Do some manufacturers actually want to sell cars?

XWGT · 03-03-2006, 09:56 AM

Over the past 4 weeks, Mrs XWGT and myself have been test driving vehicles to replace an older one. We have a fairly set criteria, but are open to all makes and models that fall within that range. They are not cars at the cheap end of the market, and in some cases are the most expensive cars that the manufacturer actually produces, which is why I am puzzled and out right ИИИИed off with a certain manufacturer to relate the following.

Lets play match the manufacturer to the sales service.....

Manufacturer 1. Sure how many days would you like to take it for? Why not take its big brother as well, just to see how you enjoy it? Courtesty call the day before to assure that all was still booked and would not be a problem.

Manufacturer 2. You must make an appointment as only one person can deal with this type of car. No problem. Appointment made. However due to unforseen circumstances person unable to meet entire commitment, so an entire afternoon of their time rebooked and spent playing with the vehicle.

Manufacturer 3. Instantly accommodating. Vehicle driven, then offered to be delivered across town so Mrs XWGT could drive it at her leisure. Also the possibility of a track session if required.

Manufactuer 4. Sorry, cannot take you for a test drive, as not enough staff avaiable. Takes details, will call to arrange the vehicles for the coming weekend. Week one goes by, no phone call. Call to enquire as to when the test drive will occur. We will be called back. Week two, no phone call. Hence no test drive, hence no opportunity to covince Mrs XWGT that the cars are worthy of consideration and therefore they miss the boat entirely.

Now, have fun matching the manufacturer to the sales experience.

In no particular order....

Mitsubishi
FPV
Porsche
Subaru

Nuff said........

pb02 · 03-03-2006, 10:00 AM

1. Subaru
2. Mitsubishi
3. Porsche
4. FPV

XWGT · 03-03-2006, 10:02 AM

Close..........however the one that matters is correct

4.FPV

**Professor Farnsworth** · 03-03-2006, 10:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pb02

1. Subaru
2. Mitsubishi
3. Porsche
4. FPV

My thoughts also

pb02 · 03-03-2006, 10:07 AM

I've found Ford and Holden in general are very poor when it comes to test drives. I've had other manufacturers throw me the keys without me even asking or showing much interest in the cars!!!

Please tell me I'm correct with the Porsche? The possibility of a track session is so tempting!!! lol

**Professor Farnsworth** · 03-03-2006, 10:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pb02

I've found Ford and Holden in general are very poor when it comes to test drives. I've had other manufacturers throw me the keys without me even asking or showing much interest in the cars!!!

Please tell me I'm correct with the Porsche? The possibility of a track session is so tempting!!! lol

let's all head down in a group and take up that option. Is the quarter mile up for grabs too ?

03-03-2006, 10:20 AM

OK thats at the high end of the market .
When I wanted to purchase a ford from john mcgrath Canberra all they said was we are busy and you have to make an appointment (So I have to make an appointment to purchase a new car?) was my answer ... Yes we are very busy..... well I guess they already made there quota for the month so I was left out in the cold ....

OLDFORDNUT · 03-03-2006, 10:25 AM

mate went to Ford dealer in Hervey Bay last year to have a look at the new utes with the V8 and was told to come back in two days time as they had to get one from Maryborough(35km's away)or he could drive up there and check one out,
he has his own trasnsport bussiness and told sales rep he wanted them to bring one down that arvo,sales rep said sorry no can do if you really want one then why not just drive up there ,my mate went straight to the Holden dealer and test drove their top of the line model and signed up same day.
he still loves the look of the Ford utes and has never owned a Holden in his life(50 years old)so has owned lots of new and used cars, he told me if thats fords attitude,imagine if he had a problem with it if he was stupid enough to have brought one.hahaha.
P.S
his words not mine,

Steffo · 03-03-2006, 10:47 AM

When my dad's mate bought his F6 Typhoon from City Ford in Sydney, they let him test drive one without even seeing his licence. The dealer there was pretty good actually.

