Dealers strategy or coincidence

[flipflop1]

So I'm currently looking close to the bottom end of the 997 carrera Market and want to get a little annoyance off my chest.

I'm reasonably busy so tend only to go and see that are a real strong possibility but spend a lot of time hunting the Internet to try and find the best car for me.

Recently I've found two I liked and wanted to enquire further as I would have bought either. This is where it gets fishy. On both occasions I contacted seller explained my position ascertained car was still available and asked the questions important to me. On both occasions within 24 hours i phoned again and was told both cars had sold, only to see them relisted 48 hours later at £1000 more.

The cars were in an indie in fife and a synter in Bristol. At least the indie moved the car to his other garage and relisted but Bristol just put the price up.

Is this a sales tactic I'm not aware of to raise interest or just a coincidence that on my two cars they got so much interest they got greedy? Either way I'm back looking as I wouldn't buy from them now although I do appreciate it's there option to move prices i find it hard to believe they were genuine mistakenly too low prices

Anybody else had this?

[Technomad]

Yep. Had exactly that with 2 different 997.2 C4S I was looking at in mid-north of England.

[Wozy68]

Yup, and not only on the newer stuff. I went after a 930 turbo a few years back that had been on the market for about 18 months. I enquired about it and informed the seller i was very interested and wanted to view. Before i had chance to it had gone up 2k and the original advert had been removed.

The one thing that really bugs me is he different price on a different site of the same car being sold by the same dealer. I once came across a lotus esprit 350 that was 8k more on one site than on another. I would have been gutted if I'd purchased at the higher price.

It's tactics like this that have tainted my views on alot of traders.

Edited by Wozy68 on Sunday 2nd December 23:12

[POORCARDEALER]

We have done the same thing if we have spent a huge sum prepping that we hadnt expected that make the original sellig price not profitable.

[Stevej33]

POORCARDEALER said:

We have done the same thing if we have spent a huge sum prepping that we hadnt expected that make the original sellig price not profitable.

Does the amount spent on preparation affect the selling price then?

So a well maintained car requiring nothing will be cheaper than a old dog.

Just thought 'market value' would drive the selling price, not unforeseen reconditioning cost...

And why oh why would someone advertise something for sale without preparing it (or at least knowing how much its going to cost to make good) if you're in the business of the motor trade? Surely a recipe for disaster, no?

[911 (997)]

Stevej33 said:

Does the amount spent on preparation affect the selling price then?

I would have thought more money spent on preparation would increase the selling price by making the vehicle more desirable, all things being equal.

[monthefish]

POORCARDEALER said:

We have done the same thing if we have spent a huge sum prepping that we hadnt expected that make the original sellig price not profitable.

To clarify:
You'll offer a vehicle up for sale, wait until someone shows interest, tell them its sold, and then bump up the price?

[JamesG]

Same here. When I was looking for mine, I arranged to see a car that was priced at about the going rate. A few minutes later, the dealer phoned me back and told me the price was wrong and it was actually up for 3 grand more.

So, I didn't go to see it.

[F3RNANDO]

monthefish said:

POORCARDEALER said:

We have done the same thing if we have spent a huge sum prepping that we hadnt expected that make the original sellig price not profitable.

To clarify:
You'll offer a vehicle up for sale, wait until someone shows interest, tell them its sold, and then bump up the price?

Give him his dues - he didn't call himself a goodcardealer.

[marky911]

^^^^^^

[hartech]

May not have been the case for the cars you chaps were looking at but a scenario may arise when a dealer buys a car, prices it before prep and then advertises it. He may then commence the prep to find it will soon need a clutch, a set of brakes & shocks so he puts new ones on. It's cost more to prepare it but it's now worth more so he bumps the price up a bit. If you had 2 cars side by side in identical condition except one's just had a new clutch, brakes & shocks, this car is worth more.

Grant

[flipflop1]

F3RNANDO said:

monthefish said:

POORCARDEALER said:

We have done the same thing if we have spent a huge sum prepping that we hadnt expected that make the original sellig price not profitable.

To clarify:
You'll offer a vehicle up for sale, wait until someone shows interest, tell them its sold, and then bump up the price?

Give him his dues - he didn't call himself a goodcardealer.

Fair play to the dealer for being honest here. I can understand why you would increase the cost if youve spent more on a car. Ultimately only the dealer can decide what he's costing the car out at, although if he's spent a lot on it only the market buyer will dictate if the dealer gets to make his margin because if its priced too high it wont sell.

What I'm more getting at is the blatant attempt to extort more money once there are interested parties making buying noises. If you want to make say 30k on a car put it on at 30,995 with a view to haggling discount, dont put it on at 28k get 2 or 3 people looking and then hike the price in the hope one is desperate enough to pay the extra.

That smacks of underhandedness to me and thats a dealer I wouldnt go back to. I would much rather have a relationship with a good dealer and give him first opportunity at repeated business in the future if he treats us well. I'm so annoyed at the bristol garage in particular as i really liked the car and had the cash together but out of principle I'll wait till I find another. Maybe if they ever read this they will think twice before doing it again.

[hartech]

flipflop1 said:

Fair play to the dealer for being honest here. I can understand why you would increase the cost if youve spent more on a car. Ultimately only the dealer can decide what he's costing the car out at, although if he's spent a lot on it only the market buyer will dictate if the dealer gets to make his margin because if its priced too high it wont sell.

What I'm more getting at is the blatant attempt to extort more money once there are interested parties making buying noises. If you want to make say 30k on a car put it on at 30,995 with a view to haggling discount, dont put it on at 28k get 2 or 3 people looking and then hike the price in the hope one is desperate enough to pay the extra.

That smacks of underhandedness to me and thats a dealer I wouldnt go back to. I would much rather have a relationship with a good dealer and give him first opportunity at repeated business in the future if he treats us well. I'm so annoyed at the bristol garage in particular as i really liked the car and had the cash together but out of principle I'll wait till I find another. Maybe if they ever read this they will think twice before doing it again.

I agree - I've had it even worse when buying a car in the trade once. Agreed a price with a main agent, travelled half the country to find when arriving he'd added £500 claiming he'd had a better offer which I had to match. I walked on principle even though it was still probably worth it.

Again, different from the OP's case but there can sometimes be a seasonal price adjustment. A dealer may buy something like a Boxster just after Christmas at a price which allows him to stock it until the spring. He may advertise it at a lower price initially for a quick sale but if it doesn't sell may then increase it to the "spring price" at the beginning of March.

[MadMark911]

POORCARDEALER said:

We have done the same thing if we have spent a huge sum prepping that we hadnt expected that make the original sellig price not profitable.

You mean not profitable enough? I find it hard to believe that you don't make at least 10% of the sale (sticker) price as revenue, when selling a car like a Porsche ....