[ClearWine]

I walked into a Nissan dealership in Northern CA yesterday because I saw they had the Nissan ARIYA delivered and I wanted to see one. In fact they had 2 of them in their showroom, both black and they were the Evolve+. They had a sign on the dashboard stating the cars were sold and the name of the salesman was also included on the sheet. Both cars were locked, understandably, so I walked around both of them happy to finally see this car I've been reading about and watching videos for the last seven months. Unfortunately, I was a few weeks too late to order one!! So here's my question. Why wouldn't one salesperson even approach me while I made my trips around both cars. The salesman whose name was on the windshield was right there walking around because I recognized his name. He didn't give me a second glance. In fact there were several others there, walking around or sitting in their cubicles - NOTHING!!! Nobody approached me to ask if I had any questions, whether I was interested in this new car, nothing at all!!! So I left. I left wondering why they had these 2 cars in the showroom in the first place. You couldn't open the doors to see inside. You couldn't get anyone to come talk to you. Mind you, I didn't approach anyone purposely, because I wanted to see their reaction. I certainly would have a problem buying at such a dealership. I loved the car but I left wondering what has changed. Years ago you held your breath when you walked into a car showroom. The salesmen/salesladies were lined up and they were ready to get their chance to pounce and you were getting ready to reply that you were just browsing around. Nowadays, you walk into the showroom and it's like you're invisible. I don't get it. I'm a person who wants to buy the car and they could care less. Just curious if anyone else had this experience.

I'm very happy to see people who have their reservations picking up their Ariya and driving away. You've all waited a long time and deserve finally receiving your cars. I'm just curious about the rest of us that would love to own one. It's an open ended question that doesn't have an answer. 😩😩😩

 

[csatyam]

I totally agree with your comment on the attitude of salespeople nowadays. I went to my local Nissan dealer to check the status of Ariya and he don't care much, he said We have no clue about Ariya, and when you can get your car (as if I am wasting his time)

 

[ab13]

There is very little supply of cars now, so if you are interested in something without availability (such as the Ariya), they can't help you. Salespeople commonlywork on the order of customers that come in. So if someone helps you and can't sell you a car since there are no Ariya to sell, all the next customers will be helped by the next salespeople in their sales order. That person who helped you will have to wait until all other sales people work with the incoming customers until they can work with another customer.

 

[TeeDub21]

The car business has changed. Most sales or appointments for sales are made online. Very few people buy when just walking in to look anymore. Also people generally didn’t like getting hounded by vultures. Now they let you look and approach them if you need help. I personally like this however a basic greeting or let me know if we can help would be nice.

 

[antkia9708]

I recently visited a Cadillac dealership to see the new Lyriq, which Cadillac sent me an email and invited me out to, and none of the salespeople came over. I was surprised and taken back. Reading the previous comments makes sense. Not good customer service, but it makes sense.

 

[kraanbalk]

I’m not sure your age and won’t ask, but as a millennial I don’t like when sales people come up to me. I think a lot in my generation feel the same. We are used to doing our own research at home and don’t need/trust salespeople much.

 

[atreis]

Also people generally didn’t like getting hounded by vultures. Now they let you look and approach them if you need help.

I think it's this. Many people didn't like having sales people descend on them as soon as they walked in, and just wanted to have a chance to look at the cars. Often, it's just casual curiosity as one has a few minutes while picking up or dropping off a car for service. Personally, I like this change a lot.

 

[FolsomCa]

I agree Just like looking at Furniture you want to look around for awhile. I just got email from Elk Grove Nissan they had Nissan Venture sitting on floor. I sat in car,opened rear hatch looked around nobody came up which I liked.The only add on was $1295 Destination Fee . no paint or carpet upgrade fee.(also no floormats installed) I think salespeople realisze the Ariya is to far out to try to sell. On the other hand doors and windows were open. It was nice to have free roaming.

 

[antkia9708]

I’m not sure your age and won’t ask, but as a millennial I don’t like when sales people come up to me. I think a lot in my generation feel the same. We are used to doing our own research at home and don’t need/trust salespeople much.

I completely understand.

 

[belliott]

I'm now concerned the dealership you visited is my Dealership of choice for my Ariya delivery. Please tell me it was NOT Premiere Nissan in San Jose. The apathy you describe is unacceptable. They stand to make a substantial profit if a reservationist chooses not to take delivery - then the dealership goes to their own wait-list, mark-ups, add-ons, etc.

 

[ClearWine]

It was not Premier Nissan in San Jose. And for the other replies, I tend to somewhat agree with you about sales people. However, with regard to the Ariya, you cannot get any response from Nissan other than contact your dealer. If I could order online, I would. We’re at their mercy.

