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Post by Deleted on Jul 8, 2013 23:43:49 GMT 1
Car supermarkets, are they all the same ? My cards on table, as a rule I've never rated them. There always seems to be a fly in the ointment. Shoddy warranty, no service, channel imports, poor quality, short test, all these kinds of issues.
Anyhow, had a interesting week end. Fella looked at 2 cars, car '1' was maindealer/35k example. Car '2' was supermarket/25k example costing £100 more.
Supermarket car was a bit dirty inside and had various minor scuffs and dings, they wouldn't budge on price, wanted a £100 admin fee, £300 for a poor warranty, £77 for road tax, and it came with a short mot and due a service. Thats actually about £850 more than the maindealer if we add a £50 MOT and a £250 maindealer service.
The maindealer car was at the biggest and best renowned group in the north, approved sales scheme included a fresh documented service, new mot, 12 months RAC recovery, 12 month gilt edged manufacturers warranty, and the tax disc chucked in for good measure. The car was pristine. No px cash deal bought it with a £350 reduction. Add that discount to the £850 extra cost of buying the supermarket car and the shoddy thing actually costs £1200 more !
To be frank nothing impressed me at 'STACKemHIGH-FLOGemCHEAP, not the infantile staff, not the sharp practices, not the vehicle quality, not the warranty, and certainly not the delivery standards.......their 'cheap' prices have already been adequately addressed..........thankyou.
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Post by natedog on Jul 9, 2013 0:25:05 GMT 1
Only ever been to one, and that was purely so the Mrs could look at lots of different cars to give me a better idea of what to get for her. Probably better not say which one, but they're a shop that sells cars.
Wouldn't even let us look at cars until they had asked how we were planning to pay, tried selling an extended warranty, and offered us an insulting px price, even though we hadn't said if we were going to px anything, let alone what car.
Didn't bother looking round. Called into an independant small used car dealer just round the corner. Excellent bloke, really friendly, bent over backwards to be helpful, deal done in half an hour. 10 weeks later, phoned us up as the warranty was nearly up, just to make sure everything was ok. Doubt a car supermarket would do that.
I thunk the difference is that the big supermarket aren't that fussed if you come back for your next car. Whereas when I do finally persuade her to replace the focus, I know where the 1st place I'll look is...
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Post by rhyds on Jul 9, 2013 9:43:49 GMT 1
Unfortunately plenty of people want to buy a car just the same way they buy a new phone, PC or microwave. That is go to a shop with a big sign on the front and a marketing budget the size of the national debt. "Everyone" knows "car dealers" are all crooks, so why not go to somewhere that doesn't look like a car dealer, offering a warranty and a guaranteed (i.e. crap) price for your old chod. You don't even have to have the cash!
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Post by Deleted on Jul 14, 2013 4:14:27 GMT 1
I saw a TV program called Money Tricks the other night, apparently exposing various practices at Carcraft, one salesman said to the undercover mole he didn't know how they ever sold any cars as the prices were crazy and thousands more than the main dealers........a revelation to the nations broadcaster.......I expect they'll cover the moon landing next week.
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Post by stevenward on Jul 14, 2013 11:09:49 GMT 1
I thought Carcraft just sold finance?
