A service advisor is someone at a car dealership who helps you with your car problems. They talk to you about what needs to be fixed and help you understand the repairs.
Rolls-Royce is a luxury car brand from Britain that makes some of the most expensive and well-crafted cars in the world. They are known for their elegance and comfort.
The Porsche 911 is a famous sports car that has been around for many years. The 1985 version is well-known for its unique look and powerful performance.
Pearl white is a special paint color that looks shiny and has a unique glow. If you need to fix a scratch, it can be hard to find the exact same color.
Paint matching is when a body shop tries to find the same color of paint to fix a car after it's been damaged. It's important so the repair looks good and matches the rest of the car.
The Ford Mustang is a popular sports car that many people love for its speed and cool looks. It's not the best choice if you need to carry a lot of stuff, like a truck would.
The Ford Expedition is a big SUV that can carry a lot of people and stuff. It's great for families, especially if you have older kids who need more room.
The Honda Odyssey is a minivan that's great for families. It has features like sliding doors that open easily, making it easier to get kids in and out.
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Hey folks, Lenny Lawson here, the car guru.
I've got a question for you this morning.
Are you fastidious?
I looked it up just to help you, very attentive to and concerned about accuracy and detail.
I think every husband and wife team needs at least one of them to be that way.
I'm not on our team.
No, that would be my wife.
She qualifies 100%.
Things do not drop through the cracks on her.
They do on me, but they don't on this customer that was in the service drive this morning.
Yes, this is another service drive experience at Gateway Ford and Gateway Nissan.
In this particular case, it was in the Nissan service drive.
I saw this gentleman that I recognized very well because I sold him the vehicle.
2018 Nissan Versa, 240,000 miles on it.
Why?
Because he has about a 130 mile round trip to work five days a week.
You know, when you have that type of obligation,
you probably ought to take care of your stuff, your equipment.
And he has.
Where does he take it?
He doesn't go to the fast loop place.
No, he learned his lesson on that once.
No, he brings it to us where we do what Nissan recommends.
He changes his oil every 5,000 miles, rotates his tires every time,
and maintains adequate air pressure in his tires, checks it once a month.
The result of that is the current set of tires.
Get this, current set, 90,000 miles on that set of tires.
And they still have 5,30 seconds left.
Well, the wear sensors are at 2,30 seconds.
That's when you really need to change them.
So he still has, at his rate, probably another 15,000 miles
to go on those tires before he needs to replace them.
He has replaced his front brake pads one time, and that's about it.
I think he qualifies.
Fastidious.
I had another customer.
This was, let's see, yesterday.
And all she was so upset.
She had just purchased a new Nissan Altima, well, just about two months ago.
Only had 800 miles on it.
She had come into the dealership a couple, well, this was a couple weeks ago.
She didn't get the answer that she wanted from the service advisor.
She had a couple defects in the paint.
Very unusual.
Something at the factory had splattered on the paint on the rear passenger door.
It was very minor.
The average person would never see it.
But she's fastidious.
And she saw it.
She brought it in.
Very upset.
I want a new car.
What?
Because of this?
You know, you've got to be really careful with a fastidious person.
Because they are easily insulted.
You can't mock their concern over minor issues.
Because minor issues are not minor to them.
And so my service department kind of made a boo-boo.
They didn't call me or my nephew Max or my daughter Abby.
And they just went ahead and sent her to a body shop to have them look at repairing the issue.
And the body shop scared her to death.
Said, well, we'll have to have it a few days.
We're going to paint the door.
And to paint the door, you know, she was just freaking out over that.
So I get a call from her 90-year-old mother who is in assisted living.
And she explained it all to me.
And I said, well, just bring the vehicle in or have her.
Bring the vehicle in tomorrow.
And I want to look at it.
You'll do that?
Of course I will.
And so she showed up yesterday morning.
And the 90-year-old mother was with her.
And I had to sit there and counsel them on how this problem was going to be solved.
Number one, I do not like to paint or repaint new cars.
You know, if there's a minor defect in every car, new or used or whatever, Mercedes,
even a Rolls-Royce, it's going to have a defect somewhere.
It may not be visible to the naked eye, but it will be there if you look hard enough.
These were a little bit more obvious than that.
And so my plan was to basically wet sand the door because I think it's in the clear coat.
It's not down into the actual paint coat.
