Dealers and their enthuasism

witless_steve

I'm looking to buy a newish car, have a decent budget (15k) and have approached a few dealers about what they have to suit my needs.

The response has been underwhelming.
I read people saying dealers are importing cars, are looking for business and are in some cases even ordering stuff to meet a customer order.

Me? Nope. What you see on the forecourt is what we have on hand here. Have a look on Carzone to see if there is anything similar on the market.

Am I the only one who gets this response from dealers or did I just get a couple of very bored dealers?

djimi

Im not really sure what you are expecting? Do you want dealers to specifically buy in second hand stock to meet your needs? Theyre not wrong, the entire stock of second hand dealer cars is on Carzone; if they dont have what you want then browse to find it somewhere else!

witless_steve

djimi wrote: »

Im not really sure what you are expecting? Do you want dealers to specifically buy in second hand stock to meet your needs? Theyre not wrong, the entire stock of second hand dealer cars is on Carzone; if they dont have what you want then browse to find it somewhere else!

I was expecting to be given a brochure or two. Have a model or two offered for test drive. A general feeling that I was a sale worth making. Not a 'go see what we have and come back to me'.

djimi

A main dealer might have a brochure for the stock that they would have had, but its not something that I would expect when buying a second hand car.

I agree it can be annoying when a sales man doesnt make you feel wanted (like in all lines of business there will be good dealers and there will be bad dealers). Did you know what you were looking for when you went in, or are you just trying to get a feel for whats available?

Moanin

witless_steve wrote: »

I'm looking to buy a newish car, have a decent budget (15k) and have approached a few dealers about what they have to suit my needs.

The response has been underwhelming.
I read people saying dealers are importing cars, are looking for business and are in some cases even ordering stuff to meet a customer order.

Me? Nope. What you see on the forecourt is what we have on hand here. Have a look on Carzone to see if there is anything similar on the market.

Am I the only one who gets this response from dealers or did I just get a couple of very bored dealers?

Why not approach a dealer who sources cars and get them to source the exact car you want? I did that last year and am very happy with the outcome. It takes a while to get the exact match but well worth it imo....

witless_steve

Moanin wrote: »

Why not approach a dealer who sources cars and get them to source the exact car you want? I did that last year and am very happy with the outcome. It takes a while to get the exact match but well worth it imo....

Now that's an idea. Any in the munster area you recommend?

brownian

I know this is NOT Munster, but I've had good experiences with Eddie Peterson, of Peterson Motors in Dun Laoghaire, doing pretty much that. Hour-long test drives not a problem, which is a big plus in my view.

He also seems to carry a surprising amount of 'nice' cars for very reasonable (IMHO) prices.

Your opinion and experience may vary - I've zero connection with him, except to have bought a car from him a couple of years back.

Moanin

witless_steve wrote: »

Now that's an idea. Any in the munster area you recommend?

I'm not sure. The garage who sourced for me are based in Galway, but they supply cars nationwide. I would highly recommend them. PM me if you require any further info.

witless_steve

brownian wrote: »

I know this is NOT Munster, but I've had good experiences with Eddie Peterson, of Peterson Motors in Dun Laoghaire, doing pretty much that. Hour-long test drives not a problem, which is a big plus in my view.

He also seems to carry a surprising amount of 'nice' cars for very reasonable (IMHO) prices.

Your opinion and experience may vary - I've zero connection with him, except to have bought a car from him a couple of years back.

Will certainly get in touch with them, my alternative is to go to the UK myself so a spin to Dublin is much quicker.

Thanks for the tip.

witless_steve

Moanin wrote: »

I'm not sure. The garage who sourced for me are based in Galway, but they supply cars nationwide. I would highly recommend them. PM me if you require any further info.

PM sent.

Old diesel

djimi wrote: »

Im not really sure what you are expecting? Do you want dealers to specifically buy in second hand stock to meet your needs? Theyre not wrong, the entire stock of second hand dealer cars is on Carzone; if they dont have what you want then browse to find it somewhere else!

I guess he was expecting the dealer - to establish his requirements - and discuss whether a car could be found.

Not sure how telling a customer go off and look on carzone is going to be seen as conducive to making a sale :eek:.

Talk to the customer - see what if anything the dealer could do to help.

If its something COMMON and popular like a Passat or a Golf - it might not be hard for a dealer to source one.

Mind you - I can understand the dealer feeling its a lot of work - but IF the car is a popular car - its probably worth the dealers risk imo

witless_steve

Old diesel wrote: »

Mind you - I can understand the dealer feeling its a lot of work - but IF the car is a popular car - its probably worth the dealers risk imo

Hardly a huge amount of effort to see what I want and suggest an alternative dealer if they can't provide what I need. Seems like they must be making mad money from sales to be too bored to have a go at 15k.

