Car Dealer Snobbery?

R.O.R

CrowdedHouse wrote:

Wonder is it changing..?

I was at a large VW/Audi/MB dealers yesterday which is usually busy any time I was there before,but in the half hour yesterday afternoon I'm sure I was the only 'customer' in the place.I got immediate attention anyway !

Think that has more to do with the time of year than number of cars being sold. Registrations are about the highest I've seen since 2001 (circa 83,000 so far in Dublin this year).

CrowdedHouse

colm_mcm wrote:

It's September..

True - but I am looking at 3 different cars for the New Year and all the dealers claim that they need a firm order now/very soon for delivery in January

Seth Brundle

bazz26 wrote:

Dame Edna?

Actually seen the new facelifted 9-3 the other day and it looks alot nicer.

It couldn't look worse now!

steve06 wrote:

I remember this cycling story... it was with Cunningham Higgens wasn't it.

I heard something similar about Joe Duffys. Im sure one has been said for every main dealer that exists!

Third_Echelon wrote:

I think it looks quite nice.... Looks a bit like Darth Vader

yeah, without his mask!

ninty9er wrote:

A lecturer told us about a friend of hers who sent his son (11) into a BMW delaer near Dublin to ask about a 7 series while he looked around the forecourt. The salesman told the kid to move along and find his dad. Repeated same at Joe Duffy (IIRC) and the kid was entertained for 15-20 mins. The salesman made his year's commission out of entertaining the 11 year old!! A number of vehicles were purchased based on the test

Thats a stupid way to evaluate a dealer.

Getting back on topic: I recall when selling my last car I received loads of calls from muppets who basically wanted a free drifting session. Im sure many dealers get similar time wasters and plebs. However, this is no excuse for rudeness or even making silly but basic assumptions about the potential buyer. As the old phrase goes: Diplomacy gets you out of what tact should have kept you out of.

JohnCleary

CrowdedHouse wrote:

True - but I am looking at 3 different cars for the New Year and all the dealers claim that they need a firm order now/very soon for delivery in January

Getting rid of the GTI already? You're a madman! :eek:

CrowdedHouse

JohnCleary wrote:

Getting rid of the GTI already? You're a madman! :eek:

Maybe not....change it for an 08 one

Lord Nikon

A salespersons job is to sell a car, not to know about it. But it helps. Remember that whenever you step into a dealers premises, it will save you alot of time.

ta2kev

As a car salesman myself, I can usually tell whether someone is genuinely interested i buying a car, or is just killing time / dreaming. I take a name and number off every customer inquiring about certain cars, I've a diary full of them. I've often rang customers back 6 weeks after they were in with me, if a car came in that I thought would suit them. If a customer comes into my garage, I'll make myself known to them and let them look around by themselves, if they need any questions asked they only have to ask.

Type 17

neuromancer wrote:

A salespersons job is to sell a car, not to know about it.

Anyone selling anything needs to know about it - anyone who doesn't know about the products or services that they are selling is merely an order-taker, and should be treated as such*.

*Order-takers have their place, such as in a coffee-shop, but I wouldn't buy anything complex from one...

StupidLikeAFox

In fairness i'd say people in showrooms full of fancy, top of the range cars are sick of lads who cant afford them comin in for a test drive, when they've no intention of buying them.

JohnCleary

ColHol wrote:

In fairness i'd say people in showrooms full of fancy, top of the range cars are sick of lads who cant afford them comin in for a test drive, when they've no intention of buying them.

When i'm selling something, I know that half of them probably can't afford it and probably just want a spin on the water. However, I have to treat every person that comes to me as a potential new owner or what i'm selling... That's life.

Saying that, you can usually spot the people who just want a spin as opposed to someone genuinley interested. When the first question is 'Can we take her for a spin' you usually know to tell them to fcuk off

coolhandc

cjt156 wrote:

In my experience 90% of salesmen/persons are dumb-f*cks in cheap suits selling widgets to morons.
They haven't an idea about their product or how to treat a customer, they've just read a book by some tw*t about hitting their monthly targets.

I had an award-winning salesman (I've seen the trophys) in my car tell me that its nice but he wouldn't personally buy French. I say; its an Alfa Romeo. Him; oh, thought it was a Renault...

He was right french cars are a piece of crap!all they have is problems and cheap resale.how you can say they dont have an idea about their product is stupid.maybe your just going into the wrong garage!

um7y1h83ge06nx

coolhandc wrote:

He was right french cars are a piece of crap!all they have is problems and cheap resale.how you can say they dont have an idea about their product is stupid.maybe your just going into the wrong garage!

I think maybe the point he was trying to get across was that Alfa Romeo's are Italian cars, not French.

Seth Brundle

coolhandc wrote:

He was right french cars are a piece of crap!all they have is problems and cheap resale.how you can say they dont have an idea about their product is stupid.maybe your just going into the wrong garage!

Neither of my wifes two Pugs gave any problems and were quite good at holding onto their value. Were hers the exception to your rule?

Guy:Incognito

kbannon wrote:

Neither of my wifes two Pugs gave any problems and were quite good at holding onto their value. Were hers the exception to your rule?

My Renaults have all been exceptions aswell. But outside all the ones that are good, they are all crap.:)

PauloMN

bazz26 wrote:

More and more people are now importing used cars from the UK and NI which means forecourts up and down the country are swamped with unsold second hand cars. I am shocked at the large volumes of second hand cars that dealers have in stock, most don't have enough room for them, they are literally parked on top of each other and I'm looking at the same cars sitting there for months.

I see this as well, yet some garages seem to be doing well enough to hold on for better (higher) price on the cars they are selling. When I was looking for my A4, I remember one particular garage I went to. Took a car for a test drive, liked it etc. etc. but the price was too high. I hinted what I'd be looking to spend, which wasn't a million miles away from what he was asking (can't remember the figures exactly). Anyway, we didn't agree in the end and I said sod that and looked (and bought) elsewhere.

Weeks later, I see the same car for sale with the same garage, and the asking price dropped to BELOW what I would have paid. Now if these dealers really are having trouble selling motors, why did that happen? I think they're still making sales, maybe it's slowing down a bit, but not enough yet from what I experienced during my last shopping spree.

milltown

ColHol wrote:

In fairness i'd say people in showrooms full of fancy, top of the range cars are sick of lads who cant afford them comin in for a test drive, when they've no intention of buying them.

The volume of "top of the range" cars sold is, relatively, a lot smaller and the profit, in monetary rather than percentage terms, a lot higher. Unless the guy crashes the car the test drive costs the salesman nothing but a few minutes of his time. It would make sense for him to play the percentages and assume that everyone just might be the one that buys a car that week. Especially when the banks and finance companies are falling over themselves to lend people money.

coolhandc

kbannon wrote:

Neither of my wifes two Pugs gave any problems and were quite good at holding onto their value. Were hers the exception to your rule?

theres exceptions to nearly every rule.maybe your wife didnt do much mileage,thats why she got a good price for them,but majority of them are bad cars.theres a reason why there not selling at the moment....if your not satisfied lets do a poll!

dc69

coolhandc wrote:

theres exceptions to nearly every rule.maybe your wife didnt do much mileage,thats why she got a good price for them,but majority of them are bad cars.theres a reason why there not selling at the moment....if your not satisfied lets do a poll!

whats your gripe with french cars?
im still laughing at your above post:)