In the last 24 hours I've tried to test drive a car.... tried and failed miserably.
In the market for a 5 year old german mid size SUV or maybe a new Japanese one (never done PCP/lease before)
Audi is nearest, so Q5 please.... ok that will be a 1000 deposit on the car you are likely to buy and we'll have it here in 24/48 hours.... they have had my 1000 pounds for 24 hours now and I've not heard a dicky bird.
BMW is just down the road, I've a 48 hour wait to test drive an X3
Toyota is a little further on, but I turned back yday and called them... "I'd like to test drive a RAV4 please, yep tomorrow morning at 9 is great, thanks". Went down they this morning, sat listening to all their compliance guff, GDPR etc. Answered question about my old banger for they scrappage scheme, patiently answer questions about what spec I'd like, which colour etc. Then the guys says, "lets SEE if we can get you a test drive" ... "yes please because I got to be somewhere," I reply .... "Oh where are you going?" ... "to the dentist, wanna come?"
He goes off the the office to speak to the manager... comes back and tells me they haven't got a hybrid RAV4 for me to test drive..... ARRRRGHHHH !!!
Now I sit here after just getting back form the dentist I've had a tooth pulled its been easier than trying to buy a motor!!
Am I old fashion it wanting to have a little go off something before I weigh out £xxxxx or signing up for even more !!
are you attempting to use main dealer networks?
Share your pain. Dealer's are, IMHE, shit.
Chose to go down the car supermarket route (used motorpoint in the end). I read so hard into the nitty gritty of the Ts and Cs to see where the catch was... there isn't.
Worth checking them out, superb service, and ultimately I got a great vehicle at a very good price (that even had extras they hadn't listed, which are brilliant - e.g. tow bar).
We encountered similar when we tried to buy a b-class a few years back. I bowled into the dealership and asked if we could test drive a 2nd hand b-class (they had a few in stock). He looked at me like i'd asked to sleep with his mother. 45 minutes later he was still giving us the sales spiel (despite me telling him i was a cash buyer and just wanted a quick test drive to see if we liked the car) and trying to get us to put a deposit down so we left and bought one elsewhere.
I was amazed what an ordeal it was. If he'd given us a test drive after 10 mins he'd have probably sold us the car for cash in under 45mins.
Incidentally dont buy a B-Class...it's been nothing but problems!
Went into Land rover yesterday and was offered a drive straight away.
Took it this morning, and have just spent 3 hr driving the new defender 110.
Only thing I noticed was a lack of interest from the sales folk. Very much, meh, if you like it you like it if not we're not that bothered type of thing.
No sales input from them whatsoever.
Businesses need to try being their own customers once in a while - quite a few will be in for a shock.
reminds me actually the BMW dealership were much better. After i drove a car for a bit i pulled over and the wife had a go. She's a bit of a nervy driver and hadn't driven such a big car before so was a bit nervous. After getting in the driver seat she looked down (saw the foot rest on the left) and said 'why are there four pedals'. Next she belted up, took a deep breath and said 'wish me luck'. Cue a very paniked look from the sales guy 🙂
Still makes me chuckle a few years later
@djambo
exactly the same experience with VW manchester.
they had a mk7 GTE golf in that I was interested in, oh yes come down for a test drive they said....ended up walking out after it became clear they had no intention of letting me drive it.
Shocking isn't it!
I bought a focus estate from somewhere up near Leeds a few years ago that was a private car selling dealership type place, they had a few very similar and were £2k less than the cars down here for same mileage/spec! (Herts).
Anyway they said 'which one do you want to try' and handed me the keys, said "see you later".
Ford main dealership in Stevenage were very good for my mum, I went with her to look at the 2nd hand C/B-Max's they had on their forcourt. They unlocked some for us rapidly and gave her loads of time and space (as in, walked off - no pressure). She liked the B so we went in and she was test driving it within a few minutes. She went back the next day with cash and she got them to throw in some extra warranty, a spare wheel (out of a fiesta they had on the forecourt) and some other stuff I can't remember. But very impressive again (impressive meaning: they just get out of your way and give you what you want)
Your experience sounds like a nightmare. I'd walk out too, honestly. Shocking that it seems to be 'asking a bit much' these days to physically look at and try out an investment that's potentially half your salary for a year, or whatever!
Another old fashioned one here but had a totally different experience. In my case I had pre-booked appointments, letting the dealer know what I wanted to drive and finding a time that worked (for me and them to get right car ready). In all 3 cases the car was ready to test drive on arrival and after a license check I was straight out. Only one turned into sales chat, other two politely declined as didn't get on with the cars.
Out of interest did you walk in or pre-arrange an appointment?
Try Porsche I found them amazing. I rang up to ask a few question about Cayman's and Boxsters. Next minute he says pop over and I will give you the keys to one. Arrive at dealership, car there and ready by the door, signed one document, given the keys and told take it for as long as you like.
Around the same time I took my BMW to be serviced and enquired about about M2's, said I had test driven a Cayman the week before and wanted to look at the M2. Without hesitation he said I wouldn't be allowed to test drive an M2 unless I put a 10% deposit down !
So my advice would be, buy a Porsche 🙂
I went to test drive a Golf GTD, and was told that if they let every young guy who wanted to test drive one do so they would be worthless....
I bought a Occy VRS instead. That was still a nightmare, but the test driving was easy, it was actually getting them to give me the car after I paid for it....
On a separate occasion I walked out of a showroom after explaining my requirements for a car (age/milage budget etc) and he went to see what they had.... after ages of sitting there, I just got up and left.
