Car dealership and selling tactics

[Pathetic Shark]

I recently bought a new Ford and had two dealerships fairly equidistant from my house. The first one screwed up my quote, played all kinds of pathetic sales games and then accused me of giving them the wrong deposit numbers when I called to arrange the purchase. Wound up driving to the other one, placing the order and everything being done perfectly. Quote as expected, no mucking about. Then had an immense amount of fun telling the first dealer why I hadn't bought through them and repeating the conversation to the clown's manager when he got involved. Unfortunately you get good sales people and bad ones - I did have my eyes wide open when I went in there and had done my homework on costs, deposits and deals.

 

[OnTour]

Buyers market there all struggling, never use a super market as they are pretty much fixed price. Never trade in your car with them either. All car sales people are after one thing MONEY they really don't care about you, I work in the trade and believe me your dirt on the sole of your shoe after you leave. the words C???? spring to mind.

Another thumbs up for CarWOW dead easy and best price availabilty. don't get ripped off and never believe they will fix a fault properly again I know they don't they scrimp over £20 and make £2k a car used.

 

[IanM]

Yep, margins are hard to fight against. But do your research, know what you’re prepared to pay and walk away if need be.

I laughed and walked out of a showroom when silly games started between boss and salesman. It’s easy

 

[Leftie]

Thanks for the replies guys re the supermarkets. Just idly looking at the moment and saw a few reasonably good (?) deals.

 

[Deleted member 17920]

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??

Totally agree it’s frustrating for a dealership to lose a customer who buys the car then returns to have it repaired and demands the world. It’s 12 years since I left the dealership side of the motor industry.

Why is it the same sales process is still in place, if a sales person qualifies the customer properly then most would tell you that they have researched the car and the prices via an internet brand.

I still reckon if the dealerships did the job properly then the internet brokers wouldn’t stand a chance, I worked for a specialist internet broker for 4 years and we got loads of business because dealerships were a total letdown.

It’s time the dealerships just gave the best price straight away, I have just bought a car this week and most don’t even bother to call you back, the one guy that actually went and called me back and doing as he said he would got my order.

 

[PJ87]

A friend of mine just bought herself a 3 year old merc a class on finance

They paid off the finance on her Kia which was 3 years old and gave her monthly payment of roughly the same

Same franchise of dealer

She is completely unimpressed so far

They have done lots wrong (too long to list) but a few features the car was advised as having it does not (folding mirrors, cruise control, speed limiter)

She basically was offered about 2 diff Mercs and she picked purely on spec that suited her and her husband

So to not have half the reasons she turned the other car down is annoying

Not sure where she stands , it’s just over 14 days now I think , all done via the phone. Virtual tour via FaceTime etc etc

All sounds a mess to me

On the subject of carwow again with people saying people use it to save tiny amounts and should support the local dealer almost

We aren’t talking about 100s of pounds.. carwow literally can save you 3-4K per time.. would be mad not to use it

 

[Smiffy]

Buyers market there all struggling, never use a super market as they are pretty much fixed price. Never trade in your car with them either. All car sales people are after one thing MONEY they really don't care about you, I work in the trade and believe me your dirt on the sole of your shoe after you leave. the words C???? spring to mind.

Another thumbs up for CarWOW dead easy and best price availabilty. don't get ripped off and never believe they will fix a fault properly again I know they don't they scrimp over £20 and make £2k a car used.

 

[Kennysarmy]

The end of November trick seemed to work for me.

Went armed with some screenshots of similar cars on sale around the country from Auto Trader - they wanted over £11.500 cost to change - told them I had £10,000 which was a lot nearer the cheapest similar car advertised on Auto Trader - the salesman said he'd need to speak to the Finance Director, he did and said the deal was done!

The trick is being firm on what you can afford, make it a realistic figure and definitely walk away if the deal is not right.

They need to sell the car much more than you need to buy from them.

Good luck, I swap my car every 3-4 years and actually enjoy the process.

 

[Rooter]

The tactics are no different to buying a kitchen or a sofa. I can't be arsed to speak to the friendly manager, just give me your best price based on the info i have given or i'm off. I like an independent small dealer personally for cars, the guy that has say 20-30 cars in stock, often a specialist in that make or model. They dont mess about, know there stuff and if they dont have what you need in stock, they can get it for a price thats right.

 

[Sid Rixon IV]

Get a lease 😀

I'm leasing a new Skoda Ocatavia automatic for £90pm (£2400 down).
I spotted the deal with an online leasing company at £85pm initially (24 months, 8000pa)
Whilst I later browsed the Skoda site the Chatbox came up.
I asked if they could match the deal - after a pause I was told I'd get a call within the hour.
The local dealer rang me and took details of my online deal.
They rang me back soon after and offered it at £90 saving me the £350 online admin fee.
Deal done.

 

[PJ87]

My car goes for first service Wednesday

Just got a cringeworthy video via txt from Honda with a salesman taking me round the newer model of my car ..

Yeah I’m in got a service not the sale cheers

Who falls for these

 

[Lord Tyrion]

My car goes for first service Wednesday

Just got a cringeworthy video via txt from Honda with a salesman taking me round the newer model of my car ..

Yeah I’m in got a service not the sale cheers

Who falls for these

My BiL . He upgraded his Merc C class to some big backsided Merc following a video tour sent by his dealer. To be fair, I think it is good marketing. It tempts you with a newer shinier version of what you currently have. It is not as though us golfers on here would fall for something like that is it?

 

[Bunkermagnet]

My BiL . He upgraded his Merc C class to some big backsided Merc following a video tour sent by his dealer. To be fair, I think it is good marketing. It tempts you with a newer shinier version of what you currently have. It is not as though us golfers on here would fall for something like that is it?

