Been looking to buy another 350Z for a little while now (long story). Being in SoCal its hard to find one in decent shape with good mileage for anything less than 15k.

With that being said, what would you do if you see online ads/cars at dealers that they list the car model/options wrong. For example, I go to a local dealer who has a 2006 "Track" 350Z listed for 11k, but come to find out, it's just a base model and they are lying about half the features.

Do you automatically bust out the "I know way more than you about this car" card or do you slowly work it into the negotiations.

 

don't be cocky, but also don't waste too much time showing interest when they don't know their listing / knowledge is incorrect.

in all honesty most places wouldn't care if it's wrong or not.

 

I assume they know exactly what they're trying to pull, call them liars and leave the dealership forever.

Get a car in, immediatly advertise it as the top model package ... poor salesmanship

 

I'm guessing most of them don't have a clue which model the cars are and just call them whatever they've heard of.

 

Since the model isn't listed in the VIN number and I doubt the original window sticker is still in the glove box, I would assume it's difficult for a used car dealer to sell a 350Z if they don't personally know anything about the car. Not to mention selling a Z with modifications. There are only 2 ways to tell my car isn't a Track from the factory and a lamen couldn't find them.

 

I've never seen a car dealer(sales person) new or used that really knows the details
of any car.Especially one like a Z.From my experience,and I've bought&sold many cars,its good to play dumb rather that look like yur an expert on the car.Just feel the guy out.See what he knows.A lot of times it could be a track that may be worth more and he does'nt know it.The major thing that you'll note on a Track are the Brembos&the wheels.If the Z you were looking at did'nt have those(especially the Brembos),I'd then say,"read somewhere that the Track models had different brakes...something like bimbos"?
See what he says.
Sure there are dealers that are trying to shaft you.But many are just dumb&uninformed.
When I bought mt 03 Touring in 02,I had to go to 6 Nissandealers before anyone in sales knew details about a Z!I finally worked directly with a sales mgr who was a old Z guy,knew all about the 350.Car dealerships will hire anyone.

 

I would go on autotrader.com then search for the exact model that you want. The listing's details may be flawed, but the pictures don't lie. In fact, you'll see a gem every now and then. That's where I found my 1992 240SX SE with 100K miles and one owner back in 2005 for $2K. Bad thing was, when I picked it up in Miami (I was in Tampa), they told me the owner had a heart attack and passed away in the driver's seat . For that price, I didn't give a f*ck. I played Doggy Syle on the way home and the ghost stayed away.

 

When I went to look at my 350z for the first time, the window sticker said 35th anniversary 5-speed automatic for $15,000. I called them out on it listing the differences between the two models and ended up getting him to try a little harder for my business seeing as how I was less interested in buying from a company that lied/didn't know their own product. In this sense, I do beieve it could almost be used as a strategy. I've heard of dealerships listing enthusiast models as base models and people getting great deals.

My car was actually a 2005 PPW Performance 6-speed btw - a little different from the window sticker I saved as proof haha

 

Kind of hard for any used car salesman to know everything, about every car, that comes through the lot, don't you think? But an informed buyer always has some advantage. As far as pictures, they are wrong quite often too - some dealers use stock photos, not the actual car - have seen this many times. Learn the stock features of each trim line and maybe you'll get lucky and get a Track that the dealer thinks is a Base, or something similar.

 

I was so excited to go see the first Z I ever looked at and test drove. A 2004 Enthusiast! Unfortunately, I learned it was a base model, and was disappointed when it had absolutely none of the features I was told it would. I brought it up to the salesmen, and even had a friend that's a mechanic at a local Nissan dealer try and explain the fact that it was a base model, and the salesmen just kept this smug look about him, wouldn't budge on the price, and when I offered to pay cash to see if the price would lower, rather than say yes or no, he looked at me and said, "how in the world did you come up with that kind of money?". I shook his hand, thanked him and walked out.

/anecdote

 

^^^^ Think I would have answered "pimping out your sister" and then walked out, skipping the handshake. What a douche bag.

 

rofl

Back to the original story...The car is listed as a track model (Track: Adds Brembo Braking system, underbody aero package, rear
hatch spoiler, lightweight Rays rims (18"x8.5" Front, 19x9.5" rear). MT only.)

The car in question has none of these things

here's an actual pic of the car



It has around 100K miles on it and he wants 11k...if I did go for it, I would go above 9k or 10k out the door..

It has no steering wheel controls at all and no Bose system. So I'm more than sure its just a base model, but they have all the "features" of the other models listed.

