I decided that I wanted to buy a particular car, so I contacted by local garage, and they said "I'm sorry sir but you cannot afford it".  I complained to the actual car company and they got the salesperson to ring me up and apologise, he did this by telling me it was all my fault and I couldn't afford the car.  In fact I couldn't find a single dealer in the London area who would talk to me and I ended up buying the car from Durham in the UK, which is a 4 hour drive each way.

What was the problem?

When they asked me my budget, I pitched the figure low.  Now that's not because I've been on a negotiation course (I have) but because buyers do this, don't we?  We never tell a salesperson the truth when they ask us for budget.  But this car company sales methodology was so inflexible it couldn't take into account a "savvy shopper".

BTW I've purchased my 5 last cars from this manufacturer.

We all have a nightmare story to tell about car salespeople and, to be honest, I'm amazed they still exist when I can go online and configure a car.

So this idea that Toyota are changing the way people can buy their cars in NZ does not surprise me.

But the question is, will people use this method to sell things elsewhere.

Thanks to Graham Hawkins for finding this.