buying a vehicle

[Tonz]

whats your thoughts, I am looking for pros & cons of dealer V private sales Aus wide when I live at bottom of SA.

[barra240t]

I'm assuming you are buying second hand?

Deals pros- someone to revisit if you have issues, vehicle rego/road worth, freight, etc done in house, basically everything is done for you, all the hard work is dealt with, they can even sort out your trade, cons- usually more expensive.

Private pros- usually cheaper, cons- have to trust the person, may have to deal with them sorting out their payout if under finance, you'll have to sort out own freight if shipping home, you'll have to sort of rego transfer/road worthy etc etc

[fordomatic]

Bought a 2 year old used car from a dealer once, in 2007, I swore I'd never buy from a dealer again. I have kept to that promise to myself all these years later.

I've helped mates who have bought used cars from dealers over the years, dealing with issues. I'm not going to put in my experiences of why, but my experiences are exactly why stereotypes of dealers aren't positive.

Buying private you actually get to meet the owner, understand the cars history and make a choice from there. For me, that is the most important thing.

PS, I also never have my cars serviced by a dealer either. Caught one service Centre doing a burnout in my at the time 2 year old BA XR8, funny thing was, it was the service manager.

[prydey]

I'm opposite to the above. Will always favour a dealer and usually one linked to the manufacturer, not some dodgy second hand dealer. Sure cars cost a bit more but generally more peace of mind.

If I have a car to sell then it makes even more sense as they can trade in. Again, get less for it but it's a much easier process. Can't be bothered dealing with people coming to my house to kick the tyres or not showing up etc.

[Franco Cozzo]

Originally Posted by fordomatic

Bought a 2 year old used car from a dealer once, in 2007, I swore I'd never buy from a dealer again. I have kept to that promise to myself all these years later.

I've helped mates who have bought used cars from dealers over the years, dealing with issues. I'm not going to put in my experiences of why, but my experiences are exactly why stereotypes of dealers aren't positive.

Buying private you actually get to meet the owner, understand the cars history and make a choice from there. For me, that is the most important thing.

PS, I also never have my cars serviced by a dealer either. Caught one service Centre doing a burnout in my at the time 2 year old BA XR8, funny thing was, it was the service manager.

Same here, having worked in the dealership workshop it's chock full of clowns too, including me

None of my cars were ever serviced by dealership workshops, always by a trusted independent workshop only with genuine filters, oils and service components.

[BFIIGhiaZF6]

I have bought all my Falcons from second hand dealers, lots of good reasons why, warranty, transfer of ownership, roadworthy, ease of trade in etc, have never had a problem with getting warranty work done either, you just need to find a good dealer, as soon as you start asking questions, ask for service history records or request pre pick up repairs etc, you will soon know by their response whether you are dealing with a good one or not:

Same applies to service, I have used my local Bridgestone Select for the past 5 years now.

Good luck Tonz, it can be a harrowing time:

https://www.fordforums.com.au/showthread.php?t=11463400

[Tonz]

Life has a way of throwing curve balls.
Living away from big cities does come with disadvantages (lack of cars for sale etc)
then landlord asks you to move &#%@*(%#$ so everything is on hold.
Meanwhile while hunting for a house Ive locked in a decent size shed, so my retirement dreams can kick in and start playing with timber again.

[rare ss]

I've never used a dealer for buying or selling any of my cars so I can't say anything good (or bad) about them.. but yes, not a fan of them

[barra240t]

In a nutshell looks like people have had good and bad experiences dealer vs private. In the end be smart and if something doesn't seem right don't proceed and if you need advice seek it before handing over and money, there are plenty of cars out there!

[Franco Cozzo]

My best car buying experience was my last one, never met the owner, never saw the car, never spoke to him on the phone.

Transferred him the cash via EFT and organised a tow truck and it was sitting in my driveway when I got home from work even though I bought it from someone 100km+ away

The day I can do that with a new car I'll go to my grave a happy man

[hayseed]

Originally Posted by Franco Cozzo

My best car buying experience was my last one, never met the owner, never saw the car, never spoke to him on the phone.

Transferred him the cash via EFT and organised a tow truck and it was sitting in my driveway when I got home from work even though I bought it from someone 100km+ away

The day I can do that with a new car I'll go to my grave a happy man

Just Buy a Tesla.........

