Whats up with car dealers having so many scruffy cars?
Discussion
Recently helped my friend find a used car, budget 5-7k. He wasnt interested in private sellers and wanted to use a garage. We must have seen at least 20 garages in a weekend.
I mainly buyer older cars from private buyers, and for me their car have always been in fairly good condition upon viewing. However I was shocked at some of the tat the dealers had and the prices charged. Main dealers had car lots where pretty much every car had visible scratches, marks, dents and kerbed alloys. At a vauxhall one, there was a 2yr old astra with the front bumper hanging off the passenger side. Even the higher end cars on display had the same issues, e.g. saw a 3 year old e-class with the rear hanging down, probably air suspension issue. I think about 10% of the cars looked undamaged. What's up with this, is this normal or just bad luck? I just cant understand why you would sell stock that's damaged when it would be easy to sort?
I mainly buyer older cars from private buyers, and for me their car have always been in fairly good condition upon viewing. However I was shocked at some of the tat the dealers had and the prices charged. Main dealers had car lots where pretty much every car had visible scratches, marks, dents and kerbed alloys. At a vauxhall one, there was a 2yr old astra with the front bumper hanging off the passenger side. Even the higher end cars on display had the same issues, e.g. saw a 3 year old e-class with the rear hanging down, probably air suspension issue. I think about 10% of the cars looked undamaged. What's up with this, is this normal or just bad luck? I just cant understand why you would sell stock that's damaged when it would be easy to sort?
that kind of makes sense, but i'd think they have higher chance of getting sale if was fixed in the first place.
the nicest car in his budget he purchased, but I asked the dealer to make sure as part of the sale, several marks and dings were sorted before collection. I wasn't being crazy over the top, but these marks were above normal 'wear and tear'. Funny thing is the dealer even said it needs doing. WTF! week later, everything done. Odd to me.
the nicest car in his budget he purchased, but I asked the dealer to make sure as part of the sale, several marks and dings were sorted before collection. I wasn't being crazy over the top, but these marks were above normal 'wear and tear'. Funny thing is the dealer even said it needs doing. WTF! week later, everything done. Odd to me.
There's a garage near me where my wife and my brother have both bought cars from, its a great little dealership really. Had a good chat with the owner whilst we were looking at my wife's car.
The reality is, he gets a truck load of cars from auction a week, sometimes more, and puts them on the forecourt to sell ASAP, and will do the prep once a customer has paid for it, unless there's any major issues but he likely won't have bought it then.
he does have new stuff too, its an Isuzu/SsangYong type dealership somehow, but loads of used cars very much in that price bracket.
His mentality, which works for him, is that he'll get his prep guys to do what will sell, rather than potentially missing a customer who wanted something he gets in and then has to wait 2-3 days to put up for sale, and doesn't expect people to "drive away today"
In the "ask a dealer anything" thread, Jimmy Conway has the opposite approach, and preps everything before sale allowing a "drive away today" experience, and he seems to work very well on that as well.
The reality is, he gets a truck load of cars from auction a week, sometimes more, and puts them on the forecourt to sell ASAP, and will do the prep once a customer has paid for it, unless there's any major issues but he likely won't have bought it then.
he does have new stuff too, its an Isuzu/SsangYong type dealership somehow, but loads of used cars very much in that price bracket.
His mentality, which works for him, is that he'll get his prep guys to do what will sell, rather than potentially missing a customer who wanted something he gets in and then has to wait 2-3 days to put up for sale, and doesn't expect people to "drive away today"
In the "ask a dealer anything" thread, Jimmy Conway has the opposite approach, and preps everything before sale allowing a "drive away today" experience, and he seems to work very well on that as well.
I don't understand either. Last weekend I wasted 2 hours going to see a car described as 'pristine' by a family owned car sales place.
All the tyres had cuts in the sidewalls, scratches and small dents on all 4 doors, one very badly filled chip the size of a two pence visible from 6 feet away.
They looked at me like I was mad when I pointed them out.
Also heard the old classic 'age related marks' ... no, they're careless owner related marks.
All the tyres had cuts in the sidewalls, scratches and small dents on all 4 doors, one very badly filled chip the size of a two pence visible from 6 feet away.
They looked at me like I was mad when I pointed them out.
Also heard the old classic 'age related marks' ... no, they're careless owner related marks.
We try our best to prep everything before sale; alloy scuffs, bumper scuffs etc, however sometimes you do get bogged down, especially as our smart repairer is a third party so he has other dealers to attend to, so the sold stuff gets done first and the display stuff gets put to the back of the queue and it can take time to catch up.
