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A used car dealer has warned motorists to avoid saying three statements when purchasing a second hand vehicle.
Berrow Motors used car dealership director Joe Betty regularly makes videos for his YouTube channel Shifting Metal, showcasing his latest purchases and giving tips for motorists looking for the right model of car.
In a popular video, Joe shares the questions and phrases he hates hearing from customers, stressing the frustration he feels when someone asks how much of a discount they can get when paying cash.
He explained: “Number one on my list is ‘how much for cash?’, customers asking how much discount they can get for paying with physical cash for a car. Cash is king, of course is a phrase we hear a lot, but let me tell you why cash isn’t king.
“A: it’s not 1980, B: I’ve got to pay to put that cash into the bank, C: I’ve got to sit there and count through and make sure that the cash is alright and real. And then someone has to go to the post office or bank and pay that cash in, stand in a queue. There are all those things to deal with, there’s a massive time delay versus getting a bank transfer.”
Another question Joe hates from a motorist is how much they will have to fork out for insurance, The Express reports.
Whilst the overall cost of car insurance is rising for almost all motorists, causing many to be more considerate of how much they will be charged to run their next model, the dealer stated that there are too many factors involved to give people an estimate on the top of his head.
Joe suggested that drivers are the largest variable for car insurers, often based on their age, job and where they live. To find this out, he encouraged viewers to use a price comparison website to get some quotes before they visit a vehicle to get the best possible understanding.
Later in the video, Joe stated that the seemingly harmless statement ‘no rush’ can also be a warning sign when he has just sold a car, warning that customers who say this are often the least patient of all.
He added: “This isn’t a question, just a statement from customers. They say ‘there’s no rush, whenever the car is ready’. When we sell a car, because we’ll have a few on the forecourt, we haven’t MOT’d them or service them just yet, but we always tell customers that in seven days maximum we’ll get the car prepared and arrange a collection day with you, making sure it is clean when you come to collect it.
“The customer will then say, and there’ll be alarm bells ringing in my ears, ‘yeah, there’s no rush because I can’t pick it up for a couple of weeks’. If a customer is saying that to you, 99 percent of the time the customer will be on the phone to you after about three days to ask how it’s going.”
Finally, Joe recommended that motorists going to take a look at a used car are honest if they ultimately do not want to buy it, claiming that one response is vastly overused.
He continued: “It’s not that I don’t like hearing it but it’s always got a secret translation when a customer looks at a car, goes away and says ‘we’ve got another car to look at and then we’ll be in touch’. The only reason why I don’t like hearing that is because it’s a very long way to say ‘you will never see me ever again’.
“I would rather you said ‘I don’t think it’s for me, but if I change my mind I’ll give you a call’. I guess it’s people trying to be polite and it can be awkward, but I hear it so often that it’s a cliche.”
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