Viewing 40 posts - 1 through 40 (of 44 total)
  • Car test drives
  • fatsimonmk2
    Free Member

    Went on three test drives yesterday VERY mixed experiences test drive one Toyota very good very pleasant ,test drive two VW “saleman” not overly interested in talking about car more interested in demo’ing bass speaker in boot to the point that me and the missus couldn’t talk to each other ,and on to the third Renault “salesman”was rude,disinterested and judgemental and the car was crap(new Clio).
    This is not a RANT as such more has anyone else had the same cause iam spending a fair wedge and would have thought that dealers would want the experience to be pleasant not dreadful like the last two, got two more next weekend god know what they will be like

    rogg
    Free Member

    Send feedback to someone further up the chain.

    Salesmen can be their own worst enemies – someone I knew turned up on a forecourt to be greeted with ‘we don’t sell used cars mate’. He had £35K to spend on a new car and promptly took it to another showroom.

    bencooper
    Free Member

    A big factor in us buying the car we did was that it was the only dealership where the salesman was normal, not a smarmy kid. Is it one of these self-propagating things – most car salesmen are slimy gits so people think they have to be slimy gits, so only slimy gits get hired?

    And, on a similar subject, what is it with the balloons? Has anyone, ever, suddenly decided to buy a car because they saw balloons flying outside the showroom?

    chainslapp
    Free Member

    Repeat the same process at a different time of year and later in the month and you will receive a totally different experience. People are normally shopping for cars at this time of year in line with the new reg and the start of the month is when there is least pressure on the salesman to achieve targets. IMO.

    LardLover
    Free Member

    I had a weird experience when I bought my most recent car (used car). The salesman (sales kid?!) said the car had been on a few test drives and he’d need to put some fuel in. So we drove to the garage, put the fuel in then said “just drop me off back at the garage then you can take it out for a proper test drive without me sitting in with you”

    “Just bring it back when you’re ready” he said cheerily.

    Needless to say we were out a good couple of hours (had to put more fuel in). We were up and down the motorway, through towns, country roads. I’ve never had that before, most test drives were 20 mins tops.

    It wasn’t an expensive car either.

    allthegear
    Free Member

    Always call ahead to arrange a visit. They know what you are looking for and will take you more seriously.

    Mind you, BMW Motoraad in Norwich still failed as they then told me I couldn’t take out their demo bike as I had been riding for less than a year. That’s why I spent £10000 with another BMW garage in Alton, instead…

    Rachel

    Cougar
    Full Member

    Worst experience I had was at an Audi dealership in London. They took one look at the scruffy Northerner and stuck their noses in the air. Their loss.

    tonyg2003
    Full Member

    Think it’s bad when you are test driving. See how happy they are if you don’t want to buy finance, gap insurance, paint guard, interior guard, alloys insurance, servicing package …. Etc … All the extras the sales folks are targeted on. Had to say to the guy last time …. “Don’t bother” and frankly he didn’t which was great.

    Kato
    Full Member

    Test drove an Octavia VRS the other day at a Skoda main dealer. Salesman kept calling me pal and was texting on his phone throughout.

    Money went elsewhere. I find them as bad as estate agents

    jambalaya
    Free Member

    We’ve had some very varied experiences. Not sure you can say its by brand more the individual sales person. This may be petty but after one salesman basically refused to let my wife actually drive the car at first (“it’s quite powerful madam”) we made a point of going back to the garage complain whilst driving the more powerful and more expensive car we bought instead.

    slowoldgit
    Free Member

    The main dealer near me lost a sale. It took two weeks for them to answer two questions about the roof rack: the load limit and the useable length between mountings. Then they couldn’t locate a petrol model locally for me to try.

    I had been willing to buy locally. I saw no benefit in developing a business relationship with them. Instead I went online.

    irc
    Full Member

    A salesmen lost a sale when I couldn’t see the service history as “the paperwork is locked up in the office over the weekend”.

    I wasn’t convinced by his saying that even if the 11 month old car was 5000 miles over the limit for a 1st service by mileage the warranty would be OK.

    Rscott
    Free Member

    will never buy from an arnold clark every sales man ive met was pushy arrogant and annoying.

