Whats going on with the dealers?

[bulldoze]

Popped into local dealers today to see what they could sell me. Looking for a used C class estate at around the 25k mark.

To cut a long story short the guy just did not want to make a deal at all offered 15% less than glasses on my trade in. Would not budge on sticker price and all at a finance rate of 12.9%!

I have done this a few times before and just waited for him to make some movement and guess what? nothing!

Needless to say I walked out, my wife had a similar experience at MBworld a few weeks ago.

I read a article in last weeks Autocar that said this is a good time to buy as the dealers would be willing to do some deals but this is certainly not my experience at the moment!

 

[markjay]

No offence meant but... perhaps you don't look like a 'serious buyer'? Unfortunately dealers do go by first impression... and wouldn't bother with offering a discount as they believe you will not buy - and what they really want is to get you out of the showroom as soon as possible.

Some years back, a good friend of mine and his wife stopped on the way back from a walk in the country at a used Land Rover dealer... wearing the kind of clothes that you do when you go for a walk in the country, muddy shoes and all... tried to have a look at some Discos... salesperson was giving them a brush-off... till my friend pointed at a green one and told his wife in a loud voice - that one will match the colour of the Aston.. he had a convertible green DB7 at the time. It got the salesperson attention, and my friend ended-up buying a fully-loaded nearly-new disco from them for a not inconsiderable sum..

 

[crockers]

Must try that ..

"Darling that green will match the Austin".....

 

[Dieselman]

No offence meant but... perhaps you don't look like a 'serious buyer'? Unfortunately dealers do go by first impression... and wouldn't bother with offering a discount as they believe you will not buy - and what they really want is to get you out of the showroom as soon as possible.

Some years back, a good friend of mine and his wife stopped on the way back from a walk in the country at a used Land Rover dealer... wearing the kind of clothes that you do when you go for a walk in the country, muddy shoes and all... tried to have a look at some Discos... salesperson was giving them a brush-off... till my friend pointed at a green one and told his wife in a loud voice - that one will match the colour of the Aston.. he had a convertible green DB7 at the time. It got the salesperson attention, and my friend ended-up buying a fully-loaded nearly-new disco from them for a not inconsiderable sum..

That reminds me of buying a Volvo years ago. We wandered round the showroom and got totally ignored for ages by four sales staff. After some while another salesman came back in from a test drive and asked if we were OK. I said I was interested in the "just released that day, new model" and asked for a test drive. he said come back tomorrow, so we did and he had sold their showroom car to me by the next morning.
It was the first one sold in the County...foolish other salespeople..I bet they were kicking themselves afterwards.

 

[npuk]

Go towards the end of the month.

 

[Ian_Mac]

Try a different dealer. We had exactly the same issue last weekend, first dealer wouldn't budge on price at all. 2nd dealer far more willing to do business and they got the sale with the car being delivered tomorrow all being well.

 

[rascalmaster]

They've just finished the marathon of trying to achieve their year end targets... so probably not biting at the moment....
end of march is best time for deals

 

[davidjpowell]

Also depends on what your car is. Good cars were hard to come by, so they will not be keen to take in a car that they perceive as being difficult to move on, especially if they think they can sell their car with relative ease.

 

[flango]

Try MB Glasgow they climbing all over me at the moment and offering serious discount on e class estate to stop me sourcing it in Germany, getting to the point where I'm getting tempted Pretty sure they would come to the party on used as well. however If I were buying used I would be looking at Glen Henderson in Ayr, fantastic deals

 

[markjay]

Also depends on what your car is. Good cars were hard to come by, so they will not be keen to take in a car that they perceive as being difficult to move on, especially if they think they can sell their car with relative ease.

They auctions the undesirable cars anyway, so as long as they give you low enough trade-in value they don't mind what old banger you bring.

 

[camerafodder]

I have done this a few times before and just waited for him to make some movement and guess what? nothing!

Could this be your answer?

 

[NISFAN]

They auctions the undesirable cars anyway, so as long as they give you low enough trade-in value they don't mind what old banger you bring.