Moneymaker

What kind of car are you looking for? How many miles a year will you be doing? Need a big boot, space for kids?

Plenty of lads here can recommend you a car and help narrow down the search before you commit to anything.

christy02

Op is right. If you went in to a menswear shop looking to spend a few hundred on a suit, they would fall over themselves to accommodate you. Op is looking to spend 15k.If it was my garage I would let him testdrive every car in the lot if I had to . I would make him coffee and do all I could to make a sale.

It is that kind of arrogance that has places closing down. Easy blame government etc. Customer is king.

Old diesel

witless_steve wrote: »

Hardly a huge amount of effort to see what I want and suggest an alternative dealer if they can't provide what I need. Seems like they must be making mad money from sales to be too bored to have a go at 15k.

The potential risk to a dealer - could be - they source you a car - and then you don't go ahead with the deal.

Hence some dealers may not like it.

Youd think that in the normal course of events - with dealers buying and sourcing cars all the time for stock - that sourcing a car for a customer would be manageable enough.

Where it gets messy is if the customer wants a car that's on the dealers onofficial blacklist of cars they don't like to retail due to poor reputation.

witless_steve

I can get that there might be a risk but if it's an option to import ,especially of the car is a popular model, why not.

Just seems a little lazy to not even try.

Zoney

christy02 wrote: »

Op is right. If you went in to a menswear shop looking to spend a few hundred on a suit, they would fall over themselves to accommodate you. Op is looking to spend 15k.If it was my garage I would let him testdrive every car in the lot if I had to . I would make him coffee and do all I could to make a sale.

It is that kind of arrogance that has places closing down. Easy blame government etc. Customer is king.

Absolutely. What the OP describes is odd behaviour really! Not saying it's a situation you'd want to have here in Ireland, but at 15k, you'd think the salesman would try to sell the OP something that didn't fit what he was looking for! Surely pull out all the stops and salesman's tactics to try and flog off something unrelated to the OP's requirements but that can be talked up easily and potentially sold anyway.

witless_steve

I can see why lots of people search the online ads and do the legwork themselves.

A friend of mine says they got lazy during the boom and have forgotten how to make a sale.

witless_steve

I was asked what kind of car I'm looking for, either a focus sized hatchback or a convertible, petrol engine and as many toys as I can find. No kids, dogs, so huge boot not needed. A brief skim through the car mags says nearly every brand has a model in either category, some have both.

bazz26

They may be available in car mags but the reality is that in this country diesel is the fuel of choice at present so anything petrol will be in limited supply and specs will be determined by what is available rather than what you want. That's probably one of the reasons you have encountered the level of interest or lack of you have.

witless_steve

That certainly clears things up a little. I'm asking for something they don't get asked about very often and the options they have are much more limited.

bazz26

Another problem I see is that say a dealer does order a car for you from the factory. Due to the slow demand it could take months for it to arrive or the due date keeps getting put back. You the buyer then gets pissed off waiting and may decide to buy something else. The dealer then could be in a position where they are stuck with a car that hardly anyone else wants.

Dealers generally will try to sell what they have in stock as their money is tied into it, or worst case take a factory order for something that they have are highly confident will arrive within a reasonable time.

Old diesel

bazz26 wrote: »

Another problem I see is that say a dealer does order a car for you from the factory. Due to the slow demand it could take months for it to arrive or the due date keeps getting put back. You the buyer then gets pissed off waiting and may decide to buy something else. The dealer then could be in a position where they are stuck with a car that hardly anyone else wants.

Dealers generally will try to sell what they have in stock as their money is tied into it, or worst case take a factory order for something that they have are highly confident will arrive within a reasonable time.

The op is looking for a used car I thought????

The question is though - what is the best way for a dealer to handle the situation. You can simply decide to write off the sale because its too much hassle (sourcing a 2nd hand petrol car from the Uk - risk of customer not going through with sale - and being stuck with an unsaleable car).

But if you write off a customer as not been worth the hassle (assuming the customer seems genuine and not a time waster) - have you lost that customer PERMANENTLY.

And is the fact you as a dealer don't want to deal in petrol cars - a good enough reason to write off the customer.

The other issue I see on reflection - is that so many diesels have DPFs now - and for the driver doing say 5,000 miles driving locally these aren't a good option.

Does the dealer write off that customers business - or do they sell a car that's unsuited to the customers needs - KNOWINGLY.

And yes - I know - the dealer could just put such a customer into a Polo - but just because you only do small miles - doesn't mean a Polo is suited either.

Perhaps for example - the car is used for the school run, going to tescos and other such things.

A tough one

witless_steve

Seems like all they want to do is sell you a diesel and if you aren't looking for one their interest plummets.