I wouldn't be too surprised if Porsche was #3.

muppet · 03-03-2006, 10:59 AM

When my wife was looking at second hand eb falcons she went into a toyota car yard and asked the sales rep if she could take one for a drive. He told her that she could not take it for a drive unless she was going to buy it. She said how do I know if I want to buy it if I have not driven it.He would not let her take it for a drive so she said I just sold my 92 magna for $16000 and I will be buying a car by the end of the week and it will not be from here. You should have seen the guy he allmost followed us down the street trying to get us to go back. My wife just turned around and said you blew it mate pi$$ off.
Then when the eb got stolen we decided to get a smaller car so we went looking. We walk into a holden dealer and asked to look at all the small hatch backs. When I told the guy we had an eb falcon and wanted to get a smaller car he said that we should get a commodore. Isaid but we want a small car we had a big car and now we want a small one . He then started going on about how much better the commodore was than the falcon. Again we had the money ready to buy and the guy just would not listen to us oh well his loss. Car salesmen think they can pick who has the money and who is just there for a joy ride by the way they look and I gess that a black t shirt and jeans means I have no money.

**Professor Farnsworth** · 03-03-2006, 11:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by muppet

.....much better the commodore was than the falcon. Again we had the money ready to buy and the guy just would not listen to us oh well his loss. Car salesmen think they can pick who has the money and who is just there for a joy ride by the way they look and I gess that a black t shirt and jeans means I have no money.

Yeah i had that same thing happen at a very big car 'entity' in Ringwood, some of you may know where i'm talking about. There was a probe in there in mint condition that we were interested in taking for a spin, as we were looking for a new car for the mrs at the time. Was given the same crap by the 'sales rep', You can test drive it if you're going to buy it he said. Some people are honestly a 6 pack short of a slab, yeah sure i'll buy it, here take all my cash and credit cards!!! Meanwhile you get in and take it up the road to find a list of problems longer than your arm. Some people just shouldn't be in the jobs they have.

new2ford · 03-03-2006, 11:14 AM

No problems like this at all at Hills Ford Hornsby and Power Ford Castle Hill when we purchased. Power Ford let us take a Territory out for a day, on the spot, no hesitation. I think it must vary from dealer to dealer - maybe some brands are better than others but our Ford experience has been very good.

XWGT · 03-03-2006, 11:20 AM

Hi guys

Some interesting responses there. Unfortuantley it looks like it's not an entirely isolated incident.

The order actually was

1. Porsche - New Cayman S and 911 Carrera C4
2. Subaru - WRX Sti
3. Mitsubishi - Evo IX
4. FPV - GT and F6

new2ford · 03-03-2006, 11:28 AM

Do pb02 and others still want their track session in the Mitsubishi?

pb02 · 03-03-2006, 11:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by new2ford

Do pb02 and others still want their track session in the Mitsubishi?

Mate I would take a track session in a Ssangyong Stavic if the offer was available!!!!

:

Nappa · 03-03-2006, 11:35 AM

we are happy to let people drive just about any model car there on the spot, however when a new car has been launched or with the XR's and FPV's we get a lot of tyre kickers who just wanna take it for a fang, every kilometer on the car reduces its value, its sometimes hard to distinguish between the serious buyer and the bloke wanting a joy ride. If your a potential buyer and honest about it then we're happy to let you drive any FPV.

1TUFFUTE · 03-03-2006, 11:43 AM

maybe the ford thing has somethingto do with selling so many cars or something,especially compared to the others here. The greater amount of people that take test drives mean a greater percentage of people just after a joy ride...but still theres no excuse 4 that!

1TUFFUTE · 03-03-2006, 11:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pb02

Mate I would take a track session in a Ssangyong Stavic if the offer was available!!!!

:

i think u bumped ur head bro

:

XWGT · 03-03-2006, 12:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nappa

we are happy to let people drive just about any model car there on the spot, however when a new car has been launched or with the XR's and FPV's we get a lot of tyre kickers who just wanna take it for a fang, every kilometer on the car reduces its value, its sometimes hard to distinguish between the serious buyer and the bloke wanting a joy ride. If your a potential buyer and honest about it then we're happy to let you drive any FPV.

Every kilometer travelled equals a lesser resale?. Well yes, but the vehicle is their to demonstrate your whares and convince someone to hand over their $ for it, not as an investment asset for the dealership.

