Car dealership and selling tactics

[Mudball]

As can be seen from another thread, been looking at some cars.. so been doing the rounds of some dealership. It’s funny how all have the same tactics.

Sales guy shows the car. On the way out you also meet his manager who is also the finance guy. Sales guy then quoted a high price which sets a wrong false high. You throw a fit and then finance guy comes as Knight in shinning armour to reduce it just above what you want to pay. Some high pressure and you end up paying a ‘bit more’ than you wanted. It is the same circus for the past 20 years.
I am not sure they have heard that local dealership is not the only driver now. I don’t know which dealership my previous 2 cars came from.. as they came as part of the office network. One of my neighbor bought it off carwow in Gloucester or somewhere where he has never visited.

Sometimes they treat you like dirt and a nuisance. My local Audi hasn’t returned emails since I told him I had better offer on carwow than his.
I know the dealers are in a tight spot and they need to make money but they too need to move on from being a ‘local area dealer’... Geography is now History

 

[PJ87]

As can be seen from another thread, been looking at some cars.. so been doing the rounds of some dealership. It’s funny how all have the same tactics.

Sales guy shows the car. On the way out you also meet his manager who is also the finance guy. Sales guy then quoted a high price which sets a wrong false high. You throw a fit and then finance guy comes as Knight in shinning armour to reduce it just above what you want to pay. Some high pressure and you end up paying a ‘bit more’ than you wanted. It is the same circus for the past 20 years.
I am not sure they have heard that local dealership is not the only driver now. I don’t know which dealership my previous 2 cars came from.. as they came as part of the office network. One of my neighbor bought it off carwow in Gloucester or somewhere where he has never visited.

Sometimes they treat you like dirt and a nuisance. My local Audi hasn’t returned emails since I told him I had better offer on carwow than his.
I know the dealers are in a tight spot and they need to make money but they too need to move on from being a ‘local area dealer’... Geography is now History

Car wow is the future

I bought my car through them last year

Selected the car I fancied.. got my offers.. I ended up paying say £300 more than the cheapest quote on there but went with the one who was the best at replying with lots of details etc

The local dealer got back to me day after I ordered the car saying I could come in and look I was like already got it now and they said they would match it

Sorry you were too slow.. I’ll drive 15 miles instead of 5 ..

Got to keep on top of your comms

 

[Robin Hood]

A friend of mine went into the local BMW dealership, went through the same sort of banter, and finally said he was a serious buyer, offered a price for the car (used series1) he wanted, gave his mobile number and said that if he hadn't heard by lunchtime the next day that he was going elsewhere, no hard feelings.
He was very pleasant with them.
The next morning he got the call agreeing to the deal. They did try and sell service plans etc which were declined.
He reckons it also helped it was towards the end of the month and they were perhaps below sales target.
Personally I like the car supermarkets - no haggling and decent trade in (ish)

 

[BrianM]

Get a lease 😀

 

[Mudball]

Get a lease 😀

Same story.. all my cars on PCP and no change in behaviour

Btw some cracking PCP deals around .. evoque £425 down + £425 monthly , A1 £299 down + £299 monthly, Skoda on similar deals... not sure how the industry finds it to give these deals.

I had gone to my local bmw .. they were busy, so left my details with reception desk.. yet to hear from them .. and I am an existing customer 😆

 

[Mudball]

Btw anyone tried the Costco Car purchase program. Talks about 10-15% discount.

 

[Wolf]

Always the same with Car dealerships. They'll try and fleece you and make out this really is the best deal.

We had issue recently when took the Mrs A1 Sport in for its service, whilst waiting got the obligatory sales guy trying do his spiel on why she needs the new A1 (she already wanted one so we were looking anyway) how he can get her a deal better than she already pays etc.

