Would you buy a car via a virtual dealership?

I have never found that a test drive was really enough to give me the real feel of a car and whenever I’ve had to hire a car I’ve never test driven them beforehand anyway, I’ve always just taken what I was given, so I would definitely give a virtual test drive a go. Also, I dislike car dealer/salesman shenanigans/theatricals, such as “I’ll give you a discount, but I’ll have to check with my boss first”, off to the boss’s desk, whispers and nods, and back to me with the OK. They just make me laugh, but I’d rather avoid them if I can.

Anything that puts the buyer in control has to be a good thing. We bought our last new car in 2009 and, in preparation, having narrowed the choice down to an Audi after various showroom visits to the different dealerships, we pored over the technical specs and options so that we had a complete specification of exactly what we wanted right down to the veneer on the door trims. It was effectively a bespoke vehicle and there was no scope left for upselling [which probably also took some of the wind out of their sales!]. There was the ritual argy-bargy over the trade-in value of our previous car but otherwise it was a done deal from the moment we entered the palatial showroom. The efficiency of Audi was incredible. Once our spec had been fed into the ordering system we were told when the metal would start being cut on the production line at Ingoldstadt and on which day the completed vehicle would be delivered, and . . . hey presto! . . . it was bang on time, and perfect in every respect. Ausgezeichnet! We don’t do huge mileage and it’s a very good car so it might be a long time before we visit a dealership again. As Wavechange says, in the meantime the virtual dealership system might have developed to the point where the pushy salesperson is a thing of the past.

If I could give car sales people just one tip it would be > leave the customer alone before pouncing on them. Just because we open a car door doesn’t mean we want a lecture; we can see the price on the placard; and we know that extras cost extra.

There was an advert on TV last night for a new Suzuki, an SX4 S-Cross. It told us nothing about the car itself, but then it’s not a car, its a “crossover” apparently, and a “way of life”. Should go down well in SX !