Amazon is to start selling cars in the UK as the online monster looks to extend its reach into yet another new area.
The company is understood to have started recruiting salesmen for a trial that will start in Britain before being rolled out to other countries.
Any move into car sales will inevitably undercut the prices charged by mainstream dealers.
www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4601772/Now-Amazon-starts-selling-cars.html
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Fantastic news and hugely convenient. If we're out they can always leave it with a neighbour.
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>> Fantastic news and hugely convenient. If we're out they can always leave it with a
>> neighbour.
Like to see them throw one over my side gate.
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No good for me, I don't buy German cars. My British-built Honda has a lot of Bosch parts, but I can live with that.
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>> No good for me, I don't buy German cars.
>>
Why not?
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Last 4 cars have been Japs. I've owned 2 BMW's and 4 VW's over the years.
I did 'look into' 3 series beemers, small Audi's, and VW's before choosing my present Honda, but thems cars, especially the automatics, can costa lotta Shekels if they go wrong. And they do go wrong from what I read.
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>> No good for me, I don't buy German cars.
>>
Why not?
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They have no soul.
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You mean they are well engineered an don't breakdown a lot?.
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>> You mean they are well engineered an don't breakdown a lot?.
No, although I can see the attraction of well-engineered machines but the only Merc I drove for any length of time (3 months on hire) was often impossible to start without an AA call-out. The wipers stopped working too and I had to drive a replacement for about 5 days as no-one could be found in London to explain how to get at them (no explanation offered as to why the hire company had not contacted the manufacture).
I bought a Beetle later on in Malaysia but went off it when it flipped on moderate cornering.
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How do you define "soul" in a car then? Not a concept I understand
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>> Any move into car sales will inevitably undercut the prices charged by mainstream dealers.
Nope at best they can only match the brokers. Manufacturers control the distribution, and you can't sell fakes as the real thing or buy r/h drive cars on the spot market,
Publicity move, nothing more, nothing changes.
Note however, it would work in mainland europe where you could source cars in the lowest tax country.
Last edited by: Zero on Fri 16 Jun 17 at 11:19
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Yawn and no doubt they will be delivered by drones.
Again.
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Having just gone through the purchase of a car, paying cash, and having yet again to sit through:
- We have to tell you about our financial products for this car you are paying cash for, it's the law
- You really should consider Supaguard (ten minutes of burble later), it's only £199
- You really should consider tyre insurance (ten minutes of burble later), it's only £299
- You really should consider GAP insurance (ten minutes of burble later), it's only £399
- You really should consider extending the warranty (ten minutes of burble later), it's only £499
- An offer off screen price and some minor freebies? I'm not authorised to do that, I'll ask my manager (ten minutes of waiting about while he reads the paper in the back room )
- Still not good enough? I'm not authorised to do that, I'll ask my manager (ten minutes of waiting about while he reads the paper in the back room)
- finally takes the cash at some price minorly lower than advertised with most of the freebies.
There is no way to cut this game out that I can see, buying new or secondhand. It's painful and boring and I hate it.
I fully understand why they (have to) do it, but it's such a bore. If you can click three things on Amazon and the car turns up, well, hoop-de-doo. Sign me up.
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>> Having just gone through the purchase of a car, paying cash, and having yet again
>> to sit through:
None of that, I repeat NONE of that you have to even get close to suffering.
Just decide what car and extras you want, and order it through drive the deal.
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This was a secondhand car on a local forecourt, so Drive The Deal or similar (I can't write just the initials, that acronym has other connotations these days I understand) so not an option.
Last time I bought a new car I rang them up and said "I'd like a Zoe at your advertised price please" and they said "Certainly sir, that will be £89 please, and we'll email some forms over for you to sign". All done.
And clearly the "experience" happens when you go to a showroom.
Last edited by: Crankcase on Fri 16 Jun 17 at 14:31
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I just told the dealer want interested in any extras, just the car. Worked for me. You just need to be assertive and take control. Over politeness and fear of saying no thanks is what salesmen rely on.
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Trust me, I was assertive. None of it would he have, whether just the "we both know we're wasting each other's time" approach or more of the "I say old chap, would you mind awfully if we skipped this, we have a train to catch and my sister Dolly has a delicious upside-down cake waiting" approach.
