Are Car Sales People Universally Useless?
Discussion
TheLuke said:
I had a cracker of an experience at the weekend.
I have been looking to buy a Megane RS 250/265 CUP.
Found one at an Indy about an hour away had the nice recaros, low-ish mileage and of course "full service history"
, phoned the day before to make sure it was still available and if was, so went down Saturday to view with my brother.
Turned up and the chap opened the car for me, usually they give you the keys, but this was near Manchester so I figured it was to stop thefts. No problem and we looked around the car, seemed like a good example, so I enquired about the service history etc and he brought the booklet out.
Turns out it only has 5 stamps over 11 years and has not had a change of cambelt yet despite the mileage alone, let along age requiring one. So I spoke to the chap about it being included in the sale price and he advised if I wanted it doing it would be £400 extra, I advised its in his best interest to have this done as it could quite literally snap at any minute being 11 years old and would give them piece of mind regarding having a potential engine failure. No joy, I had to pay extra. At that point I had decided (in my head) to not buy the car as better cared for examples were not a huge amount more.
I did then ask for a test drive as I have not driven a Megane RS before and he said yes that's fine, wait for another chap to get back blah blah blah.
The other chap comes back and advises me I cannot test drive it until "we are at the buying stage" and that I can pootle it around the yard
at which I replied that we are at the buying stage, hence the discussion about wether the cambelt would be included. Turns out "the buying stage" is leaving a deposit, you test drive it, if something is wrong with the car, then you can back out. I was gobsmacked, we had a 10 minute disagreement over this which ended with me leaving. It seems they just wanted morons to walk in, cash in hand and drive away without even driving the car. Or maybe I was asking too many questions/eating into their margin too much with the cambelt thing, who knows.
Put a deposit on a different one on Sunday, from a well known Megane guy who gave me the polar opposite experience and couldn't be more happier to be collecting an RS265 at the weekend.
Name and shame please!I have been looking to buy a Megane RS 250/265 CUP.
Found one at an Indy about an hour away had the nice recaros, low-ish mileage and of course "full service history"
, phoned the day before to make sure it was still available and if was, so went down Saturday to view with my brother. Turned up and the chap opened the car for me, usually they give you the keys, but this was near Manchester so I figured it was to stop thefts. No problem and we looked around the car, seemed like a good example, so I enquired about the service history etc and he brought the booklet out.
Turns out it only has 5 stamps over 11 years and has not had a change of cambelt yet despite the mileage alone, let along age requiring one. So I spoke to the chap about it being included in the sale price and he advised if I wanted it doing it would be £400 extra, I advised its in his best interest to have this done as it could quite literally snap at any minute being 11 years old and would give them piece of mind regarding having a potential engine failure. No joy, I had to pay extra. At that point I had decided (in my head) to not buy the car as better cared for examples were not a huge amount more.
I did then ask for a test drive as I have not driven a Megane RS before and he said yes that's fine, wait for another chap to get back blah blah blah.
The other chap comes back and advises me I cannot test drive it until "we are at the buying stage" and that I can pootle it around the yard
at which I replied that we are at the buying stage, hence the discussion about wether the cambelt would be included. Turns out "the buying stage" is leaving a deposit, you test drive it, if something is wrong with the car, then you can back out. I was gobsmacked, we had a 10 minute disagreement over this which ended with me leaving. It seems they just wanted morons to walk in, cash in hand and drive away without even driving the car. Or maybe I was asking too many questions/eating into their margin too much with the cambelt thing, who knows.Put a deposit on a different one on Sunday, from a well known Megane guy who gave me the polar opposite experience and couldn't be more happier to be collecting an RS265 at the weekend.
Edited by TheLuke on Tuesday 25th May 15:13
fourstardan said:
TheLuke said:
I had a cracker of an experience at the weekend.
I have been looking to buy a Megane RS 250/265 CUP.
Found one at an Indy about an hour away had the nice recaros, low-ish mileage and of course "full service history" , phoned the day before to make sure it was still available and if was, so went down Saturday to view with my brother.
