LoCore
05-05-2002, 11:57 AM
A co-worker of mine decided that his 1989 Camry just wasn't attracting the ladies, and decided he might actually want to buy a new car. He's a smart guy with his money, and a new car was never an expense he was interested in. This would be his first new car purchase.
We have a few gearheads in the lab, so there were a few of us wanting to take him around to some dealers for some test drives. We started last month, sending him our wish lists and web sites, to let him get started on some research.
While out for lunch two weeks ago, we decided to swing by the Suburu dealer and get some info on the WRX. Talked to a sterotypically creepy salesman, picked up a couple brochures, and took off since they didn't have any on the lot to drive. They told my friend they had 8 coming in, and would call him when they arrived so he could set up a test drive.
Two weeks pass. The dealership had been hounding my friend on the phone to come in and take a test drive as the WRX's had arrived, but he didnt' have time to take one. We make some time to go drive one last Wednesday, and see that they have one on the lot.
We stop into the dealership to find the salesmen attacking their lunches. Creepy Salesman Guy is there, looks up from his lunch, and more or less says "what the hell do you want?" We tell him we're interesting in checking out the WRX. He seems annoyed that we've interrupted his lunch.
As we walk out to the car Creepy Salesman Guy recognizes my friend, and starts to give him a hard time about why he hasn't been in earlier. Even told my friend that he was supposed to be there the previous Friday for a test drive, and that he missed the appointment.
I'm not sure what my friend was thinking at the time, but I was thinking that if we actually get to drive the car, the salesman would make a nice speedbump.
We get to the car, and the dealer doesn't even bother to open it up. My friend lets the salesman know we're interested in a test drive, to which he responds, and I quote: "We can't put miles on these cars. I could let you take it around the block, but that's it".
Nice. We decide to leave, especially after my friend realizes that he doesn't have his driver's license with him! We go get lunch, where we talk about car dealer games and attitudes and about how never ever to go back to that Suburu dealer.
Mind you, my friend is a younger guy that could probably pay cash for any car under $30K. The Suburu jerk had no clue.
After lunch, we were near the Nissan dealer so I suggest we stop by and see what information they had on the 350Z. I'd been talking the car up after seeing it at the Denver Auto Show in March, and was curious to see what the dealer knew about it.
We pull up (I was driving the Celica), and see three salesman checking us out. We get out an walk up to one of the guys, who politely greeted us and asked how he could help (already ahead of Suburu Clown). My friend tells him that we're interested in learning about the 350Z; we head inside.
The dealer gets out the one brochure that he has on the Z, and lets us know that they've received very little information from Nissan on the Z, save for how to do the pre-orders. He spends some time telling us about the pre-order program--mostly information we had already pulled from the web site. Finally he drops some new information on us: they only had one Z left to sell from their allocation.
I asked him how many each dealership was getting: 6, and they had already sold 5. I'm not sure if 6 is the number allocated to every dealership, or just this one. The dealership we were at is the biggest chain of Nissan dealerships that I know of in the Front Range.
Turns out my friend has been doing his homework on the Z, and starts getting details about the 5 package levels. Then he starts asking questions about financing; lease options and purchase options. The salesman was up to speed on the configurations, but had heard little about the financing options. He suspects they will be similar to other Nissan lease programs, and gives my friend details about how those worked.
While they are talking financing, I'm scanning the brochure, and am amazed at the technology that comes with the car--carbon fiber drive shaft, LSD, traction control, stability control, 18" wheels, ... the list went on an on! Then I start to think: "why is he asking about financing?" Holy crap, he's going to order one today!
Now I'm starting to get uncomfortable, because I'm trying to help my friend be successful in his first car buying experience, and I'm totally unprepared as to what the Z's are going for. I've heard the stories about the first offerings of popular cars going for well over sticker (Miata, PT Cruiser were two abused around here), but hadn't heard any info on the Z.
The salesman is up front and honest with my friend as to what this dealership is doing. They are selling the cars for MSRP and no haggling. He claims other dealers in this region are taking orders for as much as $4K over MSRP. (I would confirm later that night that the Edmunds "true market value" is currently 2K over MSRP).
After checking out the options, my friend decides he wants the Touring version with the 6sp--which adds all the goodies of the Performance version as well. Yow. That's pretty much everything available except for the high-end Ray's Engineering wheels and big Brembo brakes.
