Outrage

[Ideo]

Don't get me started on my local Toyota dealership

Had an 8P S3 for sale from $53500. Went to have a look. Wouldn't give me the time of day. $1000 for a test drive blah blah blah

So I went back there a couple of days later to show that they had lost a sale.

Was dealing with the used car manager there as well. Just pathetic service.

[jamesatfish]

It never ceases to amaze me that pretty much every adult in this country has had a poor experience with sales people in the motor vehicle industry. For such a cut-throat industry, where customer service is often the key determinant in where a vehicle is purchased from, there are still an overwhelming number of vehicle sales staff who are guilty of the worst sins of customer service and stereotyping.

A few of my experiences:

• When the New Beetle Cabriolet was announced at the Melbourne motor show I tried to pre-order one from my local VW dealer. My first telephone call a couple of days after the release received a 'there's no such car' response; when I visited the dealership in person I was told, to my face, that I couldn't afford one (they were over $50k when first released) so perhaps I should look at a cheaper model. Ended up buying from a interstate dealer.

• When looking for a new car for my wife late last year we arranged to drive from Canberra to Sydney to test a demo C63 Estate. After getting to the dealership about 15 minutes ahead of our appointment time we waited nearly 2 hours for the salesman to 'finish with other customers' before getting to us. In the mean time another couple came in, arranged a test drive with another sales person and bought the car before we even realised they were looking at it. We didn't even get a follow-up apology call or a 'can we interest you in anything else' from the dealership. Again we ended up ordering a new C63 Estate, fully optioned, from another dealership.

• Going back a few years, my wife and mother-in-law went to a Holden dealership to buy a new V8 Caprice. After being given a 30-second overview of the car they asked about pricing, and the salesman told them to 'come back with your husband and we can talk seriously'. I thought that level of chauvinism was an urban myth, but sadly it's not.

[Mr Messy]

Again we ended up ordering a new C63 Estate, fully optioned, from another dealership.

Baller! Great choice.

Going back a few years, my wife and mother-in-law went to a Holden dealership to buy a new V8 Caprice. After being given a 30-second overview of the car they asked about pricing, and the salesman told them to 'come back with your husband and we can talk seriously'. I thought that level of chauvinism was an urban myth, but sadly it's not.

Your experiences aren't unique. My dad was shopping for a new car just as the VE Commodore came out. He was driving a Commo at the time, and rang his dealer to ask for a test drive of anything (Calais/SS/Statey/Ute) with the 6.0 V8 and six-speed auto to see if he liked the drivetrain. When he turned up they would only show him a basic four-speed V6 dunger, and wouldn't show him the V8s.

I asked a Suzuki dealer in September whether the all-wheel-drive Kizashi would come in manual, and was told there would never, ever, be an AWD Kizashi... they were pride of place on the Suzuki stand of the Sydney motor show the next month.

Friends of mine went to test drive a Monaro when they came out (2001?) and were told that Monaro buyers did not test drive cars. They just bought them. I suppose performance car sellers would get a lot of test pilots for things like the M3, GTR and HSVs, but it does spoil it for the rest of us.

[jamesatfish]

Friends of mine went to test drive a Monaro when they came out (2001?) and were told that Monaro buyers did not test drive cars. They just bought them. I suppose performance car sellers would get a lot of test pilots for things like the M3, GTR and HSVs, but it does spoil it for the rest of us.

Absolutely stupid - whilst I know there are people who will happily buy a car sight unseen there are also those who are genuine buyers in a given market segment who would like to test drive the various options first. What is the point of even having a showroom and sales staff if you don't give people the opportunity to evaluate the cars before purchase - just open a small booth in a shopping mall where people can come, sign the contracts and give you money for cars which obviously sell themselves.

Reminds me of the Sydney Motorshow back in 2000 - we went along to the show as the first step in a new car buying process, hoping to compare numerous models from multiple manufacturers all under the one roof, which is kinda the point of the manufacturers exhibiting at a Motorshow in the first place. Every single manufacturer we looked at, from Porsche to Aston Martin, BMW, Jaguar, Mercedes etc etc, were more than happy to entertain our queries and show us through their cars. In some cases we had to wait for a sales rep to take us through the cars, but it took nothing more than a 'can we please look at your cars?' to be granted access.

The one exception was Ferrari, whose stand bouncer told us abruptly that access to see the cars was for Ferrari owners only. He took the time to carefully ask us 'Do... you... own... a.. Ferrari... ?' before reiterating that their presence at the Motorshow was purely to allow existing owners the opportunity to be admired by the general public as they were granted access through the hallowed gates. I did ask him why Ferrari bothered spending the money on a Motorshow stand if they didn't intend to let the general public look at the cars, but I don't think he properly understood the question.

[elephino]

I went to drive the Focus XR5 when it had just been released. After arriving at my local Ford dealer and asking about the XR5, I was told that I could drive one after I'd bought it and had it delivered.

Honda told me that Integra Type-R drivers never test drove the car, they just bought it.

Then again, when the MkV GTI was released, some VW dealers were asking for refundable deposits for test drives. Refundable is ok and they were trying to avoid those only wanting a drive and not a car, the Focus from above was not. I just waited a few months until the rush had died down for the drive

[bombsquad21]

Thats part of the reason I just had three Lexus's in a row, I'm a pain and the exact (used) car I'm looking for is never available but they let me drive anything. In fact I live in the western suburbs of Brisbane. Lexus of southport on the gold coast (1hr away) drove a car up to my house for me to drive. That was an 8 year old car at $22k! Those guys are the best...

I test drove a Liberty GT the other day at a franchise dealer, it was used, worth about $20k. I rang before and simply asked if the salesman could move the car out of the 35 degree sun so i could look over it first. Long story short the jerks screwed around for 45mins before I could drive it. With two salesman and the finance manager in front of I said clearly "it's not a f***ing lamborghini, either give me the keys or stop wasting my time". I drove it, but not before salesman number 2 "subaru expert" stopped to put in $5 of petrol, car was still under empty after the "fill up". They then proceeded to interject with lame "is this something that would interest you" and "someone is on their way from the gold coast, best leave a deposit" speak. They suck so badly at their jobs, I will never go there again. Or ever send anyone anywhere near them either.. oh and the car was crap, really really slow...or really fast!

In other news Tim Gatt from Keystar Subaru at Morayfield is the man! he used to clean the cars there now he sells them. He likes money, must sell a lot. Knows his stuff and gets a joke..rare rare breed. If only he sold VW's Audi's and Lexus's.

[Buller_Scott]

there's an audi dealership here in melbourne, very near a university, somewhat near volkspower, that felt like that.

like a big boy's club- pretty young things standing around looking pretty, and cocky salesmen slapping people on the back, loosening the language, and calling people "mate" straight off the bat, so long as you ''look'' wealthy.

me and dad went in, dressed in polos, shorts and flip flops. we didnt get approached by a salesman for at least half an hour, and even then, it was one of the poor girls whom you could tell felt sorry for us, wandering around, looking like a pair of tools.

meh, it's for the best. the tiggy is better than the Q5 anyway.

[rikard1]

ive only had very good experiences with dealers ..but i havent bought anything lol

when the VE commodores came out i went to test drive the SS. the dealer drove me out around the corner, did a 10 metre fishy and said "here, u have a go", so then i thrashed it for a good 20-30 minutes.

at different dealers i thrashed a mk5 R32 for about half an hour, same with bmw 130i and Z4 3.0, 8P S3, WRX ....ull find when u take a sexy girl with u the dealers will let u take whatever u want and they wont feel the need to come with u (unless they think they can grasscut u).

..oh and i did buy a peugeot 308 for my mum from northside in hornsby but they now sell mercedes, they were good people, id recommend them.

[hooba]

Am I the only one that just read that and was left wondering whether the "sexy girl" Rikard1 was referring to was his mum?

[brimway]

Wife recently bought a poverty pack Corolla from Torque Toyota and was treated as if she bought a fleet of them. When she picked it up,they had it ready for her in the showroom with a big ribbon on it. Oh forgot to mention that she haggled hard and did a great deal, so I guess their margin would have been slim.

I wish she had waited for the Polo.