There are multiple coats that go on these cars when they're doing the finishes on them.
And I felt like that we could fix it by just wet sanding it and polishing it and not
have to paint the door.
Because I think about what's paint going to do five years from now that's
different from the paint that was put on the car originally?
It's going to be a different color.
Sometimes it can react differently to the environment because of the conditions under
which it was being painted.
If there's a lot of moisture in the air, you know, if the paint dries too fast,
there's a whole lot of different nuance involved in painting vehicles.
And I try to avoid that when I can because it's in the best interest of the customer.
I'm going to get paid either way.
Nissan warranty will gladly pay to paint that door.
But no, she wanted a new car.
She wanted me to exchange.
See, folks, that's what warranties are for.
And I get it.
800 miles, about a couple months ago, you don't want to have a defect in a new car.
You know, I just explained to her, and this doesn't make the fastest
idiot person any happier.
You know, I made the comment that, well, what if the engine had blown up?
If that had been the case, that's pretty serious.
That's tying up the vehicle for a long time and you being without it.
And I'm not obligated to trade with you, you know, trade even, but I probably would
because that's just my nature.
But that's not, you know, that's my judgment call.
I mean, that's not the factory's call.
They're not going to help me.
And I'm not being a martyr or anything, but there's not a lot of dealers
that would do that.
But I'm in a relatively small town.
I feel for these folks, especially the 90-year-old mother.
And so I would have done that.
But this case, it's just a few little blobs in the paint.
And I can take care of it.
But, you know, you would have thought that the world was coming to an end.
And that's where you've just got to treat people differently.
And when I bring that up in a sales meeting, I'm talking to salespeople,
and I say, people are different, so you've got to treat them differently.
Well, that's not right, you've got to treat them all the same.
Well, from a right and wrong, from an ethical standpoint, yeah,
you've got to treat them all the same.
But when it comes to individualized decisions
based on the needs of that particular customer,
you know, it's different strokes for different folks.
I mean, there are some people that would have done nothing to this store.
Eh, don't worry about it, it's fine.
You know, as long as the paint doesn't peel off, I'm okay.
And then you have the person that is a major crisis in their life.
So, I'm not saying that it's wrong, I'm just saying that people are different.
And you have to understand as a consumer that sometimes the dealer
that you're dealing with is not going to take things as seriously as you do.
And you kind of have to look at their perspective as well.
And that's hard.
That is really hard for somebody that only buys a new vehicle,
like maybe every 10 or 15 years, like these folks.
I mean, it's a really big deal.
And she said, I don't think you ought to have to paint a new car.
And I said, I totally get it.
I understand.
And I wouldn't want to paint my new car either.
But the warranty will pay for it.
It is a factory defect and that's what warranties are for.
And I'm going to do everything that I can to not paint the car.
But if I do paint the car and there's a failure as far as the paint is concerned,
I'll guarantee it for as long as you own it.
How's that sound?
You'll do that?
Yes, I will.
And I'll put it in writing.
That's another thing, folks.
If a dealer makes you a commitment, a personal commitment to do something,
whether they owe you a set of floor mats or that they'll provide some service
to you at some far off date, get it in writing, please.
I hate to say it, but a lot of salespeople there,
as soon as you leave, as soon as they see your tail lights going over the curb,
as they say, they have forgotten you and are thinking about their next sale.
That's unfortunate, but that's life.
OK, I'll be back in just one minute.
OK, so I'm kind of picking on the fastidious person today.
Not in a bad way.
It's just that I don't know.
It just should have applied a car.
Should a person who's fastidious buy a black car?
That's what this lady's car is.
It's black.
She should have never bought a black car.
You know the number one selling color in this country?
1985, Porsche 911 with a whale tail spoiler on it.
It was black with lipstick red leather interior,
and it only had 25,000 miles on it.
I paid $25,000 for the car.
Today, that car would be a $100,000 car plus.
So I screwed up.
But limited use vehicle like that,
I can see buying a black car.
But I'm more of a white car person for multiple reasons.
Now I'm not talking about the pearl white.
Pearl white is a problem if you ever wreck the car
because there's not a lot of people
who can match a pearl white color.
You see a lot of Cadillacs and, well, even Nissan's and Ford's.
I mean, we have a pearl white color.
And if you ever have a fender bender or hit a deer or whatever
and they have to paint it, you're
going to have a very difficult time with paint matching.
