Why do car dealers take low offers so badly?

Vim Fuego

And I'm really not talking about ridiculously low offers either!

Happened to me today, I made what I consider to be a reasonable offer to a dealer promising hard cash in his hand today (no trade in) and was basically told to f**k off. You'd think a 'sales man' would go 'Sorry sir, I couldn't possibly do that for that price but I'd love to give a good deal on [insert suitable alternative here] for the same money'.

Two dealers let me walk away with a sizable cash sum in my pocket today, I was so confused. Maybe I look a bit young (I'm mid-twenties if you're wondering) but we're not talking loose change here.

I have contact with some of the manufacturers through my work. They're saying to me that the Jan 09 sales are down 50 - 70% on last year so surely used car salesmen can't be having it so good that they can let hard cash walk out the door without so much as a counter offer.

I'm now going to go to the extra effort of sourcing the car in the UK - conservative estimates from my research are indicating I could save up to €4k on the lowest price I received today.

What recession indeed! As a side note, check out these amazing images of car stockpiles around the globe: http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/gallery/2009/jan/16/unsold-cars?picture=341883529

Anan1

I have found people to take it badly, but only very, very occasionally. How are you putting the low offers?

Healyc

What car were you looking to purchase?

Alanstrainor

What were the cars, and what were your offers?

Vim Fuego

I know I'm an awful spoilsport but I'd rather not say. Saying the make and model will essentially give the game away altogether when it comes to the dealers I was talking to. My offer was 5kish less than their minimum valuation.

I'm putting the offers in my usual polite way really. I'm not pushy or anything, just looking for good value and would have completely understood if I had been refused politely or given a decent counter offer. As it was, I just said 'doesn't hurt to ask' and left it at that after being treated like Shylock with the incredulous face and swearing of the dealer.

One dealer had actually accepted my offer over the phone but had completely misunderstood which car I was referring to, that's just bad communications on both our parts but still, the cash was in the forecourt this morning.

I don't think I'll even go back with an offer matching my UK minimum price (4k on top of my original offer) because there was no reason we couldn't have sorted the same price out this morning.

I'm obviously a sensitive nancy but jaysus, costs nothing to be nice!

Mena

Stuff them to be honest. Even if your offer was for 50% of the price, they need to learn to haggle. I'll often start waaaay down with an offer and certainly expect some barter along the way to get to a mutually agreeable price. If they dismiss you out of hand, spend your hard earned cash elsewhere.

LoveDucati2

Go straight to the most senior salesman or his boss, do not waste time with the juniors because they will have to go that person anyway. Be as blunt as possible.

Davy

I read about something about sales people awhile ago, that the newer ones to the game need to be trained because they have had it so good the past few years they dont really know what its like to be good sales person! Kinda fitting to this scenario

darc

15% off their asking price is a fair offer. 20% would be cheeky but would be seen as an opening offer. Putting an offer in at more than 20% is taking the piss as you'd be expecting the dealer to sell at a loss. - And unless they are desperate, they won't entertain such offers - and neither should they.



New & dealer cars from UK are fine, and there's a saving to be made, but not as much as before as prices here have dropped. But be very aware of privately sold second hand cars from UK. Also unless the car is new / nearly new, you'll need to go back to the dealer on any warranty problems.

Alzar

Vim Fuego wrote: »

What recession indeed! As a side note, check out these amazing images of car stockpiles around the globe: http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/gallery/2009/jan/16/unsold-cars?picture=341883529

Some amount of stock in those pic's :eek::eek:

CyberGhost

Couple of things:

Maybe he had a bad day, maybe he thought your offer was ridiculous and since many people made seemingly unreasonable offers, he was getting fed up with it.

Either way, it is unprofessional to treat a potential customer so rudely not to mention it's bad for the business.

Unfortunately Ireland is more or less a monopoly with everything and and a ripoff, so customer service isn't really a priority.

