Car Sales - what happened to you lot?!
Discussion
The last car we bought was for my wife, from an independent dealer that had all sorts of magnificent machinery on the forecourt - a Clio V6, a VXR8, an Aston Martin DB9 etc.
We, however, were buying an old Suzuki Swift Sport which may have been the cheapest cars they had
I expected them to be a bit dismissive but I was dead wrong; they were absolutely brilliant. The sales bloke was superb. He was attentive and friendly, and happy to spend time with us as we mulled it over.
As a result, I'm looking at getting a new car and have been keeping an eye on their stock as I'd be more than happy to buy from them again, so for those sales people who do put the effort in, it can be worth it.
We, however, were buying an old Suzuki Swift Sport which may have been the cheapest cars they had
I expected them to be a bit dismissive but I was dead wrong; they were absolutely brilliant. The sales bloke was superb. He was attentive and friendly, and happy to spend time with us as we mulled it over.
As a result, I'm looking at getting a new car and have been keeping an eye on their stock as I'd be more than happy to buy from them again, so for those sales people who do put the effort in, it can be worth it.
Mexman said:
Whatever we do, whatever we don't do, we get flamed for it either way and can't win.
Jump on people, you get shot down, don't jump on people, you are ignoring them.
Most sales people I know including myself are plenty busy enough serving the customers we already have, have lined up or are already processing.
There are only so many hours in the day, and when you are selling, and processing so many orders and enquiries already, any more and your existing customers will suffer, due to cars not being ready, not cleaned, work shopped, fuelled and handover preparation not ready etc..
I do not know of, and have never worked with a lazy salesperson who sits around waiting for the odd deal to fall in his lap, because they would not have a job very long.
I have had virtually no time off this year at all, and now, come the slightly quiter month or two coming, I want to wind down and actually have a break and some time off away from customers/ the public and there ever increasing demands on your time and life.
I think the point is not how busy you are, its the liaison between Service and Sales.Jump on people, you get shot down, don't jump on people, you are ignoring them.
Most sales people I know including myself are plenty busy enough serving the customers we already have, have lined up or are already processing.
There are only so many hours in the day, and when you are selling, and processing so many orders and enquiries already, any more and your existing customers will suffer, due to cars not being ready, not cleaned, work shopped, fuelled and handover preparation not ready etc..
I do not know of, and have never worked with a lazy salesperson who sits around waiting for the odd deal to fall in his lap, because they would not have a job very long.
I have had virtually no time off this year at all, and now, come the slightly quiter month or two coming, I want to wind down and actually have a break and some time off away from customers/ the public and there ever increasing demands on your time and life.
Wifes Fabia was is for its annual service. Courtesy car requested and told them we were looking at changing the car. Karoq requested, preferably auto as wife doesn't cope well with 3 pedals any more.
Very disappointed to get a boggo Fabia (manual).
She now drives a Mini.
Fast Bug said:
darrenham said:
Same, I took my Octy VRS in to Skoda and they said they may need more than a day, so put me in a loaner.
They made out I was lucky to get a Fabia Monte Carlo... No fuel in it at all, didn't tell me what fuel it was, no obvious indication on the filler cap (mine clearly states diesel)
No fuel left in it is down to the previous service customer, the dealership don't take the cars any where. There are often threads on here where people state they leave the car on fumes, these are the people you need to moan about. You'd use fuel in your own car, so put some in the courtesy car people!They made out I was lucky to get a Fabia Monte Carlo... No fuel in it at all, didn't tell me what fuel it was, no obvious indication on the filler cap (mine clearly states diesel)
And you can't tell the difference between a petrol and a diesel? Look at the rev counter or start then thing up and it's obvious!
I worked the fuel thing out because deep in the filler nozzle there was some green plastic. I'd prefer not to make fuelling decisions on such evidence though personally, and would have thought they'd at least give you that info before setting you off in a car with no fuel in it.
Fast Bug said:
darrenham said:
Worse though, it was a Manual, my car is an Auto
Did you request an auto courtest car when you booked your car in for a service? Sometimes the crystal ball in the service reception is a little cloudy....But yes, I did ask for an auto, they weren't sure what cars they'd have at the time, but said they reserve the autos for auto drivers, as above, they found out the day before that they'd overbooked courtesies.
