Gifting a car salesman?

[CamaroFred]

When I was shopping for my Camaro in 2011 I told my salesman that we were planning a trip down route 66. I was retired and working a part-time job that could make my payments.


I mentioned that we were planning to take a route 66 trip. He said he and his wife were planning the same thing when they retired in a couple of years.


So when I went to Amazon to find a set of maps I discovered that for no extra S&H I could have two sets, and each set was less than $10.


After I did the break-in on the Camaro and we were about to leave for our trip, I pulled into the service center for my first oil change. I wondered into the salesroom and my salesman was busy on the phone and I set the still shrink wrapped set of maps on his desk.


The look on his face told me he had never received a gift from a customer before. I didn't say a word and went back to the service center waiting area.

[Sir Nuke]

Cool.....and ya know, that type of gift is the absolute best kind, to show his your appreciation for a JOB LELL DONE, and I would be willing to bet, he's not just a salesman to you anymore, he's a friend.

[jc615]

Never met a car salesman I’d want to see outside of the dealership again. They all they were dumb and don’t understand their games

[SquawkVFR]

Did you stop to wonder WHY he’s never received a gift from from a customer before?

That look on his face was probably “sold him a car AND I get a gift?” wait til the guys hear about this.

[mickss]

Gifting a salesmen? The insurance agency I have for car insurance and the company that fills my fuel oil tank during the winter at least sends me a calendar every year, what do I get from the salesman and the dealership that sold me my Camaro and a Trax!? Emails once a week informing me of a special they are running and trying to pry more money out of me than they already have!

[SquawkVFR]

Originally Posted by mickss

Gifting a salesmen? The insurance agency I have for car insurance and the company that fills my fuel oil tank during the winter at least sends me a calendar every year, what do I get from the salesman and the dealership that sold me my Camaro and a Trax!? Emails once a week informing me of a special they are running and trying to pry more money out of me than they already have!

Don’t forget those scratch off lottery ticket looking things and the occasional key stuck to a post card saying you may have won a new corvette and a big screen TV with Xbox. LOL

[gajagfan]

Grew up in a small mid-western town and my parents used the same salesman for every car that they bought. When he passed away, they moved to another guy that they knew at the same dealership. When I got old enough to start buying cars, that's who I bought them from. I live a long was from that dealership now, but still called to check with him on the 1LE purchase in 2013. My grandparents bought cars from this guy. When we saw these salesman out having a beer, we would join them. They were good guys that we had a great relationship with.
I think what you did OP is cool. Your guy gave you good service and you had a common interest. Imagine that, two people being nice to one another.
I don't think the relationship between customer and salesman is as common anymore, especially at larger dealerships, because of the huge turnover and I think people (the customers) move around a lot. I don't think the services provided by the dealership help the relationship much either. Today's salesman seem to be less knowledgeable on the products they sell (across the board, not just cars) and service departments, well I think they suck.
Enjoy this while it lasts...because this guy retires soon and most likely will not be replaced by someone you will gel with!

[samman11]

Originally Posted by jc615

Never met a car salesman I’d want to see outside of the dealership again. They all they were dumb and don’t understand their games

They are not ALL bad people. It's the nature of the business to try and sell you a car. It's how they make their income. You and I would do the same.

[Gordy87]

There is always a chance of having that 1 person. I had a guy at our local dealership that I purchased 4 New cars from and he helped out on a used 1, before he retired. But he always took us out for steak dinner, after a sale. He was the best. But I agree, the turn over rate is so high now, its all about sales. I tried to purchase a 2011 used SS from a local Rick Hendricks Chevy dealer, worste experience ever. Needless to say, I did not leave with that car.

[Coleroad]

You find a good car salesman, keep going back to them. We had one back in Michigan. He still calls every once in awhile to talk, and he lives in Costa Rica now. He was always fair to us , and still made a living. Building relationships is what life is truly about. Money, possessions, social media, all really don't mean much in reality.

[splashlog48]

A few years ago there was a long thread about tipping the salesman. I believe some were tipping as high as a few hundred dollars.
I thought they were Nuts !!!

