“Don’t judge a book by its cover” is something everyone should take to heart. These folks showed up to car dealerships expectant and ready to buy new cars only to be treated horribly by salesmen because of how they appeared. Everything changed when the salesmen realized they were wealthy. This content has been edited for clarity.
Business Card
“It was my father’s birthday weekend and I wanted to surprise him with a new shiny Mercedes– something that I promised him when I was very young.
I called up my friend to accompany me to the Mercedes showroom and he arrived in his old Hyundai Santro as his regular car was at the service center. I had just arrived from London the previous day and my baggage was delayed so I was dressed in an old hoodie with frayed edges and worn-out jeans. In short, we weren’t dressed like a typical Mercedes buyer. I was under the impression that no one cared about dressing up in this day and age but it turned out I was quite wrong.
We walked into the Mercedes dealership and were looking at a few cars. Over 15 minutes passed and a salesperson was allotted to us only after I requested one at reception. The salesman approached us and asked in a particularly rude tone what we wanted. I explain to him politely that I was looking for a luxury SUV and wanted to test drive the GLC.
He told me they didn’t have it available for a test drive and gave us a couple of brochures. I insisted on him arranging a test drive for us as I really wanted a Mercedes for my dad to which he said people like us come in all the time asking for a test drive and we should just be happy we were given the brochure. I felt really humiliated and had enough of the snobbery. I asked for the sales manager and was told he was not available at the moment.
Seething with rage, I lost my temper and yelled at the salesperson to get the manager right away or I would go to the Audi dealership instead. Hearing the commotion, the manager came out and I had to explain the rude behavior of his staff and gave him my business card. The moment he saw my business card, his entire demeanor changed. He was apologetic about his staff’s behavior and personally showed me around the GLC and GLE and arranged test drives for both vehicles.
I loved the GLC and was ready to buy it. Long story short, I paid cash, completed the paperwork, and instructed the dealership to have the vehicle parked on my dad’s doorstep that Saturday. Once I was done, I spoke to the salesman for a couple of minutes about how he was a liability to his dealership by profiling people by their looks.”
Wealthy At 19
“I was treated like royalty by a car dealership when I pretended to be rich. Here’s how it went down:
It was the late 1980s. I was just 19 years old, working as a junior car salesman at my local Volkswagen dealership in Oxford in the UK. It was a great job and it paid well, although the working hours were long.
Whilst idly talking rubbish with one of my senior colleagues one quiet summer Saturday morning, I half-jokingly suggested that we kill some time and go and test drive the M635 at the BMW dealership up the road. There were no customers around and we were both a little bored.
Now, there was no way I could afford this beauty (being a teenager and quite new to the workforce), but I thought if I took a brand new 16v Golf GTi with me I might be able to convince the BMW salesman that I was serious about trading it in on the M635.
My colleague was unable to join me but challenged me to see if I could pull it off.
A Golf GTi may not seem like the most amazing car these days but in 1989 it was the dog’s nuts and the most expensive hot hatch at the time. I drove up to the BMW dealership, parked the brand-new Golf on the forecourt, and casually sauntered towards the M635 that sat gleaming and menacing in the showroom.
Those of you that know about these things will know that the 1989 M635csi was the last of the model to be made. 286 horsepower of Bavaria’s finest and, in those days, one of the most desirable cars you could buy.
‘I’ve just bought this 16v Golf,’ I said to the salesman. ‘But I think I made a mistake. I’m looking for something a little faster.’
The salesman eyed me for what seemed like an eternity before saying, ‘Sure, are you thinking of the 635? We have a demonstrator if you wanted to take it for a spin?’
I played hard to get for a second or two, saying that I had to take a trip to Swindon, a 30-mile drive, and would come back and take a proper look later in the day.
‘Why don’t you leave me your Golf and just take the 635? You can bring it back tonight, or even tomorrow morning if you get back after we close,’ he said.
I was stunned. I was wearing a suit and driving a brand new Golf GTi, but didn’t think it would be that easy. I hesitated a second, speechless, before mustering as much nonchalance as I could, under the circumstance.
‘Sure. Are you sure it’s okay for me to have it overnight?’ I asked.
Less than five minutes later, I was edging this beautiful straight-six masterpiece out into Oxford’s morning traffic, grinning like an idiot. I drove straight back to the VW showroom to show my colleague that I had succeeded. He had a huge toothy smile on his face and was clearly impressed that I had managed to get the car, and even more impressed that I had secured it for the whole day.
‘Don’t stop here mate!’ he laughed. ‘Why don’t you take it to the Porsche dealership and see if they’re interested in trading it in for a new 911!’
I was giddy with excitement. Could I really pull this off twice in one day? It was only around 10 a.m. and I had the whole day ahead of me. I bet my colleague 20 dollars I would be back in less than an hour in a 911 and set off up the road.
About halfway between the VW dealership and the BMW dealership was an independent Porsche specialist. Again, I drove straight onto the forecourt like I owned the place, casually walked up to the salesman, and with my confidence growing and a flashy smile, said,
‘Morning! Great day to test drive a 911!’
The salesman shook my hand and looked out onto the yard.
‘Ahhh, the BMW M635csi,’ he said. ‘It looks pretty new. Are you thinking of upgrading already?’
‘No, no. I’ve only had it for a few weeks but I’m looking for something convertible for the weekends,’ I replied.
Now, you have to remember, this was the 1980s, the decade of conspicuous consumption, yuppies, and newly minted millionaires. Oxford was awash with wealthy young people, so this wasn’t a totally ridiculous scenario. My heart was pounding in my chest. I was convinced I was about to be discovered.
The salesman didn’t blink. After making me coffee and a little small talk (and taking the BMW keys as security), I was out the door in a bright red six-month-old 911 Turbo Convertible, scarcely believing what I had gotten away with. He even offered to have the BMW valeted whilst I was gone!
I still remember clearly bursting into almost hysterical laughter as I drove out of sight of the dealership and floored the flat six, charging back down the road toward my work. Back on my forecourt, Michael was shaking his head with a look of slightly bewildered admiration as I arrived.
‘TaaDaa!’ I shouted, grinning like a schoolkid as I pulled up. I had only been gone about fifteen minutes. We took the 911 out to a local pub for an early lunch and sat there for an hour before getting serious about the next challenge.
‘What do you reckon? Do you think I could go one better again?’ I asked.
Michael paused.
‘There’s a specialist used car dealership in Reading that sells Ferraris and Lamborghinis,’ his voice trailed off.
We stared at each other for a few seconds.
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how I spent the afternoon driving around in a bright yellow Lamborghini Countach. By the next morning, all the cars had been returned and no one was any the wiser.”
Don’t Judge A Book By Its Cover
“My husband and I went into a Porsche dealership to look at a Tesla X that had been traded in. The Tesla was six months old and less than 1000 miles. We never buy new cars and we always pay cash.
Of course, when you go into a luxury car dealership, the people looking at cars are dressed in designer clothes and handbags but we don’t dress like that. We asked to see a salesman and he was polite and showed us the car but he obviously wasn’t very familiar with Tesla. We asked him to figure out some of the features and said we would take it for a test drive on the weekend.
We went back on Saturday which was a busy day at the Porsche center. The salesman came out and we said we wanted to take it out for a test drive.
He looked at us and rudely said, ‘Are you just here to joy ride in the car? If so, I don’t have time for you, I have many potential customers inside.’
We were shocked, of course. Luckily, my husband has high emotional intelligence so he politely said we were there to test drive the car and we wanted to talk to the manager. The manager came out and we explained what happened. He apologized, but it was very half-hearted. I kind of got the sense that the manager’s attitude was similar to the sales guy’s.
On our way home from the dealership, my husband pulled off to the side of the road and called his very good work friend (and golfing buddy) who happened to be the CEO of all the luxury car dealerships in the city. Of course, he was mortified. At the end of the day, we bought the car with cash, from the CEO. The original salesman lost his commission and he was put on probation.
Don’t ever judge a book by its cover.”
Corvette, Please
“I was in my Ford dealership getting my 1998 Mustang GT serviced and I walked around the showroom. I bought a 1990 Thunderbird Supercoupe 35th Anniversary Edition from this same dealership a couple of years earlier. This northern VA dealership had been advertising heavily that they had Mustang Cobras in stock and to come in and check them out. I was dressed in blue jeans and a nice shirt.
I went to the desk and asked to test drive a Cobra. You would have thought I was a homeless person the way I was treated and they asked me to fill out a credit application first. I was thoroughly put out by this and declined. When my car was finished I drove up the street to a Chevrolet dealer and asked to test drive a Corvette Z06. They were more than happy to accommodate me letting me drive a car much more expensive than the Mustang GT.
I picked up my black Z06 that day. About two weeks later, I visited the Ford dealer and parked my Z06 in front of the main entrance of the main showroom. I was wearing dress pants and a shirt and tie. I went to the counter and asked to see the manager. The man standing there said he was the manager. I said I had an issue and he might want to hear it in his office. He said to go ahead and tell him the problem. I recounted how abysmally I was treated as a former customer that had bought some of the most expensive cars that Ford sold.
You could hear a pin drop in the showroom as everyone, employees and customers, were listening. I told him I was treated as a person should be treated at the Chevy dealer and he should look in front of the showroom and see what I bought. I walked out and laid a long patch of rubber for them to remember me. I have never gone back. Looks can be deceiving.”
