The Car Salesman's Thread

[missing the VR6]

Butter Face said:

Then at 4pm today, we get a phone call from an irate chap wanting to speak to my manager to make a formal complaint as he had sent the pictures and got no response.

I never got the pics.

I don't see why people feel the need to kick off like that, proper annoyed me. If he'd rung me and said 'Hi, I sent the pics but didn't get an email back' I'd have helped him out, instead I'm refusing to deal with him and have passed him to someone else.



I'm over it. Honest

Seriously? I take it you just sell cars for the fun of it and don't need to earn any money?

Best way to deal with tw@t customers, sell them something!

[AtticusFinch]

missing the VR6 said:

Butter Face said:

Then at 4pm today, we get a phone call from an irate chap wanting to speak to my manager to make a formal complaint as he had sent the pictures and got no response.

I never got the pics.

I don't see why people feel the need to kick off like that, proper annoyed me. If he'd rung me and said 'Hi, I sent the pics but didn't get an email back' I'd have helped him out, instead I'm refusing to deal with him and have passed him to someone else.



I'm over it. Honest

Seriously? I take it you just sell cars for the fun of it and don't need to earn any money?

Best way to deal with tw@t customers, sell them something!

Sometimes you meet someone and you just know the stress involved won't be worth the commission!!!

[Butter Face]

AtticusFinch said:

missing the VR6 said:

Butter Face said:

Then at 4pm today, we get a phone call from an irate chap wanting to speak to my manager to make a formal complaint as he had sent the pictures and got no response.

I never got the pics.

I don't see why people feel the need to kick off like that, proper annoyed me. If he'd rung me and said 'Hi, I sent the pics but didn't get an email back' I'd have helped him out, instead I'm refusing to deal with him and have passed him to someone else.



I'm over it. Honest

Seriously? I take it you just sell cars for the fun of it and don't need to earn any money?

Best way to deal with tw@t customers, sell them something!

Sometimes you meet someone and you just know the stress involved won't be worth the commission!!!

Indeed. Obviously I do it for money, but I put my own mental health before selling anything. People who are wanting to put written complaints in about you after 24 hours are NOT the type I want to deal with.

[POORCARDEALER]

I often make a decision not to sell customers a car, due to attitude etc etc....life is too short.

[Zwolf]

AtticusFinch said:

Sometimes you meet someone and you just know the stress involved won't be worth the commission!!!

[missing the VR6]

This attitude surprises me, some of my most profitable deals have been with awkward/difficult customers. A lot of them know they're difficult and find it surprising and pleasant when someone can be bothered to deal with them.

[Butter Face]

missing the VR6 said:

This attitude surprises me, some of my most profitable deals have been with awkward/difficult customers. A lot of them know they're difficult and find it surprising and pleasant when someone can be bothered to deal with them.

There's a difference between 'difficult' and 'an absolute wker' though.

I don't mind if someone is difficult, if someone starts threatening with written complaints after 24 hours they are more likely to be the latter.

[whoami]

POORCARDEALER said:

I often make a decision not to sell customers a car, due to attitude etc etc....life is too short.

Yup, works both ways.

[POORCARDEALER]

whoami said:

POORCARDEALER said:

I often make a decision not to sell customers a car, due to attitude etc etc....life is too short.

Yup, works both ways.

Agree fully.

[TVR1]

Butter Face said:

missing the VR6 said:

This attitude surprises me, some of my most profitable deals have been with awkward/difficult customers. A lot of them know they're difficult and find it surprising and pleasant when someone can be bothered to deal with them.

There's a difference between 'difficult' and 'an absolute wker' though.

I don't mind if someone is difficult, if someone starts threatening with written complaints after 24 hours they are more likely to be the latter.

Try as you are sitting with them. Customers turns up 2 hours early for a Saturday appointment and doesn't quite understand that we do actually see more than one person a day, so ask him to please take a seat as I wont be long finishing with the chap i'm with. Sales manager collars me 10 minutes later as he has an irate customer on the line and wants to know what it is about........luckily I have a sales manager who has trod the boards and knows what ste customers sometimes say. walks over to customer and basically tells him to do one, on the basis that if he is prepared to lie in order to 'drop me in st now', what will he be like later down the track.....

[Lucky13]

I can not remember the last day I've had when more than one person turned up on time.

I'm never late for my dentist or doctors appointments. I certainly wouldn't expect to be seen immediately if I were late.

I was shocked the other day when someone called to say they were running late, I must have thanked them 6 times for letting me know!

Mustn't complain too much as it's a good job with plenty of perks.

[okie592]

Im looking at a brand new or nearly new polo / ibiza / fabia with the 1.2 tsi engine

what sort of deals are around, whats best new or used. Looking for the best deposit contribution, on a mid spec car, over 18 to 36 months if possible

whats the best type of finance, i do less than 10k a year, but prefabley want a car with some options ( xenons, privicy glass alloys etc)

[AtticusFinch]

POORCARDEALER said:

I often make a decision not to sell customers a car, due to attitude etc etc....life is too short.

Quite right. We all make mistakes sometimes and just wished you had trusted your instinct!!