I'm sorry but that logic makes no sense. If Porsche are more than happy for me to fang a $150,000 Cayman S and a $260,000 Carrera C4 around for as long as I like, Subaru and Mitsubishi are more than happy to have us take their $60,000+ cars to the edge and actually encourage you to do so, I find FPV to be a little precious if an open and honest potential buyer cant even driver their $59k vehicles?

I understand where your coming from to some degree, but I will point out that your competitors are making you look outright silly in this area.

OzJavelin · 03-03-2006, 12:17 PM

IMHO it's the staff .. not the manufacturer, dealer, vehicle, etc. Some people seem to think that "doing their job" while at work is optional. This crosses all industries and seems to be getting exponentially worse.

Ringo · 03-03-2006, 12:46 PM

Mrs Ringo wants a Celica (don't laugh - if she is happy then she'll be ok with me having an XR Turbo). We are looking second hand.

Mrs Ringo can drive a manual but lack confidence due to driving my old XF Manual which bunny hopped a few times.

Went to car dealer who had nice manual Celica in their lot. Spoke to sales guy, asked for a drive. he says "I don't know about that, I don't want it it to be crashed or anything". My jaw dropped and I go to give this prat a piece of my mind but Mrs Ringo grabs my hand and walks me off the lot...

We are still looking by the way. I don't get some sales people.

I spoke to a long time ford sales man who works for a dealer who are No 1 in Vic. They are in Knox...you may have heard of them. His theroy is 1 in 10 he deals with buy a car. He is happy to talk and test drive with anyone because if they don't buy a car, he is just one person closer to person number 10 who will buy a car.....heck of a nice guy who talks straight too.

gtfpv · 03-03-2006, 12:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nappa

we are happy to let people drive just about any model car there on the spot, however when a new car has been launched or with the XR's and FPV's we get a lot of tyre kickers who just wanna take it for a fang, every kilometer on the car reduces its value, its sometimes hard to distinguish between the serious buyer and the bloke wanting a joy ride. If your a potential buyer and honest about it then we're happy to let you drive any FPV.

ИИИИ off mate . your a goose . a demonstration car is just that and any one should be able to drive it . i went to 4 fpv dealers with my wife and kids am 36. and only one dealer let me drive an fpv . one made us make an appointment to see him and then crapped on bullИИИИ for 4 hours then wouldnt negotiate or let us drive one . what a ****er . needless to say the 1st one that let me drive one got a sale on the day .
and if a person is just looking and window shopping he should be able to take one for a drive .he might just borrow the money and buy one . or start saving his dollars for one down the track . your only a car salesman dude . your not doing any one a favour by letting them drive a car. hope your sales plummet. sorry but your attitude entirely ИИИИes me off.

YELLAUTE · 03-03-2006, 12:59 PM

My wife works in the library of a local school, seven women and by coincidence 5 of them have purchased new ( some second hand) cars in the last two months and without exception all have stories of woe with dealing with the new and second hand car dealers they chose to deal with.
Because of my wife’s influence two of them purchased Fords (one new Fiesta and one a two year old BA) both from different Ford dealers. The Ford stories are unfortunately the worse and sad to say we now will never ‘recommend’ or try to ‘influence anyone’s decision’ on what make of vehicle to buy or from whom.
As I said to the upset ladies who listened to my wife, all of the purchases were not good experiences no matter which make of car or which dealer they went to.

What is the matter with dealer’s to-day? How short sighted! I remember my old man going back to the same Ford dealer in Sydney’s northern beaches seven times (maybe eight) (mostly to the same salesman) for his cars for most of his motoring life. He was on first name basis with the dealer principal, the service people and I remember a bloke form the dealership coming up to him in the street when we were all visiting at Cairns once and said g,day Bill hows the ford treating you? It happened that we had driven it up from Sydney to Cairns and dad was not happy with the fuel economy on the latter part of the trip. This bloke went out of his way (also on holiday) to arrange for the local ford dealership to put it through their workshop and check it out for dad. ( we were given a loan car – a new car - and dads car was four years old then, which was a clever move because dad bought another new ford when we got back)
I think the dealers (especially Ford IMO) have lost the plot.

YELLAUTE · 03-03-2006, 01:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nappa

we are happy to let people drive just about any model car there on the spot, however when a new car has been launched or with the XR's and FPV's we get a lot of tyre kickers who just wanna take it for a fang, every kilometer on the car reduces its value, its sometimes hard to distinguish between the serious buyer and the bloke wanting a joy ride. If your a potential buyer and honest about it then we're happy to let you drive any FPV.

You are a 20/21 year old new car salesman for Ford, your attitude seems to sum up what is wrong with Ford's dealerships's atitude lately. tyre kickers who just wanna take it for a fang is exactly what I have been minutes before I have been on the phone to my wife saying "I just drove a car I just have to have ....Darling..... please" and I have driven more than one home before to-day. (and I am 55 Years old)

RIP Ford dealers

JADED6 · 03-03-2006, 01:35 PM

With some of these stories anyone would think you're asking to take the salesmans own personal car for a drive, complete with his wife in the passenger seat.

Nappa · 03-03-2006, 03:16 PM

Gentleman why the hostilities, I never said that FPV’s are off limits. Unfortunately not every dealer has demo Typhoons and GT’s, so the ones that are test driven are the ones off the floor. Its ok still to drive those, but when someone walks in and immediately says “I wanna take that F6 for a drive” it sometimes seems a little dodgy. I’m sorry if I insulted anyone but with the more expensive cars the salesman will usually go through a lot more Q & A time to qualify the customer. When there isn’t a vehicle readily on hand then often it needs to be borrowed from Ford Motor Company, (that will take time to get) and despite the best efforts of the dealership Ford may not have any demo’s available either. I’ll agree that this is a problem and I think there should be proper FPV salesman on staff at all times and demo’s there, but I guess that can’t always happen.

XWGT · 03-03-2006, 03:20 PM

I understand this Nappa

Thats why we agreed for him to organise if for a weeks time, and call us to make sure it was fine. When no phone call came after one week, I rang to enquire what was going on, and was told I would be called back. Of course, I wasnt.

Interesting that no other manufacturer had to ask head office for stock. They all had vehicles on the lot to be driven.

Either way, I'm not having a go at you personally Nappa, just pointing out that FPV has lost a sale as there is no way in the world Mrs XWGT is going to be stuffed around like that, and as a lifetime Ford man, member of a GT club, and the first line of defence for Ford for many years, I don't really think I can be stuffed anymore either. Sad but true.

OLDFORDNUT · 03-03-2006, 04:35 PM

thats two or three just in this discussion that have driven Fords all their driving lives who wont buy another new Ford,of course then there is the word of mouth,
and all this coming from Ford fans
if i was a Ford car dealer reading this i would be worried.
thank god i got mine second hand off ebay.saved thousands and lots of head aches

TheSneakiness · 03-03-2006, 04:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by XWGT

The order actually was

1. Porsche - New Cayman S and 911 Carrera C4
2. Subaru - WRX Sti
3. Mitsubishi - Evo IX
4. FPV - GT and F6

Now that I find interesting.

I thought Subaru might've been two, only because the WRX STi is their flagship model.

Mitsubishi offering track session tests? That's commitment to their product.

FPV doesn't surprise me in the least.

YELLAUTE · 03-03-2006, 05:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nicholas

thats two or three just in this discussion that have driven Fords all their driving lives who wont buy another new Ford,of course then there is the word of mouth,
and all this coming from Ford fans
if i was a Ford car dealer reading this i would be worried.
thank god i got mine second hand off ebay.saved thousands and lots of head aches

Over the last three years I have written to two Dealer principals and I have contacted Ford customer care including followed up with letters on four occasions with no satisfactory outcome. I did have one call back from customer care after three weeks wait to say they had spoken to the dealer and gave me a new contact to call – I did, he was not in, left a message and he never phoned back.
On another occasion customer care said its out of their hands because the dealer promised he would fix the leather on my $72k LTD that was loosing the colour after 2500klms and three months old and the factory does not warrant ware and tear on upholstery. It never got done, the dealer said because the factory had the new cover on back order for 28 months. after three yars we had it recoloured by a trimmer.
I give up, its not worth the hassle, I/we (that’s my whole family – 6 fords) are now talking about alternative makes. I don’t think Ford gives a dam.