Hi gang!

New here. (See my intro thread )

Quick question. I have been doing a lot of sales visits to dealerships lately. 80% of them have been smooth sailing for the most part, but I noticed a couple of dealerships wanted my key so they could take it on a test run of their own so they could get it appraised, yadda yadda yadda. Apparently, their thinking is, "You wouldn't buy our vehicles without test driving it first. So if you're trading your car in, we need to test drive it." I can understand this. But, I present objections to the dealership for taking my car without me in the vehicle with them. (I DO keep the work orders in the glove box. SO I want to make sure they don't go through my stuff and make sure I don't get outed. ) Sometimes they give me the runaround when presented with this objection. However they are perfectly understanding for the most part.

I had one case where the salesman gave my key to his sales manager after he test drove it. The manager refused to give me the key back. I asked twice. He stated that he needed to inspect my vehicle some more, which he just did 5 minutes ago.

What are the best answers and scenarios to combat this?

Thank you everyone!

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/31/2016 03:41AM by MysteriousLurker.

I always say, I have a buyer for my car, so no need to trade in.

Car shops that require a trade in are rare, in fact most require that you say you are NOT trading in your car.
I'm confused by your question though. Are you asking if we don't let them drive the car? Or something else? If they are going to evaluate the trade in of course they are going to drive it, any reasonable person would expect that, so I'm guessing your question is something else?

Yeah it adds time to the shop. I never say I'm going to trade in my current vehicle.

I've done 8 video car shops all requiring trade-in of my car in the last 2 months.

So the big question is if a trade in evaluation was required. If not, the only way they would get my keys would be to pry them out of my cold, dead hands. I'm not sure I would ever do a shop with a trade in evaluation unless I could be with the car at all times. If someone at the dealer wanted to drive it they would have to give me a copy of their DL and proof of insurance

Cubbie, I am sure those video shops paid quite nicely compared to some others. I'm with Lisa about keeping my keys in MY hands at all times. I have heard of dealerships keeping keys and the shopper hostage trying to wear them down to buy the vehicle they were looking at.

They used to do trade in evaluations, and yes (of course), they would have to drive the car, therefore, need your keys. I haven't seen one in years, but then I don't do Video. I think OP should reread instructions, it may not say you need to trade in car. My guess is, Salesman lead and she went along, instead of saying, "I'm not trading in my car". Evaluation will take so much longer and really not needed.

@cubbiecat wrote:

I've done 8 video car shops all requiring trade-in of my car in the last 2 months.

I don't do video so I haven't seen these shops but I am curious about how they work. When I do car shops, so far I have never had the salesperson ask about trade-in until the end, after the sales presentation, after the test drive, when we sit down and they actually push the sale. If they mention trade-in or purchase options earlier, it's usually kind of casual and I can't imagine them asking for my keys even if I said I did plan to trade in. When trade-in is required by the shop guidelines, when do you tell them you want to trade in? Are you required to capture on video any portion of the inspection of your vehicle? Are you required to give them the keys to your vehicle while you are filming the sales presentation? How are the car shops requiring trade-in different from the others?

When I do one that requires a trade-in I remove all MS-related stuff from the vehicle and make sure that they get just the spare key to the car. (No house key on that key ring!) There really is not need to prolong the visit by insisting on riding long when they test drive your car once you have taken these elementary precautions.

I have learned that if the dealership begins playing games with "You need to speak with just one more person," I can state that I have the other car key and will just drive away if they do not immediately stop playing games and return that spare key to me. I may also pull this trick if they let me sit alone for 10 minutes or more. That is another one of their pressure tricks and shoppers whether MSers or not need to learn to stand up to.

You may feel comfortable with just anyone driving your car, me not so much.

Hoho! My insurance company would just love to go after an entity with as deep pockets as a dealership! And, I would love to have a new paint job on their dime.

My car is my office. Though it's clean of trash and such, it is full of my work tools. With mystery shopping, merchandising, demos, and product retrievals, I have all of the tools for each that I need in my car. I can't see moving my briefcase, files, folders, tools, table, GPS, etc. out my car to go do a dealership shop. Some of my tools are worth quite a bit of money. I also keep gas cards, gift cards, and money in my center console. If they need my keys it ain't happenin'.

Then don't do car shops where your car has to be evaluated. Simple solution. But, for most, just removing MS paperwork would do the trick.

Lol... Interesting bunch of folks here..

I am a little confused. The work order says, "Come up with a real life scenario (and you SHOULD) why you need a new vehicle. Discuss financing options, etc). " That also means trade in? Car dealerships aren't going to take you seriously if you offer nothing up front...

