In my experience as with most industries there are plenty of great sales representatives but still a large number of shady and dishonest one's still exist. Here in Ontario Canada something known as OMVIC was created to educate car buyer's and supposedly bring honesty into the car sales industry. Unfortunately, while this sounds like a good thing it sadly does nothing to ensure honesty on the part of sales representatives and this is where all the problems begin.
After my recent car purchasing experience, it has me dreading the next time I am in the market for a new or used vehicle. See just before my most recent experience I was a huge car enthusiast watching car review videos on a daily basis eagerly awaiting the latest new car reveals but now find myself doing that a lot less lately. In a way my recent experience left me traumatized to the point I wanted nothing to do with the car industry. This being the result of many disappointing experiences dealing with shady car sales representatives and managers from dealerships who due to their dishonest practices end up making some vehicle manufacturers look really bad.
In my opinion if the industry doesn't start improving the dealership experience eventually it will hurt sales and if some brands don't start doing better people might walk away from purchasing vehicles from them completely. It might surprise you but during my search for a new vehicle after meeting with plenty of car sales representatives it took way too long to find someone who was honest. That being a sales person whose main objective wasn't to rip just us off. In our case that person happened to be someone we had worked with previously who sadly retired recently. That means if I am ever in need of purchasing another vehicle, I will have to go through the stress of trying to find a salesperson who is honest and follows the rules set out by the industry, something that sadly seems very hard to do.
While looking for our current vehicle when visiting certain local dealerships, it was becoming obvious that some salespeople were simply trying to take advantage of us. This was truly frustrating which ended up causing unbelievable amounts of stress and frustration to the point we didn't want to purchase a vehicle anymore. Some examples of our experiences include sales people quoting unbelievable high monthly payments to one Ontario Hyundai salesperson insulting our trade in saying he doesn’t see why anyone would purchase our vehicle. Then he refused to have it appraised unless we agreed to purchase a vehicle that day. It was as if trying to find out what our trade was worth was simply too much to ask. After that experience my wife and I walked away in agreement that we would never visit that dealership ever again as a result of their complete lack of professionalism. Hopefully OMVIC wouldn't approve of the way this salesperson acted.
The most shocking experience occurred at the first Hyundai dealership east of Clarington, Ontario whose salesperson must have thought we were the stupidest people on earth by actually attempting to steal our trade. What he was doing was sneaking our trade into the price of the vehicle and had the audacity to quote us $408 bi-weekly for a base 2022 Hyundai Santa Fe. In my eyes his tactic could only be described as criminal and I am sure you can understand why we will never deal with that dealership as long as we live and will suggest no one else does either.
Sales people who attempt to take advantage of potential customers by ripping them off don't deserve to be a part of the industry, especially since their actions reflect badly on the brand they were hired to represent. Now sure not all dealership representatives are created equally but it's truly discouraging to visit over 6 dealerships to only find one honest salesperson. It certainly says a lot about the problems potential customers face when seeking to purchase a new or used vehicle.
Now thankfully many vehicle manufacturers are starting to notice the downside of selling cars through a dealership network. The main downside is salespeople and dealerships who don't follow industry rules. This isn't to say that all dealerships are bad as it's only the dishonest and shady ones who have some of us dreading our next vehicle purchase but there is no doubt that some things need to change. Thankfully some vehicle brands know exactly what is going on and are doing their best to improve the customer experience and even they know some dealerships don't deserve to be a part of their dealer network. After all, vehicle manufacturers want customers to have a good experience every time and to walk away with a positive view of their brand.
Now thankfully honest sales people and dealerships do exist and I am so happy we were finally able to find an honest salesperson on a day we had completely given up on our search. See on that day we had no intention of purchasing a vehicle as at that point we were left feeling pretty dejected thanks to our experiences with other salespeople blatantly trying to rip us off. It was while our vehicle at the time was in for service when our previous sales person approached us knowing we were looking for a vehicle capable of transporting my mobility scooter.
We shared with him our frustrations and he honestly explained a few things and couldn't understand why these other dealerships were trying to rip us off. It was apparent he had nothing to hide and at that moment I started to feel relieved of all the stress that was weighing heavily upon me. He suggested we look at a vehicle they surprisingly had in stock which is truly a rarity these days. We took it on a test drive and found out immediately that it would work perfectly for what we needed to use it for - a vehicle capable of transporting my mobility scooter that was also easy to get in and out of.
After our test drive we returned to the dealership but still our expectations were pretty low as we were expecting the same old experience that other dealerships in the area had been providing. To our surprise when we returned the key to our salesperson, he provided us with the numbers and immediately we felt a huge weight being lifted off our shoulders as what we got for our trade was what it was worth and the bi-weekly payment came in way below what the other dealerships had been quoting. Seeing this huge difference in numbers compared to what other dealerships in the area were providing it became obvious what the other dealers were trying to do. In a way it only helped to prove that a program like OMVIC doesn't act as a deterrent to stop shady business practices from taking place in some dealerships.
Thankfully on this day our search for the right vehicle was over but it was a journey filled with stress and frustration then relief when everything fell into place on a day, we had no intention of purchasing a vehicle. It was like a miracle how everything worked out and it was a true pleasure working with a salesperson who was honest and caring and represented the car brand very well.
When it comes down to it, I am sure all vehicle manufacturers are disappointed by dealerships and salespeople whose only motivation is to rip people off. I am sure even they agree it shouldn't be so hard for any potential customer to find an honest salesperson or a dealership that follows the rules. I really didn't think it would be so hard. So, after my experience I walk away believing the whole industry needs a complete overhaul especially OMVIC which sadly isn't working how they originally hoped. In the end dishonest salespeople and dealerships are hurting the entire industry and if things don't change or improve, especially for younger generations they might end up just skipping purchasing a vehicle and simply switch or stick to using public transit and ride share services like Uber and Lyft.
Now I am sure everyone reading this agrees that purchasing a vehicle should be a positive experience and not a stressful or frustrating one because a negative experience can have long lasting effects on how a person views any business or entire brand. My only hope is that the bad actors within the car industry get their act together or that vehicle manufacturers find a way to force them out. Another solution that would really help in Ontario is if OMVIC actually started fining those breaking the rules to once and for all achieve their goal of protecting the rights of consumers by enhancing industry professionalism, by ensuring fair, honest, and open competition for registered motor vehicle dealers. I think only then is when things will really change.
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