Would you prefer women or man to sell your vehicle to you ? Are you more app to trust women or men ?
My all-time favorite car sales person was a woman.
She was quite knowledgeable about the cars that she sold, and she was very honest and forthright.
Unfortunately, she retired, so I will have to wade into the shark tank of male sales people when I buy my next car.
Incidentally, I foresaw the need for her to retire, as she kept making mistake after mistake in my option choices when I last ordered a car from her. The biggest mistake was her failure to include the cost of the optional larger engine that I specified.
I could have let it ride, but my moral code would not allow me to do that, as she would have had to bear the cost (~$2,000, as I recall) of the optional six-cylinder engine if I had not pointed her mistake out to her, and it could have cost her the job.
Sure enough, a few months later, she had to retire as her mental faculties were failing her.
:-((
One thing that is different with men opposed to women we care. I have 6Yrs in business you have to make your money on referral repeat business.
I think that “my” saleswoman really did care.
And, by buying 3 cars from her, I gave her “repeat business”.
But, when somebody’s mental faculties are failing, it is clearly time to retire–as she did.
I wish that she was still available, but–sadly–she is not working any longer.
My observation is that salesmen, tend to look at how much they can up-sell you and in turn they make more commision on that sale. Where as sales women seem to be more focused on how well they can fill your particular needs and match you up with what you asked for.
In the long run the male spends the extra time trying to talk you into something you really don’t want.
The woman is content and places your order that you wanted and is back on the sales floor for another customer. The salesman is still trying to talk you into something.
They likely make the same, he on the bigger sale and she because she finished with you and is off to the next sale.
I would trust a woman more.
Yosemite
A man. I like to play mind games with them, to ask them technical questions that I know they can’t answer and see them sweat. I don’t have the heart to do that to a woman.
Trust? Trust a car saleperson? Not a chance. Gender is not a factor. I simply don’t trust commissioned salespeople.
I can’t speak for the women in car sales angle of things but will say that while working for dealers I worked with and under a few women.
I could write a reasonably thick tome on the number of ruthless and underhanded things I’ve seen done by those women.
Trust “because she’s a woman” is not always in the customer best interest. They can stick a knife in and twist it with the best of them… 
I’ve never run into a woman car salesperson yet
In any case, I try to avoid haggling at all costs
I prefer to buy cars at a prenegotiated price. It’s certainly not the best deal, but I never leave, thinking I got robbed
I liked the Saturn approach to selling cars. Low pressure, normal looking salespeople . . . as opposed to those that should be on the cover of a magazine . . . let the car sell itself, or not
As it turns out, I didn’t buy a car there, because I didn’t really like it.
I suppose man or woman shouldn’t really matter
I always prefer women over men in any endeavor. the same mountainbike … I also do the same thing…especially at dealerships. I even go into the service bay and ask technical questions that I already know the answer to. It’s fun because sometimes you get hilarious answers. I once asked a mechanic how a CVT transmission worked and he told me that it was just a single gear on an incline plane. I’ve added the real answer in the form of a GIF. Just click on “cvt-14.gif” for a rudimentary explanation.
I can’t really say it makes any difference. I don’t know that I’ve ever had a woman car saleman but dealt with a multitude of woman sales reps for everything from equipment to phamaceuticals. I really don’t think it mattered. They were all professional. The only thing with a woman though is that if I had something like tickets or something it was better to run it through another woman on staff so that it didn’t look like a sexual thing.
To the one who said never to trust a sales person . … boo!
@debs, let me ask this question and I do not mean it in a combative manner.
You sell used cars. A customer is looking at a 3 year old, very low miles car that looks as new and is very interested in it. Paying for it is not a problem.
If the customer asks you if it’s a good reliable car in great shape what are you going to say to them?
My last experience with a woman car sales person was at an independent used car dealership that his been a family business in my community since the late 1920s. At one time, the dealer had the Hudson franchise. I did buy one car from the agency and was quite satisfied. After buying this car, I saw in the newspaper ad for this agency listing a 1972 MG Midget for $700. The ad said the MG needed a clutch and body repair. I decided to go look at the car. The mother of the brothers serves as a reception and is not actually a sales person. However, the brothers were tied up with customers and she gave me the keys to the MG and said that if I could get in the car, they might just give it to me. After I finally squeezed into the MG and started the engine, she came out and said “I hope you are able to get out of the car, because if you can’t, you will have to buy it”. I told her that I thought I was a victim of bait and switch. Of course this exchange was all in fun.
I will deal with any salesperson, regardless of gender, if the salesperson is knowledgeable and honest. Years ago, as a single dad, I had to replace a washing machine. I went to an independent appliance store with a service department where my parents had done business years before. A very patient sales woman showed me different machines. I had no idea which machine to buy, so I asked if she could have a technician from the service department who had serviced my parents’ appliances. She said she had never had a person make that request before, but she honored my request. When I asked the repairman which machine I should purchase, he told me which model he thought I should purchase. The model he chose didn’t have electronic controls as did the highest priced model, but had a stainless steel tub that the lowest price model didn’t have. I told the saleswoman to write up the order. Unfortunately, that appliance dealer is history thanks to big box stores and our washing machine bit the dust this weekend.
