Saw an 04 Ford Focus C-max at the local Ford dealership advertised for £4999. I called in to ask about it but was quickly steered by the salesman to look at other C-max the dealer had in stock from £5999 and upwards.
I told him these were outside of my budget and I was interested in the C-max they have advertised at £4999. He explained it wasn't available yet. I could see the vehicle sitting there with the price clearly displayed in the window and down the side in big yellow letters.
So I asked him to clarify. To paraphrase, he said, "Yes that C-max is for sale at £4999, and you can buy it today. Only thing is you won't be able to take it away for 3 months."
At this point I must have totally glazed over, switched off and left, never to return. Probably.
My question is, what is the dealership playing at? Advertising a car for £4999, having the actual car in stock but being unable to supply it for 3 months?
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What would happen if you said OK, paid for it and then insisted on taking it away? It would be legally yours.
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No. For the contract of sale to be valid, they have to accept your offer of £4,999. Which they won't for 3 months. It's the same as if the dealer prices a car up wrongly - you can't then force him to sell at the wrong price.
What the dealer is doing is legal, but an underhand way of drawing in punters. I doubt Trading Standards would look upon it too kindly.
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I hadn't even thought of that! I really did completely lose interest the moment he mentioned it was not available.
I don't even know what the plural for c-max is.
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Do they also have brand new ones for sale with 60% off then say you can't have it until it's three years old and done at least 35,000 miles!
I'd call Trading Standards just to make life awkward for the dealer prinicple.
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What the dealer is doing is legal
It's not legal at all. You're thinking of something that is wrongly priced by mistake, but this car was advertised at £4999. Even having it show could be construed as being an advertisment.
The dealer is committing an offence under the Consumer Protection Act 1987 for misleading advertising.
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The salesman also mentioned any warranty would be an optional extra. I did ask him if this included the mandatory 3 month warranty and he stated it didn't. My feeling was by him omitting to tell me this he would gain the sale of an extra warranty.
As for the 3 year old brand new car swizz, they probably do that too.
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It's just a mean trick by the garage to create interest and drive footfall to their showroom. Once you're through the door, they'll try to upsell you to something else.
I fell for this 4 years ago when VW were advertising brand new Polos for UK£7295 on the road. Price was for a base "C" spec model, no extras or metallic. Needless to say once I'd ordered such a car there were none in stock in the entire country, none on their way either, and I was expected to pay more... I lost my rag and they quickly returned my deposit :-)
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If they're having to resort to underhand tactics like this to get people in, they're clearly not doing very well. I would question whether they'll still be around in a few months anyway.
If this is the contempt with which they treat car buyers before a sale, would you really want to buy a car from them anyway? Got to be worth a call to trading standards in any case.
Cheers
DP
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04 Grand Scenic 1.9 dCi Dynamique
00 Mondeo 1.8TD LX
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This is a very old trick that dealers have been using for years. They advertise a car at a particular price and then say that its 'just been sold' or 'not yet ready for sale'. I think TS take a very dim view. Some other industries pull similar tricks. A chap I know runs a small recruitment agency to recruit engineers for the pan-European motor industry. A standard technique is to advertise a 'good' job (it does not exist, of course) in one of the industry mags. That pulls in loads of applicants who he puts on his database and then touts around his industry customers.
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It's fairly amazing that such a fuss is made about 'sleaze' among politicians, when it is so widespread in the rest of the population.
How on earth can they be expected to run a sleazy country if they don't understand the system?
:o}
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The dealership is well established and quite old, probably 70 years or so. They have just recently been bought out by a much larger competitor so it's my guess this recent buyout is behind the current sales drive. I'll not be going back now, and will be advising trading standards of the situation.
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>A chap I know runs a small recruitment agency to recruit engineers for the pan-European motor industry. A standard technique is to advertise a 'good' job (it does not exist, of course) in one of the industry mags.
This is illegal under the Employment Agencies Act. All jobs advertised must exist, and inspectors can ask to see databases etc. to confirm this.
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This is illegal under the Employment Agencies Act. All jobs advertised must exist and inspectors can ask to see databases etc. to confirm this.
Indeed it is. But I suspect its widespread.
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I think you are right - the Act is rarely if ever enforced , as the civil serpents are far too busy with gangmasters etc.
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"the Act is rarely if ever enforced "
Like many motoring ones.. (phones)... yet more laws are introduced...
Muppetry
madf
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I think people ARE being pulled for phone use. I heard some police stats a few months back and the numbers nationally were pretty large (in the 1000's IIRC).
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It is certainly widespread in the electronics industry. I always phone the agency and have a good chat with them to ensure that I'm confident that the position is genuine. Only then do they get my CV.
Its also sent with the proviso that they let me know before its sent anywhere or they won't be able to lock me into a contract if I end up working with a position they find. Genuine agencies have all been fine with this and I've never gone short of work. The non-genuine ads are usually easy to spot as they're too generic and the recruiter doesn't have any info about the position.
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I read often, only post occasionally
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The dealership is well established and quite old probably 70 years or so. They have just recently been bought out by a much larger competitor so it's my guess this recent buyout is behind the current sales drive. I'll not be going back now and will be advising trading standards of the situation.
Sounds like you're cutting your nose off to spite your face if you ask me, why not just buy it and wait 3 months? You obviously can't get one that cheap anywhere else or you wouldn't be kicking up such a fuss about it surely?
Blue
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If I was in your position I'd def. make a call to Trading Standards and give your money to another dealer.
There are a few C-Max's filtering through at £5k now so you'll have plenty of choice in a few months.
Chris
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Lot of fuss about a very dreary motor. Secondhand too.
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Lud, I take your point (above) re sleaze and politicians. I think the difference is that they are on 6 figure sal aries, have 4 months holiday a year and get vast pensions after about 20 years service etc. We are entitled to have high expectations of them and are frequently let down. Nobody has very high expectations of the motor trade but are occasionally pleasantly surprised!
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I was only joking really AS (although not all political sleaze scandals are really worth the fuss they generate... cash for honours for example being, er, time-honoured).
I do find fairly appalling attitudes have become quite widespead in the population though, more so than when I was young, and not just in the motor trade.
Or perhaps the rose tinting on my spectacles has faded with age!
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