Turned up and the chap opened the car for me, usually they give you the keys, but this was near Manchester so I figured it was to stop thefts. No problem and we looked around the car, seemed like a good example, so I enquired about the service history etc and he brought the booklet out.
Turns out it only has 5 stamps over 11 years and has not had a change of cambelt yet despite the mileage alone, let along age requiring one. So I spoke to the chap about it being included in the sale price and he advised if I wanted it doing it would be £400 extra, I advised its in his best interest to have this done as it could quite literally snap at any minute being 11 years old and would give them piece of mind regarding having a potential engine failure. No joy, I had to pay extra. At that point I had decided (in my head) to not buy the car as better cared for examples were not a huge amount more.
I did then ask for a test drive as I have not driven a Megane RS before and he said yes that's fine, wait for another chap to get back blah blah blah.
The other chap comes back and advises me I cannot test drive it until "we are at the buying stage" and that I can pootle it around the yard at which I replied that we are at the buying stage, hence the discussion about wether the cambelt would be included. Turns out "the buying stage" is leaving a deposit, you test drive it, if something is wrong with the car, then you can back out. I was gobsmacked, we had a 10 minute disagreement over this which ended with me leaving. It seems they just wanted morons to walk in, cash in hand and drive away without even driving the car. Or maybe I was asking too many questions/eating into their margin too much with the cambelt thing, who knows.
Put a deposit on a different one on Sunday, from a well known Megane guy who gave me the polar opposite experience and couldn't be more happier to be collecting an RS265 at the weekend.
Name and shame please!I have been looking to buy a Megane RS 250/265 CUP.
Found one at an Indy about an hour away had the nice recaros, low-ish mileage and of course "full service history"
, phoned the day before to make sure it was still available and if was, so went down Saturday to view with my brother. Turned up and the chap opened the car for me, usually they give you the keys, but this was near Manchester so I figured it was to stop thefts. No problem and we looked around the car, seemed like a good example, so I enquired about the service history etc and he brought the booklet out.
Turns out it only has 5 stamps over 11 years and has not had a change of cambelt yet despite the mileage alone, let along age requiring one. So I spoke to the chap about it being included in the sale price and he advised if I wanted it doing it would be £400 extra, I advised its in his best interest to have this done as it could quite literally snap at any minute being 11 years old and would give them piece of mind regarding having a potential engine failure. No joy, I had to pay extra. At that point I had decided (in my head) to not buy the car as better cared for examples were not a huge amount more.
I did then ask for a test drive as I have not driven a Megane RS before and he said yes that's fine, wait for another chap to get back blah blah blah.
The other chap comes back and advises me I cannot test drive it until "we are at the buying stage" and that I can pootle it around the yard
at which I replied that we are at the buying stage, hence the discussion about wether the cambelt would be included. Turns out "the buying stage" is leaving a deposit, you test drive it, if something is wrong with the car, then you can back out. I was gobsmacked, we had a 10 minute disagreement over this which ended with me leaving. It seems they just wanted morons to walk in, cash in hand and drive away without even driving the car. Or maybe I was asking too many questions/eating into their margin too much with the cambelt thing, who knows.Put a deposit on a different one on Sunday, from a well known Megane guy who gave me the polar opposite experience and couldn't be more happier to be collecting an RS265 at the weekend.
Edited by TheLuke on Tuesday 25th May 15:13
I am looking to change and online is looking very attractive as dreading having to put with the dealer experience.
Mostly IME
They generally know nothing about cars in general and have no information on the one you're calling about
I recently was looking for a Rav for my wife - called a 3 dealers - they were unable to answer questions about condition nor history but would call be back - never did
I called them all back, they would call me back as they still didn't know
I bought privately
They generally know nothing about cars in general and have no information on the one you're calling about
I recently was looking for a Rav for my wife - called a 3 dealers - they were unable to answer questions about condition nor history but would call be back - never did
I called them all back, they would call me back as they still didn't know
I bought privately
Life has been very generous to me recently and I am looking for a winter toy. I sorn 2 of my cars and want something for the salty months to makes me smile. I have money burning a hole and a good sales person could get a signature quite easily.
