- Joined
- Nov 6, 2007
- Messages
- 12,750
- Location
- North Oxfordshire
- Car
- His - Denim Blue A220 AMG Line Premium / Hers - Obsidian Black R172 SLK55
As a sort of counterpoint to Ian’s (flanai1’s) thread about his bad experiences with Mercedes-Benz dealerships while trying to buy a new car, I thought it would be worthwhile sharing my recent experience.
As a result of buying my wife’s SLK350 in 2009, I have a relationship with two local dealers: Mercedes-Benz Oxford where I bought my C-Class, and Hughes Mercedes-Benz Aylesbury where Angie bought her SLK. I’ve used Mercedes-Benz Oxford for all the servicing work on my C-Class and I must say that their after-sales care has been excellent over the last three years. However, the salesman I bought my car from has moved on and each contact that I’ve had with their sales staff since has left me wondering how they actually manage to sell anything. Promises to call-back just don’t happen; promises to send information out when it becomes available are broken; "proactive" doesn't seem to be in their vocabulary. I can only assume that they’re so busy with fleet sales that a private punter wanting to buy a car doesn’t register on their radar
Dealing with Hughes of Aylesbury has been completely different. Angie and I had a really good experience dealing with both Chris Leach (the Salesman) and Justin (the Sales Manager) when she bought the SLK and since that purchase I’ve been in to Hughes a few times, either to have the headlamps on the SLK swapped over for continental use (always done for free ), or when taking the SLK in for service. On each and every occasion both Chris and Justin have not just acknowledged me as I walk through the showroom, but have also made the effort to actually come over and chat.
So, we get to January this year and I’m on the point of ordering a facelift C-Class to replace my C220CDI. A salesman at Oxford took all my details, knows that I’m ready to buy and that I’m just waiting for options price and availability details from him. That was almost five weeks ago and I haven’t heard a peep
The day after talking to the guy at Oxford I call Chris at Hughes just as I leave work and ask if he has any price and availability info on the facelift C-Class options. “Yes,” he said, “I received all the advanced information yesterday”. I asked if he could spare a few minutes to show me what he had, and 30 minutes later when I walked into the showroom he’d printed it off for me and welcomed me with an offer of coffee. He walked me through the information and then gave me an indicative valuation for my current car. I left the showroom at about 6:30pm armed with what I needed to start the decision process. (As an aside, the guy at Oxford must have had this information the previous day too, as he had printed me some of the pages from it yet apparently he didn't have the options list?).
Cutting a long story short, over the next couple of weeks I worked out what a new C-Class would cost me with the options I wanted, and compared that with what’s on offer in the E-Class range. It was clear that I needed to try out an E-Class! I called Chris, talked over where I’d got to with my thinking, and arranged an appointment for last Friday afternoon. When I arrived Chris had prepared comparative quotes for me based on our earlier discussions, and we chewed over a few alternatives before spending the next couple of hours driving E’s with different engine / design-line combinations. He did a proper appraisal and valuation on my current car and gave me cost-to-change offers based upon the two most likely E-Class spec’s I had settled on. After cogitating over the weekend and a brief bit of haggling on Monday morning, I placed my order.
Buying from Hughes has been a really good experience. I’ve dealt with a knowledgeable salesman who has taken the time to find out what I want and has helped me to get there. Could I have got a better price buying through an online broker? Yes, but not by much. Could I have got a better deal overall? Undoubtedly not. The whole process has been enjoyable and fun, not fraught, and that counts for a great deal in my book
As a result of buying my wife’s SLK350 in 2009, I have a relationship with two local dealers: Mercedes-Benz Oxford where I bought my C-Class, and Hughes Mercedes-Benz Aylesbury where Angie bought her SLK. I’ve used Mercedes-Benz Oxford for all the servicing work on my C-Class and I must say that their after-sales care has been excellent over the last three years. However, the salesman I bought my car from has moved on and each contact that I’ve had with their sales staff since has left me wondering how they actually manage to sell anything. Promises to call-back just don’t happen; promises to send information out when it becomes available are broken; "proactive" doesn't seem to be in their vocabulary. I can only assume that they’re so busy with fleet sales that a private punter wanting to buy a car doesn’t register on their radar
Dealing with Hughes of Aylesbury has been completely different. Angie and I had a really good experience dealing with both Chris Leach (the Salesman) and Justin (the Sales Manager) when she bought the SLK and since that purchase I’ve been in to Hughes a few times, either to have the headlamps on the SLK swapped over for continental use (always done for free ), or when taking the SLK in for service. On each and every occasion both Chris and Justin have not just acknowledged me as I walk through the showroom, but have also made the effort to actually come over and chat.
So, we get to January this year and I’m on the point of ordering a facelift C-Class to replace my C220CDI. A salesman at Oxford took all my details, knows that I’m ready to buy and that I’m just waiting for options price and availability details from him. That was almost five weeks ago and I haven’t heard a peep
The day after talking to the guy at Oxford I call Chris at Hughes just as I leave work and ask if he has any price and availability info on the facelift C-Class options. “Yes,” he said, “I received all the advanced information yesterday”. I asked if he could spare a few minutes to show me what he had, and 30 minutes later when I walked into the showroom he’d printed it off for me and welcomed me with an offer of coffee. He walked me through the information and then gave me an indicative valuation for my current car. I left the showroom at about 6:30pm armed with what I needed to start the decision process. (As an aside, the guy at Oxford must have had this information the previous day too, as he had printed me some of the pages from it yet apparently he didn't have the options list?).
Cutting a long story short, over the next couple of weeks I worked out what a new C-Class would cost me with the options I wanted, and compared that with what’s on offer in the E-Class range. It was clear that I needed to try out an E-Class! I called Chris, talked over where I’d got to with my thinking, and arranged an appointment for last Friday afternoon. When I arrived Chris had prepared comparative quotes for me based on our earlier discussions, and we chewed over a few alternatives before spending the next couple of hours driving E’s with different engine / design-line combinations. He did a proper appraisal and valuation on my current car and gave me cost-to-change offers based upon the two most likely E-Class spec’s I had settled on. After cogitating over the weekend and a brief bit of haggling on Monday morning, I placed my order.
Buying from Hughes has been a really good experience. I’ve dealt with a knowledgeable salesman who has taken the time to find out what I want and has helped me to get there. Could I have got a better price buying through an online broker? Yes, but not by much. Could I have got a better deal overall? Undoubtedly not. The whole process has been enjoyable and fun, not fraught, and that counts for a great deal in my book