My friend sees the numbers, is OK with what he sees (just under $34K MSRP), then asks me for opinions on colors. (OMG, he really is going to order one!). All of the pictures that I've seen, and the one at the auto show, were silver, and looked great. Some web sites are claiming that the pictures we've seen, as well as the Z's showing up at the auto shows, are a custom paint job and color that won't be available.
My friend was thinking about a black exterior, but I talked him out of that. Anyone I've known who's owned a black car out here has regretted it between the heat, feading, and keeping it clean. He had seen the silver pictures as well, and like them. Then we noted in the brochure that there is what looks like a gunmetal silver (Silverstone) that looks great. Haven't seen any real pictures of it, but liked the look of it on the pre-order web site--friend decides to go with Silverstone.
All of the interior pictures that I've seen had the "burnt orange" leather, which I thought looked very nice and very different. It reminded me of an MR2 I test drove several years ago that had a "tan and black" interior color scheme that looked great. My friend thinks about it, and decides to go with the burnt orange over the Charcoal leather.
My friend signed the order form that afternoon.
So, my, I mean my friend's Z arrives in August. I'm still a little shook, but the friend seems OK :chuckles:
Pictures will of course be posted when available.
If you're thinking about getting a Z, start doing your homework now, and be prepared for the following:
1) limited availability with fixed dealer allocations. It isn't clear whether the limit of 6 we ran into was for just the dealer we visited or is wider spread. Its also unknown whether the low allocations is just for the pre-orders, or if the numbers are limited for the entire first model year.
2) paying MSRP or thousands over MSRP. The demand is there, the supply isn't, at least this first model year.
3) There aren't many options to pick for the car. Instead, you'll pick one of the five trim levels: base, Enthusiast, Touring, Performance, Track. Touring in the 6sp manual gives you all the goodies in the Performance package as well.
4) Putting the deposit down means you are ordering a car, not just taking an option to buy one. It really is a pre-order program. You'll have to pick out exactly the trim level, options, and colors that you want. What you order is what will get built!
Sorry for being so long-winded, but just had to tell this story. It made for an interesting lunch, and I'm really excited for my friend.
I know one of the first places I'm going to ask my friend to take me for a drive---to the Suburu dealer :-)
We have a few gearheads in the lab, so there were a few of us wanting to take him around to some dealers for some test drives. We started last month, sending him our wish lists and web sites, to let him get started on some research.
While out for lunch two weeks ago, we decided to swing by the Suburu dealer and get some info on the WRX. Talked to a sterotypically creepy salesman, picked up a couple brochures, and took off since they didn't have any on the lot to drive. They told my friend they had 8 coming in, and would call him when they arrived so he could set up a test drive.
Two weeks pass. The dealership had been hounding my friend on the phone to come in and take a test drive as the WRX's had arrived, but he didnt' have time to take one. We make some time to go drive one last Wednesday, and see that they have one on the lot.
We stop into the dealership to find the salesmen attacking their lunches. Creepy Salesman Guy is there, looks up from his lunch, and more or less says "what the hell do you want?" We tell him we're interesting in checking out the WRX. He seems annoyed that we've interrupted his lunch.
As we walk out to the car Creepy Salesman Guy recognizes my friend, and starts to give him a hard time about why he hasn't been in earlier. Even told my friend that he was supposed to be there the previous Friday for a test drive, and that he missed the appointment.
I'm not sure what my friend was thinking at the time, but I was thinking that if we actually get to drive the car, the salesman would make a nice speedbump.
We get to the car, and the dealer doesn't even bother to open it up. My friend lets the salesman know we're interested in a test drive, to which he responds, and I quote: "We can't put miles on these cars. I could let you take it around the block, but that's it".
Nice. We decide to leave, especially after my friend realizes that he doesn't have his driver's license with him! We go get lunch, where we talk about car dealer games and attitudes and about how never ever to go back to that Suburu dealer.
Mind you, my friend is a younger guy that could probably pay cash for any car under $30K. The Suburu jerk had no clue.
After lunch, we were near the Nissan dealer so I suggest we stop by and see what information they had on the 350Z. I'd been talking the car up after seeing it at the Denver Auto Show in March, and was curious to see what the dealer knew about it.