Fast Bug said:
darrenham said:
Worse again, they'd left it parked on the road and it'd got scratched, which they've still yet to get back to me about.
That's poor, did they rectify it for you when you pointed it out to you? It was honestly just a bundle of dodgy bits of customer service.
This astounds me too!
I take my Porsche in for a service and they give me... a BMW 520D!!!
They don't sell BMW's but they're making a good case for me to go down the road and try a few. I wouldn't mind what Porsche they give me it's always nice to try something else in the range... A few years ago that was the case.
The daft thing is I doubt I'll buy another Porsche now as they have zero interest in retaining my business, this being one example.
I take my Porsche in for a service and they give me... a BMW 520D!!!
They don't sell BMW's but they're making a good case for me to go down the road and try a few. I wouldn't mind what Porsche they give me it's always nice to try something else in the range... A few years ago that was the case.
The daft thing is I doubt I'll buy another Porsche now as they have zero interest in retaining my business, this being one example.
This doesn't feel like a new thing to me. A courtesy car is exactly that, a courtesy! I guess I had an expectation back in the day, but soon lost it when the Citroen dealer I left my ZX at gave me a 5-6 year old Pug 309 as a courtesy. I was mildly interested in a Saxo at the time (they were quite new) but no hope of that.
I do get what you're saying, OP, but, again, I have dropped hints with sales personnel many times over the years and never had them pick up on them. The exception being the guy who picked up on my hint before I dropped it and sold me a new car when the nearly new one I'd gone to view had just been sold!
Maybe the trick is not to drop hints but to be a bit more direct!
I do get what you're saying, OP, but, again, I have dropped hints with sales personnel many times over the years and never had them pick up on them. The exception being the guy who picked up on my hint before I dropped it and sold me a new car when the nearly new one I'd gone to view had just been sold!
Maybe the trick is not to drop hints but to be a bit more direct!
PixelpeepS3 said:
We would always give customers at least 'one up' on what they bought in, especially if it was due for replacement and 100% if the customer said they were changing..
Those days are long gone IME - probably due to cost control. I took my BMW 320td Compact for a couple of services at a main agent in 2005/2007 and got an E46 320d Saloon with leather and all the toys the 1st time, then an E90 325i the next time - even though both were autos!
I replaced my Compact with a 123d in 2008 but only ever got Minis which got me around and were actually quite fun, but I also had F20 1 Series a couple of times when I specifically asked for them as a sort of test drive!
But although they started off with a 118i it soon ended up being a 114d!I just get a loaner if I need it and providing it looks tidy and keeps me mobile I don’t really care.
This has never stopped me buying or upgrading my car on the same dealership. When I want to change my car a test drive of the car I wanted was always granted so.... don’t understand the moans.
Sure they could tempt the people bringing cars for service but that is probably a low % of their sales. I might have a look in showroom when having a service but if I want to change my car I probably come back with more time and research.
Very seldom (never) I had the salesman advise me what car I should buy.
This has never stopped me buying or upgrading my car on the same dealership. When I want to change my car a test drive of the car I wanted was always granted so.... don’t understand the moans.
Sure they could tempt the people bringing cars for service but that is probably a low % of their sales. I might have a look in showroom when having a service but if I want to change my car I probably come back with more time and research.
Very seldom (never) I had the salesman advise me what car I should buy.
It's all very well people moaning that they want a like for like or the next model up to "sway them to change" but in reality for the vast majority it doesn't work like that and with everyone now wanting to pay as little as possible for everything, and with the internet enabling that, then dealers have to keep costs down somewhere; we run Twingo's and Sandero's as courtesy cars and keep them for at least 2 years, if we had the latest high spec Clio's, Megane Sports, Scenic's, Kadjar's etc then costs would go through the roof and it has to be recouped somewhere but people will then moan that they are being ripped off and will go elsewhere; probably to the dealer who runs the Twingo's and Sandero's!!
As for moaning that you arrived in a 5 door and were given a 3 door, FFS man, I'm sure you can cope!!!!!
As for moaning that you arrived in a 5 door and were given a 3 door, FFS man, I'm sure you can cope!!!!!
