Never trust a car salesman

[DVee8]

My jukes dipstick is built into the oil filler cap. Took me ages to find it.

So is my X-Trail's forkin reno's

[J-Rod]

Honda dealers are always great as they are one of the few manufacturers who can actually be proud of their products..

 

As for the previous comments about sealed bonnets etc, a friend of mine had an Audi diesel that had quite some thirst for oil but then the bonnet cable broke so he chopped a hole in the bonnet with a grinder and made a flap over the filler Lateral thinking, that

Yeah, my CR-X Del Sol and Prelude were both dealer serviced. They seemed to enjoy having them in! 

[Lukas]

I bought a car for my wife in march this year.

 

Last service done 4/2012. The oil was black, but it´s a petrol engine. So I said to the dealer I´ll buy it and he has to do a small service (new oil, new oilfilter, new air filter) before I collect it.

 

When I collected it, there was a sticker in the engine-bay from the service. Sadly I was stupid and collected the car just before the dealer closed, so I did not check any further and trusted him. 

 

The next day I wanted to check the oil-level to see if enough oil was filled into the engine and what did I see? Old, black oil and an old, rusty oil-filter. 

 

Oh was I angry. I phoned him and the dealer just said "the oil-service was not written anywhere", so there is no prove he had to do it. 

 

Car dealers... 

[explosive-cabbage]

I would have gone and done an oil change on their forecourt, without taking somthing to catch the oil in.

A big puddle of black oil I front of their shiny clean carpets would leave them thinking.

[chaseracer]

I would have gone and done an oil change in their showroom, without taking somthing to catch the oil in.

A big puddle of black oil on their shiny clean carpets would leave them thinking.

 

Much more betterer!

 

[Noel Tidybeard]

sealed bonnet- welcome to the aldi a2

[Ghosty]

most land rovers and range rovers are now stickless, as are some vws and audis.

You're looking in the wrong place then. It's on top of the drivers seat base on those, but you can't see it when the car's parked.

[stripped fred]

I have a deep distrust of car dealers. Of the 40+ cars I've owned I've never bought one from a dealer. They've always been private sales, from the car auctions or from people I know. It's not always worked out but usually has. I've been to look at cars on forecourts but can't bring myself to go through with it as I'm put off by the sales patter/bullshit.

[Lukas]

 

 

 I'm put off by the sales patter/bullshit

 

Me too. 

 

I even told car dealers/salesman to shut up and to stop telling me the same s**t they tell everyone. Some of the accepted it and some even sent me away. 

[chodweaver]

My current boss treated himself when he joined the company, leasing a fairly tasty two year old golf. But the lease on it was crippling him after a year, so he chipped it in and went to a VW main dealer for a very basic new Polo. The salesman tried SOOO hard to get some enthusiasm out of his customer for the car he was flogging him. But my boss was inconsolable at the loss of the golf and the downgrade he'd forced himself into.

[oldcars]

I called a well known big car retailer a few year back when i was looking for a Santa Fe.

 

The moron could not answer a question. I asked how long the mot was. he said if its under 6 months then it will get a year, if its over it will get what it has. So what the feck does it have then!

Next question, Does it have service history, answer, We do a million point check of the car to ensure it to the highest standard! Answer the fecking question!

I didnt buy it, got one from a great dealer in Halifax who did do everything he said he would so there not all bad.

[Lukas]

But you have to look at the other side of the metal too. 

 

A friend of mine is a car dealer. We sometimes talk about the business and customers. 

 

Ok, mainly workshop and garage, but he sells cars too. At least he did so until very few years ago. He said he stopped selling used cars because the customers got worse every year.

Almost every customer wants a check from the austria equivalent of the AA (ÖAMTC) before they buy the car. Ok, no problem.

 

But these "indipendent" checks from the ÖAMTC are so against dealers, almost every 3 to 5 years old car that´s perfectly Ok is a wreck after it. BEcause they tell the customers that it

needs a completely new exhaust (if the exhaust is slightly rusty which every exhaust is on a 3 to 5 years old car) or the shock absorbers are only 75% and need changing. Bullshit, but

that´s what they tell the customer. So they drive back to the dealer, complaining that the car is kaputt and driving off without buying it.

 

He once told me that if someone wants one of these pre-checks from the ÖAMTC before buying, you could be sure he does not buy the car afterwards. No matter if it is 2 or 10 years old.

