Mild rant about dealer prices!
Mild rant about dealer prices!
Author
Discussion

Rochester TVR

Original Poster:

3,314 posts

235 months

Wednesday 28th May 2008
quotequote all
Since selling my Sagaris last year I have been looking to get back into the fold and have been paying close attention to the classifields of T350's and Tamora's

One car in particular caught my eye a couple of weeks ago advertised on Autotrader for £16,500... Ive just noticed the car is now also up for sale (on SOR i guess) at a well known dealer in the South for £21,500!

Time and time again I see dealers (2 in particular) advertising their cars at way above the rest of the market, how do these companies stay in business??

One quick look at either autotrader or PH shows that it is vastly overpriced compared to what else is in the market...

Im guessing that the current owner would have agreed to take around £15,000 to £15,500 so thats a £6000 price increase...!

Why?!




2 sMoKiN bArReLs

32,019 posts

264 months

Wednesday 28th May 2008
quotequote all
Yeh, but,

Probably a grand for p/x
Probably a grand to give away

Then the inherrent risk of summat breaking

Plus rent/rates/coffee etc

Toobin

1,222 posts

263 months

Wednesday 28th May 2008
quotequote all
In fairness you do get a free coffee with said dealer which is surely worth the extra £££, its instant too biggrin

jvr

789 posts

276 months

Wednesday 28th May 2008
quotequote all
Plus you get a warranty that covers everything,as the say.rolleyes

Dr K

196 posts

244 months

Wednesday 28th May 2008
quotequote all
Just goes to show you should have snapped it up when it was £16500

bobd

973 posts

249 months

Wednesday 28th May 2008
quotequote all
Then theres the VAT, Corporation Tax, faults to fix etc etc.
Thats just the way it is 4-5K either side

shake n bake

2,221 posts

236 months

Wednesday 28th May 2008
quotequote all
its about right, its prep and profit. buy privately and take the risks, a decent dealer takes the risk on for you.

hallsie

2,185 posts

249 months

Wednesday 28th May 2008
quotequote all
I have recently approached a few dealers about either SOR or part exing my Tuscan 2
They either want to sell it for £27,000 and give me £21 or just offer a paltry sum against another TVR despite their high prices in the first place.
Seems like they want to 'nick a bit' off of both sides of the deal........

Profit is not a dirty word, however, it does chafe my arse when im getting screwed both ways!

Stu

bobd

973 posts

249 months

Wednesday 28th May 2008
quotequote all
hallsie said:
I have recently approached a few dealers about either SOR or part exing my Tuscan 2
They either want to sell it for £27,000 and give me £21 or just offer a paltry sum against another TVR despite their high prices in the first place.
Seems like they want to 'nick a bit' off of both sides of the deal........

Profit is not a dirty word, however, it does chafe my arse when im getting screwed both ways!

Stu
Chafe my arse!rofl Well and truly chafed at £7k SOR

glow worm

7,436 posts

256 months

Thursday 29th May 2008
quotequote all
The RAC warranty I got on a 2nd hand Chim from a dealer cost them £500. So the warranty arguement hardly justifies the addition cost, greed I'm sure.

Rochester TVR

Original Poster:

3,314 posts

235 months

Thursday 29th May 2008
quotequote all
Dr K said:
Just goes to show you should have snapped it up when it was £16500
Funny thing is its still up for £16,500 on autotrader...

I wonder what the break down is of the £6000 (or so) that is added on to the car is?


2 sMoKiN bArReLs

32,019 posts

264 months

Thursday 29th May 2008
quotequote all
In any other industry, that level of gp would be considered low! (Think of the margins you or your firm usually make)

Far Eastender

1,362 posts

247 months

Thursday 29th May 2008
quotequote all
At the end of the day, I'll only buy a car that I want based on two factors:

1. How much I want it.

2. If I can afford it.

Who makes what on the deal is neither here nor there.

Ubernoober

534 posts

239 months

Thursday 29th May 2008
quotequote all
I'm self-employed so don't begrudge anybody's fees or profit (after all, I charge enough!). You need to ask yourself some basic questions like...

how much is the salary bill for the staff
how much do you want for yourself
how much for the premises
how much for warranty purchase
how much for other operational stuff
how much for parts, fuel, of your own cars
how much to put by for the lean times
how much interst on the bank loans to buy the cars you're going to sell in the first place
and don't forget HMC&E
nor the Revenue.....

Excluding the original purchase cost of the cars, a £150k pa turnover is small potatoes these days, but just to get to this level you would have to sell 25 cars at this profit - or 50 where the profit is only £3k

that's a lot of cars - and you've got to source them first!

Everyone has to eat and pay the mortgage.

Derek Smith

49,799 posts

277 months

Thursday 29th May 2008
quotequote all
Legally, an item is worth what it will bring, what it can be sold for. If the item is not worth the asking price then no one will buy it. If someone does buy it, then it is worth that price.

If you go to a dealer they will have a selection of cars there for you delight and delectation so they are convenient. I was at a dealers last week and they had a choice of Chims, and all the T-cars including a choice of Sagaris.

They give you money in PX for your car and then they have to either put it into auction and probably lose a bit or fettle it themselves and then try and sell it. If they choose the latter then they are losing money initially. There's the work they are doing on the car, the repairing of any faults, a service, touching up the paintwork, a full valet and then the damn thing sits on the forecourt waiting for someone to buy it. And all the while the advertising and siplay costs are adding to the overheads. If there are two salesmen, they eat into the profits as well.

Further, there is the guarantee, and not only the one on paper. Three times I've done checks on stories of poor service by dealers that have been posted on here. Each time I've found that the dealer has gone more than halfway despite the fact that in all cases they were not legally obliged to do so.

And there is the SDale of Good Act, and its many modifications that does allow a certain degree of security when you buy from a dealer.

Now the mark-up might not, in your opinion, be worth it. You have the ultimate sanction - go private.

One thing which is of benefit to current owners is the fact that such dealers maintain the price of s/h TVRs.

Lastly, TVR dealers do not make massive profits. Gatwick TVR went under despite providing excellent service to its customers.

rev-erend

21,620 posts

313 months

Thursday 29th May 2008
quotequote all
Totally agree with the posts above.

If you want to save money - go private.

Instections and warrantys can still be added as a private buyer but you might have to trek half way round the country to buy what you first saw in the local dealers show rooms. The seller might insist on you insuring his car before a test drive etc..