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Post by Humph on Sept 14, 2023 8:56:49 GMT
Further to above, its an odd quirk of purchase behaviour that some transactions are seen to be fair game for barter while others would not. Can you imagine going into Sainsburys and standing at the checkout with £150 worth of shopping and bidding £100 for it? Or, going into a petrol station and pre-negotiating the price per litre? 🤔
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Post by Humph on Sept 14, 2023 9:05:54 GMT
Oh he is indeed. Far better than I ever do. I am very uncomfortable when negotiating, and always feel (wrongly) to be a submissive participant. I don't think I've ever got a particularly good deal from a car dealer (apart from my 2 Leaf deals, but I didn't have to negotiate those as they were so good at face value), I'm just happy to get it over with. Perhaps this won’t come as any great surprise, but I’ve spent a lifetime negotiating and training others how to. It can be uncomfortable at times but it’s really just about deciding in advance what your bottom line is, not going below it at worst and getting a better deal in preference. Empathy is key, it’s not a good deal if one party isn’t happy.
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WDB
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Post by WDB on Sept 14, 2023 10:48:00 GMT
My secret trump card in this case is that I really don’t need the car. The one I have will do the job for as long as I ask it to. It’s only my nagging environmental conscience and liking for shiny that’s pushing me on.
I also have a suspicion that things are going to get tougher still for big-ticket retailers, while I’m in the happy position that my personal fortunes are bucking the general consumer trend. Im other words, I can probably afford to wait more than the dealers can.
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bpg
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Post by bpg on Sept 14, 2023 11:24:02 GMT
Agree. No one is using the R word but what else can happen when prices go up faster than income ?
Either prices come down or salaries go up which fuels inflation and prices go up again.
I mentioned a few weeks ago about my observations of local main dealers storage areas full to bursting including overspill to a local trading estate and into a secondhand dealers storage area. Business can't have these cars sitting around too long before incurring costs and collecting dust. It's a waiting game now.
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Post by dixinormus on Sept 14, 2023 18:44:18 GMT
With interest rates forecast to stay high for 2024, inflation not really licked yet, and petrol prices creeping upwards I don’t think Joe Public is going to have a new car high on their shopping list next year.
Oh well, I guess the car salespeople did very well in 20-22 when new cars were scarce and people were queuing up to buy them!
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WDB
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Post by WDB on Sept 14, 2023 21:44:28 GMT
Not so much. Hard to earn commission when you can’t get cars to sell!
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Post by dixinormus on Sept 14, 2023 22:20:05 GMT
ECB interest rates have just been increased again…. Bank of England to follow suit later this month?
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Post by dixinormus on Sept 17, 2023 2:05:33 GMT
A propos of nothing, I understand that the BMW iX3 is manufactured in China? Wouldn’t bother me, but a lot of the righteous are ambivalent towards Chinese cars.
It couldn’t be any worse than the US-built X3 that I had about 10 years ago anyway…
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bpg
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Post by bpg on Sept 17, 2023 11:25:06 GMT
Not everyone cites yewman rights init for not buying Chinese products or avoiding where possible.
The Chinese cars I've looked at come with pitiful 6 month warranty from new for things like 12v battery and brakes which is no doubt backend loaded with if you don't use our parts the whole vehicle warranty is cancelled.
Then there is the whole question about GDPR, how does that work with the PRC Government and connected vehicles ?
The decision to buy a make and model of car can't always be pigeon holed into human rights or 'ow much ? You really have to look beyond the glossy mags of old and fancy websites now and research the detail of what you're getting.
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WDB
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Post by WDB on Sept 17, 2023 12:46:05 GMT
We’ve come to accept manufacturing in China as a fact of modern life. I’d prefer it if the iX3 were built in Germany, or even, say, Turkey as my Verso was, but its country of construction wouldn’t be a dealbreaker as it seems unlikely (for now) that the Chinese government would exert any undue influence over what went into it. I’ve been buying Chinese-built iPhones for 15 years, which get to handle a lot more of my sensitive personal information.
I’d be more concerned about something built by an actual Chinese business, as much in terms of keeping potentially hostile economic tentacles out of essential parts of the free world economy as from concern about direct interference with me — although of course, that’s possible too.
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bpg
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Post by bpg on Sept 17, 2023 13:25:34 GMT
Then you still need to look at the manufacturer as some Chinese car manufacturers are government owned BL style while some are external businesses like Volvo.
Personally, I'll avoid as much as possible.
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WDB
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Post by WDB on Sept 21, 2023 17:43:30 GMT
I think WDB is doing fine. Many people are not very comfortable with negotiating or are too impatient to wrap up a deal. If you’re prepared to hold your breath while keeping the seller interested enough to believe there’s a happy ending possible, you’ll usually end up with a result that suits everyone. Well, I’ve decided to tell him in the morning (Thursday is his day off) that I’m not buying yet. And he can blame Rishi Sunak. Because it’s now clear why the likes of Ford and the SMMT are so peeved. Yesterday’s capitulation to the forces of darkness will remove — or greatly delay — one factor pushing consumers towards buying EVs, but the manufacturers will still be bound by the requirement for an increasing share of new registrations to be EV. That’s 22 percent in 2024, and they’re probably going to have to reduce prices to achieve it, as they did in 2021 when the EV subsidy was much reduced. Which all means that even a quarter-end deal that looks hot today risks looking pretty silly in a few months, or even weeks. And the CLS is feeling extra-nice after a service and (especially) a clean, so it won’t hurt to run about in that for a little longer — as economically as possible, of course.
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Post by Humph on Sept 21, 2023 18:25:47 GMT
…and you won’t be chucking that SF6 stuff about that I’ve decided is my new obsession. Thanks bpg! 😉
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bpg
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Post by bpg on Sept 21, 2023 19:22:26 GMT
Haha, I can't take the credit for SF6, that was all down to chemists. The marketing of electric vehicles, hmmm, who do we know in marketing or sales ? 🤪 Devil's work...
Edit: for what it's worth I think WDB is making a wise decision. I think there has to be some adjustment in prices to be made following the withdrawal of various incentives and some big developments to come where his capital will be better placed before his CLS is cream crackered.
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Rob
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Post by Rob on Sept 21, 2023 20:56:24 GMT
With the quota for EVs remaining then you're right there has to be incentives for us to go EV. The exiting ICE cars and hybrids will have a supply of diesel/petrol for quite some time but we need a lot of people to switch.
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