 

And I know him and his business well and he is one of the only car-dealers I would buy a car from. Because he is an honest bloke. Sounds impossible (car-dealer = honest), but he is one

of the very few. Sadly, the corporate image of the whole  motor trade sector is sooo bad because of so many black sheep, everyone thinks every car dealer is an absolute villain. And the 

rare exceptions from the rule are the ones that are seriously affected by this. So much they even stop selling used cars. 

 

If you dont have experience in buying used cars and if you dont know the common tricks dealers work with, it´s definately better to take someone with you who knows a thing or two about

cars and about buying and selling them. 

 

Lukas

[Taff]

I've only ever bought one car of a dealer, a '93 Xantia (this was in '98, so newish car). The salesman though he was a bit of a lad (made a huge, jokey deal out of the folding key while I sat there stoney faced) and when we got to the price I said that I was happy with the sticker price BUT I wanted a full service and it needed a back box. He fell over himself to get the sale, price agreed, collection in one week etc, all good.

 

Taff - "lovely, see you in a week"

Salesman - "er, you haven't paid yet, Sir?"

T -  "don't worry, I'll bring the money with me when I collect it, then I can be sure it has been serviced properly and the exhaust has been down"

 

He wasn't happy about this and I eventually backed down and left a grand deposit. Anyway, upon collection, the oil, filters etc were all done as agreed but the exhaust featured a lovely new exhaust bandage! Wanker. About 10 minutes later, his boss agreed to fit a new back box.

 

I saw the salesman about a year later, driving a cab. No idea if it was connected and if he recognised me, he didn't mention it.

 

 

Three times I have bought cars as my company car (i.e. the boss has given me a budget and I have gone and sourced a car. That can be frustrateing. I swear the BMW dealer in Bath was staffed with deaf salesman.

 

Taff - "morning, I have £30,000 and I want a diesel 320i, the Efficient Dynamic version, manual, colour unimportant, dark cloth interior, cruise control, Harman Kardon entertainment and the Business pack"

 

BMW customer interface executive - "certainly sir, can I show you this petrol 525 auto with leather?"

 

Twat. I enjoyed telling his boss why I was taking my £30k cash to the Glousceter dealer, who had the right spec sat waiting for me when I arrived following a phone call.

[jonny69]

I want to see smell and feel the oil, how the effin hell are you to know if they, or anyone, changed the oil, what happens if the level sensor is faulty and it's either got too much or too little oil...unless you change the oil yourself and put in the right amount and then check the reading you'd never otherwise know till it goes bang.

 

Welcome to the world of French automatic gearboxes. The correct amount of auto fluid in good condition is CRITICAL in an autobox. If both are good then the box will go on practically indefinitely. If either go out then the box consumes itself quite rapidly. So why would you create a sealed autobox on which can't check the level or condition of the fluid, or top it up?

[Six-cylinder]

It all starts with share holders and leads to commission pay!

 

I spent a number of years as a car salesman moving upto Sales manager and Finance and insurance specialist.

 

The problem is pressure to move the metal with max profit.

 

Manufactures will tell you customer service is important then kick the shit out of dealers who don’t sell enough units and also associated products such as finance.

 

This is passed on to salesmen who can’t earn a living wage unless they make targets and are for ever under threat of being sacked for poor performance.

 

In an effort to maximize profits dealers employ younger cheaper people who they can train to become 1st class salesmen looking after there customers. In practice with the long hours, lots of weekend working and low basic pay the good ones soon move on and new recruits are taken on.

 

Stating company policy instead of answering a question is surly the company training!

 

Don’t get me wrong salesmen can be very poor but the way the industry works does not help.

[J-Rod]

In defence of salesmen, I remember one chap who used to work at the FIAT/Alfa garage in Swansea. He was as close as you could get to being honest and he used to sell bucketloads of cars. I think it was because he didn't try to sell you something you didn't want or need but, if you did want something, he'd arrange to have it there waiting for you at exactly the time he said he would. 

 

He retired a few years ago and I called in there after he left; was a totally different place and seemed to be staffed by people who had moved on from estate agents - all smart shirt n' shoes. Not a good vibe. 

[Lukas]

 

 

In practice with the long hours, lots of weekend working and low basic pay the good ones soon move on and new recruits are taken on.

 

Good point there. I guess being a car salesman at a huge car-palace is not a relaxing job. 

 

I´ve always imagined it to be a dream-job. Driving around with different cars, showing people the different cars and talking cars the whole day. But I guess that´s a bit of a romantic approach. 

[Vince70]

I've bought both from dealers and private sales in the past and there's good and bad in both we've got one in this neck of the woods that sells real old shite such as Megane and Laguna IIs at mega inflated prices and none of the cars on the forecourt you would touch with a barge pole and most of his cars are held together with wood screws and glue he seems to go bust once trading standards gets involved and reopens under a different name once a year or so but I guess there's some gullible people about who buy his old tat.

 

Normally the stuff I've bought from dealers are old part ex stuff from top end company's which only sell newish expensive stuff so the cars I buy are stuck out back in a dirty compound unloved but whatever I've bought from them has been a gem and the prices have always been more than fair...

 

I think the best one i had from a dealer was a little Ax which cost me £230 8 years ago with 40000 on the clock which I bought for my younger brother the problem is sometimes buying private these days seems to be a minefield in itself as people expect an £800 car to be worth £2000 because there's one in the paper with half the mileage in mint condition so that makes the car they own worth that amount and some peoples idea of excellent condition is that it's been repainted with a pound shop aerosol down one side 5 years ago and it had an oil change in the late 90s.

Whatever car I buy dealer or private I service myself anyway as a full service if your not worried about paperwork is only about £40 for oil, plugs and filters plus coolant so it's a wise move to do that for piece of mind anyway plus you know it's been done properly.

[Bren]

It helps to know about cars if you actually want to sell any of the bastard things. Which many don't.

 

I like to think I am too honest to flog motors.

 

If I worked in a Renault dealers I would be sending customers elsewhere - I would be saying "Dont touch that Laguna - it's wank."

[kinkersaab]

I am a car dealer,and have been 20 years, i love it, and take a very different a

Approach to it to most. Some like it some dont. What i will say, is what i always say in these type threads is. In my 20 years i have never been "done"by a trader, i have lost count of the times joe public have tried and on occasion managed. The public are the mot untrustworthy bunch of ever. But somehow thats ok........

[Bren]

I am a car dealer,and have been 20 years, i love it, and take a very different a

Approach to it to most. Some like it some dont. What i will say, is what i always say in these type threads is. In my 20 years i have never been "done"by a trader, i have lost count of the times joe public have tried and on occasion managed. The public are the mot untrustworthy bunch of ever. But somehow thats ok........

Kinkersaab I concur........

 

When joe public is'nt trying to stitch up a trader he's trying to stitch up a private seller.

[Six-cylinder]

If I worked in a Renault dealers I would be sending customers elsewhere - I would be saying "Dont touch that Laguna - it's wank."

Easy to say but when your job is under threat for not selling enough cars and you have a mortgage to pay and two kids to feed it's not quite such a straight forward choice.

[richardthestag]

https://youtu.be/RwoN7Y1aG3g

 

Crazy customer at Russian Stealership

[rovamota]

Some people think an FSH is a pile of car wash receipts in the door pocket.

[stripped fred]

The most annoying things is when they say 'cambelt changed' and when you check it out further it was in 2008...

[stripped fred]

I used to enjoy reading 'dealers diary' in car mechanics magazine. That does give a good insight into life as a dealer. He used to say that the cheaper the car the more the average punter expected it to be perfect. I can see it from both sides. I prefer a dealer to be less salesman like and as honest as possible about the cars condition. I prefer to hear of it's faults.

[Lukas]

 

 

 I prefer to hear of it's faults.

 

Me too, but we are a minority. 

 

Most people like to think the used car they can afford is almost as perfect as a new one. And they like to hear that too. So if you tell them about faults, even if they are minor, they walk away and buy a car from a seller who does not tell them about faults. That´s psychology I think. 

 

When I sell a car, and this happens almost every year, I try to be as honest about its condition as possible. But if I tell the potential buyers the car has some scratches because it´s 12 years old and has 160.000km on the clock, many of them say "Ok so I will look for a better one". I doubt they will find one. 

 

The buyer of my Mazda 6 was very happy when he saw the car and told me he thought it would be a lot worse because I told him on the phone it has traces of use/wear marks. So if you tell them about faults, most people will be put off. And dealers know that.