What do you have to do to buy a car around here?

andyseadog

A bit of a rant here on behalf of my dad.

he's been shopping around for a good long time now for a suitable replacement for his 08 corsa 1.2 club (with the uber sunroof thing), its a 5 door in perfect condition, just 30,000 kms on the clock of which he is the first owner.

finally a 09 polo 1.4 TDi, 3 door with 50,000 kms on the clock caught his eye at a local V.W. franchised dealer this week, the dealer assured him a call back before the end of the week, which at 9pm on a Saturday night has all but ended.

dad made clear he was a cash buyer, and just give a half decent price and he was happy to deal? so why on earth wouldnt the dealer call back?

i notice from looking at their website, they already have a 07 corsa in stock, would this be enough to put them off a sale?

shed a little light anyone, surely dealers are crying out for sales lately, but this one just seemed unenthusiastic

or could it be the case that the corsa is an undesirable trade in?

Anan1

As a rule, Irish car salespeople are an incredibly unprofessional breed. Basic product knowledge, and indeed callbacks, have always been the exception rather than the rule. If your father wants that car he'll probably have to call back himself.

Technique

Only bought a new car once, a straight sale, and I was amazed that near the end of the original conversation I actually had to ask for a test drive. I mentioned about other makes that I was looking at, to haggle a bit on the price, and he agreed that there were some good alternatives out there. I think that they had it too easy for too long.

Bigus

andyseadog wrote: »

A bit of a rant here on behalf of my dad.



dad made clear he was a cash buyer, and just give a half decent price and he was happy to deal? so why on earth wouldnt the dealer call back?

i notice from looking at their website, they already have a 07 corsa in stock, would this be enough to put them off a sale?



or could it be the case that the corsa is an undesirable trade in?

He's not a cash buyer if he has an 08 trade in

Yes the corsa is undesirable if they already have similar in stock

andyseadog

Bigus wrote: »

He's not a cash buyer if he has an 08 trade in

Yes the corsa is undesirable if they already have similar in stock

well i thought if he was paying the difference in cash, that made him a cash buyer, because he's buying with cash? it seemed like the most correct thing to say, as opposed to say being interested in that car and having to go chase finance etc, that would not be a cash buyer/ trader however you want to phrase it but thats just a technicality in my terminology that your picking at really. perhaps cash trader would suit better? lets go with that.

and though i was quite confident that having a similar car already in stock would be a little off putting for the dealer, what im asking is would it be off putting to the extent of the dealer having no interest at all in the deal?

L1011

Having a trade in is not a technicality, its a rather major factor. Someone buying a car without tradein on finance is still far more attractive than someone with a tradein even if the difference is made up with cash.

A "cash buyer" is buying the car on a straight deal with cash/bank draught. Doesn't mean anything else.

andyseadog

i never suggested having a trade in was a technicality. when i say a technicality i mean that the 'cash buyer' term was just my way of suggesting that he is prepared to buy right away, and just a slightly mistermed detail in my overall question. but thanks MYOB for re-confirming 2 posts in a row the exact definition of cash buyer. like i said, lets work with 'cash trader', as in a trader willing to and ready to purchase a.s.a.p, we've been over this.

the point of my thread is the curiosity of not being replied to. so as is so often said, can we keep it relevant so i shant have to clarify again.

antodeco

In all my years of buying anything in thus country, I would say I've gotten a call back less than 5% of the time. Welcome to the wonderful world of sales!

Max Power1

andyseadog wrote: »

i never suggested having a trade in was a technicality. when i say a technicality i mean that the 'cash buyer' term was just my way of suggesting that he is prepared to buy right away, and just a slightly mistermed detail in my overall question. but thanks MYOB for re-confirming 2 posts in a row the exact definition of cash buyer. like i said, lets work with 'cash trader', as in a trader willing to and ready to purchase a.s.a.p, we've been over this.

the point of my thread is the curiosity of not being replied to. so as is so often said, can we keep it relevant so i shant have to clarify again.

Perhaps the sale was not attractive to the dealer as he wouldnt make any commission (finance sold equals more commission generally) and also as you were not a cash buyer he would have to have the hassle of a trade in? Maybe he didnt want the sale at all and thats why he didnt call back?

colm_mcm

Polo tdi very easy car to sell. Corsa not as easy especially if they already have one in stock.
My guess is salesman knows nobody in their right mind would pay the cost to change he'll have to quote you to have the corsa in at sensible money while making the profit that's expected of him on the polo.

How much do you reckon you'd do the deal for, just for arguments sake?

deckyoh

ya i agree,its the corsa thats the issue,theyr very hard to resell and to be honest theyr muck,its a shame though being honest

Mr.Boots

Id imagine hes waiting for a cash buyer (somebody with no trade in)
Swapping a Polo for a Corsa on the forecourt isnt a very attractive offer.
Having said that....Its still shoddy of the salesman....unfortunetly its what i have come to expect from irish sales men....you have to chase them and twist their arm in order for them to take YOUR money.
I dont think it shows lack of training...more a lack of inteligence and breeding.

Anan1

Max Power1 wrote: »

Perhaps the sale was not attractive to the dealer as he wouldnt make any commission (finance sold equals more commission generally) and also as you were not a cash buyer he would have to have the hassle of a trade in? Maybe he didnt want the sale at all and thats why he didnt call back?

As an ex car-salesman, I can tell you that there is no deal that can't be made attractive with the right cost to change. Had he called the OP's father with an unpalatable price then that would have been completely fair enough - to not call back at all is unprofessional, pure & simple.

andyseadog

Anan1 wrote: »

As an ex car-salesman, I can tell you that there is no deal that can't be made attractive with the right cost to change. Had he called the OP's father with an unpalatable price then that would have been completely fair enough - to not call back at all is unprofessional, pure & simple.

thats just what i was getting at that surely, there has to be some price, no matter how unreasonable, but the fact that no offer, not even a terrible one, was just laziness or unenthusiasm.

in response to the other questions, he's expecting to get 7-8k for the corsa ideally, but probably a little less is more realistic, and set a budget of max 6k to trade up.

i understand the points your making about the corsa, the reason its leaving is because its a bit undrwhelming.