A full-circle return

And so I come full circle. If you read the byline, find it familiar, and are somewhat confused, you have probably been following the motoring world for quite some time. Yes, I was once the editor of another broadsheet’s motoring section. Yes, I once had a column in what was, at the time, the country’s most-read motoring magazine. Yes, I once co-hosted a radio show devoted to motoring on a popular lifestyle FM station.

I have since moved to the other side of the fence, and I spent a good 15 years there. As an integral part of an automotive distributorship’s operations, I handled marketing, communications, business development, dealer network development, customer satisfaction, and sales training. I count myself fortunate to have been part of the automotive world in so many different capacities.

The question everyone asks

Which brings us to the point of this piece. When my editor, Kap Maceda Aguila, and I had our initial discussions on how to kick things off for my writing comeback, we asked ourselves the question, “What do people ask?” In particular, “Given that you’ve been around the automotive world, what do people usually ask Dong Magsajo?”

In recent years the questions have varied, but they remain mostly in the “What car should I buy?” vein — a timely question in a market where the showroom roster keeps growing, with new brands joining established names to compete for the same buyers. From my trainees, the question was “What car should I sell?” — the flipside of the latter. The answers I have given vary as well. But here is what remains constant: I will always tell anyone that the most important thing is to have a good relationship with your salesperson and/or dealership contact (or client).

The purchase is 90% emotional

First things first — let’s get one thing straight: the purchase of a vehicle is around 90% emotional. Features, reliability, fuel efficiency, and parts availability — not to mention the price tag — carry their weight in the decision-making, of course. But it is important to have someone you can trust on the other end of the buying conversation.

To prove the point, a step back is needed. As the certified national sales trainer of at least four distinct car brands throughout my run as training head in distributor operations, I found that the single most consistent factor separating the best salespeople from those who merely jump from one brand to another in search of the easiest vehicle to sell was the individual’s desire to start long-term relationships with their clients.

The fire and desire to serve are easy to spot. These salespeople are warm. They are curious. They ask questions. They try to understand their customers’ needs before going to specs, price, discounts, and efficiency. In fact, these individuals discuss the financials last. This is important because these are the salespeople who intend to eventually take care of your ownership experience as well. If you are car shopping and come across a salesperson who wants to understand your needs before asking about your budget, you are likely on the right track.

Why specs matter less than you think

Now let us return to the spec, price, and efficiency conversation. These, of course, matter. But let’s be completely honest: in the greater scheme of things, this much is clear — the automotive industry has gotten to a point where customer expectations about niceties, fuel efficiency, and price points collectively remain within a certain sphere. In other words, because of customer expectations, specs, efficiency ratings, and price points remain almost the same, regardless of brand.

For example, the fuel-efficiency rating of an average 1.5-liter to 2.0-liter internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicle should fall between the eight-to-12 kpl range in mixed city and highway driving. Go vehicle shopping and you will also see that Apple CarPlay and/or Android Auto, the feature that allows for smartphone connectivity, is relatively standard in most vehicles. Additional safety features have gotten much better and are also (mostly) already standard — and so on and so forth.

A new layer is now being added to this same conversation as electrified vehicles — hybrids and battery-electrics, whose local rollout is supported by the Electric Vehicle Industry Development Act — join the mainstream lineup, bringing charging options and battery warranty coverage onto the same spec-versus-price checklist.

This is where the emotional-purchase argument comes in. While features and efficiency ratings at a certain price point remain largely similar, different cars with their different design languages speak directly to different types of people. This is where “Ang ganda ng design nito!” (“What a beautiful design!”) could spell the difference between a possible choice and an actual purchase. This is also where discounts — namely, who can give the biggest cut — could become a deciding factor.

Pragmatism reaps the best dividends

And this is where I make my argument once again. Yes, those things are important — and relevant. But they should not be your guideposts when buying a vehicle. Remember that pragmatism always reaps the best dividends.

I have always been a big fan of personalized service since I owned my first vehicle some 30 years ago. When you are not just any customer — when you can call your service appointment in or pre-order the parts you need, when you do not have to wait hours just to get a service advisor to call out your number — that is the time you actually feel the difference of having made the right choice.

This matters more than ever across a typical ownership cycle. New vehicles come with a scheduled preventive maintenance program, and warranty coverage is generally tied to keeping to it — which means the dealership you choose at purchase time is often the same one you will return to, many times over, for servicing, parts, and warranty concerns. It is worth asking about service capacity and parts availability before signing anything; how willingly those questions are answered says a great deal about the relationship ahead.

The bottom line: the car-ownership experience does not just include the time you spend on the road but also, necessarily, the time you spend keeping your vehicle roadworthy. Yes, it will cost you — as it should — because nothing of value ever comes for free. But car maintenance need not be inconvenient.

Those of us fortunate enough to be able to afford mobility by owning our own vehicles will always enjoy the drive, always enjoy the road trips spent with the family, always enjoy the freedom that car ownership gives. But we can, and should, endeavor to see further down the road of our purchase. It is imperative that we enjoy the downtime with our cars as well — that we know we can trust the people who sold us our cars because they in fact care about us and the long-term relationship we share.

At the end of the day, the best cars turn out to be the best-kept cars. And it will always be people — not just brands or models or specs or discounts — that ensure this. In the motoring world, as with the real world, absolutely nothing trumps having good relationships to fall back on. Truth? It’s the reason I’m back writing about the industry I love.

To end this piece, I borrow the words of my mentor and friend, the late, great Ray Butch Gamboa, the veteran motoring journalist and broadcaster: Happy Motoring!