TimAllen

darc wrote: »

15% off their asking price is a fair offer. 20% would be cheeky but would be seen as an opening offer. Putting an offer in at more than 20% is taking the piss as you'd be expecting the dealer to sell at a loss. - And unless they are desperate, they won't entertain such offers - and neither should they.



New & dealer cars from UK are fine, and there's a saving to be made, but not as much as before as prices here have dropped. But be very aware of privately sold second hand cars from UK. Also unless the car is new / nearly new, you'll need to go back to the dealer on any warranty problems.

I felt your first paragraph makes a lot of sense and I would guess that the offers made by the OP were so far off the mark that the salesperson figured he was just not worth dealing with. I guess there are people about with unrealistic expectations of what people will do for "hard cash" - its a recession folks but if someone is looking for 13K for a car then offering 8K is not a genuine offer. OP, your coyness about disclosing the cars and offers involved smells like u know youreself that you were being a knob. If u can get the car u want at the price u want in the UK then why not just go there and be done with it - thats what I did.

You lost my respect Darc with your second paragraph though - I would trust a private sale in the UK far more than the equivalent in Ireland because of the acailability of HPI checks. And so what if you have to bring your UK import car to a maindealer here for warranty - they are obliged to deal with any warranty issues regardless of where in the EU the car was bought!

McSpud

davton wrote: »

I read about something about sales people awhile ago, that the newer ones to the game need to be trained because they have had it so good the past few years they dont really know what its like to be good sales person! Kinda fitting to this scenario

IMO at the risk of generalising a bit like estate agents & recruitment consultants. Many have no ethics or professional standards but a necessary evil at times. It is difficult to think what they really do.

JonathonS

I bought a car in Dublin this week - great deal. I looked at importing from UK but even with the ex-rate the VRT was a killer. You could appeal the VRT as a lot of people are doing now that used car prices have plummetted here, but you still have to pay first and hope to get a refund later.

Don't buy private in UK. The car may be totally legit but if you have a problem outside guarantee you have no comeback. Stick to reputable dealers.

enviro

That was no way to reply to your offer. No matter how bad or low the offer was a professional salesman has to maintain a professional level of service. Or something close to it. Maybe the fact they (the motor trade) had it so good for so long they are finding it hard to accept the fall in sales/profits. Was this a main dealer? Id be complaining either ways.

Harcrid

JonathonS wrote: »

Don't buy private in UK. The car may be totally legit but if you have a problem outside guarantee you have no comeback. Stick to reputable dealers.

In all fairness, that is the risk of buying private in any country, not just the UK. I would never advise anyone against buying a private car as long as you have a bit of common sense and do your homework.

Del2005

JonathonS wrote: »

Don't buy private in UK. The car may be totally legit but if you have a problem outside guarantee you have no comeback. Stick to reputable dealers.

As the others have said do the checks and you should be fine.

And in all honesty are you going to take a few days off work, get a ferry to the UK and pay for a hotel to get an issue on a UK dealer sourced car fixed? If the car is inside manufactures warrenty it can be done by any dealer here, 2nd hand warrenty from a UK dealer is usually only good in the UK. Not too sure how NI is treated but you'd need to read the T&C's carefully (and you'd still need time off work and a lot of travelling to get this sorted)

samsemtex

Well they never have a problem offering insulting money for cars on a trade in so i would have no problem giving them a low offer. There are some terrible car dealers around now who couldnt sell water in the sahara. They just have no clue how to bargain. It was so easy for them in the last few years. Sure when we went into a merc dealer a couple of years ago with €30k to spend they basically laughed at us for even trying to bargain with them...and off to Mercedes Manchester we sailed...and got an unbelievable bargain.

ninty9er

samsemtex wrote: »

Well they never have a problem offering insulting money for cars on a trade in so i would have no problem giving them a low offer. There are some terrible car dealers around now who couldnt sell water in the sahara. They just have no clue how to bargain. It was so easy for them in the last few years. Sure when we went into a merc dealer a couple of years ago with €30k to spend they basically laughed at us for even trying to bargain with them...and off to Mercedes Manchester we sailed...and got an unbelievable bargain.

