Has anyone had a positive car buying experience recently?
Discussion
Car salespeople always get a lot of stick on here and being an ex-salesperson myself, I am normally first to defend them but I am currently in the process of buying a new/nearly new crossover/SUV for my wife and the experience so far has been very disappointing. I finally have a decent enough job where I can afford the payments on a decent vehicle and am looking in the 20000-30000 pound range.
I went to look at four vehicles from a certain manufacturer at the weekend and booked an appointment in advance, as I could appreciate that walking in and wanting to look at four vehicles might be a bit unreasonable. To be fair, the young salesman was pretty knowledgeable, showed me all the vehicles in detail and answered all my questions. I declined a test drive, as my wife would also need to drive before we buy and I had a few more manufactures that I wanted to look at.
I was provided with quotes on a couple of vehicles on the day and they also appraised one of my vehicles (and I gave them a detailed description of the other). We agreed when I left that he would email me the other two quotes on Monday and give me an approximate valuation on the other vehicle. It's now Wednesday afternoon and I'm still waiting for that email!
Meanwhile, trawling Autotrader, I saw another dealership had a vehicle like the one I had looked at in the other dealership but a year old but the dealership is three hours away. I emailed one of the salespeople for some information on the vehicle and also told him that I was interested in finance and was looking to get a monthly payment over a specific term and even told him what rate I had been quoted elsewhere to save him the embarassment of going in too high. I also gave an indication of what kind of payment I was looking to achieve (these are all the facts that you need as a car salesperson to put together a deal). I eventually got a very generic response, not really answering any of my questions. I emailed back on Monday evening to clarify a few points (I'm not making a 6 hour round trip if the vehicle isn't going to be suitable and the payments are way higher than I am comfortable with. Again, it's Wednesday evening and I've heard nothing.
Yes, I could pick up the phone but I have a job and kids to look after and don't see why I should have to chase a salesperson to sell me a car. Before anyone gets too defensive, I'm sure the majority of PHers in sales are very good at their jobs (which means providing an enjoyable buying experience where customers will return to them and recommend them to their friends rather than just telling the customer what they want to hear and selling lots of cars for their company)and I would love to deal with someone like that. My success in car sales was mainly down to my integrity - doing what I said I would do and responding promptly to customer enquiries.
I appreciate that everyone has to have a day off and that some days are busy but February is never a busy month in sales and in car sales you sit on your arse a lot doing nothing! When someone is genuinely interested in buying (I'm not in a huge rush but could buy next week if I wanted to), surely it's your duty to do what you need to do to try and make that sale happen. My current vehicles are both from this manufacturer and I have been pleased with them, so there was a strong likelihood that I would come back to them but now I'm not so sure. If the service is this bad before the sale has even been made, what will it be like afterwards?
I always look forward to getting a new vehicle, especially when it's not a distress buy and I have time to look but I liken it to train travel! I always enjoy the outward journey (looking at the scenery, catching up on some work or reading, no traffic) and wonder why I don't travel by train more often but then something happens on the return journey to remind me why I prefer to travel by car (delays, breakdowns, missed connections, no seats, drunken yobs etc). Thinking back to my other car buying experiences, even the best salespeople that I have dealt with have only done the bare minimum that I would expect (can't remember ever being offered a demonstration of the controls, which I always offered or any assistance post-delivery for the inconvenience of a problem with the car).
Please tell me that there are some good salespeople out there who provide a great service and an enjoyable buying experience because right now I am quite tempted to not bother buying a new vehicle, save some money and keep my 10 and 13 year old vehicles!
I went to look at four vehicles from a certain manufacturer at the weekend and booked an appointment in advance, as I could appreciate that walking in and wanting to look at four vehicles might be a bit unreasonable. To be fair, the young salesman was pretty knowledgeable, showed me all the vehicles in detail and answered all my questions. I declined a test drive, as my wife would also need to drive before we buy and I had a few more manufactures that I wanted to look at.
I was provided with quotes on a couple of vehicles on the day and they also appraised one of my vehicles (and I gave them a detailed description of the other). We agreed when I left that he would email me the other two quotes on Monday and give me an approximate valuation on the other vehicle. It's now Wednesday afternoon and I'm still waiting for that email!
