Member Since: 29 Jan 2006
Location: Lake Macquarie
Posts: 109
Dealer Lies and Ethics!
Sorry for the long post Well I must say at the moment I am pretty annoyed at our dealer
To try and cut a very long story short; we went with our local dealer even though it cost us $500 more than the price we were offered at the next closest dealership which is over 2 hours from us. We did this for two main reasons;
1) They had answered our initial enquiries, provided a test drive and brought a second hand vehicle to the dealership for us to inspect. We knew we would have to deal with these same people for servicing and warranty for years to come.
2) The sales manager explained they give loan vehicles free of charge to customers who have purchased from them. My wife will be using the vehicle most of the time with our little boy who is 2 years old so having a loan vehicle is important.
To make matters worse after agreeing via phone with the dealership manager to pay the extra $500 we received another offer which was $1500 cheaper. Call me stupid but we had given our word and to me that’s important so the following day we went in and signed the contract. When doing so we told the salesperson doing the paperwork about what had happened and he said he would tell the sales manager on his return from holidays in 2 weeks time.
After discussing things with my wife it was decided that we would like to add the ‘City Pack’ to our vehicle and since we had done the right thing by the dealership I asked our salesperson if they could do it for cost price. That way it cost them nothing but showed some good will to us considering what we had done regarding the sale price.
The salesperson then strings things out over the next two weeks while the dealership manager is away. After the first week of no answer we attend the dealership and he says “look there is no problem we will do it for cost price but since we have never done it before it is taking some timeâ€. Sure enough no answer to my email the following week so we drop into the dealership once again. He explains that he had not been looking forward to telling me but the price for the ‘City Pack’ (RRP of $2,390) is $2,200!!!!!! they told us if we buy from them we get 10% of all parts anyway so that is even less than there normal discount!! I ask if this is their cost price and he says with a straight look on his face ‘yes’.
Any ideas? I am thinking a letter direct to Land Rover?
Last edited by Husky on 13th Feb 2006 1:24 am. Edited 1 time in total
12th Feb 2006 10:05 pm
Husky
Member Since: 29 Jan 2006
Location: Lake Macquarie
Posts: 109
Oh and I have got to tell you this little gem.
Want to know what the dealership manager says when I tell him about doing the honourable thing and standing by our deal; “they do that to you the other dealers just to leave a bad taste in you mouth if you go elswhere"!
I then tell him they knew I had not signed and told me that the vehicle was there and ready for inspection and pickup if I wished. He then tells me "he has to do the best he can for the dealership as that’s his job!" atleast he could have said I appreciate your descency or thanks!!! Where do these kind of people come from?
You honoured your 'handshake'. At least you can sleep soundly at night without your conscience bothering you! For others, what goes around.....
Were you dealing with the Dealer Principal or the sales manager? Being the owner of the dealership, you would expect the DP to care about his reputation in the area.
Is it worth a heart to heart with the DP; explain to him that your choice of dealer was based on consideration of a long term relationship...you could be his greatest advocate...that sort of thing. Talk to him via his hip pocket. Unfortunately, it's very convenient for you to deal with someone local.
By the way, what colour, etc.. did you order in the end?
Cheers, Vic.'11 TDV6 - Stornoway Grey.... still lovin' it!!
REDUCE GREENHOUSE GASSES.......Eat more BEEF!!
Addendum: Red wine goes REALLY well with BEEF
14th Feb 2006 2:00 pm
mobyone
Member Since: 23 Dec 2005
Location: Melbourne
Posts: 394
Dealers
Hi Husky,
They should be able to do better than the discount they offered. I managed to swing some business to the finance guy at our local dealership after we bought our car in Nov last year. The finance dude was pretty grateful so I thought I would try my luck at asking him for discounted accesories, after our salesman told me where to go with my request for discount when we bought our car.
I bought rubber mat set, roof rails set and wind deflectors at about 38% off retail. Not bad considering he didn't have to do anything. Obviously staff discount is considerable
Go back and push them and also realise that LR will contact you about 3 weeks after the purchase for a 15min detailed survey about the whole LR experience over the phone. In that survey you can let them know exactly what you think.
Cheers
MobyWhat's the point.... it all comes out in the wash anyway!
85 Range Rover
01 Disco Series II
05 D3 V6SE, Bonatti Grey, 19"alloys
15th Feb 2006 10:54 am
Husky
Member Since: 29 Jan 2006
Location: Lake Macquarie
Posts: 109
Baggy wrote:
Husky,
You honoured your 'handshake'. At least you can sleep soundly at night without your conscience bothering you! For others, what goes around.....
By the way, what colour, etc.. did you order in the end?
Cheers, Vic.
Hey Vic - thanks for you input, your so right about being able to sleep at night! Your idea about speaking to the dealer principle is a good one. The two people I have dealt with so far are the salesperson and the dealership manager. The dealership is part of a larger group so if I do not get satisfaction locally I can go to the dealer principle like you suggested.
We chose the 'Zermatt Silver' in the end as all the pictures we sourced of Rimini Red seemed to vary too much for our liking to take the punt. Dealership manager noted !!!! You know you cannot tell Zambezi silver & Zermatt apart and the deal we made was for the vehicles we had in stock so you will have to pay any price increases on arrival Yes we know and thanks for the positive feedback
16th Feb 2006 8:13 pm
Husky
Member Since: 29 Jan 2006
Location: Lake Macquarie
Posts: 109
Re: Dealers
mobyone wrote:
Hi Husky,
They should be able to do better than the discount they offered.