Honestly it's not that hard to buy a car is it? just seems to attract a certain type of person, and by type, I mean self-important, over inflated ego, but useless.
Similar experiences here.
I couldn't give a flying whatever about your instant Nescafé machine, fancy leather sofa, soft music, white tiles floor and smarmy salesperson dressed to the nines.
I would like you to keep the appointment and promises made, have the car I called about to see this morning cleaned(!) and ready to drive.
No I don't want you to disappear off to the managers office to 'see what the best deal is' for 15 minutes (what do they do in there?) and then tell me that £10k is a 'cheap car' and 'can't expect much' from the car (it was in pieces after an accident!)...
Funnily enough the (now defunct) SEAT dealer in Stirling did actually clean the car, had the keys ready for the agreed time, and had done homework on the best price they could do as I had requested. They took the time we test drove to value our old car for trade in and had a 'cash today' price written down for us on our return. I transferred the money and we collected the car the end of the next day after a full service and MOT.
One phone call, less than an hour in the garage to buy the thing, everything done on time and a nice voucher for 1 free service from them.
Agreed. Went through something similar helping my father to buy a second hand car recently. Wanted a Golf, dealer made us wait 45 mins beyond our appointed time, then proceeded to go though what seemed like an hours worth of compliance guff and irrelevant finance options talk. I've rarely been witness to such utter convoluted inappropriate nonsense before- we hadn't even seen inside the car at this point. When we finally go to test the car, was appalled to see they hadn't even bothered to clean it inside...during a deadly pandemic... plus it had a loud unidentifiable rattle, was putting out grey smoke from exhaust, body work covered in scratches they weren't even aware of (and drove like rubbish anyway)...basically they hadn't bothered to check it properly. Took the car back and told him he'd wasted our time and his own.
Walked into a quality Volvo dealership across the road, experience couldn't be more extreme. Car spotless and immaculately presented, salesperson relaxed, professional, respectful and not pushing sales guff - whole experience one of quality. Easy sale done in half an hour...and brilliant car too. These details matter more than so many dealerships will ever recognise.
I've had mixed experiences over the years. A Ford garage where the salesmen actively avoided my wife and me - we walked out. An Audi garage which did the same. A VW garage which were very helpful and let me have a good long run in a GTD. The same Audi garage when it changed hands. The salesman had just been transferred from a Peugeot garage in the same group and was excellent. I bought the car.
I'd called and asked them if I could come in and test drive a specific car they had in.
Absolutely they said so I went at the arranged a time.
bait and switch when i got there as they started with stupid questions like what colour car did i want....how much did i want to spend....how was I paying for it.
i nearly curled one out next to his desk before I left 😮
There seems to be a massive shortage of used cars at the moment, especially premium brands. Most people I know are on PCP's and most have had calls from sales people tempting them out of their cars well in advance of the end of their PCP periods with silly deals on new cars just to free up their car to feed the used car demand. I'm only about 13 months or so into my PCP so not had a call yet but alot are less than 3 years into a 4 year deal.
I guess if you're looking at 5 year old car then those currently with 5 year old cars looking to jump into a 3 year old car might be struggling so that stifles the 'liquidity' of the whole system apart from those looking at brand new cars.
Oh and leasing is another way.
Go online look at what you want, order using bank card, car delivered to your drive.
Dont have to deal with any dealership at any point.
I bought my Gtd estate from small garage(Autotrader) phoned up agreed trade in price on mine set up finance(drove down to view) test drove liked car brought it home 🙂
As mentioned main dealers are poop !
Audi is nearest, so Q5 please…. ok that will be a 1000 deposit on the car you are likely to buy and we’ll have it here in 24/48 hours…. they have had my 1000 pounds for 24 hours now and I’ve not heard a dicky bird.
If you're going to give them a grand without even seeing the car then you can't really blame anyone but yourself. Go down and ask for the money back, see how well that pans out.
Don't reward shit business practices by giving them your time and money.
Had similar with Arnold Clarke last Autumn. Saw a 2yr old car we liked the look of - called them on a Thursday morning and explained we couldn't get to the showroom until Saturday morning.
All good on the phone - no problem to wait, all that shizzle. Then Friday lunch we get a call from the 'Sales Manager' saying if we wanted to hold the car till Saturday we'd basically have to go through the whole purchase procedure over the phone and pay a 1k deposit. I promptly told him to go and swivel!
I think peoples car buying skills have got so bad now that dealers feel they have the upper-hand.
Out of interest did you walk in or pre-arrange an appointment?
I phone ahead.
The finest one we had was when we changed the people carrier - I had phoned Arnaud Shark Toyota in Stirling, agreed to come in at 4:30 to see a Verso they had in stock, in our budget. When we arrived at 4:25 we had to wait 15 minutes while the 3 (male) sales staff faffed around a blond, 21 year old yoga-pant wearing lady who was driving out the showroom in her new car...
At which point we went to leave, the (female) sales manager saw us and nipped over, only to inform us that if we were serious about buying we should have made an appointment at least a couple of hours before the end of the working day and not brought children with us...and that the car was in the dark so not much point looking at it.
Funnily enough I bought the Galaxy a few days later from an independent dealer.
Tbf ... I was a walk in for Audi and BMW ... that's why the audi guy has til end of play today to get in touch.
Only thing I noticed was a lack of interest from the sales folk. Very much, meh, if you like it you like it if not we’re not that bothered type of thing.