Exactly.....but hang on, we're golfers and sensible and nothing like the rest of society

 

[Grant85]

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

It's a well worn path. As someone who works in financial advice I know the level of disclosure and treating customers fairly that has to go on in that industry, and should surely apply to the car industry too given the level of financial commitment people are making.

Went into a local Mercedes dealer last year. Saw the car I was after, that had been on the website. Wasn't desperate to get it, but sat down to speak to the guy. In fairness they offered me a decent price for my existing car, so that moved things on a bit as I'd been planning to try and sell it privately first.

We then came to the finance. After trade in and the savings I was putting to it, I was going to borrow the rest. The guy went through the motions even though I told him I would just take a bank loan. He told me the monthly amount which was roughly what I'd been budgeting for when deciding if I would get a new car. I asked him what the interest rate was. '3%' was his exact response.

I did a rough assessment and thought I might as well just go for that and save myself the hassle of getting a loan and having to wait for that process to run its course and probably not get the car for a couple of weeks.

Later in the week the stuff came in from Mercedes Finance to electronically sign and send back. The interest rate was 6%!

I was absolutely raging. The guy had obviously added up the cost of finance and divided it by the amount being financed and got to 3%. Never mind that you only owe an average of half the money over the 5 years, as you are paying capital off every month. The monthly payments had been closer to what I was thinking as I'd budgeted for a bit less in trade in, plus his figures had me paying a £500 deposit that day - fair enough, the monthly amount was correct, the interest was the deceitful but.

I know that if someone in my industry was representing mortgage figures on that basis they'd be struck off (and rightly so) following one complaint against them.

I thought about making a big issue of it and writing letters and e-mails to Mercedes, but in the end I just spoke to the guy and told him he was absolutely at it and I wouldn't be signing his finance agreement but would arrange my own loan.

 

[Mudball]

To Grant85's post.. Merc's APR is 6.9%.. so not cheap on a 30K loan...

Anyways, took my car to the BMW showroom as the engine oil light was flashing. Young kid at the service counter sold me the bottle and helpful walked out and pointed to where I should put it in the engine. Took all of 15 mins for the entire thing. Then he asked me to check with the Service team as he said I have another free service coming up (i had no idea).

... so over to the Service guy and booked a service. Told him about the 2 faults
1) Front dimmer light has stopped working, so needs a new bulb --> Need to check if it is bulb or the whole circuit (never mind all the other bulbs in that cluster work fine)... so he will let me know of the price after it is inspected
2) Brake Pad lights.. he asked if i changed them at the showroom or independent. After i told him it was independent, he said, cannot gurantee that the parts are genuine or if the brake sensors will work with the pads. So they will have to change everything again..

WTF... at BMW everything seems to start with .. it is a specialist part and we have to get it from Germany... How will we survive after Brexit. Everything starts at £200 already.

 

[Lord Tyrion]

To Grant85's post.. Merc's APR is 6.9%.. so not cheap on a 30K loan...

Anyways, took my car to the BMW showroom as the engine oil light was flashing. Young kid at the service counter sold me the bottle and helpful walked out and pointed to where I should put it in the engine. Took all of 15 mins for the entire thing. Then he asked me to check with the Service team as he said I have another free service coming up (i had no idea).

... so over to the Service guy and booked a service. Told him about the 2 faults
1) Front dimmer light has stopped working, so needs a new bulb --> Need to check if it is bulb or the whole circuit (never mind all the other bulbs in that cluster work fine)... so he will let me know of the price after it is inspected
2) Brake Pad lights.. he asked if i changed them at the showroom or independent. After i told him it was independent, he said, cannot gurantee that the parts are genuine or if the brake sensors will work with the pads. So they will have to change everything again..

WTF... at BMW everything seems to start with .. it is a specialist part and we have to get it from Germany... How will we survive after Brexit. Everything starts at £200 already.

You did buy a BMW, it is your own fault . Ironically I suspect a lot of the parts they have to get in from Germany are made anywhere but Germany. Car parts are a Europe wide industry now, in some cases worldwide. The days of a BMW being entirely German are long gone.

 

[Mudball]

You did buy a BMW, it is your own fault . Ironically I suspect a lot of the parts they have to get in from Germany are made anywhere but Germany. Car parts are a Europe wide industry now, in some cases worldwide. The days of a BMW being entirely German are long gone.

Very likely.. but looks like the supply chain all lead to Zermany and then back out. One of my mates has a shiney 435... It also has Chrome wheels. It started corroding and he went to the dealer, who said it is a know issue with Chrome wheels.... but they will get it changed........................<drum rolls>...........once they get it from Germany after 8 weeks......

 

[Deleted member 18588]

You did buy a BMW, it is your own fault . Ironically I suspect a lot of the parts they have to get in from Germany are made anywhere but Germany. Car parts are a Europe wide industry now, in some cases worldwide. The days of a BMW being entirely German are long gone.

Many of the petrol engines are manufactured at the BMW plant in Coleshill, Warwickshire.

 

[Bunkermagnet]

Very likely.. but looks like the supply chain all lead to Zermany and then back out. One of my mates has a shiney 435... It also has Chrome wheels. It started corroding and he went to the dealer, who said it is a know issue with Chrome wheels.... but they will get it changed........................<drum rolls>...........once they get it from Germany after 8 weeks......

A dealer, who is financially independant of BMW as they all are, is not going to stock an expensive option wheel. As far as the corrosion goes, I've yet to see a BMW that hasnt got wheel corrosion around the centre caps. They are known for this.

 

[Bunkermagnet]

Many of the petrol engines are manufactured at the BMW plant in Coleshill, Warwickshire.

Not for long......