I have decided to take a break from the political debate for a while and venture into everyday life ideology.

I wanted to start out with the Auto Sales industry as I am part of it(I am a finance manager at a major brand dealership).

In our society there is a large mistrust of those who work in the sales end of the auto industry. This in part came from the WWII era when sheet metal for cars was in very short supply and car production was almost at a standstill. Dealerships and salesmen alike would mark cars up to unreal profits because there were not as many to sell because of the shortage. The manufactures tried to circumvent this by saying a dealer could not sell a vehicle for more than MSRP if there were no modifications. This is where the addendum came in. Some sales men would even tell a customer the car was many thousands more than the MSRP even when nothing was added to the car. When the customer refuted this, the salesmen would hang their tie on the rear view mirror and say now you also get this tie, signifying he altered the car.

Now we have many tools for customers to educate themselves before shopping. There are sites with reviews, technical data, even some that provide the invoice price on the vehicle.

My question to you: What do you think of the auto sales industry? And why do you feel that way?

Sleeper

I have a poor view of the auto sales industry. They are generally dishonest. I do not believe anything they say. I expect them to use sales techniques instead of providing information. When I find one who gives me the price they want and are able to answer my questions I am happy. I have found salespeople like that but my experience is that this happens about one time out of five different businesses.

This was a fairly general question, so I'll give a scatter shot and half-baked answer to get things started.

If you are asking what I think of show room sales people. . . ?
I think they are doing their job and that many still reflect some of the worst stereotypes out there and others seem quite trustworthy.

But I still see and here stories that make me think many dealerships use tricks to make used cars seem to be in better condition than they actually are.

As for the industry itself, I think it unfortunate that we are as tied to it as we are. We subsidize the auto industry by building roads and working hard at keeping the price of gas down but we cry foul when we try to get public transportation subsidized by the government.

And yes I have a car and I enjoy the freedom of it, but I wish my society had more freedom from being expected to have cars and children being expected to be given rides to all activities they participate in.

I think the industry has irresponsibly pushed these gas and resource guzzling SUVs that are not the most environmentally sound or the safest way to get around.

On the other hand, I do concede that this is driven by consumer demand. I concede that our economy is still largely driven by the automobile industry. But I would rather keep the money from having to keep and operate two cars, be a one car family and be able to walk or bicycle to work.

I agree with you Gray. But on the flip side, many customers that come in are hard to trust as well. They will lie and tell you they are not trading, then throw the trade in at the end of the deal. They will say their credit is good when they are very slow or even have collections. Plus if you come into a dealership conveying an untrusting attitude it won't help you at all in getting a decent deal on a car.

I was successful as a salesman because I listened to my customers needs and tried to address each one of those needs in the vehicle they were buying.

You might find this shocking, but almost all of my happiest customers I had made the most profit on the vehicle they purchased. They gave me the best satisfaction surveys and sent me the most referrals.

You can thank Mr Ford for that one Eeyore. With his invention of the assembly line, car prices dropped dramatically. Thus allowing the everyday working man to buy a car, not just the wealthy.

Yes, but we have made car ownership an essential part of our functional citizenship in this country in the days since Ford.

It is a very important part of our everyday lives and a centrally important part of our economy. (To that I give Ford the credit his type of genius merits)

I just wish it wasn't so difficult to participate in our society and work place without owing a car, or two, or three.

Are they still not doing the exact same thing? Well, except for the tie over the mirror bit...

When do I ever see a popular model without an "additional dealer markup" sticker besides the factory sticker? Or without dealer installed extras that I have zero use for? Those things *** NOTICE: THIS WORD IS AGAINST THE RULES. FAILURE TO REMOVE IT WILL RESULT IN A STRIKE. *** me off hugely.

I'll tell you the truth if I shop at your dealership: I don't have a trade-in, and I am paying cash (financing through my credit union most likely). I'm not interested in what my payments will be. Well, I am, but I'll have already worked that out with my credit union. What I'm concerned about at this point is getting exactly the car I want at a price that's fair to both of us. I'll walk in already knowing what model I want, what options and what color. I will have researched what you paid for that car, but I'm not unreasonable. I'm willing to allow you a decent profit, but I'm not going to allow you to rip me off either, and if I think you're lying to me at any point or even playing some angle (and I've researched those too), I'm walking out and not ever coming back. I'm giving 100% honesty and I expect the same in return; anybody who won't give it to me has lost my business.

Now, given the above, would you rather we deal directly, or should I buy my car through Costco or over the internet?

....helped along by favorable government regulations. SUVs are treated more favorably wrt safety, emissions, and mileage standards. The otherwise over-regulated insurance industry is allowed to throw actuarial science out the window and charge the same liability premiums for SUVs despite the higher cost. There's the E85 loophole, foreign trade restrictions that for many years prevented Japan or Europe from selling smaller, more fuel-efficient SUVs in the US, and the list doesn't end there by any means.

This is all part of a pattern of blatant dishonesty that pervades the entire automotive industry, including the salespeople. They claim to be all about free enterprise and consumer choice, but when push comes to shove the Big Three run to the government - where they are one of the most powerful lobbies. Remember "what's good for GM is good for America"? Remember the Chrysler bailout? Remember the exploding gas tanks on GM trucks, for which GM tried to evade responsibility? Remember the Explorer/Firestone fiasco, in which Ford went against Firestone's tire-pressure recommendations to reduce risk of rollover (which they deny is a problem) only to have the tires fail altogether? People die and Detroit doesn't care, and they use their lobbyists to make sure that they're held to lower safety standards than just about any other industry. Do you think salespeople don't tell people that SUVs are safer, even though statistics show otherwise? Do you think they don't tell people how good it will feel to ride so high but "forget" to tell them about the risks of having such a high center of gravity?

My brother works for Chrysler, as does one of my uncles. Nonetheless, I think the auto industry has far too many blatantly dishonest people at the top (management) and at the edges (salespeople). They lie more than politicians, and deserve their poor reputation.