The soul destroying act of buying a car from a MD.
Discussion
Just back from buying a car from a MD. I was losing the will to live at some points. The amount of paperwork and declarations you now have to sit through is unreal and this is before you even start to discuss the car you're actually interested in buying. Then the salesman goes off to print off the paperwork, brings it back so you can go through it again and signs it. Then its out to inspect my car and take umpteen photo's of it. The salesman supposedly having long drawn out conversations with their manager trying to get you the best deal possible. 
The best part of 3 hours before the deal was concluded. Gone are the days of oh that'll be 10 grand to change guv. With a bit of haggling the deal used to be done in 20 minutes. Will be a long time hopefully before I change cars and go through that again.
The best part of 3 hours before the deal was concluded. Gone are the days of oh that'll be 10 grand to change guv. With a bit of haggling the deal used to be done in 20 minutes. Will be a long time hopefully before I change cars and go through that again. I’m with you OP, buying my last one was painful, was told to collect it at 14:00 on a Thursday afternoon, when I got there I was told they needed to change a tyre as it had a puncture then it needed to go and get prepared but in the meantime I can complete the paperwork...
2.5 hours in the dealers! It was a used car and they had a week to prep it!
2.5 hours in the dealers! It was a used car and they had a week to prep it!
If you buy cash, you can generally avoid all the finance crap.
I just bought a one year old car from a main dealer. Got the px price and said I woul have to think about it after seeing 2 other cars. Upon deciding I did want the car, I dropped an email to the salesman asking him to improve his px offer by £250, explains I wanted two tyred replacing with original spec tyres, confirming a small chip would be remedied and confirming no admin fee.
He rang later and agreed the terms but knocked £300 off the price, in lieu of the two tyres and that's how it went down. Always have two other options to barter with and they seem to get the job done.
I just bought a one year old car from a main dealer. Got the px price and said I woul have to think about it after seeing 2 other cars. Upon deciding I did want the car, I dropped an email to the salesman asking him to improve his px offer by £250, explains I wanted two tyred replacing with original spec tyres, confirming a small chip would be remedied and confirming no admin fee.
He rang later and agreed the terms but knocked £300 off the price, in lieu of the two tyres and that's how it went down. Always have two other options to barter with and they seem to get the job done.
Edited by LuS1fer on Friday 3rd January 17:51
Bought my son a car at a main dealer 2 weeks ago. It was very competitively priced (equal to private sale price) and they made it clear no haggling before i went out to look at it.
Great car priced to sell , quick test drive and a ‘no thanks’ to all the regulated extras and i paid the deposit and was away in 20 minutes
Picked up a week later after they’d replaced disks and pads all round (at their cost) , was there no more than 30 mins which included sorting DVLA and tax online.
Its only difficult if the dealer makes it that way.
ETA my car needs replacing in a few months and based on that experience i will be back there to look for something for me
Great car priced to sell , quick test drive and a ‘no thanks’ to all the regulated extras and i paid the deposit and was away in 20 minutes
Picked up a week later after they’d replaced disks and pads all round (at their cost) , was there no more than 30 mins which included sorting DVLA and tax online.
Its only difficult if the dealer makes it that way.
ETA my car needs replacing in a few months and based on that experience i will be back there to look for something for me
Mind numbing experience , up to a couple of years ago the mrs had company cars so every 6 months or so a new car would turn ! Cue her retiring and having to buy a car , a gt86 was high on her wish list after buying a lexus nx300 brand new which was ok mainly due to the friendly staff and free coffee, a test drive was required so one was found 2nd hand at a main dealer , we just wanted a test drive to see if she liked it , good god you would think we were tyre kicking at a ferrari dealership , sit down , hand over driving licences and wait , lad goes off to credit check us (no coffee) comes back several times ,time is ticking away with me getting more and more annoyed ,we couldn’t leave as they had our licenses and lad has gone awol ,eventually we get to have a go (accompanied with lad squeezed into back seats ) quick drive in a very 2nd hand model and decide yes we do want one but not that one ! Too old too many miles etc . They had none in their dealerships so bought one private , dealer has since been rubbish over servicing , the whole experience took about 2 hours !
