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[Andy B]

 ..... with my sister-in-law. We went to see this
She'd already had a drive of it the other day & just wanted me to hold her hand in the sales office. List price was actually £8995, the sales man had already prepared a sales sheet with added Scotchguard for the interior upholstery at about £300 same with exterior paint for a similar price, he'd also included the trade in value for her 51 plate Fiat Bravo/Brava of £100  :-? (she'd get that scrap). On top of the screen price there was £30 for road tax and £100 for their 'admin charge!  :-? :-? :-? When questioned about this addition, he reckoned that 'every one' did this these days! Has any one here ever come across this when buying a car from a large/main dealer?
We/I oppsed him off for the the upholstery & paint guard and told him that she'd sell her car herself & when asked how much we/she were/was prepared to pay I suggested £8750 all in. So we then went through the charade of him going upstairs to check with his boss and eventually coming back to say that all he could go down to was £8925 which sister-in-law decided was what she'd be prepared to go to and 'shook on it'. He disappeared upstairs again to sort out the paperwork but quickly came back down again ......... he'd oppsed up & £8925 included the £100 trade in value. Your mistake I said ...... either she gets the car at £8925 or we walk, so off upstairs he goes - you've 5 mins I said - comes back down & says 'sorry, but he won't accept that', so we walked.
We got half an hour away, almost home, an her mobile rang. Guess who!  She could have the car at £8925 after all!
Why can't we buy a car at nearly screen price without all the pantomime of the sales rep going back & forth upstairs to gain approval for negligible discount?  :-?

[Del Boy]

All dealers are like that these days, Caffyns in Ashford tried it on with my dad (He's just got an 11 plate Corsa SE Ecoflex), anyway they tried giving him some stuff called superguard (don't know if that's right?), for an extra £475 for inside and outside, I told them polietly to shove that. That dealer sounds as bad as Caffyns of Ashford 

[Vamps]

Just as well you were there Andy....
Funnily enough I have just been talking with Master Vamps, he has been looking around the Internet for insurance and is wanting to buy a new car, possibly on finance, I am trying to talk him out of that, the main point I was trying to get across was NOT to agree or sign to anything without taking me with him...

Insurance for him, at 19 with 2 years ncb has tumbled to sub £1k for sensible cars, according to him....

[Andy B]

All dealers are like that these days, Caffyns in Ashford tried it on with my dad (He's just got an 11 plate Corsa SE Ecoflex), anyway they tried giving him some stuff called superguard (don't know if that's right?), for an extra £475 for inside and outside, I told them polietly to shove that. That dealer sounds as bad as Caffyns of Ashford 

£100 'admin charge' just for buying one of their cars just pi$$ed me off. It'd be like Tesco/Asda adding another couple of quid to your trolly load at the check-out when you've finished your weekly shop!  :-?
I don't know if all this to-ing & fro-ing and mistakes were to confuse us, but he managed to confuse himself! :-? 

[Andy B]

Just as well you were there Andy.... ....
Insurance for him, at 19 with 2 years ncb has tumbled to sub £1k for sensible cars, according to him....

It's probably a good idea for all of us to take someone 'neutral' when we buy a car to help us look passed the bull$hit from the sales staff.

We were talking to a young lad a work the other day about car insurance. He's about 18 and had paid £3800  on his Corsa ........ he crashed it within 6 weeks of buying the car! 

[Vamps]

All dealers are like that these days, Caffyns in Ashford tried it on with my dad (He's just got an 11 plate Corsa SE Ecoflex), anyway they tried giving him some stuff called superguard (don't know if that's right?), for an extra £475 for inside and outside, I told them polietly to shove that. That dealer sounds as bad as Caffyns of Ashford 

£100 'admin charge' just for buying one of their cars just pi$$ed me off. It'd be like Tesco/Asda adding another couple of quid to your trolly load at the check-out when you've finished your weekly shop!  :-?
I don't know if all this to-ing & fro-ing and mistakes were to confuse us, but he managed to confuse himself! :-? 

Unless desperate for the car, I would have walked at that point, sadly that is the voice of experience, most of us have been caught out at some time.....

[Lazydocker]

Funnily enough I've been playing with dealers today too, although buying commercial you don't get as much of a run around

I do have to carry on shopping around though

[Andy B]

.....
Unless desperate for the car, I would have walked at that point, sadly that is the voice of experience, most of us have been caught out at some time.....

The benefit of being 'older' 
I bought a Senator years ago & am sure  I was conned somewhere in the screen price & trade in price of my Carlton .............. but I was younger and naive.  :-/

[Andy B]

Funnily enough I've been playing with dealers today too, although buying commercial you don't get as much of a run around

 ......

Presumably you know the 'tricks of the trade' 

[Lazydocker]

Funnily enough I've been playing with dealers today too, although buying commercial you don't get as much of a run around

 ......

Presumably you know the 'tricks of the trade' 

Having a fair bit of experience I don't get messed about too much

Unfortunately my hands are a little tied if I have to buy because it has to be a specific vehicle and I need it yesterday

That said, he has said that he wants an opportunity to try and match any genuine quote I get even though he's already given me about 17% discount... That's where he'll have to start going higher to get the business I like to use local companies where possible (and it's not so essential to get it as cheap as possible as it will be a business expense) but still want a good deal

[Vamps]

.....
Unless desperate for the car, I would have walked at that point, sadly that is the voice of experience, most of us have been caught out at some time.....

The benefit of being 'older' 
I bought a Senator years ago & am sure  I was conned somewhere in the screen price & trade in price of my Carlton .............. but I was younger and naive.  :-/

[/highlight]

Indeed, but similar mistakes can still be made, My Mig, and I looked around, was perfect on paper and in practice, but in real life was a different story.....still, we live and learn..... 

[Andy B]

....
 I have to buy because it has to be a specific vehicle and I need it yesterday ....

This is what I said to the sales rep. The car is a diseasal Astra, there's loads of them around, it's not as though you were trying to buy a specific low volume car. 

[Marks DTM Calib]

Thats what happens when you have these larger groups who employ children as sales staff.

I have to say, I would have been looking for more cash off that price to as its a close to base spec astra of the old type.

[omegod]

I love showroom salesmen, made one cry last year and got asked politely never to buy from them again by the sales manager

The story is a cracker but I don't have time to type it up

[Andy B]

Thats what happens when you have these larger groups who employ children as sales staff.

He wasn't very old. 

I have to say, I would have been looking for more cash off that price to as its a close to base spec astra of the old type.

It was her money, and as it was sprung on me to have a look at this specific car I didn't really have the chance to compare other cars & prices. She was happy so that's all that matters.