity?
Buddy, they come off an assembly line and there are thousands of dealers out there just like you.
But it was possibly once in his lifetime if he got you to pay 10k over!
^^^ This. He didn’t say whose lifetime.
Maybe he had terminal cancer and a month to live.
He got some sucker to, twice.
Some more I remembered:
I’ve been told drum brakes are superior to discs, I’ve been told there is no such thing as a Chevy SS, my wife has been told the Viper can’t be hers because it’s a manual transmission, I’ve been told Bronco Raptors will never sell under sticker (they were less than a year later), I’ve been laughed at when I asked if a golf bag fits in a Viper (it does), I’ve been loudly yelled at by a sales manager across the room “AM I ALLOWED TO MAKE ANY MONEY ON THIS DEAL?”
I’m sure I’ll think of some more.
Oh the absolute dumbest was when the dealer made an error on the price of my Fiesta.
They had multiple opportunities to correct it as the paperwork was seen by multiple layers of managers and finance people and apparently no one thought to question the idea that selling me a brand new 2017 Fiesta for $6999 didn’t make any sense.
They called me an hour later and asked me with a straight face to give them the $3000 they forgot to charge me. Sorry guys, you have signed paperwork and my check, I have signed paperwork and the keys, I think we made a deal. Expecting me to come back and give them money to fix their own error is likely to be the dumbest thing any dealer ever says to me.
I would argue that drums can be superior to disc brakes in limited cases – namely on the rear axle of cheap and light cars, not intended for track use. The rears do very little braking, so low maintenance, low cost drums make sense in such applications. Elsewhere, not so much.
When the Honda S2000 first came out, the salesman told me that after 1 yr Honda was going to “break the molds” and only make it that one year.