Why aren't the local car dealerships being pro-active to help me find a car ?

[SpringierSpaniel]

I'm a serious buyer with a £20,000 budget (will extend by another £2-3 k for the right vehicle).

I've test driven a couple of different types and am looking for a SUV/Estate car up to a year old only but of any mileage.

Everything takes soooo long if you go in to test drive something, on Sunday it took an hour and a quarter of faffing around before we even got out on the road for a test drive !

I've rung yesterday and today to try and speak to the sales person. No return call yet.

They know what I'm looking for, they know my price range, they said they're positive they can find one somewhere within the group of dealershipsand but as yet have done nothing !

It really wound me up that the salesperson kept nipping off to the managers office to pick something up off the printer and closing the door for a discussion leaving me waiting for yet another 10 mins.

Is it a busy time of year so that they are run off their feet with ready/willing buyers or is it that I'm sorting my own finance and don't want theirs ? Do they have me down as a time waster ? What is it ?

Salespeople are a strange breed; if you're not in their showroom they won't take you seriously, and even then not always. Don't expect a call back, they will never respond to emails, they assume people who communicate that way are dreamers.

They won't do any legwork for you to find a vehicle, because they have no guarantee that you will buy in the end; fair point in a way, but they just won't do any work for you at all.

What they don't realise is that it's their arsehole attitude which pushes prospective buyers away, not the fact that someone phoned or emailed them.

Vote with your feet: if they're not treating you like someone about to make a £20K purchase, go elsewhere.

I found this with one dealer, I went to the one up the road (same manufacturer) and they spent nearly three weeks finding me a nearly new model in my preferred colour. Go elsewhere!

"They won't do any legwork for you because they have no guarantee that you will buy in the end" ........

BUT surely the chance that you might buy is better than the certainty that you won't because they haven't sourced even a potential purchase for you.

MADNESS !

I've resorted to searching myself on the internet but I kind of expected them to do something to justify their profit margin (other than sit in a showroom or go out on test drives and handle the paperwork once you've decided to make a purchase through them).

Any other same manufacturer dealers are at least 40 mins away otherwise I would vote with my feet, I simply have so little free time these days and Ifrom experience it just doesn't work taking the dc with me.

I've just changed my car and found the sales people at the local (Gloucester) Fiat, Honda and Ford dealerships very helpful. The Ford salesman emailed me brochures and was very friendly. When I bought a car that was not a Ford he was interested in my decision making process. Although I went to the Fiat dealers a couple of times and they were lovely I eventually decided on a Panda, not the 500 I'd looked at previously and did the deal on the phone - bartering them down to the best price available at the time. Out of them all I'd say the VW one was least helpful, she just pointed out an UP! inthe showroom and didn't talk to me at all about the range, just said there was another one out on loan and to go back later if I wanted to see it.

I've found VW dealers a bit take it or leave it before. A few years ago ( younger and better off in those days) I wanted a new beetle soft top, but was ignored when I went to do the deal so went to the BMW dealers and got a 3 series instead.

"BUT surely the chance that you might buy is better than the certainty that you won't because they haven't sourced even a potential purchase for you."

It depends; I've no doubt many dealers get hundreds of enquiries a day that never amount to anything (I've heard as much from dealers/salespeople), so they need to work out the 1% of legitimate enquiries from the dreamers - chances are they'll get it wrong a lot. Plus, a lot of the time 'Sales' and 'Customer Service' are mutually exclusive.

Having said that, I'm in the process of changing my car and have had a great service from two salesmen (at the same dealership), including one of them spending time ringing around getting a price for the car I'm swapping; went for a test drive and the second salesman said, "drop me back at the showroom because I'm meeting another buyer, go and take it for a drive," so I had a great chance to try the car out properly. Overall very laid back and friendly, and I placed the order straight after the test drive.

There are good dealers out there who want your business, but you may need to be selective - it's always a compromise: go with the crappy dealer near you, or shop a bit further afield to get the service you want.

What makes/models have you looked at?