Car salesmen from hell
Discussion
So I went to a dealership on Saturday to view a second hand car and had the full Swiss Tony treatment- lots of stupid "what do you expect to get out of this test drive?" type questions. Waited around for hours as a hostage for a part/ex figure, and generally had my time wasted. Cue lots of random salesmen trying to be my new best friend, it just came across as really unprofessional so I low balled them by about 7K and walked away, checking on the way out whether it said "C##t" on my forehead. Now my phone is ringing red hot.
eybic said:
The flip side to that is why go for a test drive in a car you can't afford?
The car I own (no finance) is worth about 30k, I am looking at upgrading to a 40K+ car. He has said he would like to sit and discuss and agree a deal subject to drive.It's not the way I want it to work so I won't bother.
johnwilliams77 said:
Cannot stand most of them.
What do PH think? Is it unreasonable to expect a test drive without discussing a deal?
(Say its a porsche and you're already an owner of the marque)
Bad example though, the Porsche policy is to offer test drives (and extended test drives) to anyone that asks.What do PH think? Is it unreasonable to expect a test drive without discussing a deal?
(Say its a porsche and you're already an owner of the marque)
Getting a 10 min drive of VW or Audi though is a joke from experience - far simpler to walk in and test drive the exotic stuff as opposed to the more mundane cars.
johnwilliams77 said:
eybic said:
The flip side to that is why go for a test drive in a car you can't afford?
The car I own (no finance) is worth about 30k, I am looking at upgrading to a 40K+ car. He has said he would like to sit and discuss and agree a deal subject to drive.It's not the way I want it to work so I won't bother.
stripy7 said:
93DW said:
So the dealer staff should bow to you because thats how you want it? Would you leave a restaurant because the food wasn't served as you'd like it to be?
Yes, I would walk out if it took 2 hours for them to serve me. 93DW said:
So the dealer staff should bow to you because thats how you want it? Would you leave a restaurant because the food wasn't served as you'd like it to be?
Of course. He wants the money in my pocket to be in his pocket.And yes. If I wanted hot food and it was served cold, why wouldn't I walk? Again, it's about an exchange of goods for service - you have to get the service bit, or you're just giving someone money for nothing.
On topic - I have two tales from the same buying period. First was an utterly unapologetic salesman who sold the car I was interested in the evening before an agreed viewing, but didn't contact me, and was confused as to why I didn't want to look at any of the other stock, despite none of it being close to the original car I was interested in. He really couldn't understand why I was pissed off at having taken a day off work to travel and see a vehicle that wasn't for sale anymore either and had assumed he was such a Swiss Tony he could sell me something else.
Second was a viewing I had arranged and couldn't make. I emailed the garage the day before, cancelling the viewing and apologising, as the guy had already taken the time to email extra details of the car over. Got a polite email back thanking me for the heads up and to let them know if I wanted to rebook. Turns out there are dealers which are human, and with manners. Wonder who'd get repeat business?
93DW said:
I wasn't referring to that but ok. Whilst the amount of time you were kept waiting was inexcusable, was bidding them 7k less than they were asking any better? Also why did you wait 2 hours? Surely after 30-45mins you would have realised they were taking the piss and left?
Because, I had driven 100 miles and I wanted to buy the car.n17ves said:
Bad example though, the Porsche policy is to offer test drives (and extended test drives) to anyone that asks.
Getting a 10 min drive of VW or Audi though is a joke from experience - far simpler to walk in and test drive the exotic stuff as opposed to the more mundane cars.
OK - but they call themselves a prestige car dealership.... I didn't think there would be any issue driving it first....just told him it doesn't matterGetting a 10 min drive of VW or Audi though is a joke from experience - far simpler to walk in and test drive the exotic stuff as opposed to the more mundane cars.
I have mentioned this on PH before but about 10 years ago & whilst looking for my first Elise, I found the perfect one at a dealership about 80 miles from me & spoke to them on the phone to arrange viewing/test drive etc..... Turned up & introduced myself & was a little surprised at how well this Elise in question was blocked in by about 10 other cars (I assumed they would have at least got it ready for me to test drive) I asked if I could have a look around but was not once offered the keys to unlock the doors etc! I approached the guy I had spoken to on the phone & asked if it was still ok for me to test drive it as I was in a position to buy almost immediately. I was pretty shocked at being told that due to the other cars blocking it in, I couldn't take the car out on this occasion but could come back on another day to test drive it. I explained that I had driven some distance but didn't get anywhere with this dealership! I walked away very peed off & bought one 7 days later from somewhere else!
boobles said:
I have mentioned this on PH before but about 10 years ago & whilst looking for my first Elise, I found the perfect one at a dealership about 80 miles from me & spoke to them on the phone to arrange viewing/test drive etc..... Turned up & introduced myself & was a little surprised at how well this Elise in question was blocked in by about 10 other cars (I assumed they would have at least got it ready for me to test drive) I asked if I could have a look around but was not once offered the keys to unlock the doors etc! I approached the guy I had spoken to on the phone & asked if it was still ok for me to test drive it as I was in a position to buy almost immediately. I was pretty shocked at being told that due to the other cars blocking it in, I couldn't take the car out on this occasion but could come back on another day to test drive it. I explained that I had driven some distance but didn't get anywhere with this dealership! I walked away very peed off & bought one 7 days later from somewhere else!
I had similar when looking for 350Zs. Saw one I liked, popped into the garage unannounced thinking we could at least have a chat, guy reamed me out verbally for not ringing, gave me a long list of reasons why I couldn't look at the car/paperwork, anything. Suffice to say I didn't buy it. I did pop by in my new car though, later that day, having done a nice easy deal down the road. Way to chuck away a grand on a Wednesday afternoon.n17ves said:
Bad example though, the Porsche policy is to offer test drives (and extended test drives) to anyone that asks.
Most manufacturers believe in "bums on seats" - their dealers don't always follow along though.n17ves said:
Getting a 10 min drive of VW or Audi though is a joke from experience - far simpler to walk in and test drive the exotic stuff as opposed to the more mundane cars.
To be fair it's probably not worth bothering. What do you expect a VW or Audi to do? They're just appliances. My missus has a Tiguan - we checked one out in the showroom but never drove one, and neither of us had driven a DSG before. Now it's arrived and unsurprisingly it seems fine.Gassing Station | Car Buying | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff