[doc] Re: "new" new cars

["Phill Wright" <psw@xxxxxxxx>]

I've been a Renault fan for years, fell in love with the very first 
Espace and bought one as soon as I could scape the cash together (no 
mean feat at the time), margins in those days were much higher and as 
I had it explained to me at the time were based on 'quotas' of sales 
made by the dealer - I was given 2.5K off that first espace at the 
time. I had 2 other espaces since (new) and got varying amounts of 
discount on those, but the last new Renault in 2003 there was no 
discount on offer and this small margin thing was explained to me at 
the time in great detail- that was on a new Avantime (still have and 
love it). To be fair with the dealer, they literally bent over 
backwards in customer service, advised me how to sell the espace I 
had privately to get better return (sold in 3 days) and also gave me 
a brand new Vel Satis to drive round in  for 3 months while I waited 
for the Avantime to arrive (plus gave me some extras free that I 
fully expected to pay for). So, in my experience, no you can't do the 
same sort of deals on new cars, but on the upside I could never 
complain about the customer service I received, though, could do 
without all the mailshots trying to get me to buy a Modus :-))

A quick note on insurance though - never could work out how they 
price - my brand new 3L V6 Avantime insurance was less than the 2.1L 
Diesel Espace that was 8 years old and worth 1/5 of the price .. work 
that one out (not that I was complaining :)  )

Phill W
DOC 233
VIN 6772 (sorbet)
Avantime (M4TRA)


--- In doc-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, "Claire Usher" <claire@xxxx> wrote:
> 
> As someone who has flogged their guts out in the world of car sales
> for the last 10 years, I have read the posts on this with interest.
> 
> I love the notion that you can "demand a better deal for cash".  
Tesco
> have just announced record profits - do you demand a better deal for
> cash at the checkout? No. You load your groceries into the little
> plastic bags, hand over your hard earned cash to some spotty 17yr 
old
> chewing gum and take it home.
> 
> Everyone seems to be under the impression that people like me are
> making wads of cash and earning £50k per year!!  I wish!!! - I
> didnt even earn half that and I work 6 days a week, 8.30 am to 7pm
> (and often later to accomodate my customers), I work every Saturday,
> Bank Holiday's, Sunday's and I'm lucky if I get a lunchbreak.  The
> "good old days" (about 20yrs ago) when we had 10-15% margin in a new
> car are gone.  Core margin on a new Renault is 2% - about £180 on
> your average Clio, up to about £600 on a top of the range Espace.
> 
> So guys, give us a break!!!!!  
> 
> New car warranties backed by the manufacturer are better then mickey
> mouse ones offered by used car dealers which often have limited 
claims
> liability.  Also new cars come with breakdown cover (full Roadside,
> Recovery and Onward Travel with Renault) which is worth a few 
hundred
> quid.  JD Power really rate Renault now, and say the current Laguna 
is
> one of the most relible cars on the market. 
> 
> And some advice for those of you like Richard who've had a car 
written
> off and have lost out.  Vehicle Replacement Policy. Never heard of 
it?
> Its a policy that for around £300 guarantees to pay back to the
> original invoice price of the car for THREE YEARS.  Just think. You
> buy a car for £10k, some little scroatbag crashes into you at 2yrs
> and 11mths and writes your car off.  Your insurance company give you
> £4k. Great - you've lost £6k.  Not with VRIP - they will pay the
> difference between insurance payout and invoice price so you dont 
lose
> out.  
> 
> Oh and another thing, we have been advised by the financial
> authorities that it is "inproper to give a better deal to a cash
> customer as it discriminates against people who have to take out
> finance".
> 
> Apologies to anyone who found this post irritating, but as someone 
who
> gets fed up of getting treated like s**t by customers brainwashed by
> Top Gear Magazine, AutoExpress, et al, I felt I had to speak out.
> 
> Claire
> #2292 
> DOC171
> Modus Automatic 
> 
> PS - I've got a customer getting an average of 74mpg out of a Megane
> 1.5dCi 80 and it only needs servicing every 18000 miles.





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