That probably sells more cars that way than the in your face, buy something you dont want/need right now type sales tactic.
I’ve only bought 2 vehicles from dealers, one a 6 month old Polo GTI and the other a pre-reg Relay van.
Both times I phoned before hand, turned up and within 10 minutes I was driving out the forecourt on a test drive.
Both different Arnold Clarks, which does go against their reputation somewhat. Guess I got lucky!
Car sales really does seem to attract a special type of person!
I've had every experience from the ones who seem like you're more trouble than it's worth to try and sell you a car (ironically, this was the last car i actually bought, persevered because it was THE right car in terms of spec/location/price) funnily enough that dealer isn't in business anymore (it's been 6 years!)
When I bought my old A4 (a 12 month old car at the time) the guy I dealt with at the dealership was great, but he did seem like the odd one out there, but did make the experience of parting with a lot of money fairly pleasurable (if only the whole ownership experience had been so smooth...)
When I started looking at changing cars again in 2019 I had some really mixed experiences, I was also weighing up my options between company car or cash for cars options so I was going round a lot of garages to see what cars were around to meet the criteria (<119g/km CO2 and big enough for the family/enough rear leg room that I'm not being constantly kicked in the kidneys by the then 2 year old behind me!, available with a tow bar, auto, estate/SUV/crossover, you know not too much to ask!)
The local Mercedes dealership were bloody awful, fixated on how much my car allowance was despite me saying my budget was pretty flexible for the right car (man maths obviously came into the equation) I walked out in the end when the finance manager came over before I'd even seen a single car.
Local BMW dealership were a similar story, but the one up in Grimsby were great, I called in on my way back from a site visit there and they pulled 3, 5, X1 and X3 out for me to try straight away (coffee was rather mediocre though, so one demerit point for that).
Local Nissan dealer were a joke, took a Qashqui out for a less than 5 minute test drive and was immediately challenged on wether I would be buying it or not, when I said i would want a longer test drive the response from he 17 year old salesman was 'you'll not get any longer than that!', needless to say i didn't buy a car form them!
Local VW and Jaguar dealers have both been really good, I've wanted to buy a Jag a couple of times now, MrsMomos response has always been, no, you've still not achieved Jaguar age yet!
Skoda were really good but couldn't find me the car I was after at the time (Octavia VRS estate without black wheels, ideally not a DSG as MrsMomo didn't like it on my Golf GTD, not the latest shopping trip)
Local Kia and Hyundai dealers were great, had the cars sat waiting for me with plenty of fuel, both times just handed the keys and told, try not to be much more than 3 hours please! Probably would have gone for the Kia Nero if it had been available with a towbar!
Toyota were great though, I went in there saying that the CHR and corolla were both on my list so it would be a fleet purchase and they probably wouldn't end up being the supplying dealer, not a problem, they sorted both cars out for me to try and did so again when I took MrsMomo back to check them out (we also tried a RAV4 on that visit) and they've been great on the after sales part too, my corolla came from a different branch (they don't have a commercial sales office in Lincoln) but the local branch have taken care of me since (including making me an extra number plate for my bike rack for free)
As I've mentioned on here before, I changed brand because the sales guy I used changed jobs.
For absolute pain, try one of the Arnold Clark shops in Perth - Ryanair levels of standardly shit culture across the business.
Toyota were great though
Yep, bought a couple of new Toyotas and great both times.
I had a great experience at Porsche when I was looking at 2nd hand Panamera. Friendly welcome and asked if I was browsing or wanted help. I said I was looking at possibly getting a 2nd hand Panamera and he said they had a couple and asked what price range. I told him I was going to swap in a Mercedes or a Range Rover plus £XXXX. He did a quick inspection of the Range Rover and he said he had one suitable car.
One was a hybrid that was ready to test but was slow and lumpen to drive. The salesman told me not to buy it as my first Porsche should not be a slight disappointment. He asked a bit more about the Merc I was trading in and said that was worth enough more than the Range Rover to put a slightly older Turbo S in the picture. Unfortunately it wasn't available that day but if I booked an appointment and brought the Merc with me then we could try that.
It was raining on the day and I got a call from the salesman to see if I wished to switch but said I was okay with rain. Was met with a warm smile and hot coffee watching the thunderstorm from inside the dealer. The salesman walked me around the showroom discussing the different cars even though he knew I wasn't buying them, he was just passing the time until the rain slowed to bearable. We then went out for a drive and the Turbo S was quite amazing, even for its size and weight.
Unfortunately when we got back it turned out the Merc value didn't take into account the left hand drive so the money didn't work. The salesman apologised for wasting my time and said he would let me know if something suitable came in.
About as nice experience as you can get from a car dealer I thought
wobbliscott
Full MemberThere seems to be a massive shortage of used cars at the moment, especially premium brands. Most people I know are on PCP’s and most have had calls from sales people tempting them out of their cars well in advance of the end of their PCP periods with silly deals on new cars just to free up their car to feed the used car demand. I’m only about 13 months or so into my PCP so not had a call yet but alot are less than 3 years into a 4 year deal.
I guess if you’re looking at 5 year old car then those currently with 5 year old cars looking to jump into a 3 year old car might be struggling so that stifles the ‘liquidity’ of the whole system apart from those looking at brand new cars.
A few months ago somebody posted a pic on pistonheads of thousands of cars parked up somewhere. They seem to be drip feeding them out.
edit
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-northamptonshire-56104281
The prices are stupid at the moment. Cars I was looking at for £9-10K are currently selling at £15-16k.