    Went to test drive a mazda sport got in unwound the windows and started it up, all good, he then spent the whole test drive trying to wind the windows up and turning up the stereo telling me “its bose you know”

    The car its self was nice and relisticly priced with everything i wanted at the time. Buy I walked away because of him.

    i just baught an Audi from an intendant garage. me I hadn’t gone to look at it. actully went to look at another car,the man running it let test drive it and do what i wanted he just sat there in silence when i got back he didn’t try and push anything or sell the car, i phoned him 2 days later said have you still got it, ill be accross in 15 mins.

    chewkw
    Free Member

    To Op,

    Very simple. Get the Toyota sort the rest because you don’t owe them a living.

    What’s the point of complaining if you have other choices?

    Do they pay you to improve their business? i.e. complaining of problem(s) is a way of understanding shortcomings.

    You only speak to the car salesperson(s) regarding finance not the car. 🙄

    If they are rude tell them to sort off.

    hora
    Free Member

    I went to a prearranged testdrive/deal on a Panda 100hp. Every salesmen avoided eye contact and virtually ran away. Must have been month end/capped bonus. It seemed like it. The car was thoroughly blocked in, filthy and above book price.

    rene59
    Free Member

    will never buy from an arnold clark every sales man ive met was pushy arrogant and annoying.

    Pretty soon there will be no-one else left to buy from. Arnold Clark are slowly but surely taking over. Unfortunately!

    project
    Free Member

    Toyota garage went for a 24 hour test drive, excellent customer service, free tea and biscuits while waiting, nice receptionist and salesman who didnt try and sell, told me to take car for 48 hours, great car and almost bought it.

    Ford main dealer went to buy a transit, it was raining outside, salesman told me to look at them through window and point at which one i wanted to spend 10 thousand on.

    hora
    Free Member

    No they arent. They lost the Honda franchise near me. From my experience of them I can see why.

    jimw
    Free Member

    Worst I had was at local Subaru garage to try out a second hand Impreza turbo.
    Salesman insisted on driving out first, started car up from dead cold off forecourt, turned left and red lined it through 1st, 2nd and third, soon doing 100mph indicated on a single lane country road. I think he was trying to impress me. It didn’t work
    I didn’t buy it

    njee20
    Free Member

    i just baught an Audi from an intendant garage. me I hadn’t gone to look at it. actully went to look at another car,the man running it let test drive it and do what i wanted he just sat there in silence when i got back he didn’t try and push anything or sell the car, i phoned him 2 days later said have you still got it, ill be accross in 15 mins.

    What?

    Had plenty of mixed experiences, time before last went I was looking at (used) Golf TDIs one bloke was virtually desperate to sell me the car, test drive was fine, but he was too keen to sell it, walked away. One bloke wouldn’t let me test drive it, as he wasn’t interested in my part ex (not a deal breaker), third bloke was great, bought the car from him. Gave me the keys, said “do you know the area?”, and let me get on with a test drive, answered questions, but wasn’t pushy. Shouldn’t be difficult!

    hora
    Free Member

    Jimw when buying privately I always get the owner to drive it first and watch them. One had a repeat habit of going round slow/corners in 3rd almost labouring the car everytime.

    codybrennan
    Free Member

    As an aside, why is it that someone is called the “dealer principal”?

    Principal Dealer sounds grammatically correct to me- why is is the other way round?

    allfankledup
    Full Member

    Used to borrow motors for 24hrs by default for a test drive – let us see the car on roads that we knew / check it fitted in the garage etc.

    Try it – ask – garages that understand good customer service should let you borrow a car for an extended period.

    Re:audi garages – the mrs and I went into the dealer in Swindon when we lived down that way, stooges around for 15mins waiting for service and then left. The BMW garage up the road got our money – they were customer focused….

    mick_r
    Full Member

    Forget the nationwide chains – search out some family owned dealerships (they do exist, with a small amount of travelling we have them for Citroen, Renault, Ford , Skoda and Peugeot) – I actually enjoy visiting our Citroen dealer 🙂

    dab
    Full Member

    3rd Honda from a local family run garage
    No pushy sales , very knowledgeable and totally
    behind the product
    Great service / workshop team too

    Car sales involve take the car as long as you want
    then chat when you get back

    martymac
    Full Member

    i went to look at a focus for my wife, 2nd hand car.
    one we looked at the guy refused to let us open the bonnet, so i told him i would never buy any car without checking fluids etc, he told me if i opened the bonnet the price was going up by 300 quid.
    i just burst out laughing. . .and left.

    onehundredthidiot
    Full Member

    Bought my Caddy from a vw van dealer. Great customer service. Wouldn’t be shifted on price but then it was comparable with everywhere else for age and mileage. Had to augh when he went brought out the tick list of extras and basically said you don’t want any of these they’re not worth it, not even the service plan “just take it to a VAT registered garage, make sure they use comparable parts and the warranty will stand”.

    geordiemick00
    Free Member

    Car showrooms are either where fledgling sales people start out their career in sales, normally to either stay in the game until retirement and be an average sales person, or they end up there at the end of their career after blagging it in other industries.

    As a salesman myself and having had many, many cars I wince in pain when dealing with them, they have NIL sense of what the customer wants and invariably miss their ‘window of opportunity’ by a country mile. They assume everyone walking through the door is a tyre kicker and won’t buy now.

    I’ve come across literally one in 20 years, and he was selling me a motorbike. I’d only been riding less than a year and it was going to be purchased through my company. It came down to me using the ‘i’ll check the insurance situation first’ for which he asked me who I was insured with. I said Biksure, he picked up his phone, pressed his speed dial which put me through to Bikesure, he introduced himself to the woman on the phone, who then spoke to me who confirmed there’d be no change in price.

    Last objection closed off nicely, I caved in and bought the bike and appreciated dealing with a salesperson who knew the craft of sales very well.

    Flaperon
    Full Member

    Jag dealership – yes, you can take it for a test drive but only if you put a £500 deposit down for a new one first. Not surprisingly they didn’t get my money.

    retro83
    Free Member

    Cougar – Moderator

    Worst experience I had was at an Audi dealership in London. They took one look at the scruffy Northerner and stuck their noses in the air. Their loss.

    Family friend had a similar experience with a London Audi shop except he’s the most well spoken, well dressed chap I’ve ever known. His shoes are probably worth more than my car. 😆 If he is not well to-do enough to buy one of their cars I don’t know who exactly they are catering to.
    He wanted to buy a top end Q7 TDI and they hadn’t shuffled the cars so he could test drive it despite him phoning ahead first. Said they couldn’t have been less interested in making a sale. It’s bizarre!

    BlindMelon
    Free Member

    I have a test drive in a Volvo V60 last night, called ahead to arrange. Drove in and the sales man gave me the keys showed me to the car and said off you go, take as long as you want. I asked him if he needed to come with me and he said no. I’ve never had that before.

    Really good to deal with and answered all questions well, I just didn’t like the car unfortunately.

    rocketman
    Free Member

    Have been on loads of test drives it’s always interesting to see how they go. I like to drive the car where I want and how I want

    Salesman: “We usually go left here”
    Me: “Do you”
    *turns right*

    Most amusing one was with a saleswoman in the passenger seat. As radiant as a nuclear waste pipe and as natural as a tube of mastic she was giving it the cleavage/short skirt/hair tossing routine. And this was in a Focus 🙂

    Thrustyjust
    Free Member

    Just bought a Volvo XC60 . Most expensive car i have ever bought. Main dealer was just as crap as cheaper cars salesmen I had the mispleasure of being with. The deal felt like i was taking the food bowls from his children. Heart ruled, as i bought it. Should have listened to my head. Its going back for a 3rd visit to rectify things they couldnt do the first 2 times. I have ranted to Volvo, their boss and nothing has come of it. I think the majority are the same, almost as grimy as estate agents. Also, why do they put the a/c on arctic when you try a car out. Is it a way to make you only have a short test drive ?
    On another note, a friend went to Rover, to look at a new Range Rover. Guy is well off. Salesguy didnt see that in the clothes he had on, ie scruffy jeans and T shirt. He was allegedly looking to see if he had an expensive watch to back up wanting to buy/ afford a car. When he realised who he actually was, it all changed. It changed for my friend as well, as he bought his new car at another dealership, who didnt have the same ‘diagnosis’ of its potential customer when they walked in the door.

    kcal
    Full Member

    I got on good terms with Arnold Clark – at first. I was stranded and dealer was 40 miles away; was interested in looking at an Octavia hatchback, so he collected me, drove me through.

    Which was nice. However the day before he’d phoned, “er, that car you’re coming through to see” ;; “yes” :: “I’ve just sold it.”
    Oh. Took the lift through, way through I had to do the talking, was weird. He just wasn’t interested, would say “I thought you weren’t interested in what trim it had”, “diesels are better”, “this is the one for you (diesel, automatic, small)”. No it isn’t.

    Took the train 100 miles, had a lovely chat with salesman, was collected from station, treated well, was all good. Thumbs up to Strathmore Motors Perth, thumbs down to Arnold Clark Skoda in Inverness.

    bikebouy
    Free Member

    Audi were excellent, first Sales guy handed me the Keys (New TT Roadster RS) said “see that? it’s the launch control, head somewhere quiet and do this/do that then floor it” Ohhh how I laughed as I put it in Auto drove down the road in my old mans slippers..
    Went back the following day and another Sales guys comes out “ahh weren’t you in yesterday?” conversation ensues and I get the keys for 24hrs.. Niiioce… bought the car.

    BMW when I bought my 2x535D’s (and M3 Conv) were way touchy, came with me each time I went out in a car, didn’t explain much other than “Here’s the boot/fuel flap/satnav” and how they all worked, that was about it. Let me drive about 2.5 miles around Portsmouth (which was interesting) Bought the cars anyways cos’ I’d made my mind up before I went in.

    monkeysfeet
    Free Member

    Just bought a Volvo XC60 . Most expensive car i have ever bought. Main dealer was just as crap as cheaper cars salesmen I had the mispleasure of being with. The deal felt like i was taking the food bowls from his children. Heart ruled, as i bought it. Should have listened to my head. Its going back for a 3rd visit to rectify things they couldnt do the first 2 times. I have ranted to Volvo, their boss and nothing has come of it. I think the majority are the same, almost as grimy as estate agents. Also, why do they put the a/c on arctic when you try a car out. Is it a way to make you only have a short test drive ?
    On another note, a friend went to Rover, to look at a new Range Rover. Guy is well off. Salesguy didnt see that in the clothes he had on, ie scruffy jeans and T shirt. He was allegedly looking to see if he had an expensive watch to back up wanting to buy/ afford a car. When he realised who he actually was, it all changed. It changed for my friend as well, as he bought his new car at another dealership, who didnt have the same ‘diagnosis’ of its potential customer when they walked in the door.

    We were screwed over by volvo a few years ago with an S60. It was my 3rd volvo and I wouldn’t ever entertain one again. Bought my Audi from a local skoda dealers on the wirral. Possibly the most pleasant car buying experience ever.

    thegreatape
    Free Member

    Worst I had was at local Subaru garage to try out a second hand Impreza turbo.
    Salesman insisted on driving out first, started car up from dead cold off forecourt, turned left and red lined it through 1st, 2nd and third, soon doing 100mph indicated on a single lane country road. I think he was trying to impress me. It didn’t work
    I didn’t buy it

    An old, now retired, colleague of mine had a similar experience before he and the sales youth swapped seats so he could drive it. At one point the lad asked him what his job was – ‘Traffic Cop’ came the reply – and he didn’t speak again.

    fatsimonmk2
    Free Member

    quick update had the other two test drives last Saturday Citroen C3 salesman pleasant talked us through the car handed keys and off we head without him good test drive but car not quite up to the spec we want for us,Pug 208 next salesman way to flash for his own good but car very nice but couldn’t get us one in the colour/spec we wanted(wife wanted)for 12 weeks so came 2nd to Toyota,went in Sunday(turned up no phone call wanted to see if last time was fluke) brought Yaris Hybrid not quite painless(alloy insurence etc NO I DON’T WANT IT)but still very pleasant pick it up 3rd sept 🙂

    molgrips
    Free Member

    I’m interested in the Yaris hybrid for when the Prius needs changing.

    fatsimonmk2
    Free Member

    Molgrips i’ll report back on what it’s like when ive had it few weeks didn’t go for the top spec went for next one down doesn’t have rain sensing wipers or dusk sensing lights and no cruise control but apart from that pretty much the same,first auto and hybrid i’ve had so should be intresting 🙂

Viewing 40 posts - 1 through 40 (of 44 total)

The topic ‘Car test drives’ is closed to new replies.