Car Sourcing, how often do you guys get asked?

[Mikey360 68]

Just considering doing some car sourcing along side the sales.

I know alot of car dealers do offer a car finding service on their website.

How often do you guys get asked to do it? Any experiences worth sharing?

[metcars 395]

Not with a barge pole

[Anglo9 26]

Waste of time

 

[NOACROSS 414]

Customers can’t be trusted to follow through. I won’t do it for friends either. 

[justina3 518]

Find me cars if you want to, everything tidy gone thin on the ground again 

[Mikey360 68]

Glad I've got you guys for advise! 

13 minutes ago, NOACROSS said:

Customers can’t be trusted to follow through. I won’t do it for friends either. 

That was my main concern and then they'd bitch about the deposit etc

[BHM 994]

No f***ing chance whatsoever. 

[Arfur Dealy 823]

Complete waste of time.....endless searching for a car that doesn't exist. 

[It's me 611]

if you do find one and then after ringing them all day for 3 days they finally pick up the phone to you they tell you they bought one yesterday

 

dont do it

[Tom 164]

No chance!! 

[MrC 142]

I'd rather have chlamydia.

[rich89 11]

We do it all the time. 

Get the info from the customer, find one, take payment and then deliver it.

I've got two to do right now.

[EPV 631]

The minute you mention payment they all go quiet. They seem to actually think you’re going to buy their ideal car for them to inspect and change their mind. 

I offer it just as a service but before I even open an internet page to look I spell out that it’s a £250 deposit followed by full payment once we’ve agreed that’s the car for them. Anyone seriously looking for a specific car wouldn’t shirk at that. 

[umesh 336]

Do quite a lot of sourcing, not an easy game but do well with it overall. repeats and recommendations are easy, just some of the new customers who don't fully understand how the process works. I explain it and if they want me to source then they need to commit, if no commitment i don't get involved. 

[whitestone679231 113]

Only do it if it’s something I would be happy to stock if/when the customer drops his bolloxs and stops answering his phone when I have bought a car for him... 

[Mark101 536]

I do it and encourage it.  I don’t take a deposit or commitment providing it is the type of vehicle I would be happy to stock.  The way I look at is this; every car we buy is in the hope we can find a customer within a reasonable timescale.  This way, I either have an instant sale or a car I’m happy to stock - what’s the risk?

If someone wants a real lump, like a £50k RR - I would ask for £500 deposit, other than that, I’m happy to take the risk providing it fits my profile.

 

 

[MGM 11]

I once tried my hardest to find a golf for a friend of a friend. Had to be a diesel golf, leather and be dsg. Not red or white and absolutely had to be low mileage with a good history around the £10k mark. Found one in manheim a couple of weeks later to be met by, oh it’s ok thanks, I’ve bought a discovery. Not much bloody difference!!

[MattR 177]

Get a feel for the customer. I have it on my website, many dealers do. But if its not what you would normally stock, dont do it. I did try it when I was a little greener, and joe public doesnt follow through as they should when you find the car they asked for.

Make sure that what they are looking for actually exists too - when I worked in a vw showroom I had one punter ask me to source a used polo diesel auto. He couldnt understand why he had never found one. Until I explained VW had never built one........

[It's me 611]

just thought of another obvious reason not to

its too easy to pay over the odds thinking theres still profit to be made

when they cock you cock

i have 2 customers i am looking for cars for they want particular colours and specs so i wont hold my breath and will ring before i buy to see if they still want one but you still have a problem of how to go with their budget,because everyone has a budget

 

so thinking on im contradicting myself oh well.........

[Mikey360 68]

Great to see there's loads of fors and againsts.

 

3 hours ago, EPV said:

The minute you mention payment they all go quiet. They seem to actually think you’re going to buy their ideal car for them to inspect and change their mind. 

I offer it just as a service but before I even open an internet page to look I spell out that it’s a £250 deposit followed by full payment once we’ve agreed that’s the car for them. Anyone seriously looking for a specific car wouldn’t shirk at that. 

Have you ever had anyone demand their deposit back after not following through?

[Dan W 57]

We source cars quite often, its a £500 deposit upfront, and as long as the car is as described mileage spec and condition when it arrives, they pay the balance on collection.


we had one customer try to cancel without even viewing the car when it arrived. said she has bought elsewhere during the process, ok no problem we will keep the car for stock and we will keep your £500 deposit for the costs we have incurred.

never heard back from her again.

[rich89 11]

I can't believe some of you do it without full payment upfront. 

At the very least we take £5k before clicking on any bid buttons.

[EPV 631]

1 hour ago, Mikey360 said:

Great to see there's loads of fors and againsts.

 

Have you ever had anyone demand their deposit back after not following through?

No and they wouldn’t as they are told verbally and by email that the deposit is non refundable and is essentially my finders fee. If I find them the car and they change their mind i’ve done my bit. 

[Mikey360 68]

 

5 hours ago, EPV said:

 

1 hour ago, EPV said:

No and they wouldn’t as they are told verbally and by email that the deposit is non refundable and is essentially my finders fee. If I find them the car and they change their mind i’ve done my bit. 

2 hours ago, Dan W said:

We source cars quite often, its a £500 deposit upfront, and as long as the car is as described mileage spec and condition when it arrives, they pay the balance on collection.


we had one customer try to cancel without even viewing the car when it arrived. said she has bought elsewhere during the process, ok no problem we will keep the car for stock and we will keep your £500 deposit for the costs we have incurred.

never heard back from her again.

Okay so daft question, do you offer a warranty on the cars as you would your own stock or are they sold as seen?

[Dan W 57]

16 minutes ago, Mikey360 said:

 

 

Okay so daft question, do you offer a warranty on the cars as you would your own stock or are they sold as seen?

we offer a 6 month warranty which is only valid at our garage.