Well, let's say the body shop that's trying to fix it will.
And so flat yellow, just not flat yellow,
but just regular yellow without a lot of metallic
or any metallic in it.
And for it, it's called Oxford white.
It is the easiest color to match.
It doesn't show flaws like darker colors do.
Pretty easy for other drivers to see you and maybe not
run into you.
It's cooler in the summer.
And it's not just geezers like me that drive white cars.
No, white cars are very popular, I'll have you know.
And the big trend right now is to accent a white vehicle
with black trim, black wheels, black moldings, black grill.
That's what my F-150 has.
It's all blacked out, except the paint.
And at first, I did not like it.
I like chrome butter.
And also don't like how hard the wheels are to keep clean.
If you have chrome wheels or kind of a flat gray painted wheel,
much easier to keep clean or to look clean even when they're dirty.
See, that's what I like.
I used to like sand colored cars because they look like dirt.
I mean, I could go a month without washing my vehicle
and just look just fine, you know, from a distance.
It looked like it'd just been washed.
So I kind of go for practical.
I may not be fastidious, but I am practical,
at least some of the time.
Let me give you an example of a person
who is neither fastidious nor practical.
So, well, this could be a team mistake, OK?
Husband and wife decide to just go on a drive one Saturday.
They're driving around and looking at nature,
and all of a sudden they drive past a car dealership.
She says, let's go look at cars.
And so they turn in and look at cars,
and they're out of their vehicle and running around
looking all different things.
Sales person walks up, says, can I help you, folks?
And, no, we're just looking.
So is there anything in particular you're looking for?
Well, no, not really.
Would you like to test drive something
just to see what it's like?
Well, sure.
What do you got?
And so they test drive a vehicle.
So they come back to the store after they test drive it,
and the sales person's sitting there waiting for them
when they get out.
They said, boy, that was really nice.
They said, what kind of monthly payment you're looking for?
Oh, I don't know.
We weren't really thinking about buying a car,
but I guess if we were, probably around 450.
And he said, well, we might be able to make that work.
Come on in.
Sit down.
Well, let's talk about it.
Next thing you know, they're in a finance office
signing a paperwork at $650 a month,
and they leave and they're happy, initially.
And then they take it home,
park it in the driveway, show it to their neighbors.
Oh, they're just so happy.
And then they wake up the next morning,
and they're looking at each other and they're saying,
what did we do?
Well, it's Sunday and they can't really do anything.
So they fret about it all day long.
They don't drive it because you know
what their intention is?
They're gonna take it back.
They're gonna be there before they open the doors
on Monday and take that car back.
So that's what they do.
They wake up the next morning, pile into the new car,
drive back to the dealership.
They're not open yet.
So they just park it in front and wait.
Finally, somebody unlocks the door
and they're rushing into front door
and they're asking for the salesperson.
Of course, he didn't come in until nine o'clock.
So they have to sit around and wait and stew
and worry and stuff like that.
And finally, salesperson walks in and says,
what are y'all folks doing here?
So we don't want this car.
We can't, no, we really don't need this car.
We acted too fast.
We weren't being fastidious or practical.
Oh boy, so the salesperson gets this sorrowful look
on his face.
He said, I don't know about that folks.
You know, you signed all the paperwork and everything.
I mean, what happened?
Well, we just decided we didn't want it.
Well, why'd you buy it in the first place?
Well, I don't know.
It was a spur of the moment kind of a thing.
You know, this has replayed itself millions of times
in this country and it happens every day in car dealerships.
It doesn't always happen at my dealership,
but it has happened.
And in that scenario, there's a couple things
that I guess are possibilities.
You might actually have purchased at a very forgiving store.
One that has kind of a long-term view
and they think about retaining customers
and they really don't want somebody that's upset
or unhappy driving their vehicles
because they know what people will do.
They'll talk.
They'll post truths and lies on social media.
And so, you know, they may do something.
They may try to trade them back,
you know, do something, you know,
put them in a different car or give them their money back.
That's rare.
But then again, most dealerships are gonna say,
folks, you signed for it, you bought it.
I mean, if you wanna trade it for something else, you can.
Well, what about our trade-in?
We'd like to have it back now.
We already sold it.
See, that's the game that they play
because they don't want you to back out on a deal.
They've already reported the sale to the manufacturer
and they were probably in some kind of a contest,
especially if it was at the end of the month.
