So, I ordered a Cayman S from the dealership closest to my house, which is Park Place Porsche in Dallas. I did research before contacting a sales rep because I wanted to deal with someone that would treat me fairly and knew something about the cars he was selling. Further, I wanted to deal with Park Place Porsche because it's closest to my house and where I typically work, and I would like to build a relationship with that dealership over the years, should I continue to buy Porsches.

I found a sales rep someone recommended, contacted him and we made a deal.

Well, this week another sales rep from Park Place contacted me to say my sales rep was leaving and he would be replacing him as my rep. He was courteous, if not overly enthusiastic, and helped me change my order with no questions asked.

I understand sales reps come and go, and I'm not mad at the dealership or either sales rep. One interesting aspect is that my first sales rep misspoke on part of our deal (but it was only a difference of about $90) and said he'd make it up to me. So I figured he'd throw in some goodies. But I expect that is no longer going to happen. Oh, well: water under the bridge.

So my questions:

1. Is there anything I should do in this situation? Maybe there's nothing to do.
2. Will my new sales rep make any money out of this deal? Does he have any incentive to make me happy besides the possibility of "repeat" business in the future?

Anyway, any advice would be appreciated.

If I were in your shoes, I'd take the time some evening in the next week or so to go down to the dealership and meet the new rep. A person-to-person relationship is what you had with the guy who's leaving, and that's what you should establish with the new guy. Explain the kind of relationship you had with the guy who's leaving, what your expectations were with him in terms of communication throughout the process of waiting for your car, and get an understanding of what he (the new guy) views his role in this process.

My guess would be that he'll get some bucks for shepherding your order through... the dealership doesn't get the money for the car until it arrives and you pay for it, so I doubt the guy who's leaving will be getting much, if anything from your sale - since it's a long ways from a sale (in terms of actual cash changing hands) at this point.

If it turns out you think this isn't a good match from your end of the deal, you can then talk with the Sales manager or GM to see if they can give your deal to someone more to your liking.

brad

Thanks, beez. That seems like sound advice. I think I'll do that.

I do plan on posting the end results once I have the car in hand, from the negotiations to the order and through delivery.

Echoing what Brad said, the new sales rep will be getting at least 50% of the commission. It's very common in car sales to split deals, not always because a salesman leaves but sometimes they are just occupied at a crucial time of the sale. Now that I only work by appointment at the Mercedes Dealership, if I can't make it in to assist a client, I will have another salesman present the car, do the test drive, and I will work the numbers and then we split the comission 50\50 and either of us delivers the car. Typically the sales rep who first brings the client in gets credit for the sale with Porsche Corporate (numbers incentives), but for dealership commission and bonuses, the sale is split right down the middle.

So you had better get amazing treatment from this new salesman because he just got handed a free half-deal, and that's pretty rare in the car business. And if he delivers, I'd leave him a little tip

- SS

Salesperson changing would have killed the deal for me. I like my sales guy a lot, so dealing with anyone else would have been a major PITA for me, since I developed a great relationship with him.
This is not a Toyota or Ford, good relationship with you Porsche sales person is a must (at least for me).

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'07 Porsche Cayman S: de-snorked... more mods to come. '05 Dodge Magnum RT: catback, high-flow cats, custom intake, projector headlights, SC FlashPaq... and on and on.
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I guess I could back out, but there's no reason for me to do that since I don't know anything about any other sales reps there. I also put down $1k for my order ... but I'm sure I could get that back.

Okay, very interesting. It's good to know where he stands.

I think that makes sense. If he's really doing his job, I suppose he would find out everything from my previous rep and throw in some extras like I was expecting him to do (so maybe not water under the bridge). If he does that, yes, he has some sort of gift coming his way, too.

Thanks for the advice, suneet!

My salesman was gone a month after my car was delivered. As is usual, the only explanation the dealership offers is "he's no longer with us." There's a lot of movement in the car biz, just go meet the guy like others have said, and if you don't click, ask for another.
PS: When I was doing my original shopping, I called Park Place as one of the salesmen was a good friend of a cycling acquaintance. His offer was pretty weak considering the then current market, so neither of us ever followed up. A lot of my confidence is gained on first impressions.

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Scott
2006 Cayman S
2008 MINI S

I took over for a couple of audi deals when i started here and I got the entire stroke for the deal(all commission). The other salesman have been here for 20+ years so i cant comment. I would recommend going down and working with the associate and see if you like them. If not, go deal with teh GM, if you dont like him... leave.

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Casey Parkin
Washington, DC
Tischer Porsche
cparkin@tischer.com
301-679-4384

TPC Racing
Sales/Marketing
cparkin@tpcracing.net
410-799-RACE