You Lot!

[vwsurfbum]

thanks for your support.
i certainly am not looking for sympathy! i was origionly posting to let 'YOU LOT' know what was happening, as to being one of those uniterested salesman i am not, How many Seat sales people do you see on here being activly interested in what goes on?
i really enjoy Seat and it was a breath of fresh air from the likes of VW and toyota but its time to move on with my life and yes possibly retrain? after all im still just under the 30 milestone!

 

[Duncanp]

The internet has changed things. If dealerships can't make a profit by traditional means, then they need to change their business model. The internet sellers that are undercutting them are making a profit, otherwise they would not be in business. May be the dealerships need to sell their huge showrooms and have less staff. Times are changing. Buyers can only buy as cheap as sellers are willing to sell for. All sellers need to make a profit somehow. If other sellers are making a profit and you arn't, then you are doing something wrong.

 

[vwsurfbum]

the trouble is the other sellers as you say are the internet guys or the supermarkets, for us to survive we need help from the manufacturer and not demand such high standards or give us some financial backing.
its not just Seat or the car trade everyone is suffering!

 

[orca]

I think people are forgetting something here. What Ian is saying is that now everyone is asking for massive discounts ( mainly because of imports sold over the net ) there's no commission in selling cars any more. No commision = no wage. How many of you guys would work for less than it costs to live?

Oh and BTW if the salesman make no money, neither does the garage, then the garage closes... So where do you get your car serviced?

Nobody is saying you shouldn't haggle for a discount. I think the issue here is getting thousands off the list price of a car means there's no profit for the middle man which means he goes out of business.

Pete

when Ibought my FR i told dealer I know i can get it cheaper on the net. I'm not expecting you to beat it. I told them that I value the chance to go back to the dealer to moan etc and I had put a £ value on their service. All they had to do was make their price fit that. they did and I bought the car!

 

[Icecavern]

Exactly my point. You value the fact that that you have the service and backup of the dealer. That is what keeps a garage going. Maybe people don't think of that when they buy something though, and they expect to get it at the cheapest possible price.

I see it all the time in the ICE world, people buy online because they get deal, the problem is they are mostly grey imports etc so have no warrenty, or it's just a major hassle and there's no help if you get yourself in a pickle. But nobody cares about that until they walk into their local ICE shop expecting them to sort it out for free lol

Pete

 

[225]

Its sad but everyone tries for a disocunt its natural. If you dont want to discount something put the advertised price up and then knock more off! Customer service makes so much difference when buting a car, I have been to numerous garages and had some arrogant t055er come over and look down at me or try and be pushy so therefore lost a sale. The best sales service I have ever had was when I bought the chim, VERY friendly, enthusiastic about the cars, very laid back and easy to talk to.
Snotty salespeople really pi55 me off, I'm the customer at the end of the day and therefore = their salary.
I would rather buy from a dealer and you pay through the nose but as said you can go back and get things sorted (hopefully) quickly.

 

[Wes@Parkstone]

I have been a salesman for SEAT (parkstone) for 5 and half years now and its going to be sad to see Ian go as its a nice change to have some one who likes the product, people and has taken a interest in the people that buy the cars.

Most sales people are only interested in the cheque and dont bother about the customer after they purchase. I have brought cars myself and there are plenty of horrors out there.

We would love to keep on suppling the SEAT brand at this dealership but with the way that the brand/buyers are going about business the smaller dealers that look after customers and value there business are slowly going as they cannot withstand the loss's.

As we are all SEAT owners people on this website must be noticing that there local dealers are not there anymore. This month alone 3 dealers have gone including the Milton Keynes Dealership.

Well every business has hard times but that is the way things go, but it irriates me that some people begrudge a dealer for a profit for a great service

 

[PlatinumR]

I bought from the dealer because I too like somewhere and someone to moan at when things go wrong.
What I am impressed by is that the staff still remember me by name when I walk in so it makes things less formal and easier to deal with problems and being made a brew when you first get there makes a huge difference and I don't mean self service! Being treated like a friend not a customer

 

[Ol' Timer]

I think most of the problems stem from the Volkswagen group's policy of upgrading their dealerships. A couple of years ago they demanded huge investment by SEAT dealers in their premises if they wanted to retain the franchise – nice floors, pretty signs etc. This wiped out a lot of small dealers who couldn't afford the investment demanded. As a result we are left with one dealer in Norfolk and one in Suffolk. Ridiculous.

Exactly the same thing is happening with Skoda dealers at the moment and the two small long-established Skoda garages near me have given up the franchise and swapped over to Daihatsu. My SEAT dealer was forced to give up their Audi franchise because they couldn't afford the millions of investment required.

As I understand it most of the internet suppliers buy their cars from their selected main dealer who can negotiate special volume discounts with the manufacture. Unfortunately this cannot apply to every dealer and they cannot match the internet prices and still finance their new premises.

Meanwhile most new cars only require servicing once a year now so the aftersales side of the business does not generate a huge income. Ultimately if we all buy our cars online or at the cheapest price we must accept the fact that the small, friendly local dealership will become a thing of the past.

 

[vwsurfbum]

oh so very true!

 

[warren_cox]

Meanwhile most new cars only require servicing once a year now so the aftersales side of the business does not generate a huge income. Ultimately if we all buy our cars online or at the cheapest price we must accept the fact that the small, friendly local dealership will become a thing of the past.

The old Tesco scenario, once the biggies have killed off the small company's there will be a limited choice of seller and those who remain will price set to maintain profitability.

The internet has removed the need for car businesses to run posh premises. As internet companies also dont need to stock hold that reduces costs further. The transaction is processed on line and there is no commission to sales person. They still have the economies of scale to bulk purchase so get good deals themselves.

If only the aftercare was better from UK dealers I'd be far less reluctant to look for best price deals. Too many instances of "thats not a warranty issue" (rear brake squeal), "we don't cover that" (catalyst failure in <1yr). The relationship often stops with the customer once the car payment invoice ink dries and then it becomes a battle of wills to maintain a car thats not wholesomely reliable. Then they often rob you rotten on trade in so its not all doom and gloom. Spirit VW run their own race car so they seem to be doing alright. They supply an area where the people are too rich ,old or foolish to demand discounts. A dealership dream.

 

[Ant FR]

I think people are forgetting something here. What Ian is saying is that now everyone is asking for massive discounts ( mainly because of imports sold over the net ) there's no commission in selling cars any more. No commision = no wage. How many of you guys would work for less than it costs to live?

Oh and BTW if the salesman make no money, neither does the garage, then the garage closes... So where do you get your car serviced?

Nobody is saying you shouldn't haggle for a discount. I think the issue here is getting thousands off the list price of a car means there's no profit for the middle man which means he goes out of business.

Pete

yep, i do at the moment,

And i also work 100% commision, and self employed, so i understand the pressures.

 

[mart366]

Prehaps if dealerships could put the same amount of effort into looking after customers as they do when trying to sell a car, they would fare better.

just because i only want to spend £6.00 and not £6000 dosent mean i,m any different to the next bloke...

just remeber that 6.00 this time may be the 6000 next time,



welcome to club ub40 i got laid off 3 weeks ago... happy chrimbo eh??


Mart