An eclectic mix has floated to the surface and some dealers are doing nothing to help themselves.
Defender 90 V8, 992 Carrera 4s, Continental GT or a DBX.
Surprisingly the Aston dealer has been excellent and despite being only in there as an afterthought the car is coming in strong.
Porsche are a bit we can sell all we can get so are a tad hard work.
Bentley are Bentley.
But Land Rover are woeful, truly utterly useless, from the woman on reception through the person on the phone to the sales staff.
An eclectic mix has floated to the surface and some dealers are doing nothing to help themselves.
Defender 90 V8, 992 Carrera 4s, Continental GT or a DBX.
Surprisingly the Aston dealer has been excellent and despite being only in there as an afterthought the car is coming in strong.
Porsche are a bit we can sell all we can get so are a tad hard work.
Bentley are Bentley.
But Land Rover are woeful, truly utterly useless, from the woman on reception through the person on the phone to the sales staff.
MYOB said:
Pit Pony said:
MYOB said:
Not my experience either. I do wish they start using emails though.
I've found that picking up the phone, and talking to someone, is quicker and more effective. In all walks of life. Jesus titting Christ.
I struggled a bit to buy a Toyota Yaris for my mum - s/h, 10 grand car. I’d done the work, that car suited me, I was buying it from a dealer so I wasn’t expecting it to be broken. The bloke couldn’t get his head round the fact that I just wanted to give him 10 grand and have the car delivered, he tried to sell Toyota to me, he tried to sell the car to me. Jesus, just be quiet and take the cash.
Phone calls vs. emails. I am an extremely capable buyer of stuff during dull meetings, clearly I can’t pull out the phone and start yakking, but I can type emails.
Phone calls vs. emails. I am an extremely capable buyer of stuff during dull meetings, clearly I can’t pull out the phone and start yakking, but I can type emails.
Recently called into a local ford garage with a view to looking at a Fiesta ST. The salesman ignored me in the showroom so I went outside to see if they had got one in the used section. I have a bit of a wander around and he comes out to me. I ask him if there is any fiesta's in stock, he says no and they don't know when they will get one due to the chip shortage, he goes on to say that I'm welcome to leave a deposit and they will try and get me one.
I politely decline his offer and walk away, I walk past a fiesta ST and say oh is this a fiesta ST and he comes back over and says oh yeah it is, it was on a 17 plate so 4 years old. I asked if that was the latest model or has it been facelifted, no idea was his response.
I politely decline his offer and walk away, I walk past a fiesta ST and say oh is this a fiesta ST and he comes back over and says oh yeah it is, it was on a 17 plate so 4 years old. I asked if that was the latest model or has it been facelifted, no idea was his response.
I find main dealer sales to be ok, it’s more the aftercare that can be lacking.
I think car enthusiasts can have unusually high expectations that sales staff can sniff out and realise it’s going to be hard work and the effort might be better spent elsewhere, especially at present.
Take the OP for example, calling numerous dealers, non specific hot hatch, there’s every chance they could tell that it wasn’t a straight forward conversion so couldn’t be bothered with it.
I think car enthusiasts can have unusually high expectations that sales staff can sniff out and realise it’s going to be hard work and the effort might be better spent elsewhere, especially at present.
Take the OP for example, calling numerous dealers, non specific hot hatch, there’s every chance they could tell that it wasn’t a straight forward conversion so couldn’t be bothered with it.
Interesting thread 
. I'd agree with the comments about car enthusiasts being the 'worst' customers - they just want easy sales from people who haven't done their research.
I've actually never purchased from a dealer (I'm 39), only ever private sales (oh and once from auction when you could save a fortune). I feel privately you get more time to ask all the questions, dig into the history and such.
