Yeah Caddy dealers suck. I found that out trying to buy a CTS from a guy calling himself “Slick Rick”. Must have been a reference to his greased back hair or maybe that was the brand of cheap cologne used to cover up the stale cigar stench.

I’ll give the one I was credit for being honest… after I test drove an RDX, they practically BEGGED me to buy one. Saying that sales were slow and they really needed to make a sell. I was only one of I think 2 or 3 people to show up that day, they said.

For an expensive vehicle, the RDX seemed nice. A lot of steering wheel vibrations though from that Super AWD technology taking the torque left-and-right, back and forth on slick portions. The Honda CR-V nor Jeep Patriot did not do the same on the same day and in same weather.

A friend of mine bought a Jetta almost solely on the dealer experience (well, that and the fact that it went really fast). The sales guy was low-key, but extremely thorough. He did ask the requisite “what other cars are you looking at?” and when told, unlike a couple of other dealerships we had visited that did the “You don’t want a…” , he said.. “those are all really good cars, let me show you the features of this one” and spent 20 minutes going around and through the car. Overall, an excellent dealer experience.

Something doesn’t make sense with these surveys and studies. Cadillac just won a Business Week brand quality study with the highest customer satisfaction of any automaker, and third overall (among all companies in every industry).

I don’t see how you can place first in one study, and nearly last in another. Unless one or more of these studies/surveys are fundamentally flawed.

As for the first commentor’s experience at a Cadillac dealership, you can’t judge one sales person at one dealership and conclude that every Cadillac dealer is exactly the same. Like all dealerships, there are good ones and bad ones, good sales people and bad sales people. The industry overall has very few honest sales people that know what they are doing. This is the case no matter what the brand. In my experience, Ford dealers are the worst overall. There are 5 bad Ford dealers for every 1 good one in my experience.

well acura is basically honda so this is hardly a surprise

^^ the RL doesn’t do that.

It comes down to a matter of sales training. I have found (and I work in the automotive industry) that the dealer experience in most retailers has improved markedly in the last 10 years, however, there are always throw backs. If there was a piece of advice to give to any automotive salesperson it would be to know your product, and know your competition. Do not ever tell someone that the other cars they are looking at are garbage, or denigrate them in any way. Sell yours, and sell it well.

Echo Z06ified.
I just bought a new car. We went to two dealerships to testdrive and negotiate the price. At one, they were laid back, listened to us, and gave us a competitive offer. They treated us like intelligent adults.
At the other I felt like a 14 year old boy at a NAMBLA convention. They tried every dirty trick in the book. There initial quote was even $2K over MSRP!!!
These were two dealers for the same manufacturer maybe 3 miles apart. Needless to say, I bought from the first one, but I bet the 2nd one makes enough screwing over his customers that he doesn’t need return business or worry about bad word-of-mouth.

Way to go Saturn.. only american in the group. and their new product is good. but.. all top five are low volume sellers. I wonder if this makes a difference.. and is this U.S. only?

My best dealer experiences, through just testing and browsing cars, have been at Mercedes Benz and Honda.

Yeah the douchebag that sold me my silverado got fired 2 weeks later.

Acura does not get the top dealership experience. I was very interested in the MDX and I was told that in order to test drive that car I would have to order it and wait until my car came in. Then I could drive it and decide whether or not I wanted it or not. I asked the salesman if I could just sit in one. He refused. Jaguar is much better. When my grandmother bought her car, the salesman didn’t even come with us to test drive the car. I will never buy or even look at Acura again based upon my experiences at various dealerships and friends cars.

I agree with buenos.

On another note, salespeople are people too. On 2 different days you might have totally different experiences with the same salesperson. The thing is that we as salespeople have to find a way to difuse the misconception that we’re all snakes. Which is a foundation that was laid so well by our predecessors. And that’s where buenos comment comes in. I think we can difuse it by knowing our product well.

The last thing is that if you get screwed over you have nobody to blame but yourself. You can get all the detailed information you’ll ever need in places like edmunds.com, kbb.com, carsdirect.com, etc. In fact I use these resources with my customers all the time so they know they’re getting a great deal. And if you don’t have a computer or internet access at home, then hit the library. There’s no excuse anymore.

Buenos: I hate that, because essentially they’re going to tell you you’re an idiot if you even THINK about a car they’re not selling.

I’m having a tough time buying a Mazda5, because I Know what they pay for the car, I know how it’s selling. I’m asking them directly “Will you sell me this car for ($)?
I view that as a yes-or-no question.
They’ve all either tried to charge me sticker (as if), or tried to direct me toward soething I don’t want.

Part of the problem is the dealers i’ve gon to only have a few, and they’re Top-level Modelks with useless additional crap like Nav systems and Moonroofs.
Now that’s fine, if that’s what you’re into, buy I’m not paying $4K for stuff I’d be just as fine without.

That’s how a car that should cots 17,8 ends up witha sticker of $25k — and they said that with a straight face.

So, I’m not impressed with Mazda dealers, to the point that I’m thinking about investigating the mitsu outlander

When you’re selling someone a honda for the price of a BMW, you’d better be good to her.