[Benny Saltstein]

I had a question for those in the trade about presenting a car for trade in. Clearly common sense dictates that you present it in the best possible condition.

However, my wife's car, to be totally honest, has done several rounds in the supermarket/school run etc etc and cosmetically on the exterior is in poor shape. So I totally appreciate that this will devalue it as it stands but is it worth me spending money to put right to improve the trade in value? ie am I likely to see a similar return for the cost of repairs given the dealer probably can reclaim the VAT if they do?

Have you ever refused a trade in based on condition?

[Butter Face]

I've never refused a PX because of condition, but if it's been 'that' bad we'll only pay bottom dollar for it, take it or leave it.

Unless the front end is hanging off, I wouldn't worry about it. Most places have smart repairs/good relationships with local bodyshops so can get it done for a lot less than you can so just let them price 'as is'

[oldnbold]

Benny Saltstein said:

I had a question for those in the trade about presenting a car for trade in. Clearly common sense dictates that you present it in the best possible condition.

However, my wife's car, to be totally honest, has done several rounds in the supermarket/school run etc etc and cosmetically on the exterior is in poor shape. So I totally appreciate that this will devalue it as it stands but is it worth me spending money to put right to improve the trade in value? ie am I likely to see a similar return for the cost of repairs given the dealer probably can reclaim the VAT if they do?

Have you ever refused a trade in based on condition?

It will depend if the dealer you trade in to is likley to re sell the car or just trade it out. If its 3 years old and the same make as you are buying (main dealer presumed)he will probably want it as stock, so then just ask him the question " if I get the damage fixed how much more will you give me". In all likleyhood it will only make a couple of hundred quid difference if any. Probably a lot less than your cost of fixing it.

If its a 6 year old Ford and your buying from a Vauxhall main dealer they wont be keeping your car and will just trade it out, so unless its realy battered they wont be that bothered, but it will give them ammo to chip you.

What you get as a trade in depends on how badly they need to sell a car and how much margin they have left in it, and your ability to negotiate realistically. Do some research and remember that just because a guide indicates its trade value is say £4k not many dealers will offer you that unless they have a specific reason to do so, ie need to sell the car you are looking at badly or your trade in is an easy to sell, in demand model.

[renmure]

Sorry, another question re Trade In

What happens with trade-in's which are effectively worth next to nothing? Do they still go to auction?
Eg, my trade-in for a £20k(ish) Discovery will be a 1994 Japanese Import Toyota HiLux with interstellar mileage (can't be accurate since the oddometer broke some years ago), some rust, a few scrapes, fairly shabby interior, a few electrical things which don't work, etc... but has decent tyres, is serviced regularly enough to keep it going, and will probably go for ever. It is unlikely to be of any value to anyone other than me I guess. How do you value them, is there somewhere that these type of cars end up, who then buys them?

[ED209]

renmure said:

Sorry, another question re Trade In

What happens with trade-in's which are effectively worth next to nothing? Do they still go to auction?
Eg, my trade-in for a £20k(ish) Discovery will be a 1994 Japanese Import Toyota HiLux with interstellar mileage (can't be accurate since the oddometer broke some years ago), some rust, a few scrapes, fairly shabby interior, a few electrical things which don't work, etc... but has decent tyres, is serviced regularly enough to keep it going, and will probably go for ever. It is unlikely to be of any value to anyone other than me I guess. How do you value them, is there somewhere that these type of cars end up, who then buys them?

Stick it on ebay, I got offered £100 of range rover for a 2001 mondeo. It was in superb mechanical condition with a 100% service history.

I stuck it on ebay at a low price and the next day i had £500 in my pocket.

It was worth more as scrap as what they offered me.

[CYMR0]

renmure said:

Sorry, another question re Trade In

What happens with trade-in's which are effectively worth next to nothing? Do they still go to auction?
Eg, my trade-in for a £20k(ish) Discovery will be a 1994 Japanese Import Toyota HiLux with interstellar mileage (can't be accurate since the oddometer broke some years ago), some rust, a few scrapes, fairly shabby interior, a few electrical things which don't work, etc... but has decent tyres, is serviced regularly enough to keep it going, and will probably go for ever. It is unlikely to be of any value to anyone other than me I guess. How do you value them, is there somewhere that these type of cars end up, who then buys them?

I traded in a 13-year-old Peugeot 406 when I bought my car brand new. I got £200 for it, which I was happy with, as it had a few minutes' MoT and not much chance of another one. It went to auction; it was re-taxed shortly afterwards but was scrapped within a month or two.

I'd only even consider p/x on something like that if I thought that I'd already pushed the deal as hard as I could go. The HiLux would go well on eBay (you'd be surprised what exporters will pay for something like that) but would be a really hard sell in the mainstream trade, where it might not easiliy get underwritten by the usual series of dealers down to the Arfur Daleys. So auction or scrap would be most likely, but it might still be £1k on eBay... or £200 p/x and haggling over that last £50 for the swapper might be distracting you from the last £500 on the top line price.

[Butter Face]

Traded, eBay, scrap or sold to a valeter/mechanic for them to tidy or fix up and sell!