[Tonz]

Originally Posted by Franco Cozzo

My best car buying experience was my last one, never met the owner, never saw the car, never spoke to him on the phone.

Transferred him the cash via EFT and organised a tow truck and it was sitting in my driveway when I got home from work even though I bought it from someone 100km+ away

The day I can do that with a new car I'll go to my grave a happy man

If I was selling you a car I'd be making damn sure it was all 100% kosher, otherwise I'd have your 'friends' hunting me down. .

[Itsme]

In today's world I would tend to purchase from big brand name dealer if price was reasonable due to scams becoming common amongst private sales, my last two purchases of used cars from dealers were good with pricing & reliability.
Just choose wisely and go with your gut feelings either with private or dealership.

[Franco Cozzo]

With dealership their point of difference with their higher price is basically:

- No tyre kicking if you're trading in
- Limited warranty if you're buying second hand
- 'Cool off' period
- A business for recourse if **** goes pear shaped

The other side of the coin which would seal the deal for me for me to agree to pay the extra, I'd be happy to buy from a dealership if I just had to pay for the car and it turned up in my driveway with my RWC paperwork in it and an invoice.

I don't want to talk to some smarmy ******* salesman on the phone who is going to try oldskool pressure tactics on me, I like that car on the car sales listing, let me pay for it and make it turn up in my driveway, I should be able to buy a car like I'm buying any other product and it turns up in my driveway.

Hands down my consistent worst customer service experiences are:

- Buying a car from a car dealership
- How slow front of house staff are in restaurants/cafes/breweries in Western Australia, everything there happens when it happens rather than some pace to it.

[barra240t]

Originally Posted by Franco Cozzo

I don't want to talk to some smarmy ******* salesman on the phone who is going to try oldskool pressure tactics on me, I like that car on the car sales listing, let me pay for it and make it turn up in my driveway, I should be able to buy a car like I'm buying any other product and it turns up in my driveway.

Absolutely. Just like going into Coles. No haggling and no discounts, take the ticket price or leave. Buy it off the shelf and beep it through the check out, hell, you can even go through self service and avoid the 18 year old at the desk. Working wonders for Honda.

[Franco Cozzo]

Originally Posted by barra240t

Absolutely. Just like going into Coles. No haggling and no discounts, take the ticket price or leave. Buy it off the shelf and beep it through the check out, hell, you can even go through self service and avoid the 18 year old at the desk. Working wonders for Honda.

Alright, so I come into your dealership and buy a Ranger Raptor from you, is there discounts available on the RRP all of a sudden is there? Is there any discounts available on any of Ford's range you can provide, because last time I heard there's huge waiting lists on everything and shortages on everything which means no discounts.

What about if I want to place an order for a new Mustang Mach E, can you help me with that?

Have you ever thought Honda sells overpriced crap cars that our market doesn't want? Whats your excuse for the Tesla Model 3 and Model Y which show up in VFACTS on the regular in the top 10?

The last time we bought a new Ford, they didn't even know about one of the options packages we wanted, I literally knew more about the car they were selling than the sales team did - absolute joke.

Thats fine, I can understand why you're upset over it because your job won't exist in 10 years and you'll need to be something other than a useless middle man. The dealership sales team do zero value adding to the process at all, they're just obstacles between the manufacturer and the customer who are getting a cut.

[hayseed]

Originally Posted by Franco Cozzo

Hands down my consistent worst customer service experiences are:

- Buying a car from a car dealership
- How slow front of house staff are in restaurants/cafes/breweries in Western Australia, everything there happens when it happens rather than some pace to it.

Clearly you've never been to Bali, Fiji, or India.........

[Franco Cozzo]

Originally Posted by hayseed

Clearly you've never been to Bali, Fiji, or India.........

I've been to the western suburbs of Melbourne, India comes to me, not the other way around, just like my car purchases

[prydey]

Kind of on that tangent but also relevant to Tonz, many dealers do actually offer shipping to you these days. Possibly not new cars but since covid, buying cars online is actually possible and dealers can do it. You may be able to negotiate free shipping depending on what you're buying, but unlikely if the destination is pt Lincoln.

Might find something interstate or in Adelaide that's worth the risk. If from a dealer there will be some warranty (depending on km and age) and you can discuss with the dealer what would happen if you needed to claim.

