[namnok]

Right, I've come back this afternoon from a car showroom fuming to the point where a call to the head office to make an official complaint was made.

We were buying a demo car, 64reg, 2k on clock, proper family car to replace the supermini we're bundling in at the mo.

As a cash buyer we thought that we'd have some leeway on the advertised price. the sales person then said that by law there's no budging on the price as thats the advertised price. And that's what's bugging me at the mo.
Is this true? Or is he being a really good salesman and not budging on the price?

I've had a look on websites and they all say there's room for haggling on demos, obviously be good to get the written law on this.

Now the story behind it all what got me fuming firstly yesterday the sales person made a remark despite me having the funds to buy up front, he'd rather have a finance buyer as he'd get the money in the bank 3 days before the car leaves etc.
Having worked my arse off and saved every penny I could over the last year, a comment like that basically made my money seemed not as valued as someone who has to get finance. I felt that he wasnt taking us seriously. I was close to getting our deposit back and go and buy from somewhere else.

Today we went and I didnt keep yesterdays events mar my decisions, the missus test drove the car as it would be hers to drive. We sat at the desk and he made a pitch to sell us a brand new car for £800 more, we thought about it as i'd sat there quiet all throughout this time once again made a haggle "Do we at least get a full tank of petrol for that price?". "No, that's the best offer I can do. Forget this car I've just offered, just take the demo"

At that point I spoke to the wife, despite us both wanting the car and willing to pay the asking price, that last comment was the nail in the coffin. Basically told him how offended and insulting he'd had been, and the last comment made my mind up.

rant over.

If anyone could point me in the right direction over whether its by law they must sell sales price or was he spouting shit?

ta

[petekitso]

He's talking shite - there is no legal obstacle to him giving you a discount. If you have already agreed a sale price, and paid a deposit, it is going to be more complicated because there would be a contract for the full price.

As for him being a good salesman, that's only true if you go ahead and buy it. If you can, get the deposit back and walk away. If they don't discount at that point, you are probably getting a good deal, my guess is that they will.

[tomtom]

It's bullshit. Go online - there are brokers for new cars.. I bought mine in Stockport 3 yrs ago and got an extra G off the price as there was a dealer in Bristol willing to sell me the same model for the lower price (and deliver it etc..).

Ask to see the sales manager - explain how bad you think this is and if they don't budge/plead for your business walk away and make it clear you will tell the brand head office (vw ford, whatever) about how awful your experience has been.

Also, instead of haggling for money off get extras instead - mats, mudflaps, minor damage insurance etc.. This costs them less than than a cash discount.

They probably want to sell you a new one as this counts towards their sales bonus eager than a second hand one.

[tomtom]

My final advice would be buy the same model but a year old. The moment you drive a new car off the forecourt it loses 20% of its value (the VAT)... I bought new for the first time last time - but next time I'll buy a 1 or 2 year old model.

[Grubes]

list price at a dealer is negotiable usually. I doubt there is any law allowing for discount

out of interest is this a main dealer?

Also 2000 miles on a 64 plate is pretty high as it will of been registered in September at the earliest (2000 miles in a month). definitely worth mentioning to try and reduce the price.

If your heart is set on that car go back the last week of this month if they are not having a great sales month the price will definitely be negotiable. More importantly go see a different sales person so they get the commission instead.

As for finance, the sales person will get a commission for selling finance. hence why you always get pushed for finance

-

As a sales person of sorts (not in cars) one of the first thing you know is something is only worth as much as the person is willing to pay for it. The sales guy probably believed you would pay full price.

If you feel you got bad service, belittled or down trodden complain to the manager. If the guy was the manager go back tell him he lost a sale and you are informing all of your friends how much of a cunt he is, complaining to his head office and advising people not to use his garage.

If it was car craft what you said is pretty standard way they work. They are only interested in finance as they get big commissions and make more money out the car.

[Sloper]

Re the law, he's talking shite.

You probably have the scope to withdraw from the contract.

In short, if the dealership is that much hassle, do you trust them enough to actually go through with the purchase.

