Inchcape Reading - just how hard is it to buy from them?
Discussion
Had my eye on a 3 series touring to replace my Macan S in a downsizing move. Still want to sit in something half decent and never owned a Beemer in my VW/Audi/Porsche life.
Price tracker shows they hiked the price by £500 then offered a £500 discount on finance deals. The car is already top heavy but I called them, offered £800 less than their previous lower advertised price (£18,500) on a £19,300 car. The "sales" guy said he'd speak to his manager "all cars priced by HQ based on current market" blah blah.
24 hours no call came. Stuck a £99 online deposit on it, no call back. Another day passed so rang to speak to sales director/manager. Nobody in the office. Passed through to another rep, offer repeated and call back promised but another day, nothing.
Are these guys serious about selling anything or is it a game they play with sub asking price punters?
Price tracker shows they hiked the price by £500 then offered a £500 discount on finance deals. The car is already top heavy but I called them, offered £800 less than their previous lower advertised price (£18,500) on a £19,300 car. The "sales" guy said he'd speak to his manager "all cars priced by HQ based on current market" blah blah.
24 hours no call came. Stuck a £99 online deposit on it, no call back. Another day passed so rang to speak to sales director/manager. Nobody in the office. Passed through to another rep, offer repeated and call back promised but another day, nothing.
Are these guys serious about selling anything or is it a game they play with sub asking price punters?
I gave them full opportunity to sell to me at asking, "speak to my manager and call you back". But no call, even a "can't help, take it or leave it". Why entertain an offer rather than be firm and say "sorry, if you'd like the car, pay the price".
WBAC has it at £13k. My Macan sold got £45k, WBAC £40k and expect the Porsche dealer who bought it havebit on for £55k in the next few days.
I guess I'm just rubbed up by their £500 hike when all others are moving south. Play a game or cough up?
WBAC has it at £13k. My Macan sold got £45k, WBAC £40k and expect the Porsche dealer who bought it havebit on for £55k in the next few days.
I guess I'm just rubbed up by their £500 hike when all others are moving south. Play a game or cough up?
No, car was listed on AT for £19,300. I didn't contact them with any expression of interest until my car had sold and cash in bank. In the meantime, three days ago, they hiked price to £19,800 (other BMW dealers have similar car at £18,700). I offered £18,500 vs £19,300 original asking. Upped my offer today to £19,300, (original asking) but told it's £19,800 but free tank of fuel.
I offered to pay in full today if deal can be done and collect car mid April when back from hols but given bulls
t that they can't count it as a sale until car leaves their premises.
Their staff are not sales people, they are order takers. The car is £1k overpriced comparing like with like on BMW forecourts. £3k compared to one's on Cinch, Big Motoring World etc.
I offered to pay in full today if deal can be done and collect car mid April when back from hols but given bulls
t that they can't count it as a sale until car leaves their premises.Their staff are not sales people, they are order takers. The car is £1k overpriced comparing like with like on BMW forecourts. £3k compared to one's on Cinch, Big Motoring World etc.
Yep, they're offering £500 off via finance after having added £500 in time for their "special offer". I've asked for a finance illustration to include that deal but nothing forthcoming.
I use an Autotrader price tracker and will continue my search whilst I believe Inchcape Reading call handlers would rather hold out for that £500 than inject another unit and £29k into their business this month/tax year.
Thank feck Virgin Media are easier to deal with as I negotiated their renewal down from £64 to £20 a month.
I use an Autotrader price tracker and will continue my search whilst I believe Inchcape Reading call handlers would rather hold out for that £500 than inject another unit and £29k into their business this month/tax year.
Thank feck Virgin Media are easier to deal with as I negotiated their renewal down from £64 to £20 a month.
Richard-390a0 said:
PistonBust said:
I offered to pay in full today if deal can be done and collect car mid April when back from hols
Pay in full but wants a couple of weeks free parking thrown in too & you wonder why they're not rushing to phone you back when someone else might pay & drive away before then lol!!!When I employed sales people, if I found out they'd let a ready, willing & able customer slip from their fingers, I'd have given them a warning or worse.
The issue is not about how cheeky I am with the initial offer but the lack of response and any effort to convert me. I remember when Porsche dealers used to turn their nose up if you went in with scruffy jeans but those days are gone and every lead should be followed up to convert phone calls to sales.
I've reached out to a couple of other sellers and the responses much better than Inchcape have been. Fingers crossed they're stuck with overpriced stock as the year end closes.
I really appreciate the contrasting views, as a retired commercial pilot I was taught to consider all options then make a decision based on all viewpoints. Inchcape could have possibly squeezed full asking from me but to ignore calls had me looking elsewhere and I'm talking to Sytner, Arnold Clarke a Ford dealer with a trade in and a respected independent about 4 other cars. One of them will get my business, Inchcape won't.
Just to confirm, I would be happy to buy at the original price the car was listed at when Inchcape first put it on Autotrader 4 weeks ago. It's the £500 hike they added a week ago that coincides with their "£500 dealer finance contribution" offer.
I asked them to produce an illustration of finance even though I can see this myself on their website but I asked for confirmation I could pay off and cancel the finance within a cooling off period. I've had no response.
Presumably the original price Inchcape asked was calculated to meet their margins. To hike priced in this market is opportunist when all other similar cars saved to my favourites are going down. Arnold Clarke just chopped £1,500 off a similar one (and it is this car I'm likely to buy).
If the sales admin clerks can't see I'm not a time waster then god help their business. The used car market may have changed with the advent of car supermarkets but good manners seem to have gone out of fashion too.
I have specifically asked all the people I have spoken to "will you receive a commission if you sell me this car?", they have all replied yes so the pure salaried position isn't with all dealers.
When I was a young sales rep, one customer was asking for a better discount on a large multi million pound order. I told him I'd speak to my boss and get back to him. His reply was to leave his office and send my boss in next time as he didn't want to do business with a puppet. I got more authority for pricing after then.
It always amuses me (last 3 Porsche purchases as experience) that a salesman always disappears to speak to his boss for what seems an age (some technique to let you stew I guess). At the end of the day I waved some notes at Inchcape but their order takers have neither the skill or authority to convert that to a sale.
Try selling a car, to anyone, trade, WBAC, private, I've done them all in the last two years, each type of buyer socks air through their teeth and chips you back for any number of stock reasons. I'll just play the dealers at their own game and if I feel a car is expensive against comparable but want it because of colour preference, I'll tell them. There is no reason to pay £1,000 more for one (common) colour over another just because the dealer is an opportunist.
I asked them to produce an illustration of finance even though I can see this myself on their website but I asked for confirmation I could pay off and cancel the finance within a cooling off period. I've had no response.
Presumably the original price Inchcape asked was calculated to meet their margins. To hike priced in this market is opportunist when all other similar cars saved to my favourites are going down. Arnold Clarke just chopped £1,500 off a similar one (and it is this car I'm likely to buy).
If the sales admin clerks can't see I'm not a time waster then god help their business. The used car market may have changed with the advent of car supermarkets but good manners seem to have gone out of fashion too.
I have specifically asked all the people I have spoken to "will you receive a commission if you sell me this car?", they have all replied yes so the pure salaried position isn't with all dealers.
When I was a young sales rep, one customer was asking for a better discount on a large multi million pound order. I told him I'd speak to my boss and get back to him. His reply was to leave his office and send my boss in next time as he didn't want to do business with a puppet. I got more authority for pricing after then.
It always amuses me (last 3 Porsche purchases as experience) that a salesman always disappears to speak to his boss for what seems an age (some technique to let you stew I guess). At the end of the day I waved some notes at Inchcape but their order takers have neither the skill or authority to convert that to a sale.
