Archive for the ‘Car Dealer Practices’ Category

Last May TrueDelta conducted a special survey, asking people what, if anything, car dealers did to influence their responses on manufacturers’ sales experience surveys. Were tactics like asking for top scores, giving gifts in exchange for filling out the survey at the dealer, and so forth as widespread as anecdotal evidence suggested?

Well, the results can now be viewed here. The most aggressive tactics turned out to be rare, but others were widespread. Many car buyers resent the pressure put on them to provide less than truthful responses. Others figure that the survey doesn’t matter to them personally, but it matters a lot to the dealer, so why not give them the scores they need to get paid?

Auto industry trade magazine Automotive News covered the results in today’s issue (sorry, subscription required to view the article). They asked a few manufacturers for a response. Hyundai provided a typical response: “We try not to influence the outcome of the survey. This has been clearly communicated to all our dealers on a regular basis.” Yes, and I clearly communicate to my kids on a regular basis that they should keep their rooms clean.

One manufacturer comment deserves a response. BMW spokesman Jan Ehlen responded that the number of BMW buyers included in the poll was too small to be meaningful. While it is true that only 46 BMW owners responded, the differences noted were so large–about 20 percentage points–that these particular results are conclusive even with the small sample size. When 46 people respond, and not a single one gave their BMW dealer even average marks, much less below average marks, it’s saying something.

Dealers can’t really be faulted for these practices. In many cases, they and they salespeople only earn large bonuses if they receive perfect scores on these surveys. This is an unrealistic expectation. If people need to cheat a system to earn enough to eat, they’re going to cheat it.

Recently I’ve come across threads on many forums (such as this one) where a member asks about a letter they received from their car dealer. In the letter, the dealer says it badly needs more used cars, perhaps even the specific car the person owns, and so will make it especially easy to trade the member’s current car in for a new one. I’ve received these letters myself. The question generally asked on the forums, “Is this for real?”

In a word, no. These are ads, pure and simple. The dealer has one goal in mind: to sell a car. They know that just about anyone would buy a new car TODAY if it would cost them little or nothing more than they’re already paying. They also know that the reason this doesn’t happen is that people fear–usually correctly–that they’ll get killed on the trade-in value.

So the dealers pretend that this isn’t the case, that they need used cars badly, and so will pay more than they usually would for them. They tell car owners what they know car owners most want to hear. Not because it’s true, but because it will bring people into the dealership with “new car” on the brain.

And once “new car” is on the brain, it can be hard to get off. Even if the terms aren’t as good as the letter (very vaguely) implied.

“Don’t Coach Me on how to Answer your Stupid Survey,” Mrad writes over at Volksbloggin, a VW-focused blog. The object of his ire: dealers that ask you to give them perfect marks on sales and service satisfaction surveys conducted by the manufacturer. I’ve come across this myself, and read about it often on various forums. Why is this survey process so corrupt, and what could manufacturers possibly learn from it as a result?

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