It’s my experience if you enter into any auto dealership expecting 100% truth you are vulnerable. They have had a thousand times more experience in manipulation and deception and the odds are against you. If you believe they are your friends and will work in your behalf be prepared to pay too much. Do your homework before you go and have a number in mind that you will consider, lower it by 15% and you have a realistic target. Don’t pay for any dealer add ons or additional profit markup. Keep in mind that they get kickbacks from their loan institutions. Pre-arrange financing with your bank if you are not going to lease. I think this is a general evaluation and there may be some that don’t fit this description but suspect they are unique.

Ask them if this car is so good, why do you need to lie?

say prove it…show me a picture of the car

Assume everything you are told from the moment you walk into the dealership to the second you leave us a complete fabrication. There is literally nothing these guys and women won’t do to make a sale.

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If the lips are moving the lies are coming…

Tell us you didn’t visit a Tesla showroom without telling us you didn’t visit a Tesla showroom.

Everyone is telling you the salesperson is lying. Which is probably true. But why? I can’t figure out how this lie is supposed to benefit them.

What does it matter that their wife has their personal car that day? Salespeople usually don’t show off their own personal cars, right? They show the dealer stock.

I guess that implies it’s out of stock (not on the dealer lot) so they’re trying to steer you towards something else that they can sell that same day. In which case, I’m not sure how it benefits them to say they own the car and love it. Seems like they’d try to talk badly of the EV. Or maybe they’re trying to build trust / rapport.

Strange.

20 years ago, as an early adult, I worked sales for several dealers. The sales staff is trained to use tactics like these, and others, to build rapport and overcome objections. During the training it’s never framed as lying, it’s just tactics, tips, and tricks.

While my experience tells me that there are salespeople that are above using these tactics, instead leaning on knowledge and a genuine desire to help someone get what they want, they are absolutely the outlier. At the end of the day the salespeople class are financially motivated to get you to buy something from their stock at a price that most benefits their commission and quota; every interaction is potentially more in their paycheck and handled as such.

It was a shit job, as many people are openly hostile before you even introduce yourself (not unfairly, frankly), and shit experience for buyers.

I bought my Tesla M3 online and it was dropped off to my house with paperwork ready to sign. The sooner legacy autos find a way to drop commission salespeople and dealer markups the sooner they’ll be able to compete with the likes of Tesla and Rivian when it comes to actually giving customers a sales experience that leaves a positive sentiment.

Yeah I find it very interesting that they, their spouse, or their friend has the exact same make, model, and trim level as the one that I’m looking at on the lot. Most will tell me the same or similar year as well. Looking at a 2021 Jeep Wrangler and guess what, the salesman currently owns a 22 Jeep Wrangler, with all the same options as mine. Looking at a Hyundai Ioniq 5 and 6 and guess what, the salesman’s friends just picked up a 5 and a 6 a few weeks ago! Every car I’ve looked at so far, just by pure coincidence someone very close to the sales rep has the exact one I’m looking at and they just so happen to love it, and very highly recommend it.

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TLDR: Assume they’re lying, and just trying to make you buy.

The dealer that sold mine didn’t lie. “hey, I have no idea about anything ev. If you have any questions you might want to reach out to a group on reddit or Facebook”

My dad sells cars and I own a bolt which he sells and he’ll call me every once and a while to talk to his customer if they have any questions he can’t answer. I’m sure he tells people that I have one when he is trying to sell one but I’ll agree with the other sentiments here that most car salesman are full of shit.

One of the reasons I’m thinking of buying a Tesla for my next vehicle is not to deal with dealerships. I always have the feeling that they are trying to scam me at every turn.

Why don’t they just test drive one they have on the lot?

I never found 10 minute test drives to be very informative. Rent one for a week, you have to shop around rental car locations; there are many locations other than the airport, and prices W.I.L.D.L.Y vary between airport and off-airport. Like 3:1 ratio.

Is there really a trade without a standard set of lies/understating/overstating?

This is what buys people nice houses and gets them a hot wife.