I have been serially annoyed by car buying experiences. This: https://pickled-hedgehog.com/?p=2655 from 2012 followed by the kind of review I'd like to have read: https://pickled-hedgehog.com/?p=2664.
Warning: both contain swearing. Often much of it in the same sentence.
Honestly tho Skoda were so much better than BMW. Long story of rubbishness, endless guff, speaking with managers etc while attempting to sell me a 2nd one. I ended up selling the one I had to another dealer, trousering nearly 2k back after the finance was settled, and then refusing to waste another minute visiting dealerships.
Other than to pick up my current Skoda which I bought via carwow. I only spoke to the dealer once I arrived to pick it up. And that was a very short 'no I'm not interested in any incremental selling, hand me over they keys' conversation.
I have recently been through this myself, however test drives werent difficult to get just trying to leave afterwards was the hard bit.
Was specifically looking at a used 3/4 yrs old a6 avant with my personal spec list there werent may around.
One came up about half hour away at a main dealer, phoned asked a few questions they were a bit hazy over the phone, asked for a test drive, organised a time and turned up.
Guy was a nice chap clearly quite young and fairly new to the game and eager. Showed me around the car, went back to office signed the form and listened to his gumpf then signed the insurance doc and he gave me the keys - told to drive for half hour or so and duly did.
Car was nice but paintwork was a little iffy and questionable service history which later when pressed on turns out it had never had a service.
You would have thought i was saying no to the best and most precious car in the world they way they went on - had the whole manager spiel aswell telling me it didnt need a serivce in 30k miles and 4 years - oh okay mate pretty sure it needed a service at 19k miles at the very latest and it also needed the brake fluid changing twice.
Icing on the cake was when i asked when the gearbox oil needed changing, salesman duly replied ooh not til about 50/60k miles, i asked him if he wanted to check that or if he was certain - yeah mate it doesnt need doing early on these - really?? You Sure? Think you'll find it needs doing at 37k.
At that point i walked out of the showroom.
Had the opposite last October. Ford, Toyota, Jeep, Honda, Citroen, Peugeot were all very welcoming and helpful.
All except Peugeot and Jeep let us test drive on our own without a sales person with us.
No one wanted a deposit to test drive.
All except Citroen were pre booked test drives. Citroen are a 5 min walk away so just popped in. They were brillion our own. ant and sourced a car for me with only a £100 deposit.
I was told by a friend that the computer chip shortage is having a drastic effect on new car supply. Perhaps this is related to your troubles? If they’ve only got a few cars then they want to sell to those punters who have already made their choice without a test drive?
Icing on the cake was when i asked when the gearbox oil needed changing, salesman duly replied ooh not til about 50/60k miles, i asked him if he wanted to check that or if he was certain – yeah mate it doesnt need doing early on these – really?? You Sure? Think you’ll find it needs doing at 37k.
Why ask if you already knew the answer? Just to test the poor guy? It's the most annoying thing to do to a salesperson who you said was likely new to the role.
I have had the opposite experience but I have always bought second hand cars and asked to test drive those specifically.
(Ford dealer) for my Fiesta I rang up my local branch and said that there is a car in one of their other branches that I'd like to test drive. They went and picked it up and had me testing it a few days later. Paid for it that day.
(VW Dealer) Most recent Golf GTI I rang them up said I was coming to look at a specific second hand car on their lot is it still there? I spend 10 mins looking it over and someone has walked out with keys in hand, one spirited drive later (with a lot of encouragement from the salesman) I am signing for it and putting a deposit down.
Maybe I have been lucky...
Bought last 3 commercial vehicles new from the same fella at Ford.
Even got the last van i bought in from across the other side of the country. It was cheaper than the stuff he was trying to sell me too. And let me have it for the price they had it advertised for when I initially made the enquiry ( other dealer had stuck the price up £2k online , but I had screenshots of the old price)
Recently went into Landrover to look at Disco Sport Phev. They didn't have one in , so sat in the standard one to see if I liked the feel of it. I did, so arranged to come back 2 days later so they could get one in to test drive. Just over an hour test drive, I liked it and got one priced up. They have to clean it everytime its opened and put new stickers across the doors.
Said it would be ready late July. Left it at that to have a think.
Meanwhile I stuck the details in CarWow and it came back with same car , but cheaper at another LR dealer about 40 miles away. Went down to see what they could do, got a load of extras over what the other guy was offering, same deal on the PX, and about a grand cheaper too.
Got my slot reserved, and it is for Sept. He reckons theres no way the July date was going to happen, especially seeing as the factory is shut !!
Went to buy a very nearly new fiat, complete with covid tax on price tag in the window. Stood next to it for a bit. Got cold. Went inside to talk to a human about it. Well and truly avoided (not just ignored!). Went home. Looking at you Arnold Clark Leeds.
mjsmke
Free MemberWhy ask if you already knew the answer? Just to test the poor guy?
Well, yeah. Point is that it's fine to say "I don't know" but this guy revealed himself to be a bullshitter. Now I'll happily deal with bullshitters but I want to know what they are, and that everything else they say might be bullshit.
I was told by a friend that the computer chip shortage is having a drastic effect on new car supply. Perhaps this is related to your troubles?
I think it's this. My 18-month-old Volvo is now worth more than the outstanding finance just six months after I bought it, according to WBAC.
It's to weed out the shrewd, so you're are left with the ripe plum duffers who will pay full price and then some!
