Car Dealer Opening Hours...WTF???

Gatster

Sort of a rant, but justified - based on the operating hours in the UK, and Dublin-centric.

I've been looking for a car now for a while, and the amount of dealers that shut at anything from 1 onwards on a Saturday is quite amazing - do they not want/need the money?

A few main/larger dealers open until 4 or 5, which is fair enough, but is anyone open on Sundays? Effectively, the two days most people are able to go looking at a car are out for most people...I can't imagine dragging a wife and kids round a few dealerships in the space of 3 or 4 hours on a Saturday morning, if they'd even put up with it

MazStar

I agree. I am in the market to buy a car and finding it hard to get to the garages -was working last Sat morning and when I rang at 2.00 they were closed, not open Sunday or Monday (granted its a bank holiday and they are entiteled to days off!) but this is when most people would be on the look out for a new car.

Does anyone know if garages will be open this Friday (Good Friday)?

2 Espressi

MazStar wrote: »

I agree. I am in the market to buy a car and finding it hard to get to the garages -was working last Sat morning and when I rang at 2.00 they were closed, not open Sunday or Monday (granted its a bank holiday and they are entiteled to days off!) but this is when most people would be on the look out for a new car.

Does anyone know if garages will be open this Friday (Good Friday)?

Ring 'em and see?

Gatster

It's a nonsense even when some give an opening time to be honest. A lot of smaller dealers will say "we'll be here until about xx:xx". I've turned up at some dealers 30 mins before the time given and the place is deserted, why would you even bother going back (I didn't).

Tony Danza

Yeah it's a pain in the @ss but they aren't exactly the only people that open hours like this. If you want to go to a doctor or dentist for example you often will have to work your schedule around their times. That's life.

Malice

I travelled to Roscommon with a friend of mine a couple of weeks ago to look at a car and we experienced the same thing. We had a couple of cars to look at and for whatever reason the dealer was closed at 4:30. Thankfully we got there in plenty of time because it would have been an almighty waste of a day otherwise. At no point until we got there did anyone tell us when they were closing.
I guess that they are just like the pubs in Ireland, they are making too much money to care. They will get customers regardless of how rubbish the service they provide actually is.

--amadeus--

Doctors and Dentists aren't working in the service industry.

Noelie

--amadeus-- wrote: »

Doctors and Dentists aren't working in the service industry.

Last time i checked they were, I'd say the Car dealers aren't in the service industry.

Car dealers should take a leaf out of the hairdresser books and be closed on Mondays but open the weekend. I'll be in the market for a new car near the end of the summer and i won't be takig time off work to go to dealer, so i'll be buying from whoever is open on weekend or in evenings.

pburns

Gatster wrote: »

Sort of a rant, but justified - based on the operating hours in the UK, and Dublin-centric.

I've been looking for a car now for a while, and the amount of dealers that shut at anything from 1 onwards on a Saturday is quite amazing - do they not want/need the money?

A few main/larger dealers open until 4 or 5, which is fair enough, but is anyone open on Sundays? Effectively, the two days most people are able to go looking at a car are out for most people...I can't imagine dragging a wife and kids round a few dealerships in the space of 3 or 4 hours on a Saturday morning, if they'd even put up with it

I do think they should open 'til 4/5 on a Saturday. But Sunday? So you want dealers to be staffed 7 days a week? And who do you think ends up indirectly paying for this overhead?

It is an inconvenience but a car salesman once told me that if someone is really serious about buying a car they'll take a day (or days) off work (implying that he gets a lot of 'window-shoppers'/amateur test-drivers at weekends). It is a $$$$$ investment after all. I can kind of appreciate that.

And the 'oul internet is great for car-buyin' - cuts down on wild goose-chases and narrows down your options. Why do you need to drag the wife and kids along anyway? Buying cars is mens work.:D

TBH even if a dealer is open at a w/end I'd still prefer to go in on a week-day when they're aren't hordes of people. The saleman will have more time to talk, give test-drive etc.

