No wonder car sales people STILL have a bad rep.

[Banzai_Joe]

Personally I think the Dealer knew he wasn't likely to get a deal out of you so just let you pass on by.
I do it myself when selling a motor, If an awkward Dude phones or comes round I go out my way to get rid & get somebody I can make some money from.
I bet if you had cash things would be completely different.

Hence, the bad rep you guys get.
I wasn't awkward. I gave him my requirements. He could just have said, "really sorry, but your budget is unrealistic. Wait another year when you've paid off more of your current finance agreement"
I actually said as much to him; that i was willing to wait if nothing was available.

Instead he emailed me saying "I have had a look and am positive that we can get you into a new car."

 

[Bennie-Mac]

You think it strange to contact a dealership and say "i want a car with this, that and that for this much money, what do you have?"

Yes. If he came back to you with a car fitting your criteria would you have bought it?

 

[Banzai_Joe]

Yes. If he came back to you with a car fitting your criteria would you have bought it?

I would have considered it yes, why wouldnt i if it fitted the bill. I'd have done a bit of research on the web and requested a test drive and if i really liked it then yes i would buy it.

 

[AtreuS]

Its always hit and miss with sales people. I just upgraded my phone and had a look round with my budget and handset requirement in hand and was met with the most lacklustre and boring sales people i have ever seen in the O2 and carphone warehouse stores. 3 were worse and in the end i met a lovely chap in phones4u who got my business and actually seemed glad to help!

If you get rude service complain loudly and walk out.... then again i love to make a scene when i get bad service.

 

[fez]

If he thought he would make a sale with you then he would have put the effort in. His email to you was just a shot in the dark to try and get you down there where he could persuade you to spend more or change your requirements to something they could supply.

You were just outwitted by a salesman. He didn't give specifics because he didn't have any / couldn't be bothered to put a lot of effort in with a small chance of a sale on a cheap car.

Basically you were not worth the time it would have taken him to tend to your needs properly. Either you weren't spending enough or it would have taken too much time to ensure any car fitted your spec perfectly. I would have thought that saying to a car dealer "I don't care if I buy a car but heres an exhaustive list of things for you to check over" would have been pretty easy to predict.

He's not sure he wants a new car unless its perfect
He isn't spending much

= Bugger it

 

[Banzai_Joe]

Thanks fez, i think you're probably right. I would have much rather him say, "we simply don't have anything that matches your criteria for that budget!

 

[Kutter]

just be glad you don't have to deal with car salesmen over here. they are 10 times worse than the british ones.

 

[[TW]Fox]

You think it strange to contact a dealership and say "i want a car with this, that and that for this much money, what do you have?"

Yes.

Why not just look on the dealers website where you can see exactly what cars they have and decide for yourself it they meet your criteria?

The way you did it screams 'I don't know what I want' despite your 'specific' criteria (Which lets face it are totally generic, you'd struggle to find a car without AC these days, might as well have gone the whole hog and been super specific by requesting power steering and electric windows too), and people who dont know what they want other than something on a finance deal are from a salesmans perspective a dream prospect, especially if they already have car finance. No wonder he wanted you in the showroom, whether you intended to or not you fitted the profile of the sort of person who'd sign for yet another monthly agreement on a random car.

 

[kitch9]

Ookaaay.
Not sure what you were expecting OP really. Just look for one yourself. Salesmen can't be expected to actually do their job.

Uhm, the salesman was doing his job trying to get him into the showroom to actually take a look at stock.

A salesmans job is to build desire in their product in the customers mind to facilitate a meaningful n negotiation of price hopefully.

I've sold hundreds of cars when I was a salesman (A few years ago now.) and let me tell you you'll never sell a car to someone who says I want don't know what I want but I want cruise control etc... Especially over email.

It wasn't often I sold a car at the customers figures either, they are usually completely out of bed, by the sound of it I guess the op was as you show all the hallmarks of someone who is.

