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While I was waiting for the front wheels of my car to be balanced, I had a chat with the Dealer Principal. He said that he would be able give me a quote for whatever make and model of new car I might want to buy. When the time comes, I'm going to take him up on it.
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Not anything new, the dealer I used to work for did this on occasion and that was a decade ago. I believe they sourced the cars through a broker on the south coast.
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FIL uses a Ford dealer who have offered the same to him.
Not sure how it works, but I'm sure it will cost more, plus the warranty implications
Last edited by: mikeyb on Mon 10 Dec 12 at 20:01
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Your Ford dealer is probably part of a larger company who also hold Volvo franchises.
I know of one place that sells Kia and Fords from the same showroom.
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>> I know of one place that sells Kia and Fords from the same showroom
There are several combined Renault/Fiat dealers. And I've been to two combined Bentley/Lamborghini showrooms in the last week, 150 miles apart.
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But l'Es said his Ford dealer could get him anything. That takes more than a few linked franchises, doesn't it?
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"But l'Es said his Ford dealer could get him anything."
So can DTD and I would wager a fair bit cheaper.
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Must be a backlog of big MPVs going by DTD's current prices for SMax/Galaxy/Sharambras
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>> "But l'Es said his Ford dealer could get him anything."
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>> So can DTD and I would wager a fair bit cheaper.
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Who is DTD?
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>> >> Who is DTD?
>> >>
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>> www.drivethedeal.com/
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There doesn't seem to be any provision for trade-ins or factory fitted options.
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>> There doesn't seem to be any provision for trade-ins or factory fitted options.
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Well, I'll go to the foot of our stairs...
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>> Well, I'll go to the foot of our stairs...
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What's that supposed to mean? I'm not a mind reader.
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>>There doesn't seem to be any provision for trade-ins or factory fitted options.
drivethedeal puts you in touch with a dealer who order the car you want at the price you get from the website - options are available on the site if you try choosing a car.
Trade-ins, if taken by the dealer, will be poor as there is no provision in the sale price for 'uplifting' the trade-in price to keep the customer happy.
For all intents you are buying a car in the normal way, from a normal dealer, with full warranty, but without most of the dealer's profit margin and bulk sales discount. Generally any manufacturer's special finance offers are also available (usually states in the blurb as you get a price).
Cost-to-change is the important bit.
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Well, I tried drivethedeal and got a saving of £2416. Since the trade-in value of my current car is only about £1145, I could afford to just take it to the nearest scrap merchant and still come out on top. Interesting. Now I've given drivethedeal my details I hope they (or a dealer) don't pester me.
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I've got loads of quotes off their website, but they've never contacted me. You should be ok.
Last edited by: Focusless on Tue 11 Dec 12 at 08:53
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>> I've got loads of quotes off their website, but they've never contacted me. You should
>> be ok.
>>
Phew!
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BTW sometimes DTD prices are conditional on taking out some finance deal, which might not be what you want.
EDIT: although it looks like the finance is just an 'offer' on Volvos, not part of the deal
Last edited by: Focusless on Tue 11 Dec 12 at 09:03
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" I could afford to just take it to the nearest scrap merchant"
Don't do that!
If your existing Focus has an MOT you are going to get at least a £1,000 and probably more if you sell it privately especially if its in half as good condition as I imagine it to be after living in de-humidified garage and being main dealer serviced for all these years!
Even if you don't want to buy from Drive the Deal use the quote to extract something like the same price from you local dealer.
You will never get the best deal trading in a car.
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>> " I could afford to just take it to the nearest scrap merchant"
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>> Don't do that!
I was only musing over what the worst possible saving might be.
>> If your existing Focus has an MOT .....
Up to July 2013.
>> ........ you are going to get at least a
>> £1,000 and probably more if you sell it privately ..........
I just wouldn't want all the hassle involved in trying to sell it privately.
>> Even if you don't want to buy from Drive the Deal use the quote to
>> extract something like the same price from you local dealer.
That's what I was thinking. Funnily enough, the drivethedeal discount is almost exactly twice the amount that What Car? magazine suggests buyers should look for, so perhaps they suggest a conservative figure based on drivethedeal figures.
>> You will never get the best deal trading in a car.
When it comes down to a few hundred difference I want the convenience of trading in.
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>> I just wouldn't want all the hassle involved in trying to sell it privately.
I found selling mine pretty painless a few weeks ago, although it was at the cheaper end of the spectrum. Cash in pocket less than a day after placing the (Autotrader) ad.
But of course if you don't mind paying for the convenience of trading in then fair enough.
Last edited by: Focusless on Tue 11 Dec 12 at 09:27
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>> But of course if you don't mind paying for the convenience of trading in then
>> fair enough.
>>
It would be a only few hundred difference out of a total expenditure in the region of £25,000.
