Coincidence or did the dealer "see me coming?"
Coincidence or did the dealer "see me coming?"
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Chicken Chaser

Original Poster:

9,009 posts

251 months

Friday 21st July 2023
quotequote all
Im looking for a new used vehicle at the moment with a strict budget. I viewed one last week at a main dealer but it wasn't quite the spec I wanted. A couple of days later the salesperson rings me up and informs me another one is due in, slightly higher mileage but the right spec and gives me a figure which is right on the limit of my budget. I check the dealer website a couple of days later and the car is advertised at that price. I call up about it but hasn't yet been exchanged.

On the day of exchange I get the opportunity to view it only when I get there, I get told the price is £750 higher than the listed price which is still showing on the website.

I walked away from the deal with the salesperson telling me that they have someone else interested and I had first refusal. I then get a call the next day asking where they would need to be to close the deal but I just decided that i'd look elsewhere.

2 days later, same car was reduced by £300.

Did the dealer try and rip me off or does this happen often?

quinny100

1,009 posts

213 months

Friday 21st July 2023
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Sounds like when the car came in the dealer felt it was worth a bit more than they thought so they put the price up.

A business trying to maximise their margin is not ripping people off.

Geertsen

1,810 posts

86 months

Friday 21st July 2023
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quinny100 said:
Sounds like when the car came in the dealer felt it was worth a bit more than they thought so they put the price up.

A business trying to maximise their margin is not ripping people off.
I’d consider it a rip off if it was magically more expensive than the website when the buyer arrives...and a higher price than initially agreed. Certainly not a great way to conduct business.

Edited by Geertsen on Friday 21st July 22:24

sherman

15,139 posts

242 months

Friday 21st July 2023
quotequote all
If you had sat there with the cash ready to close the deal they would have taken the deal.

I once got about £1k off on a private deal by laying £100 notes across the guys coffee table.
You can get £100s in Scotland from the bank. They are huge and you need an A5 envelope to store them.

steveo3002

11,182 posts

201 months

Saturday 22nd July 2023
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i would say yes , got a sniff you was keen to buy , had the exact car for you and took a chance to be cheeky and get a few more ££ , had it happen to us , its a care salesman not your friend

Auto810graphy

1,611 posts

119 months

Saturday 22nd July 2023
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May be a case the car needed more preparation to bring it up to standard. Brakes, tyres, service, cam belts, paintwork etc.

CoolHands

23,012 posts

222 months

Saturday 22nd July 2023
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You have to ask? When he asked what it would take you should have quoted the original price minus 750 back to him.

duff

1,045 posts

226 months

Saturday 22nd July 2023
quotequote all
sherman said:
If you had sat there with the cash ready to close the deal they would have taken the deal.

I once got about £1k off on a private deal by laying £100 notes across the guys coffee table.
You can get £100s in Scotland from the bank. They are huge and you need an A5 envelope to store them.
That may have worked in 1996 but things have moved on. Cash is a PITA these days when you can do an instant transfer and larger dealers in particular do not really want physical cash. You are more likely to get a discount if taking finance than paying cash.

the-norseman

15,545 posts

198 months

Saturday 22nd July 2023
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There is always "somebody else interested".

Mum and dad had this years ago on a car they wanted, loads of people interested, 4 weeks later the dealer called to ask if they wanted to buy it at the price mum and dad wanted to, they said no.

sherman

15,139 posts

242 months

Saturday 22nd July 2023
quotequote all
duff said:
sherman said:
If you had sat there with the cash ready to close the deal they would have taken the deal.

I once got about £1k off on a private deal by laying £100 notes across the guys coffee table.
You can get £100s in Scotland from the bank. They are huge and you need an A5 envelope to store them.
That may have worked in 1996 but things have moved on. Cash is a PITA these days when you can do an instant transfer and larger dealers in particular do not really want physical cash. You are more likely to get a discount if taking finance than paying cash.
Not private sales like this was.

iphonedyou

10,372 posts

184 months

Saturday 22nd July 2023
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Not sure why a private buyer would want physical notes over a bank transfer either, to be honest?

Trevor555

5,342 posts

111 months

Saturday 22nd July 2023
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Chicken Chaser said:
On the day of exchange I get the opportunity to view it only when I get there, I get told the price is £750 higher than the listed price which is still showing on the website.

Did the dealer try and rip me off or does this happen often?
Yes that's underhand. They tried to get you to pay more than they've advertised for.



Flumpo

4,024 posts

100 months

Saturday 22nd July 2023
quotequote all
sherman said:
duff said:
sherman said:
If you had sat there with the cash ready to close the deal they would have taken the deal.

