The buying experience

[Yugguy]

I've had two new cars in my time. One was simply delivered to my house at a convenient time for me and the other I went to the dealer just before closing, picked up the keys and left.

Just the way I like it, none of this unveiling bollocks, I don't need showing round the car just give me the keys and **** off.

 

[PenelopePitstop]

People who are not that interested in cars probably need more attention and hand holding. I like to deal with fleet people because they can offer me the deal, take my details and send the car when it's ready. Had excellent contact with guy from MB Leeds, keeping his details just in case.

 

[E63S]

My experience with Mercedes has been mixed. I sacked two different dealers before deciding to place an order with a third. The latest one is 200+ miles away, but offered the best price, and couldn’t have been more helpful.

The first one wouldn’t give me a test drive unless I put down a 25% deposit prior to going for a 30 minute accompanied drive. The second one gave me a 1/2 day test drive, but went silent on me, despite numerous attempts to get in touch and place an order. Ended up writing a letter of complaint to the sales manager. Fortunately it was 3rd time lucky, plus I saved £11,000 too!

 

[lfckeeper]

Evans Halshaw and similar places don't have good opinions and are known for not give the s.. I don't think I would go there to buy used car. Not to mention, that sometimes it's cheaper to get new one than nearly new one. I bought/leased most of my cars via phone and internet and it worked pretty good. Negotiation in person didn't go that well. However price of the car doesn't change the way you are treated. Two most expensive cars I acquired also had the worst salesmen. In case of C63, I had to chase key account manager for any updates and couldn't get through to her, had updates from other people. Would never deal with this person again, dealership maybe. In case of S8 I was ignored and had to chase dealership to get refund of holding deposit, etc. Porsche ignored me after the test drive so I went to Mercedes. They called me 3 months later and I told them it's too late...

I collected new car from Audi yesterday, I guess it wasn't bad but most of my requests weren't met, even though I listed them in one of the emails. I gave up after they couldn't put private plate at first registration due to system error. Salesman was nice and was replying quickly to my emails.

Nearly bought a Jag before my current CLS .... told the chap at the Main Jag dealer there was an identical car at Evans Halshaw over the road that was a good few quid cheaper, he advised me he knew the car I was talking about because they had handed it to Halshaws as they we not prepared to give it a 6 month (approved used) warranty. Ill never go near a Evans Halshaw dealership again!

 

[Codger49]

And of course car salesmen only tell the gospel truth?

 

[oldguy57]

Wanted a cheap daily £4k ish and the salesman at local Evans Halshaw couldnt have been more helpful. Bought one and would use them again. I have to admit to getting really good service when buying cars , even when negotiating a price. But then bh usually comes along and she seems to distract the salesman...

 

[Eddy77]

Bought my CLK from a Subaru dealership in Bristol. It was a part-ex.　


The car was immaculately presented and the sales guy was really easy to deal with.　

No issues with test drive (solo) and curbed alloy repaired as part of the agreed price.　

Picked it up the next weekend and as he brought the car round to me, it got sprinkled by one of his staff who was washing another vehicle.　

"Hang on" he said, "I'll get the valeter over". A nice chap who then proceeded to re-polish the bonnet and remove the water droplets.　

The laugh of it was that I drove half a mile down the road and the heavens opened. Car was filthy when I got home!　

But the sentiment was appreciated! 　

They're not all bad.　

 

[Deleted member 6183]

I suppose that what this thread highlights is that we all want to be treated in an honest and transparent way when buying cars.

I operate this way in business and have to admit that it doesn't always benefit me.

 

[lfckeeper]

And of course car salesmen only tell the gospel truth?

Evans Halshaw and Stratstone are part of the same group hence my believing what he said. 6 months warranty was offered at the main dealer (Stratstone) only 1 with EH. Though I do take your point he coukd have been bull doo dooing me just wasn't worth the risk. Unfortunately when we decided to buy (from Stratstone) it had been bought by someone else.

 

[lfckeeper]

I suppose that what this thread highlights is that we all want to be treated in an honest and transparent way when buying cars.

