General Chat

Why is it when you buy a new car they have the cheek to charge you ex for car mats ? dont they get enough with the high prices for the car.

My father used to buy a new car every two years and the first thing he always did was rip off the sticker in the back window - he didn't see why he should fork out all that cash and then drive around with a free advertisement for the garage.

I agree with that have done that before .

remember the days when if you wanted a radio or even a heater it was classed as an extra
then the japs turned up throwing everything in and that shook up the car market no end(not that i could ever afford a new car just something we covered when i was doing my quality qualifications)

I also insist in having no stickers/adds and that includes the number plate.

By the way, Most main dealers make very little money on the sale of a new car, they make their money on second hand cars and by providing finance and selling extras such as car mats.

Roy

Precisely PorkiePie - always been the case.

I'm pretty certain that all the 4 new cars we have bought since 1972 have come with car mats included in the price

Plus radio (Toyota), then radio + tape deck (Hyundai car), then radio + cd player (last 2 cars).................... standard models that could be upgraded at a cost

For the record, the cars were ................

Toyota Corona station wagon 1972 to 1986
Hyundai Stellar car 1986 to 1998
Hyundai Elantra station wagon 1998 to 2006
Subaru Forester 2006 to present

We bought a BMW about 20 years ago - as usual OH left me with the finance side of it.

Sat in it in showroom and I noticed - no radio - OH said of course it will have a radio. NO! I refused to buy a car without a radio. I know the price was disgusting - about 3-4 times price of a normal car radio.

I also discovered mud flaps, mats, etching, fog lights were extras.

Over a week or so the dealer rang and offered me more and more and I would not budge. OH used to come home and ask have they rung today??

In the end we definitely got the radio/mud flaps/mats and fog lights.

Dealer I think wept and one day said 'your husband wants this car' and I am saying 'I don't, I like what we have' which was true.

I always ask for a full tank of petrol - not just enough to get us home!

BMW, amongst others, were known for it years ago.

"You want WHEELS with your car? Hmmm let me see how that will impact on the final purchase price"

Have you ever been pulled by the Old Bill Porkie_Pie?

I was watching a programme where a traffic officer was saying he was always suspicious the plates were dodgy if they didn't have a garage name on them ;-)

I agree, I always take the sticker out of the back window, and change the tax holder if it advertises the garage.

What ever happened to mud flaps?


Mayfield

Number plates have to have the garage / supplier's name & postcode on by law

Mayfield, No Not been pulled for years, I was referring to advertising of a company name on my number plates,

The police will be suspicious if the number plate is blank (apart from the reg number) Its a legal requirement that all Number plates have to have the postcode of the company that made that number plates,

These days I have the EU plates because I hate the GB stickers and its a legal requirement when driving in Europe to display either the GB sticker or have EU number plates which carry the initials GB

Roy

Edit, McB They only have to have the postcode

Before I retired I was Manager for 12 years at our local garage..went to main dealer one day for workshop parts...Counter to side of showroom..Lady looking at Golf,, got to boot,,salesman talking through contents,,she asked "Where's the tool kit?"" He replied " It doesn't need one,the Golf never breaks down"... I nearly burst out laughing......LES..

And many new cars come with a spare wheel in a can !!!!!!

About two years ago I bought a new car - when I went to confirm and settle the bill there were several mysterious extras. "Accessories £219" turned out to be a further top coat of paint - I was already paying extra for metallic so I chopped that off. Then there was "VRI £399" - this was a special insurance in case I wrote the car off within a year, so I took that off. This was all on a form given me to sign without explanation until I queried the items!

i went to the dealer ship to day to take my car for a mot whic i,m pleased to say it pasted. while i was waiting i went out for a fag the sales man who i had seen about a new car was there he asked have you come to confirm that i still wanted the car i sai not on your nellie if i have to pay exstra for car mats guese what he said he would throw them in for free, to which i replyed i,ve already got them from another dealer his loss. it pays to look around.