Another of those 'car dealer not interested' threads
Discussion
Sorry to have a moan and I know these always crop up but I had a poor experience today.
Went to view an Audi A4 at an independent Audi 'specialist' and said I had come to see a particular car. Chap I speak to is perfectly pleasant and gives me the keys and paperwork to the car to have a nosey while he continues to deal with other customers. So far so good.
Unfortunately the service history isn't all in the folder, the car is on Linglongs all round (on a 200bhp turbo!), and the interior is filthy. A previous MOT suggested it needed the front brakes doing but there's no sign of it having been done.
Chap comes over and says, sorry, but I'm going out for a pre-booked test drive, I'm going to get so-and-so to speak to you. Again, not a problem, except when the other chap comes over it appears he's been watching too much Minder:
'You been looking at that one? It's not prepped. It's not been valeted. That's not the way to go about putting cars on a forecourt but we've only had it 2 weeks.'
I mention the ditch finders and brakes, wondering if it's been a bit neglected.
'Look, when we inspect it anything that needs doing will be done. All we've been doing is part exing BMWs and Mercedes for the Quattros.'
Okay says I, how do I arrange a test drive?
'We don't do test drives unless you're committed to buying it. Way things are you don't know if someone's going to crash the car. If you want it we can drive you in it but only after you've agreed an offer. I pay £24,000 per year for my insurance. We're too busy to do test drives. I'm not even supposed to be here, it's my day off. If you went to an Audi garage you wouldn't be able to test drive a used car, only a new one, and even then you'd have to wait 3 days.'
Righty ho, says I, I'll be going then. Totally baffling. I suspect that because I'm 26 he essentially didn't like the look of me. Irony is that I had the means to buy the car outright there and then if it was the correct one.
Went to view an Audi A4 at an independent Audi 'specialist' and said I had come to see a particular car. Chap I speak to is perfectly pleasant and gives me the keys and paperwork to the car to have a nosey while he continues to deal with other customers. So far so good.
Unfortunately the service history isn't all in the folder, the car is on Linglongs all round (on a 200bhp turbo!), and the interior is filthy. A previous MOT suggested it needed the front brakes doing but there's no sign of it having been done.
Chap comes over and says, sorry, but I'm going out for a pre-booked test drive, I'm going to get so-and-so to speak to you. Again, not a problem, except when the other chap comes over it appears he's been watching too much Minder:
'You been looking at that one? It's not prepped. It's not been valeted. That's not the way to go about putting cars on a forecourt but we've only had it 2 weeks.'
I mention the ditch finders and brakes, wondering if it's been a bit neglected.
'Look, when we inspect it anything that needs doing will be done. All we've been doing is part exing BMWs and Mercedes for the Quattros.'
Okay says I, how do I arrange a test drive?
'We don't do test drives unless you're committed to buying it. Way things are you don't know if someone's going to crash the car. If you want it we can drive you in it but only after you've agreed an offer. I pay £24,000 per year for my insurance. We're too busy to do test drives. I'm not even supposed to be here, it's my day off. If you went to an Audi garage you wouldn't be able to test drive a used car, only a new one, and even then you'd have to wait 3 days.'
Righty ho, says I, I'll be going then. Totally baffling. I suspect that because I'm 26 he essentially didn't like the look of me. Irony is that I had the means to buy the car outright there and then if it was the correct one.
mrmr96 said:
All these posts end like that.
He still sounds like a nob though.
It's true though unfortunately. It wasn't priced at bottom end of market and their website (I know, I know) makes a big fuss about how they are a specialist, only deal with Audis, all cars to exacting standards before being put on sale, etc. I don't want to quote verbatim as a veiled name and shame but I was looking to buy rather than tyre kick.He still sounds like a nob though.
I have certainly had some poor experiences lately. I am sure you do, as a dealer, get some test pilots.
I went to a pre arranged viewing for am M3.
Got to the dealer on a sunday. He has a warehouse full of cars. The car I want to look at is literally right at the back. It would have taken him half an hour just to get the car out. Given that I had called a day earlier I would have thought it would have been somewhere more accessible. Granted I got a good look around the car and documents.
But I struggle to see how you can agree a price on a car you have not test drove. You could agree a ball park figure.
Suffice to say I purchased a car elsewhere.
Given the state of the car market at the minute I would have thought dealers would be more appeasing to customers.
Or have I got it wrong?
I went to a pre arranged viewing for am M3.
Got to the dealer on a sunday. He has a warehouse full of cars. The car I want to look at is literally right at the back. It would have taken him half an hour just to get the car out. Given that I had called a day earlier I would have thought it would have been somewhere more accessible. Granted I got a good look around the car and documents.
But I struggle to see how you can agree a price on a car you have not test drove. You could agree a ball park figure.
Suffice to say I purchased a car elsewhere.
Given the state of the car market at the minute I would have thought dealers would be more appeasing to customers.
Or have I got it wrong?
Stories like this make me feel like I should recount a similar story from way back.
I was young(ish) and looking at getting my first Mkiv Supra. I wasn't loaded and so was looking at the low end cars which in 2001 was around £8000. I had a borderline shed of a 205 Gti I went to an importer near southampton and they had the exact same attitude in that they wanted me to commit to buy before a test drive, very pushy and just off putting and so I walked.
At Pearl of Wokingham next week and despite my youthfulness and dubious current car they let me take the Mkiv Supra the had for sale out on my own! May be that's borderline foolhardy and too far the other way, all I know is it got that car sold for them.
I was young(ish) and looking at getting my first Mkiv Supra. I wasn't loaded and so was looking at the low end cars which in 2001 was around £8000. I had a borderline shed of a 205 Gti I went to an importer near southampton and they had the exact same attitude in that they wanted me to commit to buy before a test drive, very pushy and just off putting and so I walked.
At Pearl of Wokingham next week and despite my youthfulness and dubious current car they let me take the Mkiv Supra the had for sale out on my own! May be that's borderline foolhardy and too far the other way, all I know is it got that car sold for them.
I hate these dealers that refuse to let you drive the cars unless you commit to buy or put down a deposit. I bet they lose quite a bit if business this way. I know of dealers who sell way more expensive machinery and will let you take their cars out for a spin even if you won't buy it.
As for the main Audi dealers not letting customers test drive used cars, that's a load of rubbish. My parents test drove a used Audi a couple of years ago, no problem, they wanted us to drive another one of their cars infact. So don't believe this specialist.
As for the main Audi dealers not letting customers test drive used cars, that's a load of rubbish. My parents test drove a used Audi a couple of years ago, no problem, they wanted us to drive another one of their cars infact. So don't believe this specialist.
Dalto123 said:
As for the main Audi dealers not letting customers test drive used cars, that's a load of rubbish. My parents test drove a used Audi a couple of years ago, no problem, they wanted us to drive another one of their cars infact. So don't believe this specialist.
It was just bluster. My mate was an Audi salesman for several years, I'm not aware of anything like this being the case. I went to a Seat dealership to look at a car for my mum recently and they couldn't have been more accommodating. My local BMW dealer was also excellent last time I went, no pressure and threw me the keys, which is why I ended up buying a 1-series.It's wierd, maybe I've been lucky - I've only ever bought two cars from dealers, and both couldn't have been more helpful.
First one was my Porsche. Found my dream 911 on the net one Sunday morning after looking for months for one in a particular spec. Called the dealer, spoke to Joff Ward at Finlay Gorham in Suffolk. He answered the phone, he basically sells from his house. He told me he doesn't work on Sundays but I pleaded with him to let me come up straight away. So he agreed, and stayed in on his day off. I duly turned up, he gave me loads of time with the car, took me out on a test drive etc.
Agreed to have a couple of jobs done on the car ahead of purchase, collected it the following Saturday. All very pleasant and completely painless.
Other car was only a two and a half grand Skoda Octavia VRS that I saw at a dealer in Sussex called Bipod cars. Again, I turned up late in the day on a rainy and gray Novemebr. The guys brought the car into their littl workshop for me and leathered it down for me. I took ages inspecting it and the paperwork, all allowed with good faith and no complaint. No hard sell, no feeling that I had to hurry up.
We agreed on a price, and was doing the paperwork when I realised I hadn't checked the cd autochanger. So I went back out to the ar, tried it out and it didn't work. I expected him to say 'oh well, tough luck, it's only the autochanger' but he just turned round and knocked another £250 off the price! The car was already a bargain, and this made it a very sweet deal.
Both cars ended up being really good ones too.
So thumbs up for Finaly Gorham and Bipod cars at least - two dealer I was very fortunate to have done business with in the sometimes difficult world of second hand car buying!
First one was my Porsche. Found my dream 911 on the net one Sunday morning after looking for months for one in a particular spec. Called the dealer, spoke to Joff Ward at Finlay Gorham in Suffolk. He answered the phone, he basically sells from his house. He told me he doesn't work on Sundays but I pleaded with him to let me come up straight away. So he agreed, and stayed in on his day off. I duly turned up, he gave me loads of time with the car, took me out on a test drive etc.
Agreed to have a couple of jobs done on the car ahead of purchase, collected it the following Saturday. All very pleasant and completely painless.
Other car was only a two and a half grand Skoda Octavia VRS that I saw at a dealer in Sussex called Bipod cars. Again, I turned up late in the day on a rainy and gray Novemebr. The guys brought the car into their littl workshop for me and leathered it down for me. I took ages inspecting it and the paperwork, all allowed with good faith and no complaint. No hard sell, no feeling that I had to hurry up.
We agreed on a price, and was doing the paperwork when I realised I hadn't checked the cd autochanger. So I went back out to the ar, tried it out and it didn't work. I expected him to say 'oh well, tough luck, it's only the autochanger' but he just turned round and knocked another £250 off the price! The car was already a bargain, and this made it a very sweet deal.
Both cars ended up being really good ones too.
So thumbs up for Finaly Gorham and Bipod cars at least - two dealer I was very fortunate to have done business with in the sometimes difficult world of second hand car buying!
Having just changed my car last month, I can sympathize. I had similar experiences at some dealers, both main agents and independents.
I finally found the car I wanted at the best dealer I have ever encountered. Tony Braithwaite at Bickerton Skoda in Sheffield was brilliant both pre sale, demonstrated the car freely and gave me a brilliant deal. He's been really helpful post sale with a couple of issues too - which I have never experienced before and am really pleased about.
So much so that I'm going there for servicing on future, even though it's 40 miles away and there is a skoda dealer across the road from work!
I finally found the car I wanted at the best dealer I have ever encountered. Tony Braithwaite at Bickerton Skoda in Sheffield was brilliant both pre sale, demonstrated the car freely and gave me a brilliant deal. He's been really helpful post sale with a couple of issues too - which I have never experienced before and am really pleased about.
So much so that I'm going there for servicing on future, even though it's 40 miles away and there is a skoda dealer across the road from work!
Funny that, my mum is a nurse and one of her patients is a Skoda dealer. He is excellent. I've had cause to visit a completely different Skoda dealership too and they were great. Much like the Seat dealer they seemed to have a much friendlier approach towards selling cars, despite being at the less premium end of the spectrum.
Because a dirty exterior/interior isn't the end of the world, nor are four rubbish tyres. I didn't know whether the brakes had or had not been replaced, so a test drive would have been good. If a garage is true to its word and will rectify problems then I have no issue. No car is perfect and I would be blinkered to think that a car would be.
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