And they will fight you tooth and nail
to not give you the car back or let you back out of the deal
because they don't have to.
A lot of people think, well, you know,
you have three days, don't you,
to back out of a deal now?
Not in the car business.
You have three days to back out of a mortgage
if you sign a mortgage statement to buy a house.
But that doesn't apply to a car unless.
Now, there is a little caveat here.
If you signed all the paperwork at the dealership,
you're stuck.
If you signed all the paperwork at your house,
like at your kitchen table,
there's a three-day waiting period
and you can get out of the deal.
So if you have any kind of concern
about whether you're gonna wanna get out,
just invite them to your house to sign the paperwork.
And then you have time, but better yet,
don't buy a car that you're gonna back out on
three days later.
Put some thought into it.
Think about what your non-negotiables are.
Think about what your budget can support.
Not your stretch budget, not the max,
because you don't wanna stretch.
You don't wanna buy too much house
and you don't wanna buy too much car
because then you don't do enough living
and you're not able to go out and do the things
that really make people happy
and that's just living and going out to eat,
going to movies, buying things for other people,
just having fun and the car gets you from point A
to point B when it's all said and done.
And you might impress some people with that new car,
but the basic person that you have to please
is yourself and it has to work for you.
It has to function just as your life calls for.
I mean, you don't buy a Mustang when you need a truck.
You don't buy a truck when you need an SUV.
My daughter bought an expedition and it's great
if the kids are older, but see now,
she said, Dad, we don't sell many vans.
I know, honey, I really need a minivan.
I need those power sliding doors on either side
and we just don't sell anything, I know that, honey.
What you need is a Honda Odyssey.
How did you know?
Well, because I'm a car guru.
Remember, I'll be back in just one minute.
Okay, I am back.
Yeah, there are a lot of considerations
when it comes to, well, not only what type of car you buy,
but who you buy it from
and how close is that dealership to you?
How convenient is their appointment process
and the way they take care of their customers?
Do you have to leave your car and then hit your ride
or do they provide loaner cars?
These are things that are nice to know
when you're buying a car, aren't they?
I mean, let's say you buy a Honda Odyssey
from a dealership that doesn't have loaner cars
and you have to take your vehicle
and drop it off, get somebody to come pick you up
and that's hard to do in today's world.
And then how are you gonna pick up your kids at school
and just all the different,
it's almost like the domino effect.
You just have so many different things
that don't work well when you don't have your car
or do you buy from a dealership
that does have loaner cars
and does make it easier for you to live your life
when you don't have your wheels?
I mean, those are important things
to ask when you're buying a car.
If they don't have loaner cars,
then what are they gonna do to help you?
Do they have a shuttle service?
Will they take you home?
Will they take you to work?
Will they pick you up?
Because your car's gonna need maintenance.
Occasionally it's gonna need tires.
It's gonna need mechanical repairs at times.
What happens then?
I'd ask my salesperson
and better yet, I would ask the management in the store
and say, what are you guys gonna do for me?
And then two years later, they sell the dealership
and that particular owner has a completely
different set of guidelines and rules
and the way he operates
and that loaner car that used to get,
now it's gone.
They don't have to follow the same rules
when they buy a dealership.
That's just the way it is.
They're independently owned
and they do what they wanna do.
So ask these questions, ye fastidious folk.
Be practical and don't go bonkers
when you have just a few little spots in the paint,
because more than likely there's spots somewhere else
and you haven't even noticed them yet.
Well, thanks for listening to this edition of My Car Guru.
Send me a text if you have a question,
423-552-2020 and request the My Car Guru guidebook,
32 pages long and it will save you thousands of dollars
in your lifetime and your kid's lifetimes
and their ancestors.
You know, this is something
that could be passed down for generations
until the robots take over.
Okay, I'll see you on the next My Car Guru.
About this episode
Lenny Lawson discusses the importance of being fastidious in car maintenance and ownership. He shares stories from his service drive experiences, highlighting a customer who meticulously maintains his Nissan Versa, achieving impressive longevity. In contrast, he recounts a situation with a fastidious customer upset over minor paint defects on a new Altima, illustrating the need for personalized customer service. Lenny emphasizes the significance of understanding individual customer concerns and practical car ownership, while also offering advice on dealership interactions and the importance of thoughtful purchasing decisions.
