What are car salesmen (sorry executives) for?

[dubber36]

Having recently bought a Mk7 Golf and currently in the process of trying to buy a Polo for my parents, I'm beginning to wonder what they actually do.

You arrive at the dealer and get guided towards reception as there is no one else about. A sales person gets called out of whatever room they're kept in and introduced to you. After telling them what you have come to see, they will show you around the car you have come to see, wittering on about completely pointless aspects of said car. When you throw some technical questions at them that you already know the answers to, they spout out the first thing that comes into their head, which is inevitably wrong.

After a test drive where they show incredibly slovenly driving techniques, whilst still spouting more drivel before letting you take the helm, you are ushered over to the coffee machine while they go and talk to their manager about the deal.

You have obviously done your sums before getting there, so after what seems like for ever, they produce a tablet with completely unrealistic deal on it. The starting deal I had for the Polo included GAP and GardX, none of which I had asked for. Perhaps they are now miss selling this as opposed to PPI? When told how completely unacceptable the deal is, they have to go off to see their manager again. This can happen several times, each time taking longer and longer, probably in the hope that you'll cave in and accept their crazy offer.

Why the hell can't we just deal with one person and do battle face to face across a desk? That's how it always was. I know they do it as it's easier for the sales person to say no, when they make out it's not them actually saying no, but where's the sport in that? I hate buying cars with a passion. I don't know how you serial car changers can keep going through this. Arrggggghhhhhh.

Not only that, but what do all the spare people do at the dealers? Whilst waiting around for the next offer to come back from the manager, countless people who look like they spend far too much time getting ready in the morning, mill around. Not going anywhere in particular, not carrying anything, in fact not appearing to be doing anything at all. Are these the other sales people (sorry, executives) getting some exercise?

One plus note to all this, the commercial boys are far better to deal with. No messing, one to one haggling and a deal reached. Buying the Amarok was fun, but the cars...

[hog_hedge]

Although I appreciate people have to make a living, pay the bills, feed the kids etc. I have a strong disliking towards car salesmen (and women). Purely because of the sh!t that they spout and the lies that they tell, can't we just have a set price for a car rather than a dealership roulette where you have to spend the best part of a week haggling down to a price that they will still make profit on.

This is why I love sites such as DTD, no crap just a straight forward price - take it or leave it. I just don't like the salesman con of trying to get the customer to pay as much as possible and by potentially taking advantage of people who think £500 is well spent for Autoglym Life Shine. I appreciate that there are the honest guys out there and they all have to make a living but buying a new car without the broker websites is so much hassle and sometimes you're unsure of what a good deal actually is.

I think the whole concept of a car salesmen is becoming old fashioned now since the dawn of the Internet.

[Guzzle]

I gave up with local dealers for sales many years ago. I just grew tired of poor deals and silly games.

These days I use the local dealer for test drives and servicing only, and do my dealing with the likes of Drive the Deal or Carwow.

[I wanted a GTi]

Do what I do, go to the dealer and ask at reception for the new car sales man/woman and say I'm here to buy a car and I'm wanting to buy this car and this is how much I want to pay. Show them a printout of the best deal you can get online and ask if there is any point in sitting down.

[Booth11]

I empathise Simon. And agree about buying a commercial vehicle being a much better experience.  No messing about there.

I had pretty much the same experience the last time I went to buy a car from a local dealership back in 2008.  Wanted to replace my mk5 gti with another one, a factory specced one as had certain extras I knew I wanted having bought a stock car first time round. Had done my homework and took my spec into the local dealership.  Well that effort to buy a new car ended in total futility about 2 hours later, but only after they had gone to extraordinary lengths to try and get me to take a stock car, non of which remotely matched my chosen spec, deterred me from placing a factory order by telling me it would take 7 months maybe longer, who knows (the lead-in times were nothing like that) and then when I insisted on it being a factory order, the salesman did exactly as yours did and went back and forth to see the sales manager about 6 times to see if he would get any closer to our figure, returning each time with a shake of the head.  They couldn't have been more apathetic, apart from their enthusiasm trying to get me to take Service Plan, GAP and ceramic coating. The experience ended with me telling them to stick it. 

I went home and typed my chosen spec into Orangewheels and later that same afternoon got a call from VW Gilbert Lawton in Macclesfield who placed an order.  3 months later I had my second mk5 gti, for ££££ less than the local dealership and as per my wishes, and a nice drive back home to get acquainted with it.  That marked the end of my dealings with local dealerships and the beginning of my dealing with brokers - cheaper, far better service and a painless experience.  Exactly the same great service and discount with DTD too this time round.

[fredgroves]

I think the whole concept of a car salesmen is becoming old fashioned now since the dawn of the Internet.

Not so sure about that.

Whilst there are a few people who hang out on internet car forums and know how to play the game, I'll bet that 95% of private UK car sales are still done by going to a dealer and suffering the abuse.

You are all right though - I'd sooner go to the dentist than talk to a car salesman. Its not even just the rip off price either, its the whole attitude.

[TurboTrev]

And of course when you do take an Orange Wheels or DTD quote in, they look at it, they look at you, they look at the deal again, they look at you again, then they laugh out loud, shake their head and say if you can get that deal snap their hands off, they're making a loss and they won't stick to it.  So off you trot and you do the deal as quoted, no problem.

[wantmygti]

And of course when you do take an Orange Wheels or DTD quote in, they look at it, they look at you, they look at the deal again, they look at you again, then they laugh out loud, shake their head and say if you can get that deal snap their hands off, they're making a loss and they won't stick to it.  So off you trot and you do the deal as quoted, no problem.

Exactly my experience.

[fredgroves]

And of course when you do take an Orange Wheels or DTD quote in, they look at it, they look at you, they look at the deal again, they look at you again, then they laugh out loud, shake their head and say if you can get that deal snap their hands off, they're making a loss and they won't stick to it.  So off you trot and you do the deal as quoted, no problem.

Exactly my experience.

Yep.

I guess its actually to do with their discount rate from VW though. If your local dealer sells 5 cars a week then their rate won't be nearly as good as the DTD guy who probably sells ten times that many, if not more.

Quite possibly on their cost price, this is a loss making figure.

On the other hand, I suspect main dealer expected margin rates are pretty high indeed, maybe 25%?

[brettblade]

My local dealer (and a couple of others relatively close) were great, they just told me to bring my best quote in and they would see how close they could get to it.  The only thing they wouldn't do was to compete against other dealerships in their group (JCT600).  Paid slightly more than DtD and very, very slightly more than CarWow (c£100), but dealt with the dealership that was on my doorstep.  Car was collected on 01/09/2016 as anticipated, and hadn't been prepped (as I had requested).  No complaints and wouldn't hesitate to use again.  Had they gone down the route that's talked about in this thread, I would have had no qualms using DtD or CarWow.