Truck Salesperson

[Chase_WV]

Went to the local dealership and was looking at the F-250 psd. Asked the salesperson if they were unlocked because I wanted to check the payload capacity sticker. He said they' were locked. He went to the window sticker and said it can tow 10000 pounds.

[Bedlam]

My 2005 Ford came standard with a 10k lb receiver and the 12.5k lb was optional, which was on my truck. This was the only place you saw tow rating and did not cover fifth wheel. You had to look in Ford's towing guide to find your model variation. My 2015 Ram is the same way.

[Perrysburg_Dodg]

Yep Spud you are right. I just looked at the window sticker for my 2015 and no tow rating on it anywhere. My 2004 2500 Ram did have the Max Trailer Tow rating right on the sticker.

Probably a liability thing?

Don

[qtla9111]

wowens79 wrote:
I had a guy at the jeep dealership tell that a 2 door wrangler could tow 8000 lbs, even with the 35" tires they had added to it. I couldn't even keep a straight face on that one. I knew what the tow rating was, but just wondered what he would say.

Pretty close though. The Grand Cherokee has a rating of 7400 lbs.

Grand Cherokee 2WD 3.0L V-6 TD 7,400

[Old-Biscuit]

Went to a car lot....told salesmen (actually a women---they sell too) what I was looking for.
Was told.....no longer available.
Except we were standing right next to one.....as I pointed that out she stated 'OH that model'

Went to hardware store....was looking for a garden hose washer with screen -----like those in city water connections on RVs.
Salesmen suggested I look in 'plumbing section' where the faucet parts were.
Told him I wasn't looking for an 'faucet aerator' but a garden hose washer with a screen. "Oh --we don't care them"
Thanked him then went and find garden section.....picked up a bag with 10 of them in it. (I use them for my sprinklers fed by irrigation water---Verde River)

Salespersons are the same everywhere regardless of 'product'
Some have NO clue.
SOME actually go about learning product. Just depends if you happen to luck out and find ONE of those.

[2oldman]

mkirsch wrote:
For most of them it's a job, not a passion, and they're responsible for selling everything on the lot, not just trucks..

Disagreeing with a customer is not the way to sell things.

[Grit_dog]

Ron3rd wrote:
"I'm surprised they let you do that. You're supposed to put 1000 miles on the axle before towing to avoid whining hypoid gears."

I wonder how that huge problem is addressed with all the big Class A and C motorhomes that are sold.

It's not. Good if you can do it, but I've hooked plenty of new work trucks up day one and no ill effects. Well not in the first 50-100k anyway. I don't drive them forever. But someone does and I haven't seen a rear axle replaced ever in 100s of trucks that get horse whipped daily.

[Ron3rd]

"I'm surprised they let you do that. You're supposed to put 1000 miles on the axle before towing to avoid whining hypoid gears."

I wonder how that huge problem is addressed with all the big Class A and C motorhomes that are sold.

[DutchmenSport]

bartlettj wrote:
...
I'm surprised they let you do that. You're supposed to put 1000 miles on the axle before towing to avoid whining hypoid gears.

It was after the fact, when we got the new truck home, I was reading through the owners manual and came to the section on towing. It stated it's best not to tow for the first 500 miles. I'd only towed the trailer that one time (all together about 20 miles), and then not again till almost 1200. I read that in the manual when my truck had about 650 miles at the time. Overall, it didn't hurt anything. That truck is a marvelous towing beast!

[John___Angela]

MitchF150 wrote:
Sales people will tell you what you want to hear if you don't know any better..

That's their game.. I played with them for a bit when I was shopping for a TT back in 2002..

I told them what truck I had (97 F150 with 5.4 and 3.55 gears) and I told them what size TT I was looking for as well..

Guess what size trailers the sales person kept showing me? Yep, way bigger ones than I was looking for..

After the third one he tried to get me to step into, I finally said, "I told you what size trailer I'm looking for.. I don't want to look at these larger trailers"

He says, "your truck can tow much more than that.."

I said, "no it can't, and I don't want that much trailer anyway.. Why can't you show me the size trailer I'm looking for?" (I told him from the start I only wanted a front queen bed, rear bath and #5000 GVWR trailer)

He told me with a straight face after I called him on showing me these bigger trailers... "that kind of trailer does not exist"..

I then told him "thank you for your time, I guess I'll have to go someplace else.."

