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This is a bad sign - Dealership Ignorance on the Gen 2 Diesel

7K views 49 replies 19 participants last post by  EricSmit 
#1 ·
I stopped by a local GM dealership yesterday and asked the salesman if they had a new Cruze diesel on the lot yet. (I later found out he was new, but read on...) He looked a bit confused at that question, so I explained to him that they are starting to hit dealership lots and I wondered if they had one yet. He went to the management office and asked, and then came back to me and said "They only made those for 2 years. It's been a long time since we had one." I rolled my eyes. I repeated that they are making them and that some dealerships already have them and I wondered if they had one on the lot or incoming. He again went back to management and then came back, this time telling me "They just started manufacturing them in the Pacific Northwest and they won't be out for who knows how long"

Seriously???

The guy was new, so I really can't blame him as much, but the entire management team is feeding him this misinformation? This is actually one of the larger dealerships in the area too. If this is how GM is communicating information about the new Cruze diesel to the dealers, it's destined to be a slow seller like the last one was. GM never let anybody, including dealers, know that the car existed.

(Or this - the dealership where I get my car serviced had a big window decal advertising the new diesel back in June/July of 2013 but they never actually got one of the cars until over a year later)

Anyway, it was pretty funny and sad to me how management of this dealership not only knew nothing about the car, but they made stuff up, just to have something to say to me.
 
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#2 ·
I would hope that GM would try a bit harder to advertise their Diesel lineup this time. A lot of people don't even know they had a diesel option in the gen 1 Cruze. It's not looking good if the dealers don't even know about it yet.
 
#5 ·
I haven't had a dealer know more than me either, some sales people sit at their desks and don't know their product, very frustrating. When a sales person does know they are top sellers. On east coast VW had a saleman of Chris and he spealized in VW and sold diesels and gassers to folks all over the country, I spoke to him a couple times, he was incredible, pick you up at airport, flawless delivery, and had a huge reputation of being a outstanding man and rep. He died a couple years ago. His prices were always competitive but it was knowing the product and know how to get what you wanted.
 
#4 ·
I texted my local dealer new car manager. He was unaware he could order a Cruze diesel yet. They do 500 cars a month and long history locally, they have been in transportation business for 170 years for six generations. They just sold to some huge dealer. One of their owners here has stage 4 lung cancer. ?

Anyway, I think it is obvious GM hasn't rolled this out very well and communication to the dealers I would say is quite poor. My local dealer shared he would order some and get back to me.

How will GM market to VW owners if they don't get them on the lots?
 
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#10 ·
Yes. You are definitely in the minority. You've been a great contributor here and I, for one, appreciate it. it would be fantastic if salespeople even made 1/2 the effort that you do.
 
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#9 ·
That has been the case for every vehicle that I have purchased since the mid 80s. They don't know anything about the economical vehicle that I came to see but they are willing to make a deal on the overloaded behemoth that is already on the lot. The exception was my VW salesman who got on the computer and found my 6M JSW 340 miles away and had it driven down over night. Of course he made an effort to get me to add panoramic roof etc. but he was the old guy of the sales force. He knew a smaller commission now beat losing the sail due to me driving 50 miles further.
 
#12 ·
IMO, we are just seeing another example of the general work ethic/mentality that seems to have become rule, rather than the exception.

Staying on topic, the automobile biz, few people get involved with the sales aspect approaching it as a potential career. It is just another product to sell.
The mentality seems to have become 'Sell what you see (in this case, on the lot)' as opposed to 'See what you can sell'.

Since auto salespeople are generally paid on a 'unit rolled' basis, it becomes imperative to sell what you see if you picked up a bad habit like paying bills, eating, living somewhere, etcetera.

As a result, there isn't a lot of motivation to learn about the product and an ordered car does not represent income to the house for six to eight weeks.

As a result, it is on the consumers back to get as much information on a particular car as possible before getting near a dealer.

Try to keep in mind that automotive enthusiests (if you are reading this, you are) are the exception when car buying is the question. As a result, dealers generally don't have the combination of color/options/version that you have visualized.
The dealership orders combinations the 'masses' are willing to accept. Family went to buy a certain color combination for example on a LT Cruze.
On the lot, the dealer has several LT's with either the right color/wrong interior or right interior/wrong color. Sometimes, right color/right interior, wrong model.
If the customer wants a new car in their driveway, tonight, a concession must be made by the buyer and generally, to scratch the 'new car' itch, a concession will be made.

The majority of salespeople will maximize this mindset as opposed to locating or ordering for the above reasons.