Meanwhile, trawling Autotrader, I saw another dealership had a vehicle like the one I had looked at in the other dealership but a year old but the dealership is three hours away. I emailed one of the salespeople for some information on the vehicle and also told him that I was interested in finance and was looking to get a monthly payment over a specific term and even told him what rate I had been quoted elsewhere to save him the embarassment of going in too high. I also gave an indication of what kind of payment I was looking to achieve (these are all the facts that you need as a car salesperson to put together a deal). I eventually got a very generic response, not really answering any of my questions. I emailed back on Monday evening to clarify a few points (I'm not making a 6 hour round trip if the vehicle isn't going to be suitable and the payments are way higher than I am comfortable with. Again, it's Wednesday evening and I've heard nothing.
Yes, I could pick up the phone but I have a job and kids to look after and don't see why I should have to chase a salesperson to sell me a car. Before anyone gets too defensive, I'm sure the majority of PHers in sales are very good at their jobs (which means providing an enjoyable buying experience where customers will return to them and recommend them to their friends rather than just telling the customer what they want to hear and selling lots of cars for their company)and I would love to deal with someone like that. My success in car sales was mainly down to my integrity - doing what I said I would do and responding promptly to customer enquiries.
I appreciate that everyone has to have a day off and that some days are busy but February is never a busy month in sales and in car sales you sit on your arse a lot doing nothing! When someone is genuinely interested in buying (I'm not in a huge rush but could buy next week if I wanted to), surely it's your duty to do what you need to do to try and make that sale happen. My current vehicles are both from this manufacturer and I have been pleased with them, so there was a strong likelihood that I would come back to them but now I'm not so sure. If the service is this bad before the sale has even been made, what will it be like afterwards?
I always look forward to getting a new vehicle, especially when it's not a distress buy and I have time to look but I liken it to train travel! I always enjoy the outward journey (looking at the scenery, catching up on some work or reading, no traffic) and wonder why I don't travel by train more often but then something happens on the return journey to remind me why I prefer to travel by car (delays, breakdowns, missed connections, no seats, drunken yobs etc). Thinking back to my other car buying experiences, even the best salespeople that I have dealt with have only done the bare minimum that I would expect (can't remember ever being offered a demonstration of the controls, which I always offered or any assistance post-delivery for the inconvenience of a problem with the car).
Please tell me that there are some good salespeople out there who provide a great service and an enjoyable buying experience because right now I am quite tempted to not bother buying a new vehicle, save some money and keep my 10 and 13 year old vehicles!
Yep.
Rang dealer ahead to see if car advertised on Autotrader was still for sale.
When I arrived, car was outside showroom, ready to test drive.
Met dealer I spoke to on phone, a quick look round car, he then put trade plates on car, asked for no ID whatsoever (I thought this a little odd) and handed me the keys for an unaccompanied test drive.
30 mins later came back and was offered a slightly better trade-in price than I was expecting.
£500 deposit paid on the day and the remainder paid when I picked car up a week later with 12 months tax (£120), a brimmed tank of petrol (£55), a fresh service (£200) and full set of mats (£40) all thrown in gratis.
No complaints at all, totally painless.
Rang dealer ahead to see if car advertised on Autotrader was still for sale.
When I arrived, car was outside showroom, ready to test drive.
Met dealer I spoke to on phone, a quick look round car, he then put trade plates on car, asked for no ID whatsoever (I thought this a little odd) and handed me the keys for an unaccompanied test drive.
30 mins later came back and was offered a slightly better trade-in price than I was expecting.
£500 deposit paid on the day and the remainder paid when I picked car up a week later with 12 months tax (£120), a brimmed tank of petrol (£55), a fresh service (£200) and full set of mats (£40) all thrown in gratis.
No complaints at all, totally painless.
Bought my new car last week via email. I emailed about a dozen dealers telling them exactly what car and spec I wanted and asking for their best price.
I explained I didn't have time for the usual charade of sitting in the showroom while they go back and forth into the sales managers office.
I stated best price gets the sale at the end of the week. About half never bothered to reply, of the 6 that did some would only quote list price, why bother?
