bells0 Posted July 26, 2007 Report Share Posted July 26, 2007 Not sure if this will affect anyone here, but just heard that Dixons motorgroup have just gone into administration. Chap at our place is having his Astra serviced and was told to come collect it asap by reception as the company is going under! [are a big dealership in the North, mainly Yorkshire] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Newbie123 Posted July 26, 2007 Report Share Posted July 26, 2007 [ QUOTE ] Not sure if this will affect anyone here, but just heard that Dixons motorgroup have just gone into administration. Chap at our place is having his Astra serviced and was told to come collect it asap by reception as the company is going under! [are a big dealership in the North, mainly Yorkshire] [/ QUOTE ] Ouch, there are quite a few Dixon dealerships around here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bells0 Posted July 26, 2007 Author Report Share Posted July 26, 2007 Chap just got back and he said the Vauxhall dealer had it's barriers down and had security checking who you were. But the Honda garage next door was fine. Maybe it's just the Vauxhall part, or this sole garage?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Posted July 26, 2007 Report Share Posted July 26, 2007 I've got mates in the trade, both franchise dealers and second hand (previously owned!!) dealers and they all say the market is hard at the moment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rothwell Posted July 26, 2007 Report Share Posted July 26, 2007 Well this is what happens when the public demands huge discounts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
v15ben Posted July 26, 2007 Report Share Posted July 26, 2007 I have heard that at least one Renault franchise is no more and a similar story at one of the big Scun-thorpe based showrooms too. Our local Nissan and Citroen franchise together with others in the area are still open though and seem to be working as normal... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruiser647 Posted July 26, 2007 Report Share Posted July 26, 2007 Car demand will pick up for a few months as people replace their flood damaged cars............ 2ndhand prices will rise in the short term. If you are looking for a new car and have an old one to sell, wait a few weeks for insurance money to kick in, then sell! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
techieboy Posted July 26, 2007 Report Share Posted July 26, 2007 Very good point that Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyuk911 Posted July 26, 2007 Report Share Posted July 26, 2007 Dixon Motors in Administration Shay Bannon, Toby Underwood & Graham Newton at BDO Stoy Hayward, have been appointed as Joint Administrators of Dixon Motor Holdings Ltd, trading as Dixon on 26th July 2007. For further information please contact: 08451 28 50 50 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theduisbergkid Posted July 26, 2007 Report Share Posted July 26, 2007 Bugger. Hope they don't repossess my telly... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Golfer Posted July 26, 2007 Report Share Posted July 26, 2007 [ QUOTE ] Well this is what happens when the public demands huge discounts. [/ QUOTE ] Quite right too, we need discount, the prices of Cars in the UK are frankly a F**king rip off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robin09 Posted July 26, 2007 Report Share Posted July 26, 2007 [ QUOTE ] [ QUOTE ] Well this is what happens when the public demands huge discounts. [/ QUOTE ] Quite right too, we need discount, the prices of Cars in the UK are frankly a F**king rip off. [/ QUOTE ] Compared to? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R32Ash Posted July 26, 2007 Report Share Posted July 26, 2007 [ QUOTE ] Bugger. Hope they don't repossess my telly... [/ QUOTE ] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D1MAC Posted July 26, 2007 Report Share Posted July 26, 2007 [ QUOTE ] [ QUOTE ] [ QUOTE ] Well this is what happens when the public demands huge discounts. [/ QUOTE ] Quite right too, we need discount, the prices of Cars in the UK are frankly a F**king rip off. [/ QUOTE ] Compared to? [/ QUOTE ] Japan for one. Something like a JDM Civic Type R (which is much better than the tripe that gets served up over here) is IIRC something daft like about £12k Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Froggy Posted July 26, 2007 Report Share Posted July 26, 2007 [ QUOTE ] [ QUOTE ] Well this is what happens when the public demands huge discounts. [/ QUOTE ] Quite right too, we need discount, the prices of Cars in the UK are frankly a F**king rip off. [/ QUOTE ] That's easy to say , but if they are going into administration, surely they WEREN'T making any money. And at least 5 or 6 of their branches owe us money - that'll be the last we see of that. I feel sorry for the staff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D1MAC Posted July 26, 2007 Report Share Posted July 26, 2007 [ QUOTE ] That's easy to say , but if they are going into administration, surely they WEREN'T making any money. [/ QUOTE ] Quite probable but I would guess that cash flow issues were at least as pressing an issue if they weren't turning stock around sufficiently quickly (but I'm no motor dealer expert so don't know what the commitments are in terms of payments manufacturers - wouldn't imagine