OK then; I thought it might be helpful to other prospective up! buyers- but I've removed it, and here's the short(er) answer instead:
I felt they were playing games. My experience was that the salesman was constantly reneging on what he'd said earlier. He tried to convince me - despite Glass's and CAP - my p/e was worth around 33% less than its actual value. He also tried hard to persuade me it was advantageous (to me) to buy the car on finance rather than pay up front. (It's a no-brainer that borrowing money is going to cost the customer more over the term than not borrowing it, if it's not 0% finance).
In the end, to get the spec I wanted sooner than the factory order, he said they would swap a car with another dealership, to get me that one.
He then up!ped the price of the carafter the deal had been agreed (declaring an extra piece of spec for the first time,after the deposit had been taken on the basis of a standard High up! -- and then I only discovered the additional cost by chance; he didn't volunteer it).
He took my deposit (which I was told could ONLY ever be done once a car was confirmed as allocated to their dealership) and then, when the deal was reneged on a day later, never offered during that conversation to refund it - I had to ask for the refund after we'd hung up (it was, however, promptly applied and confirmed by post the next day).
He also blamed the other dealer for the deal falling through - the dealer I'm now buying the car from, who has been very reliable and professional, which I've found a delightfully refreshing contrast.
I'm guessing that what actually happened is he hadn't asked about the car's spec BEFORE he sold it to me, and he hadn't checked with the other dealer about shipping costs before actioning the deal (he told me it was en route when in fact it's already in the UK). So it seems to me that he passed on the first cost to me (but without either telling me, or offering me the opportunity of cancelling the order - isn't that illegal??!). When he found out the car was already in the UK, and thus shipping costs he'd told me weren't applicable would be charged, I think it was probably his dealership rather than the other dealer, who 'changed their mind' about the swap. The other dealer still had the car when I contacted him the next day, and there was no problem him selling it.
The original sales guy also told me one day he'd had the swap approved by the other dealer's sales manager, and the next day that he hadn't spoken to the other sales manager before he put the transaction through and agreed the deal with me. A complete volte face. I found it all very slippery and, as a result, they've lost the servicing of my up! and any future sales from this customer!
Hope that conveys the flavour slightly more succinctly and is helpful to other up! buyers.
Edited by: Violet
