Car salesman mistakes - Page 7

**Full Noise** · 22-03-2009, 08:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FPV_XR8

A guy I new had a 2003 BA XR8.... Bought it from Centreford in perth for $39,000 and it only had 18000kms on the clock.... The same guy ended up selling it back to Centreford a year and a bit later as he was desperate to get rid of it, by this stage it had 23,000kms..... Centreford ripped him off by giving him $27,000.....Car was then advertised the next day for $39,500. Oh yeah, it took them 2 weeks to give him his money for it too.

That’s how the game works. Look at it from the dealer's point of view. They have to factor in a warranty and put the car back on the lot hoping to sell it again for something close to what they bought it back for. The price on the windscreen means nothing. Then when they eventually sell it, what’s the bet that whoever buys it, trades another car in on it?

So the process starts all over again.

Unco · 22-03-2009, 09:28 PM

many years ago, my uncle needed a new car, so i went with him.

we were looking at the current (back then) model Pulsar. the salesman (i think it was around Arncliffe, or there abouts on the Princes Hwy in Sydney) was trying to up sell us from a base model to a higher spec one.

one of his main points was the stereo. when he realized we were not interested in CD players, and we just wanted the base model (we were in the office and about to sign a contract on it) the salesman opens his mouth "i guess you can always buy a good stereo in the black market". my uncle and i looked at each other, got up and left.

Bodizephr · 23-03-2009, 04:41 PM

A while ago i was looking at an 86 model sigma in a yard. Having owned them before, i knew they were prone to head gasket and head failure (bit like our beloved falcons). The tell tale sign being the milky-ness of the oil.

I popped the bonnet and checked under the oil filler cap and sure enough there was the milky-ness. The salesman asked me what i thought of the car, and i said it was great, cept for the bad head gasket. He just looked blankly at me. So i explained that i had owned them before and knew the milky engine oil was a pretty sure fire sign of a leaking head. He just laughed and said, dont be silly. This car has only just come in and part of the clean up process they will the engine with a special type of soapy engine oil which cleans the block. If i didnt believe him i should call the local mechanic and he will tell me all about it..... :togo:

XA_GT351 · 28-08-2009, 12:05 AM

Carsalesman claimed that this ute has never been smashed or repainted, while i was busy staring at a giant paint run on the keyhole.

XR8 Uterous · 08-11-2009, 10:08 PM

Resurrecting an old thread here, but anyway...

Ford/FPV wonder why they dont sell cars when they have a great product!? Its because their dealers are hopeless! My old man is currently in the market for a new car, current car is a GT, and previously his had all fords, of which 10+ would of been bought from this particular Ford dealer all brand new... Over the past two weeks, he has been trying to get prices from them for a brand new typhoon or GTP, it took a week for them to get back with a quote, and even then they couldn't provide a car for him to test drive, and in general their customer service has just been poor. On the other hand, over the past week, the local HSV dealer has made contact with dad after learning he was chasing a new car (had dealt previously when buying a merc) and said if you feel the need to drive a HSV, come see me, no pressure, just take a car for the weekend, well, he did just that, over the weekend the local HSV dealer has given him 3 different cars (Grange, R8 and GTS) all over night, all personally delivered to the house by the dealer principal (including 3pm today, Sunday, when Dad wanted to try the GTS over the R8) with full tanks of petrol, and told to have fun! Great customer service from various salesman with his questions as he has never even considered an HSV before... I'll let you guys take a guess what he will buy this week....

S3SR · 08-11-2009, 10:19 PM

Mazda bought my BT50 back off me, traded it for a little more than redbook, got cost on my XR8, ended up replacing the tub, tyres, brakes, bash plates, wheel arches, side steps, front bar, number plates, tow bar and repainting it... it was only 5mths old and 20oookms on the clock and selling it for $8k more than they paid me for it hahahahahahahahaha .... i framed the newspaper ad they had of it, they sold it quick though

zetec · 08-11-2009, 10:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ex Arr

Resurrecting an old thread here, but anyway...

