Be friendly if you want to sell cars .....

I wonder how many people have experienced what I went through when dealing with car traders. For one, I noticed that the saleman's attitude was one of take-it-or-leave-it and that he seemed to have no time for you if you asked him too many questions. It was as though he expected that, once you entered his show room, you give him a booking fee and immediately purchase the car. He was not interested in answering your queries on technical issues apart from telling you the price of the car. As for discount, forget it. He did not even suggest that if you wanted a discount, it's better you discussed with the manager.

I experienced this with Naza Motor on the Federal highway, Ming Heng Motor in Genting Klang, and several motor traders in Bukit Lanjan. With Naza, you don't talk about discounts unless you pay RM 5,000/= upfront and only then would the Manager be ready to discuss with you. If not, it would be a waste of his time. With Ming Heng, the salesman would give you his call card and never bothered to follow-up. He waited for you to call him, not vice versa. Zaibar Motor's attitude to car marketing was no better until I made several visits which prompted the salesman to think that I was really interested in purchasing the Fairlady, which I did eventually. His other Fairlady was not taken and it had been a year already.

So today, I got the itch to go to Iktikad Raya to see some sports cars that were advertised in the On The Road motor magazine. This car trader appeared to be one of the biggest car traders in the Klang Valley and one of its sales premises was located along Jalan Pahang, so said the advertisement. Another reason why I wanted to go to Iktikad Raya was that their ad claimed that they had modern facilities to maintain and modify cars.

When I went there, I could not find a proper entrance to go in, save for a small road on one side and another small road terminating at the busy Jalan Pahang. Along this road, cars were parked haphazardly on the grass verge on both sides of the narrow road that I had to squeeze my car through. There was not even a welcoming sign to suggest where to park your car. Fearing that I might be stranded on the small road with no way of reversing if there were obstacles in front, I decided to drive away from the area. It reminded me of Naza in Kampung Bharu in those days when you had to park your car far away if you want to see the cars on display. The motor traders attitude was not a welcoming one. The only way for us customers was to beat a hasty retreat.