What is it with car dealers and fuel?
- Thread starter Pondy
- Start date
At the summit of the picturesque fens
I had a call from the slimey salesboy yesterday ("showroom associate" I think was the bullsh*t title for him) to make sure I was happy with everything. Again more b*llshit, they want to gauge whether it's worth sending a feedback email so they can get a £10 McDonald's voucher this month if they get more than one star average.
So I told him I wasn't happy about the lack of fuel. I did mention that the first trip I would be making in my shiney new car was to the local Shell garage and not a trip to Paris as planned!
He said and I quote " because we gave you some discount off the car you said not to bother doing anything else to the car". I replied "I said don't touch up the stonechips because I will only have to remove the tippex and do them properly anyway. I don't think anyone would say "oh and make sure you leave it with absolutely no f*cking fuel in it"".
I actually laughed, as it was the only response I could think of. I did point out that for the sake of £10 of fuel their reputation has gone down again, so they don't do themselves any favours in the long run. He said he would pass the message on to his (19 year old) manager.
I haven't had the feedback email yet!!
So I told him I wasn't happy about the lack of fuel. I did mention that the first trip I would be making in my shiney new car was to the local Shell garage and not a trip to Paris as planned!
He said and I quote " because we gave you some discount off the car you said not to bother doing anything else to the car". I replied "I said don't touch up the stonechips because I will only have to remove the tippex and do them properly anyway. I don't think anyone would say "oh and make sure you leave it with absolutely no f*cking fuel in it"".
I actually laughed, as it was the only response I could think of. I did point out that for the sake of £10 of fuel their reputation has gone down again, so they don't do themselves any favours in the long run. He said he would pass the message on to his (19 year old) manager.
I haven't had the feedback email yet!!
The Z4 from Cotswold BMW came with a full tank and was prepped and ready in the handover room. Wonderful.
The S5 we had before it, was crammed into the back of the showroom at Watford Audi. Even though we’d arranged a day and time to collect it. Took twenty mins of shuffling to get it out. It was then left half parked on the curb on the bend round the corner. Very lack lustre for an expensive and supposedly premium brand. Got in it and the fuel light was on with a range of 15 miles. Absolute shower.
The S5 we had before it, was crammed into the back of the showroom at Watford Audi. Even though we’d arranged a day and time to collect it. Took twenty mins of shuffling to get it out. It was then left half parked on the curb on the bend round the corner. Very lack lustre for an expensive and supposedly premium brand. Got in it and the fuel light was on with a range of 15 miles. Absolute shower.
Wyldie85 said:
Maybe it's Audi. I had the same scenario at Amersham Audi in 2007. Picked up a new A6 avant. They couldn't find it. It was in the locked compound round the corner, took 10 mins to find the keys to the compound and the car.
Got in to drive home and the sat nav had been programmed to drive to TWAT! (A village in Scotland apparently). It's nice that the mechanics doing the PDI decided that all Audi customers are twats. It was quite funny, though.
Three days later the car broke down on the M3 going down to my dad's in Poole. My wife, me and baby travelled home in a AA recovery truck with the 3 day old car on the back. Oh happy days! :roll:
Pondrew said:
Or two competitions, lowest too
I went to a Ford dealer to test drive a z4, couldn't even start the car because the battery was flat!
Rescheduled and even that test drive was 10 minutes spent in the petrol station (their cost).
Didn't buy that car.
My current z4 I negotiated a tank of full, so they knocked £50 off the asking price. Couldn't even be bothered to fill it up for me! At least I could put a full tank of decent fuel in it.
It would be interesting to figure out what profits these dealers get as they must drain the fuel for a good reason. Unless there is another reason, safety maybe?
Rescheduled and even that test drive was 10 minutes spent in the petrol station (their cost).
Didn't buy that car.
My current z4 I negotiated a tank of full, so they knocked £50 off the asking price. Couldn't even be bothered to fill it up for me! At least I could put a full tank of decent fuel in it.
It would be interesting to figure out what profits these dealers get as they must drain the fuel for a good reason. Unless there is another reason, safety maybe?
would they really deliberately drain the fuel? seems a lot of effort to drain a tank, and then refill it with just enough to get to the nearest petrol station. id say that cars get traded in with minimal fuel to start with, then any test drives the car does empties the tank further. then if another test drive is required on a car thats running on fumes, another £10 of fuel is added.
hate to play devils advocate, but car dealers are in the business of selling cars, not fuel... and fuel is expensive stuff these days, if every car was sold with a full tank of fuel, that could easily be 10% of their margin gone.
Also if your first trip with a car is to the petrol station, you can ensure it has fresh fuel in it, of your preferred grade. a petrol station should probably be your first stop anyway to check the tyres are properly inflated for the potentially long drive home.
hate to play devils advocate, but car dealers are in the business of selling cars, not fuel... and fuel is expensive stuff these days, if every car was sold with a full tank of fuel, that could easily be 10% of their margin gone.
Also if your first trip with a car is to the petrol station, you can ensure it has fresh fuel in it, of your preferred grade. a petrol station should probably be your first stop anyway to check the tyres are properly inflated for the potentially long drive home.
Although I've only bought one car from a stealer I made it clear to them I expected a full tank of fuel and they done that
£50 for the sake of a happy customer that just spent 5 figures is a small price to pay, its also very telling if they refuse.
£50 for the sake of a happy customer that just spent 5 figures is a small price to pay, its also very telling if they refuse.
brillomaster said:
I agree, I don’t believe they’re draining them just very reluctant to put fuel in on top of what they come through the door with and as you say, it’s a business.
The picture of mine above probably went into the dealer with about 90 miles range and they’ll have been moving it around and MOT’ing etc so just using my fuel.
The actual downside is probably dragging any sh!te in the tank through with that little fuel :thumbsdown:
Flyingfifer said:Although I've only bought one car from a stealer I made it clear to them I expected a full tank of fuel and they done that
£50 for the sake of a happy customer that just spent 5 figures is a small price to pay, its also very telling if they refuse.
A full tank in a motor at £999.99, that was a result
Argyll Andy said:A full tank in a motor at £999.99, that was a result
Log off Andy's account, this was way too clever to be him, you're rumbled!
