Unbelievably Poor Level of Service
Discussion
I ordered our new C4 last Wednesday after checking it over in the showroom and was told we could collect the car on Friday Afternoon, post PDI and Valet.
Collected the car yesterday a little late as the Salesman had found the indicators not working when he went to fill the car with fuel. Unfortunately things didn't get much better thereafter. By 9pm we had a list of 7 faults (6 were all electric related) and one was an unusual sound from the rear suspension.
I complained this morning and said that I didn't believe it had received a PDI (They were insistent it had)anyway to cut a long story short after waiting 1.5 hours in the dealership the car came back to us all sorted but with the explanation that items were not working as it had been left in showroom mode (all electrics shut down to stop the battery draining). They claim the rubbing noise from the rear is a characteristic of the suspension (Although the demo car we drove did not make that noise)
I have also pointed out that the car had never been valeted inside (The windscreen is filthy, dashboard covered in dust and there are black finger marks on the cream roof lining).
I must say that citroen are not the first or I guess the last to sell us a car and it be delivered in a less than perfect state. I just don't get dealers some time, why on earth would you supply a car is such a condition.
Certainly the first thing I will be doing on Monday is speaking with the General Manager.
Collected the car yesterday a little late as the Salesman had found the indicators not working when he went to fill the car with fuel. Unfortunately things didn't get much better thereafter. By 9pm we had a list of 7 faults (6 were all electric related) and one was an unusual sound from the rear suspension.
I complained this morning and said that I didn't believe it had received a PDI (They were insistent it had)anyway to cut a long story short after waiting 1.5 hours in the dealership the car came back to us all sorted but with the explanation that items were not working as it had been left in showroom mode (all electrics shut down to stop the battery draining). They claim the rubbing noise from the rear is a characteristic of the suspension (Although the demo car we drove did not make that noise)
I have also pointed out that the car had never been valeted inside (The windscreen is filthy, dashboard covered in dust and there are black finger marks on the cream roof lining).
I must say that citroen are not the first or I guess the last to sell us a car and it be delivered in a less than perfect state. I just don't get dealers some time, why on earth would you supply a car is such a condition.
Certainly the first thing I will be doing on Monday is speaking with the General Manager.
i know the feeling i have a company car and it was having an mot do, so i took it in an i knew what it would fail on. blowing exhuast from turbo not quiet either and broken mirror and cracked number plate.
and what did the fail it on a tyre.
i picked it up and said did you spot the exhaust leak??"what leak" JESUS did the get their mechcanic's qualifcation out of a packet of frosty's or what!!
and what did the fail it on a tyre.
i picked it up and said did you spot the exhaust leak??"what leak" JESUS did the get their mechcanic's qualifcation out of a packet of frosty's or what!!
Can't beat Citroen MOT's, lol.
I took my car (old 405) to Kineholme garage once, my brother said they were great as they were more like "Blindholme", and couldn't spot stuff.
So I took my car there, new tester, failed on 7 things. Door handle was too stiff, was movement vertically in the front struts, can't remember all the points, but it was like "EEekk"
So, went to local spares place, bought new top mount rubbers, got home, stripped the car strut off, old one was BETTER than the new one, and looked quite new. Took the new rubber and old one to Citroen dealer, took to MOT tester guy, and he just said he levered under the wheel while it was jacked up, and there was movement. Eh? Spring? Bushes compressing?
Anyway, after telling him that it was fine, and ALL the other problems were NOT in the MOT test book to start with, he was a bit peeved at me, but I told him he was incopetent.
Took it to another independent garage that race-prep's E30 M3's and seem to know what they are on about, and passed it 100%, with just a note on a track rod end that looked potentially fatigued, and a tiny crack in screen that *may* get bigger.
So my experience of Shitroen MOT centre's has been either useless and totally blind with my brothers car, then a different tester seemed to know little of cars having suspension to allow wheels to move up and down, and failing on non-failiable things.
Completely useless. Kinda makes me wonder what the point of an MOT is from there really!
Dave
I took my car (old 405) to Kineholme garage once, my brother said they were great as they were more like "Blindholme", and couldn't spot stuff.
