Am I being unreasonable?
- Thread starter Kingy
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Imagine how many time wasters these places must get. A modern BMW is a desirable car, many people want one but not everyone can afford one. Curiosity sometimes gets the better of people and I imagine some people pretend they can afford one and want to buy one just to get a test drive.
I suspect the salesman has to make a call whether he is likely to get a sale from a genuine buyer or not. Perhaps he got the sense you were not so decided to cut the test drive short. Not a great sales technique by any means but I'm sure you can understand how many time wasters they must see.
I suspect the salesman has to make a call whether he is likely to get a sale from a genuine buyer or not. Perhaps he got the sense you were not so decided to cut the test drive short. Not a great sales technique by any means but I'm sure you can understand how many time wasters they must see.
![[TW]Fox](/data/man-of-honor/2009.png){kind=avatar}
The problem is you told them you didnt want to buy today.
The salesman is only interested in one thing - commission. He doesnt care about introducing you to the brand, helping you decide which car to focus you search on, etc etc. He wants to sell you THAT car, and if he thinks he wont, he doesnt care.
Wanting to drive all variants before making a decision on which £20,000 car to buy is perfectly acceptable and understandable, but the salesman will consider you as a 'time waster' and probably whinge about you to all his mates.
Thats just how it goes.
I just didnt mention I probably wasn't interested in the cars in question when I tested the various 335's and 330's (Made a bit easier on a few of them by the fact that actually, if the car blew me away and the price was right, I might want it). It's a shame you have to do this but the only other choice is to simply guess what you want, test drive nothing else, and buy the first thing you see. No thanks - there was no way I was deciding without driving a 330i manual, auto, 335i manual and auto first and a 330d so I knew exactly what was right for me.
I now know whats right, and hopefully one of the dealers who was helpful to me might get a sale out of it when the right car comes along, but the individual salesmen don't care.
Your test drive list is a bit ridiculous though, I mean seriously, you can't be seriously considering both a Nissan GT-R and a 330i? I suspect the salesman sensed that you had no intention of ever buying what he had, especially if the list in your head is that huge!
The salesman is only interested in one thing - commission. He doesnt care about introducing you to the brand, helping you decide which car to focus you search on, etc etc. He wants to sell you THAT car, and if he thinks he wont, he doesnt care.
Wanting to drive all variants before making a decision on which £20,000 car to buy is perfectly acceptable and understandable, but the salesman will consider you as a 'time waster' and probably whinge about you to all his mates.
Thats just how it goes.
I just didnt mention I probably wasn't interested in the cars in question when I tested the various 335's and 330's (Made a bit easier on a few of them by the fact that actually, if the car blew me away and the price was right, I might want it). It's a shame you have to do this but the only other choice is to simply guess what you want, test drive nothing else, and buy the first thing you see. No thanks - there was no way I was deciding without driving a 330i manual, auto, 335i manual and auto first and a 330d so I knew exactly what was right for me.
I now know whats right, and hopefully one of the dealers who was helpful to me might get a sale out of it when the right car comes along, but the individual salesmen don't care.
Your test drive list is a bit ridiculous though, I mean seriously, you can't be seriously considering both a Nissan GT-R and a 330i? I suspect the salesman sensed that you had no intention of ever buying what he had, especially if the list in your head is that huge!
Z4M ------> VXR8/Corvette: so you want a car, with an engine, and some seats (apparantly not fussed by how many) and you want to make CO2s? These seem tobe the only common criteria amongst these
Having said that, I think a corvette would be a splendid way to spend the summer!
Ideally I'd like to make my CO2 footprint bigger with a two seater soft top, but assuming I want to retain at least *some* hetrosexuality that leaves me with only the Z4 and the Boxster (it might be a gay/girly car, but at least it's got a manly engine*). The latter is proving difficult to find with a decent spec, and I'm having a problem finding the perfect Z4M. Given that I've always researched the car I want, found *the* car I want, then tested it and bought that first car I tried, I figured the whole test driving stuff thing might be a different/interesting way to spend some time...
*Will aim epic rage at anyone who suggests this is simply a combination of gay and short penis syndrome, rather than the clear symbol of extreme masculinity that *turning* a gay car obviously is...