LuS1fer said:
If you buy cash, you can generally avoid all the finance crap.
I just bought a one year old car from a main dealer. Got the px price and said I woul have to think about it after seeing 2 other cars. Upon deciding I did want the car, I dropped an email to the salesman asking him to improve his px offer by £250, explains I wanted two tyred replacing with original spec tyres, confirming a small chip would be remedied and confirming no admin fee.
He rang later and agreed the terms but knocked £300 off the price, in lieu of the two tyres and that's how it went down. Always have two other options to barter with and they seem to get the job done.
Paid in cash. They still had to go through the finance guff with me anyway, just incase I was missing out on any advantages it may offer. I just bought a one year old car from a main dealer. Got the px price and said I woul have to think about it after seeing 2 other cars. Upon deciding I did want the car, I dropped an email to the salesman asking him to improve his px offer by £250, explains I wanted two tyred replacing with original spec tyres, confirming a small chip would be remedied and confirming no admin fee.
He rang later and agreed the terms but knocked £300 off the price, in lieu of the two tyres and that's how it went down. Always have two other options to barter with and they seem to get the job done.
Edited by LuS1fer on Friday 3rd January 17:51
Felt sorry for the salesman who was very pleasant and actually interested in cars as he was clearly pissed off at having to go through the whole rigmarole. He did offer to do a smart repair due to a smalll scuff on the bumper, gave me an extended warranty and a full tank of fuel as well. So can't complain too much.
Edited by monzaxjr on Friday 3rd January 18:18
I've recently changed the Ateca at the supplying dealer for a Leon Estate - slightly older but a third of the mileage and £50 less a month made it "attractive". I suppose I spent 3 hours in total on it but none of it was particularly unpleasant. Stupid processes meant the young saleslad sent me two videos which were just him talking rather than a walk round of the vehicle as the cover email suggested it would be. I laughed at his suggestion that I should pick the vehicle up at the beginning or end of the day because that's what the Sales Manager told him needed to happen and turned up to collect at 11.30. It was valeted, had half a tank of fuel and was ready to go. Deposit refunded and away I went.
On the other side of that I went into Christopher Neil when they sold Subarus,asked for a test drive of a STI. The sales manager gave me the keys and asked me to only go as far as the M56 via the A559.
I came back and bought it there and then.We returned about 4 weeks later and did exactly the same with an Outback.
Easily the least hassle I have ever had buying cars.
I came back and bought it there and then.We returned about 4 weeks later and did exactly the same with an Outback.
Easily the least hassle I have ever had buying cars.
monzaxjr said:
LuS1fer said:
If you buy cash, you can generally avoid all the finance crap.
I just bought a one year old car from a main dealer. Got the px price and said I woul have to think about it after seeing 2 other cars. Upon deciding I did want the car, I dropped an email to the salesman asking him to improve his px offer by £250, explains I wanted two tyred replacing with original spec tyres, confirming a small chip would be remedied and confirming no admin fee.
He rang later and agreed the terms but knocked £300 off the price, in lieu of the two tyres and that's how it went down. Always have two other options to barter with and they seem to get the job done.
Paid in cash. They still had to go through the finance guff with me anyway, just incase I was missing out on any advantages it may offer. I just bought a one year old car from a main dealer. Got the px price and said I woul have to think about it after seeing 2 other cars. Upon deciding I did want the car, I dropped an email to the salesman asking him to improve his px offer by £250, explains I wanted two tyred replacing with original spec tyres, confirming a small chip would be remedied and confirming no admin fee.
He rang later and agreed the terms but knocked £300 off the price, in lieu of the two tyres and that's how it went down. Always have two other options to barter with and they seem to get the job done.
Edited by LuS1fer on Friday 3rd January 17:51
Felt sorry for the salesman who was very pleasant and actually interested in cars as he was clearly pissed off at having to go through the whole rigmarole. He did offer to do a smart repair due to a smalll scuff on the bumper, gave me an extended warranty and a full tank of fuel as well. So can't complain too much.
