Ask a car salesman anything...anything at all.
Discussion
Dan W. said:
HTP99 said:
Yep I come across this occasionally, it's also been mentioned a page or so back.
They want a car which is many £thousands more than their current one, they are usually £3-£4k in negative and yet they want monthlies which are less than what they are paying at the moment plus they don't have any deposit.
They tell you what they want to achieve, all with a straight face, I genuinely believe they think it is possible and they aren't trying it on to see where they can get to and has beeen alluded to above, some think you can do it and should be willing to do it because you need to sell cars and have a target to achieve.
I Honestly think sometimes they just piss us about to kill timeThey want a car which is many £thousands more than their current one, they are usually £3-£4k in negative and yet they want monthlies which are less than what they are paying at the moment plus they don't have any deposit.
They tell you what they want to achieve, all with a straight face, I genuinely believe they think it is possible and they aren't trying it on to see where they can get to and has beeen alluded to above, some think you can do it and should be willing to do it because you need to sell cars and have a target to achieve.
crankedup said:
I’m fairly sure somebody must have asked this question, but Just to many pages to trawl through to find the answer.
How do you respond to the ‘what’s the least you will take for it’?
With that question I always answer what its priced at. these people rarely buy and just giving the appearance they can pay cash now. they never do they pretend and bugger off. How do you respond to the ‘what’s the least you will take for it’?
crankedup said:
I’m fairly sure somebody must have asked this question, but Just to many pages to trawl through to find the answer.
How do you respond to the ‘what’s the least you will take for it’?
Even as a private seller, this question always amuses me. I've had a few, 'What's your best price mate?' The one it's advertised for, dHow do you respond to the ‘what’s the least you will take for it’?
head.Dan W. said:
crankedup said:
I’m fairly sure somebody must have asked this question, but Just to many pages to trawl through to find the answer.
How do you respond to the ‘what’s the least you will take for it’?
With that question I always answer what its priced at. these people rarely buy and just giving the appearance they can pay cash now. they never do they pretend and bugger off. How do you respond to the ‘what’s the least you will take for it’?
t that wasn't supposed to happen, what do I do now" they always say "oh I'll get back to you", never to be heard from again.My colleague had someone ring him up yesterday on a car that we have for sale, he asked if there was "any negotiation on the price", my colleague replied with "tell me what you want us to do and I'll speak to the manager" the guy told him not to worry about it and put the phone down.
People are weird, it's almost as if they fee they have to ask these questions as "that's what you are supposed to do isn't it?!" when looking for a car, even if that have zero intention of buying it.
HTP99 said:
It's lazy negotiation along the lines of "whats your best price?", I tend to do the same and just say "my best price is what it's up for, however make me an offer and I'll see what I can do", they invariably never make an offer and make an excuse to leave, occasionally I've played along and gone in with a ridiculous offer which is massively in favour of the customer, ie £1500 off a £5000 car, you can almost hear them thinking "st that wasn't supposed to happen, what do I do now" they always say "oh I'll get back to you", never to be heard from again.
My colleague had someone ring him up yesterday on a car that we have for sale, he asked if there was "any negotiation on the price", my colleague replied with "tell me what you want us to do and I'll speak to the manager" the guy told him not to worry about it and put the phone down.
People are weird, it's almost as if they fee they have to ask these questions as "that's what you are supposed to do isn't it?!" when looking for a car, even if that have zero intention of buying it.
We very rarely discount our used cars as they are priced very well, So most of the time when they say whats best price we say that is the reply is always im not paying that amount.... well don't then someone else will...... especially when its an internet enquiry from miles away knowing our car is pretty much the cheapest... t that wasn't supposed to happen, what do I do now" they always say "oh I'll get back to you", never to be heard from again.My colleague had someone ring him up yesterday on a car that we have for sale, he asked if there was "any negotiation on the price", my colleague replied with "tell me what you want us to do and I'll speak to the manager" the guy told him not to worry about it and put the phone down.
People are weird, it's almost as if they fee they have to ask these questions as "that's what you are supposed to do isn't it?!" when looking for a car, even if that have zero intention of buying it.
HTP99 said:
....you can almost hear them thinking "st that wasn't supposed to happen, what do I do now" they always say "oh I'll get back to you", never to be heard from again.
Ha! That happened when I went with one of our daughters to look at Mitsubishi Colt mentioned earlier. Smallish indie dealership and the sales director was dealing with us. Wife had sent us out to have a look but everything I asked him he just said "yes" - so we ordered the car! t that wasn't supposed to happen, what do I do now" they always say "oh I'll get back to you", never to be heard from again.Wife went mad!! Apparently she wanted daughter to wait a few months - but she'd neglected to mention that to me.
