I received a flyer via Vauxhall stating that i had won a postcode lottery, which only a handful of people will receive fantastic deals inc used cars.

 -  I really had nothing to do so i ofc took this with a pinch of salt and thought i would go and see whats going on thats so special lol...

 

I arranged an appointment, turned up sat down and from the word go i politely explained that i probably would not be your perfect customer. I stated that i was aware of the potential diesel scrappage deal being tabled soon, and i understand its the pre reg time of year.

 

 - The women sales person was very nice, not pushy but i did feel i wasn't what she wanted hahah, she insisted on looking at my car and valuing it. She looked very disappointed when she saw a 2003 VRS with 154k miles and a few dents rofl.

 

 - We then went back inside, and i told her im tight and would not spend more than £100 per month, and asked what used cars they had that would at the mimimum be 1.7litre diesel, in any guise. 

 - I had already looked at the Vauxhall national approved stock, and there where loads that i thought would meet buget

 - Seems you cant get a used diesel for £100 per month from Vauxhall, she spent at least 40mins in the managers office searching.

 

Conclution:

 - They seem more interested in swapping their crap cars for your better car... the whole valuing thing before any discussion about using it as a deposit, and the fact that there where better cars all be it a few years old for sale on the forecourt, ofc offering "we buy any car" valuation as a deposit.  - Very shifty business!

 - I dont understand finance, but in my mind i can basically buy a plethora of Vauxhall models for £180 a month  - New cars, But for £80 less i cant buy any car even 10 years old. Now thats math i do not understand, i would have thought the risk of a pcp on a 2010 car with lets say 68k on a diesel is with the customer, if turbo/ brakes (wear and tear) need replacing you replace them out of your pocket. Then hand back a better car than you took off them at the end??? -  I just can't understand £180  = new, £100 =  nothing. You can get a 8k personal loan for less than £100 per month, so i guess there is not incentive for the used car market, they must just hold out for cash sale... not sure, kind of confused with it all.

 - I stated that i didnt feel like a post code lottery winner, but thank you for the education.

 

 

 

 

Edited 20 February, 20179 yr by FromTheDarkness

You were a post code lottery winner, becasue you have a postcode, a postcode which matched the one on the letters VX sent out.

 

My boss at work got one through (might have been VX as well actually) to say as his finance deal was nearly up he was entitled to a 'special deal'.

Only problems was that my boss doesn't have and has never had finance with them and is also a data protection specialist and a basatrd. So he's demanded a written apology for them for holding incorrect personal information which is a breach of the Act.

 

I couldn't count how many 'you're special' mailings I've had from car dealers. All ****** you get there and it's the same pitch usually with the same offers.

Edited 20 February, 20179 yr by Aspman

1 hour ago, FromTheDarkness said:

I received a flyer via Vauxhall stating that i had won a postcode lottery, which only a handful of people will receive fantastic deals inc used cars.

 -  I really had nothing to do so i ofc took this with a pinch of salt and thought i would go and see whats going on thats so special lol...

 

I arranged an appointment, turned up sat down and from the word go i politely explained that i probably would not be your perfect customer. I stated that i was aware of the potential diesel scrappage deal being tabled soon, and i understand its the pre reg time of year.

 

 - The women sales person was very nice, not pushy but i did feel i wasn't what she wanted hahah, she insisted on looking at my car and valuing it. She looked very disappointed when she saw a 2003 VRS with 154k miles and a few dents rofl.

 

 - We then went back inside, and i told her im tight and would not spend more than £100 per month, and asked what used cars they had that would at the mimimum be 1.7litre diesel, in any guise. 

 - I had already looked at the Vauxhall national approved stock, and there where loads that i thought would meet buget

 - Seems you cant get a used diesel for £100 per month from Vauxhall, she spent at least 40mins in the managers office searching.

 

Conclution:

 - They seem more interested in swapping their crap cars for your better car... the whole valuing thing before any discussion about using it as a deposit, and the fact that there where better cars all be it a few years old for sale on the forecourt, ofc offering "we buy any car" valuation as a deposit.  - Very shifty business!

 - I dont understand finance, but in my mind i can basically buy a plethora of Vauxhall models for £180 a month  - New cars, But for £80 less i cant buy any car even 10 years old. Now thats math i do not understand, i would have thought the risk of a pcp on a 2010 car with lets say 68k on a diesel is with the customer, if turbo/ brakes (wear and tear) need replacing you replace them out of your pocket. Then hand back a better car than you took off them at the end??? -  I just can't understand £180  = new, £100 =  nothing. You can get a 8k personal loan for less than £100 per month, so i guess there is not incentive for the used car market, they must just hold out for cash sale... not sure, kind of confused with it all.

 - I stated that i didnt feel like a post code lottery winner, but thank you for the education.

 

So you went to the dealership to waste a person's time, who is probably on a low/medium wage boosted by commission. Good for you. 

1 hour ago, FromTheDarkness said:

 

 

 

 

2 hours ago, Redboy said:

 

So you went to the dealership to waste a person's time, who is probably on a low/medium wage boosted by commission. Good for you. 

 

 

No i didnt, i will be considering a car change within the year. And they had every opportunity to show me why i should go to Vauxhall. If they had offered me a decent SRI 2.0 diesel i may well have considered it actually. 

 - Lots of people test drive cars, are they wasting the time and fuel also?

 - They told me i had won the right to a special deal, did they waste my time? I went to see what special deal they could offer, was it my fault they could not offer me anything? It did state used cars, so not sure you would perceive it as wasted time. 

I would call it junk mail.........or am I missing the 'winning' aspect?

Edited 20 February, 20179 yr by Ryeman

You won't get PCP on a 7 year old car as it will have done most of its depreciation, so no profit for the dealer/finance company. You do see PCP being offered on cars up to 4-5 years old now, but for £100 a month you don't really want to be looking at a main dealer, do you? Better to have an idea of the total price you want to pay. 

 

We received one of those unconvincing 'We desperately need your car/you're invited to our special discount event' letters from the local Fiat dealer last week- I suspect because we're nearly at the point where Mrs Paul's Panda is worth about the same as the outstanding finance balance. Against my better judgement, we popped down to let our five year old crawl all over their Abarth 124 Spider and to see if they really were offering anything special.

 

It was unbelievable. We were forced to sit down for a toe-curling chat with some bigwig from FCA Canada (of all places) who was apparently there to authorise mega deals. He was like some kind of actor hired for the day. We had to provide some basic information about our Panda, which he proceeded to record inaccurately. He then asked my five year old to pick an envelope from a selection that had been clumsily taped to the bonnet of a 500. With great aplomb, he opened the envelope and announced that I had won £50 off accessories for my 'new' car. In hindsight, we should have walked out then, but I was so surprised to see someone wearing a black shirt and white tie combo in 2017 that I felt compelled to stay.

 

We were eventually passed over to a salesman.  He committed what I believe to be the cardinal sin of a car dealer, by failing to offer me, my wife or my son a drink. By comparison, I've bought two cars from Skoda in the last couple of years and get offered a hot drink moments after walking in to the dealership. Anyway, we chatted about what Mrs Paul and I wanted and I mentioned that we were interested in trading up to a Lounge (top spec Panda). He went over to another dealer and they spent at least 10 minutes on the computer and phone trying to find one from stock. During this time I heard him loudly complain about the small margin they apparently make on the Panda (6% for Pop/Easy/Lounge, if you're interested) and my wife had to leave with my son as although he'd enjoyed the dealership, he was getting jittery. By this point we'd been there for at least 30 minutes.

 

He eventually returned and offered nearly £700 less than CAP for the Panda car and a monthly price that isn't far off what I'm paying for my Yeti - and that's over a shorter period of time! The deal was far, far worse than the standard price quoted on their own website. A bit more toing and froing took place before I had to leave. Negotiations continued via email over the following day or so. I eventually managed to get him to match the best deal I received via Carwow, but because there was no equity in the current car, we couldn't do the deal. No great loss as it's only 2 years old with just over 4k on the clock. 

 

One last thing... as I was sitting in the dealership, an older lady customer bought a car. Before she could leave, the guy from FCA Canada grabbed her and insisted on taking her photo with the salesman whilst playing some kind of jaunty 'we've made a sale' music on a little stereo. The poor woman looked horrified!

 

So there you go, VIP discount events are a waste of time and they almost certainly won't have any crazy offers on the table. Better to pop in on a quiet day near the end of the quarter with a print out from Carwow and take it from there.

[Double Post]

Edited 26 February, 20179 yr by alessio92

On 20/02/2017 at 15:43, FromTheDarkness said:

Conclution: - They seem more interested in swapping their crap cars for your better car

 

Of course they were. Nobody who likes or knows about cars would buy a Vauxhall otherwise

On 20/02/2017 at 23:24, RapidPaul said:

You won't get PCP on a 7 year old car as it will have done most of its depreciation, so no profit for the dealer/finance company. You do see PCP being offered on cars up to 4-5 years old now, but for £100 a month you don't really want to be looking at a main dealer, do you? Better to have an idea of the total price you want to pay. 

 

We received one of those unconvincing 'We desperately need your car/you're invited to our special discount event' letters from the local Fiat dealer last week- I suspect because we're nearly at the point where Mrs Paul's Panda is worth about the same as the outstanding finance balance. Against my better judgement, we popped down to let our five year old crawl all over their Abarth 124 Spider and to see if they really were offering anything special.

 

It was unbelievable. We were forced to sit down for a toe-curling chat with some bigwig from FCA Canada (of all places) who was apparently there to authorise mega deals. He was like some kind of actor hired for the day. We had to provide some basic information about our Panda, which he proceeded to record inaccurately. He then asked my five year old to pick an envelope from a selection that had been clumsily taped to the bonnet of a 500. With great aplomb, he opened the envelope and announced that I had won £50 off accessories for my 'new' car. In hindsight, we should have walked out then, but I was so surprised to see someone wearing a black shirt and white tie combo in 2017 that I felt compelled to stay.

 

We were eventually passed over to a salesman.  He committed what I believe to be the cardinal sin of a car dealer, by failing to offer me, my wife or my son a drink. By comparison, I've bought two cars from Skoda in the last couple of years and get offered a hot drink moments after walking in to the dealership. Anyway, we chatted about what Mrs Paul and I wanted and I mentioned that we were interested in trading up to a Lounge (top spec Panda). He went over to another dealer and they spent at least 10 minutes on the computer and phone trying to find one from stock. During this time I heard him loudly complain about the small margin they apparently make on the Panda (6% for Pop/Easy/Lounge, if you're interested) and my wife had to leave with my son as although he'd enjoyed the dealership, he was getting jittery. By this point we'd been there for at least 30 minutes.

 

He eventually returned and offered nearly £700 less than CAP for the Panda car and a monthly price that isn't far off what I'm paying for my Yeti - and that's over a shorter period of time! The deal was far, far worse than the standard price quoted on their own website. A bit more toing and froing took place before I had to leave. Negotiations continued via email over the following day or so. I eventually managed to get him to match the best deal I received via Carwow, but because there was no equity in the current car, we couldn't do the deal. No great loss as it's only 2 years old with just over 4k on the clock. 

 

One last thing... as I was sitting in the dealership, an older lady customer bought a car. Before she could leave, the guy from FCA Canada grabbed her and insisted on taking her photo with the salesman whilst playing some kind of jaunty 'we've made a sale' music on a little stereo. The poor woman looked horrified!

 

So there you go, VIP discount events are a waste of time and they almost certainly won't have any crazy offers on the table. Better to pop in on a quiet day near the end of the quarter with a print out from Carwow and take it from there.

I would've walked out straight away. Never been to one of the VIP nights. My partner keeps getting invitations from her Toyota dealer "Trade plus £50 deals" 

I am picking up a pre reg Octavia on Tuesday and I told them I wasn't interested in PCP and wanted to pay cash. The PCP wasn't mentioned again. And I was given a coffee! 

I got invited to BMW's 'new 5 series unveiling night', less than two weeks after I'd dropped a not inconsiderable sum on a 3 series from the same dealer. It's just junk mail, everyone gets VIP messages. I think I've had them from every marque I've ever walked into.

 

TBH the volume sellers are usually the worst to go into because they're run by big companies and they put a lot of pressure on their guys so they tend to be that much more aggressive. The worst dealership experiences I've had have all been at Vauxhall. They have some terrible sales people.

and terrible service people...

51 minutes ago, camelspyyder said:

and terrible service people...

 

Very true. I shan't mention any by name, of course *cough-Bristol Street Northampton-cough*

On top of the rubbish quality of the build - door locks falling out, non functional ventilation, rust, we had years of awful Vauxhall service in Doncaster. Moved 400 miles away to find an equally incompetent Vauxhall dealer, couldn't even diagnose duff HT leads.