Ford/FPV wonder why they dont sell cars when they have a great product!? Its because their dealers are hopeless! My old man is currently in the market for a new car, current car is a GT, and previously his had all fords, of which 10+ would of been bought from this particular Ford dealer all brand new... Over the past two weeks, he has been trying to get prices from them for a brand new typhoon or GTP, it took a week for them to get back with a quote, and even then they couldn't provide a car for him to test drive, and in general their customer service has just been poor. On the other hand, over the past week, the local HSV dealer has made contact with dad after learning he was chasing a new car (had dealt previously when buying a merc) and said if you feel the need to drive a HSV, come see me, no pressure, just take a car for the weekend, well, he did just that, over the weekend the local HSV dealer has given him 3 different cars (Grange, R8 and GTS) all over night, all personally delivered to the house by the dealer principal (including 3pm today, Sunday, when Dad wanted to try the GTS over the R8) with full tanks of petrol, and told to have fun! Great customer service from various salesman with his questions as he has never even considered an HSV before... I'll let you guys take a guess what he will buy this week....

Who was the Dealer??!?!?!?!

Joe5619 · 08-11-2009, 10:41 PM

I'll add my 2 cents.. I have completed the "request a test drive" on Ford.com.au to test drive a XR6T & have not heard anything. Granted the 2nd time was on Friday, but the first one of over 2 weeks ago... Just pathetic, don’t offer the service if you’re going to ignore it!!

**SSD-85** · 08-11-2009, 11:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ex Arr

Resurrecting an old thread here, but anyway...

Ford/FPV wonder why they dont sell cars when they have a great product!? Its because their dealers are hopeless! My old man is currently in the market for a new car, current car is a GT, and previously his had all fords, of which 10+ would of been bought from this particular Ford dealer all brand new... Over the past two weeks, he has been trying to get prices from them for a brand new typhoon or GTP, it took a week for them to get back with a quote, and even then they couldn't provide a car for him to test drive, and in general their customer service has just been poor. On the other hand, over the past week, the local HSV dealer has made contact with dad after learning he was chasing a new car (had dealt previously when buying a merc) and said if you feel the need to drive a HSV, come see me, no pressure, just take a car for the weekend, well, he did just that, over the weekend the local HSV dealer has given him 3 different cars (Grange, R8 and GTS) all over night, all personally delivered to the house by the dealer principal (including 3pm today, Sunday, when Dad wanted to try the GTS over the R8) with full tanks of petrol, and told to have fun! Great customer service from various salesman with his questions as he has never even considered an HSV before... I'll let you guys take a guess what he will buy this week....

Geez, Me or anyone I know has never had this trouble with Ford dealers up here in QLD. They've always been helpful and knowledgeable of the car I'm enquiring about. They've always been happy to let me drive the car and ask various questions about it. I even got courtesy calls about the car with regard to final detailing and delivery, christ I even got a bunch of flowers with one car I purchased. Whilst some may interpret this as them being pushy, I didn't and found it nice to know that despite them having a lot of customers on their plate, they took the time to "manage" my transaction. These were of course used cars, but I would imagine the principle being the same for new cars. I will happily name the dealerships I've dealt with if that is okay...

Stattic · 08-11-2009, 11:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ex Arr

Resurrecting an old thread here, but anyway...

Ford/FPV wonder why they dont sell cars when they have a great product!? Its because their dealers are hopeless! My old man is currently in the market for a new car, current car is a GT, and previously his had all fords, of which 10+ would of been bought from this particular Ford dealer all brand new... Over the past two weeks, he has been trying to get prices from them for a brand new typhoon or GTP, it took a week for them to get back with a quote, and even then they couldn't provide a car for him to test drive, and in general their customer service has just been poor. On the other hand, over the past week, the local HSV dealer has made contact with dad after learning he was chasing a new car (had dealt previously when buying a merc) and said if you feel the need to drive a HSV, come see me, no pressure, just take a car for the weekend, well, he did just that, over the weekend the local HSV dealer has given him 3 different cars (Grange, R8 and GTS) all over night, all personally delivered to the house by the dealer principal (including 3pm today, Sunday, when Dad wanted to try the GTS over the R8) with full tanks of petrol, and told to have fun! Great customer service from various salesman with his questions as he has never even considered an HSV before... I'll let you guys take a guess what he will buy this week....

wow thats certainly taking care of a customer, id feel safer buying from such a dealer with regards to warranty issues etc as well

747jet · 08-11-2009, 11:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Joe5619

I'll add my 2 cents.. I have completed the "request a test drive" on Ford.com.au to test drive a XR6T & have not heard anything. Granted the 2nd time was on Friday, but the first one of over 2 weeks ago... Just pathetic, don’t offer the service if you’re going to ignore it!!

thats ford for you no customer service at all

:

XW 393 · 09-11-2009, 06:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ex Arr

I'll let you guys take a guess what he will buy this week....