These are just seeming to be harder to come by lately, and I didn't want the guy to just be like "**** you, get off my lot", but I'm thinking that might happen lol

 

Some sales people have no idea what they have....I have a few friends that are in car sales...had one call me and said he had a Roush 427R Mustang on the lot for $16k...06 model with less than 100k mileage...so I hauled butt over to the lot...it was a Roush...stage 1 and had been hit harder than Joe Louis in the rear...the only thing that was 427R about this Roush was the seats some one put in it and the stickers out of a cheap kit that was put on the hood.....maybe the same thing here...ask questions about the car...let him know you know the difference between a track and a base model....they may even work with you on the price if you can show them the difference.....and don't ask for a cash price because the dealerships don't care if you finance or pay cash because they get their money either way...

 

in my experience I walked on the lot to look at a base model. When the salesman noticed how hard i was looking at the car (checking for accident damage by crawling all over the car) he went inside until i came in to find him(about an hour). after a through inspection i determined i had a performance model. from there i took the car to my buddys shop over the weekend to put the car on a lift. i found some scratches under the car but no accident damage. when i returned to the dealership i had a price in mind and a list of parts that needed to be replaced and their value. there was no negotiating just this is what i will pay and why. the manager walked halfway to the "owners office" turned around and said sell the car. thats how i got my 03 with 65k miles for 10500 otd. sticker price was 17999.

If you are informed and actually know what you are talking about they wont try to take you to the cleaners, but bring evidence and stand firm. if you just want a 350z really really bad they would have dropped the price maybe 1k - 2k and some people would have thought that was a deal.

 

He won't get offended if you explain what you know in a calm way. It's all about the delivery, and the delivery is something that salespeople understand and are sensitive to. So Just take it easy and tell them what you know as a matter of fact, if you have to talk to the manager and get the price to match the model that it really is, it happens all the time, they should do it. Maybe approach it like "Hey man, I noticed this was listed as the wrong trim... the track model has xyz, and this is a base.. can we check into this?". His job is to sell cars, he should be cool about it.

 

Don't get too overzelous when dealing with the dealer. I'm sure there are more interested buyers then you who will pay sticker. They want to protect the gross profit.

You're asking private seller kind of price when looking at a dealer. So buy privately.

with used cars they know a lot more then you think especially if it was a trade in.

 

One of the most common mistakes I see is dealers identifying a Touring as a Grand Touring.
A local dealer did just that on Ebay I believe it was. I made the mistake of emailing them and pointing out their mistake. Within 30 minutes a bombardment of email began wanting me to test drive it, etc. Eventually, the emails stopped and the listing for the car was pulled. I decided that's the last time I would try to be helpful to a dealer.

 

If you have the cash go to craigslist and look for people selling the car lol
Dealerships, especially in california, are 1 in a million to get a good price.

My friend was looking for a 350z as well so we went to some place near burbank to look at one. It was listed as a grand touring (Of course) and when we got there it was a base with aftermarket leather seats and nothing else. The guy was asking $13,995 cash + tax and license.
At first I explained to him delicately that he had a base model with upgraded seats and explained to him why, he understood and said he will talk the manager down to $13,000 + tax and licensing and again I explained to him that it's worth $10,000 but we understand it's a dealership and you have to make your money, we'll give you $12,500 out the door. He said he'll ask his manager but we might aswell test drive the car as he was thinking about it. I test drove it because I know the Z better than my friend, as soon as I sat down I noticed it was a stage 2 clutch with a short shifter (Better but of course I played the "It's not stock" card) but didn't make much of it and did the test drive. It had gears cuz the shifts were alot earlier than my car. 1st gear barely hit 30-35 I believe.
Right away I do a U-Turn and bring the car back, ask to speak to the manager and the manager says 12,500 + tax and license. That's when I threw in that it's not stock and the value of the car is less than I thought, so 11,500 out the door cash is my last offer. Instead of no he can't do it he gave me a bunch of **** now calling my car trash because it wasn't in good of shape as his. This offended me greatly so I just attacked. I started off describing every way that his Z would never sell then I moved onto his 2006 BMW 7 series with 26 inch rims, he then kicked me out.

All in all, private dealers are a$$holes who think they're sitting on a goldmine lmao

 

I've seen some with high miles for sale in craigslist. But remember when you buy from a private sller it's AS IS in most states. The engine can blow as soon as you leave and you have to pay for the bill.

 

The same can be true for dealers. As always, educate yourself and make an educated purchase instead of an emotional purchase.