Comments on: Dealers will soon buy any car

By: Mark Robbins

Mark Robbins — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 08:44:15 +0000

Quite right, they have found a formula, and there are dealers who will buy these sort of cars, lots of them, undesirable is always cheap! as for mugs, i am most certainly one of them, have had my fingers burnt so many times they practically drop off now, but not anymore, i simply WONT buy or deal on them. To go back to the original article does it not say that “Dealer groups need to be buying these cars themselves” and if we dont we are somehow not doing our job properly? my argument is that i prefer to be extremely picky with our deals and will, and do, turn down any that i deem to be not in our interest. financially, to me that is doing the job properly.

By: dealaday

dealaday — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 23:18:37 +0000

Am i being dumb i thought that was a referance to we buy any car.com,i think there is a big difference to buying a desirable px to buying a deal,thats how we end up with a load of c**p on the forecourt,but these guys seemed to have found a formula or maybe a load of mugs to buy the unloved cars you refer to!!

By: Mark Robbins

Mark Robbins — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 21:47:11 +0000

Absolutely! couldnt agree more, however the article states that “Dealers will soon buy any car” all i am saying is that surely can never be so? if my team did deals on every car that came across the forecourt (no matter how well priced) we would soon end up with some very unsaleable stock! being honest and frank here, there is a huge amount of unwanted and unloved part exchange stock out their with potential customers who sadly you just cannot serve, you know the scenario, awful colour, no air con, three door, base spec, V6, V8, ridiculous mileage, French, Italian, the list go’s on, any fool can deal, its the right deal that matters.

By: dealaday

dealaday — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 17:38:23 +0000

Some good points there Mark, but surely the fact that WBAC and the like are giving prices before seeing and then chipping them on appraisal, means that there is some mileage in making it as easy as possible for the customer, and whilst I agree that many of us dont have bottomless pockets and therefore buy the cars we think have best chance of making a profit, I am constantly being offered (and seeing at auction) cars which have come from the WBAC route and are most definately ‘retailable’. I guess at the end of the day they are playing the numbers game and undrstanding that they will not make money on everything but because of the volume of cars will have more wins than losses.

By: Mark Robbins

Mark Robbins — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 08:45:50 +0000

Interesting take on the “Part Exchange” conumdrum, and in more ways than one you are correct, although WBAC and others offer far lower prices than many would get in the trade for their P/X, it is the very fact that they really do buy ANY car thats the pivital point here, we always bang on about “selling cars”on this forum but at what cost? I have said this countless times before but the truth is (and it happens every day on our forecourt) that many of the cars presented for trade in are simply too hard to resell again at a profit, especially back to the trade, far to many customers unfortunately have these cars to trade in, therefore any company that buys ANY car is to be welcomed (although i agree it comes at a price in terms of good stock) after all, who wants a back yard full of French, Rover, Saab, and other dubious part exchanges that are only going to do the rounds at auction and more often than not fail to attract the bids? as for asking for a price over the phone i am not surprised at the responce, no dealer i know would ever dream of giving such information, with models and spec varying so much and customers rarely describing their cars properly you need to see the “product” with your own eyes first, plus we are not a free valuing service for every tom, dick, and harry that wants a price for their car with little or no intention of buying. Genuine customers welcomed with open arms, for others there is always WBAC !

By: Ndmervin

Ndmervin — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 03:36:02 +0000

Car dealers here in Malaysia have been using this method to get the car that their customers want by buying out cars and selling to them. Its not new and it all started indiscreetly when customers requested these car dealers to get the right car. Well, as a car dealer, fulfilling customer needs is top priority and at all cost, right?