Are dealerships all rotten?
Discussion
I'm wondering if my experience of main dealerships across various manufactures , most " Prestige" in their minds anyway is unusual?
I have 2 documented cases of servicing not being carried out as charged and claimed, 2 cars damaged in the dealerships care ( 1 repaired and compensation offered) , numerous poor diagnosis and repair attempts under warranty, long arguments about warranty exclusions across most of the manufacturers.
Latest is a Jaguar with a battery failing inside its 2yr parts and labour warranty limitations. Apparently Jaguar UK let their dealerships decide whether to let the warranty on parts and labour transfer with car ownership, or simply refuse to honour the warranty despite taking a booking for the car with it all expained to the very polite service booking telephone answering person.
For balance, I did have one very positive experience with Audi Hamilton who simply took my 6yr old A8 in and replaced a cylinder head with "Audi goodwill" after diagnosing a sticking inlet valve. Quite rightly they said that shouldnt happen on a 50k mile old car with good provenance.
I'd love to see an expose documentary series on just how many cars are never serviced at all in the dealers, despite being their and owners handing over many hundreds of pounds.
Anyone agree??
I have 2 documented cases of servicing not being carried out as charged and claimed, 2 cars damaged in the dealerships care ( 1 repaired and compensation offered) , numerous poor diagnosis and repair attempts under warranty, long arguments about warranty exclusions across most of the manufacturers.
Latest is a Jaguar with a battery failing inside its 2yr parts and labour warranty limitations. Apparently Jaguar UK let their dealerships decide whether to let the warranty on parts and labour transfer with car ownership, or simply refuse to honour the warranty despite taking a booking for the car with it all expained to the very polite service booking telephone answering person.
For balance, I did have one very positive experience with Audi Hamilton who simply took my 6yr old A8 in and replaced a cylinder head with "Audi goodwill" after diagnosing a sticking inlet valve. Quite rightly they said that shouldnt happen on a 50k mile old car with good provenance.
I'd love to see an expose documentary series on just how many cars are never serviced at all in the dealers, despite being their and owners handing over many hundreds of pounds.
Anyone agree??
Hot potato this one, I've just written to Ford (no reply after 4 1/2 days) and the Ford dealer this afternoon from where I bought 2 ST Fiestas over the last 4 years about a failing battery (61% capacity). The lack of response so far is dismal to say the least. Last case for me was Perth Audi, A7 Bi-Turbo, 5 electrical faults in 5 months and they failed to fix a single one. Went to another dealer and they fixed one of them and said I'd just have to live with the others.....Approved Used! Binned the POS and never returned. More frustrated at the Ford dealer (Cupar) as they had been really good over the last 4 years but I had to listen to all sorts of gibberish last Friday (maybe you left the lights on, we're 33% too busy to be bothered with you, were just gonna charge it up, we won't be able to check it properly...) and it took a week of calling before I even got that far.
Ultimately its a very easy fix, I'll buy my own battery and just go somewhere else next time.
Ultimately its a very easy fix, I'll buy my own battery and just go somewhere else next time.
- Edited**. Few days later I have had a very good chat with dealer principle from Ford Cupar, he wants to see the car and evaluate properly which is good news.
Edited by stickylabels on Friday 17th March 16:08
I would say its rare to not be disappointed anymore. I had my black c63 rear bumper repaired by Mercedes Benz and they decided to spray it purple. We both looked at it and wondered how that could of happened!!
I do find that a lot of 'prestige' dealerships (read BMW, Audi, Mercedes) do seem to have their head up their asses. I've always found my local Epsom Audi dealership to be hilarious by the way of trying to dress like 80's wall street bankers with red braces etc together with nonchalant levels of customer service.
Recently I moved over to bikes and have noticed the huge difference in customer service, general friendliness received from the dealer, to the point I quite often have to make an excuse to leave!
I do find that a lot of 'prestige' dealerships (read BMW, Audi, Mercedes) do seem to have their head up their asses. I've always found my local Epsom Audi dealership to be hilarious by the way of trying to dress like 80's wall street bankers with red braces etc together with nonchalant levels of customer service.
Recently I moved over to bikes and have noticed the huge difference in customer service, general friendliness received from the dealer, to the point I quite often have to make an excuse to leave!
legacy4cam said:
For balance, I did have one very positive experience with Audi Hamilton who simply took my 6yr old A8 in and replaced a cylinder head with "Audi goodwill" after diagnosing a sticking inlet valve. Quite rightly they said that shouldnt happen on a 50k mile old car with good provenance.
That part is the only surprise in your post - that's not normal with VAG by any means.As far as I can tell this is happening everywhere with everything in the UK. (and other countries)
A general post-pandemic malaise has taken hold everywhere and seems to be impacting all sorts of services in all kinds of different ways.