So I took my car there, new tester, failed on 7 things. Door handle was too stiff, was movement vertically in the front struts, can't remember all the points, but it was like "EEekk"
So, went to local spares place, bought new top mount rubbers, got home, stripped the car strut off, old one was BETTER than the new one, and looked quite new. Took the new rubber and old one to Citroen dealer, took to MOT tester guy, and he just said he levered under the wheel while it was jacked up, and there was movement. Eh? Spring? Bushes compressing?
Anyway, after telling him that it was fine, and ALL the other problems were NOT in the MOT test book to start with, he was a bit peeved at me, but I told him he was incopetent.
Took it to another independent garage that race-prep's E30 M3's and seem to know what they are on about, and passed it 100%, with just a note on a track rod end that looked potentially fatigued, and a tiny crack in screen that *may* get bigger.
So my experience of Shitroen MOT centre's has been either useless and totally blind with my brothers car, then a different tester seemed to know little of cars having suspension to allow wheels to move up and down, and failing on non-failiable things.
Completely useless. Kinda makes me wonder what the point of an MOT is from there really!
Dave
Mr Whippy said:Maybe not...but Peugeot can equal them! Booked my car in to the local Peugeot dealership last year, and was asked what time I wanted to bring it in, and I said as early as possible. That'll be 8am, then.
Can't beat Citroen MOT's, lol.
After a few hours, they hadn't phoned, so I phoned them, and they said they were waiting for someone to get some time to do it. I pointed out that as I was booked in for the start of the day, that shouldn't have been a problem...but it was totally lost on them.
I gave them a few hours, and the same happened again...so much for being as early as possible. Was a bit bored of it all by then, so decided to leave it to them to get back to me when it was ready...which they did at about 5:30pm, having had to change one blown rear bulb.
Getting across town within half an hour is not easy at that time of day, so I was a wee bit miffed when I finally got there to collect the car. Their total lack of apology didn't help, either. After all that, I decided to take the car to an independant garage for the MOT this year. It failed because the rear lights were flashing slightly when the indicators were also on. Turned out to be because the wrong rear light bulb was put in (wrong number of pins iirc), the same bulb that was changed by the main dealer last year
...Excellent, not only did they make me wait all day, but they've also had me driving around for the past year in a car that shouldn't have passed the MOT! f
ers
Just took my 6 months old C5 (company car - wouldn't buy one myself) back to the dealer. The undertray / air deflector had come off after I went through a puddle. It's only made of plasticy fibrous stuff, held on with plastic clips. You could see what was wrong by looking under the car at the roadside. Not a big deal but it seems French cars don't like water. Not a maritime nation, you see. (Ask a Reno owner about deep puddles).
Picked it up later that day:
Needs a new undertray / air deflector sir. We don't have one in stock. It'll cost about £80 (not too bad, huh?).
And there's a charge of £79 for diagnosing the fault, sir.
Haven't been back, and won't buy another Citroen. That's all folks!
Picked it up later that day:
Needs a new undertray / air deflector sir. We don't have one in stock. It'll cost about £80 (not too bad, huh?).
And there's a charge of £79 for diagnosing the fault, sir.
Haven't been back, and won't buy another Citroen. That's all folks!
Well, my Local Citroen garage (Thompson First in Stroud) couldn't be more than help full, I always get free diagnosis, and on the occasion where a job did turn out bigger than first thouht they gave me a free curtosy car for the weekend.
But I know someone who had an A3 and took it to an Audi garage to get it sorted as it was running badly, they couldn't find the fault on the computer (which seems odd to me, my Xantia stores them until cleared) so they started guessing and replacing sensosr randomly, some over £200 each, he stopped them before the ECU and sold it!
I think any one can get bad service anywhere!
But I know someone who had an A3 and took it to an Audi garage to get it sorted as it was running badly, they couldn't find the fault on the computer (which seems odd to me, my Xantia stores them until cleared) so they started guessing and replacing sensosr randomly, some over £200 each, he stopped them before the ECU and sold it!
I think any one can get bad service anywhere!
correlejco said:
Just took my 6 months old C5 (company car - wouldn't buy one myself) back to the dealer. The undertray / air deflector had come off after I went through a puddle. It's only made of plasticy fibrous stuff, held on with plastic clips. You could see what was wrong by looking under the car at the roadside. Not a big deal but it seems French cars don't like water. Not a maritime nation, you see. (Ask a Reno owner about deep puddles).
Picked it up later that day:
Needs a new undertray / air deflector sir. We don't have one in stock. It'll cost about £80 (not too bad, huh?).