You see that's where the flaw in your argument arises.

Merc "x" has a list price of €40k. you say €30k max....get laughed out and get pissed off.

Would you go into Merc Manchester and offer £20k for a car with a £30k list?

samsemtex

ninty9er wrote: »

You see that's where the flaw in your argument arises.

Merc "x" has a list price of €40k. you say €30k max....get laughed out and get pissed off.

Would you go into Merc Manchester and offer £20k for a car with a £30k list?

It wasnt me buying the car, it was my parents. And we werent going in looking for anything specific anyway. The fact is they wouldnt even dream of making an effort in trying to sell you something. They would rather take easy money off some fool with more money than sense.

And i very much doubt my parents were "pissed off" since they got an almost new car off a far superior english Mercedes dealer for about €20k less than the equivilent model here would have cost. C200k with 5,000miles, all extras, sport pack for €34k including VRT was a pretty amazing deal. Not saying i would have expected an Irish dealer to match that. Im just pointing out how it worked out pretty well in the end.

P.C.

MMMmmmmmmm.

Interesting.
I might have it all wrong here, but this is how I see all of this:

Go into local dealer and him a silly offer on a second hand car.
As it is:
a dealer;
we are in a reccesion;
dealers have had it so good for so long;
you don't get any costomer service from second hand car sales men,
they should consider your silly offer, and not tell you to GTFO, or laugh.

How would you feel if you were selling a car that was worth €20K - but you had it priced to sell at €18K - someone comes to see the car, and offers you €13K.
Would you be upset, offended, feel that the person offering €13K was waisting your time?
Remember it is hard cash! :rolleyes:

The same person who makes the silly offer is willing to go to the UK, and pay the price asked there, because they will save €4K.

Why don't they go to the UK and make a silly offer there?
Why only make the silly offer here?

*Tripper*

I went to change my daily drive a few weeks ago. Went down to an independent dealer, was looking round, saw a few cars that caught my eye. Went to one of the sales people to see about trading in and he literally laughed in my face and I was treated like sh!t by him. Then he let me take the car out on my own! Is this common?

Anyway I'm pretty sure I left the clutch on the dualer and that shocks didn't have a great time!

dedon

Ha these Car sales men and in for a tough year. Yet they still dont seem to realise it. I cant wait to watch them all burn.

They will be selling those cars at a loss soon, mark my word! I cant believe they are still treating people like this. Come 12 months time and any cash will do for a second hand car. We are talking 50% less than the price.

ninty9er

P.C. wrote: »

Why don't they go to the UK and make a silly offer there?
Why only make the silly offer here?

That was my point...though I didn't quite make it clear I think

bazz26

While I am not defending dealers put the shoe on the other foot OP. What if you had a car advertised for €20k (knowing that you will accept a bit less). Someone came and test drove it and then made you an offer of €15k for it.

How would you feel and what would you say to them?

P.C.

dedon wrote: »

Ha these Car sales men and in for a tough year. Yet they still dont seem to realise it. I cant wait to watch them all burn.

They will be selling those cars at a loss soon, mark my word! I cant believe they are still treating people like this. Come 12 months time and any cash will do for a second hand car. We are talking 50% less than the price.

:eek: want to see more people out of work?

rgunning

Go up th the North and stop wasting your time with the dealers here, OP. Just back with our new car today, and we could never have gotten the car down here for the same price.

Plus, the dealer was one of the nicest and most pleasant I've ever dealt with.

I think some posters are missing the point when saying "why don't you make a ridiculous offer in the UK?" The point is, if you offer the same money here as you would in the north, you getted laughed at here, while in the North, they say - ok, that's the asking price, so here's your car.