An F6, unless he wears thick glasses.

Tom_Jane · 09-11-2009, 08:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FPV8U

In 2006 was at a Random Perth Ford Dealer, looking for 2nd hand BA XR8's MK, Around 18 years old.

Mandarin, Manual 2004 Model, Decent price, but not that good compared to an XR8 i had sourced in Vic (Which was MKII 6 Speed!), asked if he could atleast match the price of $**,*** "No way, can't do this cant do that.. blah blah..." so i think alright, "What can you do then?"

Comes back with a decent price so i start taking a closer look at the car , then he throws out the line "Öh it's been owned by a young bloke so atleast you know it hasn't been flogged..." I just looked at him as if to say did you seriously just say that to me...?

Ended up at Dealer two finding the perfect car (One in my Sig) and being quite an easy sale for them as it was exactly what i wanted..

Haha. Priceless.

I bought my first car from a place in Southport on the Gold Coast many years ago. The salesman did a fine job helping us. He did slip in the line "red goes faster" which is a harmless joke. He threw in a cd player too even if it did scratch the shyte out of my cds. I replaced it later on.

After the sale we were directed to the most painful, insincere woman I have ever encountered to discuss post sale options. window tinting, paint protection etc.
Im not over exaggerating. My sister and my mother were both there (both women obviously) and they agreed as well.
She started with "My name's Josephine, but my friends call me Joe."
You dont know how hard it was for me to stop myself from saying "well to me you are Josephine then."

I can not possibly see how she got the job there in the first place. Unless she was related to or friends with the manager. That's just the way of the wicked world unforunately.
She cant have lasted long there.

GavL · 09-11-2009, 10:18 AM

When I was looking for my car I looked at a couple of dealerships for BA MKII XR6 in manual.

Found a nice Mercury Silver, low kms (2005 model with only 40,000 km) XR6, no marks, scratches etc at a well known Holden dealership here down in Vic. It was also a good drive away price.

Was there with my girlfriend having a look at the car and a salesman comes over to us and asks what I'm looking for. Pretty much said that the car they had and wanted to buy within the next week or so. I then proceeded to ask to have a drive of it.

The salesman blurts out "oh you can't have a drive unless you come inside with me now and talk to us on numbers and put down a deposit first?". I said to him he must be joking to expect me to put down a deposit and talk numbers with him before I've had a drive. He then went on to say some crap about how he couldn't let me drive it without doing that first before talking numbers while his manager was in the office (happened to mention that he was always in during the week).

Came back that weekend with a mate to see if the car was still there. Car was still there, but they had put the price UP $3,000 and also marked it with PLUS onroad costs. That same salesman was working again, started to walk over to us. When he got within 10 meters of the car, he sees that it was me, paused, turned around and went the other way back to his mothers club with the other guys that worked at that dealership.

Just after I bought my car (from a Private seller who was great to deal with), I called up the dealership again to see if the car was still for sale (just out of interest). When the young girl who answered the phone said it was, I said to her what a shame that it was still there as the salesmen who work there wouldn't take potential customers seriously.

Joe5619 · 09-11-2009, 11:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Joe5619

I'll add my 2 cents.. I have completed the "request a test drive" on Ford.com.au to test drive a XR6T & have not heard anything. Granted the 2nd time was on Friday, but the first one of over 2 weeks ago... Just pathetic, don’t offer the service if you’re going to ignore it!!

I know it is sad that I'm quoting my self!!! But, I just got a call back from Ford, from the 2nd request I sent (I was a bit aggressive in the 2nd request, due to being ignored the first time). They were apologetic & are trying to find a manual xr6t for me to test, so I'm happy now!!..

pottery beige · 09-11-2009, 12:23 PM

I had some fun with them, went dressed as a bum.. Ermm.. I probably alway's dress like a bum.. to buy a new BA GT.. Small talked and not taken seriously at the first dealership.. The second dealer, salesman was GREAT chucked me the key's for test drive, good general chat about the world etc.. Sealed the deal.. BIGTIME!! Dropped by the first dealer in my new BA GT.. just to let the first drongo know i bought elsewhere.. The look on his face was priceless..

[TOPGHIA] · 09-11-2009, 01:10 PM

in 2004 i was looking for a BA when i was in VIC and found one i liked at a Toyota dealer and the salesman came up and was talking to me about the BA and how he had sold fords for 20years and could tell me any thing i wanted to know about them and had just moved to the Toyota dealership.

i did not know much about BAs at the time but the car was a 2003 BA futura and on the paper in the car it said the car was a AU MKIII futura. so me at lest knowing what an AU and BA looks like i told the guy this is a BA not an AU and this 20year ford salesman veteran to me that i was wrong and that it was 100% a AU MKIII and thats why it was $16,000. so as im driving it he keeps telling me how good this "AU" is and how much better they are then the MKI. my girlfriend in the back who can only just tell holdens and fords apart said im sure this is a BA cause my dad has one and again the salesman said we were wrong.

so we went back and i got the car for $15,000 after talking him down and it only had 50,000km on it.

so i then sold the car a year later to a ford car yard in SA for $17,500.

another time when i was looking for a BA Ghia 3v v8 i went car yard to car yard being told that ford dont make a v8 ghia and some that knew said they did not want to look around for me cause they were to hard to find.

one car yard the salesman said we dont have any and but i know the ford car yard up the road has one. i was shocked that a salesman was telling me to go some where else. went to look at the v8 ghia and the ford salesman starts asking all the normal stuff "what are you looking for?" "are you trading any thing in?" so i tell him im trading my 03 BA Ghia in and looking at the 04 MKII v8 Ghia. he then starts to tell me all the things the ghia come with i just said "i have a ghia mate i just told u that i think i know what ghia have". he was a bit red faced after that and said well i wont need to tell you any thing about the car then.

i ended up getting the v8 ghia not because of his sales talk but because it was the only one in SA at the time.

greens_tuf · 09-11-2009, 02:13 PM

I was looking for my first car, an AUII/III XR6 VCT or XR8 Manual, I came across an AUII XR6 VCT Manual at a Ford Dealer in the Central Coast.

From the photos the car looked ok, but I'm from Sydney so I said to the guy, I just want to know the truth are there any scratches or things that I should know about before I come up? He says hang on a minute I'll go out and check it out again for you and let you know... Couple of minutes later he is back, "Nah mate it is in immac condition, not a single scratch or anything", I said are you sure because I need to drive 1 1/2 hours just to see this thing...
I make it up there, see the car in the yard, start looking around... from 2/3metres away I see the rear wheel arch is scraped... do a full walk around the car and spot at least 4 other significant scratches... I asked what they were and he said "oh jeez you've got a good eye, I didn't even see them before..."

Me: Ok what can you do with the price?
Dealer: Oh nothing, its firm, I have another guy interested in it.

I then step back and look at the car from the front, I notice the black plastic protector that connects to the front bumper underneath the car has been ripped off like they got it caught at a car park or something... the front bar is bent down and not straight...

Me: Well you can honestly tell me this car is immac, what are you going to do about the missing plastic? or the bent front bar?
Dealer: No I can't fix them, the price is firm, I have another buyer...

Me: You expect me to buy a car with scraped guards and missing plastics and bent bumpers from a Ford dealer and be proud to show my mates, you made me drive all this way and you lied and can't even help with the price...
Dealer: Walks away back to the office and leaves me standing there 10am Saturday morning after driving 1 1/2 hours...

Mr Brooksy · 09-11-2009, 02:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Redrum

The issue I seem to have in dealing with car sales people is that they seem to know jack about the cars and have to keep referring to their little books. The thing I dislike most about car sales people are the ones that will not give you a price and insist you make offers or ask you to come back with a quote from some one else so they can better it.

I have had a few experiences with this kind of thing, as I used to assist our National Fleet manager with buying and selling cars (I used to do it for fun). One day I got so sick and tired of what redrum is talking about, that I said fine, called another car yard on the spot who I had talked with before and asked his best price on a BA XR6, got the price hung up again and then called another, same question, haggled him down and got a better price, then hung up. Turned to the salesperson I was standing in front of and said I want a better price or I leave. Startled, the guy said he could match my price, and I said "fine if ya cant beeter it Im off". And turned and walked out to the dealer changing his tune... kept walking. Got in my car and as I drove away rang car yard #2 back and told them that I had just got another price (guys I was phyically talking too) and yard #2 matched, so we bought two.