So Franco's dream probably isn't that far away....

[Franco Cozzo]

Originally Posted by prydey

Kind of on that tangent but also relevant to Tonz, many dealers do actually offer shipping to you these days. Possibly not new cars but since covid, buying cars online is actually possible and dealers can do it. You may be able to negotiate free shipping depending on what you're buying, but unlikely if the destination is pt Lincoln.

Might find something interstate or in Adelaide that's worth the risk. If from a dealer there will be some warranty (depending on km and age) and you can discuss with the dealer what would happen if you needed to claim.

So Franco's dream probably isn't that far away....

I did it myself, but thats not the point, I shouldn't have to organise it myself it should be an option from the get go.

With Tonz, do a Melbourne trip - way bigger market here for second hand vehicles and once you find something you can drive it back and do some touristy bull**** on the way back once you're ready to buy.

[prydey]

Originally Posted by Franco Cozzo

I did it myself, but thats not the point, I shouldn't have to organise it myself it should be an option from the get go.

I bought a focus from mt Gambier many years ago. It was vic rego.

Never left the house. Spoke over the phone. Transferred money. Papers emailed, filled out and returned.

Car arrived in my driveway with sa rego a few days later. They organised the whole deal.

[Franco Cozzo]

Originally Posted by prydey

I bought a focus from mt Gambier many years ago. It was vic rego.

Never left the house. Spoke over the phone. Transferred money. Papers emailed, filled out and returned.

Car arrived in my driveway with sa rego a few days later. They organised the whole deal.

Perfect, one of my colleagues bought a Falcon from Western Australia and they shipped it over and even organised a VIC RWC for it too, this was pre-covid.

There's a few businesses catching on to this, the fact its not mainstream really gives me the ****s.

With me, I know what I want before I've even walked into your dealership, so why put barriers in the way of me getting what I want? I'd say everyone on AFF who bought a new Ranger, knew what they wanted to buy before they even stepped into their local Ford dealership. Or the ones awaiting S650 Mustang, I suspect they all know what car they want to buy.

Even when I bought my first new car when I was 17, I knew exactly what car I wanted, so why did I have to make the 30km drive to the dealership when said same dealership spare parts team drops parts off to my door? Why can't they drop off a new car?

The dealership sales team moves from talking to people, processing forms and getting signatures to processing orders online and helping organise cars and getting them to customers.

Or the dealership becomes a workshop for the manufacturer and then the service desk staff also double as the sales team for a customer who wants to buy a car over the counter and do the whole test drive thing first rather than purchase online.

[Mulva]

Originally Posted by Franco Cozzo

With Tonz, do a Melbourne trip - way bigger market here for second hand vehicles and once you find something you can drive it back and do some touristy bull**** on the way back once you're ready to buy.

I did this. Purchased used car from dealer in Melbourne as I could not get the interior and exterior combo I wanted locally, and it was both lower km and several $k cheaper than all local options.

Flew Adelaide to Melbourne for $49, and was $60 for car service from airport to dealer (guy I used to use regularly when work had me going to Melbourne a lot). Got home on just over a tank. So got it back to Adelaide for less than $250, and while it also took a day of my time, I love driving the open roads and sometimes do so for no reason other than to just drive.

Could not transfer Vic rego to my name due to me not living in Vic, so dealer cashed that in and took it off the price, and they arrange the temp permit for me to drive it back. Best bit was driving back with no number plates on the permit, gave no ****s for the point-to-point cameras.

Did get the car checked out first by Vic's version of RAA for peace of mind - report was thorough enough but no where near as thorough as what I got from the NSW equivalent when I purchased a car from there about 10 years ago (that time I had it freighted back).

Would do it again in a heartbeat.

[anobserver]

Originally Posted by Franco Cozzo

Alright, so I come into your dealership and buy a [Insert brand name here] from you....

The last time we bought a new Ford, they didn't even know about one of the options packages we wanted, I literally knew more about the car they were selling than the sales team did - absolute joke.

Thats fine, I can understand why you're upset over it because your job won't exist in 10 years and you'll need to be something other than a useless middle man. The dealership sales team do zero value adding to the process at all, they're just obstacles between the manufacturer and the customer who are getting a cut.

