The Car Salesman's Thread
Discussion
Wow this would put me off buying a car from here with phrases such as "Once Repaired Noone Will Even Know The Vehicle Has Been Involved In An Accident."
Gives the wrong impression in my book.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2008-HONDA-S2000-GT-BLAC...
As a side issue how in God's name did tat crash not trigger the airbags???
Gives the wrong impression in my book.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2008-HONDA-S2000-GT-BLAC...
As a side issue how in God's name did tat crash not trigger the airbags???
Fox- said:
uncinquesei said:
These are the customers who screw you into the floor on the price
It's funny how these are unacceptable yet salesaman who do the opposite and load up with the high priced gap etc are just doing a job, surely it works both ways - customer wants lowest price, salesman wants highest, if salesmen who offer £400 GAP are, as has been argued many times, not screwing anyone then customers who want the best possible price logically cannot be either.You presumably still make money off a customer who 'screws you into the floor on price' otherwise you'd refuse, so the problem is what?
Take your point with the whiners though
) then I find I am less enthusiastic about maintaining contact... Usually, they are also the type of person who will want endless demos and buy from the other end of the country for £50.Edited because...
Ah.
AtticusFinch said:
Lots of stuff better put than mine
Edited by uncinquesei on Thursday 4th October 09:18
lordlee said:
Wow this would put me off buying a car from here with phrases such as "Once Repaired Noone Will Even Know The Vehicle Has Been Involved In An Accident."
Gives the wrong impression in my book.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2008-HONDA-S2000-GT-BLAC...
As a side issue how in God's name did tat crash not trigger the airbags???
That's appalling. I hope the number gets put about in Honda circles. It's the sort of thing that gives the trade a bad name.Gives the wrong impression in my book.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2008-HONDA-S2000-GT-BLAC...
As a side issue how in God's name did tat crash not trigger the airbags???
rovermorris999 said:
That's appalling. I hope the number gets put about in Honda circles. It's the sort of thing that gives the trade a bad name.
How is it the motor trade's fault if someone (more than likely not in the trade, we don't buy off ebay) repairs a damaged car and misrepresents its background?Grenoble said:
Not helped by strange customer service surveys where the response "excellent" is not the highest grade.
Apparently the customer has to say "exceptional" or "outstanding" to get the highest. Not two words that the British normally use or that come to mind when describing a car service.
Guess the brand?
Many brands do this, but Volvo are perhaps the most consistent. Apparently the customer has to say "exceptional" or "outstanding" to get the highest. Not two words that the British normally use or that come to mind when describing a car service.
Guess the brand?
When I was a salesman in 2002 we were going through a phase of being targeted on customer satisfaction, with £100 being paid to every 'outstanding' questionnaire response from brand new cars.
Calling up the customer 2 weeks after delivery (which I did anyway as a follow up) and asking them to tick outstanding on the last question and post it back got an extra £2.5k that year - perhaps the easiest money I ever made.
We jumped from the bottom ten in the country to the top twenty (of 150 dealers) in customer satisfaction, yet nothing had changed in our approach to customer service! Just goes to show how pointless customer satisfaction surveys can be.
Edited by JimexPL on Thursday 4th October 09:40
Clivey said:
Hi all, just wondered if someone could value a car for me:
Jan '07 (56) Citroën C4 1.6HDI (110ps) VTR+ Coupé (3 door). 48,000 miles, pearlescent Blue, FSH, genuinely immaculate condition.
I'm considering a used Freelander TD4 at around £6k but I'm wondering what the cost to change will be.
If you work off your car being worth roughly £3K you will be in the ballpark.Jan '07 (56) Citroën C4 1.6HDI (110ps) VTR+ Coupé (3 door). 48,000 miles, pearlescent Blue, FSH, genuinely immaculate condition.
I'm considering a used Freelander TD4 at around £6k but I'm wondering what the cost to change will be.
rovermorris999 said:
lordlee said:
Wow this would put me off buying a car from here with phrases such as "Once Repaired Noone Will Even Know The Vehicle Has Been Involved In An Accident."
