Used Car Dealers
Discussion
oldnbold said:
daemon said:
Seriously???????????
WHY do you think you know more about the guys business than he does himself????
Discounting heavily is NOT how to sell cars.
Actually daemon discounting cars heavily IS the way to sell cars, anyfool can sell cars with big discounts, but not to make a decent profit and run a sustainable business.WHY do you think you know more about the guys business than he does himself????
Discounting heavily is NOT how to sell cars.
If the dealer has had the car for 13 weeks it may now be at the price that it owes him (SIV)so he has no room to offer a discount.
In fact its often better to sell old stock to the trade and take a loss, than retail it for a very small profit and then have to stand by it when the customer comes back with problems.
oldnbold said:
In your "expert opinion" what time frame should a dealer hang onto a car then?
Some dealers even have stock that celebrate a birthday with them.
Celebrate a birthday with them?!? Seriously?!Some dealers even have stock that celebrate a birthday with them.
Re timescales, not sure but I guess 13 weeks and counting can't be good for said dealer.
Why would you, as a dealer, not enter into a discussion with a punter stood in front of you with the funds ready to go. Establish his bottom line, work out a deal or take his number just in case.
Unless you're a fool, this is what you would do surely.
PGNTuscan said:
And a dealer sitting on a car for 13 weeks needs to make a move. Trade out or discount and move on. Same in any business.
Well clearly they dont. Clearly they're happy to hold on for that £8995 for the car coming into the season when the car is most likely to sell.You dont know their business. You dont know their cashflow. You dont know their mindset. But yet you described them as fools.
As has been said previously, everyone is a car sales 'expert' on forums.....
ThePlanner said:
Some car dealers including the ones on here need to realise that cars are only worth what a punter will pay. Doesnt matter what other dealers have or what they list them for. dealers could be in different areas of the country.
YOU werent prepared to pay it. Doesnt mean someone else wont. The dealer is the 'expert' here. Not you. Your pride has been dented because you didnt get 'a deal'. Doesnt make them wrong and you right.
ThePlanner said:
When i got my XC90 i paid a little over 8000 for it, but economics at the time the dealer wanted shot of it and made loss. But it made space on his forecourt where he sold 2 cars in a month where the XC90 was stood for 6 weeks earning him no money and taking up space.
And that was that dealers perrogative based on THEIR business at THAT time. Doesnt mean doing the same thing for THAT Subaru was right for THAT dealer at THAT time.
daemon said:
ThePlanner said:
Some car dealers including the ones on here need to realise that cars are only worth what a punter will pay. Doesnt matter what other dealers have or what they list them for. dealers could be in different areas of the country.
YOU werent prepared to pay it. Doesnt mean someone else wont. The dealer is the 'expert' here. Not you. Your pride has been dented because you didnt get 'a deal'. Doesnt make them wrong and you right.
ThePlanner said:
When i got my XC90 i paid a little over 8000 for it, but economics at the time the dealer wanted shot of it and made loss. But it made space on his forecourt where he sold 2 cars in a month where the XC90 was stood for 6 weeks earning him no money and taking up space.
And that was that dealers perrogative based on THEIR business at THAT time. Doesnt mean doing the same thing for THAT Subaru was right for THAT dealer at THAT time.PGNTuscan said:
Celebrate a birthday with them?!? Seriously?!
Re timescales, not sure but I guess 13 weeks and counting can't be good for said dealer.
Why would you, as a dealer, not enter into a discussion with a punter stood in front of you with the funds ready to go. Establish his bottom line, work out a deal or take his number just in case.
Unless you're a fool, this is what you would do surely.
Its not unusual for dealers to hold stock for months rather than weeks. On large volume main stream cars, monthly book drops (depreciation) normally means that with in 3 months others are selling the same car for what it owes you. This is known as the stand in value (SIV = purchase price + prep costs). But this is not a volume main stream car.Re timescales, not sure but I guess 13 weeks and counting can't be good for said dealer.
Why would you, as a dealer, not enter into a discussion with a punter stood in front of you with the funds ready to go. Establish his bottom line, work out a deal or take his number just in case.
Unless you're a fool, this is what you would do surely.
Some dealers will trade the car out when close to the SIV, others, mainly large main dealer groups, will write the SIV down each month in line with book drops.
We don't actually know how much face to face discussion went on regarding the price, but as has already been said the dealer probably had a very good reason for not wishing to reduce the price.
Agreed normally to at least find out the best price that the OP would pay would be good practise. Having worked in sales at a main dealer, one of my early lessons in closing a deal from my very experienced work mates was to simply ask the customer how much they wanted to pay. Negotiations could then move forward.
Any salesman at a main franchised dealer would probably not have even shown the car until he had a name and phone number in the system, but this is a used dealer, who may well just use experience and gut instinct rather than a sales process.
oldnbold said:
ThePlanner said:
If the dealer was an expert he would not have stock for 13 weeks
How long should he have a car in stock for?ThePlanner said:
oldnbold said:
ThePlanner said:
If the dealer was an expert he would not have stock for 13 weeks
How long should he have a car in stock for?At the end of the day all dealers / salesmen want to sell cars, but there is no point in selling at a price that would represent a loss or little profit. Particularly at a time were stock is both hard to find and expensive to buy.
It can be very frustrating for customers who often look at £9k cars believing they will get it for £8.5k when they find the seller wont move.
Some of the cheapest cars around are at the large car supermarkets, try getting any discount there. They work on the stack em high sell em cheap principle and move a lot of units. But theres a reason they are cheap.
It can be very frustrating for customers who often look at £9k cars believing they will get it for £8.5k when they find the seller wont move.
Some of the cheapest cars around are at the large car supermarkets, try getting any discount there. They work on the stack em high sell em cheap principle and move a lot of units. But theres a reason they are cheap.
oldnbold said:
At the end of the day all dealers / salesmen want to sell cars, but there is no point in selling at a price that would represent a loss or little profit. Particularly at a time were stock is both hard to find and expensive to buy.
It can be very frustrating for customers who often look at £9k cars believing they will get it for £8.5k when they find the seller wont move.
Some of the cheapest cars around are at the large car supermarkets, try getting any discount there. They work on the stack em high sell em cheap principle and move a lot of units. But theres a reason they are cheap.
+1It can be very frustrating for customers who often look at £9k cars believing they will get it for £8.5k when they find the seller wont move.
Some of the cheapest cars around are at the large car supermarkets, try getting any discount there. They work on the stack em high sell em cheap principle and move a lot of units. But theres a reason they are cheap.
Actually they will charge you an "admin fee" on top of the advertised price so you can buy it.
Oh, you want it serviced? An extra £150.
Valeted? Sure. £100 please.
oldnbold said:
At the end of the day all dealers / salesmen want to sell cars, but there is no point in selling at a price that would represent a loss or little profit. Particularly at a time were stock is both hard to find and expensive to buy.
It can be very frustrating for customers who often look at £9k cars believing they will get it for £8.5k when they find the seller wont move.
Some of the cheapest cars around are at the large car supermarkets, try getting any discount there. They work on the stack em high sell em cheap principle and move a lot of units. But theres a reason they are cheap.
Question is so you take a small profit now to free up some working capital, or do you hang in there as you don't think you can do anything better with the capital. It can be very frustrating for customers who often look at £9k cars believing they will get it for £8.5k when they find the seller wont move.
Some of the cheapest cars around are at the large car supermarkets, try getting any discount there. They work on the stack em high sell em cheap principle and move a lot of units. But theres a reason they are cheap.
Only the individual can tell us - but plenty of businesses get it wrong.
I have seen dealers hold cars for 6 mths after asking above market price and not doing a deal over £200 - you can't help but think they have it got wrong...
PGNTuscan said:
daemon said:
As has been said previously, everyone is a car sales 'expert' on forums.....
Yep, especially you.....and your track recordAs i've said, out of it full time, now part time trading.
How many cars have you sold?
Whats your experience on how the motor trade works?
Oh, thats right, you "bought a car" recently, so now you're an internet expert on how to run a car business.
PGNTuscan said:
oldnbold said:
In your "expert opinion" what time frame should a dealer hang onto a car then?
Some dealers even have stock that celebrate a birthday with them.
Celebrate a birthday with them?!? Seriously?!Some dealers even have stock that celebrate a birthday with them.
Re timescales, not sure but I guess 13 weeks and counting can't be good for said dealer.
Why would you, as a dealer, not enter into a discussion with a punter stood in front of you with the funds ready to go. Establish his bottom line, work out a deal or take his number just in case.
Unless you're a fool, this is what you would do surely.
Approach with the wrong attitude and the dealer is unlikely to play ball. As you found out. And as the O/P found out.
If thats the dealers price, thats their price.
Doesnt mean their business model is wrong. One of the most successful traders i know - has four franchises and without doubt a millionaire - will cheerfully keep a car on his forecourt for 6 months. Just waits....
ThePlanner said:
oldnbold said:
ThePlanner said:
If the dealer was an expert he would not have stock for 13 weeks
How long should he have a car in stock for?However, the corsa now trades for £4.25k but with prep and the cost of stocking finance it owes you £5.25K.
So do you hang onto it or trade it? Trading it is a definate £1k loss, but keeping it and sell at say £6k you will just make a profit.
ThePlanner said:
oldnbold said:
ThePlanner said:
If the dealer was an expert he would not have stock for 13 weeks
How long should he have a car in stock for?There'll be an overhead assigned to that car - a house charge to cover its share of costs. That isnt added on weekly.
If they can afford to wait, whats the problem?
Motor trading isnt a fire sale. Its not about selling as many cars as you can.
steve singh said:
ThePlanner said:
oldnbold said:
ThePlanner said:
If the dealer was an expert he would not have stock for 13 weeks
How long should he have a car in stock for?If hes any sense he has it stocked at £6,500 and hes just biding his time.
I've a rather nice 2008 Grand Scenic 7 seater at the moment. 1.6 Petrol, top spec, 6 speed, all the toys. 69K FRSH. Long MOT. Stands me £2345. Drove it straight home, needed no prep at all. I've it on at £3695. Are they are great seller? No. Will i have to wait? Yes. Do i care? No. Would i take £3000 for it in the morning? No. Because theres an easy £1200 profit in it even with a bit of discount, if i am prepared to wait.
ThePlanner said:
I would not expect a discount at a car supermarket as they make there money in high turn over. At best I would expect not to pay the £99 admin fee
But I would never buy from there as I would not buy a eurobox
???????????????But I would never buy from there as I would not buy a eurobox
And therein lies the problem - your perceptions.
Car supermarkets are rarely much cheaper than a mainstream dealer but a mainstream dealer can generally be talked to a bit on the price.
But its your PERCEPTION they are cheap, in the same way as its your PERCEPTION that the subaru dealer should have given you money off.
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