BTW that dealership now called me two more times, so on the last call I got a little bit nasty with them.
But one of the calls was interesting. On my first call I had told them (they're in San Diego) that I live up in Orange County, and that Easter was the only day I could get down there in the next 1-2 weeks. So on the second call the guy was saying that he'd drive the car north for me to look at it when I had time.
Sounds nice, right? He's going above and beyond.
But not necessarily. I've taken numerous classes on persuasion, and one of the best ways to persuade someone is to give them something. Essentially if you do something nice for someone, it creates a subconscious debt in that person and they're more likely to do what you want them to do.
Obviously if someone takes the time to drive a car from San Diego to where I live, it makes me seem rude if I just take a look and say "nah, I don't like it". And even if I do like it, it makes it harder to bargain the guy down. After all, *I* was the first one calling with interest in the car, then he went *out of his way* to make it available to me. Am I going to be as effective getting that extra $500-1000 out of the deal if I'm [subconsciously] thinking he's doing me a favor?
This applies to Carmax too. They have their easy transfer policies where any vehicle within a reasonable distance is transferred for free from another dealer to you. You like a certain vechicle that's 60 miles away? Well just call Carmax, and they'll have it on your local lot ready to look at in a few days, "reserved" for you. Again, you have already picked a vehicle, you've already emotionally invested in it, and then Carmax did something to make it "easy" for you. I'd say conversion rates for vehicles that are transferred are VERY high. Had that vehicle I drove on Wednesday night not smelled like it was burning oil, I very well would have come home with it *despite* the fact that I know Carmax is overpriced. After all, I had asked the salesman about it once, but someone else transferred it, and then he had found it for me again a week later after the other sale fell through (gee, I wonder why it fell through lol).
This is why I try to deal with car dealerships on *MY* terms. And why it makes me doubly angry when they pestered me with phone calls despite me never even giving them my phone number.
