mk6 dealer negotiations

[oileoi]

Thanks pologti18t, I've been looking at the upgrade from APR but was wondering about the end results, has any one here actually done the performance upgrade in a 90 TSI? Also I'm curious to know how my price comes in the % savings spread sheet?

[sillygogo]

Oileoi: Go for the 118TSi if you can, I would recommend the sports pack too...i regret of not get it at the time.

[pologti18t]

Thanks pologti18t, I've been looking at the upgrade from APR but was wondering about the end results, has any one here actually done the performance upgrade in a 90 TSI? Also I'm curious to know how my price comes in the % savings spread sheet?

Apparently you can get it flashed for free for a 6hr trial. You can then decide if its worth it or not. I have had my Polo Gti reflashed and its the best $1400 i have ever spent on a car.

[chylld]

My order:

90 TSI Manual
Candy White (CW)
Comfort Package
Driveaway price AU$27,500 - Do you think I got a good price? - (no corporate deal)

works out to a 13.2% discount, awesome effort! Added to the spreadsheet.

When a customer buys a car they usually want three things:

1. A high quality car.
2. The best possible customer service.
3. The lowest possible price.

Unfortunately, this is not an ideal world. You will have to comprimise on one of the above to get some of the crazy deals you guys seem to want.
...
If you can't afford the service and support of a Volkswagen dealer then there is always Kia and Hyundai.

My current car happens to be a Hyundai i30 diesel. It is a very good quality car that has served me well from day 1. The customer service is excellent, and when there was some oil dripping from a faulty oil cap, they drove out to me and fixed it, escorted me back to the service centre and did a full check of everything, and then gave me back my keys at no cost. And I got a price low enough that they had to process my deal manually since the computer wouldn't accept it.

On the other hand, my previous car, a Honda for which I paid the full RRP+on roads (not a single dollar of bargaining) was unreliable, had several critical components fail and both the car reliability and customer service were so bad I had to consult legal advice at one point.

Point being, paying more money than one needs to for a car does not guarantee a higher quality product nor greater customer service. In fact, from your post it sounds like you look at how much a customer paid for their car, and adjust your quality of service to suit.

But going by some of the attitudes on here, I think we would be far better off just closing the dealerships and simply ordering our cars online from Amazon at a fixed price.

If that were the cheaper option, I don't see many reasons why not to.

I wonder how many of you walk into Coles or Wolworths and try to get two cartons of Milk for the price of one??????

I think you are by the fact that consumers want the best deal they can get. If we know that Coles occasionally runs specials for 50% off milk, then we'll happily take that offer when the specials are on. While there is no such regular and established "specials period" for cars, we do know what discounts others have gotten so naturally we, as consumers, will want that deal. e.g. if I know I can get 2 cartons of milk for $5, I'm not going to pay $7 now, am I?

[Skoda Convert]

i have to agree with the dealer

While there is no such regular and established "specials period" for cars, we do know what discounts others have gotten so naturally we, as consumers, will want that deal. e.g. if I know I can get 2 cartons of milk for $5, I'm not going to pay $7 now, am I?

It's very hard to make that comparison though becuase you can't put it into context of one off small purchases. However take the coles and safeway example over the full 12 months, most of us wol sepnd on average around $150 a week at a supermarket and for a family probably around $220 but we'll use the $150 for the example. That works out to be $7,800 a year or the average car repayments on a 5 year loan for a new car. None of us really go and actively seek supermarket bargains on every item we receive so on average our shop will always be at that $150 mark.

Everyone here would agree that you would feel like a dill strolling up to the counter and trying to negotiate with the checkout chick then saying i need to think about it which in salesmans terms means ' i need to go and shop you'

Although we give these groups thousands of dollars a year, year in year out we never ever negotiate with them and yet it becomes like a sport for you people when you buying a car. All you end up doing is p#$@ing people off and then you can't understand why they treat you like crap, well let me give you some insight.

The consultant can spend 10 minutes with you he/she can spend 4 hours with you and unless they sell you a car they make $0. When the market is so tight they can't be paid a commission because how can you pay someone a percentage of nothing so they get a delivery fee, this is more often than not $50 - $100 but can be as much as.......wait for it.............$150 before tax. All that to greet you professionally develop a professional repoire with you, show you the car, take you for a test drive, value you trade in if you have one, negotiate with you and then have you make them beg for your business by running around and screwing them down, or even worse walking into another dealer who has spent 20 minutes with you gives you a couple of hundred better and you by somewhere else.

We can all tell story's about how disgraceful consultants are but i have heard thousands of stories on how disgusting customers are and how they barely show a shred of loyalty, especially in VW. They want to feel like the are prestige buyer, get the great service and be pampered because they are apparently 'professional' people but then act like they are bargaining on a Hyundai. The funny part is Hyundai are averaging more per gross unit than VW currently and i can assure you that is a fact!!!

And before you mention base pay none of them (not in management) earn anymore than $40k as a retainer.

If you are unhappy at how dealerships treat you please understand that we have done it to ourselves. I purchased my Skoda Wagon from someone who treated me well, i didn't go anywhere else because i had no need to. Great service from a dedicated professional needs to be rewarded, if i payed a bit to much who cares he deserved it and hopefully he will still be there when i return in 2012 and i can reward his professionalism again.

'Treat people how you would like to be treated' you be amazed how well this works!!!!

All i am saying is buying a new car should be enjoyable, we don't do it every day and some of the posts here are giving people crazy pre-conceived idea's that are setting them up to go and lock horns with dealers and inevitably have a bad buying experience.

[chylld]

...some of the posts here are giving people crazy pre-conceived idea's that are setting them up to go and lock horns with dealers and inevitably have a bad buying experience.

