I remember reading about a Taurus SHO owner who said he had a warranty claim denied by the Ford dealer for installing an "aftermarket engine". Another one argued with a salesman who insisted the SHO was just a 3.8 Taurus with ground effects.
A friend of mine used to be a car salesman. He said that the best salesmen were the worst and least-knowledgeable with cars.
His theory is that car enthusiasts don't enjoy selling pieces of crap like base-model Cavaliers, and they feel guilty about selling models that are known to be junk. It comes through subconsciously and makes them less persuasive.
The salesmen who don't care one way or another and just see cars as hunks of metal that lead to a nice fat commission check are much better at getting people to sign the dotted line.
It really makes a lot of sense and would explain why most of them know nothing about cars..
