Chaos

Those same salesmen make alot less than they act like and when you gift wrap a refferal the act like they did you a favor. High end wath guys are just a bad...

Bob Rouleau

FWIW - most dealers have a policy about not issuing a quote via email. The reason is that they believe it will be used as leverage at another dealer. If you are serious, invest in a phone call.

Mike Batt - I bet I know which dealer gave you the poor treatment

InTheAir

Invest in a phone call?

I'm not trying to be combative, but I think it is worth stating that if I'm spending $100,000 on a car, then I get to choose what communication system works best for me. I prefer email as it is less invasive to my job and easily to deal with in smaller bits throughout my day.

Those dealers that are willing to communicate in this way, and are polite and professional, will get my business.

blk on blk

i bought my 996 via email and phone, and had a nice experience. It was at a dealer in NJ. It was not Princeton.

purrybonker

Agreed - the Melbourne salesman complained that I was using "inefficient email" rather than "fast and effective" telephone calls. Not sure what planet he lives on or what century he was born in....

You can't always pick your deals, but you can usually pick who you deal with. If you can't make progress with the easy stuff with these guys, pretty easy to predict what might happen with the tough stuff. There are 3 I won't deal with no matter what they have to offer.

They need to sell Porsches, I don't need to buy one. A lot of salesmen/dealerships seem to overlook that....

Bob Rouleau

Purry - no argument with your preference, you are the buyer and it is your right to choose. Of course, dealers are under no obligation to conform to your chosen medium of communication. Dealers have been burned too often after issuing an email quote which the buyer then uses as a bargaining chip at one or more dealers. It becomes a form of auction. On the phone, experienced sales people can usually recognize a serious buyer. Via email, that's impossible. Since dealers talk to each other, the word spread quickly. If a dealer issues a quote via email, it is usually a price which is higher than the bottom they are willing to take. It is generally believed that email shoppers are "bottom feeders" (sorry about that) and what they think is appropriate treatment is dealt out. As I said, the prevailing attitude, correct or not, is that if a potential buyer won't invest in a phone call, he or she is 99 percent likely to be a waste of time.

You are right though, they need to sell cars. It's what they are paid to do. This makes them focus on the high probability buyers. I wish you success in your search. If you get stuck, try calling them. I bet the response will be better.

Best,

OldGuy

Bob one nice thing about a phone call for the dealer is once they suck you in there is no *Evidence* that the quote ever existed. Which is nice for the dealer.
Maybe guys buying 140K cars are bottom feeders but I dont consider myself so. I bought my GT3 after the initial phone call mostly through Email.

purrybonker

Interesting perspective Bob, but these are all dealers that have "internet sales managers" and peddle their cars on eBay (go ahead check right now - Princeton and Park Place have multiple cars up on eBay and Melbourne usually does as well). So - internet it is, but let's deal using smoke signals?

As to this defense about "serious buyers" and "shopping prices" - give me a break. Every dealer has a price he wants/needs out of a car - dealer A doesn't care what dealer B quotes me, particularly on used cars. He has a yellow one with x miles and x options - the other guy has a blue one with y miles and y options.

Geez if I were his boss and he missed a sale (on Porsches - not scooters for crap sake) because he doesn't want to bother dealing with "bottom feeders" (first time I've heard of ppl buying ~ $100k cars being called bottom feeders) I'd can his butt in a second. What's his downside? Quote a price, move on. I take it or I don't. But check my openning remarks - this isn't just about setting a price this is about fundamental communications and arrogance.

If I'm 3000 miles away, why would I spend $ and time to track some guy down on the phone (who can then pester me at will in the future) to get "maybe this" and "probably that" vs. a good number in front of me before I spend a bunch more money to hop on a plane to go see the car?

KBS911

E-mail Champion Porsche in Pompano Beach Fl. You can link up with them on the Dupont Registry site if you are browsing for a car. Just purchased a new 08 from them and it was honestly the best car buying experience I ever had. Ask for Vince. Initial e-mail contact then a few follow up phone calls and i had my car. I think I started my initial e-mail contact on a Monday, had a deal by Wednesday and picked up my car on Saturday. Got there at 2:00 pm and drove off at 2:45. Absolutely painless.

I'm with you though. No excuse for arrogance. As a buyer, and especially now, you should be in the drivers seat. (pun intended). There are lots of cars out there right now. Good luck!

ceresma

I had a price from the guy in Princeton on an 08 C2 with like 1500 miles on it. I went down to look at the car and make a deal and he gave me that "I said IF I could do a price" speech. I got up and walked out and bought an 07 leftover C2S for almost the same price from a dealer in PA.

mauijim

I've never had a problem communicating with a dealer by e-mail - after making an initial phone call. On the communication hierarchy, face-to-face is at the top, letters and e-mail at the bottom, and phone contact in between. If I'm a serious buyer, I'll find the time to make a phone call even when the time difference between me and the dealer is six hours. I don't get into pissing matches or ego contests with dealers - I'm interested in figuring out what works best for the both of us. Frankly, I don't understand bad mouthing dealers who would like a phone call. I think quality communication will benefit me. Besides, I'm a big boy now, I can wade through any salesman BS to get what I want.

997, esq

Bob --- Frankly, I don't see a problem with using a bid as a "bargaining chip" or with an auction scenario. The fact is that as long as I like two cars equally, I am going to buy from the person with the most competitive price. If dealers are miffed bc buyers do their research and play hardball with them, they will get no sympathy from me. For every dealer who refuses to deal with a "bottom feeder" like me (which is their right, as you say), there'll be three who will. I'll get my car at my price, and they will still have a car in inventory that they need to sell.

ELUSIVE

purrybonker, I agree with you completely.

It's an information world.
Deal over email or potentially lose sales. It's simple.
Catching a salesman by phone can sometimes take many turns at phone tag. Email is quick and precise and allows people to respond at their leisure. For anyone busy, it's critical.

Soon we'll be getting price quotes over text messages.

docjackson1

i agree 100% with him also. it is certainly true that you could use 1 quote as a bagaining chip just by hitting the foward button on your blackberry, but aren't they doing the same thing by having us bid against other buyers on ebay? purry is correct-why have an internet manager if you don't want to have a meaningful conversation on the internet.

crg1717

faris, at porsche exchange in illinois will be glad to help you . faris@4porsche.com ,tell em craig , from rennlist , told you to check with him .