All the posts here are straight facts, real numbers that real people have achieved on real deals from real dealers. There is nothing crazy here?

Moreover, I don't recall any of the buyers here having major problems with customer service?

[philthy]

When a customer buys a car they usually want three things:

1. A high quality car.
2. The best possible customer service.
3. The lowest possible price.

Unfortunately, this is not an ideal world. You will have to comprimise on one of the above to get some of the crazy deals you guys seem to want.

You want your cars well below cost price, with plenty of extras thrown in for free, your full tank of fuel, floor mats, etc, etc.

Why would you sell a car below cost? Do these customers walk in with a loaded gun? If sell a vehicle with full knowledge that you are losing money and you don't expect to recover it through servicing etc. then I don't see how you plan to stay in business.

And then, when something goes wrong, you expect the dealer to ben over backwards for you? Where does the mentality come from?

Why on earth is it unreasonable for a customer to expect a dealer to honour a warranty? Are you serious?

I am by no means wealthy, but I guess I was brought up differently. If it is quality and service you are after, then you have to pay for it. If you can't afford the service and support of a Volkswagen dealer then there is always Kia and Hyundai.

It's a Volkswagen, not a Bentley. Get your hand off it.

Bottem line, if it was not good enough for me at full price, then it certainly is not good enough at a discounted price. I am all for getting a good deal, dont get me wrong. But going by some of the attitudes on here, I think we would be far better off just closing the dealerships and simply ordering our cars online from Amazon at a fixed price.

Agreed, your attitude makes me think that's a great idea.

I wonder how many of you walk into Coles or Wolworths and try to get two cartons of Milk for the price of one??????

Interesting point. I buy woolies brand milk cos it's exactly the same as the more expensive stuff, just without the added marketing BS cost.

[logger]

Nice one Philphy. Your post cracked me up. Couldn't agree more.

All i am saying is buying a new car should be enjoyable, we don't do it every day and some of the posts here are giving people crazy pre-conceived idea's that are setting them up to go and lock horns with dealers and inevitably have a bad buying experience.

Skoda Convert,
Actually I don't really give a rats about the buying experience which last a day or tow at most. For me, it is the ownership and use of the car that should be enjoyable. My local dealer has excellent sales people, who are very professional and do a terrific job. But for me that is not sufficient reason to pay their principals $500 more for the car than another dealer. If the dealership wants my sale then they need to jiggle their spreadsheet so their best price is the best price. Simple really.
In any case Locking horns with the dealer is fun especially since I have the cheque book in my pocket. It is the Dealers turn to bend me over when I take my car in for a service.

Chylld, I commend you for creating this thread and the SS which is a terrific resource for savvy buyers. You could start a business doing this sort of stuff you know.

[chylld]

Chylld, I commend you for creating this thread and the SS which is a terrific resource for savvy buyers. You could start a business doing this sort of stuff you know.

I only made the SS; Rufus made this thread

[kevin118]

I've enjoyed these comments today. Some interesting observations that made me think.

I'm in the camp of not caring a great deal about the relationship with the sales person, but caring more about getting the right car at the right price. The way of the world is that there is a lot more information available to help influence the decision about what car to buy; and what might be an acceptable price.

My experience with VW sales staff is very limited, but I have no complaints at all. I'm sure they have to deal with all sorts.

I would prefer, though, not to have to haggle for a car at all. 'Fixed price: take or leave it' would be great but that isn't the market at the moment. Similarly airplane seats aren't the same price either. The ability to secure a good price for airplane seat / new car has nothing to do with the service / quality expected.

I concede that the kind of people that play the sales game carefully (perhaps getting the better deals) may happen to be same kind of people that are particular about the product they get.

I've read many threads on this forum discussing 'problems' with their car, that I'd probably never notice, let alone complain about - which is a refection of my lack of technical knowledge. The quality of the car does not change (obviously) based on the price paid for it. Fussy knowledge people will be fussy and knowledge regardless of how they acquired the car.


btw Is the assertion that sales staff at VW get up to $150 commission for a 40K car right? I confess, I thought it was much higher.

[JasonP]

I have previously worked in new car sales, & have had my own experiences of buying new cars via a Car Broker, & negotiating with dealers directly myself.
I've always found that the buyer who screws every last cent out of the deal, ends up with the most hassles with the reliability of the car.
Buyers who know they've left a few dollars in the deal, end up in a Win/Win position.
They are happy to buy at that price, & the dealer is happy to sell at that price.
These are the buyers who never seem to have any warranty claims, or hassles with their new car.

Karma I think they call it......

[chylld]

It also depends how closely the sales and service departments are linked.

With my Honda (which I happily paid full price for), the salesman was super-friendly and assured me that he would personally take care of me to book services and make sure I get everything that I need. However once the car started having problems, he couldn't try harder to remember who I was, and when he did, he just forwarded me to the service dept who asked me the same questions all over again.

I know my Honda is just one case, but I wonder how VW is structured with regard to sales <-> service. IIRC the Sydney Parramatta sales centre is a few km away from the service centre...

[oileoi]

chylld thanks for giving me the 13.2% figure, i feel much better now.

[oileoi]

Cheers pologti18t, I ran APR yesterday and they told me all about the free trial and the upgrade

[aw611]

Hi all,
Thanks chylld for creating the SS.. been a long time reader of this thread and the info here help me a great deal in negotiating with the dealer which I have signed on the dotted line today!!

Golf 118TSI DSG
Sports Pack
Metallic Paint
Sunroof
MDI

$37k with Corp Plus discount..

I am really happy with the deal but delivery will be late Jan!!