One dealer was very close to the drive the deal price so they got the sale. Collection next week, haven't set foot in the showroom yet. Stress free and happy.
I explained I didn't have time for the usual charade of sitting in the showroom while they go back and forth into the sales managers office.
I stated best price gets the sale at the end of the week. About half never bothered to reply, of the 6 that did some would only quote list price, why bother?
One dealer was very close to the drive the deal price so they got the sale. Collection next week, haven't set foot in the showroom yet. Stress free and happy.
white_goodman said:
Car salespeople always get a lot of stick on here and being an ex-salesperson myself, I am normally first to defend them but I am currently in the process of buying a new/nearly new crossover/SUV for my wife and the experience so far has been very disappointing. I finally have a decent enough job where I can afford the payments on a decent vehicle and am looking in the 20000-30000 pound range.
I went to look at four vehicles from a certain manufacturer at the weekend and booked an appointment in advance, as I could appreciate that walking in and wanting to look at four vehicles might be a bit unreasonable. To be fair, the young salesman was pretty knowledgeable, showed me all the vehicles in detail and answered all my questions. I declined a test drive, as my wife would also need to drive before we buy and I had a few more manufactures that I wanted to look at.
I was provided with quotes on a couple of vehicles on the day and they also appraised one of my vehicles (and I gave them a detailed description of the other). We agreed when I left that he would email me the other two quotes on Monday and give me an approximate valuation on the other vehicle. It's now Wednesday afternoon and I'm still waiting for that email!
Meanwhile, trawling Autotrader, I saw another dealership had a vehicle like the one I had looked at in the other dealership but a year old but the dealership is three hours away. I emailed one of the salespeople for some information on the vehicle and also told him that I was interested in finance and was looking to get a monthly payment over a specific term and even told him what rate I had been quoted elsewhere to save him the embarassment of going in too high. I also gave an indication of what kind of payment I was looking to achieve (these are all the facts that you need as a car salesperson to put together a deal). I eventually got a very generic response, not really answering any of my questions. I emailed back on Monday evening to clarify a few points (I'm not making a 6 hour round trip if the vehicle isn't going to be suitable and the payments are way higher than I am comfortable with. Again, it's Wednesday evening and I've heard nothing.
Yes, I could pick up the phone but I have a job and kids to look after and don't see why I should have to chase a salesperson to sell me a car. Before anyone gets too defensive, I'm sure the majority of PHers in sales are very good at their jobs (which means providing an enjoyable buying experience where customers will return to them and recommend them to their friends rather than just telling the customer what they want to hear and selling lots of cars for their company)and I would love to deal with someone like that. My success in car sales was mainly down to my integrity - doing what I said I would do and responding promptly to customer enquiries.
I appreciate that everyone has to have a day off and that some days are busy but February is never a busy month in sales and in car sales you sit on your arse a lot doing nothing! When someone is genuinely interested in buying (I'm not in a huge rush but could buy next week if I wanted to), surely it's your duty to do what you need to do to try and make that sale happen. My current vehicles are both from this manufacturer and I have been pleased with them, so there was a strong likelihood that I would come back to them but now I'm not so sure. If the service is this bad before the sale has even been made, what will it be like afterwards?
I always look forward to getting a new vehicle, especially when it's not a distress buy and I have time to look but I liken it to train travel! I always enjoy the outward journey (looking at the scenery, catching up on some work or reading, no traffic) and wonder why I don't travel by train more often but then something happens on the return journey to remind me why I prefer to travel by car (delays, breakdowns, missed connections, no seats, drunken yobs etc). Thinking back to my other car buying experiences, even the best salespeople that I have dealt with have only done the bare minimum that I would expect (can't remember ever being offered a demonstration of the controls, which I always offered or any assistance post-delivery for the inconvenience of a problem with the car).
Please tell me that there are some good salespeople out there who provide a great service and an enjoyable buying experience because right now I am quite tempted to not bother buying a new vehicle, save some money and keep my 10 and 13 year old vehicles!
