I use dealers to buy new cars simply because I can part-exchange without the hassle of selling privately, and running the risk of having two cars or none for a short but potentially awkward time.
So, how much more would you expect to get for a part exchange with a main dealer, compared with a private sale?
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I wouldn't. I'd almost certainly get more for a private sale but SWMBO and I both work full-time-plus and we haven't got the time or the inclination for the hassle of a private sale. But I have every respect for people who do sell privately - they get a better deal but they work for it.
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Just because a car is advertised at a main dealer at £15k doesn't mean that the final price the car is sold for is £15k - they may well knock 2 or 3 thousand off the screen price, in which case it would then be under the brokers new price. The main dealer may also be charging for the privelege of the car being available immediately whereas a brand new car may be up to 12 weeks away as a factory build
When i worked as a dealer through brokers i offered PX however because of the tight margins i had no room to inflate the PX price and so you are offered what the vehicle is actually worth. i would regularly be told that the local dealer had offered them £1000 more for the car - what most people conveniently forgot was the dealer also wanted £2000 extra for the new vehicle.
The main dealer may also be charging
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"The main dealer may also be charging"
Probably, they usually do :-)
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Just because a car is advertised at a main dealer at £15k doesn't mean that the final price the car is sold for is £15k - they may well knock 2 or 3 thousand off the screen price, in which case it would then be under the brokers new price. The main dealer may also be charging for the privelege of the car being available immediately whereas a brand new car may be up to 12 weeks away as a factory build
In the case of the two examples I quoted, the 2.2 HDI Exclusive Auto was priced at more than £3K above the price a new model can be bought for, so even if the dealer did knock of £2K or £3K, it would still be more expensive. As far as the VTR is concerned, this is a pre face lift model, and it is priced at £5K more than the car I saw at availablecar yesterday, which is a post facelift model.
The dealer also has no advantage in being able to offer a used car immediatley, as so can the likes of availablecar, in ever increasing numbers.
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Mchika,
You have missed one small but very vital clue. If he wasnt making money, he wouldnt be there. To be making money, people must be buying his products at those prices.
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TourVanMan < yes its RF reborn >
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It is all about adding value, whether owned or franchised the dealer has to pay for his shiny 2000 sq/ft showroom etc, some people are reassured by the experience of buying from the dealer environment and the theoretical peace of mind it brings, having a relationship with the dealer etc, so will pay a premium for it. If dealers and showrooms didnt add value then the manufacturers would all be selling direct over the net and maximising their margins.
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I don't know about car dealer, but for my recent motorbike purchase I just got the best deal off the Internet, printed it out and handed it to the dealer and said "how close can you get to this"? He almost matched it, in fact his alarm/immobiliser was £50 cheaper fitted, so I bought it from him. It saved me getting a train to London and riding back, and I've got local support with no grumbling about having bought it elsewhere. If you don't ask you don't get.
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I don't know about car dealer, but for my recent motorbike purchase I just got the best deal off the Internet, printed it out and handed it to the dealer and said "how close can you get to this"?
Which is exactly what I would do, if I was buying from new.
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Could anyone give me an indication of the discount I can expect to get from the forecourt price of a car?
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Could anyone give me an indication of the discount I can expect to get from the forecourt price of a car?
What you could do is arm yourself with some prices for the same car, from the nearest car supermarket, and then ask the dealer how near they can get to it.
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It is all about adding value, whether owned or franchised the dealer has to pay for his shiny 2000 sq/ft showroom etc, some people are reassured by the experience of buying from the dealer environment and the theoretical peace of mind it brings, having a relationship with the dealer etc, so will pay a premium for it. If dealers and showrooms didnt add value then the manufacturers would all be selling direct over the net and maximising their margins.
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The experience of a lot of people with dealers isn't good, so why would they want to pay a premium for it. I certainly never got preferential treatment from my local Citroen dealer after buying two new cars from them.
The competition from the internet and car supermarkets is going to increase, so I think franchised dealers are going to have to offer something a bit more tangible than the perceived added value they are offering. How can it be so wonderful as to persuade anyone to pay more for a used car than they need pay for a new one?
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A quick question. Is there anyone in this forum that would pay more for a used car, than they need pay for a new one of the same model (same spec, obviously)?
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No, i doubt it.
But there are still plenty of people out there that will just go to a dealer rather than hunt around on t'internet.
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The number will be decreasing, for used cars in particular, as the market is flooded with cars at present.
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My neighbours are typical English folk who believe that to bargain is to be rude. They went to a VW dealer recently to buy a used Golf. They test drove it, liked it and said "we'll have it, how do you want the money" It simply never occurred to them to try to get a reduction.
I used to love the battle at dealerships and would bargain to within an inch of their lives. The advent of internet brokers has certainly been a boon and as long as you do your research, you shouldn't come to any harm. I have heard more about punters coming to grief at dealerships than I have at Internet brokers.
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As I said earlier, given the poor reputation of so many franchised dealerships (as often illustrated in this forum), why would anyone happily pay over the odds for a car from one? Or is this done by the silent majority that never complain, or get involved in customer satisfaction surveys?
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Sept 2004 I bought the LWB Nissan Primastar van. The dealer was starting the game at around £13k.
A few phone calls and internet searches turned up SWB vehicles at around £11k. I negotiated the LWB that was a slightly earlier version for £10,995 with extras - through a dealer and got good service.
So you can have your cake and eat it. Dealers that realise they have to compete, get the sale, points from car manufacturer and future business.
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Machika,
you can argue away, your " I wouldnt do it " - is still missing the point.
The dealer is still there so people are buying from him at those prices.
There are loads of dealers like him around.
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TourVanMan < yes its RF reborn >
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I am not disputing anything that has been said here, but over the forum, as far as dealers are concerned
- we want to buy cars from them as cheaply as possible with the dealer giving up basically all their commission
- we complain about the price of servicing especially hourly labour costs and "diagnostic costs"
- we complain about the prices of spare parts
Think we need to realise that we really can't have our cake and eat it, or we will all be sitting with cars bought from the net with nowhere to service them!
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Think we need to realise that we really can't have our cake and eat it, or we will all be sitting with cars bought from the net with nowhere to service them!
Yes we will have somewhere to service them. At an independent garage, which is where I take our cars.
It is the same with goods of all kinds. Lots of high street businesses are having to join the internet market, as they realise that they will lose out if they don't. The goods they sell are just the same, as people are rapidly learning. As for service, well, buying from a high street outlet doesn't guarantee good service, any more than buying from a garage, as I learnt when purchasing my PC.
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Machika, you can argue away, your " I wouldnt do it " - is still missing the point.
I am not missing the point, I just don't understand why anyone would pay over the odds for a car (or any commodity) when main dealers don't, by and large, have a wonderful reputation for after sales service. I know that people continue to do it and not so long ago they didn't have much choice. The well publicised media coverage, in recent years, of the inflated prices that UK customers were having to pay for cars just can't have gone unnoticed by the majority of the public. It wasn't just in newspapers it was on television too. So, if a person is willing to pay thousands of pounds in excess of what they need to do, just what do they get back that is worth so much money?
Almost twelve years ago, I paid more for new Xantia TD than I need pay now for a new C5 HDI. I thought I was getting good value for money then but obviously, I didn't. The return from the main dealer in added value just hasn't been there.
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