HTP99 said:
It's all very well people moaning that they want a like for like or the next model up to "sway them to change" but in reality for the vast majority it doesn't work like that and with everyone now wanting to pay as little as possible for everything, and with the internet enabling that, then dealers have to keep costs down somewhere; we run Twingo's and Sandero's as courtesy cars and keep them for at least 2 years, if we had the latest high spec Clio's, Megane Sports, Scenic's, Kadjar's etc then costs would go through the roof and it has to be recouped somewhere but people will then moan that they are being ripped off and will go elsewhere; probably to the dealer who runs the Twingo's and Sandero's!!
As for moaning that you arrived in a 5 door and were given a 3 door, FFS man, I'm sure you can cope!!!!!
It's basic customer service.As for moaning that you arrived in a 5 door and were given a 3 door, FFS man, I'm sure you can cope!!!!!
Interesting that you're in the car game and have taken some feedback from a customer and instead of taking it on board you reply with 'for f
k sake man, im sure you can cope'Yes i can cope, i did cope, in the grand scheme of things it's nothing but for someone looking at buying a car, what with the internet (as per your statement above) you'd think dealers would do everything in their power to make the customers experience as pleasant as possible.
RS3 vs 1.4 aside, getting kids in the back of a 3 door car is a pain in the f
king ass.Frankthered said:
This doesn't feel like a new thing to me. A courtesy car is exactly that, a courtesy! I guess I had an expectation back in the day, but soon lost it when the Citroen dealer I left my ZX at gave me a 5-6 year old Pug 309 as a courtesy. I was mildly interested in a Saxo at the time (they were quite new) but no hope of that.
I remember years ago booking in my 3 year old Alfa 156 v6 Veloce for a service. The service manager said and i quote "i can book it in for next monday, however if you leave it to the following Monday i can get you a loan car 'more in keeping with your expectations in life'". The GT was just out at the time, so i'd my hopes up - a 2.0i variant or maybe a 3.2? Fingers crossed!I turned up and they gave me - a kermit the frog green Fiat Punto 1.1 3 door.
Frankthered said:
Maybe the trick is not to drop hints but to be a bit more direct!
I think these days you have to spell it out - physically ring the sales people and say "my car is in for a service on X date, i am at the point of being ready for a change, would you have an X on demo that i could try while my car is in?"They're not all dumb. My wife has a Range Rover Evoque which had to go in for a part replacement when it was only a few weeks old - the salesman had got to know that I quite liked the bigger Range Rovers myself, so he made sure that when I brought her car in, I had a Range Rover Sport waiting for me (his, it turned out).
Moving on a year, her car is in for an oil change. He gets to know that I'm not doing anything that day other than bringing her car there, so instead of just leaving with a courtesy car, I get given the keys to a demo Velar, Sport and a Full Fat to use for the day.
A month later I bought one (a Sport).
Moving on a year, her car is in for an oil change. He gets to know that I'm not doing anything that day other than bringing her car there, so instead of just leaving with a courtesy car, I get given the keys to a demo Velar, Sport and a Full Fat to use for the day.
A month later I bought one (a Sport).
Falling sales standards. I took wife's Mini Cooper in for 1st mot last week using supplying dealer (West country multi franchise/brand group) We had a call the day before saying were we interested in a change ? & told the caller that I would be there the following morning getting the car mot'd & we could talk.
I spent an interesting 2 hours enjoying a coffee or two sitting in the lounge area listening to the young sales team members chatting about Xmas plans/ Hollidays/ colleagues shortcomings etc, nobody approached. To be fair a few sales team members did some phone prospecting whilst I was there but I don't know to what end because nobody acted on our response from the previous day's call.
I understand I could have approached them & said " hi l'm the bloke who's here getting his wife's car mot'd & we spoke yesterday". But at least meet me half way.
Not that concerned about changing this year but could have been persuaded, so what went on here & why the breakdown in comm's?
I spent an interesting 2 hours enjoying a coffee or two sitting in the lounge area listening to the young sales team members chatting about Xmas plans/ Hollidays/ colleagues shortcomings etc, nobody approached. To be fair a few sales team members did some phone prospecting whilst I was there but I don't know to what end because nobody acted on our response from the previous day's call.
I understand I could have approached them & said " hi l'm the bloke who's here getting his wife's car mot'd & we spoke yesterday". But at least meet me half way.
