Buying a New Car and dealing with 'The Pitch'.....

[pottery beige]

mucho lols walking in and buying fpv wearing flanno n thongs.....

[blueoval]

Just goes to show, what the prestige market is able to do over the domestic.

[kaniSS]

Mate I just went to the dealer who had the advertised car, test drove it, asked him the final price and offered a little less and he took it. If you want the car just get it so you don't have to play games and deal with these guys.

[Rodge]

^^ But without any comparitive change-over quotes how can you be sure you got a really sharp deal, (presuming that matters) ?

[kaniSS]

Originally Posted by Rodge

^^ But without any comparitive change-over quotes how can you be sure you got a really sharp deal, (presuming that matters) ?

I forgot to add that I asked him how much for my current car as a trade in, he offered 7.5k for a 03 focus lol I took the deal asap. I know it was worth 5-6 trade in.

I got a deal which was sharper then a Gillette razor...

[EB#]

Originally Posted by kaniSS

Mate I just went to the dealer who had the advertised car, test drove it, asked him the final price and offered a little less and he took it. If you want the car just get it so you don't have to play games and deal with these guys.

I like the simplicity of this approach...

The fact is at the moment, the XR6T utes are priced very well....
Asking:
$35,990 d/a for the full Luxury pack, 19's, leather, etc etc
$33,500 d/a (or thereabouts) for a standard one

This in itself is a large discount on prices 6 months ago I think ?

I've also been considering taking the trade-in out of the mix, and just
hanging onto it, sell it down the track a bit maybe.....
It does simplify things.

[Rodge]

^^ Lots of bang for your buck, no question about that and yes taking the trade out of the equation always simplfies things provided you're comfortable doing that. Try a search on www.carsales.com I always have a real thorough review of what's on the net before setting foot in any dealership.

[glider]

I had really disinterested attitudes from a number of dealers when i went shopping for my xr5 turbo basiclly they want the soul of your first born before you can get any meaningfull figures or quotes from them.
With the xr5 i bought i found it on the internet carsales site, a email and follow up phone call confirmed to me a dealer worth dealing with and with some haggling i got the car at a realistic price.
To me buying a car should be no different as to going into harvey norman goodguys etc, at the end of the day a car is only an appliance.

[EB#]

Yep.. agree the carsales site is a good one for research. I've clocked
up hours and hours on that one !!

Plenty of good info here in the discussion.
Cheers.

[Glen 5150]

Originally Posted by EB92

I like the simplicity of this approach...

The fact is at the moment, the XR6T utes are priced very well....
Asking:
$35,990 d/a for the full Luxury pack, 19's, leather, etc etc
$33,500 d/a (or thereabouts) for a standard one

This in itself is a large discount on prices 6 months ago I think ?

I've also been considering taking the trade-in out of the mix, and just
hanging onto it, sell it down the track a bit maybe.....
It does simplify things.

Geez, thats great buying in my opinion. Whats a well looked after low km BA XR6T ute worth now around $14-16k? Not huge depreciation in 6-7 years time and very cheap motoring for the advantage of owning a new car, and if you could buy an extended warranty in 3 years time you would virtually have peace of mind for the time you had it?

[tregs]

i walked to to an fpv dealer in melb yesterday i was in that mood that i wanted to get a brand new f6 before selling my xr6t but with in 2 min if that of the salesman coming up to me with all the b/s i lost intrest and didnt want to be there so i left im an impulse buyer its how i brought my last car i hate it when they come up to you an think u know nothing about the car your looking at an infact they know less than what you know lol

[EB#]

I've got a general question.
If an agreed deal/price is reached with a dealer, what is the standard procedure thereafter.....

a. Have a handshake agreement, pay a deposit and wait for arrival of the car and then pay the difference ?
b. Pay a deposit and sign some sort of contract, vehicle order or 'intent to purchase' document ?
c. Something else ?
d. Are there cooling off periods ? Back-out provisions ?

[Glen 5150]

b. with a "wish list" of everything he/she promised with regards to extras and servicing costs and signed by both parties..

[GreenR]

There is no agreement until something is signed. You would be signing a contract which would detail everything about your purchase, car, extras etc. Also pay a deposit.

You have 3 days cooling off period to back out. If you do they may keep some of the deposit. Make sure a delivery date is agreed.

[Sam_Boss260]

I think that you need to do your homework a little, and be prepared.

When we bought the wife's car recently, we pretty much knew what model we wanted with what options, and this was for a second hand car.

Whilst we had a trade in, I knew what our budget was in terms of change over price.

Once we thought we were happy with the car, I pretty much did the deal over the phone. I told the salesman in no uncertain terms ... "I will be buying a car this week. If you want the deal, come to the party, or else I will buy this model car from elsewhere."