Told him doubt there's anyway he will better it, he gave it the bravado went of to his sales manager and came back with the most amazing offer of £360pcm which was over £160 more than she currently pays a month. He said no way is he that much more expensive and told us we were wrong no way she pays only £200 for her A1 Sport from new. Told him just go check her finance deal and look at cars value vs settlement. Off he went and came back with his sales manager both sat there with the details and promptly asked how we got that dealand now way they can match it, her equity in the car far outweighs the value due to such a low initial price paid for car.

It was only at this point did we point out my brother is head of group for one of the Audi brands and as such we got a ridiculous cheap deal. So Mrs sales manager made a call got a deal approved from my brother, using the equity in Mrs Wolf's car plus a small deposit she will have her new A1 just after our wedding in August for £205 pcm..

Cat dealers will try everything they can to maximise their profit and commission, but it really is an industry where it still is all about who you know rather than what you know. There's always a deal to be had if you have an insight to the deals or and insider in the trade.

The personal moral of this for me is my brothers a knob but he does come in handy once every 2years for new cars 😂

 

[Fade and Die]

Maybe it’s just BMW?....I went to look at a new X3 beginning of last month, the “sales manager” was too busy to spend more than 5 minutes with me (after I had waited 20 minutes to see him!) he pointed out the X3s in the showroom, took my details and went off... honestly there was hardly anyone in the place... A fortnight later he called me to invite me to a “special event” at the weekend promising me a great deal etc, I interrupted his spiel to tell him too late mate, I had ordered a Volvo XC40, and made a point of telling him that the staff at the Volvo dealership were helpful and efficient, had sorted me two test drives and were the exact opposite to my experience at his dealership.

 

[ScienceBoy]

Say your budget is your budget or no sale.

Sales is all about the psychology of people not wanting to walk away.

Worst example (although I can understand why they do it so their time isn’t wasted) is fitted wardrobe companies.

You usually have to agree to the sale during their visit or pay for another visit, usually about £50. Makes it very hard to compare providers unless you think you can save more than £50 and still get what you want.

 

[Lord Tyrion]

An often depressing i ndustry, full of tactics from a bygone era. I lease now so avoid all of the spivvy tactics quoted. Is there any worse tactic than 'I'll just speak to my manager " ☹. Does anyone actually believe that?

I go to a dealer to see the car, get a price, no games and then compare. I prefer to use a dealer, I am for my current lease, but if they try games or let themselves down then there are so many alternatives now and I will go with one of those.

Good dealers stand out a mile but that is largely because they are in the minority. Worst experience in a dealers I've had was Volvo closely followed by BMW.

 

[Doon frae Troon]

Try to buy your car in the last week of November...…....low sales month and ahead of the closures at Christmas/NY shut downs.
We got an astonishing deal on a VW UP for my wife.
Lost a bit on the trade with a low mileage good condition car.... but we were delighted at the deal we got on our first brand new car.
Normally we buy nearly new to lose the vat.

 

[Bunkermagnet]

My Mazda dealership is an oid school dealership. They treat me fair and I reciprocate.
My wifes Yaris hybrid came form the local Toyota, who matched the Carwow offer we had. Again, a nice place to deal with.
Having been to BMW and Merc dealerships, I find their snobbish attitude rediculous, especially when you consider they sell more 3 series BM than Ford do the Mondeo, so it's hardly aselective car

 

[Leftie]

Just out of interest, does anyone know if the "Supermarket" type dealers (Car Giant, Big Motoring World. etc) negotiate on price, or is it a case of the price is as advertised (plus the "admin charge of course)

 

[Smiffy]

I know the dealers are in a tight spot and they need to make money but they too need to move on from being a ‘local area dealer’... Geography is now History

Only when Mr Customer is buying.
Because you can bet your bottom dollar that when his shiny new Carwow supplied car goes tits up, said customer will be expecting his local dealer to drop everything and repair it straight away whilst also lending him a courtesy car free of charge. He certainly won't be thinking "Geography is now history" and travelling the 80 or 90 miles to get it repaired by the supplying dealer.
Oh and can you help me set up the SatNav properly and tune my radio in, because the dealership I brought it from didn't show me properly.
Oh and just another thing........ how come the majority of CarWow buyers don't admit to using CarWow until after they've done the test drive and wasted your time??