Everywhere is Studio 54 now vetting for the money's no object people.
You would have thought i was saying no to the best and most precious car in the world they way they went on – had the whole manager spiel aswell telling me it didnt need a serivce in 30k miles and 4 years – oh okay mate pretty sure it needed a service at 19k miles at the very latest and it also needed the brake fluid changing twice.
Icing on the cake was when i asked when the gearbox oil needed changing, salesman duly replied ooh not til about 50/60k miles, i asked him if he wanted to check that or if he was certain – yeah mate it doesnt need doing early on these – really?? You Sure? Think you’ll find it needs doing at 37k.
At that point i walked out of the showroom.
That’s exactly what I would have done. If they are prepared to lie to sell you the car then you can bet they’ll lie even more later on if you have something go wrong which might be a warranty issues.
It’s worth testing them to make sure they are honest.
Toyota - I’ve had 2 opposite experiences with them. Hudds branch damaged my few month old car and tried to hide it, then it took 5 more visits to them to fix it then gave it me back the last time in an unsafe condition (faulty seatbelt). By this time I was very annoyed but kept my temper but the after sales manager took me to one side and told me never to come back again.
Wakefield branch - complete opposite, very helpful with a test drive, answered all my questions and was honest when they didn’t immediately know the answer. No pressure to buy, one follow up call (I can’t expect them to never try) and that was it. Wonderful service and I gave feedback to them about the guy who served me as he was a credit to them.
Porsche were absolutely the worst I have ever come across.
I rocked up on a tuned vepsa and parked it outside the window.
Walked about inside (jeans and denim jacket) and was ignored.
Asked to drive the new boxster and was told "oh no, no one is available, make an appointment etc blah blah"
Told then that wouldn't work for me as I was flying back offshore next day, within two minutes a 6ft blonde was serving me coffee and cake.
Was taken out for drive where I simply hammered the car to the point the guy was hanging onto the door.
Got out , threw the keys at them and braaapped off on the scoot to buy an Audi.
Horrible folk.
Thanks. I thought so.
Only thing I noticed was a lack of interest from the sales folk. Very much, meh, if you like it you like it if not we’re not that bothered type of thing.
No sales input from them whatsoever.
That’s just the way I like it. If I’m going after a particular car, I already know what I’m looking for, I’m perfectly happy to browse what’s in the showroom and what’s parked outside, and then approach a sales person to talk specifics like when can I have a drive.
Not that any of that happened with the latest one, because I knew precisely what I was after, I could even supply the dealer with reg and VIN numbers as they were ex-Motability Fleet cars, but they couldn’t find them through Motability’s own portal. What seems to happen is the dealers know the cars and when the good, clean, low-mileage ones get brought in for replacement or return for whatever reason, they’re bought, sent to us for cleaning and refurbishment, and go straight back to the dealer. The rest go to auction.
Mine was found at an auction site in Essex, 14 months old with 3300 on the clock, and I had to put a deposit down right then, because it was being sold at 10.00 the next morning!
I was in the dealership at 9, on the phone to my account manager arranging the funding, by 10 I had a (nearly) new car! Chuffed to bits with it, mostly because it was really tidy, one tiny hairline scratch on a wheel-arch. It was fully valeted and a LifeShine protection put on, which I did pay for.
Regarding shortage of secondhand cars, it may have been due to the lack of new vehicles globally because of Covid, and the semiconductor shortage, so people are going for secondhand; my Ford dealer was bitching about it, they’re adding £500 to the price of any car below £17k, and £1000 to those above.
The shortage to dealerships isn’t being helped by online car-sales through the likes of Cazoo either; being able to check out a car, buy it, have it delivered to your door, and have seven days to drive it around, then return it if it isn’t what you were looking for.
Which might be an option for some on here, especially having the week to decide if it’s really the car you were looking for.
I have to make it clear, though, that the company I work for, who repair and refurbish ex-fleet cars and vans, mini-buses, etc, was actually bought by Cazoo a couple of months ago, but I’m not putting in a sales pitch, I’m suggesting going that route purely because it’s an alternative to the traditional car-buying system.
One thing it’s done, though, is helping clear a lot of cars that have been sitting around for ages because the dealers and auctions were closed; we were over capacity last year, more than the 3200 cars we’re officially supposed to have were crammed into every space we could find, which was a nightmare for us logistics team members - one plater pitched up to collect a car, our supervisor spent two hours moving 34 cars around to get at the one needed! He wasn’t amused!
A lot of space is occupied by British Gas vans, which we repair, refurbish and decommission, and AA/BSM cars, which we do the same with, but we also have lots of brand new Puma, Focus, Fiesta, Corsa, Peugeot 208, and Seat Ascona which we build, fitting duel controls and adding livery graphics, so space on our site is usually very tight indeed!
I do all the pre-despatch checks on our big off-site storage area, I think I did around 80-90 cars today, but I had two lists, and didn’t bother counting them.
Once things ramp up, we’re going to be pretty busy, the workshops will be 24-hour, 7 days a week, and there are five sites nationwide in our company, we’re the furthest south, most of the others are on old airfields.
The point I’m trying to make, is that the whole car sales system is being heavily disrupted by the pandemic, and the rise of online buying, Cazoo as a company are only two years old, and are growing, they’re now in France and Germany, so any dealerships showing the sort of behaviour that has been described in this thread might find their days are numbered!
As it happens, I’m a bit old-skool, and I’d rather buy from a dealer, but clearly habits are changing.
