If I'm tire kicking I normally tell them so no ones time is wasted, if they're not busy they sometimes just have a blether anyway. Best to avoid dealerships on a Sat/Sun.

Do exactly the same.

Sometimes I just like to look at the shiny new stuff or high end exotica.

Just tell them your window shopping, they'll leave you alone (mostly!)

i think a lot of car salesmen are quite old school and dislike selling on the phone or dealing with emails. Sales is often about getting someone sitting in front of you to try to conclude the deal. If the person walks out the door the sale is probably gone.

Email is probably a borderline waste of time for dealers, it could be 90% time wasters or even higher with email so they probably just don't bother. Too easy for people to not turn up etc.

If I'm tire kicking I normally tell them so no ones time is wasted, if they're not busy they sometimes just have a blether anyway. Best to avoid dealerships on a Sat/Sun.

They shouldnt dislike phone sales. Its the easiest way for a customer to get the best price having decided whatcthey want.

Its the way i was doing it last week, as i certainly wasnt going to drive around every dealer in the midlands.

When someone accepted my offer, a deposit was left over the phone n thats it. Sold.

They shouldnt dislike phone sales. Its the easiest way for a customer to get the best price having decided whatcthey want.

Its the way i was doing it last week, as i certainly wasnt going to drive around every dealer in the midlands.

When someone accepted my offer, a deposit was left over the phone n thats it. Sold.

Agreed, but dealers don't particularly like dutch auctions. It reduces their margins, and they can quite often sell the same car at a better price when face to face.

Some companies have different sales models & prefer high volume / low margin, probably the company that you bought from is set up like that.

Agreed, but dealers don't particularly like dutch auctions. It reduces their margins, and they can quite often sell the same car at a better price when face to face.

Some companies have different sales models & prefer high volume / low margin, probably the company that you bought from is set up like that.

Yeah just seems silly to me. Didnt even ring back some of em .

Yes you're bob on there. Thats exactly what theyre doing and after speaking to other dealers they dislike this particular dealer as theyre undercutting everyone by so much.

Works for me though .

Considering the amount of money you are parting with, buying a car is usually an awful experience. You can end up sitting there for hours on end while the salesperson goes to and fro with the 'business manager' to get figures. The whole industry needs a shake up, some people (I include myself in this) know exactly what they want and what price they are prepared to pay so don't want all the bull and the hesitance to commit to giving you a price unless you are ready to sign on the line.

 

I recently visit LR to look at a Discovery Sport, when it came to figures they just told me to on line and look at the car calculator tool!

 

I don't have time to spend days on end trawling the dealerships, I just want to send an email with the details of what I want and expect a quote in return, get the numbers right and I will buy - very simple!

I recently visit LR to look at a Discovery Sport, when it came to figures they just told me to on line and look at the car calculator tool!

 

 

Jag dealer was similar. Said he knows everyone can look up prices on line so there is little point in putting up a hopeful figure then haggling later. He just puts up what he wants and it doesn't move. He certainly wouldn't shift for me and the price was fairly keen tbh.

It also depends on how sales are going, for a particular make and/or model. It would make pretty poor business sense from a dealer point of view, if sales are going well to be cutting their margin by offering further discount.

The cynic in me says that the salesmen have all made their quotas for this month and ensured their bonuses.  Selling any more before next month might just make it harder to get to their targets for that month, especially if stock is limited.

The cynic in me says that the salesmen have all made their quotas for this month and ensured their bonuses.  Selling any more before next month might just make it harder to get to their targets for that month, especially if stock is limited.

 

Depends if it's capped commission, some sales jobs the more you bill the higher % you get. 

Ignoring emails is pretty stupid.

I bought the current one by email asking for a particular model & engine. The one who replied got the sale.

2 others were most put out when I explained that I went elsewhere because they simply didn't even acknowledge my enquiry.

I don't know if it's a brand thing and more down to the individual garage, I generally have negative experiences when car shopping as I'm not a smart dresser and most sales people seem to assume I'm just a time waster and won't give me the time of day.  When I was buying a second hand Octavia, one Skoda garage had put the car into the showroom for now so there wouldn't be any test drives and the other never replied to e-mails, never returned calls and there was never a sales person available to take a call.  I was 160 miles away so wasn't wasting a trip down to find the car wasn't suitable for any reason.

 

In the end I bought my Octavia from a Ford garage who were the complete opposite, got to speak to a sales person straight away, wanted to double check details with me on the phone and ensure the car was what I was wanting and ready for a test drive so I didn't waste my drive down to them.  The Seat garage I bought my Toledo from were very helpful as well and encouraged me to take cars out for a test drive, they also ended up getting the sale as I ended up really liking a car which I wouldn't have considered before.

 

Mazda were pretty good, knew the car well (I'm surprised by how many sales people didn't know the cars well at all) and not at all pushy after taking the car out for a test drive.

 

John

I don't know if it's a brand thing and more down to the individual garage, I generally have negative experiences when car shopping as I'm not a smart dresser and most sales people seem to assume I'm just a time waster and won't give me the time of day. When I was buying a second hand Octavia, one Skoda garage had put the car into the showroom for now so there wouldn't be any test drives and the other never replied to e-mails, never returned calls and there was never a sales person available to take a call. I was 160 miles away so wasn't wasting a trip down to find the car wasn't suitable for any reason.

In the end I bought my Octavia from a Ford garage who were the complete opposite, got to speak to a sales person straight away, wanted to double check details with me on the phone and ensure the car was what I was wanting and ready for a test drive so I didn't waste my drive down to them. The Seat garage I bought my Toledo from were very helpful as well and encouraged me to take cars out for a test drive, they also ended up getting the sale as I ended up really liking a car which I wouldn't have considered before.

Mazda were pretty good, knew the car well (I'm surprised by how many sales people didn't know the cars well at all) and not at all pushy after taking the car out for a test drive.

John

I've been into the same dealership twice, first in jeans, then in a suit. Big difference in how I was treated.

Some groups seem to cycle staff between different brands quite a lot, which may in part explain the lack of knowledge.

The title says VAG Dealers but the VW Group passenger vehicle dealers are so much more than VW having Audi, Skoda, Seat, Porsche, Bugatti, Lamborghini  etc

 

So many different attitudes in the different Showrooms and even the same brands where different Motor Groups run those Franchises.