I could put the car I just bought up on carzone for 2,000 less than any of the dealers have theirs up for and still make a profit on it. So why the hell are the dealers down here not pricing themselves into the market?

unkel

ninty9er

rgunning wrote: »

Go up th the North and stop wasting your time with the dealers here, OP. Just back with our new car today, and we could never have gotten the car down here for the same price.

Plus, the dealer was one of the nicest and most pleasant I've ever dealt with.

I think some posters are missing the point when saying "why don't you make a ridiculous offer in the UK?" The point is, if you offer the same money here as you would in the north, you getted laughed at here, while in the North, they say - ok, that's the asking price, so here's your car.

I could put the car I just bought up on carzone for 2,000 less than any of the dealers have theirs up for and still make a profit on it. So why the hell are the dealers down here not pricing themselves into the market?

So would you be willing to take your own car north and accept an offer €2,000 lower than the offer you would be offended by from an Irish dealer?

boredatwork82

People seem to forget what the value of a car is.
If you have a mortgage on a house that is 300k, but the house will only sell for 250k.....what is the value of the house?? Unfortunatley, Its only 250k. The market (should) determines price not the seller .

If you have a car that the dealer says is worth 20k, but no one will pay 20k for it. It is not worth 20k.
If people will pay only 15k for the car, then that car is worth 15k, not 20k.
It is sad that values have dropped so much for the dealers, but they really need to change with the changing market conditions. If they do not change they will go bust. Thats economics/business.

On service, OP said he had cash, but not enough for his intended car, why would a dealer not suggest something in his price range, rather than be rude. Commission on a cheap car is better than no commission.

bikki

Theres a massive place by me for storing new cars, most of them have been there so long the weeds have grown higher than the cars.

Vim Fuego

Yes, I probably would decline a really low offer but as in my own sales on ads.ie (lowball central), it tends to be a case of 'thanks for the offer but no thanks', there is no need to be a d!ck to anyone for daring to ask the question. I didn't take up much of his time and I was the only customer on the lot.

To be fair to myself, I didn't waste his time with a test drive either, I have driven a family friend's model before so the test drive would have been a case of making sure it was in working order basically.

I am happy to put the money away until I get the deal I want, was more a general observation on the state of the salemanship in the current climate:

http://www.rte.ie/business/2009/0120/cars.html
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2009/0112/1231515549594.html
http://www.independent.ie/lifestyle/motoring/website-aims-to-simplify-dealing-1605904.html
http://www.independent.ie/national-news/car-crisis-deepens-with-66pc-slump-in-new-year-sales-1608294.html

"That the number of car imports was pretty constant at 91,000 last year, when the overall market fell 20 per cent, tells the story. The strength of sterling could even mean that the total number of imports this year could even outstrip the number of new cars sold in the Republic."

"However, more people opted to import secondhand cars in 2008, with sales up 2pc to 60,091 in the year."

I know a lot of the information is centered on new sales but used can't be too far behind as it's still a large purchase in uncertain times. If I couldn't compete on price with imports and Irish consumers being amongst the most pessimistic in europe (http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/world/2008/1219/1229523104769.html), I might try being nice to people who show interest and have hard cash after the demise of easy credit and easy marks.

That's not just for cars either, look at the property forum and you'll see the same thing.

Vim Fuego

P.C. wrote: »

The same person who makes the silly offer is willing to go to the UK, and pay the price asked there, because they will save €4K.

Why don't they go to the UK and make a silly offer there?
Why only make the silly offer here?

I was making a conservative estimate on the saving based on prices displayed on autotrader.co.uk. I'll obviously try to get as good a price as possible and would expect every single person with sense to do the same thing.

rgunning

ninty9er wrote: »

So would you be willing to take your own car north and accept an offer €2,000 lower than the offer you would be offended by from an Irish dealer?

