Trying to buy a car from a main dealer

tsb

My wife and I are trying to buy a new (to us) car with a budget of £12000. We like the renault megane coupe and have been to five main Renault dealers in our area and have left disappointed with the attitude of the sales staff. They don't seem interested with us being there. When we got the attention of someone at one dealership to ask about the coupe model, he actually said we haven't got one and walked off. We went to another renault dealer on a Tuesday, talked to a sales guy who said a colleague was driving a coupe but it was his day off (no problem). We rang up on the following Saturday morning to make arrangements to test drive the coupe (25 miles away) that afternoon. Once we got there, the coupe was not available but was told there was a couple of customer cars around the back if you want to have a look at one, but not test drive one. We walked out, after stating that they had just lost a sale.

Are we doing something wrong in dealing with these people? Are the days of the 'hard sell' gone? Is business that good that they don't really need any more sales?

maninthestreet

They don't seem very eager for a sale - have you tried contacting Renault UK to explain the apparent indifference of their dealer network??

Strider590

You describe quite well the attitude of the dealers, but what about your own?
How do you come across to them?

Sales people don't waste time on what are known as "tyre kickers", so if you don't seem serious, they won't bother.

They will also turn disinterested if you cannot or will not be swayed toward other vehicles/deals OR if you seem to know EXACTLY what you want, people who know what they want generally won't make them much profit. Remember that dealers don't make a lot of profit from the actual sale of the car, it's the "extra" selling that makes money for the dealership.
Cash is not king, not any more..... Just as with the banks and in fact the entire financial system, they want you on finance deals, in debt and in their pocket.

balletshoes

cash is no longer King - very true. My sister had a nightmare a couple of years ago trying to spend her cash on a Citroen C2 - because she didn't need and wouldn't take finance, the Citroen dealerships were just not interested at worst, lacklustre at best.

vax2002

They have done you a favour, Renaults are terrible cars, one fault after another, after another, after another.
Thats why they are cheap.

NeverAgain_2

...They have done you a favour, Renaults are terrible cars...

A generalisation, but I fear it's a fair one.

A mate of mine is a salesman at a Ford dealer which also sells other makes used.

"Anything so long as it's not French," is the motto the dealership works by.

vax2002

I speak from experience, TWICE I did not learn the first time.

victor2

Sounds like the dealers you've been to have a reputation not unlike the cars they sell.
Pick another brand. Get some ideas of models that appeal to you and are likely to fall in your price range, then go to a dealer. I assume you're going to dealers because you're interested in decent quality aftersales service rather than the cheapest buy. In that case, sizing up the dealer is as important as test driving the car.
I had very good service from a Toyota dealer and I was buying a traded in car that was right on the borderline of the dealer selling it or sending it to auction.

bigjl

Did the OP go in with the we have cash and want to do a deal attitude, I know that puts some dealers on the back foot.

Also is 12k a good enough bidget to get a Megane Coupe? I thought rarity makes them the most expensive to buy used.

What age are you looking to buy, just giving a budget is useless.

If your 12k is to buy a 5 yr old Megane Coupe then that is one thing.

If you are turning up at a franchised dealer with 12k to buy a 6 month old coupe then you are on a hiding to nothing.

Bit more info please OP, so we can be helpful.

tsb

I'm beginning to believe you about the 'cash not king' now, so might have to look at the 0% finance deals, if any. It would be nice to actually get to the stage of discussing the method of purchase.

Being very 'mse', maybe these salesmen are more intuitive than we are giving them credit for ... they won't be able to make much money out of us so are giving us a wide berth:rotfl:

From experience though I can't agree with the problems with french cars. Our last two cars have been a Renault and now a Peugeot. We owned the Renault from 2 year old 'til it was 7 years old and now the Peugeot with a similar timescale. Neither of them have had any issues or repair costs at all, apart from the usual wear and tear items such as brake shoes and tyres. Both passed their MOT's every year and never let us down. Friends of ours have had VW's and Audi's aged two or three year old and have had nothing but problems and constantly in the garage for repair.

tsb

bigjl wrote: »

Did the OP go in with the we have cash and want to do a deal attitude, I know that puts some dealers on the back foot.

Also is 12k a good enough bidget to get a Megane Coupe? I thought rarity makes them the most expensive to buy used.

What age are you looking to buy, just giving a budget is useless.

If your 12k is to buy a 5 yr old Megane Coupe then that is one thing.

If you are turning up at a franchised dealer with 12k to buy a 6 month old coupe then you are on a hiding to nothing.

Bit more info please OP, so we can be helpful.

The issue was the salesmen's initial attitude. We have never got a chance to discuss how much money we had as a budget or whether it was a finance or cash deal