Shouldn’t buying a car be a bit easier?

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Why is it in this country everything takes so long and has to be so much aggravation? I know there is a trend towards blaming health and safety and pointless bureaucracy but I sometimes wonder whether we are just a nation of awkward sods.

For example if you compare our car industry with our American cousins there are fundamental differences in how we deal with car buyers. In the US a customer can walk on the pitch, find a car they like, go for a test drive and by the time they get back all the paperwork is in order and they can drive the car away the same day, no fuss, no aggro just giving the customer what they want.

In this country buying a used car can be like pulling one of your own teeth out with a rusty pair of pliers with no anaesthetic! Everything is geared towards making it easier for the dealer, the insurance companies and the DVLA rather than the customer and heaven forbid having your own number plate! You will find yourself cast as the central character in a Franz Kafka novel and may as well resign yourself to traversing a bureaucratic obstacle course and put yourself at the mercy of the DVLA an organisation marooned in the dark ages where customer service is seen as a privilege not a right.

The United States is a consumer driven nation so it makes sense that you are positively encouraged to take delivery of the car on the same day. It suits everybody; dealers make a sale and get the money in the bank to give them cash flow to buy a replacement and the customer gets to drive away in their car without going backwards and forwards to the dealer, signing 35 bits of paper before eventually surrendering a DNA sample and then maybe taking the car 2 weeks later when all the paperwork is in order.

I know there are aspects of the trade which are far better in the UK such as warranties and the overall quality of the cars along with more transparency and stricter legislation over f&i products to protect the buyer, but we could sure learn a thing or two about dynamic customer service as anyone who has been there will tell you. Even the people who pick up litter in the theme parks take pride in the jobs are helpful and courteous and do it with a smile on their face. Probably because they have a lovely car parked outside that they just bought and took to work and showed their friends the day after buying it!

Rant over.