You made the mistake of using email. Everyone knows that dealers just have email addresses only to filter out time-wasters, because obviously anyone who would email about a car has no interest in buying it.I went to look at four vehicles from a certain manufacturer at the weekend and booked an appointment in advance, as I could appreciate that walking in and wanting to look at four vehicles might be a bit unreasonable. To be fair, the young salesman was pretty knowledgeable, showed me all the vehicles in detail and answered all my questions. I declined a test drive, as my wife would also need to drive before we buy and I had a few more manufactures that I wanted to look at.
I was provided with quotes on a couple of vehicles on the day and they also appraised one of my vehicles (and I gave them a detailed description of the other). We agreed when I left that he would email me the other two quotes on Monday and give me an approximate valuation on the other vehicle. It's now Wednesday afternoon and I'm still waiting for that email!
Meanwhile, trawling Autotrader, I saw another dealership had a vehicle like the one I had looked at in the other dealership but a year old but the dealership is three hours away. I emailed one of the salespeople for some information on the vehicle and also told him that I was interested in finance and was looking to get a monthly payment over a specific term and even told him what rate I had been quoted elsewhere to save him the embarassment of going in too high. I also gave an indication of what kind of payment I was looking to achieve (these are all the facts that you need as a car salesperson to put together a deal). I eventually got a very generic response, not really answering any of my questions. I emailed back on Monday evening to clarify a few points (I'm not making a 6 hour round trip if the vehicle isn't going to be suitable and the payments are way higher than I am comfortable with. Again, it's Wednesday evening and I've heard nothing.
Yes, I could pick up the phone but I have a job and kids to look after and don't see why I should have to chase a salesperson to sell me a car. Before anyone gets too defensive, I'm sure the majority of PHers in sales are very good at their jobs (which means providing an enjoyable buying experience where customers will return to them and recommend them to their friends rather than just telling the customer what they want to hear and selling lots of cars for their company)and I would love to deal with someone like that. My success in car sales was mainly down to my integrity - doing what I said I would do and responding promptly to customer enquiries.
I appreciate that everyone has to have a day off and that some days are busy but February is never a busy month in sales and in car sales you sit on your arse a lot doing nothing! When someone is genuinely interested in buying (I'm not in a huge rush but could buy next week if I wanted to), surely it's your duty to do what you need to do to try and make that sale happen. My current vehicles are both from this manufacturer and I have been pleased with them, so there was a strong likelihood that I would come back to them but now I'm not so sure. If the service is this bad before the sale has even been made, what will it be like afterwards?
I always look forward to getting a new vehicle, especially when it's not a distress buy and I have time to look but I liken it to train travel! I always enjoy the outward journey (looking at the scenery, catching up on some work or reading, no traffic) and wonder why I don't travel by train more often but then something happens on the return journey to remind me why I prefer to travel by car (delays, breakdowns, missed connections, no seats, drunken yobs etc). Thinking back to my other car buying experiences, even the best salespeople that I have dealt with have only done the bare minimum that I would expect (can't remember ever being offered a demonstration of the controls, which I always offered or any assistance post-delivery for the inconvenience of a problem with the car).
Please tell me that there are some good salespeople out there who provide a great service and an enjoyable buying experience because right now I am quite tempted to not bother buying a new vehicle, save some money and keep my 10 and 13 year old vehicles!
matthias73 said:
Yes.
I bought a 650 quid 5 series from a trader and so far, it hasn't exploded.
Absolute result, and the trader made me a cup of tea as well.
Wow that is good going. My 5 was riddled with issues and I didn't even get a cuppa. I bought a 650 quid 5 series from a trader and so far, it hasn't exploded.
Absolute result, and the trader made me a cup of tea as well.
Slightly O/T, but how does an E39 compare to an E34?
Yes i have! On my current car that i bought last January. Although it was nothing in the region of your price rage (£1300). Rang dealer to enquire about a Honda Civic for sale, he answered every question honestly. I text him while we were on the way down, to let him know we was actually coming. When we turned up the car was parked up and just been cleaned. He gave us the keys for a test drive. Came back and there was a cup of tea waiting for us. The car was exactly as described and he offered me a good deal on my Punto as a part ex. All round a great experience for a fairly small, independant car dealer!