Eoin

pburns wrote: »

It is an inconvenience but a car salesman once told me that if someone is really serious about buying a car they'll take a day (or days) off work (implying that he gets a lot of 'window-shoppers'/amateur test-drivers at weekends). It is a $$$$$ investment after all. I can kind of appreciate that.

That doesn't really work for me - you could easily need to see 4 or 5 cars before you see the one you're happy with, and the trade in price you're happy with. That means time off work that a lot of people are too busy to take off, or need for things like, well, holidays.

Gatster

If you want to go to a doctor or dentist for example you often will have to work your schedule around their times

No offence to any car dealers, but they're not in the same league professionally. Anyway, you can see a Doctor/Dentist anytime, it's called A&E.

I wouldn't expect every dealer to be open on Sundays, economies of scale and all that, but large franchise dealers shoud be, the issue I have is that they don't even try, and see how it goes.

It is an inconvenience but a car salesman once told me that if someone is really serious about buying a car they'll take a day off

And this just shows the arrogance of this car dealer - he actually seems to expect people to use their (probably precious) holiday days to go and see him, he's just that important :rolleyes:

He's doing the selling, he should accomodate the customer.

The internet just gives you a view of what's out there, nothing beats seeing cars in the metal. It's not hard to take good photos of a sh!t example of car. As for the wife and kids, I don't have 'em, but I know plenty of people who would rather spend their weekends with their families than looking at cars (not sure why, but hey-ho )

Mena

The BMW dealership I used used to be open on Sundays, they pulled it back to Saturdays though as there was too little custom to warrant staying open the extra day.

I guess if there's a (large enough) market for it, it would happen.

Lucifer

While it may be more convienent for those that work, what about the staff in the dealers? Are they not entitled to time off like all you people who have weekends off? I work in a main dealer, I work Mon to Fri, but sometimes need to go to the bank, tax office etc, should these all be open 7 days also?

EDIT also can all those who think dealers should be open say if they would be happy with increased prices due to bigger overheads? While I do think dealers prices are already too expensive, this is due to huge overheads which will only rise to pay extra costs such as staff etc. So who would be happy with dealers charging more if they opened 7 days?

-Chris-

Mena wrote: »

The BMW dealership I used used to be open on Sundays, they pulled it back to Saturdays though as there was too little custom to warrant staying open the extra day.

I guess if there's a (large enough) market for it, it would happen.

+1

We used to open 7 days as well, and the additional business done didn't justify the overhead of staying open.

fightin irish

Lucifer wrote: »

While it may be more convienent for those that work, what about the staff in the dealers? Are they not entitled to time off like all you people who have weekends off? I work in a main dealer, I work Mon to Fri, but sometimes need to go to the bank, tax office etc, should these all be open 7 days also?

+1

And has already been said above, The majority of people that come into our showrooms on Saturdays are tyre kickers.

In my experience people who eventually buy the car take time off work or usually come in at night. Nearly all main dealers open untill 8pm most nights. Thats an eleven hour day folks. Personally i'd leave if i was asked to work on Sunday. Saturdays are worked on a roster basis i.e. every second week.

I take the point that people are out there looking to buy on a Sunday, But unfortunatley the level of business does not merit opening on a sunday( in my place anyway)

Gatster

Originally Posted by fightin irish
Nearly all main dealers open untill 8pm most nights

Hmm, can't agree with that at all. Ok, take Airside at the Airport - 8 main dealers, only one of whom (Renault) is open until 7 each night (this I know as when I was looking at hot hatches, they were the only one still open when I got back from work). Every other one shuts at 6 apart from Thursday, which is 7 for some of them.

Same for Saturday, some are open in the afternoon others aren't. If your place of work is open until 8, it's in the minority from what I can see. If most major dealers were open until say 8, and all day Saturday, that'd be fair enough, Sunday wouldn't come into it for me.

