[Plasma]

I've been looking into buying a Giulietta recently using 2 dealers in the Midlands. I've test driven the cars at one and I'm almost set on making a purchase in September.

Here’s the thing….. I'm very interested in buying a Giulietta and my partner has her heart set on a Mito.....so this would be a 'dual' purchase. To my horror we went into one dealer last month with the proposition and there wasn't 'one' single incentive to buy in the form of a discount or anything to make us spend our money in the dealership. The other thing to mention is that the offer the sales guy gave me on my 147 trade-in was utterly ludicrous to say the least. So, again no incentive to buy...only an insult to the car they sold me 3 years ago!?

Surely if two people are interested on buying 'two' cars there should be some sort of discount. No? I'm hoping the dealers vary from one to the other and aren't the same as this one....my most local unfortunately 'but' I know I won't buy from there and can take it there to be serviced. Trying one on Leicester next potentially.

I'd like to get some opinions on this....because if it's an Alfa salesman/dealer arrogance thing then we're definitely taking our custom elsewhere!

 

[APG]

A colleague at work just bought a new mini ( no accounting for taste). He tried four dealers and the difference was very marked; from almost no deal to a very good deal.

He did most of his dealing over the phone. Oddly enough his local dealer wouldn’t give him a deal over the phone. He never went in and bought else where. A few weeks later the salesman follows up and gets all shirty with him because he bought somewhere else! So that dealer will now never get his business! Odd.

In this market I would say it’s a buyers market, if they are not offering a deal, I bet somebody else will. As long as you know what you want, phone every dealer in the country and see what you get! I’m sure they will all deliver your new cars when they are ready!

In this market, I would say everything is negotiable. (Have fun)

 

[zeffsofresh]

I can understand the dealership not wanting to deal over the phone. The local importers would not like the dealerships discounting their product, as it undoes a lot of the work done, and money spent, on marketing. The dealerships can't be told what price to sell for because of competition laws, but the agents will frown upon it, and won't be as helpful in resolving issues with that dealership. I'm in the high end watch bussiness, and its similar here, we once had a rival store phone every single TAG Heuer agent in the country and pretended to be a client pushing for discount. The end result was that 2 stores lost their agencies and others had their buying margins decreased for over discounting and damaging brand image. None of my stores will offer discount over the phone now either.
That being said, I very rarely buy anything at full ticket price myself, but I find the best solution is to build up a relationship with a retailer. I know full well though that the dealer could be selling the product to someone else at full price, because not everyone asks for discount.

 

[omar_prime]

I managed to get a good deal on my forthcoming Giulietta by doing a bit of horse trading on the phone.

Went to the local dealer who took me for a test drive in a Petrol, when I'd specifically asked for a Diesel car. He offered me peanuts in part-exchange for my current car and no movement on the price.

Then went to another dealer and test drove a Diesel. He gave me a better offer in part-ex but again negligible movement on price.

After he phoned me the next morning with his final offer, I contacted a third dealership and told them exactly what I wanted and that if they could meet those demands they could have my business that day. This dealership offered me double in part-exchange for my Pug and got the monthly repayments down to where I wanted them to be. The transaction was all completed on the phone and all I did was pay a deposit on my Credit Card. The only time I intend to meet the salesman is when I go down to collect it on the 1st of September.

I'd therefore advise you to phone round a few dealers and see who is willing to give you a discount. Times are tough and few dealers would want to pass up the opportunity of a double sale.

 

[mathew]

I had three dealers all 'bidding' for my custom in the end - got a cracking deal and my dealership is doing a great job in keeping me posted and up-to-date.

 

[paul gardenshed]

I gather they can't move on price and not such a bad thing for the second hand value in a few years.

I did get bout 2 grand more than my 147 was worth as part exchange, 0 ish % on the finance and a few extras. I gather that if you go for big free extras they won't do a deal on the part ex. I would try other dealers as the one I use is great and found me a good deal, never had any problems and they treat us very well.

I bought a new Alfa partly because our local is one of the few garages I've used that has been decent. Aside from good little independants that is!

 

[APG]

Other point to remember is when are the dealer period end dates. (Does anybody know for Alfa?)

I know Merc are on three month cycle, so closer to the end of one of theses, the keener they are to sell.

I lucked in with BMW many years ago, walking in on the last day of the year and they were one car away from record sales (hence record bonus for them). Not likley to happen these days I guess!!

 

[mathew]

yeah all car manufacturers work on a Quarterly basis. I used to work for Mazda and Nissan in the UK head offices (in PR). They are given manufacturer deals on a quaterly basis. Always, always, always worth getting more than one dealer in to quote on you car - especially if getting finance - as different dealers use different finance houses as well as manufacturer finance houses. They may not be able to reduce the actual selling price of the vehicle much, but they can do other deals and play around with the finance cut that they take on deals, so play them off against eachother to get the best deal. My one piece of advice is: if you don't ask, you don't get.

 

[Plasma]

Thanks for all the comments here! I feel more positive now. Cheers

My local dealer will just have to suffer a the loss...