my67falcon

I learned a long time ago that when someone is selling me something the likelihood that they will offer, push, or present me with what they want me to buy is great. They may need to move a certain item due to overstock, profit margin or any other reason. They may have limited knowledge and simply lead me towards what they "think" I want. No matter what I'm buying, it is my job to do the research.

RomanM

I am completly new to the truck world and seeing all the adds that an f150 has a max payload I though that is the payload on f150's so I am sure most if not all new guys think the same hence the treads that say WTF I juat took delivery and it says on a sticker in the can max payload 1200 WTF !!!
First question a salesman should ask is how much do you know about this truck and what do you need it for...

11screw50

They want the sale so they want to sell what they have on the lot (if you walk away, you might be back or you might buy elsewhere). That and I really suspect a lot of people don't have the 40ft 5'er when they buy the truck, they go shopping for the camper after they have the truck (and if you think car dealerships are not doing their job, every RV dealer I went to tried to sell me based solely on tow rating with no consideration at all for payload and when I mentioned payload they got a bewildered look on their face.)

Theocoog

I think I have to fall in this camp too. If you find a good, ethical salesman and tell him your needs, he may go out of his way to find you the right truck, tell you what options you need and what is a waste of money. I know mine searched high and low for what I wanted and ended up advising me to order it.

But I think most of them just want to get rid of what they have on the lot so they can order more, and keep their dealer allocation numbers up there for when they need to order that Laguna Seca Mustang for a favorite client.

willieboy

^X2!

Dealers stock the trucks that sell. The sales person sells what is on the lot because they live and die on those commissions. They only know what the a certain number of specs are, not how they come to those specs or what the caveats (crew cab, long bed, HD payload, etc). They have to sell 15-100 models depending on the dealership, how many brands, etc... There is no way they will remember the details. Thus, buyer beware, but more importantly, BUYER BE EDUCATED!

byoungblood

Having been a salesman at a Ford dealer once upon a time, a couple of things hold true with all of them.

1) They want you to buy something TODAY.
2) They want to sell you what they have on the lot. Ordering goes against their allocation and if someone wants something that is a slow mover (like the HD payload package) depending on the scruples of the salesman/sales manager they will say anything to avoid ordering an oddball.

Ford's salesperson education was actually pretty good, most of it was self paced stuff, but they also had some instructor led classes that ran every quarter. If you actually read the stuff for understanding and sat down with the fleet guy from time to time, you could learn how to help people buy a truck that would actually do what they needed. Problem is many just blow through the tests to get them done and then don't ask good questions to potential buyers and/or consult their reference material.

BCMIF150

^^^
This or this: There is a sucker born every minute!

BCMIF150

Honestly, I don't know how anyone would think a half ton truck would have a 3100 lb capacity?

sunofabeach

you can say that the salesperson is to blame for not informing the customer that the truck cannot do what they want, but if he did tell them that an F150 couldn't do it, the salesperson would be blamed for trying to "upsell" a customer into something they didn't want.

because you know how the saying goes, "the customer is always right."

what a load of ****.

damned if you do, and damned if you don't. that's why i don't sell cars.

Robinson

I picked up a '14 FX4 last week. I researched the heck out of the F150 before I bought it. Up until last week I owned a 2011 F150.

The last few years I've been putting together and taking notes of what I wanted in a the next truck I buy and I wasn't going to settle for anything less.

About a month ago someone from the dealership I bought my '11 called me to see if I was interested in buying a new truck and trading in my. With my list of demands ready of course I laid out exactly what I wanted and where I wanted my payments to be. I told the guy I'd call him back at the end of the day and to let me know then if he can get me what I want for where I want to be.

When I called back a different sales person answered and totally tried to scoop the sale. Right off the bat I pulled out. What type of loyalty is that, especially to someone you work with? I don't want to do business with people that operate like that.

I then reached out to my Facebook friends for past experiences or people they may know in the industry. I went to a different dealership on a recommendation of a friend and met with the saleswoman they knew.

I let her know ahead of time exactly what I was looking for and where I wanted my payments to be. When I walked in she said "lets go for a test drive", I said "that's not necessary, I know exactly what I want". She insisted, so we did.

After wasting my time on the test drive, back at the dealership she continued to show me window stickers of trucks I didn't want, they didn't have all of my wanted features. After about an hour of "we're trying to find something" I left. Huge waste of time.

At Sherwood Ford a friend of mine got me the exact truck I wanted at the exact payments I wanted with a lower interest rate that was advertised and an extended warranty. They understood that I wasn't going to move on features and got me exactly what I wanted.

There were a few little things initially like we have the exact truck but doesn't have a tailgate step and another was perfect but didn't have power tow mirrors. I stuck to my guns and didn't give in and I'm so glad I didn't. I know I'd be regretting my purchase a little today if I didn't get the tailgate step. They actually did a dealer transfer from Vancouver Island to Edmotnon.

At the end of the day I'm going to side with - It should be the customers job to know exactly what they want since the salesman don't care as long as they get a vehicle out the door.

No matter how much I research I know I'll always miss something. My 11 Lariat had the fold down arm rest on the rear seat where as the 14 FX4 doesn't. not a big deal to me since I'll never sit back there but an example of the 'little things'.