Ask a car salesman anything...anything at all (Vol. 2).

Ask a car salesman anything...anything at all (Vol. 2).

Author
Discussion

Fast Bug

11,690 posts

161 months

Monday 5th February
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Lease deals are different to drive the deal etc. The dealership may not be able to supply vehicles to the funder for a lease deal as they're not a preferred supplier.

AlexNJ89

2,444 posts

79 months

Tuesday 26th March
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I was wondering if a car dealer has ever been at a car auction where no one bids for the car?

I've seen it where the auctioneer has started too high so he reduces the opening price until someone bids, but how far down will he go until he gives up and classes the car as unsold?

Kevin-2g5x2

14 posts

39 months

Tuesday 26th March
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If a car is entered as 'No Reserve', usually an older 'banger' then if there are no bids it normally goes for £200 as that's what Auction houses know they will get from the scrap yards, otherwise if they get no bids they withdraw it from that sale and the car usually goes into the next sale eventually getting a bid that the vendor is prepared to accept.
Auctions don't give them away, if no bids are received it's all determined by what the vendor is eventually prepared to accept, not many cars ever fail to sell completely.

AlexNJ89

2,444 posts

79 months

Tuesday 26th March
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Kevin-2g5x2 said:
If a car is entered as 'No Reserve', usually an older 'banger' then if there are no bids it normally goes for £200 as that's what Auction houses know they will get from the scrap yards, otherwise if they get no bids they withdraw it from that sale and the car usually goes into the next sale eventually getting a bid that the vendor is prepared to accept.
Auctions don't give them away, if no bids are received it's all determined by what the vendor is eventually prepared to accept, not many cars ever fail to sell completely.
Makes sense, thanks.

Was planning to bid for a 2013 car but it has engine light on etc and was wondering what I'd do if I felt the auctioneer has started the bidding too high.

loskie

5,221 posts

120 months

Tuesday 26th March
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maybe don't bid!?

spikeyhead

17,321 posts

197 months

Tuesday 26th March
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Back in the day of physical auctions, I've seen cars in the block, the auctioneer has taken bids from the door, fire extinguisher and staircase, got no reaction from anyone else so has just sent it away again, only for it to reappear an hour later when a real bid did appear.

AlexNJ89

2,444 posts

79 months

Tuesday 26th March
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loskie said:
maybe don't bid!?
Yeah. I mean for example, I think the car is worth £24k and he starts the bidding at £23k and no one bids. How long do I wait to let him bring the price down?

Drclarke

1,185 posts

173 months

Tuesday 26th March
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AlexNJ89 said:
Yeah. I mean for example, I think the car is worth £24k and he starts the bidding at £23k and no one bids. How long do I wait to let him bring the price down?

LuS1fer

41,135 posts

245 months

Tuesday 26th March
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Does not having a part ex and cash transfer count for anything these days?

I've sold my car but the whole trade seems to be transporting cars hundreds of miles, sight unseen. Though looking at 4 to 6 year old low mile cars, I'm not happy with blind faith.

Fast Bug

11,690 posts

161 months

Tuesday 26th March
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LuS1fer said:
Does not having a part ex and cash transfer count for anything these days?
Sadly you're probably the least desirable customer. No finance commission or part exchange to potential earn money out of.


mrdanbartlett

702 posts

217 months

Wednesday 27th March
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AlexNJ89 said:
I was wondering if a car dealer has ever been at a car auction where no one bids for the car?

I've seen it where the auctioneer has started too high so he reduces the opening price until someone bids, but how far down will he go until he gives up and classes the car as unsold?
Reminds me of a funny story, around 20 years ago my dad and myself used to go to auctions - we enjoyed it, guessing the prices, seeing what came through etc and we've each bought a few cars from auction over the years - back when it was alot cheaper than buying private/dealer.

Anyway once we took my sister and her boyfiend at the time along, an old Citron BX came through, it was pretty shabby but low owners/FSH etc, probably a trade in from someone who had owned it for a long time as a runaround.

Auctioneer starts and nobody is bidding, he starts lowering down, gets to say £100.......then says 'anyone, anyhting?' - sisters BF decides it will be amusing to take a £1 coin out of his pocked and hold it up, auctioneer laughs but says 'OK I HAVE ONE POUND' - and continues on...............nobody else bids and the hammer goes down 'SOLD'. BF's amusment drains from his face as he realises he now owns a shabby BX.

Not ideal but he quickly got the hell out of there. (Probably can't just do that now).

Sebring440

2,011 posts

96 months

Wednesday 27th March
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LuS1fer said:
Does not having a part ex and cash transfer count for anything these days?

I've sold my car but the whole trade seems to be transporting cars hundreds of miles, sight unseen. Though looking at 4 to 6 year old low mile cars, I'm not happy with blind faith.
^^^^ This.

The modern car salesman certainly does not want a "cash" customer to walk into the showroom.


Deep Thought

35,824 posts

197 months

Wednesday 27th March
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LuS1fer said:
Does not having a part ex and cash transfer count for anything these days?

I've sold my car but the whole trade seems to be transporting cars hundreds of miles, sight unseen. Though looking at 4 to 6 year old low mile cars, I'm not happy with blind faith.
By selling a car to a customer for cash and no trade in, the dealer will be losing out on finance commission and potentially the opportunity to retail and make further profit on the trade in.


AlexNJ89

2,444 posts

79 months

Wednesday 27th March
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So in conclusion no, it doesn't count for anything biggrin

LuS1fer

41,135 posts

245 months

Wednesday 27th March
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Deep Thought said:
LuS1fer said:
Does not having a part ex and cash transfer count for anything these days?

I've sold my car but the whole trade seems to be transporting cars hundreds of miles, sight unseen. Though looking at 4 to 6 year old low mile cars, I'm not happy with blind faith.
By selling a car to a customer for cash and no trade in, the dealer will be losing out on finance commission and potentially the opportunity to retail and make further profit on the trade in.
Sure but the car I have sold was an Insignia B so I would speculate a low ball px as they are not best sellers and I imagine a dealer might not want it otherwise so, regardless, I am probably going to come out of it better.

I'm surprised dealers even sell much finance as bank loans tend to be cheaper. The only time I took out finance was to get a deposit contribution and then I paid it off, immediately.

Looks like I will be buying privately then. rofl

blue_haddock

3,205 posts

67 months

Wednesday 27th March
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Fast Bug said:
LuS1fer said:
Does not having a part ex and cash transfer count for anything these days?
Sadly you're probably the least desirable customer. No finance commission or part exchange to potential earn money out of.
Yep Cash no bits is exactly what the dealer doesnt want to happen, yes its a car sold and out the door but with no possible finance/insurance commission or PX to make a few quid on by selling you are the least popular sale for the dealer.

Despite what WBAC try to tell you, you wont get a better deal by not having a PX

CharlesdeGaulle

26,266 posts

180 months

Wednesday 27th March
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blue_haddock said:
Fast Bug said:
LuS1fer said:
Does not having a part ex and cash transfer count for anything these days?
Sadly you're probably the least desirable customer. No finance commission or part exchange to potential earn money out of.
Yep Cash no bits is exactly what the dealer doesnt want to happen, yes its a car sold and out the door but with no possible finance/insurance commission or PX to make a few quid on by selling you are the least popular sale for the dealer.

Despite what WBAC try to tell you, you wont get a better deal by not having a PX
Sure, you won't get a 'better' deal but you probably won't get a 'worse' one either, unless you really are rubbish at negotiating. Most cars are sensibly-priced at dealers these days because it's so easy to compare and contrast; turning up with your bank card burning a hole in your pocket will still get you a car. Furthermore, you're likely to have to endure the cringey sales techniques for less time as the salesman isn't having to suck his teeth as he values your Insignia p/x.

Deep Thought

35,824 posts

197 months

Wednesday 27th March
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LuS1fer said:
Sure but the car I have sold was an Insignia B so I would speculate a low ball px as they are not best sellers and I imagine a dealer might not want it otherwise so, regardless, I am probably going to come out of it better.

I'm surprised dealers even sell much finance as bank loans tend to be cheaper. The only time I took out finance was to get a deposit contribution and then I paid it off, immediately.

Looks like I will be buying privately then. rofl
Oh absolutely. But they'd rather be selling the car you're buying to someone with a retail quality trade in and whos taking finance.

So they might for example be more reluctant to offer any discount, or you might have to push a little bit more to keep them engaged.

They might be happy enough of course. They might not give a stuff really.

I bought my M2 in Nov 22 with no trade in and a bank transfer for the full amount. They didnt seem to mind. But you do hear of people who are struggling to get the dealers to engage with them once they know its a cash sale.







Edited by Deep Thought on Wednesday 27th March 16:19

mrdanbartlett

702 posts

217 months

Thursday 28th March
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LuS1fer said:
Sure but the car I have sold was an Insignia B so I would speculate a low ball px as they are not best sellers and I imagine a dealer might not want it otherwise so, regardless, I am probably going to come out of it better.

I'm surprised dealers even sell much finance as bank loans tend to be cheaper. The only time I took out finance was to get a deposit contribution and then I paid it off, immediately.

Looks like I will be buying privately then. rofl
I would assume:

1) most get 'PCP' or whatever its called where you eseentially just pay the depreciation as its 'cheaper' than a bank loan (obv you dont get to own the car though but peoeple just see a monthly figure!)
2) people aren't usually that diligent with money, i.e looking at interest rates, shopping around, looking at actual overall cost etc - its just 'less hassle' to do it all at the dealership, people can generally be a bit 'penny wise pound shy' - i.e they care about smnall amounts but don't bother with the larger ones.

Sorry for my sweeping generalisations!

I'm same as you, I just sell and buy privately for cash, I'm a dealers lowest priority customer no doubt.

AlexNJ89

2,444 posts

79 months

Tuesday 9th April
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At auctions like BCA, how often is bidding off the wall happening?

If the car hasn't met reserve, it's legal for the auctioneer to take bids off the wall up until the reserve, right?

I ask because I was bidding for a car and it had already been round the auction once before, went down to £22k and didn't get a single bid.

Then the second time around the auctioneer started the bidding at £24k, no bids, he dropped it to £22k and bidding started so I bid too, then I ended up getting bid up to £23.5k. But it didn't meet reserve.

So when I got home I was wondering how it didn't get a single bid at £22k, yet the following week two people were willing to pay more.

Was I just bidding against the wall?