Price Change on Carsales While Taking Test Drive

LFimpBARGAIN on 14/06/2019 - 07:54
Last edited 14/06/2019 - 08:28

Gday,

I was out test driving a car yesterday evening (dealer used vehicle)
As I was pulled over making sure that the stereo would pair to my cheap-ass phone I got a notification from carsales.
The price had been reduced on a vehicle I was watching, yep the one I was test driving!

I showed the price to the dealership manager when I got back, said it was a good deal at that price and was very interested.
He pretty much accused me of doctoring the ad screenshot, and when they checked on PC and price wasn't updated he flipped out and refused to sell me the car.

Not sure if this was an extreme good-cop bad-cop routine as when I was outside the salesman came out and said they checked again and its changed.
He was going to talk to the boss and call me this morning, but since then the ad has been removed so not sure whats going on.

Is this some sort of next-level hi-tech car salesman tactic? Anyone encountered this before?

PS- Price change was from 28 to 26 so not unreasonable, was probably around the amount I was planning to offer them anyway.

Automotive

Comments

  • coxjon on 14/06/2019 - 08:00

    Last car we bought, the dealer principle wasn't sure of the car sales price because apparently the 'social media' team list prices to make sure they're competitive. We did the test drive and by the time we came back the dealer had worked out if the price was set or he could allow us to haggle. He really looked after us so I believe him. Possible a similar sort of situation with your dealer? (doesn't excuse his behaviour though!)

  • Austaurean on 14/06/2019 - 08:19

    like anything else, mistakes happen and yes there are advertising employees
    when I was in the game, I would have to check the advert,pricing, features etc and approve it (as sales manager)
    but doesn't mean that when it was input into the system the wrong stock number could have been entered and the price placed against the vehicle could have been in error.

  • Skramit on 14/06/2019 - 08:35
    +12

    Remember at any dealership, new or used, but ESPECIALLY used cars, the time is always "bullshit o'clock".

    Why does it matter what the carsales ad says? To buy any car from a dealer, you make an offer of what you think you want to pay, and negotiate from there.

    If you think the car is worth 26, offer 25 and see how you go. If the dealer wont budge off 28 and you don't think it's worth 28, then just walk away. If they want the sale, they will call you and negotiate again, they are expecting this.

    Remember, YOU have the power. You hold all the aces in this game of cat and mouse. Make your offer and if they wont agree, walk away. Don't get sucked in to stupid games around carsales pricing and blaming social media teams or whatever. The transaction is far more simple than you may realise and you have the power to make the rules to the game.

    Good luck!

    • Typical16-bitEnjoyer on 14/06/2019 - 08:39

      Very good advice.

    • FimpBARGAIN on 14/06/2019 - 08:43

      Agreed, great advice.
      Although in my case I hadn't even had the chance to offer before being told to leave!

      • Skramit on 14/06/2019 - 09:14
        +1

        I guess thats a bit weird. Perhaps you dodged a bullet anyway dealing with a dodgey dealership. Hopefully the car youre after has plenty around so go elsewhere.

        BUT if you think the car is worth buying still, just make an offer its really that simple. Call up or walk in, and say I'll put a deposit down now for 25, if not, "bye".

    • Euphemistic on 14/06/2019 - 10:30

      Why does it matter what the carsales ad says? To buy any car from a dealer, you make an offer of what you think you want to pay, and negotiate from there.

      This. Used cars are negotiable. You pay what both parties agree on. If the price is too high, go find other car.

  • Ryanek on 14/06/2019 - 08:53
    +6

    Lots of dodgy salesman. I went to buy a car in which they offered 4 years warranty. I went through the contract and everything was fine but as I was about to sign, they said they made an office mistake in the paper work so they printed off another one.

    I checked it again but this time it only stated 3 years warranty. When I pointed it out the salesman he argued it was not actually available on that model and that he would have to talk to the manager.

    So yeah, I walked out. Good deals come and go but you can't let that kind of BS fly.

