Making an offer to a dealer ?

I guess it's probably true that dealers tell you what you want to hear but I've had several conversations with the dealers at collection time and most have explained how they do the majority of their business via the internet/telephone sales to customers who do not live locally. I'm sure it's quite different for independents but with main agents now you go onto the manufacturers website and click, a list of suitable cars all over the country appears. You are not going to pop to Aberdeen, Crewe, Exeter and Colchester on the offchance of a deal. You're going to try and buy one of the cars over the phone to make one trip - to collect.

Most initial enquiries come in by phone/internet, sales people will try to convert these to appointments.
Bums on seats, face to face negotiation still accounts for most of the deals.

The one trip to demo/view/handover thing does happen, however often can get complicated, PX not described correctly, paperwork incomplete, debit card declined, less chance to sell add ons. Particularly if this was happening when busy @ the weekend.

If someone was out of area we'd still try and do it in couple of stages, appointment to view/demo/deal. Then deliver the car FOC a few days later with final prep, valet, paperwork sorted. Most main dealers don't have an admin dept at the weekend for invoicing etc, so any changes tweaks etc became a monumental pain in the ass.

I worked in the Midlands, although we'd happily supply throughout Europe, (Malta and Ireland are RHD) and Asia, the majority of cars were within a 50 mile radius. A few yrs ago when the £/Euro exchange rate was almost @ parity Ireland became a decent market. Deal done on the phone, decent chassis profit but no addons, collect customer from BHX, and wave goodbye, no warranties, RFL etc, and paperwork completed for export.

With more specialised non franchise kit (Porsche, Aston, 4x4s, AMG, M cars, Bentley + the occasional Ferrari/Lambo PXs), we'd carry out an inspection/valet, price it keenly, put it on the website for a week or two and it'd just sell of it's own accord. Once sold (often out of area) we'd carry out any servicing or remedial work then deliver. If not retailed quickly we'd sell it on through the trade before the next book drop.

We were in a fortunate position, huge fleet business with logistics delivering all over the UK. Due to the scale of the operation deliveries didn't cost much and so freed up sales people for selling.

Tts a fair point as well,i have been watching the market for these for a while now. Prices are pretty stable but they are hardly quick sellers either.
As an aside, a fair few I have enquired after at independent dealers whilst having a fully stamped book have NO supporting paperwork to back up the history....I always considered that a negative but in this case it seems 'normal',any ideas on that ?

Exactly, not quick sellers so he could be just shy of his target and there is 2 weeks left in the quarter. It's an opportune moment to try and snatch a deal this time of year

Funny enough I called one servicing dealer (Stratstone) who told me its not policy etc etc, then proceeded to try and sell me a £50k Roadster !!
Just seems a shame to have no paperwork with a car such as this.

Not sure if mentioned here already but on a car like this with the potential for big bills if it goes wrong I would be wanting to buy the best example from a place I was confident would back me up should I experience an issue.

I wouldn't want to pay 38k if they were all on the market at 30k but I would certainly be looking at the overall value of the deal rather than just being to fixated on price.

I also think a car like this should be an exciting purchase make sure you enjoy it and enjoy the deal. The buzz will soon be wiped out if you have any problems and buy from a poor dealer.

Good luck, buying from an enthusiast is always my prefered choice too.

Cheers , Ray, I've pretty much always bought from the owner (and I've had a fair few cars ! ) only once or twice from trader. Just find it easier chatting,looking,getting a 'feel' for the car etc.Sure probably a slightly more risky way of buying but a bit of due diligence and a common sense approach normally works well.
NB: Please God I haven't just jinxed it saying that ...!!
Just as a final thought one of the dealers I tried to haggle with was adamant that he only had 2k in a car he had marked up at 32k so couldn't do any sort of deal, is that really possible for a trader to be exposed for 30 for only a 2 k return somewhere down the line and still, technically at least, have to stand by the car? Seems an unlikely scenario to me .

[quote=buyer&seller]you'd be a mug to swallow it
[/quote]

^^ This.