I want to talk briefly about a car dealership's fleet manager. I will go right out on a limb and say that the fleet manager at a car dealership may be one way to cut through some red tape at a car dealership. Sometimes you may be able to find out who this is by looking through a store's website but may be easier to find by making a phone call.
Who is this guy or gal? Well it is a designated person or persons at a dealership who for the most part sell multiple vehicles to businesses or other elite folks the store has dealt with for many years. The truth is. They can sell to you just as well. It's one of those ask and you shall receive things. I will warn you that the results could vary greatly from store to store. Notice they don't make a big effort to let the public know they exist, and for good reason.
Will you get a better deal by going through one. Maybe, not by light years though if you do. The truth is if the consumer has done their homework (and most do anymore). They will get just as good of a deal on the sales floor. Whether it is a fleet purchase or not. A dealer can only go so low on a car. New cars are ADVERTISED at or a few hundred above invoice pricing all the time now. With that said. Given all of the invoice figures broadcasted online for the world to see. Most stores have already pulled their pants down on new car prices so you can still expect to buy that new car you want for around invoice just like you would from a fleet manager. I can tell you right now that as a former Internet Manager the competition is so stiff out there anymore that the deals I gave on new cars were every bit as good as a fleet manager. I would not be surprised if the fleet manager and Internet Manager were not the same person at a lot of stores anymore. It would only make sense.
What you can expect to not get from a fleet manager is world class service. I personally dealt with a fleet manager at one store and he was also our General Manager. He was busy a lot and I could tell the fleet sales were a bittersweet burden to him. Most of which were sold over the phone and when they showed up to get their car it was referred to as a courtesy delivery. At which they were practically thrown the keys and waved goodbye to. Perhaps this is exactly what you want though. My advise. If you want to go this route. Do yourself a favor and know what the hell you want before you stop in or call. This person does not want to pop cars open all day long , let alone show or test drive any.
I wanted to mention the fleet manager because I was astounded at how many sites claim this is the best way to buy a new car. If you are a construction company and need ten trucks, by all means. NOT as an individual though. I want you to have a look at this informational site I found on buying cars. The gentleman claims to be a former general manager at a car dealership and goes on to say blogs like mine are bunk and the easiest way to buy a car is through the fleet manager. However, he quickly proceeds to tell me to buy his $30 money saving "system" and he will guarantees to save me $5k if I buy it. Ok what? You tell me right out of the gate that the best way to buy a new car is from a feet manager.......but buy your system? You lost me. The guarantee fascinates me as well. How in the hell is anyone going to prove they DIDN'T save $5k? I love how he plays the "role" of the saint as far as car buying tips goes too. If he truly was a general manager then he is obviously trying to replace that six figure income he once had somehow. He has just chosen to do it $30 at a time. Still "sellin'" aren't we? I decided to call him out simply based on the needless ball busting he is throwing my way in his video. Is my blog ad supported? You're damn right it is. The difference is, I GIVE AWAY what he is selling. Running ads on a website is no crime, selling information online that is already free should be. I lost a few minutes of my life listening to all of the incoherent bullshit this guy had to say as he was glancing down looking at his script on his desk and swallowing uncomfortably. I am going to go as far to say he probably was never a general manager anywhere. That's a pretty lucrative position to be in to just leave and try to match the potential earnings from home selling information. I just want you to keep your 30 bucks. All the helpful information you need to save money on a car purchase can be found on my blog or others like mine.
Just for fun I am going to give you a taste of what things are really like at the dealership. As I mentioned before my General Manager was the fleet manager at one of the stores I worked for. If I wasn't selling a car, I was greeting customers at the door looking for an up. Frequently, people would come in looking for the General Manager and I could just about bet on how he would react to each one. If I were to have went to his office and told him someone was here to see the fleet manager the conversation would go something like this. Cover the kid's eyes. This is going to get ugly. "Who the fuck is it!?" he would say. I usually got a name and would have then said "John Public, he asked for the fleet manager." He would then have probably said "well ok, am I supposed to know this person? Did they say if they had an appointment? I don't know who the fuck they are!" I would have said "They didn't mention it." He then would have said "well I don't have time for this shit, he can sit his ass down and buy a fucking car from a salesman just like everyone else. Tell him to have a seat and I will go out in a minute and say hi." Which he would, and then tell the customer he will take care of them on the numbers and turn him over to a salesman. So there you have it. That is the type of magnificent scenario you can come to expect if you go asking for a fleet manager. People playing hot potato with your ass.
In closing, the fleet manager could be a way for you to get a good deal on a new car. It is no magic bullet though. There is NO magic bullet to buying a car. I don't particularly care for any claims that there is. The information I provide is to merely give an edge. The keyword being edge. Whatever you do. Don't beat a salesman down to nothing and ask for the fleet manager to see what he can do. You may be disappointed to find it's not any better than your salesman's last offer was. Why? Because every one who can sell a car in the building is still pulling their best price from the same place, upper management. Not only that. A move like that is likely to draw up a lot of disgust and get you taken with a grain of salt. The fleet manager is there if you want to go that route, however I do not endorse this for the sake of good service. Walking through the door asking for the fleet manager as a random customer buying one car is going to send out a warning shot and rub everyone wrong real quick in my opinion. If there was anything we hated at the store it was someone coming in acting like a big shot, when they weren't.
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
The Dealership Fleet Manager
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