So last Saturday I am reading the motoring section of my local paper, and there is an editorial on the Astra R Plus, Auto reduced from $26500 to $19990.00 on road with 3 years free servicing.
The bride has a 2009. Corolla hatch with 55k on it, which will go forever with one oil and filter change a year, so an update is not critical but this Astra looks alright, with a 1.4 turbo 110kw motor, 6 speed torque converter transmission, I am not a fan of CVT, Auto H/L Auto Wipers, lane sway avoidance , forward collision notification, and 3 years free servicing , Apple car play etc Quack Quack.
Ok so they were never worth 26.5K, but its a lot of car for 20K. After lunch its off to the local dealer we go, and he only has 2. A red one with 50 kilometres they have been using for test drives, and a brand new silver one.
Can't bust him any further on price so I walk away. Go home surf the Astra on the Holden website and up comes a $500 discount voucher . Text the salesman and he confirms the voucher is valid so buy the thing for 19.5K.
Next morning I take some shots of the brides Corolla research what is available on car sales locally and put it on Car Sales for 10K. When using car sales its important to round up the figure so it hits 2 price buckets e.g. < 10K and > 10K.
Sold it the same day, so the new car cost 9.5K.
I guess the point I am trying to make here is buying a car can be as simple or as complicated as you want to make it. For some its all about the hunt . For others the less time spent crawling around car yards and showrooms the better. Just buy it and get on with better things.
Sometimes The Stars Are Aligned
Comments
Buy a corolla.
Sold it the same day, so the new car cost 9.5K.
The new car still costs $19500. You only made money with the old car to offset the costs.
Better terminology would be a 9.5 k change over. Even 19.5 is not real, if you add the cost of the corolla when purchased and the cost of the car before that etc and total them up it gets frightening,best not to do it.
What did I just read?
Don't attempt to read. Just say 'buy a corolla'.
how the heck did u sell an 8 yr old corolla for 10k. i see so many on gumtree for half that
The guy from the oil rig was very eager.
55 thousand kilometres not 150 thousand.
isn't "under driven" sometimes worse?
It can be only if it has sat around for years… but all you do then is add this line to your ad and all is fixed…
“Started every weekend…”
This is the biggest bullshit line when looking at very low km older vehicles…
Yes the stars did align for holden and the car salesman
I think he meant “GM Daewoo”… There is a reason these Astras are being sold off with huge discounts… cause they are shit boxes.
I would have kept the Corolla and my $9500…
too much to read, make it shorter
tl;dr?
LOL… You bought an Astra though… So… did you really win?
Debatable but in a few years time we will all be sitting in autonomous electric vehicles so the emotion of a vehicle purchase will be no longer there
I totally agree, however those that can see AV/TAAS is coming like a tsunami are in the minority.
Why is it so many can't see around the corner on this one? Society is about to change in so many ways because of AV/TAAS.
As an Astra owner i can confirm he lost.
So… You didn't negotiate, or you failed to negotiate?
Not exactly a good story lol 😂
You can only negotiate within the margin. Some times Once a product is heavily discounted the margin is gone, you either accept the offer or walk away. I chose to accept it.
Don't know much about the Astra, but overall you seemed to have done well/got lucky. Username checks out too ;)
Salesperson here, there's always something to throw in.
Congrats on being an easy customer :)
I heard that Holden threw in something like $4k cashback to the dealer for each one of these shitters sold.
And apparently Holden tried to fudge their end of year sales numbers on Astra models by getting dealers to register them so it would show up as massive bulk of new registrations and boosting their sales figures… now there is a market glut of “demo” Astras with, like OP said… 50km on them…
Probably, hence why this months promo is advertising demo Astra clearance lol
@Spackbace: HAHAHAHAHHA… :D
Had to pick up the Swift from service today and it’s a multi franchise dealer. Holden, Hyundai, Suzuki, Mitsubishi… And lined up out the front were about 10 of these Astra shitboxes. All but 3 or 4 were registered. All of them had massive mark downs on them. Of the few I looked at, not one of the demo cars had more than 100km on it. I was thinking, WTF is with so many demos of the same car!
https://www.holden.com.au/offers/astra-hatch/2017-plated-dem…
*Max sale price on 2017 plated Astra Hatch R automatic demonstrator sold and delivered before 31/01/18 unless extended, changed or while stocks last at participating Holden Dealers. Includes Dealer delivery, stamp duty, 12 months registration and compulsory third party insurance. Excludes prestige paint. Private or ABN buyers only. 3 Years Free Scheduled Servicing applies up to four standard scheduled services for the first three years or 60,000km, whichever comes first. Must service within 3,000kms or 90 days of scheduled service date, whichever occurs first. Cashback redeemed at point of sale. Not available with other offers.
I really liked this story as I'm currently in the process of buying a new car and have found the whole process of selling my previous car (was picked up on Saturday) and sorting out a suitable replacement quite stressful.
Sometimes the stars simply do align and the opportunity presents itself, but some won't act on it and others will.
Oh god, an Astra. One born every minute.
A fool and their money… :D
My friend had the same experience and bought a Captiva, unfortunately he should have stayed with his reliable car. Hopefully you don't have to many problems and I hope you are close to a service centre
One of the great yarns.
Can you tell it again? Do you have time?
You didn't mention which — red or silver?
Within the Industry it is referred to as a CRAPTIVA for a reason
Both inside & outside the industry…
Inside the industry, most don't touch anything with an Opel badge ;)
Says the guy who just bought a car that comes out of the same factory as those Craptivas.
Next thread… “My Astra is a lemon and the dealer won’t fix it/says nothing is wrong with it. How do I get a refund?”
Different factory, Astra is Opel (except the sedan, that's Thai), Captiva is Korean 😉
No, it’s all going to be ok! The Astra hatchback is made in Poland. A country renowned for its fine motoring heritage and quality vehicles…
Unlike the Astra hatch and sedan which are produced in Poland and South Korea respectively, the Astra Wagon is produced at Vauxhall's Ellesmere Port manufacturing facility in the UK.
The sedan; From Redbook
Country of Origin SOUTH KOREA
I lol’d so hard, I may have pee’d a little… :D
Jesus did I forget something . Silver
Thanks for helping out the salesman, I hope you got warranties
Hey OP, how has your car been since purchase? I'm in the market but can't decide! Astra seems like a great piece of kit for the price but the standard anti-Holden sentiment is really holding me back. Thoughts?
Hi Op, do you have a link or copy of that $500 voucher ? I had a look on the Holden website, and even did a 2018 Astra build/quote, but never saw any vouchers come up..
cool story.