Dealership operations

"What will it cost me to run?" is a question the dealership can answer and usually does not

A buyer comparing two cars is comparing total cost, and the dealership answers only the purchase price. Everything else they need is already known on the forecourt: the insurance group, the tax band, what a service costs, what tyres cost, what the car actually returns rather than what the brochure claims. Publishing that is unusual enough to be a reason to buy from you, and it costs nothing but the writing.

Publish the fixed facts, because they are facts

Insurance group, tax band, service interval, what a first service costs at your workshop, tyre size and a realistic price for a set. None of these is an estimate and none of them changes per customer, so there is no reason to withhold them and no risk in stating them. Most listings carry none of them, which means a buyer has to find five websites to compare two cars.

Never quote an insurance premium

A premium depends on the driver, not the car: age, address, history, mileage, who else drives it. The insurance group is a fact and can be stated; a figure is a guess that the buyer will budget around and then blame you for. This is the single sentence to keep out of every answer in this category, and it is the one a helpful salesperson most wants to say.

Say that the official consumption figure is not the real one

Every buyer suspects it and most dealerships repeat the brochure anyway. Giving the official figure alongside a realistic range from your own experience is more useful and reads as honest, and a buyer who was told the truth about fuel does not come back angry three weeks later. It also makes the rest of your numbers believable.

Total cost is where a cheaper car stops being cheaper

Two cars a thousand apart can be two thousand apart over three years once insurance group, tax, servicing and tyres are counted, and sometimes the more expensive one wins. A dealership willing to say that about its own stock is doing the comparison the buyer was going to do badly, and is the one they come back to.

Frequently asked questions

Can an assistant tell a buyer what insurance will cost?
No. A premium is priced on the driver rather than the vehicle, so any figure is a guess the buyer will plan around. The insurance group is a fact about the car and can be stated plainly, which is what lets them get a real quote in two minutes.
What running-cost facts should be published?
Insurance group, tax band, service interval and what a service costs at your workshop, tyre size and a realistic set price, and the official consumption figure next to a realistic one. All are known on the forecourt and almost none appear in listings.
Is it risky to admit the official fuel figure is optimistic?
It is riskier not to. Buyers already assume it, and a dealership that repeats the brochure loses credibility on everything else it says. A stated real-world range is the cheapest trust a forecourt can buy.
Does this not talk buyers out of the cheaper car?
Sometimes, and usually into a car that suits them better and costs more. The alternative is a buyer who works the total out later, feels misled, and tells people. Running the comparison honestly is how the second car gets bought from you too.
Which languages can a buyer ask in?
English, Hebrew and Russian, detected from the message. Tax bands and insurance groups are local administrative facts, and they are the hardest kind of fact to look up in a second language.

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