Cashing Out
“Back in 67 when I was in the Navy in San Diego, my roommate decided to buy a VW Beetle. At that time, the price was 1.8k, no matter where you went. He already knew how much money he needed to buy it, so he called around and found a dealer who had the color he wanted—green.
I went with him to the dealership. We were just two young sailors. Three salesmen stood there drinking coffee. We could hear their disparaging remarks about us. They concluded we were just looky-loos. Finally, we overheard one say to another,
‘You’re up. You can deal with these losers, they don’t have any money.’
After a long wait, that salesman stepped up and halfheartedly said, ‘Can I help you boys?’
My friend then pulled out a wad of cash. He fanned the 100 bills and said,
‘I have 2.5k here and I was going to buy that car with it, but now you can shove it.’
We turned to go. The salesman got all flustered. He tried everything he could think of to keep us from leaving, explaining why it took so long, but we just walked out. We went to another dealership and my roommate bought a different color. So, never judge a person by his appearance.”
Prejudice
“I once had a salesman switch his treatment of me twice, both because of prejudice. About six months ago, I decided that my 2003 Camry, although a workhorse and a thoroughly reliable car, was probably ready to be retired. I’m 25 with a decent-paying job and was looking for an upgrade.
After testing the entry-level offerings from BMW, Audi, and Mercedes, and being fairly underwhelmed, I decided to try out the Lexus IS F-Sport. It’s a beautiful, albeit polarizing, car loaded with all the bells and whistles that were missing from the German competition for a comparable price.
I should note that if I’m not at work, I’m usually dressed pretty well. However, this day I purposely wore clothes that made me look young and stupid. I’ll explain why. I got to the dealership and the salesman immediately sized me up and could barely hide his disgust at my Camry and my track pants, graphic tee, and fitted hat.
He made it clear that he didn’t have long to test drive because he had a golf game to play. We got in the car and he seemed annoyed and wasn’t saying anything about the car. It was pretty clear he didn’t see me as a serious buyer, just what I wanted. After my short (not my choice) test drive, I told him I’m very interested and would like to talk price.
Like Jekyll and Hyde, he immediately switched his tune and started showing me complete respect and even offered to cancel his tee time if I wanted more time. I made it seem like I was really interested but that paying for the car was gonna be tricky. I never explicitly told him how I intended to pay but he definitely assumed, based on my appearance and car, I’d be financing.
This got him to lower the cost much more than the initial asking price thinking he’d make it all back and then some through interest on this dumb kid who definitely wouldn’t have good credit. Once I got him to agree to drop the cost 13 percent below the asking price in writing, I dropped the bomb that I’d be paying in full today and would be back in five min to go get a certified cheque from the bank.
Never did it even occur to him that I’d have enough money to buy the car in cash and his prejudice saved me 6k. He was so disgusted with himself and me that he left the room without saying anything. Five minutes later, his younger associate came in and finalized my purchase.”
Accidental Porsche Customer
“This happened in a suburb of Detroit, MI in 2014. I was in the market for an SUV as my 2007 Civic was recently totaled in an accident. The insurance gave me a car for one month for free and I had to get a new vehicle by the month’s end.
A little personal background about me: I am an Indian citizen from Tamil Nadu but had been living here in the U.S. for 12 years. I am economically stable and only two years prior had bought a brand new house in a nice neighborhood. I think twice before I spend and check the pros/cons of my purchases. Yes, I have an accent and my surname is long.
I visited the local BMW dealership and was treated poorly. I told them I was highly disappointed with them and I would take my business next door to Audi. They said good luck sir and bade me goodbye. The Audi dealership was very professional, but I didn’t like the model.
The next day, I got a call from the BMW dealership (not the same sales rep) who apologized and invited me back. Although I was upset and did not want to go back, the draw of BMW was too great, and I desperately need a car for my work. So, I got an appointment for the following Saturday. This time Ms. X greeted me and the customer experience was pleasant until her manager butted in and was extremely rude. I said that I wasn’t to commit to anything yet so he bade me goodbye.
The second dealership was the worst experience ever. I was dressed in a suit. The sales rep went through all the initial hoops, and I told him that I had done this before at the past dealership and asked him to give me a fair deal.
He went to talk to his manager who literally stormed into my room where I was sitting. He asked what my profession was and what I did for a living. He got agitated and pointed out that they won’t undercut another dealership and asked me to take my business elsewhere.
As a last resort, I contemplated Porsche, even though I knew I couldn’t get it immediately. Fortunately, there was a Porsche dealer in another suburb.
There were only two guys in the dealership that afternoon. One of them took care of me immediately even though I didn’t have an appointment. They confirmed that four new Porsche Macans arrived only the previous day from Germany. He enquired whether I would like to have a test drive immediately. I took it. The sales guy was very calm and answered every question.
