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Yes and no. Yes, we could see the inventory of every Honda dealer in the region. And yes, we could exchange cars. However, the "requirement" that cars be swa
by venning 11y ago
Yes and no. Yes, we could see the inventory of every Honda dealer in the region. And yes, we could exchange cars.
However, the "requirement" that cars be swapped was something that managers told customers to ease their minds while they steered them towards a car that was on our lot. The only requirement was that both dealers had to agree on which cars were being swapped.
Why tell them that? Because managers are loathe to exchange cars since it often doesn't work out:
- We couldn't legally bind them to buy a car we didn't have possession of yet, so we had to wait for the exchange to finish.
- Customers change their minds easily and may not really want the car once they see it. Or, they may hear back from another dealer while you're exchanging and go there instead.
- It takes a salesperson off the floor for hours which costs the manager money.
- The other dealer gets to demand what they want of your inventory and may ask for a higher-demand vehicle in exchange.
- Customers hate having "mileage" on a new car (I once had to swap a 21 mile car for a 7 mile care because a customer was so put off) and the manager knows that once they see the "mileage" they may decide otherwise.
That said, a manager may authorize a transfer for rare cars. I once had to drive for an hour and half, from Virginia to Maryland, to another dealer in an S2000 to exchange based on color. Got turned around leaving the other dealer, wound up in Pennsylvania. My manager never believed that I didn't go for a joyride.
EDIT: How do you create bullet lists on HN?
- gnoway 11y agoYou can't. It's aggravating. https://news.ycombinator.com/formatdoc https://news.ycombinator.com/formatdoc
- logfromblammo 11y ago- You can fake it. - Start with a blank line. - Indent each subsequent line with two spaces. - Use hyphens as your bullet. - Lines that are too long will cause horizontal scroll, so break them manually.
- venning 11y agoThank you.
- chiph 11y ago> Customers hate having "mileage" on a new car I don't know why the swaps are driven. Why doesn't the dealer get a 1-ton truck and trailer, and haul the car to keep the odometer low? Oh, and the story about "Our swaps are gently driven by retirees" is bogus. I've been passed by those guys going 90 mph.
- venning 11y agoNow you've just taken a deal, which was probably worth $200, and made it even more expensive to execute. Not to mention, this is a customer who is already demanding enough to warrant a swap, so who's to say the demands won't increase once you've already sunk some cost into it. (See my note about swaps not being legally-binding until the sale.) > Oh, and the story about... Oh my goodness, salespeople absolutely abuse the cars. (For the record, I did not.)
- greedo 11y agoWhen I bought my Volkswagen, the dealer swapped with another in a diff state. The salesperson told me that he had accidentally left it in 4th gear the entire time (interstate driving at 75+). The gearbox is pretty good, but I was a bit peeved.
- jandrese 11y agoFor what it is worth, my retired grandfather did exactly that job for many years. Swapping cars between dealerships all over Minnesota.