I hate buying a new car

[kernowjim]

It's such a hassle.  I have been considering swapping out my 22 Yaris for a Corolla but the whole process is so arduous these days, the dealers don't make it easy and adopt the position that they're doing you a favour by selling one to you.  Trade in prices are terrible, interest rates and RRP's are inflated.  They don't work for the sale anymore, it's literally there it is, take it or leave it.  This isn't confined to Toyota dealers either, a friend of mine wanted to change their Ford Kuga for a new version and that's a £40K car, low trade in offer, no follow up etc.

You read in the press that car sales are down massively but they behave like it's boom time.  It's hard to know what is the truth.  

[yossarian247]

I was called 'plain speaking' by a car salesman a few years ago, for telling him in no uncertain terms right at the start that I just wanted to buy the car, No HP, no paint protection, no upholstery treatment, no service plan, no GAP insurance, no extended warranty etc. I think he wanted to say something more rude, but 'plain speaking' was what he settled for 😆

I tend to buy cars online now wherever possible as car salesmen really wind me up!

[Flatcoat]

Don’t buy another car then. If you go into a showroom with a negative ‘attitude’ showing on your face, body language and in the way you discuss the purchase, you will attract exactly the response you don’t want. If trade in prices are so bad then I suggest you try to sell privately and rake in the cash. 

[BlueMike1972]

We bought our Yaris new and the two guys we dealt with at the dealership couldn't have been better- it was an excellent experience all round.

[Heidfirst]

I have recently experienced speaking to many, many Toyota sales people up & down the UK. Sadly, much of what you say is true (although I am not sure about the bad trade in values & interest rates, list prices certainly are high compared to just a few years ago). Many of them have little leeway  (although I think that  is mostly because frontline sales people have very little autonomy, needing 2nd line sign off for variance) but there are a few good ones out there still. However, if one is only going to the one or two local dealers (especially if they are part of a large group) unless you are lucky you may not encounter one.

I would strongly suggest getting quotes from Carwow etc. & then using that as a lever to open negotiations.

[dash]

Use CarWow prices as a bargaining position for a slightly used car. It will provide best prices for the same spec car at other dealers.

Edit: @Heidfirst beat me to it while I was typing!!

[kernowjim]

1 hour ago, Flatcoat said:

Don’t buy another car then. If you go into a showroom with a negative ‘attitude’ showing on your face, body language and in the way you discuss the purchase, you will attract exactly the response you don’t want. If trade in prices are so bad then I suggest you try to sell privately and rake in the cash. 

Some odd assumptions on my demeanour there, why would you reach that conclusion? 

[kernowjim]

36 minutes ago, BlueMike1972 said:

We bought our Yaris new and the two guys we dealt with at the dealership couldn't have been better- it was an excellent experience all round.

I have had very good experience in the past but lately it seems no one can be bothered....feels like a general malaise but then I guess that's the general mood of the entire country....i.e. in the doldrums 

[Brooke bond]

The dealership I used made the customer use a tablet computer, to process the documents, no paperwork, it was infuriating, and took time to complete.

 

[Heidfirst]

Just now, Brooke bond said:

The dealership I used made the customer use a tablet computer, to process the documents, no paperwork, it was infuriating, and took time to complete.

 

This seems to be the norm now - partly industry driven (lower costs for dealerships/manufacturers) & partly government (GDPR, DVLA etc.) I suspect.

[kernowjim]

4 minutes ago, Heidfirst said:

This seems to be the norm now - partly industry driven (lower costs for dealerships/manufacturers) & partly government (GDPR, DVLA etc.) I suspect.

Yes that's commonplace now, that part of it doesn't bother me.  It's the take it or leave it attitude that gets to me, especially after purchasing 5 new cars in the past 6 years

 

[yossarian247]

1 hour ago, Flatcoat said:

Don’t buy another car then. If you go into a showroom with a negative ‘attitude’ showing on your face, body language and in the way you discuss the purchase, you will attract exactly the response you don’t want. If trade in prices are so bad then I suggest you try to sell privately and rake in the cash. 

Certainly in my case there was no negative attitude, I'm always friendly and polite in such dealings. However laying your cards on the table in this way can save both parties a lot of wasted time. I was an auditor in the motor trade in the past so I know full well what goes on behind the scenes at dealerships, and the sort of pressure they are under to sell 'extras'. In fairness, selling cars is not an easy way to earn your living.

[kernowjim]

6 minutes ago, yossarian247 said:

Certainly in my case there was no negative attitude, I'm always friendly and polite in such dealings. However laying your cards on the table in this way can save both parties a lot of wasted time. I was an auditor in the motor trade in the past so I know full well what goes on behind the scenes at dealerships, and the sort of pressure they are under to sell 'extras'. In fairness, selling cars is not an easy way to earn your living.

Flatcoat, for some reason has assumed I have a negative attitude (I don't), I have had a negative experience and I'm communicating that after the fact.  I don't go into buying a new car with a miserable face, that came afterwards 😆

[Flatcoat]

30 minutes ago, yossarian247 said:

Certainly in my case there was no negative attitude, I'm always friendly and polite in such dealings. However laying your cards on the table in this way can save both parties a lot of wasted time. I was an auditor in the motor trade in the past so I know full well what goes on behind the scenes at dealerships, and the sort of pressure they are under to sell 'extras'. In fairness, selling cars is not an easy way to earn your living.

