Will they never learn?

[NOMONEYBUTAMERC]

Friends of ours decided it was time they upgraded from their 1998 Mazda 323f , which they have owned from new . Drove to their local Mazda dealer ( where they originally bought the car ) , who obviously decided they were not worth speaking to as they were studiously ignored for about 15 minutes. Feeling a bit self concious hanging around in the showroom , they approached a salesman, who said he was busy . After a further 10-15 minutes they decided to leave , and check out the local Audi dealer . On arrival they are warmly greeted by a young lady -" Terribly sorry , all our salesmen are tied up at the moment , but if you would like to have a look around the showroom i will fetch you a drink and a cake , and get someone to see you as soon as possible " . 10 minutes later salesman sits down with them , discusses their requirements, takes them for a test drive , and at no time pressures them . Dave , who flinches when he has to buy a round of drinks , promptly orders a new Q3. Hope he pops into the Mazda dealer after he collects his new Audi.

 

[flango]

Got to admit my experience of Audi dealers has been good too even when really testing them for difficult parts nothing was ever too much trouble. I will never go to an MB dealer in the UK gain unless I'm really pushed to do so the way they treat you is shocking, Yet I've been in the MB dealer and AMG centre in Mannheim and again nothing is too much trouble sit down and discuss your requirements over a coffee even if its for a 2 euro bolt. MB UK have a lot to learn

 

[Dryce]

I don't think there's a consistent rule.

We had a bad experience at an Audi dealer when buying what eventually became our first MB.

On buying what should have been our third MB after two very good experiences on the first two purchases the sales process was a bit of a debacle.

MB have given us two very good sales experiences - and one very bad one.

The good first one led to a second MB. The bad one directly resulted in our first BMW instead of what should have been a slam dunk sale of a SLK.

 

[andy27168]

+1 for my local Audi dealer, especially parts.
Being a bit of a retro fit fanatic as some of you know by what I have fitted to my AMG, I was expecting young inexperienced people and lots of "Computer says no" answers to my questions about fitting additional options on my Audi Cab, but I have been surprised at their level of knowledge and not just one individual which was/has been the case with MB parts.
The service department which I have also had dealings with dealt with me very professionally when I enquired about a FOC parts replacement programme that Audi was running this was not a recall either, so they did,nt have to do it. They didn't hesitate in booking it in, they did the required work, diagnosed and advised on a secondary air pump problem, a full vehicle level and safety check, and thoroughly cleaned the vehicle inside and out, all free of charge to say I was pleased was an understatement.
My only criticism is that they were very reticent to acknowledge a warranty claim on the paint, which has very very slight pin pricking of the paint around a very small part of the wheel arch, this was only spotted when the car was detailed after three months of ownership so very slight, which to be honest is understandable but at this present moment in time the area has been inspected by a local Audi approved body shop though not approved yet I have been told that its 90% it will be approved and this is on an old 2004 S4 Cab, without full history!!!
I think MB really need to watch out! As this is one MB owner that will be considering Audi as a replacement for my AMG, when it comes to replacement time.

 

[GordonTarling]

Dealers obviously vary. I lost the will after three calls to arrange a test drive were never returned.

 

[Dryce]

Dealers obviously vary. I lost the will after three calls to arrange a test drive were never returned.

Problem I suspect is that the sales culture means that you don't really exist as a customer unless you are physically in the dealership and in plain sight.

And the next point of failure after that is the way the person you deal with qualifies you.

 

[Stratman]

Problem I suspect is that the sales culture means that you don't really exist as a customer unless you are physically in the dealership and in plain sight.
..............................

The original post would make that doubtful as well

 

[John]

I've heard anecdotally bad stories of Audi dealers too.

I've experienced good and bad BMW dealers - although there are a lot more bad ones.

It seems if you have the right management who employ conscientious empathetic staff who give a monkey's in sales and service - you will probably end up with a 'good dealer' regardless of which brand that dealer represents.

In the real world, you will probably have a mix and if you met one sales person one day, you'd walk out, and a different one, you'd be raving about how good they are.

I think it is down to the individual, personally.

 

[markjay]

My rating based on my own experience:

Fiat - 1 dealer - 0/10

MB - 1 dealer - 2/10

Toyota - 1 dealer - 5/10

Kia - 1 dealer - 5/10

Vauxhall - 4 dealers - 8/10

Renault - 1 dealer - 8/10

This is in general for car sales, servicing, parts, etc.

 

[Charles Morgan]

My new/nearly new car experience

BMW dealer - 3 dealers 8/10

Land Rover - 1 dealer 3/10

Audi - 2 dealers 4/10

MB - 3 dealers 3/10

Skoda - 1 dealer 4/10

Porsche - 1 dealer thrice 9/10

Honda - 1 dealer 6/10

Mini - 1 dealer 1/10

Calling a dealer is almost next to useless. Turning up in person normally helps. They are largely without exception helpful only when you are about to pay for something and if you need anything after that, forget it.

Generally buying a new car is tedium personified and I hate dealer coffee and biscuits and the entire branded experience.

Porsche West London are about the only dealer who did what they said they would, when they would, with a proper test drive and passion ("please come and test drive a manual sir - you don't want a tiptronic, you'll hate it, we'll get the car to you in the City too"), and who gave me an excellent price back on the Boxster S when I sold it.

