Fpv

[Poetic Justice]

Originally Posted by GTGAZ

Regarding the finance and dealership side of things i don't know about Oz but as someone who has just recently purchased a new 335 GT in NZ i can honestly say a big part of the reason they are not selling in NZ is crap dealership service compared to the HSV's etc.
I made the decision that it was time to upgrade my BF GTP (mint black GTP 48000Kms) to a new 335 GT. Started to look around. I wont name the dealerships but they are all FPV dealers. I turned up at my local FPV dealership met a salesman - after 20mins walking around the yard looking for one. Explained that i wanted to trade my BF GTP and was interested in orgainising a test drive of a GT and an F6. The dealer took one look at me like you can't afford that and proceeded to tell me they do not do test drives the only way i could drive one was to be preaprooved for finance and to put a deposit down. I explained that i did not need finance and was still told i would have to put a deposit down before i could drive one. 2 dealerships later i found a salesman who was actually interested and orgainised a test drive for me.
Upon deciding it was the GT for me i started looking for who can offer the best deal. My local dealership had a GT they offered to me for 74000 with a good trade yet 1 week later when i contacted them to pursue further they told me the buyer they had lined up or my car decided not to go ahaed and they could not do the GT for 74 it was now 79 and tried to take 5000 of the trade they had offered to me, even though thet had given me a written quote - needless to say i walked away. Of the 4 other dealerships only 2 really bent over backwards to make a deal the other 2 were down right slack. It was almost like they were doing me a favour selling me a GT. The differance in prices for the new GT varied by 8k and the trade in deals varied by 8 - 10k and 1 in particular was down right insulting.
I can honestly say if i was not the loyal FPV fan that i am i would have told them to stick it and brought a HSV (the thought sends shivers down my spine!!)
Comparing that to recently when i helped a friend to purchase a HSV every Holden yard we went to rolled out the red carpet, offered test drives of everything and offered finance deals and service to boot and really made you feel that they wanted your sale.
Here lies were i think alot of the problems in NZ are with FPV sales crap service from dealers and not pushing sales and making you feel like a valued customer.
Yes i will admit the yard i bought through in the end (Courtesy Ford - Fielding) were awesome and have been great to deal with but this was one of 5 yards i looked at and i can honestly say of the other 4, 1 was good, 1 was OK and 2 particulaly my local were crap. It was almost like "we are the only FPV dealer in town so who else are you going to go through". As i said if i was a first time FPV buyer i would have walked away and would not be driving one now.
The reality is if i am going to spend 70k plus on a car than i expect service and to be treated accordingly this is what FPV and Ford should be looking at. It dosn't matter how greater product you have - and it is a great product if you don't maket it and look after your buyers you will not make the sales. Brand loyalty will only sell so many cars.
I know i am not the only persoon who has come across this as 2 guys i work with decided it was time to buy V8's and are driving HSV's because the service and deals were just so much better.
As i said i am a loyal Ford fan and no matter how much of a better deal you would not get me in a Holden but there are alot of buyers out there who are not brand loyal and are looking for the best package / deal and FPV are dropping the ball in this area.
Gaz

Sorry to burst your bubble, but being in the auto trade I can tell you your story is not exclusive to Ford/FPV, and you probably hit up Holden/HSV dealers on a good day.

Expect to see the similar tactics at just about every new vehicle dealership you ever attend. It is simply that common. Sales people work for sales, not for the product. It is only on relatively little occasions do you come across a sales person who has a passion for the product as well as good sales ability.

And for those who suggest dealers go out and find the right staff to do it clearly do not know how hard it is to find good sales staff in the auto trade.