My ex was in new car sales for 20 years. I also had a nephew who sold new cars for a few years. I have too many stories from them of customers treating them like something unpleasant on their shoes from the offset of any discussion and making ill founded comments about them. In most instances the customer was lieing and either wanted money or had buyers remorse. However I still await an answer regarding the issue of trade in values and how the OP intends responding to that? If you don’t like the offer, attitude and treatment in a dealership you have at least 2 options. Take your business elsewhere and/or give negative feedback on their website or wherever it will have an impact. Personally I believe companies giving bad customer experiences should be named and shamed. I too dismiss all the extras in a deal but there are ways of negotiating without being blunt to the point of being rude. I turn the tables on sales people by getting into a slow burn negotiation before giving them my required deal to close a sale for them. They will either say can’t be done or respond with a yes or something very close. 

[Brooke bond]

47 minutes ago, Heidfirst said:

This seems to be the norm now - partly industry driven (lower costs for dealerships/manufacturers) & partly government (GDPR, DVLA etc.) I suspect.

Don't get me wrong,the car was very well presented, and the dealership was good, but the process was painful

 

[TonyHSD]

Dealers employees in uk majority of them are simply clowns working in a circus 🎪  🤡 

No matter customers attitude, the sales person should be polite, understanding and trying to help and last but not least honest. 

These people are anything but all above, plus they don’t understand nothing about cars, their talk is often laughable and they make themselves fools. 
The whole auto industry is totally broken, the service departments too. 
Upselling unnecessary products and services, pushing parts replacement but skipping on important maintenance procedures, selling cars that are totally unsuitable for the customers needs and use, and the list goes on. 

On top of that all car brands are suffering the worst sales numbers of all time. The whole world car manufacturers and dealers are closing down because of the stupid idea of bevs and the current high prices of new and used cars. Very few can afford to buy a car and very few actually need to buy a car. And at the end unless you desperately need a car to drive for work you will be better off without any because there are no good times for private cars ownership ahead . And finally if you have any car particularly a Toyota hybrid ( best cars right now) don’t need to buy another, especially those 2-3 year’s newer, they only look slightly different but will deliver absolutely same experience. 

[ColinB]

I had bought a new Toyota several times from the same dealership, as had my wife, daughter and mother in law, always dealing with the same salesman. We always came away feeling happy with the deals. He retired and when I went to the same dealership to look at the new C-HR the salesman I saw was reasonably helpful, but came back with a terrible trade in figure and we walked away. A few months later we went back to see the YC and saw a different guy, he was much more positive, came up with acceptable figures and we made a deal. 

[Primus1]

Whenever I’m buying a new car, I just drop my trousers and bend over, saves an awful lot of time…

[kernowjim]

58 minutes ago, Primus1 said:

Whenever I’m buying a new car, I just drop my trousers and bend over, saves an awful lot of time…

too true! 

[Rhymes with Paris]

1 hour ago, Primus1 said:

Whenever I’m buying a new car, I just drop my trousers and bend over, saves an awful lot of time…

Don't they at least have a bit of pleasant chat, buy you a couple of drinks, and a bag of chips on the way home anymore?

 

[James1976]

I have just bought a brand new Corolla Touring with £2,500 (inc VAT) off the new sale price list. I searched Whatcar magazine and put in the make and model of Toyota I was looking for. It put me through to Autocar, which gave me the dealership offering this good deal. I had to travel 200 miles to collect it, but it has been great so far. It was an ex showroom car with no mileage on the clock - 7 months old. It's worth checking out deals like this and good luck with your search!

[Primus1]

It can sometimes work in your favour, when I traded in my fiesta for a nearly new puma, I still owed £1500 on the fiesta, they forgot to add it back in and effectively paid off the loan, I cancelled my dd and, when the inevitable letter came from ford finance, I rang them up and explained the situation, I received a letter from finance saying I owed nothing more..result..

[TriumphMan]

6 hours ago, ColinB said:

I had bought a new Toyota several times from the same dealership, as had my wife, daughter and mother in law, always dealing with the same salesman. We always came away feeling happy with the deals. He retired and when I went to the same dealership to look at the new C-HR the salesman I saw was reasonably helpful, but came back with a terrible trade in figure and we walked away. A few months later we went back to see the YC and saw a different guy, he was much more positive, came up with acceptable figures and we made a deal. 

Part-Ex values are rarely decided by the salesperson you deal with in person; It is possible that, at the time you were talking to the first salesperson the used-car market value of your trade-in was particularly low - values do alter over time and your car can often be more valuable at a later date, all driven by the market.

As you describe - always worth trying again to seek out a deal which works for you.

 

[Chas G]

@kernowjim I don't like buying new cars either.

My problem is working out how much I am going to pay as the sticker price in the showroom can be misleading.

My recent purchase was a classic example. The sticker price included a £1500 discount for taking a pcp contract which was of no interest to me. They then suggested that I take the pcp to get the discount and then pay off the finance company within 14 days.....just more anxiety I dont need and unethical in my opinion.

The car I wanted also had a "managers discount" in the ticket price but only if I bought the ceramic coating, alloy wheel protection, bodywork scratch insurance and service plan.......so it was a case of give with one hand, take with the other.

I also didn't like having to pay by bank transfer but the garage wasn't willing to accept me using my debit card.

However, the salesman was very pleasant and when I collected the car he had programmed in my favourite radio stations, filled the tank and presented me with a big cake decorated with a personalised message 😁.

I also bear in mind that while I want a good deal, the sales person needs to earn a decent living (I suspect mainly from the add ons) and that the best deal is one where both parties walk away happy.

Good luck with your car hunting.

 

[Yugguy1970]

Aye.  You've basically got to keep stonewalling them until they come back with a sensible figure.