Car lot shops
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Evaevalyn, I have no answer, as I won't do car shops as the experience of shopping for cars is not enjoyable for me. But you should ask this question in the Mystery Shopping Discussion section. More people will see it there than will see it in the Introductions section.
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“Lying in bed would be an altogether perfect and supreme experience if only one had a colored pencil long enough to draw on the ceiling."
~Gilbert K. Chesterton
“Lying in bed would be an altogether perfect and supreme experience if only one had a colored pencil long enough to draw on the ceiling."
~Gilbert K. Chesterton
I just did a Lexus Dealership today...yes, they are worth it, although stressfu, $25.00 for 40 minutes, is a fair 50 minutes work. I limit myself to them, but, have done worse. I do feel sorry for the poor salesman, desperately trying to sell the car.....
Live consciously....
evaevalynn Wrote:
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> Are Car sale shops worth the effort?
Shopping for a new car is on my Top 5 list of things I least like to do. Insofar as shops go, it depends on the pay. $20 - forget it. There's a $60 shop out there that a shopper friend encouraged me to go after. I took her advice and completed three of them last year. Would do those again.
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> Are Car sale shops worth the effort?
Shopping for a new car is on my Top 5 list of things I least like to do. Insofar as shops go, it depends on the pay. $20 - forget it. There's a $60 shop out there that a shopper friend encouraged me to go after. I took her advice and completed three of them last year. Would do those again.
I have done them as one visit and two visit shops. I have been paid between $20 and $120 for them. They have never been a bargain--you truly earn every dime, if not on the visit, on the report. You then have continuing phone calls from the salesmen long after you have firmly said "NO" and/or told them that you purchased a different vehicle instead. I still receive junk mail from a shop I did 3 years ago. But the worst part is getting 'in character' to do these. I find dealing with car salesmen about as much fun as a bad case of poison ivy. When I am considering buying a car I visit the lot when the dealership is closed to look around, see their inventory and prices. I return to discuss the specific vehicles that interested me, having done my research already. That is not what shops want.
Edited to add: Some shops do not require a test drive or price negotiations. These usually run around $15 and might be worth it if you had an hour to kill. In that situation you could use an alias, give a faux phone number and not need to deal with the after shop harassment.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/07/2010 02:44AM by Flash.
Edited to add: Some shops do not require a test drive or price negotiations. These usually run around $15 and might be worth it if you had an hour to kill. In that situation you could use an alias, give a faux phone number and not need to deal with the after shop harassment.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/07/2010 02:44AM by Flash.
I was asked to shop a particular car but was unavailable on the day the scheduler wanted. My husband was available but wasn't signed up with the MSC. I asked my husband then told the scheduler. She signed him up on the spot and gave him a $25.00 bonus making the shop $95.00 total. The report took him five minutes to complete and the followup took even less time as the car salesman no longer worked there a week later. To top it all off my hubby got paid within 40 days. Nice for his first shop...
I did an easy one last week. Had to wait 48 hours for the report to see if th salesman called back. He did and I reported. I'll have bought a car if he calls back. There are car shops everywhere here that evidently no one wants to do. I'll tack them on like the gas shops when I'm going to be in the area and I have some extra time. I have to pad some of those areas of town where there's not enough good stuff to make them worth my while and then I wind up with a nice chunk of change for going where "no shopper has gone before"...to infinity and beyond....or Chrysler, audi, jeep, dodge....lolol
I have done several. I particularly like to do one with my son who is a car buff. I did one alone a couple of weeks ago for Volvo, inexperienced saleswoman; even with a test drive it only took 25 minutes and I was out of there, easy $25, except she has e-mailed me 7 times!!!! Did one at a Subaru place this week with my son (he drives a Subaru) and he was so into it that we were there an hour and a half, but a lot of that was the test-drive: they let us go out by ourselves and said to keep it as long as we wanted it. My son loved it! And he decided he likes this dealership better than the one he has been going to for service, so he will probably switch to this one. Then we went to lunch. It was great fun! I almost feel like I should pay them - but I made $25.
Several just got bonussed here and I created a route with several of them in more rural areas, added in some quick retails that had been bonused in the same areas and then added a bunch of gas shops at $7.75 + $2.00 to make a fairly nice chunk of change tomorrow. I've done the new car shops here in town and they were very easy to me and reports didn't take very long. The route takes me south to Bowling Green where I'll spend the weekend with friends and teach one of them about mystery shopping and do a couple of shops while there to feed us. lol What a great perk.