I operate this way in business and have to admit that it doesn't always benefit me.

Personally I just want things sorted if I buy a used car and something turns out to be wrong with it reasonably soon after purchase

 

[Londonscottish]

I enjoyed the experience of buying my 212 from Maundrells. Despite the fact they sell all manner of exotica they made a real effort to keep me happy from apologising profusely when I first saw it (it hadn't been prepped) to refusing to release it until they'd sourced and fitted a set of new rotors and pads which they did at cost (for the parts) and free (in terms of labour).

Plus they're all car nuts in there.

Highly recommended.

 

[Vermilion]

When I went to see my previous car (2012 MX5) from a garage about an hour away, they had freshly washed it knowing I was coming to possibly buy it. I thought that was nice.

We only went into the Mercedes dealership when I needed a bigger car to have a look around, I never thought I could afford one and the salesman was very nice. He tried to sell me a PCP plan but over the following week between buying and collecting the car, I decided it would be much cheaper to just get a bank loan which is what I did. I enjoyed being 'shown around' the car when I collected it as I'd never driven an automatic before and had no idea about all the bells and whistles. It was an all-round nice experience.
I was disappointed after my service though, when I discovered that all my personal settings (seat positions and height, radio station and dashboard settings) had been changed. It took me ages to get my seat right (I'm only 5'4"). I wasn't best pleased. They also didn't contact me afterwards to check that I was happy with it all. This was Jardine Mercedes at Southend on Sea.

 

[Kei]

Never bought a car from the dealership but was quite put off when the one time I tried, one salesman refused to take me seriously at all.

 

[flying banana]

The jag dealers around our way are so up themselves that one is forced to show up in jodphurs, brogues, a tweed jacket and a monocle just to get a "hello" out of them. My local merc dealer was great with the recent change from the Audi A8 I Had to my current E220 Bluetech. Painless, accommodating, quick, responsive and the price was much better than the equivalent A6 avant next door at the Audi dealer. I even got more in part-ex from the Merc dealer than Audi were offering!

While I was in there waiting for a tyre to be changed just after picking it up (it had one run-flat out of four tyres and it was changed free of charge for a new non-run-flat by the dealer), I overheard a more mature couple who'd obviously travelled a fair distance to purchase an A class. They'd been out for a drive and loved the car, but were convinced the dealer was trying to stitch them up on price. The saleswoman was tearing her hair out trying to convince them, and eventually the sales manager had to come out to show them his accounts, detailing why they couldnt have another £2k off the ticket price. Basically the dealer was making about £500 on the sale. He offered to pay the road tax and fill it up with fuel - which constituted in total about 20% of his profit margin!

This couple just wouldn't have it and they were still there arguing the toss when I left. I hope they left empty-handed because buying a car is a two way street. The dealer has to make a bit of money on the deal, and the premium you pay as a customer gets you the peace of mind that you can take it back if something goes wrong (from a main dealer with an approved used car, anyway).

 

[Joderest]

Can I add my two pennies worth.
After 15 years of owning Landrovers Discovery's, we decided that we would like a change. We needed a 4x4 that could tow the wife's horse trailer and take my fishing gear on occasions. I also do my own minor servicing, so had to be user friendly. After a lot of research we settled on an ML270. As we were not that rich, up to 2004 MY.
We looked at about 6 in dealerships, two of which were Mercedes Garages, we were so disappointed, dirty cars, one was missing all headrests, one was a rust bucket, one would not start when we got there, another had a really tatty full respray. These were all cars with 70 to 80 thousand miles on, we were then thinking about staying with Landrovers, but we do not like the Discovery 3.
Thebut I saw an add, private sale, old boy had car from new, 2003, Mercedes service history, 35,000 miles. It was worth the 8 hour journey to see it. Clean, tidy, all up together. I paid £3950. Same as the crap at dealers. It's a nice car, we are very pleased. The only down side is no 3 months warranty.
I guess I am trying to say that sometimes buying private makes more sense.