He came back with a changeover less than what we budgeted for. So I was happy with that. Could I have done the same thing 3 or 4 times around to other dealerships, yes, but what for? I got the car that I wanted within my budget. End of story.

[hawke]

We have bought new Fords, Mercs and Porsche over the past 10 years.

Merc's - Go to dealer, get good price, delivered in showroom under spotlights with bunch of flowers on the back seat. My wife says every few years, lets go back to MacIntosh of Mosman and order another. Now got three from the same salesman. Totally painless. No bird with big tits trying to sell crap window tinting.

Fords. Go to dealer, get ignored, finally find salesman, get price, sit in office for half an hour waiting for bird with big tits who tried to sell overpriced window tinting. Car is over there at back of service bay, pick it up yourself.

Ford 2 - Order new Fiesta with City Ford Rockdale, sign contract for specific VIN, colour etc. Get told 3 days later, cant supply at that price. City Ford cancel contract. See car advertised at Ford dealer at Liverpool. Turns out that mistake has been made. Cant supply at advertised price. Go to next dealer, do it again, specify on contract that if someone comes near me trying to sell paint protection I'll cancel contract. Get car, and still get crap follow up from dealer to service car. Do it myself.

Porsche. Go to Porsche South Sydney during Global Economic Crisis, offer low ball price on demo car. Tell dealer deal is only open for 24 hours. No bird with big tits. Get car, great deal, no problems. Get invited back every 6 months or so for driver training, open days etc. Will go back again and buy another.

Summary, some European car dealers have the whole process worked out. Some Ford dealers dont get it. There is a big gap. I wont buy a Ford again. Appreciate that there is a price difference, but this doesnt explain false advertising, cancelled contracts, and crap delivery of car.

[Sam_Boss260]

At ^^^^ couldn't agree more. The last two Lexus cars that we bought same thing. Car brought to you, or delivered like a big event. Flowers, chocolate and free executive gift.

[Franco Cozzo]

I didn't even test drive or negotiate on my two new car purchases, I just went in and decided thats what I wanted after some reading of reviews.

I tried to negotiate on a new FG Falcon ute, base model but 6sp manual, he wanted $32,000, I offered $27,500 and he told me to F off basically and to stop wasting his time "because he is there to sell cars". Another dealership offered me the same except with a 6sp auto for $26,000 drive away, but I declined because I don't like autos.

I bought my Focus shortly afterward.

[drew`SEVNT5]

The Euro importers and dealers charge what the market will bear.

As for Rodge's plan, works great in NZ maybe, but not so Australia...

Have you seen the rules and regulations that are around the importation of cars into Australia....

[Pedro]

The general rules have been stated earlier by others.

I found out what my wife's SP 23 was worth wholesale, worked out what a good (for me) change over deal on a new SP 25 with the extras I wanted would be and went to the dealers with a "my car + $20k" offer. Took 6 dealers till I got what I wanted but he agreed too early so I wrung mats, boot lip and head light protectors out of him before I'd sign the deal. And like others have said I told him not to even think about sending over the big tits aftermarket seller.

[Dusty1]

With my Mondeo, I emailed all the sales managers in Melb giving them the specs I wanted and asked for their best price. I put them into a spreadsheet and went to the lowest price dealer and bought it from them. Anyone who wouldn't provide a quote was off the list, and if they called me and tried to put the acid on me (best deal if you sign up today etc...) they were off the list, and I told them that too.

With the Territory, I simply got onto a Forum Sponsor and contacted them. Dealt with the GM Sales, no spin, no Ming Mole, just buying a car. He gave me a good price, threw in some accessories, and even said that as long as 'I make $5K for the dealer, I'll sell it to you'.

I'd contact a few Forum Sponsors and see what they can do for you.

[Rodge]

Hawke Merc's - Go to dealer, get thoroughly screwed, delivered in showroom under spotlights with bunch of flowers on the back seat. My wife says every few years, lets go back to MacIntosh of Mosman and order another. Now got three from the same salesman. Totally painless. No bird with big tits trying to sell crap window tinting.

There, fixed it for you. Who do you think is paying for the flowers, gifts and anything else they give you ? Not only that have a look at the price of a Mercedes-benz in the U.K., you're paying at least douible what is a fair international price for the same car taking into account relative currency values and don't think for a minute the massive difference is all made up of local duty, LCT, GST and stamp duty, a heck of a lot of it is in fact the local distributor simply rorting you...and guess who owns Mercedes-benz Australia....Mercedes-Benz AG, yeap that's right the factory are screwing you.
(Once bitten twice shy)

[X000BOSS]

2 weeks ago i used the "my wife is the very jealous type and we are going to have all sorts of problems if you send over a tall blonde in a short skirt to sell me paint protection". salesman laughed and patted me on the back, said thats one of the best ones ive heard but we dont have a tall blond and you'll know what i mean when you see her. aargghhh.... he was right. explained to the "lady" that i dont need all of the overpriced stuff shes trying to sell me and if my fords paint needs protecting already, i should probably buy a car with better quality paint.