Go back and push them and also realise that LR will contact you about 3 weeks after the purchase for a 15min detailed survey about the whole LR experience over the phone. In that survey you can let them know exactly what you think.
Cheers
Moby
Thanks for your feedback Moby Your damn right they should be able to do better, the salesperson claimed that because it was a 'pack' the price was already reduced which I understand BUT even considering that their price does not sound like cost to me. Hard part is proving it and the only way I can do that would be by complaining to LR Australia as they would know if as a client we had been lied to.
I have sent our dealer an email asking for our existing contract to be updated to include a new estimated delivery date and our agreement to pay any increase in 'recommended retail price only' as I don't want to be extorted at the time of the vehicle arriving. Once that is confirmed I will follow up the so called 'cost price' agreement.
We ended up getting a 2006MY TDV6 SE (with leather now) plus rear air conditioning drive away for $74,500. Ever since that happened everything has changed, we gather they normally get close to $80,000 for the same vehicle. Now the attitude is one of 'we have done you a favour' and since you did not take the vehicle we wanted to sell you at the price and time that suited us you are a bad customer
Hi Husky,
I hope things are working out for you with your dealer.
The lease on my car runs out in June, so I've started pricing vehicles the dealers have in stock 'vs' ordering from o/s (which looks like delivery would be approx May). Like yours, I'm looking at a MY2006 TDV6 SE with rear a/c.
Did you order a stock vehicle or is it on order from the UK? Do you have any other options on yours?
Cheers, Vic.'11 TDV6 - Stornoway Grey.... still lovin' it!!
REDUCE GREENHOUSE GASSES.......Eat more BEEF!!
Addendum: Red wine goes REALLY well with BEEF
23rd Feb 2006 11:32 am
Husky
Member Since: 29 Jan 2006
Location: Lake Macquarie
Posts: 109
Hi Vic,
our order is for a vehicle direct from the UK and not from dealer stock.
We wanted 'Zermatt Silver' since it was replacing 'zambezi silver'. Our reasoning was that waiting now meant receiving an 06 Build vehicle and not the superseded colour which may help us at a later date with resale.
The only downside was that we will have to pay any increase in RRP that may take place by the time of delivery, however in fairness to our dealer we would also receive any reduction.
The only option we have added to the vehicle is rear air and we were given an arrival time of late April or early May. From what I have since gathered the drive away price of $75,499 is very competative.
I guess we will never know if the other dealers offer was just to annoy us, if it was it just adds to what I already think of most car dealers. Even if it was done simply to make us feel bad it does not excuse our dealer from the lies we were told regarding the cost price for the 'city pack'.
23rd Feb 2006 9:15 pm
SN
Member Since: 03 Jan 2006
Location: Romiley
Posts: 13710
Husky wrote:
$75,499 is very competative.
Damn is - thats only £31,839.56 for an SE according to www.xe.comSteve N | 21MY Defender | 08MY Discovery 3 (history) | 06MY Discovery 3 (ancient history)
Hey Husky,
Thank you for the info. $75.5k sounds very good - particularly for a fresh one from the UK!!! I'll bet delivery day can't happen fast enough!!
Nice choice of colour too. I'm trying to convince the wife that Java Black is the way to go (......it's truly testing my sales skills!!), but Zermatt Silver is the one we both agree on.
Cheers, Vic.'11 TDV6 - Stornoway Grey.... still lovin' it!!
REDUCE GREENHOUSE GASSES.......Eat more BEEF!!
Addendum: Red wine goes REALLY well with BEEF
27th Feb 2006 4:08 am
Husky
Member Since: 29 Jan 2006
Location: Lake Macquarie
Posts: 109
Your right about the 'cannot wait' part
Went through the same colour choice thing with my wife! I wanted the Bonnatti Grey and she insisted it looked too much like a mans car, we would have been driving around in it right now if not for that
Must admit however that she did have a point that I now agree with. She also thought that the darker colours took away from the visual impact of the car due to the blending with the black trim. Hate to say it but I have only seen two D3's on the road here, a white and a bonnatti grey and she was right. With the bonnatti I could not even tell it was the new model from a distance but with the white one it went 'bling bling' from the moment I saw it!
yeah, sometimes its hard to argue with their practical side.....you just can't let them know when they're right though (well, at least not straight-away)!!! '11 TDV6 - Stornoway Grey.... still lovin' it!!
REDUCE GREENHOUSE GASSES.......Eat more BEEF!!
Addendum: Red wine goes REALLY well with BEEF
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Well I must say at the moment I am pretty annoyed at our dealer 
they told us if we buy from them we get 10% of all parts anyway so that is even less than there normal discount!! I ask if this is their cost price and he says with a straight look on his face ‘yes’.
I managed to swing some business to the finance guy at our local dealership after we bought our car in Nov last year. The finance dude was pretty grateful 
so I thought I would try my luck at asking him for discounted accesories, 
after our salesman told me where to go with my request for discount when we bought our car. 
Yes we know and thanks for the positive feedback 
Your damn right they should be able to do better, the salesperson claimed that because it was a 'pack' the price was already reduced which I understand BUT even considering that their price does not sound like cost to me. Hard part is proving it and the only way I can do that would be by complaining to LR Australia as they would know if as a client we had been lied to.
| 08MY Discovery 3 (history) 
I'll bet delivery day can't happen fast enough!!