Once inside his office after the test drive, he showed the brochures. Once in a while, other employees passing by his office said hi, and told me how lucky I was to get a Porsche and how sporty it is. Of course, I negotiated the price, and they gave me a fair deal. I told them that I would need one more day because I wanted to show it to my wife. He accepted gladly.
The next day, my wife test-drove it, loved it, and we brought a black Porsche Macan Sport home.”
Lottery Prospect
“My twin’s birthday was coming up and I was thinking of rewarding the missus by upgrading her car to something better: a Range Rover Evoque.
I finally scored a good deal on this particular high-spec (and a higher priced) Evoque that was in a dealership near my house. I arrived in my old e46 and asked to see the car. This local chap took one look at me and probably deduced that I was too young or too shabby looking to qualify for an Evoque, and decided to reject me.
He told me I had to put down a deposit before even thinking of sitting in the car! Before you think I made drama, let me tell you that the opposite happened: I smiled and walked back. I don’t necessarily like to deal with idiots so I don’t mind looking for another.
For some reason, just as I was about to leave, another salesman came up to me, apologized profusely, and said he could serve me better.
I accepted.
I went to see the car and told him I would love to take it for a test drive five minutes away to my house to show my wife and ask her opinion on the spec and color. The guy agreed and said we could do a short run. So off we went.
The moment that guy saw the neighborhood, my house, and the cars parked in there, he realized that he scored a lottery prospect. After that, I was practically given free rein to do unlimited test drives and checks on that car, unaccompanied.
I saw the car on Wednesday. On Friday, I agreed and signed the papers. The car was ours by Monday.”
Customer Profiling
“In August 2017, I was in the market for a new car. There were multiple cars we were evaluating, one of which was the Hyundai Elantra. I called up their local showroom, enquired about the vehicle, and asked for a test drive. Among the standard questions they asked (name, phone number), was a question about which car I presently drove. I told them that I was, at present, driving a Maruti Alto K10. The lady on the line said she would get somebody to call me back about the car and disconnected.
Since nobody called for close to five hours, I thought it best to just drive down to the nearest showroom and enquire personally. My wife and I both were both in our late 20s and were casually dressed in t-shirts, jeans, and sandals.
We went in and were greeted by a receptionist. She asked the same questions as the lady on the phone and I gave the same answers. We were asked to wait while she got somebody to assist us. Though I could see many salesmen visibly free, we had to wait for quite some time before somebody was finally assigned to us.
Even after repeatedly mentioning that we were interested in the Elantra, the salesman kept pushing us toward the upcoming Verna facelift. He spoke of how it was more affordable, had good value for the money, low maintenance, and better mileage. I told him point blank that we were interested only in the Elantra and asked him for a test drive. Grudgingly, he agreed, showed me around a showroom car, and then took me for an extremely short test drive.
By then, I was pretty much exhausted with the whole process and we left the showroom after collecting the price list.
In contrast, when we went to the local Skoda showroom to check out the just-launched Octavia facelift and were treated like royalty. We were promptly greeted by a receptionist who asked only about which car we were looking for and not which car I drove. A salesman was promptly assigned who took us around a showroom car, explaining all the features. A 20-minute test drive later, we were back in the showroom.
We discussed financials a bit and booked a top-end Octavia in a stunning Quartz Grey color.
In another 15 days, my Octavia is expected to be delivered. Among the first things I plan to do is pay a visit to the Hyundai showroom, meet their sales manager with my new ride, and tell him how he lost a potential customer just because they were focussing too much on their customer profiling technique.”
Trade Up
“I was with someone when they purchased a Rolls Royce. I literally saw the change in attitude from snobby to reverence in 0.05 seconds. Here’s how it went down.
I was 30 and took the day off from work and was dressed in jeans. I was driving with someone much older to help them make a very expensive car purchase at a luxury dealership. We didn’t have an appointment.
Now, as we had never been to this particular dealership before, we didn’t realize we had accidentally pulled into the wrong lot and were on the service side of the building – the customer parking lot was on the other side. In any event, I got out and walked in through the back entrance and said,
‘Excuse me, where do we park?’
The man that greeted me was obviously annoyed that not only was I not going to purchase, but was coming in the back door and parked where I shouldn’t be. He practically scolded me and asked where my car was.
I pointed to the person I came with. 65, silver hair, and driving a Mercedes S-class sedan: the exact profile of someone looking to trade up to a Rolls.
While young folks might like to play pretend, no one respectable over 50 goes to a dealership just to waste their time. In any event, upon seeing the car and driver the salesman’s tone immediately changed.
I asked again, ‘Where should we park?’
‘You can just park it here. Really it’s completely fine!’ he said.
So we literally parked halfway on the sidewalk and walked into the dealership. No one seemed to mind.”