[Poetic Justice]

Originally Posted by Dusty1

With my Mondeo, I emailed all the sales managers in Melb giving them the specs I wanted and asked for their best price. I put them into a spreadsheet and went to the lowest price dealer and bought it from them. Anyone who wouldn't provide a quote was off the list, and if they called me and tried to put the acid on me (best deal if you sign up today etc...) they were off the list, and I told them that too.

Frankly, as a sales person, I hate this method.

And realistically, some of you people who act like this are the people later on who create threads about the lack of customer service they received. From an industry perspective, I'm happy to respond to these emails with a crazy price that I wouldn't normally do, but rest assured if I win the deal I won't be treating you to the level of service that someone who came into the dealership and wanted to create a rapport and a relationship with me would get.

Put simply, you want to get everything you can out of the dealer without paying any respect in return. Don't be surprised if dealers will give you the "best price" then consequently treat you like **** afterwards.

[blueoval]

Originally Posted by SCUD

Frankly, as a sales person, I hate this method.

And realistically, some of you people who act like this are the people later on who create threads about the lack of customer service they received. From an industry perspective, I'm happy to respond to these emails with a crazy price that I wouldn't normally do, but rest assured if I win the deal I won't be treating you to the level of service that someone who came into the dealership and wanted to create a rapport and a relationship with me would get.

Put simply, you want to get everything you can out of the dealer without paying any respect in return. Don't be surprised if dealers will give you the "best price" then consequently treat you like **** afterwards.

I can sympathize with you SCUD. My good mate is a car salesman too and gets similar treatment from customers who want blood from you to save a dollar and give nothing but contempt in return. But for every good salesman thats worth his/her weight in salt, there are 20 bad ones who treat their customers like they are tire kickers. Sadly its the bad ones who give the small minority of good ones a bad name.

[EB#]

Originally Posted by SCUD

....but rest assured if I win the deal I won't be treating you to the level of service that someone who came into the dealership and wanted to create a rapport and a relationship with me would get.....

Exactly the case in point......
Why does buying a car need a 'relationship'......?
Who decided those things go together ?

[blueoval]

Nobody did, but making a customer feel comfortable about his or her decision to fork over thousands of dollars to that salesperson for a vehicle they want can be the difference between a pleasant and unpleasant experience. I understand it's still a business deal, but whose to say a good experience with a dealer could lead to other referrals? It's really in the best interest of the dealer to provide that positive service and experience for the customer. If the customer has a 'I treat all salesmen like bastards' approach, then it makes it a difficult situation to deal with on both sides. Sure, as a customer I would take charge of the conversation explaining what I want, but I would never go as far as being a total p**** to them because of it.

This is just my opinion and no doubt will differ from others.

[krzysiek]

I don't see how emailing a few dealers asking for a good price is a bad thing or makes you look like a di*khead? In the end, it's your money that you worked for - and if a dealer gives you a good price, then go ahead and buy? If you ask me, it's "smart spending".

Unless you're being very rude to them in the email - then that's a different story. But if you're being respectful while searching for a great deal, I really don't see a problem?

When you buy a car, sure you want to be treated right - but let's face it. The salesman isn't your best friend or a family member, you don't need the whole relationship thing. Sure, you expect them to be nice and respectful (and the customer obviously should be too) but treating someone like ***** just because they got a good price is wrong, if you ask me.

No one made you sell it at that price - if you're so unhappy with the profit margin on that sale that you want to treat a customer like crap, then it seems to me like you shouldn't have made the sale.

In either case: if a deal is made - either party saw value in it. Either the customer thought they were getting their moneys worth, or the salesman thought, even at the 'lower' price, that he/she was getting a good deal (their pay check or whatever). No reason to treat a customer like crap. You don't go into Harvery Norman, ask for a better price and then have the sales rep treat you like *****?

Obviously, all of the above applies only if the customer is being respectful. If they are being a dog about it, treat them like ***** regardless if they pay full RRP or not. I hate rude people in general, customers or not.

[bingoTE50]

The spreadsheet method or whatever becomes a tender proposition not a sales proposition. You are at the mercy of the sales manager and depending how the month is going, either goes for it or doesn't.But , quite frankly ,I would still give the necessary customer service.If you gave the spreadsheet guy bad service ,as you stated,he will tell anyone that would listen about the poor service , give him some love ,swallow the pride,and he may just generate some sales for you. You never know ,who knows who these days !!

[CODSASR]

Originally Posted by Professor Farnsworth

how the heck do you do that?

boss has a few friends who own ford and other dealerships around vic we also repay the favor with kia's going the other way