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Unscrupulous Business Behaviour looses the deal
Posted by: Dissol on Aug 16, 2010
I am in the market for a new company car. My choices are actually quite limited. I am looking for a smallish car, as we still have the family station wagon. But it needs to be automatic (or at least not have a clutch, so I can fit hand controls), have room to fit my wheelchair inside, and have a decently large door to get my wheelchair in & out. My experience of driving different hire cars with hand controls (the closest I get to a test drive - Thank you Avis for providing hand controls for no extra charge!), effectively ruled out saloons or 5 door hatchbacks...as the front doors tend to be smaller.
So...the decision came down in favour of the VW Scirocco. I remember the old Sciroccos, and we have had good experiences of VW / Audi vehicles over the years. My company car goes to my wife, and so I have her 10 year old Golf to trade in for a new car - which also makes VW a good choice, as I am likely to get a better price going to a VW dealer...or at least I should…
So I pop down to my local VW dealership and have a closer look at the vehicle, and also at the Golf GTI, which is similarly priced...but possibly more practical, both with the interesting DSG gearbox. The Golf is ruled out, due to the fact we only get 5 door GTI's in SA, even though a 3 door model is available elsewhere. The size of the front doors is considerably smaller as compared to the Scirocco.
So I sit down with the dealer to start negotiations. Initially he tells me that there are no discounts available for Sciroccos...at which point I make to leave, telling him that I do not want to waste his time, but I have never bought a car without a discount, and I am not about to change now. Eventually he concedes, and offers me a small discount. OK, send me a quote. He does, but includes a whole heap of extras that I have not specified. So I call him to take these off, and re-submit. He does so...but adds on other extras… Grrr… So same again, and eventually he manages to send me a correct quotation. Then they have to value my wife's car. R44K sounds reasonable - although book value is R44 - 46, so I am a little niggled to only get book value (one owner from new, full service history, etc.). But OK. He does warn me that there may be a 5 - 6 month waiting list, which is less than good. But we eventually decide to go for the deal. So I tell him that as deposit, I will be giving in my wife's car now, as I understand it could be worth less in 5 months time. I take the car in, with all its papers.
Then he drops the bombshell, he will only give me R35 for the Golf now (2 weeks after they valued it). Hold on a minute; we agreed a deal, albeit without signing anything, how are you reneging on this now? He gives me all sorts of bullshit…he can only give me what other garages are prepared to pay for the Golf. He offered 44 before, as although they are not supposed to offer discounts, this was one way of making the deal more attractive….and I have negotiated a discount… Bollocks!! I negotiated the discount after being offered only 44 for the car. He clearly thinks he still has the deal, and was quite shocked when we rocked up and collected the car & papers back. I went to the VW dealer in the next town (owned by the same group), and immediately got a better deal that the one he was offering, including a much quicker delivery time - work that one out...
The think is; I have an Audi, & my wife has had the Golf. Both vehicles are serviced by his dealership. I was offering to buy another VW from him (with an extended maintenance contract), so it was going to be more trade for the dealership. But his attempted quick moves have not just lost him the deal, but I may well no decide to have my cars serviced in the next door town. His attempted greed, and unscrupulous business manner have cost him dear. When I replace my Audi, it will certainly not be through him.
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