My favourite was always when I was a junior salesman I always had to get a manager to ok a deal....
this conversation happened on a daily basis.....
your car is up at 7495.... will you take 7000 for it....... no problem I am happy to ask the question... but if we can do it for 7000 will you buy it now... well I would think about it and possibly come back to you.
right ok sir let me just go into my managers office and say.... right boss got this fella outside he doesn't want to buy today and wants a discount... so sir just to be correct you are asking for a discount on a car you wont buy now
this conversation happened on a daily basis.....
your car is up at 7495.... will you take 7000 for it....... no problem I am happy to ask the question... but if we can do it for 7000 will you buy it now... well I would think about it and possibly come back to you.
right ok sir let me just go into my managers office and say.... right boss got this fella outside he doesn't want to buy today and wants a discount... so sir just to be correct you are asking for a discount on a car you wont buy now
Dan W. said:
The one I can never understand and always seem to get are the ones wanting to go to a more expensive car than they have with no deposit and want to keep the same payments.....
When you explain to them how on earth is that going to happen ? they just say well you guys must are desperate to sell cars aren't you...... no we are not lol
An acquaintance of mine seems to think that if you walk into a BMW dealership on the last day of a quarter then you'll be able to buy an M4 with the contents of your coin jar, and if you really haggle they'll chuck in an i3 on the side. Because car dealers are always totally desperate to meet targets at the end of a quarter, aren't they? Despite this he's never bought a new car so I assume it's nonsense. Does it ever happen that a dealer will agree to virtually anything to shift metal at the end of a quarter? (Apologies if this has already been asked, haven't got time go through 50-odd pages to find out!)When you explain to them how on earth is that going to happen ? they just say well you guys must are desperate to sell cars aren't you...... no we are not lol
Edited by Dan W. on Tuesday 31st October 13:45
Roger Irrelevant said:
An acquaintance of mine seems to think that if you walk into a BMW dealership on the last day of a quarter then you'll be able to buy an M4 with the contents of your coin jar, and if you really haggle they'll chuck in an i3 on the side. Because car dealers are always totally desperate to meet targets at the end of a quarter, aren't they? Despite this he's never bought a new car so I assume it's nonsense. Does it ever happen that a dealer will agree to virtually anything to shift metal at the end of a quarter? (Apologies if this has already been asked, haven't got time go through 50-odd pages to find out!)
It has been covered somewhere back there.Short answer is that it's a balancing act. Come in at the right point of the quarter and you can get a belter of a deal. If we are a few cars short of the top level target then we will blow a deal or two to secure the additional bonus payment. Come in too early, when we are still miles off the big target and we won't be quite as keen. Come in after we have it in the bag, same thing.
I looked back through Q3 today and you can spot the point at which we jumped for the big number. There are three deals that when viewed in isolation are lunacy, losing £700 - £1500 each. Getting over the hurdle to the top level though was worth much much more in the bigger picture.
Dan W. said:
HTP99 said:
It's lazy negotiation along the lines of "whats your best price?", I tend to do the same and just say "my best price is what it's up for, however make me an offer and I'll see what I can do", they invariably never make an offer and make an excuse to leave, occasionally I've played along and gone in with a ridiculous offer which is massively in favour of the customer, ie £1500 off a £5000 car, you can almost hear them thinking "st that wasn't supposed to happen, what do I do now" they always say "oh I'll get back to you", never to be heard from again.
My colleague had someone ring him up yesterday on a car that we have for sale, he asked if there was "any negotiation on the price", my colleague replied with "tell me what you want us to do and I'll speak to the manager" the guy told him not to worry about it and put the phone down.
People are weird, it's almost as if they fee they have to ask these questions as "that's what you are supposed to do isn't it?!" when looking for a car, even if that have zero intention of buying it.
We very rarely discount our used cars as they are priced very well, So most of the time when they say whats best price we say that is the reply is always im not paying that amount.... well don't then someone else will...... especially when its an internet enquiry from miles away knowing our car is pretty much the cheapest... t that wasn't supposed to happen, what do I do now" they always say "oh I'll get back to you", never to be heard from again.My colleague had someone ring him up yesterday on a car that we have for sale, he asked if there was "any negotiation on the price", my colleague replied with "tell me what you want us to do and I'll speak to the manager" the guy told him not to worry about it and put the phone down.
People are weird, it's almost as if they fee they have to ask these questions as "that's what you are supposed to do isn't it?!" when looking for a car, even if that have zero intention of buying it.
We are the same as you, our used cars are priced well and competitively, they have to be as the internet has made the world a very small place, it doesn't stop me playing a few games though and the ones I play games with, I've pretty much worked out that they won't be buying.
