Garages and email

largepants

At the moment Im looking to trade in my 04 Almera and have narrowed my search to three cars.

Ive been in touch with a few sellers via email but I havent received any acknoeledgement.

Are emails generally ignored or am I right in thinking they have no interest in my Almera?

djimi

Why would you not just pick up the phone and talk to them? Or better still call in and let them see the car that you are trying to sell to them?

bazz26

How are they going to view your car and appraise it's value through email though? No garage is going to put a value on a trade-in over the phone or via email photos and you definately will not get the best price that way. You still need to use the old fashion pre internet and email way of driving into the garage and negotiating face to face with the sales person.

largepants

djimi wrote: »

Why would you not just pick up the phone and talk to them? Or better still call in and let them see the car that you are trying to sell to them?

Yea Im gonna do that. Only getting a chance today. But why have an email contact if they are going to ignore them? Maybe its just me but if potential customers are ignored by garages at the first point of contact I would be reluctant to deal with them.

Then again maybe sellers get 100s of these emails per day and simply dont have the time. Maybe someone on that side of the fence would know.

Most of the cars Im looking at are at least an hours drive away.

langdang

A little from column A, a little from column B

largepants

bazz26 wrote: »

How are they going to view your car and appraise it's value through email though? No garage is going to put a value on a trade-in over the phone or via email photos and you definately will not get the best price that way. You still need to use the old fashion pre internet and email way of driving into the garage and negotiating face to face with the sales person.

I do most my looking in the evening so thats why Im using the email facility.

I dont want to drive for an hour and then discover they have no interest in my car.

Henry Ford III

Face to face is the only way to get a deal done.

September1

There is a problem with emails from some sellers, this communication channel gets often ignored! Some people prefer email as way to schedule viewing or agree stuff - I think OP is not trying to buy car without seeing it, but merely replacing phone with email. That is very frustrating experience, and many foreigners living in this country feel more comfortable emailing than speaking in English.

giant_midget

Op - If you have time to draft up an email you have time to call. Just use the old fasion way of ringing garages or even popping to the garage in person. Ring around to show your not a timewaster "what's your best price" type of person.

largepants

Henry Ford III wrote: »

Face to face is the only way to get a deal done.

And thats the way it should be.

But my query relates to the use/ non use of email. Why have it as a means of contact when its not even used.

awec

This post has been deleted.

largepants

giant_midget wrote: »

Op - If you have time to draft up an email you have time to call. Just use the old fasion way of ringing garages or even popping to the garage in person. Ring around to show your not a timewaster "what's your best price" type of person.

Sure dont most garages close at six. Im doing my research in the evening time.

Im not looking to do a deal over email or phone. Just using it as a first means of contact. First impessions last and all that.

biko

Ring and make an appointment is the only way really. This isn't efficient Germany where technology is easy for everyone

Henry Ford III

largepants wrote: »

And thats the way it should be.

But my query relates to the use/ non use of email. Why have it as a means of contact when its not even used.

It is used, but it's just not suitable for car sales.

djimi

Ill be honest, while I would use email extensively and would generally slate any company that does not make full use of it, it would never even occur to me to email a car dealership if I was interested in one of their cars.

Maybe its because its traditionally a face to face type transaction; one that involves you seeing the car in person and also the dealer seeing what you want to trade in. I just dont see what has to be gained from emailing a dealer; youre not going to haggle on price without having seen the car first, and they are not going to give you the time of day on a trade in if they havent had a chance to look over it.

What exactly are you going to ask them in an email and what sort of meaningful answer do you hope to get? The basic information is most likely on their Carzone/website ad, and anything further is going to involve you seeing the car in person.

challengemaster

largepants wrote: »

And thats the way it should be.

But my query relates to the use/ non use of email. Why have it as a means of contact when its not even used.

AFAIK E-commerce regulations state that companies must have all contact details (incl. valid email) on their website. That doesn't mean they actually have to check their emails.

Henry Ford III

If I were in car sales (thankfully I'm not) I'd reply to any email saying "Thanks for your enquiry, but to give you the most competitive price I'd really need to see and drive your potential trade in....."

awec

This post has been deleted.

largepants

Henry Ford III wrote: »

If I were in car sales (thankfully I'm not) I'd reply to any email saying "Thanks for your enquiry, but to give you the most competitive price I'd really need to see and drive your potential trade in....."

Eventually we got there. Seeing as Ive had no replies or phone calls to my emails then I might wrongly assume they have no interest in taking a trade in. Or maybe they haven't seen my email. How am I to know?

I always make a point of leaving my phone number. I would think that seeing as they are doing the selluing they'd show a bit of interest by ringing me.

I never suggested doing a deal by email or phone. If i had an interest in a car and they showed an interest in taking mine then Id travel no problem to try and do a deal.

djimi

What exactly did you ask them via email?

largepants

djimi wrote: »

What exactly did you ask them via email?