 

[kwerk]

This is standard tactics they will do anything to get you on the lot. They dont really care if you get ****** off or dont buy anything, the more fish there are the more they can hook, it's just numbers.

A few years ago I read an long article in a car mag where one of their writers went to work for some dealerships undercover. He worked for a few months to learn the ins and outs and then wrote about all the sales methods and tricks they use, it was really interesting. I really enjoy buying cars now. When I'm dealing with them I can predict exactly what's coming next and throw them for a loop. I've also watched a couple of the teaching videos they show salesmen.

Last car I bought I knocked the price from 20,900 to 14,700 plus all the BS fees waived. Took 2 days of haggling though.

 

[Jono8]

20,900 to 14,700 plus all the BS fees waived.

lol what? Unless that 20,900 is the RRP list price and it was a new car with some fancy 0% VAT e.t.c that is a ridiculous reduction..

 

[[TW]Fox]

All that means kwerk is that it was massively overpriced in the first place.

 

[kwerk]

What you can do if you dont want to deal with them in person is just do lots of research. Find the exact car you want, then find all the ones in your area. Email every dealer with the exact price you will pay for the car. The ones that accept the price, you can use that as leverage to work the price down further. Like "dealer B can do it for £X, what can you offer me". Thats why usually if you go in person they wont commit to a lower price even if they have one in mind, you have to do this by email. Not phone, email.

 

[Jono8]

you have to do this by email. Not phone, email.

Do you now...

 

[Richie]

Ah yes, everyone is an expert at car sales these days...

What I don't get is people are surprised that salespeople try their hardest to sell their wares and at as little discount as possible given that the profit left is usually linked to the commission they get i.e. what they earn in their pocket. How is this any different from the buyer looking to keep as much money in their pocket as possible?

So salespeople are evil but buyers ain't even though, ultimately, they are looking for the same thing - money in their pocket.

 

[Richie]

What you can do if you dont want to deal with them in person is just do lots of research. Find the exact car you want, then find all the ones in your area. Email every dealer with the exact price you will pay for the car. The ones that accept the price, you can use that as leverage to work the price down further. Like "dealer B can do it for £X, what can you offer me". Thats why usually if you go in person they wont commit to a lower price even if they have one in mind, you have to do this by email. Not phone, email.

Why would you do this? If you email them saying "I will buy it for xxxx" and someone says "fine, we accept" why then be a fud and start haggling around again?

People want salespeople to be honest with them yet buyers cannot be honest back? No wonder people hate the sales process, its partly their own fault.

If I was selling something to someone and they said "I will buy it at this price" I would be mightily ****ed off, after spending a long time with them and getting the deal they want, for them to turn round and say "I'm still not happy I want more off" or "I will think about it".... These buyers are fuds.

 

[Banzai_Joe]

Well....lol.....thanks for the input guys. I obviously lent a little too much trust/respect to this joker then. And whilst i probably did seem like easy prey, at least i've not lost anything.
Lesson learned i guess. I'll do a bit more looking around over the coming months and see what marques may suit my criteria/needs.

 

[Firestar_3x]

You think it strange to contact a dealership and say "i want a car with this, that and that for this much money, what do you have?"

Yes.

 

[Banzai_Joe]

I just thjink that buyers are inherently suspicious of marketing blurb because its often bs.
The "save £10k off brand new price" Who EVER pays full price for a new car? No one, therefore its a worthless statement.
To me, its akin to statements saying "FREE quotation" as if its a real deal grabber. Who EVER charges for quotes, regardless of trade or job?

Some have already posted that they've had great sales service when buying a car. Shame all sales folk can't be like that.

Richie, i get what you mean mate, but if both parties (and usually more on the sales side) were honest from the start, you can usually negotiate to a mutually acceptable conclusion.

 

[kwerk]

All that means kwerk is that it was massively overpriced in the first place.

I spent a couple weeks on autotrader and trust me it was a decent price to start with. I got it for slightly more than the auction price and far below book value, it was 1 yr old off-lease.