And there's a charge of £79 for diagnosing the fault, sir.
Haven't been back, and won't buy another Citroen. That's all folks!
Yikes that is poor.
On the other hand, my local Ford garage, where my other half got her car a year ago, are still doing wonders for her. Where most garages find any excuse to charge for anything, they keep on doing things for free, as goodwill gestures, and generally for very very good customer relations.
Coopers of Oulton, family owned. Makes the Peugeot garage who did stuff on her last car look like some evil mentalists in comparison.
Honestly can't believe the difference, and can't believe people put up with some garages levels (or lack of) service and courtesy!
Dave
Working in the trade, its far more common to see a bad dealer than a good one I'd say. The worst seem to be Mercedes around here. BMW dealers also have a really bad attitude....the local one told a guy to move his E34 520i recently as he parked around the front while buying parts as they "didn't want a car of that age displayed on the forecourt"....which it wasn't anyway.
The Peugeot dealer across the road were so bad they folded. The one in up the road in Hamble doesn't like selling things. The Citroen dealers in Southampton and Fareham are a bunch of useless geeks. Although the one in Winchester (Wyatt's) have proved really helpful recently, faxing me diagrams to my work so I could mark out which bit I wanted...little things that count. And they were cheaper, and much more efficient. They even said all the new Citroens on sale were shite (only the older ones were any good, and that my 1997 Xantia Activa was one of the best ones they made! I probably agree with that. (Couldn't say anything of the C6, as Citroen still haven't supplied them with one)
The Renault dealers pretty good at getting parts, but smarmy and overpriced I reckon. I know they get their OE spares on the dodge rather than from Renault direct too.
The Peugeot dealer across the road were so bad they folded. The one in up the road in Hamble doesn't like selling things. The Citroen dealers in Southampton and Fareham are a bunch of useless geeks. Although the one in Winchester (Wyatt's) have proved really helpful recently, faxing me diagrams to my work so I could mark out which bit I wanted...little things that count. And they were cheaper, and much more efficient. They even said all the new Citroens on sale were shite (only the older ones were any good, and that my 1997 Xantia Activa was one of the best ones they made! I probably agree with that. (Couldn't say anything of the C6, as Citroen still haven't supplied them with one)
The Renault dealers pretty good at getting parts, but smarmy and overpriced I reckon. I know they get their OE spares on the dodge rather than from Renault direct too.
I HAVE FOUND RENAULT TO BE VERY POOR. I WILL NOT BUY ANOTHER.
THEY ARE VERY EXPENSIVE ON PARTS WHICH THEY NEED VERY FREQUENTLY.
I RUN MINIBUSES, TRANSITS GO ON FOR EVER BUT THE RENAULT MANAGED 60,000 MILES BEFORE NEEDING TWO DRIVESHAFTS; TWO ENGINE MOUNTS AND MORE PARTS THAN I CARE TO LIST. THE DEALERS WILL NEVER GIVE ADVICE OVER THE PHONE, INSTEAD THEY SAY BRING IT IN AND WE WILL HAVE A LOOK.
£150 LATER THEY DON'T KNOW WHATS WRONG BUT IT COULD NEED A NEW GEARBOX. WAS DRIVESHAFT.
THE VAN IS NICER TO DRIVE THAN MOST OTHERS, SO IT'S A SHAME IT'S USELESS.
I HAVE BEEN TOLD OF SOME DESIGN PROBLEMS WITH THESE VEHICLES, ONE AFFECTING THE BRAKES. THE DEALERS HAVE BEEN TOLD HOW TO DEAL WITH BUT NOT TO PASS THIS INFO ON. INSTEAD WHEN ONE COMES IN WITH THE FAULT, JUST REPLACE THE PARTS WITH MODED ONES. FANTASTIC VALUE FOR THE CUSTOMER. WE PAY FOR THEIR MISTAKE.
THEY ARE VERY EXPENSIVE ON PARTS WHICH THEY NEED VERY FREQUENTLY.
I RUN MINIBUSES, TRANSITS GO ON FOR EVER BUT THE RENAULT MANAGED 60,000 MILES BEFORE NEEDING TWO DRIVESHAFTS; TWO ENGINE MOUNTS AND MORE PARTS THAN I CARE TO LIST. THE DEALERS WILL NEVER GIVE ADVICE OVER THE PHONE, INSTEAD THEY SAY BRING IT IN AND WE WILL HAVE A LOOK.
