How does anyone buy a new car?????

[iBoost]

I know that now, and never bought one. No torque to speak of, bought an S15 200sx instead.

[Axis]

Great car those ... I miss mine

[mikinoz]

reading that made me ROFL.....

When I was wandering about test driving cars last year I made my way to trivette in Alexandria and had quite possibly the worst interaction with a dealer EVER.

Drove the outgoing (2nd hand) 307 hdi touring and then was waiting 20+ minutes in carpark for guy to return w keys to 308 hdi touring. Went upstairs to showroom and found him negotiating with another customer.... Ummmmm WTF!!!!!????

He spotted me and my wife (combined with bemused/unimpressed look) and looked very embarassed. I walked up and told him not to worry- we were off to VW.

Wrote email to trivette director of sales. To his credit he replied with an apology. But we bought a VW. Bad trivette- very very bad.

I'll admit, it was not trivett. I shopped them though and the dealer we bought through was 3.5k cheaper.

I had the same trivett exerience tbh.

[craig_the_german]

Test Drives

Hi all,

I'm not knocking the dealers, just making a point that without cars to test drive they are making it hard for themselves.

Most on this forum would choose VW over most other brands but if the dealer had customers who had never had a VW, it is hard to convince them to buy a car "sight unseen".....you know the story..."you'll love the car...trust me, I'm a car salesman"

My wife is the perfect example of a typical customer. The model VW we are looking at is more expensive than an equivalent Focus, Cruse, Corolla, Mazda etc and without the possibility of driving a Golf it is hard to explain the price difference. My wife needs to be convinced that the Golf is worth the extra cost......you'll never do that if she can't drive one.

[Corey_R]

Yeah - we know you're not knocking the dealers... 265coupe was just a bit sensitive cause Maverick got stuck into him in another thread hehe

[Maverick]

Yeah - we know you're not knocking the dealers... 265coupe was just a bit sensitive cause Maverick got stuck into him in another thread hehe

Hardly I just posted that the dealer had done him a favour when it didn't have to refund him any money at all

OT: It would be impossible for a dealer to have one of every variation as a demo, even the high volume sites often only have a few different of each of the big selling models. It may be possible to get a test drive of a car that is sold but not yet delivered so registering interest with the dealer might be the only way to go.

[265coupe]

You reckon Mav? I'm still picking your barbs outta my arse.

[idaho]

No luck at Southport, Newstead or Springwood. ...

I can't quite work out what is going on here. I just looked at Carsales for 90TSI manuals in Brisbane and Austral have 13, Highway have 5 and Norris have 2 listed respectively (listed in alphabetic order, not by any dealer preference/ recommendation).

http://www.carsales.com.au/all-cars/results.aspx?No=15&Qpb=true&Ns=pCar_RankSort_Int32%7c1%7c%7cpCar_PriceSort_Decimal%7c1%7c%7cpCar_Make_String%7c0%7c%7cpCar_Model_String%7c0&keywords=&SearchAction=N&N=1216%201246%201247%201252%204294962746%204294962677%20900%201466%204294784914&silo=1002&sid=126F08B1DB90&seot=1&Nne=15&trecs=20&Cr=2

We haven't been to a dealer yet that wasn't prepared to hang a dealer plate on a car to go for a short test drive.

[Maverick]

I can't quite work out what is going on here. I just looked at Carsales for 90TSI manuals in Brisbane and Austral have 13, Highway have 5 and Norris have 2 listed respectively (listed in alphabetic order, not by any dealer preference/ recommendation).

Highway store their stock down at the rear of their dealership. They will happily drive you around down there to show you the cars and organise drives if required.

Austral store their stock down at Eagle Farm. They won't bring stock from Eagle Farm no matter how serious a buyer you are, you can't go and look at the stock (I wanted to see the blue with the light leather on a Mark V) and there is not even a way for them to take some photos and show you.

Norris I assume store their's onsite or close by and would be willing to do the same as Highway.

[craig_the_german]

Test Drives

Hi all,

I too have looked on Carsales but we were actually at the dealer yesterday and the salesman looked everywhere and there simply wasn't one anywhere.

You can only take the salesman's word for it as I made it very clear that if I can drive one, I'll buy one.....and they'll do anything for a sale.

[gregozedobe]

It seems to be more and more common. I wanted to test drive an XR5 Focus and was told I could only drive a base one as they were the 'same anyway' I said I'd order one sight unseen if I could pay the base models price since they were the same. LOL.

I agree with the original post. There is no way I'd pay that sort of cash for something I hadn't driven.

I'm the same - no test drive, no chance of a sale (what happens if I don't like it ? )

But this is nothing new, it happened to me 20 years ago when I wanted to buy a new Laser TX3. I think sometimes salespeople must make snap judgement that you aren't a "serious buyer" and from then on won't make much of an effort.

I love this idea: "....pay the base models price since they were the same. LOL."

[flappa]

I dont find buying a new car (or any car for that matter) a pleasurable experience. Highlighted by my recent shopping trip.

Rolled up to the Dealership on 3 occassions without even being acknowledged. 4th Time finally had someone talk to me. Was pleasant enough and deal was reasonable. Asked for a Test Drive before considering putting pen to paper. Car was at the detailers and would be back in an hour or so, promised to cal to arrange. 3 weeks later . . . . still waiting

The Dealer I went through couldn't have done a lot more. Hope I dont put the mosser on it

Just waiting on their new Carbon Steel demo to arrive to have a looksee at.

Funny thing is though Beaker , has had a vastly different experience with the first dealer AND salesman

[SpeedBird]

I have to agree with the OP. I went to one dealer and asked for a test drive of a passat cc v6. He said they had one but it was being driven by the managers wife, so it was unlikely they would have it available for a test drive, ever?!? I left a card and said i can be at the dealership at short notice should it ever become available.... ever... but obviously not in the last 2 weeks as I have received no call.

Yeah, its hard for all smaller dealers to have one of each in stock as demos, so only the large ones would have one sample to test drive and normally ring ahead for a appointment to get a drive, it beats walking in cold and asking for a test drive.

[JPwest]

Hi all,

When i went to order my GTI in Nov, i sent an email enquiry to VWA with my dealer pref - 3 days later I got a call from the dealer - invited me in to have a look at a model. He was very polite and eager and this was only a week after the model launch. He asked me if I wanted a test drive - I didn't have the time that day, but went back the week later, took a GTI DSG for a test drive. They had at least 4 GTI's (all DSGs) in the showroom or on the lot at that time.
That particular salesman (dealership in WA) was very obliging, and very keen to get my business. He himself admitted that the GTI's were practically selling themselves but was still working hard to get my business. Said they had 20 GTI's alloted to them and by the end of the first week of Nov, 11 had been sold.
He was very upfront and indicated before I had even signed anything that if i wanted to place an specific order, there would be up to a 5mth wait unless I wanted to take one of the models they had in the showroom. (Noe of the cars there had the specs I wanted). That suited me as I was not under any deadline to get a GTI and was happy to wait for one with my ideal specs.
I signed up then and there.
Since then the salesman has kept me updated on the progress and I am very satisfied. My car is not due to arrive until late April (exactly the time-frame he indicated), but I am very happy so far with the salesman's interest in ensuring that I am kept up to date via email or phone.
The anticipation is getting overwhelming, but if anything, the wait is only building the excitement!

[Umai Naa!!]

Good to hear. Our VW salesman is like that. He'll bend over backwards (possibly forwards, too) to help you out. When we asked about driving a 90TSI manual, he wasted no time digging the car out of the lot, and insisted we take our time with it.