Last edited by: L'escargot on Tue 11 Dec 12 at 09:38
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"It would be a only few hundred difference out of a total expenditure in the region of £25,000."
Are you sure?
A dealers is not likely to give you anywhere near the maximum discount if a trade-in involved. A private sale plus DTD price is almost certain to be at least £1,000 less than a local dealer with trade in. That's the winter's heating bill!
You do pay an awful lot for convenience. My advice would be to have a go at selling it privately. I suspect it will be gone within 24 hours of it being put on the market. If it doesn't sell you haven't lost anything.
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>> But l'Es said his Ford dealer could get him anything.
If it was one of the larger groups then they might have many franchises across the UK. But getting hold of any car at all would not be difficult surely? But I too suspect someone like DTD could get you a car at a better price still.
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>> He said that he would be able give me a quote for whatever make and model of new car I might want to buy.
So can I L'es, how naive do you wan to be?
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>> >> He said that he would be able give me a quote for whatever make
>> and model of new car I might want to buy.
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>> So can I L'es, how naive do you wan to be?
>>
In what way are you suggesting I'm naive? You really ought to explain that in detail. The Ford dealer would source the Volvo (and take my current car in part exchange), always provided that there was sufficient profit in it for the dealer and sufficient financial advantage to myself.
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>> But I too suspect someone like DTD could get you a car at a better
>> price still.
>>
And take my current car in part exchange? Incidentally, it was understood that I would be wanting a factory-order car to my exact requirements (including factory fitted optional extras), not just a standard specification car already sitting in some other dealer's showroom.
Last edited by: L'escargot on Tue 11 Dec 12 at 06:44
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>> I know of one place that sells Kia and Fords from the same showroom.
Harwells in Abingdon are a Ford, Fiat, and Citroen dealer. All on the same site.
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>> >> I know of one place that sells Kia and Fords from the same showroom.
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>> Harwells in Abingdon are a Ford, Fiat, and Citroen dealer. All on the same site.
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Presumably they have a franchise for all of those makes.
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>> Your Ford dealer is probably part of a larger company who also hold Volvo franchises.
Nope. It's a small family owned Ford franchised business with only twelve staff including the Dealer Principal, and only one premises.
Last edited by: L'escargot on Tue 11 Dec 12 at 06:15
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>>plus the warranty implications
I'm guessing that the 'lifetime warranty' on certain cars wouldn't be available if buying through a broker, but I doubt that the standard manufacturers 3 year guarantee would be affected.
Last edited by: VxFan on Tue 11 Dec 12 at 09:47
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>> FIL uses a Ford dealer who have offered the same to him.
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>> Not sure how it works, but I'm sure it will cost more, plus the warranty
>> implications
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The whole point was that it had to be financially beneficial to both myself and the dealer for it to actually happen. Regarding the warranty, I bought my current car from one Ford dealer and have had all the warranty work done at another Ford dealer. If I bought a Volvo from my nearest Volvo dealer (or the Ford dealer) I would have all work on it done at a Volvo approved/franchised service centre. The only thing the latter don't do Volvo-wise is sell new Volvos.
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Does it really matter whether you are buying cars, cans of beans, or washing machines, you can buy many different brands (badges) in many different retailers (dealers) both in bricks and mortar and online.
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This is quick and easy profit for any dealer.
They could add £250 on to the broker's price for the Volvo, knock £250 off the P/X valuation on the Focus, punt that on through the trade at book price, and still give an attractive cost to change.
£500 clear profit for about 10 minutes work. It's a no brainer.
If it were me, I'd be buying through the broker, and selling the Focus on privately. You'd sell that car for £2k to the first person who came and looked at it if it's in the condition I am imagining it is.
OK, it's a bit of hassle to flog the car privately, but it's not £1000 worth of hassle (the difference between the book price and realistic private sale price, IMHO)
Last edited by: DP on Tue 11 Dec 12 at 09:27
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Regarding the warranty I was thinking more around the way some are worded. I believe that under EU law they have to provide 2 years, and the extra 3rd year in the UK is often a dealer backed type warranty.
....now, how much warranty you get may depend on who registers the car. If the Ford dealership register the car and perform the PDI then it will not have been supplied through the Volvo dealer network, so may only be covered by the minimum required under EU law.
If the car is registered / PDI'd by a Volvo dealer then supplied by the Ford dealer then I fail to see the point - you may as well buy from the Volvo dealer and cut your dealers commission out of the deal.
Also, I can recommend DTD. I bought an Audi A3 through them back in 2007 - it was easy and painless. Agreed the price / spec with them, and they passed the order to the dealer who then dealt with me directly, ordered it from the factory and delivered the car to me on a transporter.
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Buying a new Volvo from a Ford dealer - Stuu
