Picking new car up from dealership - do you gifts, unveiling etc?

GunJack

All sounds far too american......

soolin

I've had 3 brand new Citroens, 2 Fiats and an Austin Maestro (I know I know , I was young and the company bought it for me). No unveiling , nothing at all. However on all my privately owned cars I hammered them down to the lowest price I could , even walked away from the table to get a better deal, so they probably hated me.

BTW ,that Maestro was my first ever car I owned after passing my test. I loved it but it broke down on the motorway home from the dealer as they hadn't put things back properly under the bonnet during their pre delivery check. The gear link pin regularly fell out and as a young female I got a lot of admiring looks in the middle of the road with the bonnet up fixing my car (the AA got fed up of me calling them and it was an easy 4 minutes fix). Bits fell of it and it basically fell apart within 18 months, ah the good old days.

neilmcl

The first new car, Audi A3 I don't think I had anything special, then a TT and the whole dealership was out and the car was in a "VIP" area due to it being one of the first TT's in the country, another TT and similar fanfare but no free gifts.

When I moved to BMW the first new car, again some nice treatment and flowers "for the lady wife" even though I'm not married, I also got a few BMW branded trinkets such as a coffee travel mug and branded bottled water. The last BMW was pretty much there's your car, thank you very much and on your way, oh and don't forget to give us a high score on the customer satisfaction survey;)

owen_money

couriervanman wrote: »

well if they do give you a gift etc you can guarantee it will costed in to the price you pay for the car

Dont spoil the magic

EssexExile

Do people still pick up cars just after midnight for the latest registration mark?

Supersonos

I once got a bottle of wine I particularly liked as well as some flowers, chocolates, merchandise etc. The salesman had phoned my wife and asked and then kept it as a "surprise".

Personally I think all the grovelling that sales people do is embarassing. I'd rather they were just friendly, honest, polite and knew every last thing about the car they were selling.

Sadly, in my experience, this is never the case.

motorguy

happyandcontented wrote: »

No, we bought one earlier this year and it was just 'unveiled' in the showroom nothing more.

Yes, as was the case when we got our Merc a couple of years back. All very nicely done but done from the dealership.

motorguy

walwyn1978 wrote: »

Surely if the dealership can splash out on booze and staff time to schmooze you after you’ve already paid for the thing, you perhaps left a bit too much on the table in the deal?

Indeed. If the salesman hasnt burst in tears during negotiation, i havent pushed hard enough.

Although in fairness, some dealerships its "standard practice" to give flowers, or something with the car and make a big thing of it.

I got a MINI branded Umbrella with my MINI instead of flowers - not terribly well thought through as the umbrella was too big to fit in the boot.

motorguy

Supersonos wrote: »

I once got a bottle of wine I particularly liked as well as some flowers, chocolates, merchandise etc. The salesman had phoned my wife and asked and then kept it as a "surprise".

Personally I think all the grovelling that sales people do is embarassing. I'd rather they were just friendly, honest, polite and knew every last thing about the car they were selling.

Sadly, in my experience, this is never the case.

A lot of it is manufacturer driven. The sales people find it as cringeworthy as we do. Having said that theres a balance to be had - its still an occasion to get a new car and its nice to have that acknowledged.

Penelopa.Pitstop

The best I've got, was flowers from Toyota in 2007, when I bought used £10K car. After that, I didn't get anything, and every next car was more expensive.

Mercedes gave me full tank of petrol (how generous of them), Fiat made me pay for full tank of petrol. They said car hasn't enough petrol to get to the closest petrol station.

Other cars were delivered to my home on wheels or flatbed. Considering some good leasing deals I had, I can't exactly complain on not getting gadgets.

And I wouldn't let anyone take my picture with new car and publish it somewhere.

EssexExile wrote: »

Do people still pick up cars just after midnight for the latest registration mark?

I got Mercedres delivered on 31/08 and had to sign document that I won't drive it before 01/09. So I guess, some people get cars delivered to them before official registration date.