I'd not rule out a dealer in the future but I tend to prefer the private market - however I'd be interested in hearing the private stories as their must be some amusing ones.
I was serious about buying a S4 and found one locally with the right spec, price was a bit high so I openly said I'm serious, have the money but my best offer would be around X and I wouldn't waste his time coming to view and such if that wasn't of interest. He kept saying no but would then fish me every week or so to see and I kept saying the same answer. It slowly got reduced and ended up going under what I'd provisionally offered (I'd since bought one for an eve better price).
I think you can get a half decent feel for an owner though when you meet them, and at least a hint of how they have treated the car, where as a dealer you have zero clue really- perhaps beyond looking at the history and if it has decent tyres on it etc. You want to see someone privately not ragging it from cold, maybe a bit anxious about 'their baby' when you drive it and such.
My fear selling privately is of course all the chavy 'will you take (insert stupidly lowball) offer m8'.
. I'd agree with the comments about car enthusiasts being the 'worst' customers - they just want easy sales from people who haven't done their research.I've actually never purchased from a dealer (I'm 39), only ever private sales (oh and once from auction when you could save a fortune). I feel privately you get more time to ask all the questions, dig into the history and such.
I'd not rule out a dealer in the future but I tend to prefer the private market - however I'd be interested in hearing the private stories as their must be some amusing ones.
I was serious about buying a S4 and found one locally with the right spec, price was a bit high so I openly said I'm serious, have the money but my best offer would be around X and I wouldn't waste his time coming to view and such if that wasn't of interest. He kept saying no but would then fish me every week or so to see and I kept saying the same answer. It slowly got reduced and ended up going under what I'd provisionally offered (I'd since bought one for an eve better price).
I think you can get a half decent feel for an owner though when you meet them, and at least a hint of how they have treated the car, where as a dealer you have zero clue really- perhaps beyond looking at the history and if it has decent tyres on it etc. You want to see someone privately not ragging it from cold, maybe a bit anxious about 'their baby' when you drive it and such.
My fear selling privately is of course all the chavy 'will you take (insert stupidly lowball) offer m8'.
blue_haddock said:
Yep if your not buying the car your not driving it either!
Such a short-sighted view, but sadly all too common.I passed a dealer with an R8 Plus in it a while back. I wasn’t planning on buying one, but popped in on a whim and asked if I could take it out.
It took about half a mile for me to be able to tell how much nicer it was than my V8, and about ten minutes after that to place a deposit.
It was the same with my SL63, short test ride, deal agreed, deposit left.
Spleen said:
MYOB said:
Pit Pony said:
MYOB said:
Not my experience either. I do wish they start using emails though.
I've found that picking up the phone, and talking to someone, is quicker and more effective. In all walks of life. Jesus titting Christ.
Spleen said:
Oh yeah? What about those with no eyes?
Jesus titting Christ.
I'd suggest they shouldn't be buying cars, but my sister in law has a motobility car, and has the final decision on the car chosen, and just happens to be blindJesus titting Christ.
Okay it's my brother in law that does the driving, but she insists on a test drive with dog, to see if it's comfy enough.
JmatthewB said:
I wish more people went down the private route for used cars. If it is still under warranty and has been serviced when required why involve a dealer to take a cut for themselves?
Lots of reasons to be honest but I think I'd be happier dealing with an established garage or dealership when handing over many many thousands of pounds for a car than doing it on the main road outside Barry's mums house one evening. As for car sales people being universally useless... nothing like tarring them all with the same brush and absolutely not justified either but as humans, some of us like to tarnish an entire group base don one or two experiences but such is life.
My last car came via an independent dealer who deals with a few hand picked single brand cars. It was advertised via an owners forums and he was pretty cut throat in his approach - this is the car, these are the details here are many many high res images and if you want to know more, call me. That seems to alienate a majority who appear to be adverse to actually speaking to people these days but I like his approach.