We pull up (I was driving the Celica), and see three salesman checking us out. We get out an walk up to one of the guys, who politely greeted us and asked how he could help (already ahead of Suburu Clown). My friend tells him that we're interested in learning about the 350Z; we head inside.
The dealer gets out the one brochure that he has on the Z, and lets us know that they've received very little information from Nissan on the Z, save for how to do the pre-orders. He spends some time telling us about the pre-order program--mostly information we had already pulled from the web site. Finally he drops some new information on us: they only had one Z left to sell from their allocation.
I asked him how many each dealership was getting: 6, and they had already sold 5. I'm not sure if 6 is the number allocated to every dealership, or just this one. The dealership we were at is the biggest chain of Nissan dealerships that I know of in the Front Range.
Turns out my friend has been doing his homework on the Z, and starts getting details about the 5 package levels. Then he starts asking questions about financing; lease options and purchase options. The salesman was up to speed on the configurations, but had heard little about the financing options. He suspects they will be similar to other Nissan lease programs, and gives my friend details about how those worked.
While they are talking financing, I'm scanning the brochure, and am amazed at the technology that comes with the car--carbon fiber drive shaft, LSD, traction control, stability control, 18" wheels, ... the list went on an on! Then I start to think: "why is he asking about financing?" Holy crap, he's going to order one today!
Now I'm starting to get uncomfortable, because I'm trying to help my friend be successful in his first car buying experience, and I'm totally unprepared as to what the Z's are going for. I've heard the stories about the first offerings of popular cars going for well over sticker (Miata, PT Cruiser were two abused around here), but hadn't heard any info on the Z.
The salesman is up front and honest with my friend as to what this dealership is doing. They are selling the cars for MSRP and no haggling. He claims other dealers in this region are taking orders for as much as $4K over MSRP. (I would confirm later that night that the Edmunds "true market value" is currently 2K over MSRP).
After checking out the options, my friend decides he wants the Touring version with the 6sp--which adds all the goodies of the Performance version as well. Yow. That's pretty much everything available except for the high-end Ray's Engineering wheels and big Brembo brakes.
My friend sees the numbers, is OK with what he sees (just under $34K MSRP), then asks me for opinions on colors. (OMG, he really is going to order one!). All of the pictures that I've seen, and the one at the auto show, were silver, and looked great. Some web sites are claiming that the pictures we've seen, as well as the Z's showing up at the auto shows, are a custom paint job and color that won't be available.
My friend was thinking about a black exterior, but I talked him out of that. Anyone I've known who's owned a black car out here has regretted it between the heat, feading, and keeping it clean. He had seen the silver pictures as well, and like them. Then we noted in the brochure that there is what looks like a gunmetal silver (Silverstone) that looks great. Haven't seen any real pictures of it, but liked the look of it on the pre-order web site--friend decides to go with Silverstone.
All of the interior pictures that I've seen had the "burnt orange" leather, which I thought looked very nice and very different. It reminded me of an MR2 I test drove several years ago that had a "tan and black" interior color scheme that looked great. My friend thinks about it, and decides to go with the burnt orange over the Charcoal leather.
My friend signed the order form that afternoon.
So, my, I mean my friend's Z arrives in August. I'm still a little shook, but the friend seems OK :chuckles:
Pictures will of course be posted when available.
If you're thinking about getting a Z, start doing your homework now, and be prepared for the following:
1) limited availability with fixed dealer allocations. It isn't clear whether the limit of 6 we ran into was for just the dealer we visited or is wider spread. Its also unknown whether the low allocations is just for the pre-orders, or if the numbers are limited for the entire first model year.
2) paying MSRP or thousands over MSRP. The demand is there, the supply isn't, at least this first model year.
3) There aren't many options to pick for the car. Instead, you'll pick one of the five trim levels: base, Enthusiast, Touring, Performance, Track. Touring in the 6sp manual gives you all the goodies in the Performance package as well.
4) Putting the deposit down means you are ordering a car, not just taking an option to buy one. It really is a pre-order program. You'll have to pick out exactly the trim level, options, and colors that you want. What you order is what will get built!
Sorry for being so long-winded, but just had to tell this story. It made for an interesting lunch, and I'm really excited for my friend.
I know one of the first places I'm going to ask my friend to take me for a drive---to the Suburu dealer :-)