Never again! ( main dealer woe)
Discussion
Took my TT into a main dealer yesterday for cam belt replacement. Obviously can't name names due to forum rules, but my profile gives a clue. When I arranged the booking they recommended water pump replacement also. Agreed.
Got there yesterday morning. Got kept waiting for over 20 minutes (yeah, cos no-one else has a job to go to!) before they even relieved me of my keys.
Phone call in the afternoon - sorry Miss B, your car's not ready yet. In fact we haven't even started. WTF!!! Turns out they didn't have the water pump (despite knowing they had a booking for cam belt and water pump). So they did some ringing round and couldn't get one in time. "You can either come and collect it and re-book, or leave it with us overnight". Er, try this - I'll be collecting and never re-booking.
Went to collect it and got kept waiting for around 10 mins. As if I'd not spent enough time there in the morning! Some insincere assistant manager came over and begged me to rebook. He said they'd washed my car (true) and would reduce both cam belt and water pump to £329 all in. Plus collect car from work and deliver it back to me. So I agreed. But not for long...
Got in my car and the seat had been moved back. Not unsurprising, cos I'm only a shorty. But in addition to that, the seat back had been reclined substantially, wing mirrors moved and radio re-tuned (I always switch the stereo off when I'm leaving it with a garage). Add to that the fact that a chunk of petrol had disappeared, and whilst I hadn't checked the mileage when I left it, the range had reduced by 50 miles!!!! Either someone has been cruising it about all day, or they've ragged the ar$e off it.
So now the re-booking has been cancelled and the dealer has had one very angry dad on the phone. And when they were informed of what had gone on, they didn't even sound surprised! Speaks volumes.
I'm now booked in with a performance specialist for next week. I trust them far more, particularly as they will be used to far faster cars than mine!
Got there yesterday morning. Got kept waiting for over 20 minutes (yeah, cos no-one else has a job to go to!) before they even relieved me of my keys.
Phone call in the afternoon - sorry Miss B, your car's not ready yet. In fact we haven't even started. WTF!!! Turns out they didn't have the water pump (despite knowing they had a booking for cam belt and water pump). So they did some ringing round and couldn't get one in time. "You can either come and collect it and re-book, or leave it with us overnight". Er, try this - I'll be collecting and never re-booking.
Went to collect it and got kept waiting for around 10 mins. As if I'd not spent enough time there in the morning! Some insincere assistant manager came over and begged me to rebook. He said they'd washed my car (true) and would reduce both cam belt and water pump to £329 all in. Plus collect car from work and deliver it back to me. So I agreed. But not for long...
Got in my car and the seat had been moved back. Not unsurprising, cos I'm only a shorty. But in addition to that, the seat back had been reclined substantially, wing mirrors moved and radio re-tuned (I always switch the stereo off when I'm leaving it with a garage). Add to that the fact that a chunk of petrol had disappeared, and whilst I hadn't checked the mileage when I left it, the range had reduced by 50 miles!!!! Either someone has been cruising it about all day, or they've ragged the ar$e off it.
So now the re-booking has been cancelled and the dealer has had one very angry dad on the phone. And when they were informed of what had gone on, they didn't even sound surprised! Speaks volumes.
I'm now booked in with a performance specialist for next week. I trust them far more, particularly as they will be used to far faster cars than mine!
if a car has been left idling for approx 20 mins while washing/manuvering the ave range can drop especially if it has just been reset previously,but then when driven again for 50 miles a more accurate range again will be set!
have worked in the trade though and had one mechanic who used to syphon off a gallon of every car that came in,he got sacked mighty quick !
have worked in the trade though and had one mechanic who used to syphon off a gallon of every car that came in,he got sacked mighty quick !
valve bounce66 said:
if a car has been left idling for approx 20 mins while washing/manuvering the ave range can drop especially if it has just been reset previously,but then when driven again for 50 miles a more accurate range again will be set!
I would love that to have been the explanation, but I'd filled up about 4 days previously so the range was pretty accurate. And as for leaving a car idling for 20 mins while it's being washed - there's just no good reason to! They only had to get it near a hosepipe and give it a quick leather off afterwards - given that my dad runs a team of valeters, my car is in pretty good shape inside and out on rather a permanent basis. If they hadn't been abusing my car, the assistant monkey, er sorry, manager, would have sounded surprised when my old fella ripped him to pieces about it over the phone. He came up with none of the explanations you did, and that gives a pretty good indication about what they know their staff get up to. They fawn over you when you walk in, offering coffee and biscuits, knowing that the minute you walk out of the door they're going to be raping your car all day.
garyhun said:
I'm just about to buy an Audi R8! Should I run a mile? 
Not at all. as long as you recall the attitude that Merc dealers had in the '90s,
then BMW dealers had in the early 2000's,
then add all that attitude up,
clothe it in a shiny showroom with a B&O tv, salesmen that believe they are the important part of the sale, a service department that insists you have an appointment..then keeps you waiting 20 minutes before seeing you.
and then when you need Audi assist you get a RAC man who has to call a garage to ask how to put the roof up.
I don't think I will ever buy another Audi. The car is superb. The service is diabolical.
They just dont care.
Simond001 said:
garyhun said:
I'm just about to buy an Audi R8! Should I run a mile?
Not at all. as long as you recall the attitude that Merc dealers had in the '90s,
then BMW dealers had in the early 2000's,
then add all that attitude up,
clothe it in a shiny showroom with a B&O tv, salesmen that believe they are the important part of the sale, a service department that insists you have an appointment..then keeps you waiting 20 minutes before seeing you.
and then when you need Audi assist you get a RAC man who has to call a garage to ask how to put the roof up.
I don't think I will ever buy another Audi. The car is superb. The service is diabolical.
They just dont care.
My Audi dealer has never been that bad, although they do have a habit of having to order parts so another trip is needed, despite the fact they have been told what part has failed by me. Eg at the time of booking I say
"i have a broken window switch " after they have had the car for 6 hours they phone me and say
"you have a broken window switch, we need to order one, when is it convenient for you to come in again?"
Its only a 50 mile round trip its never convenient! Why didnt they order one in when I made the booking? They do this all the time!
"i have a broken window switch " after they have had the car for 6 hours they phone me and say
"you have a broken window switch, we need to order one, when is it convenient for you to come in again?"
Its only a 50 mile round trip its never convenient! Why didnt they order one in when I made the booking? They do this all the time!
Simond001 said:
as long as you recall the attitude that Merc dealers had in the '90s,
then BMW dealers had in the early 2000's,
then add all that attitude up,
clothe it in a shiny showroom with a B&O tv, salesmen that believe they are the important part of the sale, a service department that insists you have an appointment..then keeps you waiting 20 minutes before seeing you.
then BMW dealers had in the early 2000's,
then add all that attitude up,
clothe it in a shiny showroom with a B&O tv, salesmen that believe they are the important part of the sale, a service department that insists you have an appointment..then keeps you waiting 20 minutes before seeing you.
So very, VERY true!Why isn't it that we can go in, hand the keys over, sign the form and leave like at other garages? Why does there have to be so much pomp,ceremony and insincerity? No I don't want a coffee and you can stick your biscuits - I'm not planning on being here for long enough. But they know different. They know that they're going to keep you there as long as possible. But what for? The longer you keep me, I'm not going to spend any extra money. In fact, if you insist on eroding so much of my life away in this shiny hell-hole, it's just going to make me less willing to return.
I'm booked in at Awesome GTI instead now. Next Thursday is the big day. I'm really looking forward to going there - no insincere salesmen or service booking-in clerks who don't know a wheel from a head gasket. Just people who are passionate about cars and the driving experience.
I recall dropping my A4 off in a city beginnig with C near Birmingham. I asked for a lift back to work - it was about 8:45 in the morning. Driver turns up, and there's me and another guy. He needed a lift to the station. We got into a brand-new A4 2.0 FSI with about 20 miles on the clock. Driver ragged it to the station. I mentioned hat the car goes well (as we're squealing around a roundabout), he said that he had to be back by 9:30 so they could do the final prep for the new owner to pick it up at 10am. 
garyhun said:
jimmyb said:
Garyhun where are you based??
I'm based in Poole but looking at a car at a dealer up North! Why do you ask?Actually when i think about it why not put them to the test? Call them and ask if they can get you the exact car you want for the price you want if the one you are looking at is in dealer stock they will/should call the dealer in q and get the car sorted for you or a very very similar deal.
You have nothing to lose.
Edited by jimmyb on Saturday 11th July 17:58
burns76 said:
Why isn't it that we can go in, hand the keys over, sign the form and leave like at other garages? Why does there have to be so much pomp,ceremony and insincerity? No I don't want a coffee and you can stick your biscuits - I'm not planning on being here for long enough. But they know different. They know that they're going to keep you there as long as possible. But what for? The longer you keep me, I'm not going to spend any extra money. In fact, if you insist on eroding so much of my life away in this shiny hell-hole, it's just going to make me less willing to return.
I've never had this at Gloucester Audi. Go in, sign stuff for a loan car, leave. The only wait is if there's a queue, which is fair enough.agent006 said:
burns76 said:
Why isn't it that we can go in, hand the keys over, sign the form and leave like at other garages? Why does there have to be so much pomp,ceremony and insincerity? No I don't want a coffee and you can stick your biscuits - I'm not planning on being here for long enough. But they know different. They know that they're going to keep you there as long as possible. But what for? The longer you keep me, I'm not going to spend any extra money. In fact, if you insist on eroding so much of my life away in this shiny hell-hole, it's just going to make me less willing to return.
I've never had this at Gloucester Audi. Go in, sign stuff for a loan car, leave. The only wait is if there's a queue, which is fair enough.Same could not be said of a very big dealer in south london who charged me 110 to change a headlight bulb after making me sit around for an hr.Or the dealer where i looked at the R8 who was quite disinterested in selling cars it would seem. MR De Silva at Guildford audi could not have been more helpfull however even though i told him I wouldnt be buying a car from him as deposit was placed elsewhere.
Hell fire! I'm new to the site and I thought that I was the only person to have problems with an Audi dealer. The one I called into is close to a famous football ground and cricket ground in Manchester. I was overpriced, they were obviously overworked because they couldn't be bothered to do any work on my Audi. Not to worry, they asked me to re=book and have the work done at another time. I agreed to this until I discovered my fuel level had become smaller and my mileage had become bigger. The funny thing is, my seating had been vastly changed as had my radio settings. Needless to say I won't be going back to this dealership again. Anyone who does is either naive, a glutton for punishment or didn't like their car in the first place.
Gassing Station | Audi, Seat, Skoda & VW | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff