Ask a car salesman anything...anything at all.
Discussion
Elroy Blue said:
I decided recently to treat myself to a mid-life crisis car and spend more than I've ever spent on a car. Walked onto the main dealers forecourt, saw a car that fitted the bill exactly, but no price on the screen. Approached by a very friendly salesman who saw me taking an interest, test drive went well (during which he avoided confirming how much the car actually was "I'll do a good deal" was the best I got), liked the car and sat down to talk through figures.
Now I didn't need or want finance. "How much is it" says I.
"Let me speak to the manager"
He eventually came back and said £210/month over four years, with a large balloon payment at the end that I can't remember.
I again reminded him I didn't want finance, just a p/x figure and cost to change.
"Nobody buys cars like that anymore" says he, "they tell us their monthly budget and we put them in a car"
So it went on like that for a bit. A manager of some sort came down and they were both telling me what a great deal it was. All very pleasant, but a little frustrating.
Ended up declining the offer and to this day, I still don't know how much that car was.
Bought elsewhere (all over the phone, including p/x figure, so it does happen). When I took my car in for a service at the first dealer, he was very pleasant and said when I come to change it to give him a call. I'll certainly do that, but I'm still baffled why the almost desperate push for pcp/finance means they'll avoid a straight cash sale.
The dealership earns finance commission that's why they push it, also its more likely they can retain customers this way.Now I didn't need or want finance. "How much is it" says I.
"Let me speak to the manager"
He eventually came back and said £210/month over four years, with a large balloon payment at the end that I can't remember.
I again reminded him I didn't want finance, just a p/x figure and cost to change.
"Nobody buys cars like that anymore" says he, "they tell us their monthly budget and we put them in a car"
So it went on like that for a bit. A manager of some sort came down and they were both telling me what a great deal it was. All very pleasant, but a little frustrating.
Ended up declining the offer and to this day, I still don't know how much that car was.
Bought elsewhere (all over the phone, including p/x figure, so it does happen). When I took my car in for a service at the first dealer, he was very pleasant and said when I come to change it to give him a call. I'll certainly do that, but I'm still baffled why the almost desperate push for pcp/finance means they'll avoid a straight cash sale.
i don't think customers understand this when they come in saying its just cash no finance as if that's a benefit to the dealership when we prefer you on finance. but sounds like a very pushy garage to me if they are like that best avoided.
Dan W. said:
The dealership earns finance commission that's why they push it, also its more likely they can retain customers this way.
i don't think customers understand this when they come in saying its just cash no finance as if that's a benefit to the dealership when we prefer you on finance. but sounds like a very pushy garage to me if they are like that best avoided.
I understand they make money on finance. But to actually avoid giving figures for cash and losing a sale. I couldn't give any more signals that I was a serious buyer. They were more persistent than pushy. The salesman looked really disappointed, but it was all very odd. i don't think customers understand this when they come in saying its just cash no finance as if that's a benefit to the dealership when we prefer you on finance. but sounds like a very pushy garage to me if they are like that best avoided.
Dan W. said:
I don't think customers understand this when they come in saying its just cash no finance as if that's a benefit to the dealership when we prefer you on finance.
But when the customer says (repeatedly in the case of the post above) that they don't want or need finance then stop pushing it. I generally buy my cars outright (not for huge amounts but I still like to buy) and the dealers I've dealt with (last purchase was around 20 months ago) were fine once I'd explained the situation.
Elroy Blue said:
I understand they make money on finance. But to actually avoid giving figures for cash and losing a sale. I couldn't give any more signals that I was a serious buyer. They were more persistent than pushy. The salesman looked really disappointed, but it was all very odd.
Yes I must admit that is a very annoying salesperson and gives us good guys a bad name, again some garages are very finance targeted and its most likely they have no profit in the vehicle they are selling so need the finance or extras to make it back... Dan W. said:
Yes I must admit that is a very annoying salesperson and gives us good guys a bad name, again some garages are very finance targeted and its most likely they have no profit in the vehicle they are selling so need the finance or extras to make it back...
On the contrary. The salesman was very nice (it was the manager chap that was a bit, well, dare I say 'stereotypical car salesman 
)Edited by Elroy Blue on Thursday 19th October 10:56
HTP99 said:
Speed Badger said:
I recently test drove an FK2 Civic Type R, really liked it and enjoyed it's nuttiness. We sat down afterwards and I said my maximum budget was around £24k, give or take with roughly a £12-£15k deposit and the rest on finance. The car was up for £25,795 and after some bartering my final offer was £25,200 (£10,000 cash and the rest finance).
He said no, can't do it, lowest he could go was £25,600 as apparently they are selling really well and someone else will probably walk in at thr weekend and buy it. I was a bit irritated, but surely you would take that deal wouldn't you?! I did point out that the brand new Type R had just come out, but no deal.
I bought an Impreza WRX STI instead. Still want an FK2 as they are quite bonkers, maybe next year
So, your budget is £24k "give or take" and you go at look at a car which is £1795 more, so really it isn't within your "budget" at all, however your budget in the real world is clearly higher as you moved up £1200.He said no, can't do it, lowest he could go was £25,600 as apparently they are selling really well and someone else will probably walk in at thr weekend and buy it. I was a bit irritated, but surely you would take that deal wouldn't you?! I did point out that the brand new Type R had just come out, but no deal.
I bought an Impreza WRX STI instead. Still want an FK2 as they are quite bonkers, maybe next year
One would assume that the car was competitively priced already as it would have to be, to garner any interest from anyone; due to the internet, the price of anything has to be competetive to start off with otherwise there would be no interest.
There comes a point though where the dealer has to stop and can't/won't go any further, why should they?
You've effectively wasted both your time and theirs by trying to act all Billy big b
ks on the price, they came down £195, you wanted £595, they know the market better than you and frankly you should be irritated only with yourself for trying it on and clearly failing by not being aware of the market.People like you really piss me off as you just waste our time because you think, any deal is better than no deal; well it ain't!
SB says he had £12-£15K deposit but this deal was £10K deposit, so he could have easily covered the gap, but the salesman failed to persuade him to do that. Taking orders is easy - any salespersons main job is to get the customer to pay the price needed to do the deal.
Elroy Blue said:
I understand they make money on finance. But to actually avoid giving figures for cash and losing a sale. I couldn't give any more signals that I was a serious buyer. They were more persistent than pushy. The salesman looked really disappointed, but it was all very odd.
In some dealer groups the salesmen are bonused on the % of deals they do on finance. It could cost the salesman money of you buy cash to the extent that he'd rather you didn't buy the car at all.I've had the monthly figure thing from a Honda dealer when trying to get us to change a car early that I'd taken a PCP on because of an extra £500 discount and it was 0%. He seemed genuinely baffled why I wanted to know the GFV as "no-one keeps their car for the full term is it's irrelevant". He said he didn't know the interest rate until he'd completed the finance proposal - apparently he had no idea at all.
So last new car I bought I led with the "how much a month is it?" question because I wanted the £2750 deposit contribution. Boy was that a different experience - it became almost ridiculous, everything I asked the salesman he just said "yes". Withdrew from the finance a week after getting the car.
twing said:
Possibly the BM was bang on target and one more cash deal would put him below it , it’s one of the reasons I left the main dealers & went to an indie, far too many ppl chasing too many targets
The old classic, We used to have a BM who had a great commission on gap insurance. every customer got it free of charge so he got paid well........ sales manager always pissed off that his car magically was always discounted by £349 irish boy said:
HTP99 said:
So, your budget is £24k "give or take" and you go at look at a car which is £1795 more, so really it isn't within your "budget" at all, however your budget in the real world is clearly higher as you moved up £1200.
One would assume that the car was competitively priced already as it would have to be, to garner any interest from anyone; due to the internet, the price of anything has to be competetive to start off with otherwise there would be no interest.
There comes a point though where the dealer has to stop and can't/won't go any further, why should they?
You've effectively wasted both your time and theirs by trying to act all Billy big bks on the price, they came down £195, you wanted £595, they know the market better than you and frankly you should be irritated only with yourself for trying it on and clearly failing by not being aware of the market.
People like you really piss me off as you just waste our time because you think, any deal is better than no deal; well it ain't!
What an obnoxious post. Sometimes people set budgets and then stretch them for something they like. Sometimes there can be good discount off advertised prices, sometimes not, depending on how it was brought in, how long it has been in stock etc etc.One would assume that the car was competitively priced already as it would have to be, to garner any interest from anyone; due to the internet, the price of anything has to be competetive to start off with otherwise there would be no interest.
There comes a point though where the dealer has to stop and can't/won't go any further, why should they?
You've effectively wasted both your time and theirs by trying to act all Billy big b
ks on the price, they came down £195, you wanted £595, they know the market better than you and frankly you should be irritated only with yourself for trying it on and clearly failing by not being aware of the market.People like you really piss me off as you just waste our time because you think, any deal is better than no deal; well it ain't!
Edited by HTP99 on Wednesday 18th October 21:09
Civic type r's don't seem to be moving, a good few languishing in the classifieds locally reduced well below £24k. £595 doesn't seem an unreasonable ask. Granted he doesn't say how long ago this was, nonetheless it's called negotiation and it's part of the job.
Dealers like you really piss me off expecting customers to walk in, pay full asking price and take the 11.9% apr, then get on their high horse/shirty when questioned on it.
My general thoughts are still the same though, there comes a point when a dealer has to say no and it is the fact that some people can't quite believe it as they think that a dealer should just take any deal offered.
HTP99 said:
irish boy said:
HTP99 said:
So, your budget is £24k "give or take" and you go at look at a car which is £1795 more, so really it isn't within your "budget" at all, however your budget in the real world is clearly higher as you moved up £1200.
One would assume that the car was competitively priced already as it would have to be, to garner any interest from anyone; due to the internet, the price of anything has to be competetive to start off with otherwise there would be no interest.
There comes a point though where the dealer has to stop and can't/won't go any further, why should they?
You've effectively wasted both your time and theirs by trying to act all Billy big bks on the price, they came down £195, you wanted £595, they know the market better than you and frankly you should be irritated only with yourself for trying it on and clearly failing by not being aware of the market.
People like you really piss me off as you just waste our time because you think, any deal is better than no deal; well it ain't!
What an obnoxious post. Sometimes people set budgets and then stretch them for something they like. Sometimes there can be good discount off advertised prices, sometimes not, depending on how it was brought in, how long it has been in stock etc etc.One would assume that the car was competitively priced already as it would have to be, to garner any interest from anyone; due to the internet, the price of anything has to be competetive to start off with otherwise there would be no interest.
There comes a point though where the dealer has to stop and can't/won't go any further, why should they?
You've effectively wasted both your time and theirs by trying to act all Billy big b
ks on the price, they came down £195, you wanted £595, they know the market better than you and frankly you should be irritated only with yourself for trying it on and clearly failing by not being aware of the market.People like you really piss me off as you just waste our time because you think, any deal is better than no deal; well it ain't!
Edited by HTP99 on Wednesday 18th October 21:09
Civic type r's don't seem to be moving, a good few languishing in the classifieds locally reduced well below £24k. £595 doesn't seem an unreasonable ask. Granted he doesn't say how long ago this was, nonetheless it's called negotiation and it's part of the job.
Dealers like you really piss me off expecting customers to walk in, pay full asking price and take the 11.9% apr, then get on their high horse/shirty when questioned on it.
My general thoughts are still the same though, there comes a point when a dealer has to say no and it is the fact that some people can't quite believe it as they think that a dealer should just take any deal offered.
Question.
Have you left or found anything unusual in a car?
Question prompted by Vauxhall Camberley's courtesy car drugs debacle recently... http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4977138/Fa...
Have you left or found anything unusual in a car?
Question prompted by Vauxhall Camberley's courtesy car drugs debacle recently... http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4977138/Fa...
hyphen said:
Question.
Have you left or found anything unusual in a car?
Question prompted by Vauxhall Camberley's courtesy car drugs debacle recently... http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4977138/Fa...
Drugs is a common one, usually its the salesman who has left in his ex demo.Have you left or found anything unusual in a car?
Question prompted by Vauxhall Camberley's courtesy car drugs debacle recently... http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4977138/Fa...
Funniest one we had in a part exchange was a bag of sex toys, couldn't work out if the customer did this on purpose as a joke or not, so we rang her the next day and she said oh crap ill come a pick it up later. she did later that day walked back in asked for the bag and went on her way.
Cold said:
Why do so many car sales people feel they are doing you some great favour by allowing you the opportunity of buying their car?
This question is based on the last page or so of comments.
To answer your question...This question is based on the last page or so of comments.
I don't believe most sales peeps 'try' to make what should be a pleasurable experience in buying a car difficult.
Seriously, though from my point of view and vast experience, out of the 10 or so people you will meet and greet in the average busy day, (ignoring phone enquiries and e-mails), 5 will be total idiots, dreamers, timewasters, dog walkers, bored or totally unrealistic in there requirements (delete as appropriate).
2 will be BMW's, (Brave Man, Without Wife), and the other 3 will be there with serious intentions of buying of a car.
Now, as a salesman who lives on commission payments, it is in my interests to weed out the 7 who are either
A) Never gonna buy
B) Not gonna buy cos of various, spurious excuses/bulls
t/reasons.C)Totally unreasonable in their expectations of condition, price, or part exchange valuation.
I therefore, have to try and qualify these people out, and concentrate on the people who are here to buy, not waste my time, effort, fuel on the people that are not.
The number of times that I have spent an hour (or more), being pulled around my my dick, only to miss out to my sales manager who has signed up the genuine customer who was on site.
That deal will then go down as a 'house deal' where neither he (cos he is salaried) or me will earn a penny out of it,
However, I will still be the one expected to get the car prepared, fuel it, arrange cleaning of it, do all of the paperwork and then spend an hour with that buyer doing the handover.
And the cycle continues, cos whilst I am doing this non paying work, you can bloody guarantee that he will pick up another sale!!
This job is feast or famine, yes, I can earn a serious amount of money in a month, but next month, I would be better off stacking shelves for minimum wage, taking into account the amount of hours that I am physically in work per week.
So, if you do find yourself getting short shrift from a salesman sometimes after he has spent the last 2 hours with you and you want to 'think about it', 'sleep on it' 'run it by the wife' or my personal favourite..'Thanks for your time, that's food for thought'
Aaaarrrrggghhh!, WTF does that actually mean anyway, god I could seriously punch the next person who says that.
Any idea how many times I hear that s
t in a week?Sorry, got that off my chest now, back to normal, (it's been a tough week!!)
Edited by Mexman on Thursday 19th October 14:22
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