Potential purchase

Author
Discussion

RichV12

Original Poster:

102 posts

163 months

Thursday 21st April 2011
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So... 2 weeks ago I secure a deal for a V12V with a "reputable" Aston Martin well known dealer. I advise I have finance secured at a competive rate but the dealer wishes to match that deal, it's their policy to match it, they dont negotiate on price but will match other similar sale prices and finance deals.
A finance deal is match and I'm sent the proposal. Deposit is paid.

2 days before the car is due for collection the finance deal is changed to +3.3% APR of the original deal. It's not notified to me, its just in the small print of the agreement! It's queried and I'm told it's due to a decline of the original agreement 4 days before the car was due for collection, but wasn't worth informing me as this new deal had been approved.

In short, the car is again available for sale at said dealership and I'm left with a VERY poor taste for this national dealership. I'm now, finance approved, looking for a similar spec car. I've come from a Ferrari F430 Spider where dealer customer service was 2nd to none. I'm now thinking maybe AM's are not for me!

Luckyluciano

2,398 posts

223 months

Thursday 21st April 2011
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I don't believe it was the cars faultconfused

krisdelta

4,597 posts

207 months

Thursday 21st April 2011
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That is shoddy service if the terms had been agreed, and shoddy service in not up front telling you about a fundemental change to the contract.

You have two courses of action I guess, you can speak to the dealer principle about your experience and see if you can sort it out (if you haven't already). Or shop around (as you appear to be). I would hope the dealer would take the long term approach in a situation like this and attempt to remedy. Don't let one bad experience put you off a great car.


george h

14,713 posts

170 months

Thursday 21st April 2011
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Is it not your own fault for not reading the small print?

lady topaz

3,855 posts

260 months

Thursday 21st April 2011
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Was your original finance which you found and they agreed to match still available? If so did you get in writing that they will match?

Surely if a 'yes' then they are in breach of contract or am I missing something?

As an aside, although under a separate dept than the sales side I have found that the finance people are clueless about the cars and customer care.

To be fair though, the finance guy at the dealer I bought my V12V from was full of 'we can do XYZ, blah blah'. One call to him with my bank rates sent him scuttling but at least he was given the chance and bowed out gracefully.

I am failing to grasp how you can agree terms then they increase the rate without informing you.

A poor dealer does not make a poor car so don't give up.

Di

Good Soil (Pete)

543 posts

267 months

Thursday 21st April 2011
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george h said:
Is it not your own fault for not reading the small print?
Am assuming he did read the small print otherwise he would have been paying over the odds but have the car......

Gut reaction tells me that if they are going to mess you about like that at the start of the relationship then the rest of your experience is going to be the same with them......what's stopping you from going back to the original finance offer you had and buying it (if it is the car you really want) then taking all your servicing business elsewhere.....you get the car you want and they don't get any commission for the finance.......

lady topaz

3,855 posts

260 months

Thursday 21st April 2011
quotequote all
[quote=Good Soil (Pete)]
Am assuming he did read the small print otherwise he would have been paying over the odds but have the car......

Gut reaction tells me that if they are going to mess you about like that at the start of the relationship then the rest of your experience is going to be the same with them......what's stopping you from going back to the original finance offer you had and buying it (if it is the car you really want) then taking all your servicing business elsewhere.....you get the car you want and they don't get any commission for the finance.......
[/quote]


Good advice ^^^^

My nearest dealer is a complete numpty ( and no I couldn't care less if he reads this) I now get my probs fixed at WS. My DP is arranging a peace pow wow with the service manager but I wont hold my breath.

Possibly you may have seen on this forum my woes trying to buy a RR Evoque. Local dealer are absolute idiots. Ordered now from Stoke, about 200 miles away as the guy seemed knowledgeable and keen to do business.

Again don't let the dealer put you off the car, they are amazing, and Aston are aware of some dealers not living up to representation of the marque, so hopefully things may change soon.

I think many become complacent.

Di

whoami

13,154 posts

246 months

Thursday 21st April 2011
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RichV12 said:
So... 2 weeks ago I secure a deal for a V12V with a "reputable" Aston Martin well known dealer. I advise I have finance secured at a competive rate but the dealer wishes to match that deal, it's their policy to match it, they dont negotiate on price but will match other similar sale prices and finance deals.
A finance deal is match and I'm sent the proposal. Deposit is paid.

2 days before the car is due for collection the finance deal is changed to +3.3% APR of the original deal. It's not notified to me, its just in the small print of the agreement! It's queried and I'm told it's due to a decline of the original agreement 4 days before the car was due for collection, but wasn't worth informing me as this new deal had been approved.

In short, the car is again available for sale at said dealership and I'm left with a VERY poor taste for this national dealership. I'm now, finance approved, looking for a similar spec car. I've come from a Ferrari F430 Spider where dealer customer service was 2nd to none. I'm now thinking maybe AM's are not for me!
They are clearly in breach of FSA regulations if they have done that.

Escalate (if you want the car).

Murph7355

38,709 posts

262 months

Thursday 21st April 2011
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In terms of the cars and the looking after them my experience of AM dealers (through the one main dealer I've used) is that they are infinitely better than Ferrari's (through the 4 main dealers that I was unfortunate enough to sample).

As for finance...only used it once as an experiment. Process went smoothly enough, but am very far from convinced that financing cars like this is wise. Especially at the moment. So don't have huge experience of it (and none where F-cars are concerned).

Jockman

17,988 posts

166 months

Thursday 21st April 2011
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Richard - I would seriously consider a PM to Fergywales on the Finance / Business Forums.