While it may be more convienent for those that work, what about the staff in the dealers? Are they not entitled to time off like all you people who have weekends off?

Off course everyone is entitled to time off, just like the people who do 9-5/5:30, or the people who work in shops, or medical or hospitality workers, the point is you choose your profession, and whatever commitment it entails.

Eoin

I don't think this started as talking about 7 day opening, but rather the crap Saturday opening hours.

Lucifer

while I understand that everyone chooses their profession and what type of hours etc will be involved (I am not a salesman by the way so this would not affect me at all, I just think that its not as easy as people think to open 7 days). I would think that as people have said, the extra costs for the garages do not justify opening Sunday, and for some garages saturday afternoon. Where I work the sales staff already work long hours so to open extra hours would possibly mean hiring extra staff. These extra overheads are going to be passed on to the customer. Can anybody honestly say that they would be happy for garage prices to increase even more? The motor industry is constantly tarred with the image of ripping people off and people complaining of high prices, I can't see anyone being happy with even higher costs. While I do agree that some garages do rip people off and over charge, not all do but that's another discussion.

King Kelly

From our past experience (large town in the South East) Sunday opening is a complete waste of time and resources. Very, very few genuine buyers seem to bother looking at cars. We tried it for a 6 week period, advertised it and ended up with very few sales and very unhappy staff.

If somebody is interested in seeing a vehicle out of hours all it takes is a phone call to arrange it. We have often brought Demo cars to show peolpe in their lunch hours or at work. Given the current market any of our sales people would be happy to meet a genuine interested party at any time.

While there may be the critical mass to open 7 days a week in Dublin, from our experience, its not a runner down the country. At the end of the day if there was demand for longer opening hours it would be supplied.

JHMEG

Merlin Motor City is open 7 days a week isn't it?

-Chris-

King Kelly wrote: »

If somebody is interested in seeing a vehicle out of hours all it takes is a phone call to arrange it. We have often brought Demo cars to show peolpe in their lunch hours or at work. Given the current market any of our sales people would be happy to meet a genuine interested party at any time.

I'm meeting a couple this Friday with the new A4, as they didn't have time to test-drive when they were in with me on Saturday and they're not generally free during the week.

King Kelly wrote: »

While there may be the critical mass to open 7 days a week in Dublin,

IMHO, there's not... And I'm surprised how many active motor industry employees are on here that agree for the exact same reasons.

I'll meet someone out of hours (like this Friday), drop a car to their workplace (I did it just this morning!) or lend them one overnight if it's inconvenient for them to come in (happens loads).

This is nice for me because I'm controlling my own time - if I don't have anything better to do, I'll meet them. If I'm not available, I won't suggest it or I'll reschedule it.

If we open on Sunday, I'm not in control. I'm just a "victim of the tyre-kickers".

You'd need a decision among ALL the dealers to open on Sunday (or for a full day Saturday) - then you'd get quality prospects because anyone buying a car would be able to confidently put the shopping off until the weekend, safe in the knowledge that the dealers would be open.
As it is, nearly everyone knows the dealers don't open full day Saturday or Sunday and they plan accordingly.

You'd also have the huge problem then that virtually EVERYONE would put off their shopping until Saturday/Sunday, as a dealer you'd have to make sure you had enough staff, enough demos and a large enough showroom to deal with that many customers. All those staff and resources would lie virtually idle during the week.
This may be ok in the normal retail situations (like a clothes shop or Currys) where you can have temporary or part-time staff, but I guarantee you wouldn't be happy spending €30,000 and signing finance papers with a part-timer - you want someone professional and knowledgeable to sell you a car!

I feel kinda sorry for people who work in places like Airside, especially in Renault - anyone who comes over late to look at a Ford, Nissan or VW will be disappointed to find them closed and will head in to Renault to have a look around, just to make sure they didn't have a wasted journey. They won't buy, however, as they still have to arrange a viewing of the Ford/Nissan/VW.
As a salesperson in Renault, I'd find that soul-sapping - you'd see loads of prospects, but noone you could close a deal with. In the meantime you're looking out the window at all the other dealerships that are closed. That's hard, especially when your success as a salesperson is often dependent on the ability to keep a positive mental attitude.

Kind of a negative answer, but this is a nice, friendly place to be honest . Dealer Principals often have to balance the frame-of-mind and motivation of their salespeople against the requirements for customer convenience.

-Chris-

JHMEG wrote: »

Merlin Motor City is open 7 days a week isn't it?

Interestingly enough (for me, anyway...), this pretty much agrees with my post above - Merlin's set-up lends itself to less knowledgeable staff**.

Merlin stock cars, hundreds of cars. They don't order new cars or customise cars for a customer, they sell from stock.
Merlin salespeople don't need super-extensive product knowledge - people will forgive you if you can't remember if a '05 Primera Visia came with the reversing camera.
They have virtually every brand, so their customers don't need to shop anywhere else to compare a Focus/Golf/Astra, they're all there.

As long as the Merlin salespeople qualify their customers properly to identify their requirements, demonstrate the right cars and get the numbers right, they'll get a signature at the end of the day. It's a usually a one-visit sales experience.
If you're comparing a brand-new Focus/Golf/Astra, you'll need to visit several dealers, spec your car, choose your colour etc. etc. It's a several-visit sales experience.

This is, in my opinion, the reason places like Merlin have been able to make Sunday opening profitable and productive, while main dealers have not.


**I mean that with the maximum possible respect, btw.

BlueSpud

--amadeus-- wrote: »

Doctors and Dentists aren't working in the service industry.

One of the best quotes I hve seen in a long time.......

JHMEG

Actually, the attitude on this thread from the motor dealers smacks of we-have-cake-and-eat-it.

Not happy with window shoppers ("tyre kickers"), ye only want people in the shop who have come in to buy.

Business is indeed too good.

drdre

Just look on carzone , its the easiest

Guy:Incognito

AudiChris wrote: »

Merlin salespeople don't need super-extensive product knowledge - people will forgive you if you can't remember if a '05 Primera Visia came with the reversing camera.
.

I found the knowledge fairly poor tbh on my trip in last month. Was lookign for a Grand Scenic. had a walk round the yard and a guy came over to ask were we ok. Asked if they had any grand scenics as we wanted a 7 seater. He asked did I want a Zafira (they seem to have quite a lot of them, but I hated it when I had one as a hire car so ruled it our straight away) . HEwalked towards the 3 scenics in the yard saying that he as sure there was scenic over here. I said I'd been looking but was after a 7 seater (It's very easy to distinguish Scenic from a Grand Scenic by the rear most side windows), but to check anyway he climbed into them, whackign the door off the car beside and was swinging out of the carpets to pull them up while haning over the back seats. Just said thanks and left a coupel of minutes later.

Basic knowledge goes a long way. I wouldnt expect a guy working there to know everything about each car but being able to distinguish between models would be nice.

Eoin

drdre wrote: »

Just look on carzone , its the easiest

That has absolutely nothing to do with this thread. Would you buy a car that you had only seen on carzone, or would you feel a slight urge to look at it in person, and possibly test drive it?

JHMEG

Stekelly wrote: »

I found the knowledge fairly poor tbh on my trip in last month.

Really it's up to you to know. I've been in main dealers where I've known more about the car than the lad selling it.

stecleary

i used to work in sales and most sales jobs are based on commision, so there for each and every sales persoin should be bending over backwards to get your money! i have worked in bars for nine years and this is the service industary! not sales!!!!

-Chris-

JHMEG wrote: »

Actually, the attitude on this thread from the motor dealers smacks of we-have-cake-and-eat-it.

Not happy with window shoppers ("tyre kickers"), ye only want people in the shop who have come in to buy.

Business is indeed too good.

I swore to myself when I started this job that I would never refer to anyone as a "tyre-kicker", it's disrespectful and quite often wrong.

I would say it's true in every retail sales environment that you'll get tyre-kickers and window shoppers. I have a friend who works in a guitar shop in town who's having a very frustrating time where people come in and play the guitars, ask the questions and then buy off the internet.

Anyone gone to check out an iPhone in the O2 stores with no intention to buy??? We've all been customers and we've all been window shoppers in our lives. And we've expected/deserved different levels of attention depending on our situation.

I work on commission, and like everyone else my time is quite valuable. I normally work 6 days a week at this time of year, I work long hours and I take 20 minute lunches (if I get lunch, but this is not a sob-story - I love my job!).
If I spend 45 minutes talking to a customer who's just in to check out the new A4 (but who's driving a '07 3-Series and has no intention of changing before 2010) and I subsequently get home 45 mins later, missing time with my loved ones and extending my working week, that's not a good use of my time.
I believe it's fair for me to try to assess who's a hot prospect (and therefore worthy of my absolute attention) and who's a tyre-kicker (who deserves my respect and attention, but shouldn't receive that attention at the cost of a hot prospect or my family).

Am I wrong?

Gatster

AudiChris wrote: »

I'm meeting a couple this Friday with the new A4, as they didn't have time to test-drive when they were in with me on Saturday and they're not generally free during the week.



IMHO, there's not... And I'm surprised how many active motor industry employees are on here that agree for the exact same reasons.

I'll meet someone out of hours (like this Friday), drop a car to their workplace (I did it just this morning!) or lend them one overnight if it's inconvenient for them to come in (happens loads).

This is nice for me because I'm controlling my own time - if I don't have anything better to do, I'll meet them. If I'm not available, I won't suggest it or I'll reschedule it. When I went to renault in Airside, it was to look at a Clio 197, but I did expect the others to be open, and you're bang-on, whilst I was in there people were coming in just because they were open.

If we open on Sunday, I'm not in control. I'm just a "victim of the tyre-kickers".

You'd need a decision among ALL the dealers to open on Sunday (or for a full day Saturday) - then you'd get quality prospects because anyone buying a car would be able to confidently put the shopping off until the weekend, safe in the knowledge that the dealers would be open.
As it is, nearly everyone knows the dealers don't open full day Saturday or Sunday and they plan accordingly.

You'd also have the huge problem then that virtually EVERYONE would put off their shopping until Saturday/Sunday, as a dealer you'd have to make sure you had enough staff, enough demos and a large enough showroom to deal with that many customers. All those staff and resources would lie virtually idle during the week.
This may be ok in the normal retail situations (like a clothes shop or Currys) where you can have temporary or part-time staff, but I guarantee you wouldn't be happy spending €30,000 and signing finance papers with a part-timer - you want someone professional and knowledgeable to sell you a car!

I feel kinda sorry for people who work in places like Airside, especially in Renault - anyone who comes over late to look at a Ford, Nissan or VW will be disappointed to find them closed and will head in to Renault to have a look around, just to make sure they didn't have a wasted journey. They won't buy, however, as they still have to arrange a viewing of the Ford/Nissan/VW.
As a salesperson in Renault, I'd find that soul-sapping - you'd see loads of prospects, but noone you could close a deal with. In the meantime you're looking out the window at all the other dealerships that are closed. That's hard, especially when your success as a salesperson is often dependent on the ability to keep a positive mental attitude.

Kind of a negative answer, but this is a nice, friendly place to be honest . Dealer Principals often have to balance the frame-of-mind and motivation of their salespeople against the requirements for customer convenience.

Great post, much more balanced and explanatory...I'm more keen to see later opening on Saturday, I'm personally not usually in car shopping mood on Sundays, but posted it as an option to see the reaction.

In fairness, I recently had a couple of dealers offer to bring me cars at lunch (I work in the center of Dublin), but I don't really take lunch, and having done this before know that you can't really get a decent test drive.