I was just considering that today - yes I would. I recently enough wanted to change my car at a dealership here. I was offered a ridiculous price for my own, but was still expected to pay the full whack for the car i was interested in.

So, the cost to change, increased by how much my car had depreciated in the downturn, but took no account of the fact that the car I was innterested in had depreciated as well.

But, I resolved not to complain. I just took my business elsewhere.

Look at it this way, in Ireland i get offered 50% of what my car is "worth" and pay 150% of what the car I want to buy is worth.

If I bring it up there, I get 60% of what he car is worth as I have to lose tthe VRT I paid but pay 100% of whatt he car I want to upgrade to is worth. At some point in the two car values, this becomes feasible. And the Irish dealers are driving it to this point.

dedon

P.C. wrote: »

:eek: want to see more people out of work?

obviously I wouldn't wish that on anyone but they have been ripping people off for years and continue to do it. What comes around goes around.

Its tough that they will loose their jobs but many of us feel really annoyed by how we were ripped off for years

ShadowHearth

unkel wrote: »

+1. they should be less cocky, when they have so much stock rotting.

LoveDucati2

McSpud wrote: »

IMO at the risk of generalising a bit like estate agents & recruitment consultants. Many have no ethics or professional standards but a necessary evil at times. It is difficult to think what they really do.

Excellent point:)

gpjordanf1

P.C. wrote: »

How would you feel if you were selling a car that was worth €20K - but you had it priced to sell at €18K - someone comes to see the car, and offers you €13K.
Would you be upset, offended, feel that the person offering €13K was waisting your time?
Remember it is hard cash! :rolleyes:

This is what the motor trade have been doing to us for the last 15 years, or in otherwords screwing us to the wall with trade in prices! If a car here was €20K advertised in a dealers and I was buying cash, no trade in, I wouldn't offer a cent over €15k, not a chance!
There needs to be a huge over haul of the motor trade here, by VRT reduction, VAT reduction, both or abolotion of VRT altogether. To make it a more even playing field.

Even my sister is going to england to buy an 06 Mini Cooper S, will cost €16k brought in and cleared, dealers are looking for around €22-23k here. Mental.
RIP Irish motor trade

eamon234

JonathonS wrote: »

Don't buy private in UK. The car may be totally legit but if you have a problem outside guarantee you have no comeback. Stick to reputable dealers.

That's a ridiculous comment the same could apply to private sales in Ireland.

DubTony

20 years ago my old man brought a 4 year old Renault 18 into the dealer he bought it from to trade in against a new one. I don't remember the prices quoted or offered but I do remember that the trade in price was fair. The old car was on the forecourt at the £100 more than he'd given my dad while selling the new car at £500 less than the list price. Everyone was happy.

4 or 5 years ago I went into Belgard Motors to enquire about a 2 litre Mazda 6 auto. The price was €32k. I was trading a 4 or 5 year old Renault Megane which at the time was selling at around €8k. Mine had only 20,000 miles on it and was absolutely mint. I was offered €2,500. As I got up to leave he said this.

"Maybe you're looking at the wrong car. Maybe you can only afford a Mazda 3."

This was bad enough, but then he followed up with this beauty.

"Look, the new car is €32,000. We make our profit on that. We won't sell your car because it's not our brand so we'll move it on in the trade. We'll sell that for about €5,000 and the other guy will sell it for 7 or 8. It's a fair offer"

Not only did they want a full profit from the sale of a new car, but they wanted a profit from my trade in for looking at it in their car park for a day or two.

Now I know everone has to make a profit, but insulting your customers and then expecting them to hand over their hard-earned is a bit rich. Message to car dealers and salesmen. It's back to the 80's boys. Wake up and smell it.

unkel

unkel wrote: »

I remember stockpiles like that in the UK in the mid 80's after that recession, when things eventually picked up, they had to sell them as secondhand.

Some were stored for as much as four years on disused airfields and were starting to rust!

