How do our prices work, why do we operate such a strange scheme and what security do you have buying from us ?
If a car dealer says he is going to service a car before you drive it away then it doesn`t take a genius to know that most are going to do the bare minimum needed. Every penny they spend is a penny less profit and you only have to look at how many dealers cash in £50- 100 worth of tax on a car to realise they aren't going to rush out and blow £1,500 pounds on a no holds barred service.
We have developed a scheme which we first started using in 1999 (hence the name!). It allows you to see exactly what work is carried out on your car and also affords you the benefit of a safety net should anything untoward happen. There's a bit to get through unfortunately but at least you'll be fully informed and everything is laid out in the open.
We have two prices. The retail price (in bold) and the Millennium bug price (in pink). There is normally a £2,000 difference between the two prices.
We spend a lot of time ensuring the cars we take into stock represent the upper level of what is available within their respective peer groups. As well as carefully inspecting the cars and driving them we also have full computer diagnostic facilities up to and including the latest models. It is important to point out that we own our stock outright, for this reason we want to be certain we have bought wisely and accordingly reject many more cars than we buy. Most of our stock is sourced direct from their private owners as this allows us to decide a vehicle's condition rather than the salesman who`s taking it in part exchange .
This is in marked contrast to someone selling other people's cars on a commission basis. They have no financial commitment to the car, merely offer it for sale. If it sells it sells, if it doesn't it goes back to the owner. You as the buyer are having to act as quality control officer!
The Retail or Bold price
At the retail price we send the car away to a good marque specialist, ask them to service the car and look for faults that need correcting. We then correct those faults and stand by the car for 3 months or 3,000 miles ( which ever comes first). This standing by the car doesn`t just cover things breaking, it also covers any wear and tear items overlooked at the point of service. The only things we don`t cover are stereos and alarms or other security products.
Whilst we are happy to sell cars at the retail price you can actually still get our support without having to pay it at the time of purchase. Uniquely we allow you to wait and see if you need our help before deciding whether or not to spend the money using our unique Millennium bug price. You really can have your cake and eat it....
The Millennium bug or Pink price
The pink price is for the car exactly as it stands. We don`t service it before it leaves us. You are guaranteed clean title to the car in terms of ownership but that is it. Having saved £2,000 on the retail price if something were to fail on the car you have this money to cover it`s replacement or repair. It allows you to buy the car at what we reckon is the private sale price, all be it on a car we have inspected and deemed good enough to buy with our own money then put into stock. It also allows you to make comparisons with other dealers if you feel all they are going to do is wipe over the car with an oily rag before you take delivery.
The important bit : We don't wish to disadvantage someone buying at the bug price or shirk our responsibilities as reputable dealers so we police it in the following way. Were you to buy a car at the bug price and a problem occur within the retail price guarantee period costing more than difference between what you paid and the retail price to correct (normally £2000), we will allow you to retrospectively pay the difference between the two prices and will correct the problem as with a retail sale. The millennium bug price is not intended to affect your statutory rights as a consumer.
Example : You pay £20,000 for a car at the bug price, the retail price was £22,000. Ten weeks into ownership it suddenly develops a fault with the engine that costs £5,000 to cure. You pay the £2,000 difference to make the car up to the retail price and we step in with the remainder of the money. If, say an alternator failed that cost £300 to sort out then that would be down to you because even after you`d paid the £300 you would still be £1,700 better of than someone choosing to pay the retail price. Once the retail price guarantee period is over you`ve still got the remainder of any money saved. A case of having your cake and eating it at the same time.
Millennium bug price plus service at cost (our recommended purchase method)
Many people want to have a car serviced before taking delivery and indeed we recommend it, that way you start off with a clean sheet of paper. It also allows an independent third party the chance to cast their eyes over the vehicle to make sure there are no nasties hiding away. We don`t have service facilities on site because we see there is a conflict of interest when doing your own pre-sales service work. Why would you want to look too hard when it`s you that is footing the bill to correct anything found.
The network of specialists and main dealers we use are all totally independent from us and as such not partisan. They are not going to sully their reputation just so we can make a bit of profit selling a car. We have working relationships with them and we have a dialog which allows us to understand what work does and doesn`t need attending to allowing for relative age and other influencing factors. We would never ask them to compromise their beliefs and standards. In general garages hate working for car dealers because they always want to cover over the cracks or take the cheapest rather than the best route to solving a problem. The people who carry out service work for us are often our most vocal supporters because they know if it needs doing then we'll do it properly.
After receiving a deposit we deliver the car for service. Once finished we collect the vehicle and prepare it in the usual manner for hand over. You pay the cost of the service work and will get a copy of the invoice. We put no mark-up on the bills. Should the bill exceed the difference between the Bug and retail price then we step in, pay the difference and the sale reverts to a retail sale. In the event (as is usually the case) that you save money on the retail price then we stand to the car during what would have been the retail price guarantee period as per the Millennium bug price as outlined above.
Example : You pay £20,000 for a car at the bug price and take it at the third way, (we call that the bug price plus service at cost). The service bill comes in at £1,200. Once again ten weeks into ownership the vehicle develops an engine fault that costs £5,000 to cure. You can retrospectively top up the sale to the retail price by paying the £800 difference and we will step in with the remainder of the money. Again, if an alternator failed that cost £300 to cure that would be down to you because you would still be £500 better off than if you`d gone down the retail price route.
Extended warranty
We have developed a scheme which satisfies our customer's biggest worries, namely what happens if and engine lets go or a gearbox breaks. For £400 in the first year you get cover against internal mechanical breakage in the engine or gearbox. There are some ancillary components covered such as engine & anti-lock braking electronic control units but primarily it`s there for the engine and gearbox. The claim limit is the value of the vehicle and providing it`s a straight repair no excess to pay. If there is substantial betterment then a contribution could be asked for. If a factory new engine is deemed to be the best solution and fitted then a contribution of £3,000 is required, (the total job costs around £10,000 and includes new engine ancillaries as well as the engine it`s self). The warranty does not cover gradual deterioration through age and usage. Full details of the scheme are available from our office.
And when things do go wrong?
It is with a sense of pride that in all the time we`ve been trading and after selling thousands of cars never once have we needed to secure the services of a solicitor to defend legal action resulting from a dispute with a customer. That is not to say there haven`t been instances where customers have had problems - we sell a complex mechanical object. What hopefully it does show is that we look at any situation with fair and honest eyes trying to see things from the customer's perspective rather than just our own. Reputations have to be earned and we aren`t happy resting on ours we want to build on it.