 

[EarlyEVadopter]

I walked into a Nissan dealership in Northern CA yesterday because I saw they had the Nissan ARIYA delivered and I wanted to see one. In fact they had 2 of them in their showroom, both black and they were the Evolve+. They had a sign on the dashboard stating the cars were sold and the name of the salesman was also included on the sheet. Both cars were locked, understandably, so I walked around both of them happy to finally see this car I've been reading about and watching videos for the last seven months. Unfortunately, I was a few weeks too late to order one!! So here's my question. Why wouldn't one salesperson even approach me while I made my trips around both cars. The salesman whose name was on the windshield was right there walking around because I recognized his name. He didn't give me a second glance. In fact there were several others there, walking around or sitting in their cubicles - NOTHING!!! Nobody approached me to ask if I had any questions, whether I was interested in this new car, nothing at all!!! So I left. I left wondering why they had these 2 cars in the showroom in the first place. You couldn't open the doors to see inside. You couldn't get anyone to come talk to you. Mind you, I didn't approach anyone purposely, because I wanted to see their reaction. I certainly would have a problem buying at such a dealership. I loved the car but I left wondering what has changed. Years ago you held your breath when you walked into a car showroom. The salesmen/salesladies were lined up and they were ready to get their chance to pounce and you were getting ready to reply that you were just browsing around. Nowadays, you walk into the showroom and it's like you're invisible. I don't get it. I'm a person who wants to buy the car and they could care less. Just curious if anyone else had this experience.

I'm very happy to see people who have their reservations picking up their Ariya and driving away. You've all waited a long time and deserve finally receiving your cars. I'm just curious about the rest of us that would love to own one. It's an open ended question that doesn't have an answer. 😩😩😩

I'm now concerned the dealership you visited is my Dealership of choice for my Ariya delivery. Please tell me it was NOT Premiere Nissan in San Jose. The apathy you describe is unacceptable. They stand to make a substantial profit if a reservationist chooses not to take delivery - then the dealership goes to their own wait-list, mark-ups, add-ons, etc.

The GM of that dealership deserves to be notified of your recent impressions. In today’s climate any new car dealerships success and even survival requires all the positive consumer perception they can muster if they hope to survive these lean times.

 

[Antman81]

I can’t relate to this at all. I have a very close relationship with my sales team (friend of a friend is the lead and subsequently became my friend…sorta). Now the rest of the staff leave me alone because they know there isn’t a chance. I say that to say this:

I have referred 5 friends to them over the years. I’m in my 40’s and they are typically between 30-50 years old. They all show up knowing what they want or at least having an idea based off of their own research. My Nissan lady said that’s always the case these days. In fact, most of the time customers show up knowing more about the car than even she can remember. They do a test drive and 9/10 times they purchase that day. She does about 20 minutes of “work” and then it’s off to finance. Because of this, she said a lot of the sales people are less motivated to approache customers because they end up looking like a fool that doesn’t know anything. Trying to save their pride or something.
She has also stated that with the Ariya, their job is so hard because they have nothing. They haven’t received literature about it, driven one, anything. She knows 3 things: it comes in FWD AND AWD, it’s electric, and what it looks like from pictures.

 

[EarlyEVadopter]

I can’t relate to this at all. I have a very close relationship with my sales team (friend of a friend is the lead and subsequently became my friend…sorta). Now the rest of the staff leave me alone because they know there isn’t a chance. I say that to say this:

I have referred 5 friends to them over the years. I’m in my 40’s and they are typically between 30-50 years old. They all show up knowing what they want or at least having an idea based off of their own research. My Nissan lady said that’s always the case these days. In fact, most of the time customers show up knowing more about the car than even she can remember. They do a test drive and 9/10 times they purchase that day. She does about 20 minutes of “work” and then it’s off to finance. Because of this, she said a lot of the sales people are less motivated to approache customers because they end up looking like a fool that doesn’t know anything. Trying to save their pride or something.
She has also stated that with the Ariya, their job is so hard because they have nothing. They haven’t received literature about it, driven one, anything. She knows 3 things: it comes in FWD AND AWD, it’s electric, and what it looks like from pictures.

I was in sales for many years prior to my recent retirement. My experience has always been that successful sales associates study every bit of literature etc. they can get their hands on. These days YouTube is an excellent resource as well. To that end with all the information available today (to everyone) there’s no excuse for a strong sales staff to ever find themselves less informed than any customer who might enter their showroom floor.

 

[ClearWine]

I believe everyone has a good point based on their relationships and experience. I had many good experiences with Infiniti sales over the last 15 years. I had to research 4 or 5 Nissan dealers before I came upon a sales associate who followed up with me. I know he has nothing to go on. There are no cars! But he stays in touch and lets me know whatever he has at his disposal. In fact, he told me a DEMO should be coming in next week and he'll line up a time I can go in for a test drive. That's all I ask for is some communication. A lot of the posts in this forum are from people who have reservations. But for those of us who do not, our options are dwindling. We can only hope for cancellations. For these, I've looked at a number of local Nissan dealerships and they appear to be selling those cancelled reservations at a $10,000 markup!!! Some are not. I must say that buying a car these days is a real challenge!!!