McSpud

The lack of an accessible "blue book" type price guide in this country will inevitably lead to "stupid offers". If there is no guide price for used cars how are consumers supposed to know if a car is priced accurately by the dealer?

Our man in Havana

The problem is that that blue book is guarded so fiercely by dealers that no one can get a lookin. It would be like asking the pope if you could have a look at the dead sea scrolls.

Owen

There is a guide that's pubished for Motor Dealers - but to be honest, I don't know any garage that's actually read it in the last 12 months as it isn't even remotely close to the real world value on any car. Thanks to the wonderful alliance of the Greens, and screw-the-motorist Fianna Fail (Not Fáil, Fail) the value of cars today is pretty much screwed.

The rule of thumb most garages I know are following when valuing a trade in is to see what they could buy a similar model from the UK for, and price accordingly - which I know isn't the nicest thing in the world when you're the owner of a car that's being given a terrible trade in price, but that's the market we have now thanks to our Government.

P.C.

gpjordanf1 wrote: »

This is what the motor trade have been doing to us for the last 15 years, or in otherwords screwing us to the wall with trade in prices! If a car here was €20K advertised in a dealers and I was buying cash, no trade in, I wouldn't offer a cent over €15k, not a chance!
There needs to be a huge over haul of the motor trade here, by VRT reduction, VAT reduction, both or abolotion of VRT altogether. To make it a more even playing field.

Even my sister is going to england to buy an 06 Mini Cooper S, will cost €16k brought in and cleared, dealers are looking for around €22-23k here. Mental.
RIP Irish motor trade

1.) 'We' paid the prices with our eyes open! 'We' wanted the new reg!
2.) VRT and VAT were imposed bt the goverment which 'we' voted for.

Why are 'we' blaming the motor trade?

We could of driven our previous car for a year or two more.
We could have voted for a deiffernt political party.

Lets take a look at ourselves first before we blame others.
Next we will be blaming estate agents for the price of houses.

A lot of people had it good for years, but we, the consumer, allowed that - by consuming.
Maybee if we had been a bit more carefull, and saved a bit more in the good times, we would not be so upset now. *







* Disclaimer - the above are generall sweeping statments, not aimed at anyone. I am as guilty as anyone.

colm_mcm

DubTony wrote: »

4 or 5 years ago I went into Belgard Motors to enquire about a 2 litre Mazda 6 auto. The price was €32k. I was trading a 4 or 5 year old Renault Megane which at the time was selling at around €8k. Mine had only 20,000 miles on it and was absolutely mint. I was offered €2,500. As I got up to leave he said this.

"Maybe you're looking at the wrong car. Maybe you can only afford a Mazda 3."

This was bad enough, but then he followed up with this beauty.

"Look, the new car is €32,000. We make our profit on that. We won't sell your car because it's not our brand so we'll move it on in the trade. We'll sell that for about €5,000 and the other guy will sell it for 7 or 8. It's a fair offer"

Sounds like he absolutely didn't want your business, or the figures have gotten muddled somewhere.

gpjordanf1

P.C. wrote: »

1.) 'We' paid the prices with our eyes open! 'We' wanted the new reg!
2.) VRT and VAT were imposed bt the goverment which 'we' voted for.

Why are 'we' blaming the motor trade?

We could of driven our previous car for a year or two more.
We could have voted for a deiffernt political party.

Lets take a look at ourselves first before we blame others.
Next we will be blaming estate agents for the price of houses.

A lot of people had it good for years, but we, the consumer, allowed that - by consuming.
Maybee if we had been a bit more carefull, and saved a bit more in the good times, we would not be so upset now. *







* Disclaimer - the above are generall sweeping statments, not aimed at anyone. I am as guilty as anyone.