Had a guy a few months ago, really cocky, brought the family with him, the alpha male, the big "I am", the sort who comes in looking to be the big man infront of his family to negotiate a good deal to show how it's done.
He came in on a car which was the perfect spec, colour and engine with an option that no other car in the UK at that age had; an option that he was keen to have as he'd told me many times, and he'd told me it was the only one he could find with said option, the car was priced well.
He wanted the car, it was obvious, however he was the sort of person who you could tell liked to get "a deal", he'd brought his family along too and no doubt he'd told them he was going to get a deal, he confidently asked our "best price", I said it was well priced, had x option and the price was the price, the look on his face was brilliant, he was taken aback somewhat, he pressed on, trying to negotiate, I stood my ground.
In the end he got up pretty angrily with the words "I'm off", I offered my card, saying "if you want to discuss the car further, don't hesitate in calling or emailing me", he threw it back at me with the words "you'll be the one contacting me fella!"
I didn't call him, he rang back a few days later and spoke to my colleague, the car was sold that very morning to someone else for the advertised price.
HTP99 said:
You can gauge people very quickly if they have any intent on actually purchasing or if they are just buggering about.
We are the same as you, our used cars are priced well and competitively, they have to be as the internet has made the world a very small place, it doesn't stop me playing a few games though and the ones I play games with, I've pretty much worked out that they won't be buying.
Had a guy a few months ago, really cocky, brought the family with him, the alpha male, the big "I am", the sort who comes in looking to be the big man infront of his family to negotiate a good deal to show how it's done.
He came in on a car which was the perfect spec, colour and engine with an option that no other car in the UK at that age had; an option that he was keen to have as he'd told me many times, and he'd told me it was the only one he could find with said option, the car was priced well.
He wanted the car, it was obvious, however he was the sort of person who you could tell liked to get "a deal", he'd brought his family along too and no doubt he'd told them he was going to get a deal, he confidently asked our "best price", I said it was well priced, had x option and the price was the price, the look on his face was brilliant, he was taken aback somewhat, he pressed on, trying to negotiate, I stood my ground.
In the end he got up pretty angrily with the words "I'm off", I offered my card, saying "if you want to discuss the car further, don't hesitate in calling or emailing me", he threw it back at me with the words "you'll be the one contacting me fella!"
I didn't call him, he rang back a few days later and spoke to my colleague, the car was sold that very morning to someone else for the advertised price.
Very nice feeling when these people fail. I always find its the dad comes with son or daughter on first car. We are the same as you, our used cars are priced well and competitively, they have to be as the internet has made the world a very small place, it doesn't stop me playing a few games though and the ones I play games with, I've pretty much worked out that they won't be buying.
Had a guy a few months ago, really cocky, brought the family with him, the alpha male, the big "I am", the sort who comes in looking to be the big man infront of his family to negotiate a good deal to show how it's done.
He came in on a car which was the perfect spec, colour and engine with an option that no other car in the UK at that age had; an option that he was keen to have as he'd told me many times, and he'd told me it was the only one he could find with said option, the car was priced well.
He wanted the car, it was obvious, however he was the sort of person who you could tell liked to get "a deal", he'd brought his family along too and no doubt he'd told them he was going to get a deal, he confidently asked our "best price", I said it was well priced, had x option and the price was the price, the look on his face was brilliant, he was taken aback somewhat, he pressed on, trying to negotiate, I stood my ground.
In the end he got up pretty angrily with the words "I'm off", I offered my card, saying "if you want to discuss the car further, don't hesitate in calling or emailing me", he threw it back at me with the words "you'll be the one contacting me fella!"
I didn't call him, he rang back a few days later and spoke to my colleague, the car was sold that very morning to someone else for the advertised price.
Had one guy with his son looking at a 3495 Yaris... dad insisted we sell it for 2500 he was really aggressive and thought he was showing his lad how to deal with salespeople. cut to 10 mins of him trying to bully us to a lower price. we told him not only we will not sell him the car at any price because of his attitude but he had 2 min to f**k right off before he was kicked off site.
his lad was so shocked at his dads behaviour he rang back the next day to apologise
papa3 said:
It has been covered somewhere back there.
Short answer is that it's a balancing act. Come in at the right point of the quarter and you can get a belter of a deal. If we are a few cars short of the top level target then we will blow a deal or two to secure the additional bonus payment. Come in too early, when we are still miles off the big target and we won't be quite as keen. Come in after we have it in the bag, same thing.
I looked back through Q3 today and you can spot the point at which we jumped for the big number. There are three deals that when viewed in isolation are lunacy, losing £700 - £1500 each. Getting over the hurdle to the top level though was worth much much more in the bigger picture.
Thanks for the reply. I presume that as well as a straight volume target there must be some kind of overall profitability or turnover hurdle you have to meet too? I.e. if you're a bit further short of a target than you hoped then you can't just sell any number of cars at a loss until it's met?Short answer is that it's a balancing act. Come in at the right point of the quarter and you can get a belter of a deal. If we are a few cars short of the top level target then we will blow a deal or two to secure the additional bonus payment. Come in too early, when we are still miles off the big target and we won't be quite as keen. Come in after we have it in the bag, same thing.
I looked back through Q3 today and you can spot the point at which we jumped for the big number. There are three deals that when viewed in isolation are lunacy, losing £700 - £1500 each. Getting over the hurdle to the top level though was worth much much more in the bigger picture.
HTP99 said:
You can gauge people very quickly if they have any intent on actually purchasing or if they are just buggering about.
We are the same as you, our used cars are priced well and competitively, they have to be as the internet has made the world a very small place, it doesn't stop me playing a few games though and the ones I play games with, I've pretty much worked out that they won't be buying.
Had a guy a few months ago, really cocky, brought the family with him, the alpha male, the big "I am", the sort who comes in looking to be the big man infront of his family to negotiate a good deal to show how it's done.
He came in on a car which was the perfect spec, colour and engine with an option that no other car in the UK at that age had; an option that he was keen to have as he'd told me many times, and he'd told me it was the only one he could find with said option, the car was priced well.
He wanted the car, it was obvious, however he was the sort of person who you could tell liked to get "a deal", he'd brought his family along too and no doubt he'd told them he was going to get a deal, he confidently asked our "best price", I said it was well priced, had x option and the price was the price, the look on his face was brilliant, he was taken aback somewhat, he pressed on, trying to negotiate, I stood my ground.
In the end he got up pretty angrily with the words "I'm off", I offered my card, saying "if you want to discuss the car further, don't hesitate in calling or emailing me", he threw it back at me with the words "you'll be the one contacting me fella!"
I didn't call him, he rang back a few days later and spoke to my colleague, the car was sold that very morning to someone else for the advertised price.
A pal of mine was looking for an A4 Quattro avant a few years ago , the only secondhand one with the spec he wanted was on the Audi website was about 200 miles away .We are the same as you, our used cars are priced well and competitively, they have to be as the internet has made the world a very small place, it doesn't stop me playing a few games though and the ones I play games with, I've pretty much worked out that they won't be buying.
Had a guy a few months ago, really cocky, brought the family with him, the alpha male, the big "I am", the sort who comes in looking to be the big man infront of his family to negotiate a good deal to show how it's done.
He came in on a car which was the perfect spec, colour and engine with an option that no other car in the UK at that age had; an option that he was keen to have as he'd told me many times, and he'd told me it was the only one he could find with said option, the car was priced well.
He wanted the car, it was obvious, however he was the sort of person who you could tell liked to get "a deal", he'd brought his family along too and no doubt he'd told them he was going to get a deal, he confidently asked our "best price", I said it was well priced, had x option and the price was the price, the look on his face was brilliant, he was taken aback somewhat, he pressed on, trying to negotiate, I stood my ground.
In the end he got up pretty angrily with the words "I'm off", I offered my card, saying "if you want to discuss the car further, don't hesitate in calling or emailing me", he threw it back at me with the words "you'll be the one contacting me fella!"
I didn't call him, he rang back a few days later and spoke to my colleague, the car was sold that very morning to someone else for the advertised price.
He rang the dealer and spoke to the sales manager and put his cards on the table , straight forward cash deal and made him aware it was the only car available , sales manager used his common sense , gave him a little off , covered his train fare down and threw in a set of new mats .
Hardly what a punter would call a cracking deal but he was happy enough to buy it , the dealer left him feeling that he'd got something in his favour , in reality it hadn't cost the dealer too much of his margin so both were happy.
He's now on his second Audi from the same dealer
Dan W. said:
..your car is up at 7495.... will you take 7000 for it....... no problem I am happy to ask the question... but if we can do it for 7000 will you buy it now... well I would think about it and possibly come back to you.
Taking that at face value though - if it's 7495 he won't think about it, if it's 7000 he will. What's the problem there?It used (before the price was everywhere on the internet) be a real pain with new cars as you never knew what the 'real' price was. So you could dismiss a car that, with a bit of pushing, would have been affordable. OTOH you could push on another car and get nowhere.
Dan W. said:
Very nice feeling when these people fail. I always find its the dad comes with son or daughter on first car.
I know you can't legislate for absolute aholes, but the general idea is to sell stuff, not alienate people. You're always going to struggle if you make the alpha male look bad in front of his posse.
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