A few weeks ago, I wrote an article about some of the lies you might encounter while shopping for a new car. I knew it would be controversial because, after all, controversy is part of what I do. But I wasn’t prepared for the hornet’s nest I stirred up. I expected to read a bunch of comments such as “Yeah, car salesmen are crooks.” Instead, I got a bunch of angry car salespeople complaining they were honest people, and the image I had painted of them was unfair and untrue.
I never meant to imply that everyone in car sales is dishonest. They aren’t. But I didn’t make myself clear, and for that I apologize. What I should have said is: “In this week’s blog, I’ll talk about some of the lies SOME salespeople tell.” But I neglected to put in the qualifier. So if I ever forget to put in the “some” part in the future, I hope readers will fill it in for me mentally and know I’m not talking about everyone. Having said that, here’s the other side of the coin: the lies that SOME customers tell while shopping for a car.
If you ever want to lose your faith in humanity, get a job in car sales.
Before I got into car sales I was a bit naive. I used to think that most people, in most situations, told the truth most of the time. I tended to believe what people said and was often shocked and dismayed to discover they had lied. Now after so many years in sales, the last thing in the world I expect from people is the truth. Customers, managers, other salespeople— it doesn’t matter. On my dark days, I almost expect them all to lie to me. And when they don’t—when it turns out they’re actually telling the truth—that’s when I’m surprised. Which is a pretty sad state of affairs, I’ll admit. I fight every day to keep from being so cynical. But it’s very difficult to work in car sales for long and not become jaded.
It’s hard to say when my faith in people first started to slip. Perhaps it was the day some customers told me they wanted to go eat lunch and “crunch some numbers” before they bought anything. On their way out, they reassured me they loved the car I had shown them and would be back after lunch, that they just needed time to talk it over first. They asked for directions to the nearest Frog ‘n Grog, which I cheerfully provided, fully convinced I had a car deal. Then they got in their car, pulled out of the parking lot, and instead of turning left, which would have taken them to the Frog ‘n Grog, they drove straight across the street to the Dodge dealership. Right in front of me. With no effort to even conceal where they were going. I mean, geez o’ Pete, folks, the least you could have done is circle the block, just to make me think you were going to the Frog ‘N Grog.
Or maybe it was the minister who bought a car for his wife. Now, I was raised in the South in a Protestant church, and I respect all people of faith, but one thing you quickly learn in car sales is that when it comes to money, having a clerical collar or a title such as “reverend” by your name means absolutely nothing. The same can be said of judges, attorneys, police officers, doctors, and other “pillars of the community”—you cannot assume that someone is honest based solely on their occupation.
Anyway, the first day the minister came to the dealership we ended up about a thousand dollars apart. I couldn’t close him, and neither could my manager, so we let him go. I thought I’d lost a sale. Then, two days later, my boss told me to call the guy back and tell him we could give him another $500 for his trade but not a penny more. I called the minister and told him the good news, but he was a tough negotiator and kept finagling for another $500 off the price. I held firm. I told him that was our best price, and I wasn’t going to go back to my manager because I had already been told there wasn’t any more to give. Finally, the minister relented, and told me he would be in later that afternoon to buy the car.
When the minister arrived, my manager was the first to spot him and started a conversation. When I walked up, the minister was thanking my manager for the additional $500 for his trade and the extra $500 off the price that his salesman—meaning me—had promised him over the phone. I was so stunned it took me a moment to recover. Then I spoke: “Excuse me, sir. I think there must be some kind of misunderstanding here. I never promised you another $500 off the price.” The minister insisted I had. I insisted I had not. My manager shot me a dirty look, so I shut up and walked away.
Fifteen minutes later the minister’s wife arrived and, with everyone seated in my office, the customer repeated his claim that I had agreed to another $500 off the price. I was so mad I cut him off immediately. “Excuse me, sir, but that’s the second time you’ve said that, and it’s just not true. You know it’s not true, and I know it’s not true. And if you think I’m just going to sit here and not call you out on it, you’ve got another thing coming. I specifically told you we could not give you another $500 off our price!”
No one spoke for about two seconds, which felt like minutes. Everyone at the table was either staring at me or at the ceiling. I’m amazed I didn’t get fired on the spot. Finally, the minister quietly admitted he might have misunderstood me, and we concluded the deal. He never brought up the $500 again. I had won, but a little more of my faith was lost.
So, just what do SOME customers lie about? Here’s a short list:
1. Lies About Their Intentions. What do you say when you go to a dealership and the salesperson walks up? “Just looking,” right? People always say things like “Oh, we just started” or “We’re not buying today” when, in fact, they’ve been shopping for six weeks and have every intention of buying a car that day as soon as they find the right car at the right price. They just don’t want the salesperson to know it.
2. Lies About Their Credit or Anything Financial. Some people say they have “excellent credit” as if somehow forgetting their bankruptcy four years ago or their two repos. They’ll say they have a 700 Beacon when, in fact, their score is in the 580s. They’ll say they can only afford $300 a month, max, that’s it, not a cent more, then leave and buy a car for $600 a month at another dealership. They’ll say they earn $2,400 a month, but when you get their paystubs it only adds up to $1,800 a month. And so on.
3. Lies About Their Trade. Believe it or not, some people actually try to conceal defects, both large and small, in the cars they trade in. GASP! Yes, it’s true. From claiming that their car has never been in an accident (which is quickly revealed by the CarFax we pull on every vehicle) to trying to cover up the fact that it needs a new transmission, some people lie like rugs when it comes to their trade-in.
4. Lies About “The Great Deal Down The Street.” This is a personal favorite. People are constantly telling me they can buy “the exact same car down the street for $____ less” (fill in the blank with a ridiculous number). Or “The folks down the street gave me $10,000 for my trade,” when the car is really only worth $5,000. And the question every salesperson who hears this wants to ask is “So why are you here???” The answer is because the great deal down the street doesn’t exist.
5. Lies About What Their Salesperson Said. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard customers tell managers things such as “But your salesperson promised me 1.9%!” No experienced salesperson promises anybody an interest rate. Or a price. Or a payment. However, sometimes, people hear what they want to hear. They become convinced they were promised something when, in fact, they weren’t promised anything at all. This is complicated by the fact that, yes, some unscrupulous or inexperienced salespeople DO sometimes promise things they cannot deliver. That means that every time a customer makes a claim such as this it must be handled very, very carefully because it might just be true.
After all this, what’s my conclusion? My conclusion is that, unfortunately, everyone involved in a car sale will sometimes lie, given the right circumstances. It isn’t just the car salesperson who lies. And it isn’t that all “buyers are liars,” which is what some salespeople believe. It’s all of us. I think the reason lying happens so frequently in car sales is, any kind of negotiation involving large sums of money invites people to lie—especially when they believe the other side is lying to them. That tends to loosen our inhibitions about lying. Maybe going to a fixed price system would eliminate this. Or maybe not. I don’t know. Despite becoming a lot less trusting over the years, I still feel that most of the people I work with, and most of the people I sell to, are basically good, honest people. When I meet people for the first time, I always give them the benefit of the doubt and hope they do the same for me. On the other hand, I never give anyone all my trust, and neither should you. As Barney Fife learned the hard way, even sweet little old ladies sometimes lie when trying to sell a car. So, as the saying goes: “Trust … but always verify.”