they're all that favourable though). [ QUOTE ] And at least 5 or 6 of their branches owe us money - that'll be the last we see of that. [/ QUOTE ] I wouldn't quite write it off yet but there is a good chance you will only get some (or nothing) back. Depends on the specific circumstances really. Oh and you have to form a queue behind the accountants, lawyers, HM Gov etc [ QUOTE ] I feel sorry for the staff. [/ QUOTE ] Now that is a toughie. One the one hand they're dealer slime but on the other hand there will be some decent people who may be potentially affected by this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Booster Posted July 27, 2007 Report Share Posted July 27, 2007 [ QUOTE ] I've got mates in the trade, both franchise dealers and second hand (previously owned!!) dealers and they all say the market is hard at the moment. [/ QUOTE ] Its a really odd market at the moment. February, March and April were desperately quiet. May was ok June was fantastic and July is going to be our busiest month since October last year . Main dealers all seem to be having a hard time though. Its only second hand stuff that is keeping them afloat. New just isn't moving as there are so many cheap second hand cars out there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robin09 Posted July 27, 2007 Report Share Posted July 27, 2007 [ QUOTE ] [ QUOTE ] [ QUOTE ] [ QUOTE ] Well this is what happens when the public demands huge discounts. [/ QUOTE ] Quite right too, we need discount, the prices of Cars in the UK are frankly a F**king rip off. [/ QUOTE ] Compared to? [/ QUOTE ] Japan for one. Something like a JDM Civic Type R (which is much better than the tripe that gets served up over here) is IIRC something daft like about £12k [/ QUOTE ] But we all know its not that simple. Europe is broadly in line now on prices of new cars, and to say that cars on the other side of the world are comparatively cheaper isnt much of a criticism. Look at any product on sale both here and Japan, most prices won't be exactly the same. It doesn't mean prices are a rip off, far from it. Cars are cheaper now than they ever have been in the UK. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rothwell Posted July 27, 2007 Report Share Posted July 27, 2007 [ QUOTE ] [ QUOTE ] Well this is what happens when the public demands huge discounts. [/ QUOTE ] Quite right too, we need discount, the prices of Cars in the UK are frankly a F**king rip off. [/ QUOTE ] That is no fault of the dealer, it's mostly the UK government who keep charging everyone for vehicles. Car dealer are a business not a charity and you can't survive just on turnover you need to make money, we don't mind doing deals. But people demanding thousands of pounds off is ridiculous, when you go into Tescos do you argue over the price of the baked beans? No. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Posted July 27, 2007 Report Share Posted July 27, 2007 Surely their servicing departments must be making money? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt R Posted July 27, 2007 Report Share Posted July 27, 2007 [ QUOTE ] Surely their servicing departments must be making money? [/ QUOTE ] Maybe not, The public think that £60+ Labour is an outrage, yet I know firsthand the costs involved in running a service department and believe me its not cheap. For example, we had to invest over £100k in tools and training just to be able to work on Touaregs and Phaetons, takes a lot of services to recoup that investment back. Each diagnosis machine costs £8k each and we now have to have 1 per 2 tech, let alone cost of courtesy cars, wages, further ongoing training. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rustynuts Posted July 27, 2007 Report Share Posted July 27, 2007 [ QUOTE ] But people demanding thousands of pounds off is ridiculous, when you go into Tescos do you argue over the price of the baked beans? No. [/ QUOTE ] No, but I wait til Tesco put on a special offer on beans, and then I buy loads. Or I go to another shop that sells them cheaper. If the customer can buy the same car cheaper from a different dealer then maybe someone's taking too big a cut of the pie. And don't forget, dealers just cut the value of any trade in to make the deal worth the same amount to them. Good example here. Went to buy a car some years ago, and was undecided as to whether to get a new or second hand ex demo, so thought we'd ask the salesman about a demo first. "Yes sir, we have one coming in next week," Negotiated a deal for ours to trade in, and then said we'd consider it while waiting for the car to become available. Then when we went back to discuss it further we decided to go for a new one, based on the list price of the new car and the offered value of trade in on ours......."Oh, well your car's worth £2000 less against a new car sir! We'll have to renegotiate a price and work a deal out..... Sir.... Where are you going, Sir?... erm, excuse me Sir, is there a problem?" Went to a different dealership and got a far better deal off them based on a realistic trade in. The first dealership went into receivership not too long ago. I was talking to the owner at the start of the week (he's a customer of mine and has been since long before the failed car sale) and he's looking for a job. Dealers can either sell on good prices (read cheap) or on good service. If they can't manage one or