I'd also blame computers some as well. The Little Britain sketch with the punchline "computer says no" taught no lessons to anybody. It's still far too often the case that if the computer says 'no' then common sense and decency have no say. Individual judgement doesn't factor.
A general post-pandemic malaise has taken hold everywhere and seems to be impacting all sorts of services in all kinds of different ways.
I'd also blame computers some as well. The Little Britain sketch with the punchline "computer says no" taught no lessons to anybody. It's still far too often the case that if the computer says 'no' then common sense and decency have no say. Individual judgement doesn't factor.
I was in having the X1 serviced by BMW in Coventry.
I happened to over hear the service advisor talking to another customer,
"would you like us to replace the brake pads as they are getting low?, it's up to you as they still have some life left. The discs are certainly ok for a good while yet"
I nearly fell over in amazement!
I happened to over hear the service advisor talking to another customer,
"would you like us to replace the brake pads as they are getting low?, it's up to you as they still have some life left. The discs are certainly ok for a good while yet"
I nearly fell over in amazement!
No I’m sure they aren’t. A proportion are still run by decent people, though it’s a shame that the small family run dealerships have been subsumed. “Ingenieur’” on this thread rightly cites electrical/ computer problems a a major cause of frustration. Without wishing to sound like a dinasour, I wonder if we have come to expect too much of electronic technology. No, I have no wish to drive around in a Morris Minor or 1980s Defender, but haven’t new cars just become far too complex for the advantages claimed for them?
My experience of main dealerships has been very poor and I very much prefer to avoid them.
The difference is that independent garages know they have to compete for your business. Conversely franchised main dealers know that they have a steady stream of customers almost regardless of how poorly they serve them, as people want to preserve full manufacturer service history on newer cars for resale value.
Think about it, if you were guaranteed to get paid regardless of how lazy and slapdash you were at work, how would that affect your attitude ? Same thing at every main dealer.
Some main dealers and some main dealer staff do a good job just because they care, they like helping customers and like fixing cars, unfortunately such people are in the minority.
The Skoda main dealer I use is pretty decent. Car came back from its (service plan) MOT with an advisory for front pads. I almost had to force a price out of them for replacements. Was too expensive for me but they didn't give me any follow-up about booking it in. They also checked the disks and said I'd get another set of pads out of them.
They also sorted out a warranty claim with no fuss and have always been spot on servicing the car.
So no, they're not all rotten.
They also sorted out a warranty claim with no fuss and have always been spot on servicing the car.
So no, they're not all rotten.
Touch wood I've had no problems with servicing at my Lexus main dealer. Costs are reasonable with a discounted service plan, and they text any advisories and wait for a confirmation. Courtesy car is always offered, and they provide a video of the inspection.
So far the experience is better than I had with a previous Jag independent.
So far the experience is better than I had with a previous Jag independent.
I had a couple of issues with a Vauxhall main dealer, but mainly they were pretty good.
Had a 6 month old Astra clunking when going round corners, dealer declared nothing was wrong 3 times. I got a diagnosis at a local small garage, they found the fault and wrote me a letter to give to Vauxhall to tell them what to replace. Service manager had a massive face on but did sort the issue under warranty.
Second tried to refuse a warranty claim for a faulty start stop system because I hadn't got the tyres changed by them, I told them I thought that just was a load of b
ks (in much politer terms) and it was fixed under warranty.
In terms of servicing they were always fine, never suggested having extra work done. Had a "you might want to think of getting brake pads soon" once, they were actually the cheapest place for brakes, strangely.
Had a 6 month old Astra clunking when going round corners, dealer declared nothing was wrong 3 times. I got a diagnosis at a local small garage, they found the fault and wrote me a letter to give to Vauxhall to tell them what to replace. Service manager had a massive face on but did sort the issue under warranty.
Second tried to refuse a warranty claim for a faulty start stop system because I hadn't got the tyres changed by them, I told them I thought that just was a load of b
ks (in much politer terms) and it was fixed under warranty.In terms of servicing they were always fine, never suggested having extra work done. Had a "you might want to think of getting brake pads soon" once, they were actually the cheapest place for brakes, strangely.
I currently work in a Skoda main dealer and we are not too bad, we only change items that need changing and customer always informed, the cars however are truly shocking with quite a lot of software issues. VAG just cant build cars with working software,
I have worked in some terrible dealers with salesmen that are properly shady dressed like idiots with 5 thousand pound watches, its always brown shoes as well,
Audi dealer I worked in the salesman all had a terrible drug habit, toilets in the showroom looked like a laundrette with quite a lot of white powder on the sides,
I have seen some terrible used cars leave, unreported bodywork damage and bodged interiors covered in superglue
I have worked in some terrible dealers with salesmen that are properly shady dressed like idiots with 5 thousand pound watches, its always brown shoes as well,
Audi dealer I worked in the salesman all had a terrible drug habit, toilets in the showroom looked like a laundrette with quite a lot of white powder on the sides,
I have seen some terrible used cars leave, unreported bodywork damage and bodged interiors covered in superglue
Driver101 said:
I have never found a main dealer I've been happy with. I've had cars damaged, charged for work not done, parts not fitted correctly and poor service.
