A Mistaken Policy.
Page 21
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By Henry Sturrney.
Some months ago I was in a large town in the South of England and I talked with a number of motor agents and
garage men there upon the subject of light delivery vans for tradesmen. Few of themwere enthusiastic—the matter did not interest them. There was no one in their town who could buy one, so they said, but I found two firms, who, on the other hand, were satisfied that a want existed; they, however, informed me that they were already filling that want in a manner of their own. Enquiring further as to
this, I found that they were buying up old 1)43.imler chassis of 6h.p. or 8h.p.—of course, of as many years of age
doing them up where they wanted it, putting on solid tires for the worn-out pneumatics (where they were fitted with them) and fitting van bodies; they said they could sell these
vehicles •complete, and make a comfortable profit, at Lioo, and that it was the price which attracted the tradesmen. Concerning the latter point, I have no reason to doubt that the statement was correct. I have been told more than once by tradesmen that, if a sound van, which would do what they wanted, could be sold for ioo," it would sell by the thousand." I enquired how these ancient vehicles, built, it Must be remembered, for pleasure-car purposes under light, live loads, stood up under the entirely different conditions of use, and I was told that " they varied." I should think they did Some required fairly constant attention in upkeep and repairs, others, considering all things, stood up very well, and were giving their owners passable satisfaction. It must be remembered that, so far as this particular type of car is concerned, it was built for solid tires, because, at the time this model was designed, pneumatic tires had not made their appearance in a sufficiently satisfactory form for motorcar work, and, moreover, they were very heavily constructed, as we understand construction today. I possessed one myself in 1897 which weighed 23?Icwt. However, if any car of such ancient lineage would be likely to stand up under such service, it would be that one.
As I said, the results were various, though sometimes satisfactory, but, when it conies to similar treatment of a partly-worn-out, light, modern chassis, the conditions are materially altered, and it is difficult to perceive the possibility of even passing satisfaction being secured by such means. Yet, I find that all over the country this is being done to a certain extent. The tradesman asks for " something cheap," even if it is secondhand. He wants to "try the experiment," for the whole question of the motor vehicle is quite new to him, and the dealer has some worn-out crock which hangs heavily upon his hands. It would be perhaps dear at any price, but here is a means of getting rid of it, so he fakes it up, puts on a van body and sells it and the customer at the same time. Now, this is an extremely short-sighted policy. Here and there, customers may be met with for such a vehicle who have a sufficiently judicial mind to make all allowances required and to judge of the performance of the vehicle, making due allowance for its condition and history and the altered conditions of work. Where such is the case, the experiment rnay possibly prove satisfactorythe tradesman gets at least sorne idea as to how much more quickly his work can be done by means of a motorvan than by horses, and, having satisfied himself on that point, he is encouraged to purchase a new machine properly constructed for the work.
The number of men who are so constituted, however, is small, and it is a far more usual, and indeed a far more natural, experience for the purchaser to make no allowance at all for the age, condition, and different character of the vehicle, and, finding it constantly in need of repairs, and these repairs expensive ones, he says :—" If this is what running a motorvan means, it will not do for me," and, of -course, the " experiment" proves a failure, and not only a failure so far as that particular vehicle is concerned, but a failure in so much as it puts that man "off " the motor vehicle altogether, and, more than this, it causes him to tell all his • business friends that " motorvans are no good. I liave had some !" And thus his untoward experience becomes
a centre for the dissemination of unbelief and doubt, as regards the value of motor haulage. As a casein point, a few weeks since, I was in a town in the North, where, upon discussing the question of a light delivery van with a tradesman who had made some enquiries concerning the same some months previously, I was
told that he had changed his mind. Upon pressing the matter further, he said, " Well, you see, I had one last year, and the expense was awful." Later on, when in conversation with an agent in the town, I mentioned the incident, when he told me it was quite true, and that he himself supplied the vehicle. But, he added, " I do not see what he has to grumble at, for it only cost him ,4,30 ! It was an 8h.p. voiturette, which had been altered in the way above described, and, of course, to put such a vehicle to work of this character was to make an entirely unfair use of it ; besides which, when a motor vehicle of any account gets down to 4;30 value, it can be surely reckoned to have seen its best days. I further gathered that the repairs to the vehicle had, during the few months that it had been running, cost the owner of it a good deal more than he had paid for it in the first instance, so that one can readily understand his disappointment with the experiment. Myinformant, however, further added, that he thought the tradesman in question again had very little to complain of, because, said he, " I have just sold it for him for •L'45." Well, this, of course, would help out the expenditure bill on the experiment, but, all the same, the amount of the repairs had had their effect upon the customer, and, seeing the experience which that individual had had with that particular van, it seemed to me that it was only going to start another centre of dissatisfaction.
Now, I cannot think that such a policy is a sound one, and, if there are any motor agents who are inclined to make a pound or two by such sales, I must strongly counsel them to refrain from doing so, if they value their future trade. It is far sounder policy to tell the truth plainly, and to inform the customer that such an experiment is bound to be a failure—which it is—and to advise him either to abandon the idea if he cannotafford more, or to wait until he can find it convenient to buy a vehicle designed and constructed for the %Vork, when he will at least have a fair run for his money add a reasonable chance of success.