I once got about £1k off on a private deal by laying £100 notes across the guys coffee table.
You can get £100s in Scotland from the bank. They are huge and you need an A5 envelope to store them.
That may have worked in 1996 but things have moved on. Cash is a PITA these days when you can do an instant transfer and larger dealers in particular do not really want physical cash. You are more likely to get a discount if taking finance than paying cash.
Not private sales like this was.
OP clearly says he was at a main dealer, you advised with some confidence in your opening, that if he had taken cash he would have closed the deal.

He wouldn’t have, main dealers not only hate cash, I have been told categorically by at least two they have a max £250 limit on physical cash against any car.

Your private sale tale isn’t relevant.

I have even had one main dealer spend considerable time trying to talk me out of buying a car with full electronic payment in full and instead buy with their finance. That’s where they move on price as they get their money back through the finance.

Edited by Flumpo on Saturday 22 July 20:04

Flumpo

4,024 posts

100 months

Saturday 22nd July 2023
quotequote all
Chicken Chaser said:
Im looking for a new used vehicle at the moment with a strict budget. I viewed one last week at a main dealer but it wasn't quite the spec I wanted. A couple of days later the salesperson rings me up and informs me another one is due in, slightly higher mileage but the right spec and gives me a figure which is right on the limit of my budget. I check the dealer website a couple of days later and the car is advertised at that price. I call up about it but hasn't yet been exchanged.

On the day of exchange I get the opportunity to view it only when I get there, I get told the price is £750 higher than the listed price which is still showing on the website.

I walked away from the deal with the salesperson telling me that they have someone else interested and I had first refusal. I then get a call the next day asking where they would need to be to close the deal but I just decided that i'd look elsewhere.

2 days later, same car was reduced by £300.

Did the dealer try and rip me off or does this happen often?
Does sound a bit stty to up the price if you had already agreed it and was still being advertised at that price.

Could be a genuine mistake on their part. but does feel a bit like the £249.99 admin fee that is only mentioned after hours of farting about and you’re just about to sign and put your bank card in the machine.

HTP99

24,979 posts

167 months

Saturday 22nd July 2023
quotequote all
the-norseman said:
There is always "somebody else interested".

Mum and dad had this years ago on a car they wanted, loads of people interested, 4 weeks later the dealer called to ask if they wanted to buy it at the price mum and dad wanted to, they said no.
Actually happens a fair amount, it's great when they don't believe you, they go off for a think and it's sold to someone else.

We had someone earlier on in the year do a 250 mile round trip to see a car, of which it was the spec he wanted and the only one available, he placed a £99 refundable 48hr holding deposit on it, we put off someone else phoning to leave a deposit unseen, (we leave the £99 refundable deposit cars advertised, incase they don't want to ahead with it so we can contact others back, who've enquired)

Original guy wanted to think on it, we told him as soon as he left, we'd be calling someone back, he didn't believe us, we refunded the £99, and it was subsequently sold, unseen immediately to the other person.

Wackywoo105

490 posts

117 months

Saturday 22nd July 2023
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I was buying BMW and was haggling with the sales guy. He came down from the sticker price and I thought I had done well. While I was waiting I looked the car up on their website and it was advertised at the price we had agreed, they just hadn't got round to updating the showroom price. I tried to get more off but of course they wouldn't budge. I still bought the car. I do wonder if I hadn't haggled if they would have sold it to me at the higher price.

Lester H

4,224 posts

132 months

Saturday 22nd July 2023
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Wackywoo105 said:
I was buying BMW and was haggling with the sales guy. He came down from the sticker price and I thought I had done well. While I was waiting I looked the car up on their website and it was advertised at the price we had agreed, they just hadn't got round to updating the showroom price. I tried to get more off but of course they wouldn't budge. I still bought the car. I do wonder if I hadn't haggled if they would have sold it to me at the higher price.
Not uncommon to see cars advertised on line at less than the sticker price. However, if a punter just spots it on the lot without looking on line………End of.

Canon_Fodder

1,775 posts

90 months

Saturday 22nd July 2023
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OP any commercial transaction can be viewed as a little dance a-deux between buyer and seller

He makes his moves, and you make yours (if any)

sometimes a match is made
sometimes you walk away to try another suitor

Sheepshanks

40,413 posts

146 months

Saturday 22nd July 2023
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Lester H said:
Not uncommon to see cars advertised on line at less than the sticker price. However, if a punter just spots it on the lot without looking on line………End of.
A dealer doing that caused me hassle with a write off - it made the car the cheapest on Autotrader and the insurer used that for the value!

Belle427

11,712 posts

260 months

Sunday 23rd July 2023
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Yes he tried to pull one over on you.