the other then they don't really deserve to get my business. I'm a loyal customer and I use the same places for all my shopping whatever it might be. Same fuel station, same supermarkets, same guy for my tyres etc. because they provide either of those 2 critical elements. I'll quite cheerfully pay extra for something provided I feel as though I'm a valued customer. That's where many dealerships fail. Never used Dixons, but they must've been doing something wrong, and you can't blame the customer for that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pontyslapper Posted July 27, 2007 Report Share Posted July 27, 2007 Same with me rusty. While the Passat was under warranty it was Cardiff VW for the servicing. Now the warranty is out - my local independent who I know and trust will be sorting the Passat out. Roll on the £20 per hour labour charge as opposed to Cardiff VW's £100+ per hour charge!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robin09 Posted July 27, 2007 Report Share Posted July 27, 2007 [ QUOTE ] [ QUOTE ] But people demanding thousands of pounds off is ridiculous, when you go into Tescos do you argue over the price of the baked beans? No. [/ QUOTE ] No, but I wait til Tesco put on a special offer on beans, and then I buy loads. Or I go to another shop that sells them cheaper. If the customer can buy the same car cheaper from a different dealer then maybe someone's taking too big a cut of the pie. And don't forget, dealers just cut the value of any trade in to make the deal worth the same amount to them. Good example here. Went to buy a car some years ago, and was undecided as to whether to get a new or second hand ex demo, so thought we'd ask the salesman about a demo first. "Yes sir, we have one coming in next week," Negotiated a deal for ours to trade in, and then said we'd consider it while waiting for the car to become available. Then when we went back to discuss it further we decided to go for a new one, based on the list price of the new car and the offered value of trade in on ours......."Oh, well your car's worth £2000 less against a new car sir! We'll have to renegotiate a price and work a deal out..... Sir.... Where are you going, Sir?... erm, excuse me Sir, is there a problem?" Went to a different dealership and got a far better deal off them based on a realistic trade in. The first dealership went into receivership not too long ago. I was talking to the owner at the start of the week (he's a customer of mine and has been since long before the failed car sale) and he's looking for a job. Dealers can either sell on good prices (read cheap) or on good service. If they can't manage one or the other then they don't really deserve to get my business. I'm a loyal customer and I use the same places for all my shopping whatever it might be. Same fuel station, same supermarkets, same guy for my tyres etc. because they provide either of those 2 critical elements. I'll quite cheerfully pay extra for something provided I feel as though I'm a valued customer. That's where many dealerships fail. Never used Dixons, but they must've been doing something wrong, and you can't blame the customer for that. [/ QUOTE ] The experience you had buying a car is fairly standard. Your part exchange valuation is made up of the trade price of your car, and any extra profit in the car you're buying which can be offset by adding onto the px value. Its therefore no surprise when a garage can offer you two different amounts for your car, if the two cars you are looking at buying, each have a different profit margin. Dealers dont just cut the trade in to make the deal worth the same to them, some will sell for little or no profit at all, just to turn some stock. Hence why companies like Dixon's go into administration. But its a vicious circle, the fact that they were probably panic selling towards the end, and offering stupid deals, means other local garages miss out on that custom because they can't possibly match those deals if they want to make any money out of a sale, which means everyone loses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rustynuts Posted July 27, 2007 Report Share Posted July 27, 2007 Then being honest with the customer isn't really important? "Your car's worth £8000 Sir, and that's what we'll give you for it against any car you buy from us!" is what I want to hear when I go buy a new motor. Anyone who tries shifting values back and forth between the sale and trade in just doesn't give me confidence in parting with my hard earned. And that's important to me. It's my money and dealers should really be pleased that I'm going to let them take it off me, not moving the goalposts a la "Arthur Daley" to take more of it than the next dealer I try. When I did actually buy the car in question, the salesman said straight up what my trade in was worth to him, period. Is that the wrong way to do business? [ QUOTE ] But its a vicious circle, the fact that they were probably panic selling towards the end, and offering stupid deals, means other local garages miss out on that custom because they can't possibly match those deals if they want to make any money out of a sale, which means everyone loses. [/ QUOTE ] ....except the customer. They seem to get a good deal. I suspect you're a trader are you? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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