Sorry about the ponderous thread title - I couldn't think of a better one.
I have seen an awful lot of cars recently which, as well as a normal sticker in the back window, have a "discreet" dealer logo placed on the rear, often next to or above the model name.
Is having this applied to your car a condition of sale that is buried in the small print? If I was in the position of buying a new car, I'd be most annoyed if the dealer vandalised it by putting one of their tacky adverts on the back. As someone who has taken the dealer sticker out of the back of every single car I have owned, I fail to see why I should provide a car dealer with free advertising.
Any thoughts?
Cheers
Rob
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Rob
I wholeheartedly agree and tell the salesman so. I've never yet had a dealer's transfer put on the paintwork of a new car. As you say, if they did I'd charge them for the advertising space.
Terry
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Stickers on paintwork or numberplates are one thing, but what about the metallic logos applied to the rear screen by outfits such as Fords of Winsford? A good source for a car, but I wouldn't fancy seeing that in the mirror all the time.
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Rob,
When I picked up a secondhand Mondeo a few years ago from the local Ford dealer he had stuck a great big sticker all the way round the Ford oval. I went mad and he promtly removed it but could not understand why it offended me.
As you say it is just a form of free advertising for the dealer and takes the shine off a nice car.
It certainly is not written into any small print so the dealer should remove it when asked.
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Rob,
I'm with you with this and have always resisted free advertising for the supplier.
But now, it's forced on you by law (unless you go through the trouble of having new number plates made)...
see www.adrad.co.uk/Number%20plates%20regs.htm bottom bit about suppliers.
John R
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I used to feel the same ......... until.......
One day I was stuck at the side of the road with a smashed radiator and bonnet after a pheasant appeared through a hedge as I was passing by. Five minutes later a rep from the garage stopped, said he'd seen their sticker and gave me a lift to the nearest town, phoned my mrs to let her know I was going to be delayed and got the dealer to collect the car for repair.
Admittedly this was a largish dealership and they got a lot of business from the lease company I was with, but from then I wasn't too worried about the stickers in the back window.
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Nice story.
Didn't HJ once advise someone to accept a car with manufacturer adverts all over it on the grounds that if it broke down it would be fixed pronto!
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I purchased a new MG Metro in 1984 from a large dealer chain, and promptly removed their enormous, horrid, sticker. Each time the car went in (often, when new!), it came back out with a new sticker to replace the one I had removed! I wouldn't have recommended the dealer to anyone, let alone want to admit that I had purchased from them, or give them free advertising!
However, when I collected my V70 from Bluekens in Breda earlier this year, they too had but a sticker on the back, but this time in the form of a tasteful, discrete, badge, perfectly horizontal, and perfectly aligned with the 'Volvo' badge. On this occasion, the nature of the badge as described, the fact that they worked hard to get my business, and the fact that I was delighted with the service given, meant that I was quite happy to leave it be.
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Fascinating stuff, as I had a set made to the Euro-GB spec when I bought my last car and specified no dealer mention. I have always removed window stickers before driving away from the dealership (cars had ever-larger windows from the 60s to the 80s but the space was then used to put Garfields in).
[meldrew] I can't BELIEVE that new numberplates are SUPPOSED to have the supplier's name on them. [/meldrew]
Also interesting to see:
1) Euro numberplates remain a choice rather than a must;
2) the popular "England" and "UK" versions of the Euro numberplate are not legal!
pat
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Mine are always ripped off straight away and replaced by a Harley-Davidson Motorcycles eagle and wings decal.
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