So, I called him and we spoke at length about the car and he was great, to the point, no patter and we agreed a deal in principal and I proposed to go down the following weekend (450 miles, to South Wales) and remarkably he declined a deposit and also then said as far as he was concerned, I was coming to get it and thus he'd decline any further enquiries / viewings.
Drove down a few days later as arranged, had a walk round it once, had a coffee, transferred money, left him my trade in and drove the new car all the way home again (900 miles, nigh on 17hrs) and the car has been superb ever since. Absolutely text book experience and one I'd be happy to do again as and when the time comes to change. Granted I've had a few less than great experiences too but are salespeople universally crap, absolutely not.
Maybe I got lucky, but when I bought my (used approved) 370Z from a Nissan dealer last year everything went fine.
I contacted them via the contact form on their website asking for more details and got an email response the same day with a few details and asking me a few questions.
I replied and asked about the service history, then the same day received an email with a link to a video walkaround showing the car and all the documentation/service history etc.
Following that I called the salesman, he made a decent offer on my px and I put down a deposit to reserve the car until I could get over to see it at the weekend.
When I got there the car was outside at the front, washed and valeted. Salesman was waiting and we went out for a 30min drive. When we got back I said I wanted the car so we discussed payment - he assumed I was buying outright, didn't push finance, special waxing, wheel insurance or any of the usual guff. I arranged to pick up the following weekend.
Turned up the next weekend, the car was ready and waiting with half a tank of fuel. The salesman went quickly over the details, showed me how to connect up my phone and off we went.
Got a follow up call the next week to check everything was ok and I was still happy.
None of the anticipated antics throughout the whole process - almost disappointing...
I contacted them via the contact form on their website asking for more details and got an email response the same day with a few details and asking me a few questions.
I replied and asked about the service history, then the same day received an email with a link to a video walkaround showing the car and all the documentation/service history etc.
Following that I called the salesman, he made a decent offer on my px and I put down a deposit to reserve the car until I could get over to see it at the weekend.
When I got there the car was outside at the front, washed and valeted. Salesman was waiting and we went out for a 30min drive. When we got back I said I wanted the car so we discussed payment - he assumed I was buying outright, didn't push finance, special waxing, wheel insurance or any of the usual guff. I arranged to pick up the following weekend.
Turned up the next weekend, the car was ready and waiting with half a tank of fuel. The salesman went quickly over the details, showed me how to connect up my phone and off we went.
Got a follow up call the next week to check everything was ok and I was still happy.
None of the anticipated antics throughout the whole process - almost disappointing...
Pit Pony said:
Not my experience.
Identify car that I want. Arrange test drive.
Decide if I like it.
Discuss price.
Place deposit or walk away.
Go and pick up car.
Ring up salesman about an hour later to arrange to have it returned due to brake fade due to sticking caliper.
Have courtesy car delivered whilst they fix brakes, and have salesman deliver car back to my home.
Ring up salesman to thank him for his assistance, and write an email to his head of business, explaining what a star he is.
That's the last car I bought. From Bristol Street Motors Vauxhall Macclesfield.
The only bit I didn't like was the price discussion. But we eventually got a fair deal.
Same dealership (I'm told) brought out a red Sharpie to touch up a paint chip on a Corsa that my partner's Mum was going to buy. Identify car that I want. Arrange test drive.
Decide if I like it.
Discuss price.
Place deposit or walk away.
Go and pick up car.
Ring up salesman about an hour later to arrange to have it returned due to brake fade due to sticking caliper.
Have courtesy car delivered whilst they fix brakes, and have salesman deliver car back to my home.
Ring up salesman to thank him for his assistance, and write an email to his head of business, explaining what a star he is.
That's the last car I bought. From Bristol Street Motors Vauxhall Macclesfield.
The only bit I didn't like was the price discussion. But we eventually got a fair deal.
Worst thing is, she still bought it.
I took an Astra there for some recall work though and I have no complaints about that, car was cleaned and work was done fairly quickly.
Gassing Station | Car Buying | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff