Decent Alpine Dealers

Decent Alpine Dealers

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Discussion

worsy

Original Poster:

6,170 posts

188 months

Wednesday 21st May
quotequote all
Can anyone recommend an Alpine dealer? Liverpool and Manchester couldn't be bothered to return calls.

Eventually managed to order from Cardiff (early April) but have tried calling or emailing every day since last Tuesday without my sales guy returning the call. Getting pretty peed off now and close to cancelling the order (if I can get a response).

A cosmetic option I ordered is no longer on the configurator, and in ordering it I had to select other options I might not be that fussed about. I need to know if it is still available, and if not to adjust my spec accordingly.


va1o

16,076 posts

220 months

Wednesday 21st May
quotequote all
My understanding from earlier this month is the factory haven't yet opened the books for UK MY25 orders so dealers are unable to submit orders through. There don't seem to be any confirmed finance figures yet or a price list from what I can see on the Alpine website.

I've found Ed Spence at Martins Alpine at Winchester seems quite on the ball with things so could be worth a try

worsy

Original Poster:

6,170 posts

188 months

Wednesday 21st May
quotequote all
va1o said:
My understanding from earlier this month is the factory haven't yet opened the books for UK MY25 orders so dealers are unable to submit orders through. There don't seem to be any confirmed finance figures yet or a price list from what I can see on the Alpine website.

I've found Ed Spence at Martins Alpine at Winchester seems quite on the ball with things so could be worth a try
Thanks - I should point out this is for an A290.

worldwidewebs

2,769 posts

263 months

Wednesday 21st May
quotequote all
Tim at Banbury is your man. I don't bother with Liverpool or Manchester either

NewtonSheep

44 posts

25 months

Wednesday 21st May
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worsy said:
...

Eventually managed to order from Cardiff (early April) ...
Cardiff are absolutely rubbish, don't bother - they don't. Couldn't be less interested in the brand or potential customers.

I get my Legende serviced there while under warranty and with a service plan, but will go elsewhere as soon as.

valvegear

31 posts

133 months

Wednesday 21st May
quotequote all
worldwidewebs said:
Tim at Banbury is your man.
I second that.

Myfavedave

5 posts

185 months

Wednesday 21st May
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Robert in London was good for me.

worsy

Original Poster:

6,170 posts

188 months

Thursday
quotequote all
Thanks all - Spoke with Tim at Banbury this morning, nice chap. Have cancelled my order at Cardiff and will place with Tim. He has a few stock cars coming in so hopefully won't get impacted too much.

neon_fox

407 posts

297 months

Thursday
quotequote all
valvegear said:
I second that.
I third that.

Bushi

425 posts

206 months

Thursday
quotequote all
Myfavedave said:
Robert in London was good for me.
Seconded, but everyone else's there, service and parts...were poor.

St Albans were poor across the board....well a apart from sending me emails to try and get my business....which they then don't seem to want.

P1983

18 posts

14 months

Thursday
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Another vote for Rob over in West London. Friendly, honest and really helpful and prompt whenever I’ve had any issues. Top bloke.

Edited by P1983 on Thursday 22 May 16:20

Maxym

2,387 posts

249 months

Thursday
quotequote all
neon_fox said:
valvegear said:
I second that.
I third that.
Tim gave me the test drive that decided me to buy an A110. But he never re contacted me and in the end didn’t have a car in the spec I wanted. Very pleasant to deal with though, and in a way I was sorry we couldn’t do business.

Mr_Toad

7 posts

1 month

Saturday
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In my search, I found all of them quite poor, when compared to more mainstream dealers; however, in saying that, I've noticed an overall decrease in service post Covid, which could possibly be linked to the move to a 'Tesla style' of new car purchasing.

Back to Alpine, in my experience, the dealers seem to have one 'Alpine' salesman, if they are off or busy, you tend to get fobbed off to someone in Renault who, more often than not, has no clue about the A110.

When you do speak with someone, they often offer to call back or email you with further information BUT don't follow through.

As for dealership experience, I had a test drive set up with someone recommended above, drove to the dealership on the agreed date and time, only to be told that they had given the demo car to someone who needed a vehicle, so there was no A110 for me to drive. So, a two hour round trip wasted.

I also walked into another dealer recommended above, and looked at a GT that someone else on here recently purchased, and the 'salesman' was too busy on his phone to bother to come and speak with me. There was no one else in the showroom and it took him approximately five minutes to pull himself away from the phone screen and speak with me.

So, in my experience, none of the Alpine dealers I dealt with instilled a level of confidence.

I have gone so far as to chat with the dealer who ended up supplying my car about ordering a GTS and he still can't be asked to send any info over, which he offered to do. Car sales are slow and A110s are no different but apathy and poor customer service seems the norm. And, don't get me started about the buying experience. The only thing, imho, that kept the car selling is how good the vehicle is.

Edited by Mr_Toad on Saturday 24th May 12:25

Skyman

1,494 posts

237 months

Saturday
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Try the new Bristol mono-brand dealership. Ordered my 290 from them. Sam is very helpful and well informed.

Mark A

41 posts

296 months

Saturday
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Mark at Solihull also very good, regularly, every 2 weeks, kept me upto date with delivery timing from the day I ordered, responded to questions on email on the day I answered, or a day later if it was his day off, also chased Alpine quite hard when they were giving vague or incorrect info on final delivery date, was up against the date for 1st of April, Alpine were late so they made a goodwill gesture.

SpudLink

6,890 posts

205 months

Saturday
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Mark A said:
Mark at Solihull also very good, regularly, every 2 weeks, kept me upto date with delivery timing from the day I ordered, responded to questions on email on the day I answered, or a day later if it was his day off, also chased Alpine quite hard when they were giving vague or incorrect info on final delivery date, was up against the date for 1st of April, Alpine were late so they made a goodwill gesture.
That was exactly my experience. I wasn’t happy with the lack of info from Alpine about the delivery delays, but Mark did his best to keep me informed.

worsy

Original Poster:

6,170 posts

188 months

Saturday
quotequote all
Thanks all, and particularly for the suggestion regarding Tim at Banbury.

He has a Black Premiere Edition that we have placed an order for. Delivery in 4/5 weeks. I've asked him if he might be able to swap the black snowflakes for the diamond cut versions and he is seeing what he can do there as well. Been a great experience so far.