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Post by Noberator on Jul 25, 2013 2:08:29 GMT 1
I thought Carcraft just sold finance? No Steve. They have their fingers in a few pies one being a contract hire company called All in One Leasing. I'm not putting the link up and giving them free advertising but it's out there.   Carcraft brand name is under another name which is a PLC at Company's house.  |
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Welshy
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Post by Welshy on Jul 25, 2013 8:46:54 GMT 1
I thought Carcraft just sold finance? No Steve. They have their fingers in a few pies one being a contract hire company called All in One Leasing. I'm not putting the link up and giving them free advertising but it's out there. Carcraft brand name is under another name which is a PLC at Company's house. Our local carcraft looks derelict. The PDI centre is closed (has been for some years) and looks a state with all overgrown weeds Their sales centre (if you can call it that) looks abandoned. They have 5 cars outside, all on elevated ramps to "encourage" people to go in. The customer car park is always empty. In contrast to what it was like a few years ago, you couldn't get into the place for cars!! Compare this to Motorpoint on the other side of town. The place is clean, cars are well displayed and the customer car park is always full |
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Post by Deleted on Jul 25, 2013 8:56:35 GMT 1
Heres a good story, occasionally someone will ask me what I think of a car, this one was at one branch of a nationwide franchise operator. The car wasn't brilliant so punter asks about warranty, salesman says 'you must be joking, not on a £5k car !' Punter says don't I have a minimum 3 months under sale of goods act, salesman says 'do you want to go and look somewhere else !'............I actually found his abrasive honesty refreshing, spoke volumes about the car and the company. I've a few more unhappily consistent story's about this company, I'll share them if the subjects come up........oh ok one more........"pay £100 deposit by card to hold it until you can get here to view".........months later, many calls and still no refund, don't do it, what I've seen of the stock theres every chance you won't be happy with the car.
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Welshy
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Post by Welshy on Jul 25, 2013 9:04:20 GMT 1
Heres a good story, occasionally someone will ask me what I think of a car, this one was at one branch of a nationwide franchise operator. The car wasn't brilliant so punter asks about warranty, salesman says 'you must be joking, not on a £5k car !' Punter says don't I have a minimum 3 months under sale of goods act, salesman says 'do you want to go and look somewhere else !'............I actually found his abrasive honesty refreshing, spoke volumes about the car and the company. I've a few more unhappily consistent story's about this company, I'll share them if the subjects come up........oh ok one more........"pay £100 deposit by card to hold it until you can get here to view".........months later, many calls and still no refund, don't do it, what I've seen of the stock theres every chance you won't be happy with the car. It's people/companies likes this who gives the trade a bad name In my old place, we used to book out 8 1/2 litre of oil on EVERY service, whether it be a Fox or Passat. When I complained to my Service Manager that this practice was wrong and that we were conning people, his answer was "well, no one has complained yet" Glad i'm out of it TBH |
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Post by essexman on Jul 26, 2013 23:40:29 GMT 1
Most punters dont know what they want, so a car site with a huge choice sounds ideal. They wander round, pick the colour they want and then back to the office to listen to the "suit" tell them what the repayments will be. The "suits" are just salesman; next week they will be selling TV's or pensions. They are just after commission. They have no interest in repeat business, reputation or building a good trading name. These large car sites rarely stay in business more than a few years, wonder why......?
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Post by Deleted on Jul 27, 2013 8:40:14 GMT 1
Punters......its all their fault.......all their interested in is somthing badged 'whizz-bang-turbo' with an interior like darth vaders bathroom, and thats what the manufactures give them. They really will buy a car because its got 2 extra buttons on the dash, or because it lights up blue inside, or somthing equally silly.
Theres a couple of kindly old ladies who live up the road (they don't hold hands but I think they are), they zip around doing good works in a 05 Panda, happy to pay for a bit of sensible upkeep, delighted with its reliability and function, had it for years...........compare that with 'everyone else'.........running round in the daftest bloated clunkers money can buy...........punters heal thyself.
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Post by essexman on Jul 27, 2013 10:47:53 GMT 1
Many years ago I had a mate who had absolutely no interest in cars (even though his son in law was a motor trader). But every 2 years his wife insisted they change their car. He told me he got dragged around every showroom until his wife found the right combination of colour and interior comfort, then he was left to negotiate a new monthly payment to replace the last monthly payment? I have to say that in my small car trading business I find its usually the wife that makes the final decision. After 'showing the car' and negotiating the price, the husband always has to take the "walk of shame" back to the other half sitting impatiently outside to give him the nod!  |
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