Edited by monzaxjr on Friday 3rd January 18:18
Noticed a friend had bought a new car last weekend and was showing the experience on facebook.. They served bloody lunch which was ridiculous.
Agreeing the van was not too painful. I was wanting an awkward spec, which the dealer did not have. But was happy to take me out in an auto, which was lower power, and a manual one in the spec they I otherwise wanted.
Best experience was buying a car with step lad. Trader could not be bothered really, and after commiserating about the state of his marriage through us the keys. Quick drive we were happy enough. Step lad shot his load trying to negotiate by low balling to the extent that the trader had to do his job. As it was bloody cheap anyway and he new it.
Still from arriving to spending £6k and driving away with tax and insurance, 22 minutes.
Agreeing the van was not too painful. I was wanting an awkward spec, which the dealer did not have. But was happy to take me out in an auto, which was lower power, and a manual one in the spec they I otherwise wanted.
Best experience was buying a car with step lad. Trader could not be bothered really, and after commiserating about the state of his marriage through us the keys. Quick drive we were happy enough. Step lad shot his load trying to negotiate by low balling to the extent that the trader had to do his job. As it was bloody cheap anyway and he new it.
Still from arriving to spending £6k and driving away with tax and insurance, 22 minutes.
RammyMP said:
I paid in cash also. I had to sign a form for the dealers procedures to say the salesman had gone through all the forms!
The dealer said to me they had to go through it to cover their arse. For example, if I wrote the car off immediately but didn't have gap insurance plus the insurance paid out less than the sales price, the dealer wanted the protection from being sued by me for the un recovered amount.Burgerbob said:
RammyMP said:
I paid in cash also. I had to sign a form for the dealers procedures to say the salesman had gone through all the forms!
The dealer said to me they had to go through it to cover their arse. For example, if I wrote the car off immediately but didn't have gap insurance plus the insurance paid out less than the sales price, the dealer wanted the protection from being sued by me for the un recovered amount.Feel your pain. Bought two second hand cars at MD’s this year (Ford & BM). Utter pain, ranging from the forms you need to fill even when paying cash to the begging I rate the experience at 100% or they’ll lose their jobs. Let alone try & haggle with them. You’d think I was trying to buy a piece of art or something, it’s a car FFS!
In bought a carv recently from a main dealer. Dealer was about 300 miles from me. They had the car in stock. I paid deposit over the phone. They're were a couple of phone calls and emails through the week to choose the registration number and I collected it the next weekend.
That was it. I even declined the dealer's demo of all the features (figuring them out us half the fun!). They took the most cursory of looks over my trade in. I'd paid the balance the day before. Signed the receipt and drove off. Happy days!
That was it. I even declined the dealer's demo of all the features (figuring them out us half the fun!). They took the most cursory of looks over my trade in. I'd paid the balance the day before. Signed the receipt and drove off. Happy days!
vikingaero said:
Cars exist purely to sell finance/GAP/paint protection/tyre insurance/scuff insurance etc. If Main Stealers could find a way to sell all this guff without pesky cars involved then they would.
A complete misunderstanding.The vast amount of profit for a dealer comes from selling used cars, new cars after that (manufacturer bonuses) then finance etc.
The cars then bring back service/repair work.
Your statement is false.
Pothole said:
I've recently changed the Ateca at the supplying dealer for a Leon Estate - slightly older but a third of the mileage and £50 less a month made it "attractive". I suppose I spent 3 hours in total on it but none of it was particularly unpleasant. Stupid processes meant the young saleslad sent me two videos which were just him talking rather than a walk round of the vehicle as the cover email suggested it would be. I laughed at his suggestion that I should pick the vehicle up at the beginning or end of the day because that's what the Sales Manager told him needed to happen and turned up to collect at 11.30. It was valeted, had half a tank of fuel and was ready to go. Deposit refunded and away I went.
Probably wanted start or end of day so he could do deals during the day. Don't want to be doing handovers in the busy spells.Gassing Station | Car Buying | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff