HOW HARD CAN IT BE TO BUY A NEW CAR?

Ladies,  imagine going into a dress shop and asking “how much is this and do you have it in size 12?” and being told it depends on whether you are prepared to commit to buying it before they can give you a price.  Seriously, you would laugh and think they were joking.

It appears that this is what happens when buying a new car.  It is a very different ball-game and all the shopping rules that I’ve been brought up with have been thrown out the window.  I’m not sure over the last week if I’ve been trying to buy a car or force somebody to sell me one. 

Shoes always have the price clearly marked on them so you know if you can afford them or not.  Even in the supermarkets they clearly have the price of goods marked and even tell you how much per 100g the item costs so you can easily compare and this is for all items – regardless of how expensive they are. 

It’s not that I have anything against “haggling” but surely you need a starting point before you can begin the haggling process.   You know how it goes – Monty Python style - “Fifty bucks for this, you must be mad, I’ll give you forty-five.” 

It’s not that buying a car is an auction style affair where you just wander in and offer the first number that comes into your head and see what happens.  Actually, that sounds like my next step.  I might just go in and say I’d like this car with mats, cruise control, head-light protectors, bonnet protector, spare tyre (that’s not a joke – it’s hard to believe it’s an optional extra on some cars!) and I’m willing to give a $3000 changeover.   Maybe we would see how quickly they’d start talking dollars.

I started out looking forward to buying a new car and I thought it would be a simple matter of picking my favourites, test driving them, getting a valuation on my trade-in and coming away with a changeover figure.   I could then compare the cars I liked best and make a decision. If only it was that simple!  Two visits to two major car dealers and I still didn’t know how much either of the cars would cost me.  I would like to think they were trying to con me because I was a woman but I don’t even think that’s the case.  They seem to do it to everybody. 

If all firms played by these rules, people would be going through the supermarket check-out with no idea how much their weekly groceries would cost until they’d committed to purchase them.  People would be outraged and it wouldn’t be allowed to happen.

Fuel companies have to advertise clearly how much per litre they are charging for fuel – you don’t go and fill-up and then ask how much it will cost you.  You know up front before you commit to purchasing. 

For some reason, the price of cars must be kept a big secret until you are committed to purchase.  Surely people have the right to get prices and compare.

I was told by one salesperson that they didn’t want to lose my business because of price.  PRICE!! If only they would have given me a price.  I told them they would lose my business because they were doing my head in and left. 

Do they honestly think that this tactic is going to work?  Who would be stupid enough to commit to buying a car before knowing how much it will cost them?  They can sit me down, suck up to me, offer coffee and tell me they are there to help me but it is not going to make me fork over my hard-earned money without knowing the bottom line.   In fact, offering me road-side assist when I’m already in RACQ is probably not a massive big selling point and nor is having a courtesy car when mine is being serviced.  I would have thought one of the best selling points would be giving the prospective buyer a price so they could make a decision. 

It’s not “rocket science” – it is selling a bloody car and it should be a simple and enjoyable experience for the buyer, not an exercise in frustration.