BTW we used www.buyacar.com and saved about 35% on the forecourt price for a new Skoda (but I didn't realise that a remote key was an option  so I have to unlock the car manually!)

[namnok]

update

Its Bristol street motors Nissan in altrincham.

Like mentioned I called an logged a complaint and they've just got back to me

they couldnt move on the ex demo price cos they would have made a loss on it. why he couldnt say that instead I have no idea.

they've offered a brand new cashcow (our own choice of colour and a full tank of petrol!) for, I may have misheard so needs confirming, £180 extra compared to the demo price. she said that she'll even do it over the phone and no need to go in. the sales person had offered to call and apologise (standard suckup move?), which I declined for my own reasons.

Ive got the missus to call them and get the full details of the offer (trade in, same spec, price etc)

Even tho it was originally about getting our grievance across, it's looking like complaining was a positive move

[tomtom]

 Good.

Now keep on haggling!

Get on the web and see if you can get a better deal elsewhere... Remember with new cars warranty, service packs, everything is transferable between dealers... So it doesn't really matter where you buy it from..

[namnok]

yep heard wrong. it's £800,
so the original price they gave us, they're even throwing in the diamond polish that they always add on and you turn down.

[tomtom]

http://www.buyacar.co.uk/cars/new_cars.jhtml;jsessionid=245C81086B116374CA3B3D20C6F3ACDF?filter=242&filter=667&filter=16307&preSelectedFilterCategories=new_car&

(And sort by price... No idea if it's the right model but you get the idea)

[Sloper]

update

Its Bristol street motors Nissan in altrincham.

Like mentioned I called an logged a complaint and they've just got back to me

they couldnt move on the ex demo price cos they would have made a loss on it. why he couldnt say that instead I have no idea.

they've offered a brand new cashcow (our own choice of colour and a full tank of petrol!) for, I may have misheard so needs confirming, £180 extra compared to the demo price. she said that she'll even do it over the phone and no need to go in. the sales person had offered to call and apologise (standard suckup move?), which I declined for my own reasons.

Ive got the missus to call them and get the full details of the offer (trade in, same spec, price etc)

Even tho it was originally about getting our grievance across, it's looking like complaining was a positive move

Check the price on the web and ask them to match it, my money is on them meeting you about 1/2 way

[Jim]

We bought a used car from them. I would steer well clear. Useless people to deal with. Worst car we've ever owned

[namnok]

Well thanks for the advice so far. Its far from over. Just had a look at cost of the new car advertised just to compare. BSM website now sells a brand new same spec cashcow for £17999. We were offered a new one for £19200! Its a good job we didnt jump at the offer!

[Sloper]

I think you're getting the idea of this, try the following tactic, offer him £17250 in cash now (including 3 years full free servicing) if he starts to argue get up and walk, if he follows you saying sit down let's chat offer him £17k.

There's plenty of fat on the bone, keep chewing.

[tomtom]

Given what Jim said and you can get it cheaper elsewhere - why not go elsewhere? Got to be several Nissan dealers in greater Manc.. Good luck and good skills. Like Sloper said - a bit more to go on this one... Match price then get the freebies.. The paint treatment is worth f@ck all.. Service deals are good - and I got a minor damage policy reduced to £300 for three years... That I used 6 or 7 times for car park scratches etc.. Was worth it for me..

[tomtom]

Oh - and they gave me a free fruit basket for not reporting a missing plastic panel in the boot on the new car survey! (They pleaded with me not to report it!)

[namnok]

Not sure if i made it clear. BSM is bristol street motors. So BMS offered us a new car for over19k whilst their own website was advertised at 18k

[tomtom]

Not sure if i made it clear. BSM is bristol street motors. So BMS offered us a new car for over19k whilst their own website was advertised at 18k

:D didn't catch that!

[Sloper]

So look to avoid any contract you've entered into and then do some business.

I'll negotiate on your behalf if you give me 50% of any saving past £17250 + 1 year free servicing.

Car salesmen think that they can negotiate and do deals in reality they're low life wannabe 'the apprentice' failures who are there for the taking.  Remember who's the bloke with the money and who wants it, you can always walk away and go buy another car it's not like East Berlin in 1982.

[namnok]

thought i'd give a final update on this

Bristol street (hayley, the customer care person who I took care of my complaint) came back to us with the offer £18k for the, £1700 for the part-ex (£400 lower than the original offer) with barely any extras thrown in.

We called up Westway and they matched the car price, they couldnt lower cos the £18k price was much lower than their actual buy in price. offered £2100 for our old car, discounted service package and mats thrown in free. after the experience we had, Westway came across exactly as how you'd expect a car showroom to practice, with its customers first.

BSM nissan altrincham have now been taken over by Westway with it's staff made redundant due to the consistent bad reviews it was getting. Got my Deposit back from BSM too.

So we picked up the new car on friday night, all is great despite the very large credit card bill landing on my doorstep soon.

thanks for the advice guys, much appreciated as always

[Sloper]

Sounds like you've got a result there, good work chap.

[tomtom]

Sweet Well done!

[SA Chris]

Nice one!

[tommytwotone]

thought i'd give a final update on this

Bristol street (hayley, the customer care person who I took care of my complaint) came back to us with the offer £18k for the, £1700 for the part-ex (£400 lower than the original offer) with barely any extras thrown in.

We called up Westway and they matched the car price, they couldnt lower cos the £18k price was much lower than their actual buy in price. offered £2100 for our old car, discounted service package and mats thrown in free. after the experience we had, Westway came across exactly as how you'd expect a car showroom to practice, with its customers first.

BSM nissan altrincham have now been taken over by Westway with it's staff made redundant due to the consistent bad reviews it was getting. Got my Deposit back from BSM too.

So we picked up the new car on friday night, all is great despite the very large credit card bill landing on my doorstep soon.

thanks for the advice guys, much appreciated as always

I was going to say go back and ask what kind of deal they'll do if you were looking for finance!


I'm happy to be corrected here, but effectively cars (like sofas and other furniture) are now just a vehicle (pun intended) for selling finance.


So few people nowadays actually pay lump sum up front there's no incentive. I bought a sofa a few years back from DFS, actually got it cheaper paying 2 yrs interest free than 100% up front. In the end I stuck the cash in a savings account and just drew the amount out each month to reimburse myself for the direct debit.


Specific to cars, but quality is also on the slide, cars aren't built to last > 5yrs any more (mechanic my friend spoke to last week said as much though that was about a Renault and a Peugeot so go figure), people just pay their monthly amount and chop it in for a new one after 3 yrs.

[Sloper]

Often true as most people don't get the 0% deal and pay 15% or more

[Jaspersharpe]

Spot on two tone. My mate who used to sell cars said the salesman's worst nightmare was the guy coming in paying cash and thinking that because of this he would be able to get the best deal.

Because the commission for the dealer (and therefore the salesman) is much better when they sell on finance (and because they can shift other products like gap insurance) they can discount the price of new cars way more than if someone is paying cash. It seems completely Irish but it's just how it works now.

Times have changed.

[Sloper]

Times may have changed but the practice of using racial stereotypes to infer stupidity it seems persist.

[Sloper]

But don't worry, I don't mind because you don't look like a racist.

[Jaspersharpe]

YYFY! 

[Sloper]

For a punter it's actually not a bad troll.

[tomtom]

Is it possible to be racist against a fictional race/being/creatures? Like vampires for example?

[lagerstarfish]

trolls deserve their rep

and as for goblins 

[Sloper]

Is it possible to be racist against a fictional race/being/creatures? Like vampires for example?

Ask Nigel Farage and watch his head explode.

[Paul B]

I'm amazed by this at work, OK so my car is a bit of a PITA from time to time but everyone seems to have a lease car (think bottom of the range, nothing interesting) of some sort and the amount they're all paying is eye-watering. That, and they're limited to quite a piddly mileage. I just don't understand?