This resonates a lot. We've just been through the buying process and honestly, its still painful. Dad was a salesman, so after that lived experience i have a narrow window of tolerance.

Sparingly test drove some cars. Read up lots, decided what we wanted and what options. Then started vetting for the least objectionable salesperson. Finally decided on one. Bought the car from the dealership where he works. A few weeks later it arrived off the boat. Happy days.

Thank goodness servicing is only annually.

[Franco Cozzo]

Originally Posted by Mulva

I did this. Purchased used car from dealer in Melbourne as I could not get the interior and exterior combo I wanted locally, and it was both lower km and several $k cheaper than all local options.

Flew Adelaide to Melbourne for $49, and was $60 for car service from airport to dealer (guy I used to use regularly when work had me going to Melbourne a lot). Got home on just over a tank. So got it back to Adelaide for less than $250, and while it also took a day of my time, I love driving the open roads and sometimes do so for no reason other than to just drive.

Could not transfer Vic rego to my name due to me not living in Vic, so dealer cashed that in and took it off the price, and they arrange the temp permit for me to drive it back. Best bit was driving back with no number plates on the permit, gave no ****s for the point-to-point cameras.

Did get the car checked out first by Vic's version of RAA for peace of mind - report was thorough enough but no where near as thorough as what I got from the NSW equivalent when I purchased a car from there about 10 years ago (that time I had it freighted back).

Would do it again in a heartbeat.

VIC has rubbery RWC requirements, that you only need to do when you sell the car with registration.

NSW has yearly inspections once the car gets to a certain age so their older vehicle fleet is likely to be in better condition than ours as well as the inspections a bit more thorough, or less people willing to do dodgies up there, everything is negotiable over here in Mexico, if you know the right people

[prydey]

Likewise, I bought a car for my in laws from Sydney. Plane trip over. Jumped on the train. Dealer picked me up from the station near his yard. Bought the car and drove it home.

Bought a ba wagon from Brisbane. Bit different though because my folks live up there so they did the handover and I just flew up and drove it home.

Like Mulva I love driving interstate so that was a positive not a drawback.

[Tonz]

this has been very informative, appreciate all the feedback.
Few years ago one of our members here sussed out the LPG 1 tonner ute I have now, it was from a dealer. I cannot remember who arranged the rail freight but the biggest buzz I got was driving with wife to Adeliade for some shopping and hopefully see the ute ... there it was on a car carrier behind the Indian Pacific train heading through Pirie.

I was thinking more private but get through the sales bull ***t and deal from there.

Being in the process of rental hunting as well, dear god Iam over it, the replacement ute may wait a couple of extra months.

[prydey]

Originally Posted by Franco Cozzo

With me, I know what I want before I've even walked into your dealership, so why put barriers in the way of me getting what I want? I'd say everyone on AFF who bought a new Ranger, knew what they wanted to buy before they even stepped into their local Ford dealership. Or the ones awaiting S650 Mustang, I suspect they all know what car they want to buy.

.

Actually, with the recent purchase of our Escape we didn't start out looking at new cars. The budget crept out a bit as we looked around at the previous model and eventually got to a point where the price of new was literally less than $5k off what low km user ones of the previous model were selling for.
We went to the dealer just to have a look and because the dealer actually had one available (2021). Even I didn't really know much about them.
Mrs was sold on it as soon as she saw it (much cleaner layout inside) and the salesperson was awesome. Have actually called in and chatted to him a few times since. A real passionate Ford guy (well, right up until he isn't) and he knew all the ins and outs of the latest tech so it was quite helpful actually having him run through many of the features and demonstrate the voice commands etc.
We didn't buy the car because of the salesperson though but the whole experience was pretty good actually.

Sorry for getting a bit off topic.

Bringing it back around somewhat, the used car salesperson at the same dealership was the stereotype and had no clue.

Also the guys who sold me my territory were two faced liars and I found them out, but the car itself had been faultless. Sometimes you just have to put the experience behind you and realise you'll never likely see them again. Focus on the car, not the person.

[Tonz]

if an XR6 auto ute has been advertised in a yard for over 2 months would you suspect something?

[anobserver]

Originally Posted by Tonz

if an XR6 auto ute has been advertised in a yard for over 2 months would you suspect something?

Its fully priced?