Don't know if I am expecting too much in buying my g/f a new car, but it will be the first time I have ever spent over £3k on a car and after saying i'd never buy new because of depreciation, I changed my mind, but now I think I regret it.
From day 1 its been a pain in the dingdong buying a new car:
1. Deciding what car to have, then what model, fuel type, options, colour.... (and that was the easy bit)
2. Went to look around showrooms at various garages ready to spend £8k cash (or take finance if it got me a better deal). About half of the dealers never came near us. I hate pushy sales men, but a salesman at all might help and even when you show interest they are indifferent....
3. The test drive - literally 10 minutes down to the nearest roundabout, right round and back up. Not even in the same variant as the car I was looking at.
4. The price - when we finally decided what car we wanted we asked how much - he answers with questions like "are you buying today" and other stupid questions... He gives us the price (which we had already researched on the internet and he came back, not with the total price but "£289 per month". This really angered me - maybe its just me, but I would NEVER buy a car that I didn't know the total price of.... Eventually got the actual price and got him to drop a good amount to near enough what an online broker was offering.
5. Walked away and had a think about it. Decided to go for it so called back and he said yep, no worries, come down. Got down there "Sorry, really bad news, managers been on the phone and we can't do that deal anymore, it loses us too much money"
6. Rang up well known online broker which I have heard good things about, sales person speaks to me like I am something he stood in, even though I was only asking very valid and sensible questions.
6. Went back to well known online broker , placed order. Hear nothing from them. Finally get the call today and the price that we purchased at has gone up because they can't deliver until October and Ford's prices go up in October.
7. Manage to find another online broker (Deal Driver) that has same car cheaper, but not heard of them before. Ring back first online broker and tell them we have found it cheaper - he says "Fair enough then, bye" and puts phone down.
As I said, maybe i'm expecting too much here, but £8k is a lot of money to me but so far I fell like i've had better customer service buying a pack of Polos from Spar than from the people above. Is this the way everyone gets treated when they buy new cars, or have I just been unlucky?
BTW, if anyone has purchased from Deal Driver, please e-mail me with your opinions as i've never heard of them, but they seem ok.
(sorry for the mini-rant)
Edited by Webmaster on 26/10/2007 at 01:47
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I was quite surprised by a similar experience about a year ago.
I was looking at a variety of cars, and trying to decide whether to buy privately on finance or opt for a company vehicle (but a small company with no established company car scheme, so still would be bought through one of the dealers). I mainly looked at Focus, Astra, Golf, A3 and BMW 1 series.
I went round all the dealers and got brochures, looked at the cars, etc but didn't do any test drives on my first round. All the salesmen wanted my details, and I thougth I was subjecting myself to endless pestering calls for weeks. A couple I asked to come up with a deal, and a couple didn't have the right variant to test drive but said they would get hold of one and call.
Out of all those dealers - Ford, BMW, Audi, VW & Vauxhall, the only one that I'd heard from after a week was Ford. A very friendly, and not pushy at all, salesman - he arranged for the test I wanted, and in fact offered me more tests in a variety of other variants that I was considering though I didn't really need them. BMW eventually rang me back (weeks later), but by then I'd already bought a Focus. The others I never heard from at all. As you say maybe it's just unlucky but i was surprised, given the reputation of car salesmen, to get that little attention from them.
Interestingly I remember going into the Ford dealership looking scruffy and untidy on a Saturday afternoon on the way home from playing football, whereas most of the others I'd gone to in the week prior during the working day dressed in a suit. From that you'd have thought it would have been the reverse, with Ford ignoring me but the others paying more attention.
Since then I have gone back to the same BMW dealer and bought another car from a different salesman who was somewhat better at calling back and being friendly (even after he had done the deal!), so just luck of the draw I guess.
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M
it's not unusual sad to say. I haven't been near a Ford dealer in years, partly because of that, though I'm sure there are some good ones. I got caught out recently when my car was being serviced. I had a phone call, garage nbr shows, turned out to be nothing to do with servicing but "was I think of changing my car, special deals only avaialable to customers etc" and I foolishly said "yes". So that night I endured about 30 minutes of asinine questioning and even some FSA type stuff without him going within a hundred miles of what I might like. In the end the "low mileage used" turned out to be (from memory) 2 years old with about £15k on the clock. And they could retrofit the leather. I don't think so, bye bye. That was VW. Wife ended up with a Jazz (from a Lupo) as much because the dealer was good as she liked the car. The VW dealer we went to (different one) hadn't a clue.
JH
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Afraid I cant give a very positive account of deal drivers - requested a quote for a car which I had to call back and chase up. Guy was helpful on the phone and was "just doing it" when I called. Quote came to me via email and was detailed and clear. Was buying on a PCP so looked at what else I could get and found that I could get a premium brand for similar money as the GFV was better. Called back and explained that I had changed my mind so could they give me a quote of a different car - no problem will email it to you straight away 2 days later I called and, yes, he was just doing it. Quote came with really long leadtime so I called him to discuss. I suggested dropping options or looking at pre reg etc to see if that would speed anything up. He said he could check with their dealer and call back. I gave him a few days and called him as I was keen to place an order, but had my head ripped off and was told that he was checking and he would call ME when he had news. Gave him a week and nothing so ordered the car through Drive the deal who were fine.
Cant say what actualy ordering a car from deal drivers would be like as I never made it that far.
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why would anyone want to buy a new festa?
let someone else take the hit and buy s/h
theres no shame anymore
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buy a nice used one
my mum is selling her 2002 02 reg as she's just bought a c-max. it is only a poverty spec fiesta but its worn its five years well but with a low mileage of around 25k.
i think a nice used one 2-5 yrs old will save a few pounds.
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My daughter's car buying experience at Vauxhall dealers Bristol Street here in Sunderland couldn't have been different.
She had already researched the best internet price for a Corsa 1.4 Design 3 door, metallic paint, on the road. £9895 I believe. A previous, preliminary visit had established a willingness by the dealer to match that, which indeed they did. Although planning to sell her Fiesta privately, we asked for a trade-in and were offered a surprising £800, low but another nearby dealer had only offered £300.
Next the dealer told her that if she took out a GM credit card and used it once a further £100 was taken off the price of the car.
OK, they wouldn't give us mats and a tank of fuel and cancelled the "free Tom Tom" offer that was advertised all over their premises, but the whole experience was light-hearted and pain-free.
Maybe the fact that she turned up with her father, boyfriend, brother and mother helped. I think we simply overwhelmed and confused the sales-woman.
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All the negative dealer anecdotes reflect the reasons why I buy my cars at auction.
That and the prices people quote. My Jag S Type was £8,250. Don't get me wrong, I know that people with £8,000 for a new Fiesta ar e the reason there is a second-hand market in the first place, but it makes me double-take when I see prices like that.
So, I'm afraid I'll sit by and watch people beg lazy salesmen to take their cash.
The other side of this is that I do often wonder what on earth a decent car salesman could earn. By 'decent' I mean one who:
Talks to you when you walk into the showroom (regardless of what you're wearing or the interesting conversation on football he's having)
Listens to your requirements
Knows about what he's selling
Maybe even uses these nuggets to guide you to what vehicle will do the job for you
Calls back when he says he will
Doesn't disappear to check out every suggestion with his boss
Then, when you've owned the car for a month, six months and two years, gives you a call back to see how things are going
It's possible (but doubtful) that this guy might earn a little less in year one than the 'pusher' but I bet that after a couple of years he'd have a stream of repeat customers who would refuse to deal with anyone else.
I've made comments like this before - I'm a salesman myself, so I consider it pretty basic. The common response from the traders on here is "yeah, wait till you've met a bundle of timewasters like I have and you'd change your tune". Well, here's a little parable.
I have met someone like that, when I popped into the Jaguar dealership in Southampton the other week to let my daughter look at the XKR and see if she could fit in the back. We ended up chatting for about 15 minutes. I won't be buying a new car from him (I'm too tight). He did enthuse me about the XF, so I may well be supporting his second-hand values in a few years. Apart from that, I'm a classic timewaster. However, get this. If someone ever mentioned that they were thinking of a Jaguar, who do you think I'd mention? Might anyone on here read this and think "I'll just hotfoot down to H.A. Fox, 73, The Avenue, Southampton - they've been recommended by a pretty nice chap off HonestJohn". Wasted time on his behalf? Perhaps, but perhaps not.
V
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maybe its a company thing.
when I had a Saab, I had very good service from HA Fox in Northampton (OK 10 years ago now)
that was with a 9000 2.3t bought at auction and taken to them as little as possible - because I am also tight. Didnt stop me getting excellent service. Indeed the service guy moved on to become a salesman just before I sold the saab.
So there may well be a long term advantage to them - or at least very delayed positive noises on motoring forums :)
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Vin,
The salesman you're describing does exist - and you'll most likely find him in a smaller showroom selling a lesser-known make such as Skoda, Hyundai, Kia or Subaru (until recently, at least, when glass palaces became de rigeur, IME).
The difference is, he owns the dealership, so he's dependent on your goodwill for repeat business.
There's a dealership local to me, a father-and-son operation whose yard is full of trade-ins from customers who are on their third or fourth car from him. A photograph of the place as it was when they started (an open field and a converted haybarn) hangs behind the desk.
If you want to spend £8,000 and actually get a second look from the guy who takes your order, that's the kind of place you want to find. Ask yourself: if they can't be bothered when you come to buy, what reception will you get if you go back with a warranty claim in six month's time?
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btw - I believe that the current Fiesta is due to be replaced shortly and hence may not be the best buy...
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I'm sure you love your g/f to bits, but why not look for a nice s/h one at a third of the price and spend the change on something else she'd like? £5k would buy a very presentable diamond. PG will know...
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"why not look for a nice s/h one"
Fiesta, that is, not girlfriend!
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you could be onto something here j bj the wife has a fiesta and its very cheap to run
the wife isnt
suggest op buys fiesta, runs it ,ditches girlfriend
everybody happy
;-0
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Thanks for the advice guys...
I should say, the car is being paid for by my girlfriend not by me so its her choice, but in this instance I agree with her plan.
I know we will lose a fair bit in depreciation, but by getting the lowest price possible, we can ease the pain.
Add to that the fact that our current motors are both 10 years old and they must be costing us nearly £700 per year for maintenance / mot's etc.
I have worked out that over 3 years, a new fiesta should cost her about £4000 = £1333. Take into account the better reliability and safety plus not having to be ripped off by mechanics and I think the extra £500 a year is worth it.
Add into that better fuel economy, better comfort etc etc. It won't end up costing much more per year than our older cars.
M
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Well, if it's her money. Doesn't sound like she's ready for bangernomics yet.. :-)
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"everybody happy"
Just as long as she doesn't read this thread!
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