Gives the wrong impression in my book.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2008-HONDA-S2000-GT-BLAC...
As a side issue how in God's name did tat crash not trigger the airbags???
That's appalling. I hope the number gets put about in Honda circles. It's the sort of thing that gives the trade a bad name.Gives the wrong impression in my book.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2008-HONDA-S2000-GT-BLAC...
As a side issue how in God's name did tat crash not trigger the airbags???
Shocking.
markmullen said:
How is it the motor trade's fault if someone (more than likely not in the trade, we don't buy off ebay) repairs a damaged car and misrepresents its background?
It's a trader selling it and making it clear that the car can be passed off as undamaged. Legal maybe but not moral.Gary11 said:
No but will have more intrinsic value than a recorded car so has to be worded to reflect that somehow??
It has more value because it can be passed off as never damaged when it has been. Not actual fraud if nobody asks but morally it stinks. I'm surprised anyone in the trade would condone it. uncinquesei said:
insightful stuff from a car salesperson's viewpoint
Thanks for the reply.I think my local dealership is possibly too busy to bother with follow-up contact, Stratstone have the monopoly owning the 4 West of Scotland dealerships, so they know if someone wants a new or nearly new Merc there's no other options locally.
The dealers I've bought from further away probably think I'll never bother travelling down to buy from them again. MB Manchester were wrong if they thought that, so I made no effort to ask for the salesman that I'd dealt with previously when I went to them for a second car.
Maybe they just think I'm a
and don't want to see me ever again, I'll never know 
JimexPL said:
Many brands do this, but Volvo are perhaps the most consistent.
When I was a salesman in 2002 we were going through a phase of being targeted on customer satisfaction, with £100 being paid to every 'outstanding' questionnaire response from brand new cars.
Calling up the customer 2 weeks after delivery (which I did anyway as a follow up) and asking them to tick outstanding on the last question and post it back got an extra £2.5k that year - perhaps the easiest money I ever made.
We jumped from the bottom ten in the country to the top twenty (of 150 dealers) in customer satisfaction, yet nothing had changed in our approach to customer service! Just goes to show how pointless customer satisfaction surveys can be.
There's a story on one of the MB forums from a customer who put average scores after his new car purchase as he thought the deal and service was OK, nothing spectacular either way.When I was a salesman in 2002 we were going through a phase of being targeted on customer satisfaction, with £100 being paid to every 'outstanding' questionnaire response from brand new cars.
Calling up the customer 2 weeks after delivery (which I did anyway as a follow up) and asking them to tick outstanding on the last question and post it back got an extra £2.5k that year - perhaps the easiest money I ever made.
We jumped from the bottom ten in the country to the top twenty (of 150 dealers) in customer satisfaction, yet nothing had changed in our approach to customer service! Just goes to show how pointless customer satisfaction surveys can be.
The dealer general manager called him asking why he shouldn't sack the salesman as it was the worst feedback they'd ever had.
When we bought a Golf last year, the salesman filled in the satisfaction form himself while completing the ordering process.
Clivey said:
Cheers! 
I'll need to save a bit more then so will try selling privately in the meantime & try to reduce the cost to change.
Are they unloved? I quite like the look of them. Obviously being French everyone thinks its electrics will catch fire at any given time and the car will fall apart. I'll need to save a bit more then so will try selling privately in the meantime & try to reduce the cost to change.
Looking on Ebay ones similar to yours are advertised for anything from £2500-5000 depending on age and mileage.
rovermorris999 said:
It has more value because it can be passed off as never damaged when it has been. Not actual fraud if nobody asks but morally it stinks. I'm surprised anyone in the trade would condone it.