Some of the regular car shops here went cheap. I drove an Audi Q5 on Monday though and it's a dream. And it's $50,000. Wonder how long it would take me to save up on mystery shopper pay. lololol How many $7.00 gas shops? 700!!! I've done the lesser priced ones and now will hold out for the higher end cars that pay more. I find it fun to test drive the cars and I'm a talker so it's fun to talk to salespeople who love to hear themselves talk.
Happy shopping!
Some of the regular car shops here went cheap. I drove an Audi Q5 on Monday though and it's a dream. And it's $50,000. Wonder how long it would take me to save up on mystery shopper pay. lololol How many $7.00 gas shops? 700!!! I've done the lesser priced ones and now will hold out for the higher end cars that pay more. I find it fun to test drive the cars and I'm a talker so it's fun to talk to salespeople who love to hear themselves talk.
Happy shopping!
Hey anyone in the houston area and love to ride a motorcycle? www.montereymysteryshopping.com need shoppers the pay is $25.00 that should be fun i do not ride motorcycle lol.
The last car shops I did were Toyotas. I would imagine their dealerships may be a bit slow, but their shops are still being offered. Hazardous duty pay?
Back when I was a FT MSer, I would get $75 for new car shops with test drives. No price negotiation or credit check required, so you could give a fake number.
It was hard for me to stomach at that rate, but I very good at getting in, asking for a test drive and getting out ASAP. Anything paying less than that seems unbearable to me.
Mert, at least the Toyota shop would give you something to talk about on the test drive! "So....what's the recommended action to take if the car won't stop?"
It was hard for me to stomach at that rate, but I very good at getting in, asking for a test drive and getting out ASAP. Anything paying less than that seems unbearable to me.
Mert, at least the Toyota shop would give you something to talk about on the test drive! "So....what's the recommended action to take if the car won't stop?"
SteveSoCal Wrote:
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>
> Mert, at least the Toyota shop would give you
> something to talk about on the test drive!
> "So....what's the recommended action to take if
> the car won't stop?"
LMAO!
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>
> Mert, at least the Toyota shop would give you
> something to talk about on the test drive!
> "So....what's the recommended action to take if
> the car won't stop?"
LMAO!
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“Lying in bed would be an altogether perfect and supreme experience if only one had a colored pencil long enough to draw on the ceiling."
~Gilbert K. Chesterton
“Lying in bed would be an altogether perfect and supreme experience if only one had a colored pencil long enough to draw on the ceiling."
~Gilbert K. Chesterton
you might find a really good deal cruizing the Toyota dealerships right now. I'm a little nervous about the Toyota problems. My state agency keeps a fleet of cars ... and they are the ones that have had the problems.....although my agency has not seen any problems with ours. I've checked them out and driven them a bunch of times traveling to other offices.
Yes, I am expecting the current hysteria about Toyota to make especially their hybrids a whole lot more affordable. You don't have the news showing the Prius that couldn't be stopped without folks deciding that ANY Prius will have that problem. You take a risk when you get out of bed in the morning that you will trip on the bedroom slipper or carpet, fall and crack your head open. You take a risk every time you get in your car that some other driver will run a red light and smash into you. Very few vehicular accidents are due to fault equipment, almost all of them are due to negligent or careless drivers. Your odds of buying a 'lemon' that needs to back time and time during warranty for repair to windows that won't open (or close) or dashboard lights that don't go on (or turn off) or other nuisances are a lot higher than that you will get a car that is unsafe.
I wouldn't buy, regardless of how cheap they go. What bothers me are the Prius' that went out-of-control, but had recently been to the service department for recalls, and were found not to need attention.
Wow, iblessyah, I'm jealous, shops almost never get bonused here. I'd be all over a $50 shop!
My little jaunt on Friday took me to two small towns in the boonies. I picked up a third new car shop that wasn't bonussed and added 10 gas shops. Got mileage for the new car shops and had breakfast and lunch shops. Total was $258 for the day. One of the car lots was closed permanently when I got there. I had gotten their answering machine and took pictures of the empty lot so I get paid. lol And the other, the scheduler took the report over the phone on my way home so I didn't even have to write the reoport. All I had to do was upload the pics and business card. lol Plus all the gas shops made gravy. It was great. Going to do another soon on my way to visiting friends south of me. It will take me to a bunch of bonussed, hard tp get to car lots too, by way of other shops and food. My trip will pay for itself. And my new laptop that I will buy in April. Then I can file reports on the fly. I'm getting excited about this job!
