Do dealers actually want to sell cars?

[davehills]

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?

[ron]

I was looking for a new Berlingo,went to a dealer & was told the Vt,Vtr & Xtr are NLA as the new 'feel' range was out.I e mailed Citroen for a brochure & got one for the Vtr etc.I 'phoned Citroen who then sent me a van brochure.'Phoned again asking if they actually wanted to sell me a Berlingo,to which they said they would send me a new brochure.Nothing more heard for 2 weeks.Absolute amateurs who don't seem to give a toss. 

[Jed Clampit]

Yes their service sucks the way they look after their customer's do as little as they can for as much ££ as they can look what happened to British Leyland did i just wright that i must be getting old 

[ron]

Yes their service sucks the way they look after their customer's do as little as they can for as much ££ as they can look what happened to British Leyland did i just wright that i must be getting old 

I don't have my Berlingo serviced at a Citroen dealer.I was not impressed with the local one so use my local independent.I get the parts & keep receipts.
The present one,a 1.6 HDi,is now 8 years old & hasn't even farted in that time.A great car & I hope my son is as pleased as me with it.
If the new one is as good I'll be a happy bunny.

[Hughzie]

When I bought mine at the beginning of the year I was looking for a good used one max 2.5 year old and trolled all of the local dealers I could think of. Some had the enthusiasm I expected for a car dealer but a lot did not.

Quite a few said ''all our stock is online so theres no need to walk about the lot'' but I proved on a couple of occasions that was a lie. ''Oh Its just come in!'' Yeah, Thats the type of thing I'm looking for dumbass.

A local Peugeot dealer was by far the worst. Bloke was leaning back in his chair with his feet on the desk and made no effort to engage me on walking in and it was only when I went up to him did he do a half arsed attempt to talk partners.
After basically saying there was no used currently available I tried to talk about new but he want interested.

With only well battered ex mobility ones available I started looking nationally and ended up in derby which is 3.5 hours away form me. It was another Peugeot dealer who was having a clear out event on non Peugeot used and I got a good deal on a Berlingo which had yet to have its first birthday. The Berlingo was bought blind as I had put a £500 deposit on without even seeing it due to the fact I wouldn't be able to travel down for 4 days.
When I got there the guy dealing with me was off on sick so it was just a quick contract sign with a jr salesman and that was that.


On another note, Peugeot 'Free' insurance and Peugeot Insurance group are a waste of space. Apparently S/E Delivery Driver makes you uninsurable according to them. Wouldn't even cover me to drive 3.5 hours home despite no intent to use the vehicle for work until I the Business Policy on my old vehicle expired so I could renew on the new vehicle. Computer says no!

[Opensauce]

Cars are selling in record numbers at the moment so I suppose this is why dealers don't have to work too hard. When one want to spend a largre sum on a new car one expects to be treated like royalty but for reality check take a look around at our crowded roads. Cars have always sold well and always will for the forseeable future so don't expect dealers to care as much as we think they should.

[davehills]

I was looking for a new Berlingo,went to a dealer & was told the Vt,Vtr & Xtr are NLA as the new 'feel' range was out.I e mailed Citroen for a brochure & got one for the Vtr etc.I 'phoned Citroen who then sent me a van brochure.'Phoned again asking if they actually wanted to sell me a Berlingo,to which they said they would send me a new brochure.Nothing more heard for 2 weeks.Absolute amateurs who don't seem to give a toss. 

This one is a secondhand one - budget won't stretch to a new one but I'd have thought dealers would fall over themselves to make the customer happy and thus part with their money.

The last one I bought, many years ago, the dealer was extremely helpful. Unfortunately he no longer seems to be trading.

[bikergraham]

In my experiance which is i have to say is limited in car showrooms,but well versed in motorcycle showrooms,that the impression i'm getting is that if you get bad service go somewhere else,its definately a buyers market and if you dont like or trust the deal or dealer ,stick two fingers up and move on.There are so many good deals around at the moment which can eisily be accessed via the internet and some dealers will even throw in free delivery,in particulay a main dealer for example can easily transport a vehicle halfway across the country at no extra cost to secure a sale.I purchased a Merc SLK a couple of years ago from a family run business,i will say it was the best experiance i have ever had,spending all morning with him ,the car couldnt have been prepared better,no obligation test drive, coffee ,chat,and when i did buy it ,i had free delivery right to my house and he went via a good quality hand wash company for a final polish.I'm looking at going back shortly to change my Berlingo ,service you really dont forget,yet on the other hand 3 years ago i took a big bag of cash into a main BMW motorcycle dealer only to be told we dont accept cash ,we prefer you to take Hire purchase.Hummmm.No thanks.My advice is if your not 100% happy move on dont put up with poor service or preperation,there,s another one just up the road thats probably cheaper and better ,if a dealer or even private seller cant be bothered to spend the time to give respect and to sell you a well prepared and clean product then move on they obviously dont want to sell it !

[davehills]

Well, they have sold it now, presumably at the higher price.

I agree completely, which is why I walked away. I mean, if they didn't honour the original price, what chance of them honouring the warranty or any of the other promises? Probably not likely..

They are only a small dealer, in a small village, so I'd have thought they'd have tried just that little bit harder, but there you go!

Thanks all for listening to my grumbles!

[Ralle]

These stories are fun to read as i live here at Finland and are Berlingo is now almost one year old.
Here is also a culture that everything is on internet so you know what is north or south.
We first went to see used C4 Picasso and i didn't like it as it had dents and so on.
Then we drove to Place where i had spotted new C4 cactus and knew there was also C3 Picasso. Well those who live there mainly speak Swedish so no one came to speak to us as we looked Cactus and try to find C3 Picasso. Later my wife said when we got home that i didn't see how one salesman looked at me and my clothes i had i day off so i was wearing old jeans, Crocs and some old shirt. Nobody was intersted of us.
We had to go and ask from info desk where is that car we want to see. Then came young salesman and he saved our day as when i looked C3 Picasso i knew it was too small. He then said how about that? I had to ask that is it as i didn't first knew. He said it's Berlingo only minus is that it is diesel engine only with automatic.
We test drove it and rest is history. But the main point is that here as well when you go to dealer there is no service if you do not ask. It is one of the most expensive things we buy in our life and they do not even want to know that do you want etc....