Try selling a car, to anyone, trade, WBAC, private, I've done them all in the last two years, each type of buyer socks air through their teeth and chips you back for any number of stock reasons. I'll just play the dealers at their own game and if I feel a car is expensive against comparable but want it because of colour preference, I'll tell them. There is no reason to pay £1,000 more for one (common) colour over another just because the dealer is an opportunist.
Edited by PistonBust on Sunday 31st March 19:20
CLK-GTR said:
It's a good indicator of value if you absolutely must sell your car that day without delay. Its not a good indicator of a car's true value that could be attained if you shop around or list it yourself.
I've not had a lot of luck selling privately the last twice, both Porsche, a Boxster S at £37k and a Macan S at £47k. There are just no private buyers despite the cars being slightly above WBAC and £8-10k less than a Porsche dealer. Both cars with a minimum of 2 years pukka Porsche warranty. Both cars went back into the trade (I was happy with the price) and next week up on the dealers website for some lucky person to buy but paying for the warm fuzzyness of a showroom with coffee machine, finance, trade in etc.Back to the BMW. Inchcape neglected to refund my £100 so I chased it up, the sales manager got back to me and said I could still purchase the car at the new asking and I politely declined. I see they have just reduced it back towards the original asking so people hardly biting their hand off.
Found another one at Arden, Maidstone. Negotiations advanced, price agreed (and yes they did negotiate). Salesperson sends me a nice video of the car, I email back to go ahead, got autoresponder. The next day, she's back in the office but a colleague sold it to a walk in customer. She hadn't put a marker on the car nor asked me for a deposit.
Third time lucky, BMW Bolton list one, the pics are still as it was traded in with minor scuffs, all 4 alloys shot but priced very competively (same price as the Inchcape car but two years newer). Email dialogue with sales person, prompt reply, negotiated their £500 cashback on finance deal off a cash purchase. Car to be prepped and through the bodyshop etc. Car held without deposit for 24 hours for final decision then taken off market for £500 refundable reservation fee for me to say yes/no after seeing the car and test driving it when I get back to the UK in a couple of weeks. Top marks to Bolton BMW and their sales guy, this is exactly how to do business.
Even though the Inchcape car is now within £300 of my offer, they haven't even bothered to call. They're hanging out for their extra 1.5% I guess.
To close this off, I travelled up to Bolton yesterday to collect the car. Williams were excellent, as part of the prep, they had refurbed all the wheels, put new discs and pads on the front, replaced all four tyres, had the bodyshop attend to a couple of minor scrapes. The valet was more like an expensive detail, the car was spotless.
They met me at the station, and filled the car up with fuel for my drive home.
The service from them has been nothing short of excellent and I'd highly recommend them. Top marks to Sham, thank you mate.
As for Inchcape Reading or the shysters at Arden Maidstone, you guys have a lot to learn from dealers who care about customer satisfaction! They have the highest review score of the three dealerships I had contact with too.
https://www.williamsgroup.co.uk/bmw/contact-us/bol...
They met me at the station, and filled the car up with fuel for my drive home.
The service from them has been nothing short of excellent and I'd highly recommend them. Top marks to Sham, thank you mate.
As for Inchcape Reading or the shysters at Arden Maidstone, you guys have a lot to learn from dealers who care about customer satisfaction! They have the highest review score of the three dealerships I had contact with too.
https://www.williamsgroup.co.uk/bmw/contact-us/bol...
Benbay001 said:
I know this thread is getting a bit old, but it reminded me why i used to waste so long on pistonheads.
Not sure what your point is? My gainful employment spanned 50 years with a career change about half way through. Being worldly & well travelled enables me to spot crap service the moment I see it ;-)PistonBust said:
as a retired commercial pilot
PistonBust said:
When I was a young sales rep
PistonBust said:
When I employed sales people
Odd how my lifetime of buying Ford, Audi & Porsche went without much of a glitch but my first two experiences of BMW main dealers wasn't good. Name & shame, the power of the internet.
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