 

[Rory]

The only decent dealer I've been to in years was the Honda one we used. Honda recently shut it down by taking the franchise away.

Certainly had issues with Audi in the past - one to such an extent that I contacted Audi UK to complain.

The sales model at dealerships really irritates me - they're not interested in the cars themselves, they're just a way of selling finance and insurance products. Ask "how much a month is that, mate?" and you'll soon get attention.

 

[Charles Morgan]

The sales model at dealerships really irritates me - they're not interested in the cars themselves, they're just a way of selling finance and insurance products. Ask "how much a month is that, mate?" and you'll soon get attention.

Ah yes, the insurance and finance sale. They sit you down and say as we are registered with the FSA we need to find out about what you need for finance and insurance. The biggest lie in the book - they only need to fact find if they are trying to sell you insurance or finance. I just say I self finance and insure for all non-statutory risks and so can I just pay for the car and go please.

It is entertaining to see them twisting an FSA requirement into an opportunity to hard sell product.

 

[WindyH]

Have to say when my wife popped into Audi Coventry recently to look at the A3, she thought the young sales lad was a patronising utter c#*k.

Hence her order being placed with MB Cov for a new A class, who were totally patient, respectful and polite. In fact, all the other dealerships she/we visited were otherwise pleasant and keen for our business.

 

[SamW]

There is good and bad everywhere... Meet a good service advisor, sales guy, parts man, and the chances are they've been around a long time and worked at other dealers/brands and offered the same experience when working there.

The same also works for the bad guys too.

With insurance products, there is no hard sell. Yes, the FCA are involved simply because ambulance chasers will have you over in a second, so paperwork is essential, and yes, sales people are targeted on such products.

I genuinely have no idea why someone wouldn't take some of the products tho... Gap/RTI is incredibly good value thru the dealer network, and the wheel/tyre protection will normally pay for itself twice over during a 3 yr period.

Some customers seem almost impossible to please sometimes and have expectations unreasonably high... But if you're one of those idiots you'll no doubt have issues at all the other premium brands, and then walk into a Kia/Ford/volume business and take pleasure in telling them how bad prestige brands are, even tho the experience is the same.

If you're one of these people 'that'll never step in a dealership again', please don't. We know you love smoke being blown up your balloon knot but were running out of puff.

 

[ben chod]

My local Merc dealer (croydon) is pretty good to deal with. Whenever im in there for parts I always get treated like a proper customer, and the parts guys know what theyre talking about.

 

[Dieselman]

If you're one of these people 'that'll never step in a dealership again', please don't. We know you love smoke being blown up your balloon knot but were running out of puff.

Where do you work, it sounds like you give exemplary customer focused service...

 

[John Jones Jr]

Some customers seem almost impossible to please sometimes and have expectations unreasonably high...

Yes, I'd agree with that but then a lot of customers have expectations of a returned phone call.

You can talk all day about 'some' customers and we can talk all day about 'some' dealerships but, talk in general about main dealers and most punters & potential punters don't really have great expectations. Wonder how that came about...nothing to do with just 'some customers' as you mentioned.

 

[IanA2]

My experiences:

MB Brentford 3/10
MB Bath (when they were John Tallis) 9/10
MB MK 8/10
MB Park Royal 1/10
MB Northampton 6/10
MB Peterborough 1/10
VW Peterborough 8/10
Subaru Peterborough 0/10

 

[markjay]

Ah yes, the insurance and finance sale. They sit you down and say as we are registered with the FSA we need to find out about what you need for finance and insurance. The biggest lie in the book - they only need to fact find if they are trying to sell you insurance or finance. I just say I self finance and insure for all non-statutory risks and so can I just pay for the car and go please.

It is entertaining to see them twisting an FSA requirement into an opportunity to hard sell product.

Not directly related, but....

A BBC1 TV program a couple of days ago went on about how buying pirated AutoData CDs is putting motorists at risk because the garage using a knockoff CD 'will not have a subscription to receive the latest updates' and might not therefore attend to your brakes correctly.

Well done AutoData marketing department for getting the supposedly non-commercial BBC to give a boost to your business.

I am not condoning copyright infringement obviously, but this has nothing to do with safety. Manufacturers do not change their servicing data weekly..... And they managed to get the BBC to run a 30 minute program on this. Unbelievable.

 

[Rory]

I genuinely have no idea why someone wouldn't take some of the products tho... Gap/RTI is incredibly good value thru the dealer network, and the wheel/tyre protection will normally pay for itself twice over during a 3 yr period.

GAP/RTI is terribly poor value through the dealer network - if you really want it, it's available for a third of the price online. And the reason it's so cheap is that it's pretty unlikely to be called upon as most people don't write off their cars.

Of course, if you're in the trade then clearly you'll come across people who wrote their car off at 2yrs 9mths and thank God they bought RTI gap but the chances of it happened to any individual are incredibly low. If the chances were high, the premium would be high.

Wheel/tyre protection was pushed when we bought our last new car (Golf for our daughter) and it looked full of holes - excesses, pro-rata betterment charges and claim limits.