MANY years ago, I had a girlfriend who was looking for a new car. She had been driving an Audi Fox (I told you it was many years ago) with a manual transmission. She wanted another Audi. I think it was an Audi 90, but it might have been a later Fox. So we went to the Audi dealer to see what they had. The sales person was the first lady car seller I’d encountered. She seemed to know her Audis. We got into a new demonstrator, with me in back of the sales lady. My GF was behind the wheel. I leaned forward and, pointing toward the pedals, said “The one on the left is called the clutch”. There was an audible groan from the sales lady as my GF deftly slipped the car into gear as we left the lot.
Would I prefer a sales lady? No. I don’t think it would make any difference to me, but then I can probably count the number of times I’ve bought cars from a dealership on one hand, and still have a finger left over to “scratch” my nose.
I would like to be a better customer. The sales person makes no difference to a customer who knows how to buy a car.
I’ve dealt with mostly car salesmen but some were more trustworthy than others, still have to keep your b.s. radar up but you can find one that knows what he’s talking about. The woman we ended up with at a big city Toyota dealership set off all of my B.S detectors as well as the hard sell alarms. More interested in selling something today than actually helping my mom find what she wanted. Tried to talk her into one of the Certified 2007-2008 Prius’s which mom had decided against buying when they were new and wanted the 2010 which she ordered later that same day from another Toyota dealer just a few miles away.
@db4690 your way of car buying matches what I’m doing in just a few days, Getting a new 2015 Forester for invoice through the internet sales department at my local dealer. I probably could have haggled with another salesman but the online quote was right at what Edmunds and Truecar say you should pay in this area. Maybe not the deal of the century but getting exactly what I wanted at almost a $2,000 discount is a good deal in my book. Just have to decline the Extended warranty and any other goodies they try to foist on me.
My son just bought a 2013 Camaro last week and they were trying to push “Door Ding Insurance” off on him.
First time I’ve ever heard of that one. Next will be Tire Degradation Insurance due to the always present threat of rubber aphids… 
Another question I have for debs is she returns is whether or not she pushes paint/interior protection packages or Door Ding Insurance…
Male or female sales person:
I treat them equally, which is to be respectful but not believe or act on anything they say until I verify it.
@debs: Can you help share context on why you’re asking?
“I like to play mind games with them, to ask them technical questions that I know they can’t answer and see them sweat. I don’t have the heart to do that to a woman.”
@thesamemountainbike–That was one of the reasons why I really liked the woman from whom I bought 3 cars. I would throw technical questions (to which I knew the answer) at her, and she would field them with ease. Because she had raced MGs in her younger days, and because she had been a Saab rally driver in middle age, she was definitely car-savvy. I only found her to be wrong in one case, when she was confused regarding a certain option and whether it was included on the top model or not.
“Trust a car saleperson? Not a chance”
Again, I will disagree.
Generally speaking, I have found car sales people to be deceitful and to be MUCH less knowledgeable about the product that they are selling than I would like, but the aforementioned sales woman was the exception to that generalization. As but one example, when I specified that I wanted the Subaru All-Weather floor mats for my first car, she said, “I suggest that you order WeatherTech mats as they are much better than ours and may even be cheaper”. How many sales people would do that? And, she never tried to sell things like paint protectant, fabric protectant, or undercoating.
Regarding honesty, I was the one who was honest enough to point out her massive mistake (in my favor) on my most recent car order. Because she had been so honest with me over the course of 3 car purchases, I could not allow her to suffer because of her mistake–and so I called her up and said, “As usual, Dee, I really appreciate your pricing, but I think that you need to review your figures on this order. You forgot to add the cost of the six-cylinder engine.”
Honesty is a two-way street, and I wonder how many people who expect honesty from sales people would be honest enough to point out to a sales person that he/she made a massive mistake in the customer’s favor. My personal moral code just wouldn’t allow me to let her mistake (in my favor) pass without comment.
As you can guess, she was extremely grateful to me for pointing out her error–and she also said that most people wouldn’t say anything and would allow her to “hang” for that mistake. I really miss her, and wish that she hadn’t had to retire as a result of her failing mental faculties.
To the one who said never to trust a sales person . .... boo!
Not just one. Me too. In fact I don’t know anyone who trusts a sales person. Sorry…but sales people…especially car sales people have a reputation to LIE, cheat, harass, berate…and the list goes on. Over the past 40+ years of car buying…I’ve ran into them all.
IMHO…a sales person isn’t needed. Why do we have to go in to negotiate a price? Why is the price different in February…then it is in July? Why do sales people LIE to get me to buy a vehicle from them? Why do they harass and berate you if you won’t make a deal right then and there?
I’ve met ONE salesmen who actually knew about the vehicle they were selling. He knew all technical aspects…and was able to answer all my questions CORRECTLY.