No. They are still a sale person. You might have something to talk about, but the deal won't change. They all have to go upstairs to finalize the deal.

 

Pretty much all dealerships nowadays have very rigid sales policies, governing all aspects of how prices are presented and negotiated, and what the bounds of the deal will be. The salesman of course wants you to think he's the one getting you the good deal -- so he'll get referrals -- but when it comes to numbers he's really just the mouthpiece for the dealership management.

Different dealers, though, have very different sales policies, which is why it's important to visit several if you can. And there's nothing wrong with finding a salesman who you can actually have a half-intelligent conversation with along the way.

 

I am not neccessarily talking about the deal. I stopped at my local dealership to ask about the crosstrek and the salesman knew very little about subarus. I could have learned more from watching the commercials. I think the experiance would be better with someone who is an enthusiast. I was hopeing for some insight about different option packages and how things work in the car. This salesman couldn't even tell me abbout the options on the car I was test driving. Obviously I will visit other dealers before deciding to buy. I am in the process of deciding what options and accessories I want to get with the car and what to add later.Any opinions on what is a pain to install later and which are simple installs for someone with good mechanical abilities?

 

I've known more about the cars than the sales people 100% of the times I've purchased cars. Car salesmen aren't usually enthusiastic about anything but money.

 

I have to agree with this one, in my experience i'm way more informed about the specs and option combinations than the salesman i've worked with. The salesman/women have all been really nice, but I agree it'd be nice if they had more of an enthusiast background on their cars!

 

So I have noticed!

 

I do think it is much better buying from someone who is knowledgeable about the product they are selling. If they don't care about the product then why should I? I don't expect the salesperson to know more than me necessarily (as I will research as much as possible) but we need to be able to have a conversation. In my case, my salesman knew quite a bit and went to a Subaru 'training' where they took the cars on a course to get a real feel for it. Even though he was in his late 70s or early 80s, he knew how to handle that Crosstrek!

 

Honestly, if you're getting serious about a car purchase and are test-driving one of your finalists, and you find a salesman who knows more about the car than you do ... it means you haven't done enough of your own research yet.

 

They're all scumbags that will financially rape you if given the chance. That goes for not only the sales person, but everyone under the same roof, except maybe the janitor.

 

I hope you're kidding. I'd hate to have to do business with anyone I truly felt that way about. Just saying.

 

A salesperson that's a car enthusiast or even a Subaru enthusiast will make it easier to ask questions about the vehicle you're interested in.

For whatever reason, the Subaru dealers I've visited have had some Subaru enthusiasts in the sales teams. Proof of this is their parking spots filled with modded Subies that are regularly there.

Either I'm fortunate to have such salespersons at my local dealers, or everyone else just hasn't noticed the enthusiast salespersons there.

 

The guy I got my original XV from was a total Subie enthusiast. He drove a boosted WRX, loved Subarus. But I already knew what I wanted. I had done my research, gone to other dealerships and test drove them to my heart's desire. Then I called the salesman and made an appointment to come in and pick up the one I wanted. He didn't have any additional info other than how to blue tooth the phone to the car. The conversation was pleasant, jovial even, I showed off pics of other Soobs I'd owned.

But the deal wasn't nearly as good as the one I'm about to get, he surely didn't try harder to save me money because he loves Subarus. That was the basis of my first post.


One of the other dealer's salesman just looked dumbfounded when I asked him how the traction control worked. Brakes? LSD in the center diff? No idea. lol He had a real nice suit though.

 

Just remember it takes two to close a deal and the buyer should always feel empowered in this regard. But of course it helps greatly if you know exactly what you want. Do your homework before walking into the dealership--don't expect them to bestow knowledge upon you because as noted in this thread, salespeople cannot be assumed to be enthusiasts.

 

I do not know how the Subaru sales man program works (if one exists) but I had a cousin who went to work for a Chevrolet dealer. Started out in used cars and got a rep for selling s.u.v's and pickups. When presented the opportunity to move to the new truck sales division, he had to take gm created online classes accessed only at the dealership in between truck sales and get certified by gm as a Silverado sales expert before being allowed to sell the new models. Every year, he had to re-certify in addition to take refresher classes ranging from the small changes between model years, salesmanship strategies, etc.

He told me it was intense and rigorous with everything from dashboard layout, how to use the radio, under the hood layout, horsepower / torque / pulling ratings/ mpg, option tiers especially what options were available with which package tiers, competitive advantages when compared to f-150, ram, tundra, Titan, and his case even GMC, etc. Even the post-sale training was brought up where the salesman sat with you and went over where everything was located at. Was a part of the curriculum.

But my Subaru salesman was sharp and was very knowledgable. He did the one week follow up call one foggy morning where I could not remember where the fog light switch was and he instantly told me to look on the turn signal lever and look for the letter d with the lines. Question answered. I do not know if he sold so many subarus for so long or went through a similar training program but he was very knowledgeable about the car. The dealer I purchased mine from was also the Volvo dealer and in my salesman's cube he had many certificates of certified training on various Volvo models.