Despite preconceptions and less than satisfactory experiences with the earlier LR dealership on the same site I had a very positive experience at Peter Vardy Landrover Aberdeen.
We had a look at a few near new RR Sports (which was what we went in to look at, and new Discos (which the salesman was sort of steering us toward), ended up buying a 10month old RR Sport, and getting what I hoped for, which was more than I expected, for the Freelander.
We were treated like valued customers both during the initial visit and again when we went back to pick up the car.
We had a look at a few near new RR Sports (which was what we went in to look at, and new Discos (which the salesman was sort of steering us toward), ended up buying a 10month old RR Sport, and getting what I hoped for, which was more than I expected, for the Freelander.
We were treated like valued customers both during the initial visit and again when we went back to pick up the car.
Yep. Swapping my wife's A3 for an A4 due to our new daughter. Stratford-Upon-Avon Audi. They were brilliant. I did my usual and had on jeans trainers and t-shirt and no assumptions were made based on my appearance. They treated me very well, were very honest and just generally very nice. Very keen for me to take it for a test drive, the car had a slight wobble from the steering above 60. Returned to dealership and their master technician came out in the car with me. Confirmed it was just a wheel balancing issue and assured me that it would be fixed before collection, which it was. They got a very nice car and we got a very nice car on that day and they shall be getting all my 'wife car' business from now on.
A week after we bought the car a range sensor failed and the car was collected from my house, fixed and returned the same day without fuss or quibble.
They have also offered to do the same for servicing.
TBH the best dealership I have dealt with after a couple of bad experiences in other Audi dealerships where assumptions were made about my appearance. Neither of whom got my business.
A week after we bought the car a range sensor failed and the car was collected from my house, fixed and returned the same day without fuss or quibble.
They have also offered to do the same for servicing.
TBH the best dealership I have dealt with after a couple of bad experiences in other Audi dealerships where assumptions were made about my appearance. Neither of whom got my business.
Edited by Captainawesome on Thursday 27th February 08:11
Yes. Back in Jan I was looking to chop my old X5 in, decided on a Merc C220.
Dropped in to exeter Merc. Plenty of salesmen on patrol. Took a test drive in a couple.
Figures were good. Declined the heavily marked up paint protection and other add options.
My first Merc. A good experience. Just keep your eyes wide open and filter out the extras.
Good follow up by the salesman.
Dropped in to exeter Merc. Plenty of salesmen on patrol. Took a test drive in a couple.
Figures were good. Declined the heavily marked up paint protection and other add options.
My first Merc. A good experience. Just keep your eyes wide open and filter out the extras.
Good follow up by the salesman.
Yep! Bought a used Boxster from OPC Bristol, dealt with Jeff Wong. Collection day was the best experience ever without doubt.
But….my dad bought a brand new BMW from the dealer next door (all part of the same group). Collection day came, was handing the car over and tried the sat nav and the code didn't work. We ended up watching the car drive out of the showroom straight into the workshop where they couldn't get the sat nag to work. He was gutted he didn't get to drive it out of the showroom. The car obviously hadn't been PDI'd correctly.
But….my dad bought a brand new BMW from the dealer next door (all part of the same group). Collection day came, was handing the car over and tried the sat nav and the code didn't work. We ended up watching the car drive out of the showroom straight into the workshop where they couldn't get the sat nag to work. He was gutted he didn't get to drive it out of the showroom. The car obviously hadn't been PDI'd correctly.
Helped my dad buy a new Honda Jazz at the end of last year (well he is nearly retired!), from G+M Honda in Gravesend. The salesman seemed really genuine and easy going, no pressure, took his time to explain everything clearly with no BS. When we went to pick the car up, he spent about an hour with us explaining how to check all the levels, what all the buttons did, how the foldy seats worked etc, as much tea+coffee as we could drink. really nice experience.
A guy from dealership even came out to my Dad's house a week or so later, no questions asked, with a fully charged battery when he ran it out sitting fiddling with the radio system in the garage!
A guy from dealership even came out to my Dad's house a week or so later, no questions asked, with a fully charged battery when he ran it out sitting fiddling with the radio system in the garage!
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