01/09/2025
Ticking like clockwork, know your tools
“How can I assist you in buying a vehicle?” is a question I often ask prospective clients.
They often frown, maybe thinking that I don’t know my job – they came to buy a car, so how can the sales guy ask them this silly question. And yes, thanks to sitting down and writing this, I now know and understand that I need to polish that question up. The right question would be: “How can I stand by you to make your wheels experience better?”
You see, when you meet me the first time, and you don’t know me, my question may sound a bit off centre. What I actually want to know, by asking this question, is: what are you driving at present and what made you feel the need for a new vehicle? Why are you on our floor? Yes, you want a new vehicle – obvious, but what do you have in mind? Which problem(s) does this new vehicle have to solve for you?
Hopefully, through and with your answers, I can then determine and lead you to the correct fit within your budget to achieve that. In short, I am going to make your life better – I’m going to work with you to find a solution.
When we’ve established this foundation to work from, and should you have a trade in vehicle, I can then assess your trade in. All cars have a trade in value. This is determined by a few factors which is now not relevant to this discussion. Through the assessment I must look at various items. I will list them below:
1. General condition of the vehicle: Paint work, glass work, tyres, seats, and of course, whether the license is up to date and whether your service books have been kept up to date at regular service intervals.
2. Then we look deeper at the vehicle: has it been in an accident and can I see any body repair work being done? What does the paint on the vehicle look like? Does the vehicle start with the first turn of the key / push of the button? What does the engine compartment look like? Body alignment – does all the panels look as if they line up and are all the gaps more or less the same? What are the kilometres on the vehicle? Does this show high or average mileage?
With every fault we find, there will be a cost to rectify it before we can put the vehicle on the used vehicle stand. These costs are then subtracted from the prescribed trade in value, which is the final price we then give to you.
The trade in value as described above has nothing to do with your settlement, should the vehicle still be under financing. For this I need your ID number and bank name. I hand this in with the dealership’s F&I (Finance and Insurance person) who then draws a settlement from the bank. The settlement obtained is valid for 7 days from the date on which it was drawn. (Very important to remember this – as you have 7 days only to trade the vehicle in and drive off with your new vehicle). Should you take longer than the 7 days to conclude a transaction, a new settlement must be drawn, and it will be slightly higher as a few more days’ worth of interest would be added on the new settlement.
Met die aflos in die hand kan mens dan begin kyk na die syfers. Indien jou inruiling se inruilwaarde hoër is as die aflos, beteken dit jy kan die verskil tussen die 2 waardes of gebruik as ‘n deposito, of, jy kan vra dat dita an jou uitbetaal word sodra die transaksie afgehandel is. Meeste mense besluit om dit te gebruik as ‘n deposito.
Baie mense is onder die wan-indruk dat ‘n voornemende koper onder geen omstandighede die aflos moet bekend maak aan die verkoopspersoon nie. Soos julle kan sien van die verduideliking hierbo, is dit loodreg teenproduktief want dit los die handellaarskap nie toe om jou verder by te staan nie – effektief stop jy die gesprek en die vloei.
Daar is dan ook 2 maniere om jou ‘n inruilwaarde te gee.
Die eerste is deur die waarde op die inruiling te bepaal, te kyk wat die afslag sou wees op die voertuig waarin jy belangstel, die twee bedrae bymekaar te tel, en dan vir jou ‘n prys te gee op die inruiling as ‘n inruilwaarde. Dit beteken dat daar geen afslag op die nuwe voertuig beding kan word nie aangesien jy reeds die aflsag gekry het in jou voertuig se inruilwaarde.
The other way of doing it, is by giving you the real time trade in value – the value determined after all the costs, to rectify mistakes (if any) have been subtracted.
Now that the trade-in value and settlement values have been determined, the two are subtracted from one another. Should the trade in value be less than the settlement value, the dealer will normally use the discount to cover the difference. However, should the settlement still be higher than the trade-in value, even after the discount has been included, then the dealer will load the shortfall on the new transaction. This is not illegal, but the amount loaded should be in line with the new vehicle’s price. I recently had a customer whose settlement value was R 600 000 for a 2-year-old vehicle. The trade-in value was however R 280 000. I had R 70 000 worth of discount in the vehicle he was considering. This left a shortfall gap of R 250 000. The price on the new vehicle he was looking at was R 630 000. There is no way on this planet that any bank would allow us to load R 250 000 on top of a car retailing at R 630 000 (40% more than the retail price). Even if there was a bank which would do such a transaction, his instalment would just be way too high.
Instede van ‘n paaiement van ongeveer R 12 000 per maand, sou die paaiement opgeskiet het na R 18 000 per maand. Die ander probleem met so iets is dat die versekering ook gaan sukkel om se iets te verseker. Want sou die persoon in ‘n ongeluk moes kom, wat sou die verskering moes uitbetaal? Hulle kan nie die vorige voertuig se waarde regtig byreken nie – so ja, hierdie word net ‘n probleem op te veel vlakke. Ander storie as die laaiwerk in lyn was met die nuwe voertuig se prys, onder 15% van die verkoopsprys.
Met al hierdie syferwerk uit die pad uit, benodig die banke (in die geval van ‘n salaristrekker) as jy wil finansier die volgende dokumente:
1. ‘n Volledig voltooide aansoek om finansiering vorm,
2. Duidelike afskrifte van jou ID en bestuurslisensie,
3. Die laaste 3 maande se salarisstrokies en bankstate – die twee moet bewys dat dit wat jy sê jy verdien wel weerskante reflekteer, en,
4. ‘n Bewys van adres in die vorm van ‘n rekeningstaat met jou naam en adres op wat nie ouer is as 3 maande nie.
Hierdie dokumente handig jou verkoopspersoon dan in by die F&I. Hulle verwerk dit en stuur dit dan na die banke toe om te kyk watter bank stem in om jou die voertuigfinansiering te gee.
Die aansoek kan so vining as ‘n halfuur neem, maar kan ook ‘n dag neem, selfs langer, afhangende van jou kredietrekord.
Met goedkeuring word die verkoopspersoon dan ingelig dat jou aansoek suksesvol was en dat hy / sy kan voortgaan met die transaksie.
The sales person will then in all likelihood send you and Offer to Purchase (OTP) which you need to authorise for the transaction to go ahead. This signed OTP, he then hands in with the F&I, and he / she then arranges for a time for you to come and do the necessary paperwork and take delivery.
That in short the process and procedures to do a financed transaction.
Ja, daar is baie ouens wat hierdie prosesse en prosedures ken en verstaan, maar daar is ook mense wat nie so seker is van hoe dinge werk nie. Ewenwel en overgeset synde, nou is almal weer op dieselfde bladsy.
Pak die maand met albei hande.
Warm groete, warmest regards,
JB