That I was interested in looking at the car and if they'd consider mine as a trade in. And that id be willing to travel to do a deal.

bazz26

OP, your going to have to accept that the motor trade here do not use email as a primary method of communication. You will get a quicker response via the telephone. Alternately you might want to narrow down your search to cars or garages that are less of an inconvenience for you to just travel to.

largepants

bazz26 wrote: »

OP, your going to have to accept that the motor trade here do not use email as a primary method of communication. You will get a quicker response via the telephone. Alternately you might want to narrow down your search to cars or garages that are less of an inconvenience for you to just travel to.

In fairness thats why I asked in my op. I wasnt sure if it was due to the car I was trading in or the fact that they dont read or communicate by email.

I find it strange the carzone et al have that facility on their websites if they are not used.

I dont mind the 'inconvenience' of having to travel for the right car. That wasnt my issue at all.

Either way I think you've answered my question. Thank you.

oregano

largepants wrote: »

In fairness thats why I asked in my op. I wasnt sure if it was due to the car I was trading in or the fact that they dont read or communicate by email.

I find it strange the carzone et al have that facility on their websites if they are not used.

I dont mind the 'inconvenience' of having to travel for the right car. That wasnt my issue at all.

Either way I think you've answered my question. Thank you.

As a dealer who prides myself on being able to use my iPhone and laptop, I just think its a shame I had nothing in stock to make you email me. Sounds like I might have been able to do a deal with you purely so as to spite the other dealers!

Seriously though, many of my colleagues in the trade firmly believe that an email enquiry is nonsense.

Long may they believe it, IMO.

Saab Ed

awec wrote: »

Any company in 2012 that does not respond to email is not worth bothering with.

This idea that people have to phone to get an answer is antiquated. I am sure car dealerships are not in a position to pick and choose customers.

Just playing devils advocat here but how would you respond to the following email;

Hello

I have a 04 Nssan Almera, average condition with 80,000 miles on it. No NCT but I'm sure it'll pass next time. How much will it cost me to buy your 2009 Avensis 1.6 Aura.

Thanks, Dec.

pred racer

Saab Ed wrote: »

Just playing devils advocat here but how would you respond to the following email;

Hello

I have a 04 Nssan Almera, average condition with 80,000 miles on it. No NCT but I'm sure it'll pass next time. How much will it cost me to buy your 2009 Avensis 1.6 Aura.

Thanks, Dec.

Exactly the way he would answer the same question on the phone.
At the very least a salesman should have the manners to answer an enquiry regardless of the medium used.

AltAccount

Ignoring an email is incredibly stupid and unprofessional. It should be considered unacceptable for a business to do so and I'm surprised so many are happy to let the dealers slide on something like this tbh.

If I were a Sales Manager and I knew one of my salespeople was ignoring email enquiries, I'd be having very sharp words with them.

solas111

It seems to be the way things are done in Ireland – there is a reluctance among many people over a certain age to embrace change and new technology.

I am sometimes involved in purchasing materials and services for the local part of a large company where I work and I am amazed by the number of businesses that do not have the facilities for taking payment by credit card. Perhaps it costs too much to maintain but I would have thought that getting the money into your bank account on the spot would be a strong incentive.

A few of years ago I had reason to contact a local newspaper which has quite a large circulation and amazingly they did not use email. Imagine publishing a weekly newspaper without email facilities.

Younger people have no problem with technology and have a complete office and much more at their disposal through their smartphones. For folk like myself who still think in feet and inches it takes a bit more time and effort to get the head around the new gadgets. Maybe your garage men are of a certain age.

bazz26

AltAccount wrote: »

If I were a Sales Manager and I knew one of my salespeople was ignoring email enquiries, I'd be having very sharp words with them.

Unfortunately that does not always apply to every business model though.

Imo the best response the OP would get from an email from a sales person selling cars would go something like this "Sure bring your car in, we'll have a look at it and give you a cost to change price." The exact same response if you spoke to the sales person on the phone.

Maybe someone here in the motor trade could give an idea of how many of their car sales have been generated from email enquires as opposed to the more traditional methods.

AltAccount

bazz26 wrote: »

Unfortunately that does not always apply to every business model though.

Imo the best response the OP would get from an email from a sales person selling cars would go something like this "Sure bring your car in, we'll have a look at it and give you a cost to change price." The exact same response if you spoke to the sales person on the phone.

Maybe someone here in the motor trade could give an idea of how many of their car sales have been generated from email enquires as opposed to the more traditional methods.

But isn't that exactly the point though.

If I were a salesperson and someone emailed me saying "I'm interested in this car you have for sale", I'd consider them to be a very warm lead and would ring them directly.

If I ignore the email and don't respond in any manner, then I've thrown away a warm lead.

Yes the end conversation is the same - come in and see me and we'll do a deal - but if you offer an email address, your should answer it (ignoring it is the same as answering the phone and then hanging up on the customer before they can speak). If you don't want to deal with emails, don't have a public email address.