Tom Wood perhaps? Explains a lot
Did you two have fun and games in the hunt for the M5 then? What happened?
Sytner website will show the group stock at whichever site you look at, so if you look for an M3 on the Leicester website and there is one at Nottingham it will show up at Leicester.
Problem is you're driving a million cars before you buy one, he won't have to mess about driving loads of different BMWs and chasing someone to get an easier sale.
A good busy salesman will get you test driven and out the door quickly if the car/ cars he is selling is just one of many and stands an uncertain chance of selling you it.
His interest is to make money for the company and himself, and he stands a better chance of doing that with someone who knows what they want to buy.
Customer service is something which isn't great at dealerships, because the dealers have two interests and it's hard to make them both work, maximise profitability and keep customers happy! But keeping every customer happy doesn't always maximise profit!
Problem is you're driving a million cars before you buy one, he won't have to mess about driving loads of different BMWs and chasing someone to get an easier sale.
A good busy salesman will get you test driven and out the door quickly if the car/ cars he is selling is just one of many and stands an uncertain chance of selling you it.
His interest is to make money for the company and himself, and he stands a better chance of doing that with someone who knows what they want to buy.
Customer service is something which isn't great at dealerships, because the dealers have two interests and it's hard to make them both work, maximise profitability and keep customers happy! But keeping every customer happy doesn't always maximise profit!
Which is the problem really. It's not an easy one to answer because who says they'll sell more cars if the customer service is better?
The service at Lexus is brilliant - they want to sell you the brand not the specific car.
They sold about 4 cars last year
Sigh. Doesnt make life easy for those of us who dont buy a car like we do a fridge.
Caporegime
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Synter Audi in Nottingham and Derby are just as bad, I've been in a couple of times and find there attitude very stand-offish at first.
[TW]Fox;18906227 said:
Hmmm, you were one of the people that sprung to mind re test driving everything that exists, ever...
I'd read of people being tossed a set of keys and asked to be back soon, and hoped this might be the un-interested salesman approach... I figured they might want to come along, I just wasn't prepared for him to do that only to do their damndest to ruin the test-drive....
Completely green to all this having never bothered dealing with 'dealers' before as I generally like to 'assess' the person I'm buying the car from as a means of gauging how the car's been looked after...
Since you seem to know more about BMW's then BMW themselves, do you happen to know the specfics re the timing of running-in services, and warranty pricing of non-AUC M cars?
I turned up at BMW in Durham , had a look round the dealership, they had a brand new M3 demonstrator, I asked for a test drive, the sales rep grabbed the keys and off we went. 10 minutes into the drive he says 'if you drive like this all the time get a diesel' I got the point and had 10 minutes of fun. No stress, no pushing a sale (couldn't afford the car at that point if i wanted it, just tried my luck). I did turn up in my BMW 320m, dont know if that had any influence, but if i was in the market, he would have had a sale as he seemed a top guy.
BMW mini (Farnborough) were the same, I had a Cooper S to sell, 1 year old and a sought after model. Again they were top guys.
I went to look at some 3 series at BMW Farnborough some time later, but this time with a 56 plate Mondeo estate to trade in, not quite the same reception and even less so when I told them I wanted a cash deal.
I have purchased 2 minis and a BMW all via BMW Park Lane and the service has always been good.
I just think you catch them on good and bad days.
BMW mini (Farnborough) were the same, I had a Cooper S to sell, 1 year old and a sought after model. Again they were top guys.
I went to look at some 3 series at BMW Farnborough some time later, but this time with a 56 plate Mondeo estate to trade in, not quite the same reception and even less so when I told them I wanted a cash deal.
I have purchased 2 minis and a BMW all via BMW Park Lane and the service has always been good.
I just think you catch them on good and bad days.
[TW]Fox;18906521 said:
Truth is at the moment it's easier to make money than try and keep customers happy, because those unhappy customers go elsewhere but someone else wanting to spend money will replace them!
Dealers only focus on customer service when they're not too busy making money!
I have not taken many cars on a test drive, only the Audi S4 a year or so ago. The guy let me take it up to what ever speed I wanted. I think I did around 110 without him saying a word.
your experience sound like visiting a Canadian strip club where they will take your money for a lap dance but will not let you touch
your experience sound like visiting a Canadian strip club where they will take your money for a lap dance but will not let you touch
Caporegime
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That is some list with some really nice cars. How long did you say you had before you needed a car? Getting a drive in all of them will take some time.
I recently bought a new car and having had two Vauxhalls previously I can tell you that getting a drive of the VXR8 from a main dealer isn't so easy.
I was pretty much told that they were in short supply and that the only way I would get a drive was to either drive across the country to where they had one or wait up to a month for them to get a demo car in.
This was about a month ago when I started thinking about changing cars and having spent 30k with them in two years and knowing most of the guys there you would have thought it would be easy. Mind you I had a similar issue with them when I wanted a drive in the VX220 so you might get lucky at a different dealership.
On the other hand if you can be persuaded to take a new Astra or a Corsa you can get a drive in one of pretty much any model you like
.
I also found that if you are buying from a main dealer you will never get the kind of drive you are looking for. In my experience it is better to go and see the cars you like at a smaller indi garage. All the ones I went to encourage you to give it some beans once it’s warm. Also looking back if I would have done this before buying the twin top I could have realised that I wouldn't have been able to live with the rattles from the roof six months in.
Anyway I’ve gone and written a massive wall of text again so I will wrap it up, you should definitely get a drive of the Boxster S and the Cayman S. I drove the Cayman S and some other exotica around Thruxton a few months back and it’s a great car without a doubt. I also ended up buying the Boxster S (on the back of the cayman s drive), if you can put up with the lack of space for people and stuff they are huge fun
I recently bought a new car and having had two Vauxhalls previously I can tell you that getting a drive of the VXR8 from a main dealer isn't so easy.
I was pretty much told that they were in short supply and that the only way I would get a drive was to either drive across the country to where they had one or wait up to a month for them to get a demo car in.
This was about a month ago when I started thinking about changing cars and having spent 30k with them in two years and knowing most of the guys there you would have thought it would be easy. Mind you I had a similar issue with them when I wanted a drive in the VX220 so you might get lucky at a different dealership.
On the other hand if you can be persuaded to take a new Astra or a Corsa you can get a drive in one of pretty much any model you like
. I also found that if you are buying from a main dealer you will never get the kind of drive you are looking for. In my experience it is better to go and see the cars you like at a smaller indi garage. All the ones I went to encourage you to give it some beans once it’s warm. Also looking back if I would have done this before buying the twin top I could have realised that I wouldn't have been able to live with the rattles from the roof six months in.
Anyway I’ve gone and written a massive wall of text again so I will wrap it up, you should definitely get a drive of the Boxster S and the Cayman S. I drove the Cayman S and some other exotica around Thruxton a few months back and it’s a great car without a doubt. I also ended up buying the Boxster S (on the back of the cayman s drive), if you can put up with the lack of space for people and stuff they are huge fun
The running in service is at 1200 miles.
The BMW Warranty on an 3 Series class M Car (So M3, Z4M) with under 60,000 miles is just under £1k a year. With over 60k miles its a lot more expensive.
[TW]Fox;18906227 said:
Fair shout, tis a combination of feeling a bit self-indulgent following recent events and a couple of beers. You touched on the 'if it blows me away' factor in your post, and that's the reason for including much of what's on the list.
In honesty, the inclusion of GTR's and other proper metal is simply me not wanting to face up to the real life facts of not being able to park a serious car on the drive (don't have a garage) of a house that's been burgled twice in 27 months. Right now real life involves staring at a hole in the room where my TV/Home Cinema once stood, and I don't know if anyone else has ever noticed this before, but the internet is a hell of a place to escape from the ****y confines of reality...
I get that that looks like total dreamer stuff (cos it is) but all I told the sales guy was that I was going to do the same thing at Porsche and Audi...
I don't give a **** if I get tossed a set of keys and ignored, but having made the effort to join me, I didn't expect to have my time wasted by ruining the test drive...