Trying to buy a car from a main dealer

motorguy

Flyboy152 wrote: »

Oddly enough, I hear many Citroen, Peugeot and Renault dealers say the same about Ford and Vauxhalls.

And that's a fact as well.

You're both missing the point.

Rarely will ANY main dealer keep the stock of a competitor brand on their forecourt. They will aim to exclusively keep their own brand.

Big_W

Strider590 wrote: »

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.

So let's take a situation where you are serious, you have the money and also know exactly what you want - and you want a test drive. Using the above logic you're not of interest to the sales staff, so it sounds like you'd need to do a bit of acting to appear like the sort of gullible customer they really want. So how to pull that off and get a test drive of the car you really want? Any suggestions?

Cripes, never realised spending thousands of pounds was that difficult!! (not having tried it yet)

jools27_2

I too would love the answer to this,I recently inherited some money and thought I would buy my first ever new car. I set off to the local dealers showrooms, to find out about a wee diesel economical car, was thinking a Bluemotion maybe, or see whats around, so far I have visited VW, Ford, Fiat, Nissan and Mazda dealers and nobody has even attempted to sell me a car yet, the lad in the VW dealership told me it would be around a six month wait for a bluemotion, sighed and stood biting his nails. For the first time in my life I have cash to spend on what I want, not what I need, and nobody wants to relieve me of it!!!

Flyboy152

pgilc1 wrote: »

You're both missing the point.

Rarely will ANY main dealer keep the stock of a competitor brand on their forecourt. They will aim to exclusively keep their own brand.

No....no I wasn't. It was the point I was making. Obviously too subtle for some.

Most dealer will gets bids from other dealers or traders on non-franchise cars, before they close a deal; unless they can be sure of making a profit on it.

s_b

i have an old saying that i still use from 1975
customer

---

how much is product a?
seller ,me,its £15.99
customer,but down the road its only £14.99
seller,me,well go down the road and buy it then
customer,but they havent got any
seller,me, well i give them away when i havent got any

what does this mean?
well if you havent got the product to fit the customers needs (this particular car OP wants )and you cant match their perceived value of the product (£12,000 was bandied)then why waste time trying to sell them a product you cannot give seeing as the recommended retail is nigh 18 biggies

Flyboy152

s_b wrote: »

i have an old saying that i still use from 1975
customer

---

how much is product a?
seller ,me,its £15.99
customer,but down the road its only £14.99
seller,me,well go down the road and buy it then
customer,but they havent got any
seller,me, well i give them away when i havent got any

what does this mean?
well if you havent got the product to fit the customers needs (this particular car OP wants )and you cant match their perceived value of the product (£12,000 was bandied)then why waste time trying to sell them a product you cannot give seeing as the recommended retail is nigh 18 biggies

Nah.....it just means you are rude.

balletshoes

s_b wrote: »

i have an old saying that i still use from 1975
customer

---

how much is product a?
seller ,me,its £15.99
customer,but down the road its only £14.99
seller,me,well go down the road and buy it then
customer,but they havent got any
seller,me, well i give them away when i havent got any

what does this mean?
well if you havent got the product to fit the customers needs (this particular car OP wants )and you cant match their perceived value of the product (£12,000 was bandied)then why waste time trying to sell them a product you cannot give seeing as the recommended retail is nigh 18 biggies

The OP said a "new to them" car, not a brand new one, as I understood it.

emmell

Well, I've just bought a new car from a main dealer and haven't had any of these problems.
Browsed the internet looking for a demonstrator in the spec I wanted, phoned up to book at test drive, turned up for the test drive, everything ok. Salesman says "how do you want to pay for the car" We said "P/X and cash". He gives me a price for my car and I go away and think about it.
Two weeks later after a bit of haggling, I take delivery of my brand new car......simples.
ML.

NeverAgain_2

If you know what you are after, qualifying your inquiry to the salesman helps.

I did this when looking for a nearly new diesel Focus a few years ago.

"Have you got any nearly-new diesel Focuses?"

I usually received a sensible answer in which somewhere was the word 'yes' or 'no'.

datostar

Check the Renault UK website for 'Renault To Go'. These are cars supplied direct by Renault UK to your local dealer on order. In general less than 1 year old, generally £5000 or so below new price, remainder of manufacturer warranty, AA membership, full check over and service pre-delivery. You'll probably find a Megane Coupe there within your price range.