I hate new car dealers!

ORSM-XT · 09-11-2009, 02:49 PM

as most of you know, i sell cars!

i get a laugh at some of your stories. I cant believe that people treat you like they are. Ive always been told, "treat people the way you want to be treated". I have the highest respect for my customers buying cars. I try to treat them like they are royalty. I sell Subaru and there is alot to know about the product. you need to know the differences between all models, the power, the torque i even know the gear ratio of the New Outback Diesel. On the rare occasion i dont know the answer, i find out ASAP.

b2tf · 09-11-2009, 03:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zetec

Who was the Dealer??!?!?!?!

Oh have a bloody guess mate, Wagga dealer......... hopeless as usual. The sooner they drop Ford and keep flogging Ssanyongs and Great Walls the better - let someone with half a clue do it.

Paxton · 09-11-2009, 03:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by b2tf

Oh have a bloody guess mate, Wagga dealer......... hopeless as usual. The sooner they drop Ford and keep flogging Ssanyongs and Great Walls the better - let someone with half a clue do it.

For a town with More Fords per capita, you do seem to have the worst luck with dealers. I've not heard good things about them either. My Brother is still driving my old Mazda, because they could not give him a concrete price on a TTG. He's ordered one through a Melbourne dealer, and will drive it back to Wagga himself.

rancidpunx · 09-11-2009, 03:48 PM

I was in the market for a new Ranger 2 years ago, just the single cab. The first dealer just felt dodgy the whole way through the spiel. Kept telling me there was a delay on all new built cars so had to have a colour in stock. Made harder as i wanted bucket seats and not the stupid bench. Now at this point FORD.COM was advertising upgrades of power windows/mirrors and keyless entry etc. The dealer swore blind that was not the case and the update was at least 3 months away.
After leaving as it just didnt feel right we left it at that. A few weeks later i was walking past another dealer and dropped in on the off chance. They came straight to the party and even had the "non-existant" upgrade model in the yard. The first sales guy kinda snubbed me but another started chatting and we did a deal that same day. Good price with the options i wanted. The first sales persons face was priceless when i saw us in the office doing the final handshake.
Better still the first Dealer rang my girlfriend (who had far to much new car crap by this stage) to ask if we had thought about the car. She went livid thinking it was our dealer taking us for a ride until the guy realised we had made the purchase elsewhere, the missus started laughing and he couldnt hang up quick enough.

Another thing for all you sales people out there, just because i might be dressed scruffy doesnt mean im poor and just killing time. When buying the turbo, i first went in wearing my work kit, high vis etc, and not one sales guy came up to me even when i stood in the middle of the show room looking lost. Luckly a new GT caught my eye and i hung around for a quick geez, and a guy came up and was only to pleased to help. He got the deal. There were 3-4 other guys who were doing nothing when i first walked in.

trendkill555666 · 09-11-2009, 03:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by greens_tuf

I was looking for my first car, an AUII/III XR6 VCT or XR8 Manual, I came across an AUII XR6 VCT Manual at a Ford Dealer in the Central Coast.

From the photos the car looked ok, but I'm from Sydney so I said to the guy, I just want to know the truth are there any scratches or things that I should know about before I come up? He says hang on a minute I'll go out and check it out again for you and let you know... Couple of minutes later he is back, "Nah mate it is in immac condition, not a single scratch or anything", I said are you sure because I need to drive 1 1/2 hours just to see this thing...
I make it up there, see the car in the yard, start looking around... from 2/3metres away I see the rear wheel arch is scraped... do a full walk around the car and spot at least 4 other significant scratches... I asked what they were and he said "oh jeez you've got a good eye, I didn't even see them before..."

Me: Ok what can you do with the price?
Dealer: Oh nothing, its firm, I have another guy interested in it.

I then step back and look at the car from the front, I notice the black plastic protector that connects to the front bumper underneath the car has been ripped off like they got it caught at a car park or something... the front bar is bent down and not straight...

Me: Well you can honestly tell me this car is immac, what are you going to do about the missing plastic? or the bent front bar?
Dealer: No I can't fix them, the price is firm, I have another buyer...

