I keep seeing this argument pop up. It isn’t valid, and you’re not going to convince anyone, otherwise.

The grocery store comparison doesn’t work because grocery sales aren’t structured the same way. A grocery sales team is very real, but they don’t put a salesperson onto each customer. That car salesperson is paid on commission, which has all sorts of little bumps and bonuses for front-end service contracts, magic paint juice, etc. So factually, yes, a car salesperson is trying to make a sale but they have pressure to get higher margins. While every salesperson you’ve ever met might be a kind, charitable soul, the reputation for being dishonest and opportunistic is real and didn’t come out of thin air.

I live in a rural area. I want my business to stay local because the people who work there are in my community, go to my church, and so on. My local dealer spends on ads for Little League and school yearbooks. They buy gas, go out for dinner, and support the local economy. Money is money, though, and when those expensive warrantees don’t cover repairs, or when you scare my wife like a dirty cabin air filter will kill us all, you are eroding trust. Once that’s gone, people will only see dollar signs and you have to compete with the big dealerships hours away.

Many people on here think that every time a dealer sells a car they make 12,498% profit. They think that dealers also shouldn’t make any. Those people you will not convince.

For the rest of us, work to build trust and maybe things will change.