Tips for Buying a Car--Part 1 Introduction

Hello ladies! With Bickster’s blog on those annoying warranty calls being so helpful, I thought I’d see how else we might be able to help folks have a better car buying/owning/servicing experience. With all the experience the Subie Divas have, we’ve got to have some good advice, right? I mean, of course, for the poor folks who aren’t fortunate enough to be able to purchase from Premier for whatever reason—I guess if you live in a foreign country or want some sort of weird car that Subaru doesn’t make ;)

Since I’m on the car sales end of this business, I thought I’d start by seeing what kind of issues women have when they go to purchase a car and see how we could help.

I found out that women influence 95% of purchases and make 65% of new car purchases and 53% of used car purchases. (http://www.roadandtravel.com/newsworthy/newsandviews04/womenautostats.htm) You’d think that with that kind of influence a woman would feel like a queen walking into any showroom, right?

Wrong. A 2006 Capital One survey of 1000 women showed that 77 percent of women plan to bring a man along for their next vehicle purchase, mostly to feel that they're getting a fair deal. (http://www.theautochannel.com/news/2006/06/01/009311.html)

Next, I wanted to get the "word on the street" about how women feel about buying a car. I asked my female friends and family about they felt about buying a car. I can tell you that most didn’t feel like queens, that’s for sure. Here’s how they responded to the question: “What are your biggest pet peeves about buying a car,” with names, dealerships and car brands removed to protect the innocent (and not so innocent):

B: ..when the guy at (car brand) acted like the (large SUV) was "too big" for me...haha as if!! I bought from another salesman at that dealership who was a friend of a friend...I definitely mentioned it to him and made sure the other guy knew I went with the (large SUV)...and not the (small SUV) like he suggested-I love my (large SUV) -no way was I going to let him talk me out of getting what I wanted!!
E: The salesmen...why is it always men?
E in response to B: We ran into something along the same line a few years ago at(dealership)...would never go back there. Matter of fact there are a few dealerships around here we wouldn't go back to. Still don't like dealing with salesmen...like a woman wouldn't know what was under a hood..most of the salesmen don't either they just yes you to death until the sale is final...Oh I could get on a role with this question Jen!
One of the times we were purchasing a car I did it through the internet, I knew what we wanted since we had researched the car and such..I was contacted by the internet manager (female) who was fantastic...answered all my questions, knew the answers to everything .. and was a real "people person"...when I got to the dealership I thought I was going to meet with her to purchase the car...that was the understanding I got from her..she did come out and greet me and then poof I was in the hands of a "salesman" who tried to convince me that wasn't what I wanted...additionally he was NOT able to answer some of my questions, did not give me correct information about the car and got frustrated with my wanting to know specific things..we left that dealership and went to another. My feelings..if the internet manager had been able to sell me the car I would have bought it there...can you tell by my writing that I've am not really happy with dealerships.
H: Salesmen. talking down to me thinking I couldn't POSSIBLY know what I was talking about (when I knew more about that car than he did) or trying to convince me I wanted a different car than I had already decided I was buying. My sister lived in CT and got her car in MA because of condescending salesmen.
A: I've never had any trouble, but man do they HATE me! Once I know what I want I pit the hungry dealership managers against one another for the lowest price possible. Plus, I'm 6 feet tall and kinda mean.
L: Told me this story—When she went to test-drive a car she was told she wouldn’t be able to because it was a manual transmission. (Apparently the sales person didn’t notice she’d driven a manual there.) To make the transaction even more enjoyable, the sales rep directed his entire pitch at her 11-year-old brother.
K: Was kind enough to share how she went online and had already decided exactly what she wanted before she even spoke with anyone because she just wanted the newer version of what she already had. She contacted several dealers via phone and email and described her ideal vehicle. On two separate occasions at two different dealerships, she was told that they had her exact car. When she’d arrive at the dealership, the “exact car” would have an automatic instead of a manual transmission and about $10k-$15k in extra options that she didn’t want. She finally found a dealership (with a female internet manager) that located the exact car and sold it to her, no tricks or strings attached.

So, in summary, the women I talked to felt like they were typically steered towards a car they didn’t want and felt they were talked down to. And it seems like most of my friends and family found the quick solution to that problem—either find another sales rep at the same dealership or head out to another dealership. Other issues were that the process wasn’t what they were told it would be, and that information was directed at a male with the female.

(Another point I’d like to quickly make as part of the “shameless internet plug” program—none of the above women were attempting to purchase a vehicle from Premier Subaru. You can click here to see what our customers have to say.)

So I’m asking you, our readers, to chime in and let us know what you hate and/or love about the buying process. My next blog will begin with how to get the most out of your pre-purchase research, look for it on Thursday afternoon! After that, Barb’s going to help us out with some tips on what to do once you’re in the showroom!