Bottle of wine with your new car, Sir?

[brad]

interesting points Woofy.

i must say, Wakelings have never bothered to keep in touch. The Octy's 2 year lease came & went without them asking if I'd like the latest & greatest VW/Hyundai/Mitsubishi/Holden/Skoda (I think they still had the franchise then). 3 years is coming in july (a more common lease period I believe) and not a peep. i realise they don't sell Skoda but I'm on their books.

[K1W1]

Seriously, would you be happy to buy a carton of discount beer with some of the bottles only half full?

I gave a customer a case (as in 12 bottles) of Moet and Chandon with their purchase once. They effectively paid for it in the price of the car but it was what I sensed from the conversation was going to get the sale and it did.

Another time we had huge stuffed teddy bears sitting in the cars in the showroom an a couple came in and the woman fell in love with the bears. I let them take a demo car with bear inside home overnight and told them that if they wanted to buy the car they didn't need to bring the bear back. Never saw the bear again but they were very happy with their purchase of a new car the next day.

[K1W1]

Seriously, would you be happy to buy a carton of discount beer with some of the bottles only half full?

Wrong analogy.
You can't negotiate over the purchase of a carton of beer. The price is the price.

Having sold several thousand cars new and used in different countries I have to admit that very few would have had full tanks of fuel on delivery but I can't ever remember a complaint and I sold plenty of vehicles to repeat customers and referrals from existing customers. As a rule I would make sure that there was enough fuel in the car so that the new owner could drive for a couple of days without feeling that the first thing they needed to do on purchase was head for a service station. My intention was always to make the actual delivery of the new (or new used) car a pleasurable experience. I had the vehicle ready on time cleaned and ready to drive. All accessories or required pre delivery work had been done. I had tested all accessories to make sure they worked. The radio was tuned to local stations. The spare wheel and tools were fitted and the spare was inflated. The vehicle was parked in a place where it was easy to drive straight from the dealership in a strange car. The paperwork was ready. I was ready. On delivery I made sure that the customer knew how the controls worked and had the seat correctly adjusted. After that it was just a handshake and a smile and off they went without even thinking about fuel levels because it wasn't relevant.

[brad]

Wrong analogy.
You can't negotiate over the purchase of a carton of beer. The price is the price.

But it isn't a "fixed price" and you expect to receive a certain level of product.
Many people don't negotiate over the price of a car, but they will shop around (in one form or another) for the cheapest price - just like beer.

Having sold several thousand cars new and used in different countries I have to admit that very few would have had full tanks of fuel on delivery but I can't ever remember a complaint and

I complained to my sales person because the day after delivery I had to add 35Litres into a 55L tank in order to complete the trip I was doing. She agreed they had fallen over on that aspect of the delivery process and told me to drop in "when your tank is almost empty" and they would fill it up. I thought she saved the situation very well.

As a rule I would make sure that there was enough fuel in the car so that the new owner could drive for a couple of days without feeling that the first thing they needed to do on purchase was head for a service station.

I think that as long as the fuel gauge is on the full side of half, that's fair enough. As it's an unfamiliar car & unfamiliar gauge, you feel more comfortable if it's over half way.

[K1W1]

I think that as long as the fuel gauge is on the full side of half, that's fair enough. As it's an unfamiliar car & unfamiliar gauge, you feel more comfortable if it's over half way.

Exactly.

Now lets have some honesty. How many people have delivered their trade in vehicle, the one that they have SOLD to the car dealer to the dealership with a full tank?

[RolfGolf]

(Puts hand up) I dropped my trade in off with a full tank of premium and received a full tank with my new car purchase. We were negotiating the trade in value on that day and I knew the premium would give my trade-in a bit more zip when they test drove it(!)

[brad]

Exactly.

Now lets have some honesty. How many people have delivered their trade in vehicle, the one that they have SOLD to the car dealer to the dealership with a full tank?

no way. I did enough years in dealerships to know that the used car people will syphon most of the tank out - either for the new cars or for personal use. Most of the trade-ins went to the wholesaler, so nobody cared about them. Nobody expects a used car to be sold with a full tank of fuel.

[woofy]

I only traded in our last car, as it's not worth the back door reaming in the price, but knew like brad said the pointlessness of fuel in it. Having said that it had what it had at the time, I have no idea what.

At the end of the day though no one is going to lose sleep about petrol in a trade in as they are probably still thinking about how much more selling it privately would have got them.

You are right about making sure the car is ready to go kiwi, but the tank of fuel has become an expectation, I've always got it without asking, but I reckon I would feel robbed if I didn't. In the age of electronic media such as this forum, the $40 of fuel saved can come back to haunt dealers.