    • FimpBARGAIN on 14/06/2019 - 10:45

      double post, oops

    • FimpBARGAIN on 14/06/2019 - 10:57

      They called me, the ad was removed overnight (I think the manager got it taken down) but salesman is happy to stay with lower price
      Ive left a deposit, its a good deal for a very low km currently model car so resale will be nice and high :)

      If dealers arent using this tactic I think they should be

      • crentist on 14/06/2019 - 20:24
        +1

        If dealers arent using this tactic I think they should be

        You took it at the new advertised price of $26k? You've just bought a car at sticker price
        I'd have tried to knock off another 10% out of principle

        • FimpBARGAIN on 14/06/2019 - 22:40

          Thats true, but looking at what I thought it was worth before the price drop and knowing the market its a good price.
          I dont have the time that I used to have to shop around forever and only similar options were 4hrs+ away.
          I know what my current car is costing me to operate every week and even if I paid and extra few hundred on this its worth it not to wait another month or two.
          For me the goal was to get my kids into a safer car and start saving on fuel bills asap

          • crentist on 14/06/2019 - 22:47
            +1

            @FimpBARGAIN: Of course, a good price is whatever you're happy with.
            And thinking about it again, if a dealer simply periodically dropped prices temporarily, they'd get in people after a discount, without affecting the general market prices.

            Even if that's the price they could haggle down to, it'd be good to simply get that low price without hassle, but still feel like it's cheap.
            Which I think is exactly what you were saying.

            • FimpBARGAIN on 14/06/2019 - 23:02

              @crentist: Yeah pretty much.
              Its different now I have kids, I had invested about 3hours into talking with dealer and going down for test drive + had already decided 26 was a good enough price.
              Looking at what else is available on the market there was a $22k/12000km one within my search distance and no others (unless I wanted to rely on $300 NRMA inspection or drive 8-16hr round trip to look at a car I might not buy)
              If only I wasn't so fussy :)

  • DJR9000 on 14/06/2019 - 10:03
    +1

    I'd ring them today and ask if the car is still for sale.

    Sounds like a weird situation, but if it's not for sale just walk away, not worth the hassle IMO.

    Only situation ive been in thats similar is when we test drove a car that had a difference price sticker on the windscreen vs carsales. But it wasnt a changed thing, it was just the price. I guess they figured people might just start at the higher price, we started at the lower price minus 20% and negotiated a little up from there…

  • blitz on 14/06/2019 - 10:45
    +1

    My advice: go somewhere else. You don't need this kind of mysticism in your life. If they are trying to cook up something, let them cook it for someone else. Imagine all of this happening after you've bought the car and you need to make a warranty claim. Imagine them dancing about like this.

    Forget it and walk away. Say in your best Dragons Den voice, "you have a lovely dealership and by all accounts the car is very nice. But I don't understand what you're doing…and for that reason, I'm out".

    • FimpBARGAIN on 14/06/2019 - 11:08

      thats really good advice, I was polite last night when they asked me to leave. Thanked the salesman for working back and letting me drive it even though I turned up late and shook both their hands.
      Been looking for a while and there arent a great deal of the type of car im looking for, its a dualcab and only rear wheel drive.
      There are a lot more of the 4x4's out there or tradies/delivery drivers seem to thrash the 4x2's.
      Im happy with the deal I got and future dealings will be with the local branch so wont see that manager again :)

  • Viospeed on 14/06/2019 - 12:55
    +1

    Why do people bother with dealership used cars? Just stick to private if you're buying a used car and if you're interested in buying it then get mechanics check on it.

    Dealer used cars are marked up and it's the sales persons job to bullshit his way to a sale.

    • FimpBARGAIN on 14/06/2019 - 22:53

      I was looking at either dealer finance or novated lease, quotes I was getting from banks had high (7%+) interest rates.
      Getting a novated lease on a non-dealer car is something I asked around about but I don't know of anyone who has successfully applied for one.

      Today I've signed up for a 2yr novated lease, based on my calcs I will be up $6.5k compared to if I got a loan (before factoring in savings on childcare rebate, medicare levy etc due to lower taxable income)
      Worst case I have 2yrs to save $13k & buy the car at end of lease, or if I don't love it I will flip it for around $17-18k and make some profit (minus taxes)

      This is my first time getting a novated lease, looked into them about 6yrs ago but wasn't earning enough at the time.
      They make it very difficult to compare the realworld costs, but glad I looked into it here in some other threads.

      Oh and both the dealer and the lease company tried to add on thousands worth of extra crap, they are all sneaky tricksters.

  • TheBilly on 14/06/2019 - 13:43
    +2

    Ive sold a few cars. Im pretty sure that advertisement edits on carsales are not instantaneous. You update your add and then it take an hour or so or more to filter through.

  • godofpizza on 15/06/2019 - 00:27

    if the car been on the market for a while it wouldn't be unreasonable for the price to be reduced to be cleared.i would have just made sure that my offer ( if you had intended to buy the car) was under their new price.

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