Only thing I noticed was a lack of interest from the sales folk. Very much, meh, if you like it you like it if not we’re not that bothered type of thing.
No sales input from them whatsoever.
That's the way I prefer it too. Don't need to be told what to buy. If I have a question, I'll ask.
OP - Maybe it's age (with me), but everything seems over engineered and overly complicated these days, so am not surprised by your experience.
Horrible folk.
I'd agree in my experiance many offshore folk can be. Sounds like the Porsche dealer has learned the hard way again.
. Had a similar experiance to the op at the big windows on the Kingsway. Arrived only to find the car I had enquired about was actually at Edinburgh branch, the salesman was desperate to hold onto his comission and was trying to suggest to me all sorts of cars I should be looking at despite me being specific and saying I was here to look at X car + reg. After a while I got bored and asked if he had the car I was looking for and he admitted it was in Edinburgh....so off we hopped.
Having purchased a car from Cazoo this year I will NEVER use a dealer or used car garage ever again.
It's just too good a process.
2 weeks test drive, no questions asked. Just to add we had a minor issue with tyre pressure monitoring valve in one wheel and the car was booked into a BMW dealer and sorted FOC and straight away.
Incredible service, I had to walk out of the front door, inspect the car on my own drive and then had 2 weeks to make sure it was for me, they also offered a decent P/E
Years ago I had a 205GTi and just put a for sale sign in the window. Got a knock on the door and two dodgy looking blokes in dealer boots were stood there. They looked round the car and then asked to hear it running. Luckily a little warning bell rang in my head so I said they would have to come back later.
They cleared off and I didn't regain consciousness with the car gone...
Our local Ford and Seat dealers have been pretty good. VW, not so much. Looked at a Touran a few years ago and the salesman first of all called me a liar when I told him how much I could get an Smax for and then said that I shouldn't buy a Ford anyway as the 'VW was so much better'. When I asked him why he said 'because its German'. I left.
Similar experience made me buy a lexus. BMW- were total crap. Audi, ok but as soon as I said lease not buy it was clear I was speaking to the wrong sales guy and he walked away....Both pre arranged.
Lexus? No appointment, Gave me a muffin, freshly ground coffee and an IS for 24 hours with no mileage restriction and just bring back with same fuel. All on a walk in.
Loved that car as well.
mjsmke
Free MemberWhy ask if you already knew the answer? Just to test the poor guy?
Well, yeah. Point is that it’s fine to say “I don’t know” but this guy revealed himself to be a bullshitter. Now I’ll happily deal with bullshitters but I want to know what they are, and that everything else they say might be bullshit.
Exactly this, you need to know if they are being truthful about what they are trying to sell you, if they arent being honest about what you already know the answers to, then you wont trust their answers for stuff you dont know and genuinely need an answer to.
I bought a car from Cazoo for my wife. Was supposed to be delivered today but I got a call saying they are unhappy with bodywork defects that were not published when we bought it. They are currently fixing these and I’m awaiting a new date. Not sure if this is good or bad but they gave me £50 to say sorry.
I went to local car place looked at 4 cars, test drove 2 within minutes of asking and drove off with one of those, I think you're doing it wrong 🙂 tbh I think I did it wrong I only went to have a look a what might be suitable to replace my zafira as a camping load lugger
I bought a car from Cazoo for my wife. Was supposed to be delivered today but I got a call saying they are unhappy with bodywork defects that were not published when we bought it. They are currently fixing these and I’m awaiting a new date. Not sure if this is good or bad but they gave me £50 to say sorry.
both good and bad i think - my question would be if they didnt document those then what else wasnt mentioned, however on the flip side they are sorting out before delivery something that you may have noticed and asked them to sort anyway.
With any car id be going over it with a fine tooth comb but id do this at a dealer anyway, last dealer was shocked when i crawled under the car with a torch.
Best one I had - drove out to a little independent garage, wandered around a bit until I spotted a bloke.
'Are you John?'
'Yeah'
'Cool right, Dave said to ask for you about a test drive on the Citroen Picasso'
'ah *ing hell he hasn't has he. * me, I have a billionty and *ing one things to do and that lazy * wants me to do a test drive. *ing *'.
Actually turned into a rather nice test drive and with absolutely zero pressure to buy...
Other than that I've never had any problems booking a test drive to suit me but I do not use main dealers and would never put a deposit down. That just gives them leverage I don't need them to have.
last dealer was shocked when i crawled under the car with a torch.
Yep this. *what are you looking for* ....* Don't know but I'll tell you if I find anything* *my mechanics have been all over this car it's perfect * ....* Indeed but you don't have to live with it for many years..... I do. *
I suspect many folk just don't these days.
So I've got my money back this morning for Audi.
But only after they gave me on Tuesday afternoon the bad news of the car I put a deposit down on and so had bought, had been sold to someone else !! And the good news that they'd found me one exactly the same... as long as exactly the same meant a different colour, different interior and different engine size !!!
Oh and still, 4 days later, havent test driven a Q5 yet
Kind of test driven a X3 though
Well it said BMW X3 on the badge but it might as well have been a Lamborghini !!
The most I wanna spend will get me a 5 years old X3 with about 50k on the clock. What the Mrs picked me up in was 50k's worth of brand spanking new 3 litre M sport X3 with all the bells and whistles....
Now the Mrs had to pick me up because I'd already walked out of the dealership !! Guy keep us waiting and then, when he graced us with his presents, it was obvious a car I had arranged to have a test drive in wasn't available. I walked the Mrs, being an adult, wanted to be patient and was pleased with herself when she rang me and said "I'm in the car where are you?" I'd guessed it would be a new one and utter pointless to test drive it but I didn't want to make a bad situation worse so got in and we had a nice drive about.
But now when we look at an X3 in our price range (which previously was a big jump up from the banger we have) they look rubbish and we'll not be getting one... of all things, for me, it's the dash board air vents that look sooo much better in the then shape
So there we are 4 days later, about 5 hours wasted and no real test drive.
It gave my dad a much needed laugh last night when I told him my sad little tale
Happy Thursday everyone ... here's hoping your problems are as superficial as mine
Oh .... the gap where my tooth was is heeling nicely
I was looking for a first car for my daughter last year and we'd seen a Polo that was old but low mileage and good history.
Went to see it - bloke was an obnoxious sort, and just kept saying 'are you interested, are you interested' over and over again when I asked if we could test-drive - "i'll only take you out if you're interested". After about the 30th 'are you interested' I'd decided I really wasn't bloody interested and wouldn't buy a car off him even if it was wrapped in a shiny bow and there was a sack of money on the back seat.
I still got him to do a test drive though! 🙂
Went to buy a 2nd hand Merc with the wife, made an offer what we thought we would pay and Swiss Tony literally fell off his chair onto his hands and knees and started hitting the floor in an overly dramatic fashion. We bought elsewhere.
I've wasted the last 3 days attempting to buy a 2nd hand Mini Cooper...
Day 1... 2 cars / different garages. I didn't ring in advance which might have been a mistake but I thought it was smarter to not appear too interested ! Garage one not open, no sign of the mini outside, abandoned. Garage 2 closed but instructions to ring a number. Ring... get told that 'he's supposed to be there and must be busy if it isn't.' !? I leave a note then head home, get a call 30 minutes later and turn around. Get there, he's on the phone but points to the keys and let's me go and take a look around, 10 minutes of me poking around and he's not come out, he's still on the phone. Dump the keys and leave.
Day 2. 3 hours driving. Car look goods outside, inside it looks like a mug of hot chocolate has exploded all over the car. Bye ! Call another dealer to enquire about a car which is slightly above my budget to ask if there might be any movement in price, answer is a straight 'no chance' so end the conversation.
Day 3. Seat Main dealer has a more recent Mini Cooper, price just reduced and I'm starting to extend my budget so it's looking good. Turns out they understated the mileage on the website by about 20k, irish plates (problem?), flaking paint on front corners somehow not shown on web site pictures, start it up and it's rough as nuts then I spot the engine management light stays on and message saying 'full performance not available' ! I didn't bother trying to drive it in case I ended up as a breakdown. Only two and a half hours driving there and back.
For tomorrow I've arranged to view one which initially I thought overpriced and the dealer says won't budge on price but given my experience over the last 3 days I'm ready to start throwing my cash at them if it's half-way decent.
Sod it, life is too short.
Don't worry I saw it I had a chuckle 🙂
Yes I can be a prick.i realise that. Probably spent too long off shore tbh. Maybe now I don't do that any more normality will resume over time 🙂
Trying to change my Skoda kodiaq at the mo. I had the same when I bought it 3 yrs ago, apathetic dealers locally who just don’t bother to get back to you with”the numbers”. I’d been in to two local dealerships and told them what I’m after - specific model, yr etc. - Year old car. Drove them, ask them to work out the fupigures and they say they’ll get back to you next day or later on the phone and they just didn’t bother. In the end I saw the model I wanted in another dealer 50 miles away at 10 on a sat am the week later and bought it without seeing it, deal done by midday on the phone.
This time I’ve had the same. Dealer / salesman just doesn’t get back to you with the numbers. Enquiry last sat with the online tool on a car I’m after, chatted to him on the phone, explained what I’m after, timescale and that I’ll buy ASAP and he says he’ll call the next day with the numbers but no call! I chased the dealer via the online tool and he responded to say he’d been on leave and would get back tomorrow. Guess what, 3 days later and no call.
Same at another dealer, got a call back and had a chat about numbers etc and he’ll call me back. To be fair he did call and I missed his call, I explained I’m in and out of meetings. I’d said I’ll buy tomorrow if the deal is right but after I chased him calling him back and leaving a message with reception (he was busy) he hasn’t called back.
Is it a ploy? By making me chase them about I’m a desperate buyer and they’ll assume im desperate to buy.
One guy even told me each car they have will go up by at least £1k in the next month or so....
I never trust car dealers despite him telling me his only job is to get me the best deal....! Really.
We had a similar experience when we bought our car from Vertu Honda in Boston. I rang up beforehand arranged a test drive of a civic and asked if I could have a decent drive on mixed roads/speeds to get an appreciation.
No worries, all sorted as asked. Went with PCP, the whole process was quick. As a way to keep us in the loop and build some sort of relationship with us long term invited us on to use facilities whenever we were passing. Couldn't fault them at all. They don't have to go that far but it makes me think twice about changing dealer when the PCP is up.
The main reason I drove Ford's for so many years was that I went to the same salesman in the local main dealer every time and he'd just chuck any keys I wanted at me. Never any pressure to buy, always happy to have a brew and a chat. He left in the end as he was getting pressure to act more like other salespeople which he refused to do.
I like the Land Rover dealers, Settle and Ripon as there's no hard sell. The bloke I spoke to said they're used to dealing with farmers so the sales rules are different! Colne BMW are decent as well but Harrogate BMW terrible. Didn't rate Bradford Audi either although I've never had trouble getting a test drive at any of them.
Q5 ! But Whyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy ! Unless you are a farmer who needs to tow horse boxes out of fields, but then you'd buy a Landcruiser.
As for buying cars, it's easy. What car do I want next? Phone dealer (or drop in , they're all on my cycling routes). Have you got a car to test and if not could you let me know when you have one. Drive car or wait for phone call.
Best service I've had are from two family owned dealerships. Priests Ford in Chesham are just nice people. My wife's Grand C-Max still goes back there for servicing even though it's done more than 100k, the price of the service is competitive and they're just nice to deal with.
I went to a local ford Specialist recently, they're not a main dealer but look like one - selling lots of nearly new/ex demo/ex Ford staff cars. I specifically looked at a focus and sought clarification on which rear suspension the one he (the sales manager) was trying to sell me) had... A quick read of any modern focus review will highlight that they've cheapened the spec. and put a torsion beam on most models now, but dependent on age you can pick up 'lower' spec cars with the multi-link back end. Nobody in the place had any idea, not even the service dept. I left.
When I had a Land Rover freelancer the franchise Southampton dealer was terrible to the point of ignoring me or bluffing me and sending car back with head still loose and oil pi&&ing out once. Bournemouth dealer was better but interested only in selling Range Rovers to footballers. I ended up going to Salisbury franchise dealer as they mainly had defenders and discos in the showroom and workshop and must have been more used to dealing with farmers etc. Much more pleasant, cheaper and nicer.
Update don’t ever buy from Cazoo
No sign of our car and every call I get to update me is a clueless numpty with no information.
😂 are they doing some father Ted style adjustments to the bodywork?
It's karma for wanting a Q5.
https://www.carbase.co.uk/contact-us/bristol/
I bought from Carbase in Bristol, it's a weird place in some ways as you get passed from guy1, to guy2 etc when collecting, test drive guy may not be the sales guy, he then may not be the guy that does finance.
But, I had an appointment at 10am, I pulled up at 9.55 and there was the car cleaned and valeted waiting for me with fuel etc. I drove and agreed to buy, got sat at a desk with a coffee and all was sorted. A week after buying I got a call to check I was happy etc.
It was in some ways like pc world, but very efficient
I bought a Skoda from Stoneacre in Harrogate a couple of years back - they were pretty good. I’d seen the one I wanted to test drive online, and phoned ahead to make an appointment. When I arrived, paperwork formalities took about 10 min and then I was off with the keys. In the end I bought it. The only downside was the endless attempts afterwards to sell me other stuff I neither wanted nor needed - services, insurance etc. It was one of the reasons we set up call screening on our landline. I was a cash buyer and just wanted that to be left alone after I’d paid.
I bought a second hand Toyota from a main dealer a couple of years ago. I parked and walked onto the forecourt, spotting the car I'd seen online though with a £500 higher price in the window. I somehow already knew they'd had it for a couple of months, and would probably be happy to sell it on. When one of the sales guys walked up I said I'd already seen the lower price online, that I could pay cash and would have it if it drove OK, and asked if it could be ready to go that day.
It wasn't ready, but in the end they took the price of a hotel room off the asking, fitted four new tyres because I wasn't going to take it with the ones on it, and had it ready the next day.
I still hate buying cars but I think the lesson was to be pushy but straightforward, to convince them you want to buy something they have to sell, and to be lucky.
I was told by a friend that the computer chip shortage is having a drastic effect on new car supply. Perhaps this is related to your troubles? If they’ve only got a few cars then they want to sell to those punters who have already made their choice without a test drive?
The wife works in HR for the UKs biggest second hand car auction company (they also own Cinch), this is very much a problem and is having a massive knock on effect into the 2nd hand market.
Just to update this thread with a Cazoo warning for anyone thinking of going down that route.
I found a car for my wife on 26th May, price was OK mileage was obscenely low but the deal was sealed with ability to get it delivered within 4 days so I paid the full cash price
One day before delivery I get a call saying that they'd missed some damage and so were going to repair it. I was Ok with this as the timescale was an extra 2 days
On date of repair I get another call saying that parts had not arrived and so another delay of 48 hours
Then radio silence for a week until a call stating that it was on its way to distribution centre and would be there within 72 hours ready to book another delivery slot. At this point I ask for compensation and am told 12 months warranty would be added to my order (it wasn't)
Another call tells me the aerial has to be replaced?? and so more delay to delivery
Then a call to schedule delivery and we agree on a weekend slot. Then another call to push this back to Tuesday which I reluctantly agree to as long as it is final, the car was meant to be here tomorrow.
At the weekend another call stating that they needed to replace the windscreen and so could not meet the Tuesday delivery. I (politely) lost it with the operator and asked them to read through my case history and what would they do. She was obviously profusely apologetic and informed me a manager would be in touch within 2 hours to sort it.
Radio silence so I cancelled the car this morning and am awaiting a refund. I imagine this is going to be equally painful as I attempt to get my money back.
Looking through recent reviews it looks like I am not alone. I think one of two things are going on here:-
a) their logistics are bolloxed and they routinely lie to cover up for delays
b) they have sold the car too low and are trying to push me into a refund
I'd rather be bent over a dealers desk and properly shafted than go through this again. I worry that the honeymoon period for them is over and they cannot cope with demand ..or their finances are in a state. I can only say one more time based on my experience....steer clear.