I bought two new Acuras in the last two years: a TL when they were on the market for a year, and then an RDX when they came out new.
No car salesman is your friend, period. The experience at Acura has been a LOT better than at other dealers (Mazda and Mitsubishi I’ve had some experience with), but you’ll still get the same games. The salesman will duck out an talk to a “sales manager,” you’ll get arbitration agreements thrown in your face for the first time right before you sign on the dotted line. The price of the vehicle is just the dealer’s first shot at you: Dealers make money on extended warranties, financing programs, accessory mark-ups, service programs and packages, anything and everything.
IsellMazdas is right, though, in the Internet age, the consumer (especially enthusiasts, like us all) has no excuse for not knowing everything we need to know about any given car, and then negotiating a fair price. However, I firmly believe that the dealer will do everything he or she can to make sure you don’t achieve this goal.
And, I think it’s important to remember that dealers are all independently owned, so comparing Acura dealer to Acura dealer is largely comparing apples to oranges.

Scar: important point at then end there. One guy may own Toyota Dodge and BMW dealers and get rave reviews for all.

Another guy’s Nissan/Buick/Hyundai dealer might be ripping off three different income classes.

I’d like to just test-drive it at one store and buy it online.

Worst dealers:
Wilkins Hyundai-Subaru
and
Lane Pratley Hyundai/Cadillac

Okay.

I just wish, Like Nissan to Infinti, that Acura’s products were more removed from Honda’s general line-up or I’d be more inclined to consider what they have to offer. I mean they got nothing that piques my interest quite like the Infinti M-series or G-series (especially the G37 – yum!). Even with a new hot sports car… which will likely cost far more than I’d be willing to part with and be worth ultimately less to me in the end anyway, Acura looks like little more than dressed up Honda’s, even if They really aren’t they are not far enough removed to avoid that comparison, for me.

Still hopefully, other companies will put the heat on dealerships to do better by the customers to get those sales and more importantly referrals to get their friends and relatives to at least stop by a look.

Most dealerships are independently owned, that’s why you have Gunn Honda, Brown Chevrolet and so on, they are NOT owned but the parent company. One might think that Company owned dealerships would have more uniform service and better Customer service. But I have yet to see that outside of a Carmax or Americars. I hope I’m wrong because I will be car shopping in a year to start sizing up just who is going to get my money.

As said, dealerships are privately owned… with that said, I remember two distinct experiences, one with a Chevrolet dealership in Maryland and a Chevrolet dealership in New York (I don’t te… the dealership in NY was polite, presented the car formally, and went the extra mile to make me feel comfortable. This was just last year.
The dealership in Maryland was the total opposite. I felt unwelcome, and they got rid of me after 5 minutes of brochures and quick explanations.
It varies alot with different areas and ownerships. I don’t understand how they can compare them, although some premium brands I’ve found have had a tendancy to be snobbish… I’ve had alot of complaints from friends about Acura and Lexus.

where I got cut off at…
*(I don’t tend to buy new cars, but I had been looking for a newer model)

A mazda 5 Hahahahahahahaaha!

I have only owned Acura (they are at least 5 grand less then any comparable Bavarian) and my dealer experiences have varied Some ar good some are bad. The good outweigh the bad fortunetely
I convinced my father to get an 04 MDX back in 2003 and my bro just picked up an 07 MDX and both their dealer experiences have been great
I to think it depends on which dealer and who owns them

My cadillac dealer has been wonderful.
the toyota dealer by my house bothers you inside 7-11 next door, it pisses me off i dont want a toyota with my slurpee.

What’s wrong with a Mazda5? It’s a great vehicle, I rented one for the weekend and didn’t want to give it back

3115: Comparable Bavarian?
There’s more of a chance of Estelle Getty leading the NBA in rebounding than there is of honda making something comparable to BMW.

the 760i Rules!

Dealerships are plagued by salesmen who don’t last. Three months is average.

WORD OF ADVICE: before walking into a dealership, call and ask for the veteran, most experienced, or top salesperson. Ask a few qualifying questions relating to how long he’s been with the company or selling cars, and you’ll have a much better idea of who you’re dealing with. Fly-by-nighters are the ones who bring dealership ratings down and piss off customers. The places where it’s the most difficult to sell (domestic and low-end foreign stores) have the highest turnaround.

Bryce, you might have something there

Autonutt; The Mazda 5 is **** and Mazdas are nothing but Japanese Fords. The Mazda 5 should and will be cancelled bc they have the CX7/9. Who needs a small minivan crossover whatever with no room and no cargo room
JJT what do you know about a 760i You are too cheap to get navigation and a sunroof and you are looking for Mazda 5’s lol. Keep dreaming
I like Bryces comment also

1115: I’ve owned a Mazda before, and it was way better than the honda I owned two cars before that. And they were the same year.

I could gush for days about the 760i, but i’ll just cut to the truth. It’s the world’s finest luxury car.

I like the CX-9, too, and may end up buying that instead of the 5. It’s not that much more, and the mpg is acceptable.

I’m not “too cheap” to buy navigation and a moonroof, I just don’t find them necessary (I can read a map).

You’re paying BMW prices for an accord, so maybe you don’t know about value.

Ford appears to be hands-way-off on mazda R&D

JJT:” I’m not “too cheap” to buy navigation and a moonroof, I just don’t find them necessary (I can read a map)”.

That sounds like something a cheap person would say

Satelite radio is a useful extra.
DVD screens — useful

nav systems — just don’t work for me.
why are you beating that up? You work for garmin?

CONTINUE TO DO GOOD