Only if the value of the repair is roughly 2/3 of its trade vale it may not be a "write off",the new scheme launched by HPI as I posted earlier on here is directly to circumvent the eroneus missdescribtions of cars,sadly it WILL affect the value and desireability of your car if you have a small claim,it will encourge people to not claim once they understand this,hence we will see the back street repairs becoming the norm so people dont a damage report on file.Many many car have a little dent or get keyed.Deva Link said:
There's a story on one of the MB forums from a customer who put average scores after his new car purchase as he thought the deal and service was OK, nothing spectacular either way.
The dealer general manager called him asking why he shouldn't sack the salesman as it was the worst feedback they'd ever had.
When we bought a Golf last year, the salesman filled in the satisfaction form himself while completing the ordering process.
Last time I bought a new car I had pretty good service from the saleswoman and my feedback was going to reflect that. When it was suggested that it 'would help' if I ticked exceptional, I looked at the merchandise for sale and bartered an umbrella for the tick The dealer general manager called him asking why he shouldn't sack the salesman as it was the worst feedback they'd ever had.
When we bought a Golf last year, the salesman filled in the satisfaction form himself while completing the ordering process.
It was a bit of fun and I would have ticked the box anyway, not because the service was 'exceptional', but becuase she was a nice lady and did her job as required and I was happy to help out. Bloody brolly broke as soon as it got a bit windy!
Deva Link said:
When we bought a Golf last year, the salesman filled in the satisfaction form himself while completing the ordering process.
Odd, as in every instance I've ever known of new car CS questionnaires, the manufacturer writes/e-mails/calls directly to the customer, triggered by the AFRL registration process to preclude precisely that outcome. Likewise when it's a used car and the dealer/dealer group/PLC overlords do it, it circumvents the sales department until that month's results have all been collated and a mass b
king or faint praising occurs at the opening meeting of the new month. The only facility dealers have to stop a particular customer getting a questionnare is to mail-stop them prior to registering their new car. Dealers do often include a blank template questionnaire in the handover pack with the key questions and desired responses highlighted and mention it at the point of handover.
GreatGranny said:
Are they unloved? I quite like the look of them. Obviously being French everyone thinks its electrics will catch fire at any given time and the car will fall apart.
Well I've had mine for 5 years and have only had a couple of very minor faults that were easily rectified. It's never threatened to leave me stranded anywhere and I'd buy another over a similar age Focus / Golf if I were in that market again. - It's more comfortable (VTR+ & VTS seats are very nice), has a good balance between ride quality and grip and is more interesting than the competition (personally I think it looks miles better than the new model). That said, I'd go for the 2.0-litre next time as the gearbox in the 1.6HDi isn't very nice (it's geared tall so you have to stuff it into first to pull away at junctions and has a very long throw).GreatGranny said:
Looking on Ebay ones similar to yours are advertised for anything from £2500-5000 depending on age and mileage.
Yes; the closest ones of the same age / spec / mileage on AutoTrader are up for around £5k from dealers - I'll put it up for a few hundred less and see how it goes (this tactic has served me well in the past). I'm sure it won't be too difficult to sell an economical diesel in this condition - I'm only selling as I want a 4x4! If it's still around by the time I've saved enough for a Freelander, I'll trade it in.Does this sound sensible to the professionals here?
Gary11 said:
Only if the value of the repair is roughly 2/3 of its trade vale it may not be a "write off",the new scheme launched by HPI as I posted earlier on here is directly to circumvent the eroneus missdescribtions of cars,sadly it WILL affect the value and desireability of your car if you have a small claim,it will encourge people to not claim once they understand this,hence we will see the back street repairs becoming the norm so people dont a damage report on file.Many many car have a little dent or get keyed.
It wouldn't bother me if a car I was looking at had had a small claim such as a little dent or being keyed but I can see that some people would, so yes, it may well increase back street repairs. The law of unintended consequences.However, the car shown above hasn't had a 'little dent'. I'd want to know all about that before I considered buying it. Repaired minor bumps and scrapes are to be expected but a front end incident where it looks like there will be some chassis damage is a different kettle of fish.
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