1) I have bought new cars in my time, but will never buy another car in this country, the way things are
2)I did not vote for this or the previous government, but I do vote.
3)Blame to poor motor trade, well wipe your eyes, I wont be darkening their doors for a long time to come.
4)I have taken a look at myself and all I can say is I've been a fool to have bought cars in this country.
5) I dont blame estate agents for house prices, I blame the greed of people.
6)People are consuming as you say and are voting with their feet, but the greedy motor trade wont acknowledge that they are going down the drain. Drop your prices, simple as that.
7) Alot of people had it good for years, your wrong, alot of rich people had it good. PAYE workers seen little difference bar their weekly bills going up.
8) I will be keeping my car till it's not economical to keep it running, then I will scrap it legally and then on a ryanair flight to Manchester, catch a game, pick up a nice motor at the auction and then up to the ferry at stranrar to Belfast and back home. with a few k left in the bank account. Happy days!

DeepBlue

DubTony wrote: »

This was bad enough, but then he followed up with this beauty.

"Look, the new car is €32,000. We make our profit on that. We won't sell your car because it's not our brand so we'll move it on in the trade. We'll sell that for about €5,000 and the other guy will sell it for 7 or 8. It's a fair offer"

You almost have to admire someone with enough gall to explain to you that the trade will make 5 to 6K profit on your car, screw you and then tell you he's given you a "fair offer" :eek:.

P.C.

gpjordanf1 wrote: »

1) I have bought new cars in my time, but will never buy another car in this country, the way things are!

Glad to see you take some responsibility.

gpjordanf1 wrote: »

2)I did not vote for this or the previous government, but I do vote.!

Glad you do vote.

gpjordanf1 wrote: »

3)Blame to poor motor trade, well wipe your eyes, I wont be darkening their doors for a long time to come.!

There you go - 'vote with your feet'.

gpjordanf1 wrote: »

4)I have taken a look at myself and all I can say is I've been a fool to have bought cars in this country.!

Again, Glad to see you take some responsibility.

gpjordanf1 wrote: »

5) I dont blame estate agents for house prices, I blame the greed of people.!

And, I agree with you.

gpjordanf1 wrote: »

6)People are consuming as you say and are voting with their feet, but the greedy motor trade wont acknowledge that they are going down the drain. Drop your prices, simple as that.!

Give them time.

gpjordanf1 wrote: »

7) Alot of people had it good for years, your wrong, alot of rich people had it good. PAYE workers seen little difference bar their weekly bills going up.!

No, I am not wrong. There was nothing stopping you from going into business for yourself, and making huge profits. A lot of people did, and are now rich - take that guy from The apprentice on TV3. Or, you could have changed jobs/careers for a better salary.

gpjordanf1 wrote: »

8) I will be keeping my car till it's not economical to keep it running, then I will scrap it legally and then on a ryanair flight to Manchester, catch a game, pick up a nice motor at the auction and then up to the ferry at stranrar to Belfast and back home. with a few k left in the bank account. Happy days!

I am very glad to see you have a plan. Now you can stop worring about the prices of cars in Ireland, and stop moaning about them.

gpjordanf1

P.C. wrote: »

I am very glad to see you have a plan. Now you can stop worring about the prices of cars in Ireland, and stop moaning about them.

Great were both on the same page then, I hate moaning TBH!

DubTony

colm_mcm wrote: »

Sounds like he absolutely didn't want your business, or the figures have gotten muddled somewhere.

Yeah, you would think. But there's no confusion with the numbers. They were as I've stated.

DeepBlue wrote:

You almost have to admire someone with enough gall to explain to you that the trade will make 5 to 6K profit on your car, screw you and then tell you he's given you a "fair offer" .

:D Admiration was not what I felt at the time. A good kick in the hole was closer to my mind. As I left I was grabbed by the guy selling Mercs. He tried to push me toward a small Merc (don't remember what). I asked him what he'd give me for the Renault. He asked what the other guy offered. I started laughing. "Right, I'll check with him. Does he have your number?" Funny that he never called me.

Anyway, I bought a used Beemer a year or so later, and got €6.5K for the Renault.