Nope - he was going through it come what may. Maybe I should take some assertiveness training, but I'm too nervous to sign up.
Last edited by: Crankcase on Fri 16 Jun 17 at 14:53
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>> Nope - he was going through it come what may. Maybe I should take some
>> assertiveness training, but I'm too nervous to sign up.
You need a salesman selling assertiveness courses to come round to visit.
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Oh God, you haven't arranged that have you? I've only just taken delivery of my solar powered heat pumped set of double glazed Encyclopedia.
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With me, the conversation would have gone.
>> - We have to tell you about our finance...
NO
>>
>> - You really should consider Supa...
NO
>>
>> - You really should consider t....
You try and sell me anything else, and I am walking out of here with my money. Your choice.
I have actually dragged the wife to her feet and said "Come on we are leaving" when buying a car, only to have the manager come running to the door and tempt us back in.
Last edited by: Zero on Fri 16 Jun 17 at 14:59
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>> I have actually dragged the wife to her feet and said "Come on we are
>> leaving" when buying a car, only to have the manager come running to the door
>> and tempt us back in.
I did that once as well. Manager's face was a picture, but he rapidly composed himself and said "well, hope we see you for servicing in the car you buy, cheers then".
So that was a bust and I bought something else in another place.
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"You should consider GAP Insurance"
I have & the answer is No - if I had decided YES, it would be half the price from an on-line Insurance Broker.
You should consider it - what if you drove along the road & somebody bangs into you?
Reply
I have owned / company cars, about 35-40 new cars since 1966 & never claimed on my car insurance although I have claimed on roughly 6 of other driver's insurance.
But if it was Your fault!!
I would dig into the savings pot & buy a new one!
Silence
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>> decide what car and extras you want, and order it through drive the deal
As per Zero.
Compared to the flannel on offer when I looked at local dealerships, the service and communication from the dealer I bought my B-Class from was first class.
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>> >> decide what car and extras you want, and order it through drive the deal
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>> As per Zero.
>>
>> Compared to the flannel on offer when I looked at local dealerships, the service and
>> communication from the dealer I bought my B-Class from was first class.
Yep. my DTD experience was also easy. Ran through the order, told it would be passed to dealership who also confirmed options / delivery date. Call a few weeks later to agree delivery.
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>> Yep. my DTD experience was also easy.
I tried them for our last new car purchase, a VW Tiguan. They did have a very good price but wouldn't proceed with the order unless I agreed to wait the factory leadtime of 12-16 weeks. I also don;t fancy getting a car from hundreds of miles away.
Used Car-Wow instead and half-a-dozen dealers quoted. Cheapest was again hundreds of miles away but next but one nearest dealer to home (14 miles away) was pretty close. Bit of back and forth and they were near enough.
For the first time ever I took the VW PCP as there was a big deposit contribution. I have to say that massively changed the interaction with the salesman compared to the usual battle where I want to pay cash. I reckon he'd have turned himself inside out for us.
He did gently try and sell all the add-ons. Salesmen in dealer groups get targetted on this stuff and they can end up losing commission on the whole deal if they don't sell add-ons. I asked him what was most important to him and he said the paint protection so I said I'd take if he more or less lost the cost in the deal and he did.
They got us the car in 8 days and a few days after delivery I withdrew from the finance.
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>> They got us the car in 8 days and a few days after delivery I
>> withdrew from the finance.
>>
FIL was bemused by this recently - assumed cash was king but was advised to take the finance for the deposit allowance incentive making the car cheaper overall.
He went along with it and settled after a week or so
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>> Having just gone through the purchase of a car, paying cash, and having yet again
>> to sit through:
>>
>> - We have to tell you about our financial products for this car you are
>> paying cash for, it's the law
>>
>> - You really should consider Supaguard (ten minutes of burble later), it's only £199>>
etc, etc,
Yes, I go through all that tedium at my local VW dealers on the three occasions, now, that I have bought Golfs from them. Any chance to curtail all that would be a godsend.
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Amazon to start selling cars in the UK - Clk Sec