Nothing is ever hideously bad; I would say alloy scuffs and the odd bumper corner are fine to display as long as you are clear that it will get done, if a car needs to go to a bodyshop then it isn't put on display until it has been sorted.
Nothing is ever hideously bad; I would say alloy scuffs and the odd bumper corner are fine to display as long as you are clear that it will get done, if a car needs to go to a bodyshop then it isn't put on display until it has been sorted.
i must be weird then, because in my mind spending a large amount of money, or facing years of monthly payments would warrant making sure the car is proper.. no 'yer we'll sort that for you', but ready for sale on viewing. Cant think of anything else i buy from a shop that's displayed in a sub standard condition! Hearing the garages do the least possible sounds lame on their part.
I guess if there's more customers than supply, they can do this. Part of me thinks its a 'tool' to push buyers to brand new cars, or higher priced ones.
I guess if there's more customers than supply, they can do this. Part of me thinks its a 'tool' to push buyers to brand new cars, or higher priced ones.
This has also surprised me as well.
With some of the posts above I can see the point being made, why spend out money on a car that they may not sell anyway.
That said, if I'm looking to buy a car I think cosmetically at least it should be tidy and clean.
When my other half was looking for a replacement for her SL, we went to look at what appeared to be a tidy C350. Got there and not only was it not clean but there was a list of obvious things that I wouldn't have been confident would be sorted or sorted properly. Wheels all needed refurbishing, sunroof wouldn't close properly etc.
When going to buy a car, I do pretty much expect to see it in almost the condition I'd expect to drive it home in maybe bar a good valet before collection.
With some of the posts above I can see the point being made, why spend out money on a car that they may not sell anyway.
That said, if I'm looking to buy a car I think cosmetically at least it should be tidy and clean.
When my other half was looking for a replacement for her SL, we went to look at what appeared to be a tidy C350. Got there and not only was it not clean but there was a list of obvious things that I wouldn't have been confident would be sorted or sorted properly. Wheels all needed refurbishing, sunroof wouldn't close properly etc.
When going to buy a car, I do pretty much expect to see it in almost the condition I'd expect to drive it home in maybe bar a good valet before collection.
cluckcluck said:
I guess if there's more customers than supply, they can do this. Part of me thinks its a 'tool' to push buyers to brand new cars, or higher priced ones.
There always has to be a conspiracy, it couldn't be further from the truth, why would a dealer have literally £millions tied up in used and depreciating stock in the hope that it wouldn't get sold? It is just time, half our stock wouldn't be on display if we waited until a smart repair or alloys scuff was done, before displaying it.
You'd be surprised at how many people aren't actually that bothered about the odd alloy scuff or minor bumper mark, I sold and handed over a 3 yo car this week that was due to have its alloys done, it was pushed back due to sold cars jumping ahead, it wasn't mentioned when he was looking at the car (you can usually gauge a how a customer will be and pre-empt how they are likely to want the car to be and if need be, jump in "oh Yeahh the wheels are being sorted tomorrow, it's just time etc....") the wheels weren't done but he was happy, never mentioned it and subsequenty yesterday he emailed me saying how pleased he is with the car.
I noticed our local Honda dealership have a lot of grotty cars with "Awaiting preparation" signs on them. However, even those which have been prepared aren't particularly clean or tidy.
I looked at a new car which was parked outside a dealership. At first, I thought it was a few years old, and couldn't quite believe it was new! It looked like it had spent a few days parked on a beach - the entire interior was covered in red soil, and the boot had piles of soil sitting in it, and the door jambs were filthy. I think it was because the dealers leave the cars outside with the tailgates open.
I looked at a new car which was parked outside a dealership. At first, I thought it was a few years old, and couldn't quite believe it was new! It looked like it had spent a few days parked on a beach - the entire interior was covered in red soil, and the boot had piles of soil sitting in it, and the door jambs were filthy. I think it was because the dealers leave the cars outside with the tailgates open.
Alex_225 said:
This has also surprised me as well.
With some of the posts above I can see the point being made, why spend out money on a car that they may not sell anyway.
That said, if I'm looking to buy a car I think cosmetically at least it should be tidy and clean.
When my other half was looking for a replacement for her SL, we went to look at what appeared to be a tidy C350. Got there and not only was it not clean but there was a list of obvious things that I wouldn't have been confident would be sorted or sorted properly. Wheels all needed refurbishing, sunroof wouldn't close properly etc.
When going to buy a car, I do pretty much expect to see it in almost the condition I'd expect to drive it home in maybe bar a good valet before collection.
