VCC Prestige
Funny how different people have different opinions about garages, eh? I changed my car recently and visited over ten different garages and dealers looking at fast saloons.
By far the worst I dealt with was VCC Prestige at Rochdale! I called them in March to ask about a £27k BMW M5 they had for sale and said I'd call them back the following week to arrange to travel over and have a test drive. So the next week I did just that - I called them, said I was travelling from Sale, I would be there in about an hour and would like to try the car (which I thought was a reasonable request).
When I eventually found the garage (it's down a scruffy back street), there was the M5 in the middle of the showroom. The salesman approached me after I had spent 10 minutes having a good look at the car. I told him I'd called earlier and I'd like to take the car for a spin. "I'm sorry but we have to agree a deal before we can do that" he said!
I looked at him in amazement - having a test drive only
after you've agreed a deal to buy it?! I told him I hadn't just come off a boat, had the cash to buy and would agree a deal if the car drove as well as it looked. He wouldn't budge and said I needed to 'phone ahead if I wanted a test drive. I explained that I had done that but he simply shrugged his shoulders...
Suffice to say I walked away in disgust! I ended up buying a C32 AMG estate for £29k from an independent dealership in Stoke (Neil Warburton cars) and apart from the car having awesome performance (and more practicality than an M5) I was also very impressed with the courtesy and excellent service that the salesman, Ian Clewes, gave me. I notice that a month later the M5 is still for sale (at a grand less) so perhaps VCC should
re-adjust their customer care programme?
