Car Dealer Franchises - Different?

Zibbibo

I'm just in the process of getting a new car. I've landed on the make and model I want and now I need to go around a few dealers (as well as look online, of course) to see if I can hunt down the best deal.

Thing is: In my part of the UK, most of the dealers for this brand are franchises of the same company. Is it worth visiting more than one branch? Or are they all going to end up giving me the same offers, as prescribed by Head Office..?

TadleyBaggie

I have a Nissan and around here Westway are the predominant dealer, however they do seem to have different deals available. When I bought last time I used CarWow and got different quotes from the Westway dealers. I ended up buying from a non-Westway dealer who had several pre-reg models available at a much better price.

k3lvc

Zibbibo wrote: »

Thing is: In my part of the UK, most of the dealers for this brand are franchises of the same company. Is it worth visiting more than one branch? Or are they all going to end up giving me the same offers, as prescribed by Head Office..?

Very much depends on the manufacturer/group you're looking at. Stratstone in particular seem to have every detail of each of their outlets I've visited over the past xx years and the deals offered whereas others work on a site by site basis. I've learned now which of my local dealers belong to which holding company (irrespective of the name over the door) and never visit more than one in the same group

Dean000000

use a carwow type thing, as that often stretches to beyond what you might have thought you'd look at (in terms of mileage to dealership...


generally they will all be competing for your business (inter-franchise) though, as you say there is most likely some degree of collusion (or gentleman's honour) there...


ultimately - if you use the data available online, you know what you should be paying, and what represents a fair or reasonable deal...use that as your barometer and you cant go too far wrong.

Lucy_Lastic

I decided which make and model of car that I wanted (Toyota), test drove one at a local dealer then went on line to see what other Toyota dealers had on offer. I saved £2000 by buying a pre registered car from a Toyota dealer 100 miles away. They drove it to my home address (free of charge) and took away my car in part exchange. The local dealer could not compete on price (I did ask!).

niktheguru

dont forget to use carwow or drivethedeal. You often get much better deals if you want a brand new car from dealers within a certain geographical radius. Makes even more sense if you know exactly the make and model you want.

AdrianC

Zibbibo wrote: »

most of the dealers for this brand are franchises of the same company.

They're different branches of the same dealership company (It's not Arnold Shark, by any chance?)
All Ford dealers are franchisees of Ford.