:^) It does become an addictively fun challenge.
SteveSoCal Wrote:
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> Back when I was a FT MSer, I would get $75 for new
> car shops with test drives. No price negotiation
> or credit check required, so you could give a fake
> number.
>
> It was hard for me to stomach at that rate, but I
> very good at getting in, asking for a test drive
> and getting out ASAP. Anything paying less than
> that seems unbearable to me.
>
> Mert, at least the Toyota shop would give you
> something to talk about on the test drive!
> "So....what's the recommended action to take if
> the car won't stop?"
I'm vicious, perhaps, but, I'd start accelerating and say, "I CANT STOP! WHAT DO I DO!" if the sales person says "There's no real problem".
Of course, if there really is a problem, we be in deep doo-doo.
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> Back when I was a FT MSer, I would get $75 for new
> car shops with test drives. No price negotiation
> or credit check required, so you could give a fake
> number.
>
> It was hard for me to stomach at that rate, but I
> very good at getting in, asking for a test drive
> and getting out ASAP. Anything paying less than
> that seems unbearable to me.
>
> Mert, at least the Toyota shop would give you
> something to talk about on the test drive!
> "So....what's the recommended action to take if
> the car won't stop?"
I'm vicious, perhaps, but, I'd start accelerating and say, "I CANT STOP! WHAT DO I DO!" if the sales person says "There's no real problem".
Of course, if there really is a problem, we be in deep doo-doo.
The Toyoto not stopping adds up to a major lawsuit...now they are not doing Toyoto's, but Lexus is a biggie where I live. Signed up to do an Infinti, 2 miles from me and no out of pocket $$. That's a decent job in my book, after all, the salesmen NEED to brush up on their skills (in case they sell a car). Just kidding, my town sees nothing but new cars all over the place.
Live consciously....
I did Infinity last week with a digital recorder. Easy. Except for picking up and dropping off the digital recorder. That took a million phone calls and wasn't near the car lots like the shop instructions said. The office had moved across town. lol
There's a new report for some of the new car shops that's even easier than the old one. And it doesn't require a test drive! You have to make an appointment to come back, not show up and then report as to whether the salesman calls to reschedule or follow-up. Easier.
There's a new report for some of the new car shops that's even easier than the old one. And it doesn't require a test drive! You have to make an appointment to come back, not show up and then report as to whether the salesman calls to reschedule or follow-up. Easier.
The scheduler offering the Toyota shops around here is sending creative and humorous emails of shop availabilities. Guidelines now list four vehicles with no recalls. When I did the shops, it had to be for a ho-hum Camry. 4Runners can be shopped this go round. That's more like it!
Hmmm. In a situation where a number of models have been recalled, would you do better getting one they already 'knew' what the issues are/were and had theoretically fixed them before sending another new one out the door, or a model where they might either have not discovered problems or were trying to ignore them?
Toyota is undoubtedly asking that question and many others.
Speaking only as a shopper, I would not hesitate to do these shops again. One location I did in the past was on a busy, narrow, 4 lane road - known for wrecks and idiot drivers. I told the MSP I wouldn't be comfortable test driving on this road, and they modified the requirements for me to test drive only in the dealer lot. Worst case scenario couldn't have been terrible.
Speaking only as a shopper, I would not hesitate to do these shops again. One location I did in the past was on a busy, narrow, 4 lane road - known for wrecks and idiot drivers. I told the MSP I wouldn't be comfortable test driving on this road, and they modified the requirements for me to test drive only in the dealer lot. Worst case scenario couldn't have been terrible.
I enjoy these shops, but I do feel sorry for the salesman since he puts so much time into working with me and when I leave he's almost certain he has a sale coming. Pretending I have a number of CD's to cash I have test driven expensive cars I could never afford and marveled at all of the new features. In a way, it makes me wish I could buy some of them, but I get over it once I come back to reality 
Talking with car salesman is no fun for me, but if the vehicles are nice, like Mercedes or Infinity, and the pay is decent, then I can be persuaded LOL...
I do not feel bad for the salesman. I had enough of my time wasted, and being jerk around by car salesman when I really in the process of buying a car for myself or my wife. I consider this getting even with them LOL...
I do not feel bad for the salesman. I had enough of my time wasted, and being jerk around by car salesman when I really in the process of buying a car for myself or my wife. I consider this getting even with them LOL...
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