So, there really is no reason to learn the product since the percentage of buyers (enthusiests) is likely less than 5% and those folks have already studied the product enough to know what they want. Most often, these are the buyers that will require a combination be ordered.....no immediate joy for the salesperson, so, little motivation.

Rob
 
#13 ·
10/10.

Which is interesting actually. I was going to order a manual Cruze hatch in January to get in march, but my truck died and I had to ship one in from a ways away to get one in a manual.
 
#14 ·
I've only dealt with a one or two dealerships over the years where they would look for the car you wanted if it wasn't on their lot. When the CTD came out GM ran a series of commercials in the Denver area about it, but GM's advertising agency has never had the sheer creative talent of VWs.
 
#15 ·
Dealers here dealer trade for what you want on a frequent basis. The issue here is GM has gone to putting extra incentives on a few cars on the lot, called bonus tags recently. Well if they are gonna put an extra 1000 or 1500 or whatever it is I want that, why pay more. Before they just put larger incentives on all Cruzes by zipcode, not it seems more complicated. Probably smart for manufacturers but sort of a nightmare for dealers.
 
#18 · (Edited)
I'll wager that you can walk into nearly any auto dealership off the street and you will get a twit wanting to sell you a car. I always cultivate a relationship with the most senior salesman in the building. It's usually the person sitting next to the Sales Manager's office. Back in '92, we went car shopping and stopped at a Toyota lot looking for a Celica GT. Found a salesman who was the nephew of a sales manager where I worked (big computer company with the stripped logo). Complete north end of a south bound horse and knew less. Totally honked off SWMBO, who is not a car person. We walked over to the Saturn dealership and talked to the senior salesman and the GM. The GM let us take her SC home for the night to see if we liked it. Yes, we did.
 
#21 ·
My dealer knows nothing about Diesel, not the old one like mine and certainly not the new, lol!

So im not surprised.
 
#22 ·
This may be an ignorant assumption on my part, but wasn't the gen 1 Cruze the first modern sedan to even offer a diesel option from Chevrolet? It's possible they purposely didn't advertise it to the stars because they had little to no idea how they'd actually perform, or if they'd be popular. They didn't make a lot of them so better to spend too little on advertisement and not sell many than to spend too much on advertisement and still possibly not sell many.

I do agree that GM "homeland" doesn't do the best job of communicating upcoming vehicles to ALL dealer staff and even though we walk in there loaded with info from the internet, they should be able to be level with us when it comes to facts about their upcoming vehicles.
 
#27 ·
When I find a good salesperson, I typically will buy multiple cars from them over a period of time. you know, the type of person that likes their job and knows how to treat people. They don't have to be an expert on the product, but a little bit of effort goes a long way. I see salespeople like this pop up once in a while. They also understand relationship building and long term repeat business. Those are the people who incidentally make the most money too.
 
#29 ·
Even today, living on a base filled with a myriad of modern-day and classic car enthusiasts, I cannot tell you how many times I have to explain that yes, I do indeed own a diesel Cruze. I've even had people flag me down and tell me I need to get that clatter noise fixed ASAP, only to point out that those noises are the sounds of a happy little diesel motor. Perhaps I need a bigger "Cruze Diesel" sticker on my back glass :D
 
#32 · (Edited)
You know about one specific submodel.

There are 29 different models that Chevrolet sells, with 151 sub model types, and almost 400 PEGs, and each of those has available additional packages and add-ons. How many do you want him to memorize?

And that's not even including fleet, special service, or commercial.
 
#37 ·
How many trim levels are there on a 2017 Volt?

Not knowing that answer makes you stupid.

See what I did there? There are some dealerships that literally won't order any; not enough market or wouldn't sell any. I get that you think that the salesman you spoke to should know more than you, but you're focusing on one or two vehicles. Not including fleet or commercial, there are 19 models, 121 sub models, over 300 PEGs, and you want them to have it all memorized? I'm sorry Mr. Consumer, I don't know that exact thing. Give me more than 13 seconds to look it up for you without you getting pissy.

To answer, there is no LS Volt; there are only two trims.
 
#39 ·
Remember, it's the management that didn't know the Cruze diesel existed. It's much more excusable when a brand new salesperson doesn't know about something like that.
 
#40 ·
A lot of the time, management don't know nearly as much. It is a sad situation. Every dealership should have "that guy" that knows everything. At least one of them.
 
#42 ·
No, they sell a ton of gas Cruzes. The diesel is not popular. 2 years of diesel in the first gen, want to know how many my dealership sold? 20. Want to know how many first gen we sold total? 1944.
 
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