[HDRDTD]

The best kind of gift to give is one for no reason whatsoever.
Used to do this top the various women at work (we only had 7-8 ).
There was a local flower shop that advertised a daily special small bouquet for $4.99.
Stopped there one day and bought one for each woman, and passed them out at work.
Some of the women I knew, some, not so much. You should have seen their eyes light up, especially when they found out they weren't for any special occasion, just a random gift.

Growing up, my father would buy a new Chevrolet every 3 years from the same dealership in town. Later, When I started buying my own new Chevy's, I went to the same local Chevrolet dealership in town even tho it had moved across town and had changed names a couple of times.
Bought a few Chevy's from a sales lady there.
A few years later as I was shopping for a 2011 Camaro , I discovered Camaro5.com, and learned a great deal while waiting for my Camaro to be built.
The one I ordered got hung up at the plant after it was built for some reason, and I decided to cancel that order.
I then discovered BeckyD here on the sight, and lo and behold, she worked at this same local Chevy dealer I had bought cars from before !!!

I stopped at the local florist, bought some flowers, drove over to the local Chevy dealer and asked for BeckyD.

You should have seen her face when I met her and gave her the flowers as thanks for all the help she has given everyone on Camaro5.com.

She then proceeded to find me a 2011 Camaro convertible in the right color with the right options at another local dealership. I bought it the next day!

When Chevy came out with the ZL1 convertible in 2013 I had Becky put my name on the list and bought the first one that came in,

I've since bought my 2015 Malibu from her and have found good friends everywhere at that dealership.

Once again I find myself randomly throughout out the years, just showing up with flowers for BeckyD and a few others. there.

some time ago, that dealership was sold. A few of the employees decided to leave the dealership and move to another one here in Detroit.

Suffice it to say, I will continue to deal with BeckyD at the new dealership along with several other members of our club.


This Monday, I continues the tradition and brought Becky a nice bouquet of flowers for no reason at all (even tho it happened to coincide with her birthday.


Be nice to someone once in a while for no reason whatsoever. It will warm your heart like nothing else can.


If it happens to be your car dealer, that's even better !

[gringo]

Originally Posted by HDRDTD

The best kind of gift to give is one for no reason whatsoever.
Used to do this top the various women at work (we only had 7-8 ).
There was a local flower shop that advertised a daily special small bouquet for $4.99.
Stopped there one day and bought one for each woman, and passed them out at work.
Some of the women I knew, some, not so much. You should have seen their eyes light up, especially when they found out they weren't for any special occasion, just a random gift.

Growing up, my father would buy a new Chevrolet every 3 years from the same dealership in town. Later, When I started buying my own new Chevy's, I went to the same local Chevrolet dealership in town even tho it had moved across town and had changed names a couple of times.
Bought a few Chevy's from a sales lady there.
A few years later as I was shopping for a 2011 Camaro , I discovered Camaro5.com, and learned a great deal while waiting for my Camaro to be built.
The one I ordered got hung up at the plant after it was built for some reason, and I decided to cancel that order.
I then discovered BeckyD here on the sight, and lo and behold, she worked at this same local Chevy dealer I had bought cars from before !!!

I stopped at the local florist, bought some flowers, drove over to the local Chevy dealer and asked for BeckyD.

You should have seen her face when I met her and gave her the flowers as thanks for all the help she has given everyone on Camaro5.com.

She then proceeded to find me a 2011 Camaro convertible in the right color with the right options at another local dealership. I bought it the next day!

When Chevy came out with the ZL1 convertible in 2013 I had Becky put my name on the list and bought the first one that came in,

I've since bought my 2015 Malibu from her and have found good friends everywhere at that dealership.

Once again I find myself randomly throughout out the years, just showing up with flowers for BeckyD and a few others. there.

some time ago, that dealership was sold. A few of the employees decided to leave the dealership and move to another one here in Detroit.

Suffice it to say, I will continue to deal with BeckyD at the new dealership along with several other members of our club.


This Monday, I continues the tradition and brought Becky a nice bouquet of flowers for no reason at all (even tho it happened to coincide with her birthday.


Be nice to someone once in a while for no reason whatsoever. It will warm your heart like nothing else can.


If it happens to be your car dealer, that's even better !

Oh come on, just admit it. You have a crush on Becky D.! You're thinking that if someway, somehow, if you guys got together, you'd be getting killer deals on new Chevy's for the rest of your life.

[O.F.]

I'm surprised that he was still working there.