£150 LATER THEY DON'T KNOW WHATS WRONG BUT IT COULD NEED A NEW GEARBOX. WAS DRIVESHAFT.
THE VAN IS NICER TO DRIVE THAN MOST OTHERS, SO IT'S A SHAME IT'S USELESS.
I HAVE BEEN TOLD OF SOME DESIGN PROBLEMS WITH THESE VEHICLES, ONE AFFECTING THE BRAKES. THE DEALERS HAVE BEEN TOLD HOW TO DEAL WITH BUT NOT TO PASS THIS INFO ON. INSTEAD WHEN ONE COMES IN WITH THE FAULT, JUST REPLACE THE PARTS WITH MODED ONES. FANTASTIC VALUE FOR THE CUSTOMER. WE PAY FOR THEIR MISTAKE.
Grrrrrr...... 
.
Mum had her 307 in for service and recall a month ago and had the wipers changes. I drove it today for the first time and the drivers side wiper was smearing the screen. Obviously hadn't been changed. Said this to dealer and he gave me 20 excuses and reasons for a wiper to have failed so quick. I told him that he takes me for a fool and I don't accept any of that. "How come the passanger wiper is 100% perfect then and the drivers side is rubbish???" He starts throwing accusations at me that I've called the dealers cheats and liars (hadn't actually used those words - but close), and askes what do I expect?
Maybe the pressure is wrong then was his next excuse. He took the car into a mecanic for a few minutes while they washed the windscreen (!!!!!!!) and then he told me that he'd changed the wiper in a way that he expected great thanks!
NEVER EVER EVER again am I allowing a Peugeot in the house. Crap cars and ignorant as F*** dealer. Ever hear of the customer is always right??????? A$$hole.
. Mum had her 307 in for service and recall a month ago and had the wipers changes. I drove it today for the first time and the drivers side wiper was smearing the screen. Obviously hadn't been changed. Said this to dealer and he gave me 20 excuses and reasons for a wiper to have failed so quick. I told him that he takes me for a fool and I don't accept any of that. "How come the passanger wiper is 100% perfect then and the drivers side is rubbish???" He starts throwing accusations at me that I've called the dealers cheats and liars (hadn't actually used those words - but close), and askes what do I expect?
Maybe the pressure is wrong then was his next excuse. He took the car into a mecanic for a few minutes while they washed the windscreen (!!!!!!!) and then he told me that he'd changed the wiper in a way that he expected great thanks!
NEVER EVER EVER again am I allowing a Peugeot in the house. Crap cars and ignorant as F*** dealer. Ever hear of the customer is always right??????? A$$hole.
A short time ago my last car needed an MOT rather sharpish, the local pug dealer was the closest place with a slot right away so I took it there at 8am. 4pm I rang them to ask when it would be ready, and apparantly there was no centre seat belt anchor in the rear, MOT failure. I found that a little hard to believe. I asked the people greeter whether they had actually looked for it, the answer yes.
I knew it was there, but wondered how far they'd take it. They ordered the part, and at the end of the next day i rang again, surprise surprise when they came to fit the new anchor they found the old one where it should have been. I asked again why they didn't find it when they did the MOT, the answer was they weren't actually allowed to do anything to the car, such as put a hand down the seat to locate the seat belt. The best of it was the people greeter person was very pleased to tell me that i wouldn't need to pay for the new seat belt anchor they ordered. Really? Well thank you very much. The sheer incompetance of these people leads me to believe they just might be working for the government.
I knew it was there, but wondered how far they'd take it. They ordered the part, and at the end of the next day i rang again, surprise surprise when they came to fit the new anchor they found the old one where it should have been. I asked again why they didn't find it when they did the MOT, the answer was they weren't actually allowed to do anything to the car, such as put a hand down the seat to locate the seat belt. The best of it was the people greeter person was very pleased to tell me that i wouldn't need to pay for the new seat belt anchor they ordered. Really? Well thank you very much. The sheer incompetance of these people leads me to believe they just might be working for the government.
Actually that answer is correct, as part of the MOT they aren't allowed to get the centre belt out from under the seats - crap isn't it! I've had an MOT failure for similar and checked on it. However, why it is beyond them to get it out after the MOT and do a free re-test in mind boggling and to let you order another.
