Dodgy dealer?

[sydney85]

Thanks again for the advice everyone. Just a bit more info if anyone is interested in this saga. When I went back to pay the additional $1500.00 for the driver assistance pack a new contract had to be signed etc as I mentioned in the first post. First of all the dealership basically refused to take my calls for the first four days after the sale until I took a day off work and just walked up to the guy who was at his desk doing nothing of course. Anyway the dealer tried to sneak in a few extra amendments to the new contract - in the extra details tab he tried to add in a new charge for delivery and put down $300.00 for 'dealer plates' (which originally were $110). I got the hurt puppy dog look when I hauled him on this and protestations of his innocence. The whole experience up to the point it's at already has been pretty unpleasant. As for where this was let's just say South...

Marti9n GTi - any chance you could give me a few pointers on best to approach this? At this point i'd be keen to get out of the deal and just start again. However my feeling is that even if they can't find me a car they will make me wait the full 30 days regardless. Can I notify them now that I want to rescind the contract given that they have advised me in writing that the car won't be ready on time?

[Marti9n GTi]

Sure no problem, will send you a PM in the morning (have helped out quite a few friends over the years - the manufacturer puts huge pressure on new cars dept re targets etc and sadly once the deposit is taken care factor towards the buyer evaporates somewhat, in this case sounds like a serious lack of product knowledge by sales dept)

It makes no sense for a dealer to create an unpleasant experience - after delivery VW will send the buyer a survey scoring the dealership - it is crucial the dealer maintains at least 88% positive feedback (for trophy points etc) if you for example bag them out (and you should) they will have the averages wrecked !

[mattaus]

It makes no sense for a dealer to create an unpleasant experience - after delivery VW will send the buyer a survey scoring the dealership - it is crucial the dealer maintains at least 88% positive feedback (for trophy points etc) if you for example bag them out (and you should) they will have the averages wrecked !

From the description provided, I highly doubt Sydney85 will fall outside of the averages lol. That said, I'd imagine VAG Australia would be taking extra special notice of customer feedback at the moment given current events...

[DV52]

Sydney: hi I've been following your sad tale of woe as it unwinds - hope that it works out OK eventually.

I was intrigued to read that you have now signed a new contract. Not sure what the exact rules are in NSW, but given that you have signed a new contract, does the cooling-off period for buying the car start again? If so, it could be a get-out-of-jail-free card and depending on the legislation in your State, it might be worth considering (IMO)
Cheers
Don

[PerthMTB]

I had a similar experience of a dealer promising me he could get me a car 'within weeks'. I signed the contract and paid the deposit, but added a clause under 'special conditions' that if the car wasn't delivered by a set date then the sale was off. Sure enough within days of signing he came back with a sob story about how he couldn't get me a car and would have to order one with a four month wait. I said I'd collect my deposit refund the next day.

Ended up ordering from another dealer and still had to wait the four months - but at least this one was honest about it up front!

Unfortunately no matter how careful you are, they are dealing with these things day in day out and are therefore so much more aware of the tricks than us. Anyway, sorry to hear of your pain, and hope you get sorted...

[sydney85]

I've sent through an email to the dealer outlining that I am aware that they have 30 days to deliver the car to me from the estimated delivery date. I wouldn't mind a couple of weeks but almost two months is ridiculous. I've followed this up with a phone call this morning and spoke with the manager of the dealership who assured me that he would look into it.

Regarding the cool off period - I actually did look into this when I realised that they had duped me about the emergency city brake (radar). It was over the weekend so I couldn't call fair trade to confirm if the cooling off period would apply. Anyway I drafted up and gave the dealer the appropriate letter and got the manager to sign a copy stating the time and date the letter had been received. Next day I called fair trade to discuss it with them and they told me that most dealers circumvent the 24 cooling off period because of the clause that says you have to sign for finance with the dealer in order for the cooling off period to apply. The dealer had provided me quotes for finance but hadn't asked me to sign anything. So buyers beware - if you want the cooling off period you have to sign a document saying that you will need finance from the dealer!

I am hoping the dealer will just get back to me and say 'sorry - we won't have a car for you on time'. I'll be happy with that and ask them to terminate the contract and go elsewhere.

I'll keep you all posted on this one - it's given me a real crash course on how little we are all protected as consumers when it comes down to buying cars. You can say that you should go in having done your research but no matter how much research you do the dealer will always know more!

[DV52]

Sydney: You raise many good points, but the one relating to information asymmetry between the buyer and the seller is particularly pertinent to purchasing a new car (IMO).

I don't care how skilled new car buyers think that they are at negotiating a deal, the fact is that the buyer is at a considerable disadvantage. Even if the buyer's job is a commercial negotiator, he/she can never have the in-depth knowledge of the car salesman.

More likely, the buyer will be an average bloke/woman for whom negotiating a new car deal is a once-in-many-years experience. Nevertheless, the hapless buyer is pitted against an adversary who negotiates car deals every day of his/her working life. And regardless of the friendly, honest face that the salesman portrays, you can be assured that they know all the tricks-of-the-trade (and they will be willing to use them).

In the main, the performance standards of new car salesmen are driven by the targets that are set by their employers. Doubtless, the desire of the seller's shareholders for a return on investment ensures that these are "stretch" targets. I've no doubt that each person on the management pecking-order will blame their immediate bosses - but the dynamic is allowed to persist and the inevitable compromises are found to achieve the monthly KRAs. Alas, some of these compromises are...well... less than honest (not in all cases, but in some instances)!

Plus, the asymmetry in skills between buyer and seller is then further exacerbated by the process for making the final decision whereby the salesman needs to get sign-off by their boss. What's that about? Why must the new car buyer be forced to negotiate against multiple seller representatives? Why isn't the buyer given the same opportunity?

Surely there must be a better way of buying a new car?? Problem is that the whole process of negotiation is what game theorist call a "net-sum game". That is: the size of the profit pie is fixed - it's just a matter of how to slice-up the pie and which parts are then given to the buyer and the seller. Not sure that either party is willing to overtly accept the smaller piece of the pie!

Perhaps another way of thinking about this is that by definition whenever a commercial deal is done (including the decision to buy a new car) "money is left on the table" by both the buyer and the seller. The only question is - which side leaves the most money? Given the asymmetry in skills and information described above - I think that answer to this question is clear!

Here endeth the rant - thanks for allowing me the opportunity to vent-my-spleen
Don

[Sunny43.5]

In line behind pedophiles are car salesman , I had my run in with one a couple of years ago and went to two dealers before being sort of happy with the outcome .

[beingaware]

Eh I toyed with a few dealers before getting my current R.

Walk in with all the facts about the car.
Ask the dealer a lot of questions about how many they sell etc, do your research on their profit margins, bonus on finance etc.
Then insult them by offering $9k less then what they were selling for.
Then walk away when they don't want to play.

That's how I got my R for $5,000 less with free floor matts and tinting thrown in.

Dealers will play ball when you give them incentives.



Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk

[DV52]

beingaware: Sounds like you have adopted a very reasonable approach!!

Don

PS: When I went through the process (2 years ago now), I found the most important piece of information to be the seller's initial offer. This number is deliberately intended to set the buyer's expectation. In lot's of cases I suspect, the buyer subconsciously accepts the number: not as the final sales price, but as a yard-stick for the estimated saving in the deal. Best not to ask the seller his/her initial offer because subsequent negotiations end-up discounting from this number - far better to start negotiations with the price that the buyer is willing to pay. That way the buyer can point out that he/she has paid more for the car in agreeing the eventual sale price