 

[MegaSteve]

Just out of interest, does anyone know if the "Supermarket" type dealers (Car Giant, Big Motoring World. etc) negotiate on price, or is it a case of the price is as advertised (plus the "admin charge of course)

I've negotiated with Car Giant previously... Probably better placed to do so without the complications of a trade in...

 

[Robin Hood]

Just out of interest, does anyone know if the "Supermarket" type dealers (Car Giant, Big Motoring World. etc) negotiate on price, or is it a case of the price is as advertised (plus the "admin charge of course)

The salesman I saw (Motorpoint)said the price on the screen was non negotiable.
However the trade in was easily negotiated up - quite significantly.
I would definitely use again.
It's a retailer, and their business model is all about volume sales.
A sensible deal is always available.

 

[Bunkermagnet]

Only when Mr Customer is buying.
Because you can bet your bottom dollar that when his shiny new Carwow supplied car goes tits up, said customer will be expecting his local dealer to drop everything and repair it straight away whilst also lending him a courtesy car free of charge. He certainly won't be thinking "Geography is now history" and travelling the 80 or 90 miles to get it repaired by the supplying dealer.
Oh and can you help me set up the SatNav properly and tune my radio in, because the dealership I brought it from didn't show me properly.
Oh and just another thing........ how come the majority of CarWow buyers don't admit to using CarWow until after they've done the test drive and wasted your time??

Sadly like everything else in life. People only want the basement price, regardless of what the benefits of paying a marginally more may get them.

 

[Smiffy]

Just out of interest, does anyone know if the "Supermarket" type dealers (Car Giant, Big Motoring World. etc) negotiate on price, or is it a case of the price is as advertised (plus the "admin charge of course)

Don't automatically think that these supermarket places are cheaper Rog... We have one near us and 9 times out of 10 their prices are higher than the local main dealers on a like for like car

 

[Mudball]

Only when Mr Customer is buying.
Because you can bet your bottom dollar that when his shiny new Carwow supplied car goes tits up, said customer will be expecting his local dealer to drop everything and repair it straight away whilst also lending him a courtesy car free of charge. He certainly won't be thinking "Geography is now history" and travelling the 80 or 90 miles to get it repaired by the supplying dealer.
Oh and can you help me set up the SatNav properly and tune my radio in, because the dealership I brought it from didn't show me properly.
Oh and just another thing........ how come the majority of CarWow buyers don't admit to using CarWow until after they've done the test drive and wasted your time??

I am not against local dealer and I would prefer to use local guy if they played fair. My local BMW gave me 2 different quotes - the retail was higher than the one offered by their Carwow fleet folks !!

Also even though I bought my other cars from far away dealers I can talk it to the local guy as the car is covered by manufacturers warranty so the dealership was irrelevant

 

[Tashyboy]

Only when Mr Customer is buying.
Because you can bet your bottom dollar that when his shiny new Carwow supplied car goes tits up, said customer will be expecting his local dealer to drop everything and repair it straight away whilst also lending him a courtesy car free of charge. He certainly won't be thinking "Geography is now history" and travelling the 80 or 90 miles to get it repaired by the supplying dealer.
Oh and can you help me set up the SatNav properly and tune my radio in, because the dealership I brought it from didn't show me properly.
Oh and just another thing........ how come the majority of CarWow buyers don't admit to using CarWow until after they've done the test drive and wasted your time??

To be honest, this couldn't be further from the truth in my experience I went to Seat Leicester at the side of Leicester City FC for my car. Bought through Carwow. Seat Leicester were fantastic. The warranty is with Seat, not Leicester Seat. It was serviced by seat Chesterfield. The only problem I had was with VW who were complete and utter arses when there was a fault. Again Seat Chesterfield were fantastic in helping me with my grievance with VW.