Me: You expect me to buy a car with scraped guards and missing plastics and bent bumpers from a Ford dealer and be proud to show my mates, you made me drive all this way and you lied and can't even help with the price...
Dealer: Walks away back to the office and leaves me standing there 10am Saturday morning after driving 1 1/2 hours...

ELN Tuggerah/Wyong?

**Professor Farnsworth** · 09-11-2009, 03:56 PM

looking at a ba xt, no 'xt' badge on the rear... 'where's the badge mate, been in a rear-ender?' .......... 'nah the series 1 didn't have an xt badge'

looking at an el ghia, had an ef fairmont badge on it, again i said 'been in a rear ender?' 'nah the early series ones had the ef badge'..

drove an au s2, then asked to drive the ba1 futura next to it to compare and decide .... 'nah mate, they both drive the same'.

drove a ba xr8, asked salesman why i couldn't drive a turbo to compare.. 'sorry mate they didn't make many'..

there have been hundreds, can't recall the others.

madmelon · 09-11-2009, 03:57 PM

Been out looking at BF XR6s lately, I've asked if they have stability control or traction control. I'm told "Ah stability control, traction control they're the same thing"

Good work clowns. Nut buying a car from any of them...

fordOwner · 09-11-2009, 04:13 PM

Used Ford Dealer - "Yeh its (AU) got a stainless steel exhaust system right through"

Me - "DOES IT!?!?" (I layed on the tarmac to have a look underneath, only to discover it only had a chrome exhaust tip.)

Me - "My god there is oil every where under there! theres more oil under there than in Iraq!"

Dealer - (squating down to have a look from himself) "There is not a drop of oil at all! its clean as a whistle!"

It was in fact clean as a whistle, I was just being cheeky. But I thought he'd pick up that there was no stainless steel exhaust. I just walked off.

**Professor Farnsworth** · 09-11-2009, 04:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fordOwner

But I thought he'd pick up that there was no stainless steel exhaust.

i think you were giving him too much credit there

XR8 Uterous · 09-11-2009, 06:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ex Arr

Resurrecting an old thread here, but anyway...

Ford/FPV wonder why they dont sell cars when they have a great product!? Its because their dealers are hopeless! My old man is currently in the market for a new car, current car is a GT, and previously his had all fords, of which 10+ would of been bought from this particular Ford dealer all brand new... Over the past two weeks, he has been trying to get prices from them for a brand new typhoon or GTP, it took a week for them to get back with a quote, and even then they couldn't provide a car for him to test drive, and in general their customer service has just been poor. On the other hand, over the past week, the local HSV dealer has made contact with dad after learning he was chasing a new car (had dealt previously when buying a merc) and said if you feel the need to drive a HSV, come see me, no pressure, just take a car for the weekend, well, he did just that, over the weekend the local HSV dealer has given him 3 different cars (Grange, R8 and GTS) all over night, all personally delivered to the house by the dealer principal (including 3pm today, Sunday, when Dad wanted to try the GTS over the R8) with full tanks of petrol, and told to have fun! Great customer service from various salesman with his questions as he has never even considered an HSV before... I'll let you guys take a guess what he will buy this week....

Well just an update on this, car has been purchased, brand new HSV GTS, Black, manual, sat nav. The HSV dealer also offered 5k more on trade than the local Ford dealer! That was the last straw for the old man... Even when informed of the difference in price they said they could offer 1k more than the HSV dealer and left it at that. To put it bluntly, Dad said the whole experience with this dealer has "pi$$ed him off".

Rodp · 09-11-2009, 07:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ex Arr

Well just an update on this, car has been purchased, brand new HSV GTS, Black, manual, sat nav. The HSV dealer also offered 5k more on trade than the local Ford dealer! That was the last straw for the old man... Even when informed of the difference in price they said they could offer 1k more than the HSV dealer and left it at that. To put it bluntly, Dad said the whole experience with this dealer has "pi$$ed him off".

Sounds like a similar reason as to why I'm in a VW and not a Ford at the moment. At least they offered him a trade, when I took my XR8 to dealers about 1.5 years ago I was told they couldn't trade it as no-one buys V8's anymore.

Hopefully the tide will change when I go looking for at a G6E Turbo in about a years time.