Wouldn't you make the comment something like. "I might well be interested in this, but would want all these points doing before I commit" ? The response would either be yes, it will be done by the xy/zz, or tough luck, we will only do it when you commit.With some of the posts above I can see the point being made, why spend out money on a car that they may not sell anyway.
That said, if I'm looking to buy a car I think cosmetically at least it should be tidy and clean.
When my other half was looking for a replacement for her SL, we went to look at what appeared to be a tidy C350. Got there and not only was it not clean but there was a list of obvious things that I wouldn't have been confident would be sorted or sorted properly. Wheels all needed refurbishing, sunroof wouldn't close properly etc.
When going to buy a car, I do pretty much expect to see it in almost the condition I'd expect to drive it home in maybe bar a good valet before collection.
The response would tell you what you need to know about the trader too ?
Coilspring said:
Wouldn't you make the comment something like. "I might well be interested in this, but would want all these points doing before I commit" ? The response would either be yes, it will be done by the xy/zz, or tough luck, we will only do it when you commit.
The response would tell you what you need to know about the trader too ?
" No problem, sold cars get priority but I'm happy to give you a call when this one is done if you are still in the market. Just to be clear, the car remains on sale until we have a deposit, is that ok?"The response would tell you what you need to know about the trader too ?
Happens the other way around too, last weekend I did a back to back test drive of an RS6 and X5M at a main dealer, both were new in stock and unprepped, aside from a couple of scratches and a small parking ding the RS6 was spotless. The X5M on the other hand was an absolute mess, uber high spec totalling almost £120k (individual audio, paint, leather and just about every other option) yet at three years old and IIRC 20k miles virtually every body panel needed work, 3 of the 4 alloys were badly scuffed, the TPMS valves for some reason looked corroded into the alloys (this stood out as my current car is the exact same age and does not have similar problems) The interior was slightly less worn, but still required work to get to showroom standard for what was going to retail at £49,500. Had a good old laugh with the salemans about it as the buyer had apparently chopped it in for a Bentayga, but ultimately I passed on it largely for the atrocious ride and handling in comparison to the RS6.
In fairness with my example, the garages made it clear about the cars being unprepped and that everything would be sorted - I don't doubt it but I'm glad that I saw the X5M in its raw state as if it'd been okay from a driving perspective I'd have likely bought it if presented in showroom condition. Given the amount the stuff that needs doing I would not buy it as we've had our fingers burnt in the past with a badly repaired car bought from a main dealer.
With a lot of buyers if they have a choice of having a few wheel scuffs and marks seen to or a bit of money off about 80% or more go for the money off.
Most are quite philosophical that it'll get banged in Tescos within a week anyway and if they wanted something immaculate they need to buy a new one.
A lot depends on the price range. Expectations at £3-5k are, and should be, lower than £30k.
Most are quite philosophical that it'll get banged in Tescos within a week anyway and if they wanted something immaculate they need to buy a new one.
A lot depends on the price range. Expectations at £3-5k are, and should be, lower than £30k.
Edited by confused_buyer on Friday 13th September 16:28
As an alternate view on this I generally prefer to see the car unprepped as it gives you an indication of how it's been cared for. Once it's all prepped you'd never know and may then find yourself with all manner of hidden little niggles that the original owner didn't care about either. It used to be a benefit of buying privately until that market mainly disappeared.
scot_aln said:
As an alternate view on this I generally prefer to see the car unprepped as it gives you an indication of how it's been cared for. Once it's all prepped you'd never know and may then find yourself with all manner of hidden little niggles that the original owner didn't care about either. It used to be a benefit of buying privately until that market mainly disappeared.
This is about the only benefit of viewing an unprepared car IMHO. In other threads people are questioning the value of paying the dealer margin. Surely part of the value is seeing the car repaired and prepared, nothing to do, drive away today. If I can do a deal on the day I’ll travel further. If that goes for all customers, there will be more of them.
On balance I’d rather see the car ready to go. The standard of some smart repairs leaves a lot to be desired and is just another headache to sort out if the sale is agreed and the prep/repairs aren’t up to scratch.
Not prepping a car till sold, that's like turning up for a job interview in casual wear on the basis you won't bother putting on a shirt till you know you've got the job.
Mind, car dealers are a queer bunch today - the mrs BMW I got a couple hundred knocked off specifically as the electric window switches were broke, I thought they'd need whole new units but 2 minutes of research and a couple of quid on eBay had me new covers!
Mind, car dealers are a queer bunch today - the mrs BMW I got a couple hundred knocked off specifically as the electric window switches were broke, I thought they'd need whole new units but 2 minutes of research and a couple of quid on eBay had me new covers!
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