Not that concerned about changing this year but could have been persuaded, so what went on here & why the breakdown in comm's?
Deep Thought said:
PixelpeepS3 said:
RS3 vs 1.4 aside, getting kids in the back of a 3 door car is a pain in the fking ass.
Did you flag with them up front that you had a requirement for a 5 door?king ass.These guys are professionals, they do this day in, day out.
It's a simple thing that shows they're thinking of their customer as a person, going the extra mile.
Honestly, it's not f
king rocket science, i'm just a bod. If i can see it, why can't they?everyone is selling s
t with 0.1% markup so the only way to stand out is to deliver it better than anyone else.generally, customers don't complain to the dealer, they complain online (like me).
HTP99 said:
It's all very well people moaning that they want a like for like or the next model up to "sway them to change" but in reality for the vast majority it doesn't work like that and with everyone now wanting to pay as little as possible for everything, and with the internet enabling that, then dealers have to keep costs down somewhere; we run Twingo's and Sandero's as courtesy cars and keep them for at least 2 years, if we had the latest high spec Clio's, Megane Sports, Scenic's, Kadjar's etc then costs would go through the roof and it has to be recouped somewhere but people will then moan that they are being ripped off and will go elsewhere; probably to the dealer who runs the Twingo's and Sandero's!!
It's the same old story in the motor trade whatever we do we're in the wrong. I used to work at a VW retailer many years ago & for the cost of having one Passat from VW as a loan car we could have three or four Lupo's instead. So you either make one customer happy & have three unhappy ones coz there's no loan car for them or you make three happy & still have one moaning ffs! 
MrBarry123 said:
I don't think it's a reasonable expectation to have a RS3 as a courtesy car whilst your S3 is in for a service.
The vast majority of S3 owners won't upgrade to a RS3.
The end result would be some poor RS3 being ragged within an inch of its life by S3 owners, with the dealership having to spend a considerable amount on maintaining it, only for said S3 owners to buy another S3 or a Golf R etc.
Provided they are functional, safe and reliable, it's perfectly reasonable for a dealership to have a courtesy car fleet which is as cheap to run as possible.
100% this.The vast majority of S3 owners won't upgrade to a RS3.
The end result would be some poor RS3 being ragged within an inch of its life by S3 owners, with the dealership having to spend a considerable amount on maintaining it, only for said S3 owners to buy another S3 or a Golf R etc.
Provided they are functional, safe and reliable, it's perfectly reasonable for a dealership to have a courtesy car fleet which is as cheap to run as possible.
Wacky Racer said:
MrBarry123 said:
I don't think it's a reasonable expectation to have a RS3 as a courtesy car whilst your S3 is in for a service.
The vast majority of S3 owners won't upgrade to a RS3.
The end result would be some poor RS3 being ragged within an inch of its life by S3 owners, with the dealership having to spend a considerable amount on maintaining it, only for said S3 owners to buy another S3 or a Golf R etc.
Provided they are functional, safe and reliable, it's perfectly reasonable for a dealership to have a courtesy car fleet which is as cheap to run as possible.
100% this.The vast majority of S3 owners won't upgrade to a RS3.
The end result would be some poor RS3 being ragged within an inch of its life by S3 owners, with the dealership having to spend a considerable amount on maintaining it, only for said S3 owners to buy another S3 or a Golf R etc.
Provided they are functional, safe and reliable, it's perfectly reasonable for a dealership to have a courtesy car fleet which is as cheap to run as possible.
I struggle to believe that someone in an S3 wouldn't want to have the same platform but with it turned up to 11.
i had already made them aware i was changing, and i had an interest in an RS3 - no one even tried to qualify me, it was ignored.
The only expectation i had so to speak is that someone would follow up what i had been talking about.
Look, im a 'punter' - im not saying i speak for everyone but i'm sure i'm not alone. They'd be better off getting someone in sales to speak to me to see if it had legs, rather than spending 6 hours calling a list of names and numbers off a spreadsheet to see if they're thinking of changing.
Im in the f
king showroom, im telling them im changing and i even tell them what car im thinking of. How much easier does it get? As you generalised saying S3 owners wouldn't want an RS3, ill generalise too - Salesmen of today are either dim, dumb, lazy or not bothered about making a sale.
Gassing Station | Car Buying | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff