Ask a car salesman anything...anything at all (Vol. 2).
Discussion
mfmman said:
It's a sample size of one I know , but I bought a used Focus from a Ford dealer 9 months ago and the whole purchase was nothing like described above. Dealt with immediately as a walk in, test drive and purchase in one visit, no hard sell of finance or GAP etc, litttle bit of negotiation on price and p/x and a couple of extras thrown in. Could Ford have entirely changed their dealers process in less than 12 months?
Stock is at a premium at the moment and fetching over Cap (by a lot in some cases). Why discount something if you can't replace it without paying over the odds? The world is a very different place than it was 9 months ago sadlyFast Bug said:
mfmman said:
It's a sample size of one I know , but I bought a used Focus from a Ford dealer 9 months ago and the whole purchase was nothing like described above. Dealt with immediately as a walk in, test drive and purchase in one visit, no hard sell of finance or GAP etc, litttle bit of negotiation on price and p/x and a couple of extras thrown in. Could Ford have entirely changed their dealers process in less than 12 months?
Stock is at a premium at the moment and fetching over Cap (by a lot in some cases). Why discount something if you can't replace it without paying over the odds? The world is a very different place than it was 9 months ago sadlyHTP99 said:
No, no you are wrong it was all going to go tits up, there would be fire sales of stock for cashflow, it will be a buyers market, Throttlebody said so!
I don't sell used, but I've lost 3 or 4 sensible size deals this month as there's no stock. I don't think we'll see new stock start landing until September either, so god knows what I'll be selling for the next few months!Fast Bug said:
mfmman said:
It's a sample size of one I know , but I bought a used Focus from a Ford dealer 9 months ago and the whole purchase was nothing like described above. Dealt with immediately as a walk in, test drive and purchase in one visit, no hard sell of finance or GAP etc, litttle bit of negotiation on price and p/x and a couple of extras thrown in. Could Ford have entirely changed their dealers process in less than 12 months?
Stock is at a premium at the moment and fetching over Cap (by a lot in some cases). Why discount something if you can't replace it without paying over the odds? The world is a very different place than it was 9 months ago sadlyFast Bug said:
HTP99 said:
No, no you are wrong it was all going to go tits up, there would be fire sales of stock for cashflow, it will be a buyers market, Throttlebody said so!
I don't sell used, but I've lost 3 or 4 sensible size deals this month as there's no stock. I don't think we'll see new stock start landing until September either, so god knows what I'll be selling for the next few months!Clio factory has only just reopened, Traffic is circa 3-4 months, Megane (not that we ever sold any), factory is shut for the face-lift, which is August production, Captur is OK as is ZOE, fortunately we do bloody well with ZOE.
It is going to be tough going forward due to lack of new supply, which will firm up used prices.
Are the Fords you are looking at with Trust Ford or Evans Halshaw dealers?
Trust are controlled by Ford and to be fair the prices are always very low compared to most and EH have a fixed price policy and in most cases are very well priced.
If you want a discount try searching High-Low for a similar car and there may be some movement.
Trust are controlled by Ford and to be fair the prices are always very low compared to most and EH have a fixed price policy and in most cases are very well priced.
If you want a discount try searching High-Low for a similar car and there may be some movement.
Josman92 said:
Question re ford main dealers used car sales... I've never had to try so hard to buy a car!
Multiple dealerships all with different cars have lied to me, called me a lier, blanked me, been vague and rude, the list goes on. This is at the point of enquiring through to buying (paid for but not yet collected). I'm not sure why I'm still trying to buy a ford, well, I do, its the car.
Anyway, I'm currently at the negotiation stages and the salesman has told me all fords are price fixed by head office to ensure they are always a low fair price (i have been told this before), this means there is absolutely no haggling on price, the price is the price. Fine, but I then can't get anything else from them, no fuel, tyres, servicing unless it's actually due etc!
I have never experienced buying a used car in this way, where the salesman is just there to take payment if you want it and say goodbye if you don't. And I thought it was a buyers market at the moment!
Is this just a bad sales tactic or is this price-fixing and give nothing away policy a thing now?
Cant you just buy a car elsewhere if the price isn't satisfactory? I am sure there are many other sellers that will serve your requirements.Multiple dealerships all with different cars have lied to me, called me a lier, blanked me, been vague and rude, the list goes on. This is at the point of enquiring through to buying (paid for but not yet collected). I'm not sure why I'm still trying to buy a ford, well, I do, its the car.
Anyway, I'm currently at the negotiation stages and the salesman has told me all fords are price fixed by head office to ensure they are always a low fair price (i have been told this before), this means there is absolutely no haggling on price, the price is the price. Fine, but I then can't get anything else from them, no fuel, tyres, servicing unless it's actually due etc!
I have never experienced buying a used car in this way, where the salesman is just there to take payment if you want it and say goodbye if you don't. And I thought it was a buyers market at the moment!
Is this just a bad sales tactic or is this price-fixing and give nothing away policy a thing now?
Can all you salesman please tell your colleagues in commercial to put the bloody euro rating of Van's on the adverts!
Yes I know there are online checkers but when you have covered over the plate with a dealer plate you cannot , the only other way of finding out is to ring and ask at which point they moan that they will have to check the log book and ring you back,which mostly doesn't happen.
Yes I know there are online checkers but when you have covered over the plate with a dealer plate you cannot , the only other way of finding out is to ring and ask at which point they moan that they will have to check the log book and ring you back,which mostly doesn't happen.
Most dealers seem to be fixed on screen prices now.i know a dealer had a customer looking at a £12K car priced great on A/T was offered £11K + as service which was due for 9,000 miles the offer was declined and adjusted to just £1K off which was also declined the customer left and then posted a 1☆ review saying the dealership wasn't helpful and sold overpriced cars...... the dealer sold the car a few days later for the screen price.
Mexman said:
Triumph Man said:
Why, when advertising a car with climate control, do so many salespeople set the climate to some ridiculous setting? Why is it never left on auto, and why is the temp either “HI”, “LO”, or “32”?
Cos, valeters spinning dials and pressing buttons whilst cleaning.Hot weather outside while taking photos = blowers on cold.
bristolracer said:
Can all you salesman please tell your colleagues in commercial to put the bloody euro rating of Van's on the adverts!
Yes I know there are online checkers but when you have covered over the plate with a dealer plate you cannot , the only other way of finding out is to ring and ask at which point they moan that they will have to check the log book and ring you back,which mostly doesn't happen.
If it was registered between Sept 1st 2009 and August 31st 2016 it's a Euro 5. After that date it's a Euro 6, the real fun and games start from September 1st last year with light and heavy duty Euro 6/Euro VIYes I know there are online checkers but when you have covered over the plate with a dealer plate you cannot , the only other way of finding out is to ring and ask at which point they moan that they will have to check the log book and ring you back,which mostly doesn't happen.
bristolracer said:
Can all you salesman please tell your colleagues in commercial to put the bloody euro rating of Van's on the adverts!
Yes I know there are online checkers but when you have covered over the plate with a dealer plate you cannot , the only other way of finding out is to ring and ask at which point they moan that they will have to check the log book and ring you back,which mostly doesn't happen.
There was such a big cross of engines around 2015-2016 lots of people don’t know without checking the physical V5.Yes I know there are online checkers but when you have covered over the plate with a dealer plate you cannot , the only other way of finding out is to ring and ask at which point they moan that they will have to check the log book and ring you back,which mostly doesn't happen.
The giveaway for a couple are Ford 2.0 Ecoblue rather than 2.2 is EU6, Peugeot and Citroen will be BlueHDI etc
How much do you know about the cars you sell?
If you have 100+ cars on your forecourt obviously you can’t know the technical details of them all but if a customer were to come up to you and ask what size the engine is and any exceptional extras (for example) in a particular car. Would you be able to tell them without going back into the office and checking it out?
After all you might have the misfortune to be trying to sell to a PHer who is looking for a certain car and has researched it to the nth degree. Then they will come on to ‘Ask a car salesman anything’ and say all car salesmen are a bit thick.
If you have 100+ cars on your forecourt obviously you can’t know the technical details of them all but if a customer were to come up to you and ask what size the engine is and any exceptional extras (for example) in a particular car. Would you be able to tell them without going back into the office and checking it out?
After all you might have the misfortune to be trying to sell to a PHer who is looking for a certain car and has researched it to the nth degree. Then they will come on to ‘Ask a car salesman anything’ and say all car salesmen are a bit thick.
Drawweight said:
How much do you know about the cars you sell?
If you have 100+ cars on your forecourt obviously you can’t know the technical details of them all but if a customer were to come up to you and ask what size the engine is and any exceptional extras (for example) in a particular car. Would you be able to tell them without going back into the office and checking it out?
After all you might have the misfortune to be trying to sell to a PHer who is looking for a certain car and has researched it to the nth degree. Then they will come on to ‘Ask a car salesman anything’ and say all car salesmen are a bit thick.
It’s impossible to know it all, but I’ll know from a reg number at least what engine/colour/trim level a car is. After that if there’s something specific someone wants to know the answer is ‘I’ll find out’ which I can do on my phone right there with a couple of apps on my phone.If you have 100+ cars on your forecourt obviously you can’t know the technical details of them all but if a customer were to come up to you and ask what size the engine is and any exceptional extras (for example) in a particular car. Would you be able to tell them without going back into the office and checking it out?
After all you might have the misfortune to be trying to sell to a PHer who is looking for a certain car and has researched it to the nth degree. Then they will come on to ‘Ask a car salesman anything’ and say all car salesmen are a bit thick.
Should I ever encounter the PH’er who would think me a bit thick for having to do so, c’est la vie. Better to be the salesman who looks it up and gets it correct than to be the one who guesses and f
ks up!Butter Face said:
BrabusMog said:
What are finance approvals like at the moment, on new or used? Any change from pre Corona?
No difference here. 2 declined this month from 50+ applications. Had one this morning over the phone, I think he was declined before I'd even hit the submit button, it was that fast, I ran it by our area guy (always do with declined deals, just to make sure there wasn't a mistake or an alternative way round), his words were "I can’t imagine it will come as a surprise to him".
HTP99 said:
Butter Face said:
BrabusMog said:
What are finance approvals like at the moment, on new or used? Any change from pre Corona?
No difference here. 2 declined this month from 50+ applications. Had one this morning over the phone, I think he was declined before I'd even hit the submit button, it was that fast, I ran it by our area guy (always do with declined deals, just to make sure there wasn't a mistake or an alternative way round), his words were "I can’t imagine it will come as a surprise to him".
I shouldn't laugh but that did make me do so 
HTP99 said:
Butter Face said:
BrabusMog said:
What are finance approvals like at the moment, on new or used? Any change from pre Corona?
No difference here. 2 declined this month from 50+ applications. Had one this morning over the phone, I think he was declined before I'd even hit the submit button, it was that fast, I ran it by our area guy (always do with declined deals, just to make sure there wasn't a mistake or an alternative way round), his words were "I can’t imagine it will come as a surprise to him".
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