I left and went to another lot and found the exact trailer I was looking for and still own it to this day... 🙂

If you don't know your facts before you go shopping, you are at the mercy of the "sales person".. If you don't know what the "facts" are in the first place, then.... Well, I don't know what to say.. The internet is great for finding info, but.... Not everything you read on the internet is true.. 😉

Good luck!

Mitch

Good morning. Curious as to the GVW of your trailer when you have it loaded. I know you said the GVWR is 5000 pounds but just looking at the trailer in your picture it looks like the GVW and the GVWR would be pretty close when loaded. Was there a reason you wanted a trailer with low GVWR? Most people want a high GVWR and a low GVW. Maybe it was just a miscommunication on the terms. They can be confusing.

[mkirsch]

"Geek out" is a good way to put it. We know a lot more about this stuff than the average guy out there does, or cares to. Sales people are certainly "average" in that sense. For most of them it's a job, not a passion, and they're responsible for selling everything on the lot, not just trucks.

You have to go in knowing what you want, not expecting someone to tell you what you want.

[PDX_Zs]

I've got a lot of compassion for many of these people doing what is really a crappy job.

A car or truck is a technical,product and they really don't get much training or support. So there is us who geek out on trucks and tow weights and gear ratios. And there are Mustang guys who geek out on obscure suspension options available. I'm sure there are websites dedicated to obscure elements of minivans, but I don't even want to think about that.

Anyway, I just don't really expect much. Actually, I don't expect anything from a dealer. Nor do I want anything from a dealer except to quickly process the paperwork when I get there to buy the vehicular I have already picked out.

I have found the manufacturer sales tools amazing. I can sit at home in my underwear and search for the exact vehicle I want, see which ones are closest in a particular geographic area and then negotiate for it. All without leaving the comfort of my couch.

As the digital sales tools continue to get better, the car sales dudes and the lot will continue to become less and less relevant. Especially to the knowledgable buyer.

🙂

[spud1957]

Perrysburg Dodgeboy wrote:
Spud most window stickers do list the max tow rating on them. Not sure if this is for as optioned but would hope so. I never looked for this on my currant truck but on my 2004 Ram the sticker had it listed on the sticker.

Don

Sorry Don, Ford DOES NOT state tow capacities on their window sticker.

I would challenge you to show me any manufacturer that currently does.

As well, there is no Super Duty that has a dismal 10K tow rating. Tow ratings start over 12k.

Here is mine.



S

[ROBERTSUNRUS]

🙂 Hi, while planning on retiring my Lincoln Navigator, I was in the market for an F-150. I drove to one dealer and noticed that none of the trucks on the lot had tow mirrors, so I knew they didn't have what I wanted. I took pictures of the Ford 9N tractor in the show room and ate some of the free popcorn. A sales person came up to me and asked if I was there to buy a new vehicle or to just look at the tractor and eat the free popcorn. I told the sales person that I was looking for a new F-150, but he didn't have anything on the lot that would work for me. I told him that I towed a travel trailer. He asked me how much my trailer weighed and I told him that it has a GVWR of 6,300 lbs. Then he told me that there wasn't any truck on his lot that couldn't tow 7,200 lbs. I told him that my Lincoln has a tow rating of 8,900 lbs. and that there was no point in buying a new truck if it didn't have a higher tow rating and a higher payload than my Lincoln.

I went to another Ford dealer and found a nice guy that knew nothing about towing and payloads. I told him what I wanted and why. He found my truck in another state and had it trailered to the dealership.

[STEVEO496]

I've heard some horror stories lately regarding people who work in new car sales/repair. Most new car dealers have a very high turn over rate of salesmen and techs. They hire too many of them to begin with that way they're fighting each other for sales and or hours. The dealerships figure if they hire a new salesman then chances are they'll sell a car or two to a friend/family that they otherwise wouldn't make a sale to and after that if the salesman quits it's no big deal they just hire another. Same with the techs. They basically pit them against each other for work. Basically if your car/truck is out of warranty your better off taking it to a reputable independent shop. That's where most of the best mechanics are at these days. With this in mind it's no wonder salesmen know so little about their products. I'm sure most of their customers aren't that picky, they want a red car with Bluetooth and a sunroof and as long as they can cover that 95% they're golden. Probably not even concerned about the handful of stragglers that wander in with technical questions. In my city we have a handful of fleet truck dealers and they are generally much more knowledgeable about their products.