I have noticed the trade in stuff does take a while. I just won't offer to trade in anymore. Too much hassle.

MysteriousLurker, cash is always a good alternative. I usually say I plan on putting $3,000 to $5,000 down (or more if it's a high end dealership). I never do shops where I have to use my vehicle for a trade-in. Yes, way too much hassle (for some of us).

If the guidelines don't instruct you to have a trade in evaluation, just say no. Many want the subject addressed but only want to know what the sales associate said or if they initiated the conversation. For some higher end vehicle shops I've portrayed the car I'm driving as belonging to one of my imaginary children. Most of the time I say I have not made up my mind because a relative wants to buy the car. It doesn't stop the associate from encouraging me to trade in the car and explaining the benefits.

I know that the last car dealership shop I did the guidelines said: "Please remove all mystery shopping materials from your car, as the dealership may go through your trunk, back seat and glove box." So I stuffed mine under the seat, a plain folder and covered that with a towel.

I can't imagine what they would want to look through someone's glove box for. That's pretty invasive!

I can't imagine why guests in a person's home want to look in their host's medicine cabinet or closets either, but they do.

If you find they went through your stuff, is it considered unethical? And can you jot this down in your reports?

How can you prove they went through your glove box, ML? Can't really put it in the report unless you can prove it.

My console and glove box are so organized it would be readily apparent something was out of place.

They want to find things wrong with the car so they can low ball the appraisal. They do have the right to go through the car with a fine tuned comb, if your trading it in. I also say, I'm putting down a sizeable piece of cash, they like that. I will say, I've had an offer or i'm sure I can do better on my own, they always agree.
They care about the appraisal if you don't have cash for the down.

@LisaSTL wrote:

I can't imagine why guests in a person's home want to look in their host's medicine cabinet or closets either, but they do.

OMG how did you know?!?!?!?!

There are many ways around a trade in. I've never traded in a car in my life. I happen to be at a great age for "its paid for and my son/daughter is getting their license so I'm giving it to them." Or you are selling it to a friend/relative that's having financial trouble and needs a good cheap car so you are giving them a good deal or letting them pay when they can. Or if you want to be abrasive then tell them you know from KBB that you get more in a private party sale then trading it because they're going to use TrueCar anyway and that's pretty much right on KBB.

Unless the shop requires that I state that I want to trade in my vehicle I tell them the truth; I always sell my vehicles myself, and for a lot more than they would offer.

As for looking in the glove compartment of a trade-in, that's were many owners keep the owners' manual (worth something to a new buyer) and, more importantly, recent service records and the registration card. When they find the latter, they are more certain that you are the owner, without going through the MVA for a current registration record (which they would later do if a rel trade-in trransaction was taking place.)

Keep it short and simple. If the guidelines do not require a trade evaluation, then do not include one. Just say you are giving your car to your brother/uncle/niece if that's easy to remember. Say you are keeping it, that's easy. Then move on. Do not say anything else because that either answers something they haven't inquired about yet or turns the sales persons attention in the wrong direction. For example, volunteering you have a down payment might mess up your guidelines and get your report rejected.

As far as checking the glove box; just like the next customer will expect to have an owners manual the dealer will expect to know if it's there or not. They are not cheap to replace. A good evaluation can take 20 to 30 minutes, including researching auction numbers.

I estimate about 30% of my customers forgot about an accident when they told me no accident history yet we informed them of painted panels. About 20% own cars with previous repairs that are not on the history report and they were not told about (or they forget being told about) when they purchased the vehicle.

KBB is a guide, they do not buy or sell cars. About 40% of the retail values they provide are well above actual market values. That means about 40% of the trade values are too high. NADAGUIDES is a better tool, just like any tool you have to understand how to use it.

I think that I have mentioned this before, but since the OP asked for advice, I will briefly tell this story again. About 25 year ago, before I was MSing and before cell phones, I was looking for a new car and was considering trading in my car. The salesperson asked for my keys so that they could evaluate the my car. Fair enough at the time. Then they wouldn't give me the keys back. I was calm and patient. I asked how to make an outside call. They told me. I called 911 and said that I was being held against my will (in other words, I had been kidnapped). The sales manager thought I was kidding and had faked the call until the police cars arrived. My keys quickly reappeared. My understanding is that I had technically been kidnapped since not giving me the means to leave (my keys) meant that I was being held against my will. If this were to happen today, I would just tell them that if I didn't have my keys in 60 seconds, that I was going to call 911 and that I would leave it to the police to sort it out.

I threatened that at a dealership once. Even then they kept trying to sell me the car as I was walking out the door.