Used Car - main dealer says no price flexibility

[Deleted User]

gilbert_and_sullivan wrote: »

If it quacks and waddles its a duck syndrome works both ways, customers vary from proper and wish we had more like them, to complete time wasters, and a whole myriad of types in between.

Salesman senses he's wasting his time or gets other bad vibes, he isn't go to muck about bandying words with someone who feels like a time waster, much as sales people get often justified criticism here, customers who browse endlessly but never get their wallets out are not as desirable as they might think they are.
.

I had a Honda salesman completely dismiss me as a customer interested in their Civic, so obviously I didn't buy from them. They must have been really canny at judging time wasting customers because their dealership went into administration... :rotfl:

LondonGal

I don't do it that way at all. I have a maximum budget which is fixed. I look at all cars I like within that budget and choose on best value for money. Saving a few hundred on a compromise you don't really want to make is something I would always live to regret. Others would compromise - each to their own I guess.

I also place much more importance on the mechanics and service record etc.... of the car. I have two dogs and a 17 year old daughter, it's hard to decide who leaves the most mess! The inside is therefore relatively unimportant to me, but I look after my cars meticulously from a mechanical point of view. If something needs doing, it gets done. I like to see that in the cars I buy.

marlot

motorguy wrote: »

...
Heres how people generally check their cars these days :-

• Do a search on the like of autotrader for the make model engine miles of car they want.
• Sort by price.
• Ring the cheapest dealer.

I agree.

My wife went round the local dealers to decide the make/model she wanted. I then checked autotrader to see what a competitive price looked like for a pre-reg (~3 months, 500-ish miles). After three hours trying to get a deal out of my local dealer and not getting anywhere close, I gave up and rang the dealer offering the cheaper cars.

I described our trade-in accurately, walking round the car, being honest about the whine which was starting in the gearbox etc. We agreed a price to change and I drove 150 miles to do the swap the following weekend.

The dealer I bought from shifted six of these cars in that same weekend. And, even factoring in the drive, it was quicker than using my local dealer.

Local dealer has been very happy to take on the servicing and warranty work. The new sales staff still say hello.

System

A main dealer network is just a grouping of independent franchises all listed together in their online search. A lot of these franchises are themselves a smaller (or even larger) group within them dealer network.

When people buy from a main dealer, the main dealer also has a consideration to their own franchise group. When I bought a Honda CRV the sales guy told me this over the phone. The one I bought was around £2k more expensive than the cheapest of that type. The guy simply said that the price is as advertised. He gave me the criteria of why he thought this particular CRV was a good example and that they had no other vehicle of this type within their own franchise group. So they were confident that someone would buy this as advertised regardless of what other franchises were offering at.

It was actually a very reasonable explanation and he said if I paid a refundable deposit over the phone the vehicle could be ready to drive away from whatever time I chose to come in and pay the balance. I did and it worked great.

mgdavid

The clue here is 'main dealer'. They have huge overheads compared to smaller independents, and you are paying for them. Try to find a smaller indie who has a workshop, does servicing and repairs, and sells cars too. They have the capability to fix any after-sale problems (the 'used car lot' operation doesn't), and also they know they may get your servicing custom in future so don't want to sell a duff one.
Next tip, find two cars at the same place to try out. If your budget is 6k look at one around 4.5k / 5k then pretend to spot the more expensive one. Try it, tell them you really want it but it's over your budget, offer 750 less and haggle from there. Make sure they know you have a 10% deposit in cash on you. Try and deal on a wet Saturday when it's been a bit slow for them.

BillJones

Nodding_Donkey wrote: »

People wind me up when they want a discount 'just because'. It's a different matter if there is a reason, e.g. faults that weren't mentioned in the advert, but if the car is as described they are just chancers.

Not necessarily. The garage says what price they'd ideally like to sell the car for, the buyer says what price they are happy to pay, and if these two don't match, then a negotiation can happen, and either a deal is mad or it isn't.

The belief that only one side of the deal gets to set the price makes no sense at all.

BillJones

motorguy wrote: »

Totally it

I have a friend whos a Dealer Principal over several sites and he says exactly that. He says if people have went to the trouble of searching, finding your car, checking the price and turning up, then there is little need to negotiate as the customer has already concluded your car is the best / cheapest on the market anyway.

I negotiated £30,000 off my last 911, new, by calling a selection of different dealers, telling each the price I was willing to pay, and letting them know that the first to agree would get the deal.

I knew that it was quite likely that all would say "no thanks", as it made no sense, but also knew that there was a chance that they'd over-ordered the run-out model of the 997, and needed to shif them.

In the end, one did call, and I bought it.

motorguy

BillJones wrote: »

Not necessarily. The garage says what price they'd ideally like to sell the car for, the buyer says what price they are happy to pay, and if these two don't match, then a negotiation can happen, and either a deal is mad or it isn't.

The belief that only one side of the deal gets to set the price makes no sense at all.

And why not?

Do you go into tescos and negotiate over a tin of beans? Are Tescos not setting the price?

If the dealer is already the cheapest in the area for the car, why should they give away profit "just because"?

motorguy

BillJones wrote: »

I negotiated £30,000 off my last 911, new, by calling a selection of different dealers, telling each the price I was willing to pay, and letting them know that the first to agree would get the deal.

I knew that it was quite likely that all would say "no thanks", as it made no sense, but also knew that there was a chance that they'd over-ordered the run-out model of the 997, and needed to shif them.

In the end, one did call, and I bought it.

A bit different in that he was referring to used cars, so if you've got a Focus for £8K online and someone drives 40 miles to view it, then they've done their homework before they got there that yours is the cheapest / best in the area.

Fair play on the Porsche - right place, right time and brass balls :beer:

Jvic28

mgdavid wrote: »

Try and deal on a wet Saturday when it's been a bit slow for them.

Sunny weekends can also be dead too though. Ha Ha.