I wondered if dealers are actually in the business of selling cars??
As some may know I'm looking for another Berlingo and I saw one I quite likes the look of on Autotrader. It was only £300 above my top budget. "I can stretch to that" I thought, so fired off an email to the dealer.
The following day we were passing the dealership so I dropped in as I hadn't had a reply to the email. "It has been sold" was the answer. "Damn" I thought and off I went on my merry way.
I then got an email a couple of days later, asking if I'd like to take a look at the car. "Strange" I thought but I agreed I'd go out to look at the car out of hours and if I liked it arrange to come in and go for a test drive.
Took a look at the car early the following morning and it seemed OK, although it had a few things needing sorting, most importantly a borderline illegal tyre. In total I suspect about £150 worth of work, but something I was happy to accept. I ran some online checks to check it wasn't a write off, no outstanding finance etc. (I did find out an interesting piece of info that would warrant further close inspection of the car, though)
Went back that evening, the place was closed and the car now had a price on the screen (It hadn't had one before). They'd increased it to £200 more than the price on Autotrader! What's more, when I contacted the vendor they said that they'd only accept the new, higher price because they have someone coming to look the following day.
Obviously, I told them that I wouldn't be going ahead with a purchase, purely out of principle on my part. (If I wanted to pay the new asking price I'd buy another one I have seen up the road which is in nicer condition, looks nicer and has a full dealer service history)
Why do dealers play these sorts of games? Don't they want to sell cars? Maybe they have a buyer lined up who is prepared to pay the higher price and thus I have been "gazumped" but they have lost out on my future business - as a family my wife's car is up for replacement within the next few months. DO they not realise that by doing this sort of thing they lose the trust of potential customers?
As some may know I'm looking for another Berlingo and I saw one I quite likes the look of on Autotrader. It was only £300 above my top budget. "I can stretch to that" I thought, so fired off an email to the dealer.
The following day we were passing the dealership so I dropped in as I hadn't had a reply to the email. "It has been sold" was the answer. "Damn" I thought and off I went on my merry way.
I then got an email a couple of days later, asking if I'd like to take a look at the car. "Strange" I thought but I agreed I'd go out to look at the car out of hours and if I liked it arrange to come in and go for a test drive.
Took a look at the car early the following morning and it seemed OK, although it had a few things needing sorting, most importantly a borderline illegal tyre. In total I suspect about £150 worth of work, but something I was happy to accept. I ran some online checks to check it wasn't a write off, no outstanding finance etc. (I did find out an interesting piece of info that would warrant further close inspection of the car, though)
Went back that evening, the place was closed and the car now had a price on the screen (It hadn't had one before). They'd increased it to £200 more than the price on Autotrader! What's more, when I contacted the vendor they said that they'd only accept the new, higher price because they have someone coming to look the following day.
Obviously, I told them that I wouldn't be going ahead with a purchase, purely out of principle on my part. (If I wanted to pay the new asking price I'd buy another one I have seen up the road which is in nicer condition, looks nicer and has a full dealer service history)
Why do dealers play these sorts of games? Don't they want to sell cars? Maybe they have a buyer lined up who is prepared to pay the higher price and thus I have been "gazumped" but they have lost out on my future business - as a family my wife's car is up for replacement within the next few months. DO they not realise that by doing this sort of thing they lose the trust of potential customers?