I hate dealers, that is why I never use them - apart from ordering parts when I need them...
Rob
I hate dealers, that is why I never use them - apart from ordering parts when I need them...
Rob
CombeMarshal said:
Two things, Windscreen wipers can fail early, I had it happen to me, and also crap on the windscreen can make a huge difference!
I refuse to believe that when two wipers rest so close to each other, the passanger side on top of the driver side, that one would be impossible to see through and the other still perfect. It's not like the vortices land all the rubbish on just one wiper, and if that was the case it would all be on the passanger one anyway as it wipes most of the drivers side first on it's way round. Disregarding the fact that the car is hardly driven (3k per year), virtually never in the rain as Mum doesn't like it, and that it gets new wipers every year at it's yearly service.
1 month for a failure doesn't cut it. If it's a freak occurance, then grand, but it should still be looked after on the spot in the interests of customer satisfaction, and not try treating me like an idiot in order to squirm out of it.
CombeMarshal said:
And,
Surely, before an MOT you would check things like Seat belts, lights, horn, and all the other stuff you can do with out a ramp?
I knew it was there. Didn't bother doing an inventory check of the cars components before dumping the rice-mobile at the garage for the mot. It's not mandatory for the owner to test their own cars emissions prior to the mot, why bother checking everything else that you already knew was there. Checking the car is the MOT testers job, one thing that doesn't come into their job description is taking the piss.
up-the-dubs said:
Two things, Windscreen wipers can fail early, I had it happen to me, and also crap on the windscreen can make a huge difference!
I refuse to believe that when two wipers rest so close to each other, the passanger side on top of the driver side, that one would be impossible to see through and the other still perfect. It's not like the vortices land all the rubbish on just one wiper, and if that was the case it would all be on the passanger one anyway as it wipes most of the drivers side first on it's way round. Disregarding the fact that the car is hardly driven (3k per year), virtually never in the rain as Mum doesn't like it, and that it gets new wipers every year at it's yearly service.
1 month for a failure doesn't cut it. If it's a freak occurance, then grand, but it should still be looked after on the spot in the interests of customer satisfaction, and not try treating me like an idiot in order to squirm out of it.
Fair enough!
You want to keep an eye on things with that low mileage, I had a Renault Extra van once, It did about 5k a year, the enigine never got properly warm, the first time it did the thermostat opened up and spread sluge though the whole sysytem!
sam_rookes said:
And,
Surely, before an MOT you would check things like Seat belts, lights, horn, and all the other stuff you can do with out a ramp?
I knew it was there. Didn't bother doing an inventory check of the cars components before dumping the rice-mobile at the garage for the mot. It's not mandatory for the owner to test their own cars emissions prior to the mot, why bother checking everything else that you already knew was there. Checking the car is the MOT testers job, one thing that doesn't come into their job description is taking the piss.
I just assumed everyone else did, just makes sense to me!
Actually that answer is correct, as part of the MOT they aren't allowed to get the centre belt out from under the seats - crap isn't it! I've had an MOT failure for similar and checked on it.
As a MOT tester I feel I must comment on this.
We are supose to Test vehcile's in the condition that they are presented for testing,
VOSA have also instucted use not to lift seat's ETC to find seat belt's ETC as there was a case where a MOT Tested lifted a rear seat to gain acess to the belt and found a hypodermic syringe embedded on his finger.
Sadly he now has HIV from that syringe.
I normanly do the Reg/Vin plate check's and then check the seat belt's.
If there's one stuck under the seat,I would normanly ask the owner to lift the seat to acess it.
Whilst I'm logging on to the System.
>> Edited by SprintV8 on Saturday 6th May 07:21
As a MOT tester I feel I must comment on this.
We are supose to Test vehcile's in the condition that they are presented for testing,
VOSA have also instucted use not to lift seat's ETC to find seat belt's ETC as there was a case where a MOT Tested lifted a rear seat to gain acess to the belt and found a hypodermic syringe embedded on his finger.
Sadly he now has HIV from that syringe.
I normanly do the Reg/Vin plate check's and then check the seat belt's.
If there's one stuck under the seat,I would normanly ask the owner to lift the seat to acess it.
Whilst I'm logging on to the System.
>> Edited by SprintV8 on Saturday 6th May 07:21
Gassing Station | French Bred | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff