New Mini Monopoly

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Mon 19 Jan 2004 20:23
New Mini Monopoly - AllTorque
No - not another new board game for kids. Just another example of the supposedly free new-car-buying market being 'interpreted' against the private buying customer.

I've just committed to a new Mini for SWMBO - no question a high quality car with a comparably high price to match. Negotiating with a Mini dealer left me walking away from my local vendor, who had let me have a car for an hour and spent another hour afterwards talking things through. At the sound of the 'd' word (discount to avoid any confusion!) I was made to feel like a 'turd in a bathtub'. The dealer let me walk away.

One phone call then followed to a dealer an hour's drive away and I got the movement in the deal I wanted (albeit small) and I placed the order.

The following day 'dealer one' calls me to get the order he let me walk away with, and on hearing the news, is then upset they lost the chance. I quote: ' Manufacturers tell us not to discount and if we've lost out to someone who has then it's not fair - you shouldn't be able to buy the car any cheaper elsewhere'. I politely eased out of the conversation.

So no surprise I hear you say - I agree; the motor industry continues to play Dick Turpin with the private buyer.

I think despite this, it's good that some dealers still understand that people buy from people, and will reflect a reasonable proposition from a potential customer with a resonable response. That's mainly how orders are gained, whatever the manufacturers tell everyone.
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Mon 19 Jan 2004 21:18
New Mini Monopoly - Ivor E Tower
I thought that manufacturers were not allowed to tell dealers not to discount. That is called price fixing, and some of them have been severely fined by the European courts as a result.
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