Most dealers have a list of Used car dealers looking for stock. This was certainly the case when I traded my old W203 in, the salesman checked the condition of my car, phoned 4 dealers and gave me the best price. I asked whether it would have gone to auction, and he said they very rarely send cars to auction.

 

[NISFAN]

To get the best attention from a salesman, you need to understand his motivation.....i.e. his commision.

New car dealers generally use a band structure to pay commision, so each salesman knows he needs to sell x new and x used to stay in a certain band.

You get the timing right....end of the month and he is a few cars down, you have his full eager attention.............middle of the month and already hit his quota, you can sod off in his mind, as he won't get a penny more in salary for selling you a car this month.

 

[A210AMG]

If you have been to the same dealers a few times and asked for 'deals' maybe they just think your not serious?

I don't think it should matter how you dress etc although myself and brother when looking at cars wearing jeans and t shirts don't even get the salesmen come up to us and ask do we need any help...

I do agree try at the end of the month that seems to be best.

Did you mention you were not happy with the price they offered? or just accept what they said? Did you mention you could get a cheaper loan from your bank?

All a little vague, but I do agree Sales people should take everyone that walks in as a potential customer and treat them all the same. Most of the time I've walked in shpowrooms they seem sat at desks and surely that's very boring. If I were one I would want to tell the customers about the features of the car and know all about the different models,

As it happends people like us often know more about the cars than they do. To them its simply a widget they need to sell to reach the target.

 

[BillyW124]

Is there a difference in salesmanship between actual main dealer and mercedes-benz approved retail used cars, previously known as merceds-benz direct?

i say this as my old man went looking for a 211 320 and the guy at the main dealer just said go to benz direct.

ok we said, screw you then tosser we thought

got a good deal though with direct anyhow and the 211 was home and dry within a week of plate transfers clean up brand new good years on all four corners (free) merc cleaning kit (free) new mats (free) and knocked of a little bit off the body work protection plan thingy. however talking pennies knocked off the actual price of the car though.

all in all we were happy so purchased.

 

[Palfrem]

The guy at MB Balsall Common was keen to make a sale.

Gave him my final price, he declined and we parted on good terms.

Two hours later we had a call asking; if he could persuade his manager, would we do a deal there and then at our final price?

I've bought 4 cars from here over the years so he knew I was serious, but I guess perhaps a small profit is better than no profit at all these days.

 

[E CLASS]

Vote with you feet.

There is plenty of choice out there.

 

[HR17]

Email or fax them with your requirements - [honest/accurate]details of your car, guide value on it, your budget and your requirements/specific car you want and cars/specs you don't want. Importantly, cc the head of the dealership and/or sales manager. Specify a time and date when you want their best and final offer, and ask them to reply with their bid. Try it with a number of different dealerships from the same an other [MB]chains and see who needs your money more and is willing to work for it. Has worked for me before and is an efficient way of getting what you want without much of the time wasting footwork.

 

[JohnDeere8530]

salesmen are their worst enemy sometimes.

I bought 2 yrs ago a new E350 coupe of my local dealer in Chichester. The young salesman looked dis-interested through the whole deal, it was not a pleasant experience as it should of been. Ok I got a good price (he had to match a broker), but when it came to picking it up, he made me wait about and hour while he was on the phone and then there was a problem with my insurance (number plate was a letter out on document) Not his fault of course

Instead of offering me the free 7 days insurance there and then from MB and let me take the car, he kept quiet about it, made me go home and come back two days later when the new document was through. I knew nothing of the free insurance at the time.

Anyways, I am now in the market for a E convertible, I rang him again, said I was going to buy one and could he send me his best price, He was polite on the phone but no quote ever came. He just ignored me. His dealership has lost a sale and most probably another in 2yrs time. Why are some salesmen like this ??

He did me a favour in the end as I managed via a friend to get a car direct from corporate sales in Ealing and there was a 2% saving over even the cheapest broker

 

[Deleted member 6183]

The guy at MB Balsall Common was keen to make a sale.

Gave him my final price, he declined and we parted on good terms.

Two hours later we had a call asking; if he could persuade his manager, would we do a deal there and then at our final price?

I've bought 4 cars from here over the years so he knew I was serious, but I guess perhaps a small profit is better than no profit at all these days.

Aiden?