I only had brand new cars for around five years but this was 100% my experience as well. I used to tell them not to wash the car, but they would still do it and scratch the hell out of out.There would always be new damage when I went to pick the car up that they would deny happened on their watch. I have also had warranty work "forgotten about" when I have been to collect the car, I got the impression they were not interested in doing it.
I had a leaking oil sump repaired, 18 months later the exhaust flange is blowing. When I looked they had stripped the thread on one of the bolts and had packed it out with washers over the stripped thread.
I have also been charged for parts that had not been fitted.
I just get the impression that if you take your car to a main dealer as far as they are concerned it is totally OK to take advantage of you and rip you off.
My girlfriends aunt has a brand new A class, they pursuaded her the brakes were worn and she needed all new discs and pads after 12K miles. Honestly I don't know how they sleep at night, but I guess they have to pay the staff somehow.
I now drive sheds, do all my own services and I am much, much happier.
legacy4cam said:
I'm wondering if my experience of main dealerships across various manufactures , most " Prestige" in their minds anyway is unusual?
I have 2 documented cases of servicing not being carried out as charged and claimed, 2 cars damaged in the dealerships care ( 1 repaired and compensation offered) , numerous poor diagnosis and repair attempts under warranty, long arguments about warranty exclusions across most of the manufacturers.
Latest is a Jaguar with a battery failing inside its 2yr parts and labour warranty limitations. Apparently Jaguar UK let their dealerships decide whether to let the warranty on parts and labour transfer with car ownership, or simply refuse to honour the warranty despite taking a booking for the car with it all expained to the very polite service booking telephone answering person.
For balance, I did have one very positive experience with Audi Hamilton who simply took my 6yr old A8 in and replaced a cylinder head with "Audi goodwill" after diagnosing a sticking inlet valve. Quite rightly they said that shouldnt happen on a 50k mile old car with good provenance.
I'd love to see an expose documentary series on just how many cars are never serviced at all in the dealers, despite being their and owners handing over many hundreds of pounds.
Anyone agree??
Pretty much.I have 2 documented cases of servicing not being carried out as charged and claimed, 2 cars damaged in the dealerships care ( 1 repaired and compensation offered) , numerous poor diagnosis and repair attempts under warranty, long arguments about warranty exclusions across most of the manufacturers.
Latest is a Jaguar with a battery failing inside its 2yr parts and labour warranty limitations. Apparently Jaguar UK let their dealerships decide whether to let the warranty on parts and labour transfer with car ownership, or simply refuse to honour the warranty despite taking a booking for the car with it all expained to the very polite service booking telephone answering person.
For balance, I did have one very positive experience with Audi Hamilton who simply took my 6yr old A8 in and replaced a cylinder head with "Audi goodwill" after diagnosing a sticking inlet valve. Quite rightly they said that shouldnt happen on a 50k mile old car with good provenance.
I'd love to see an expose documentary series on just how many cars are never serviced at all in the dealers, despite being their and owners handing over many hundreds of pounds.
Anyone agree??
They just want to take your money. You're not a gppd customer if you keep your car for decades anyway so they're disincentivised even more to take really good care of it.
I've never ever had a positive dealer experience.
ChocolateFrog said:
Could even get the service schedule sheet out of my dealer when I picked up my new car.
They looked at me like I had 2 heads.
Of course, the majority of their customers have no idea what servicing entails and believe the dealership are performing some sort of magic.They looked at me like I had 2 heads.
If they knew they were paying £300 for some 18 year old YTS apprentice to undo a sump plug, catch the oil, replace the plug, replace a screw on filter and fill with oil they would be shocked. Obviously cross thread or lose a couple of the bolts holding on the undertray and break a few plastic trim clips in the process.
Maybe damage your car in the car park then park it in the road when you come to collect it and deny any involvement in the damage.
I knew a guy who had a 16 year old Lexus who still took it to a main dealer. When I asked him why he told me what an excellent job they do and how every hinge is lubricated. Basically he was paying hundreds of pounds to be impressed with a few pence of spray lube.
People are weird.
Joey Deacon said:
I knew a guy who had a 16 year old Lexus who still took it to a main dealer. When I asked him why he told me what an excellent job they do and how every hinge is lubricated. Basically he was paying hundreds of pounds to be impressed with a few pence of spray lube.
On a Merc forum I use one member said how marvellous it was that his dealer reminded him about recharging the a/c every year.Gassing Station | Car Buying | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff