Mole Valley no longer a dealer
Discussion
29/220 I knew Moley was getting ready to drop TVR, like we, at Hawthorns did, but I haven't spoken to him for a few weeks so don't know if It's official yet, or if indeed he still intends to cut them loose, mind you, M.V. don't seem to be in the dealer listing on TVR's website anymore.
If true, he's not the first,and won't be the last, I've had several dealers contact me over the last few weeks,to find out how much better we have been doing in the last 6 months without TVR,
and two,or even three, are intending to give TVR notice, because they have had enough,
or so they say. Three/four others have apparantly been "given" notice, due to their "Noble intentions",
if what I've been told is true. All of this could be bollocks
and should not be relied upon as in anyway representing the facts or truth/status of the current TVR dealer listings 
I'm confused .. are Hawthorns a TVR main dealer or not..
www.hawthornstvr.co.uk/
I like the comments on there about long term commitment
What do you do nowdays ?
www.hawthornstvr.co.uk/
I like the comments on there about long term commitment
What do you do nowdays ?
rev-erend said:
I'm confused .. are Hawthorns a TVR main dealer or not..
www.hawthornstvr.co.uk/
I like the comments on there about long term commitment
What do you do nowdays ?
No, we are no longer TVR main dealers, we started the run down in sept 03 and formally terminated in march 04. The website is about to change to www.hawthorns.co.uk, just awaiting final connections etc etc. The TVR signs are down, and we are free to deal in any cars we like, which will include the odd TVR from time to time, but only the V8's
We were TVR main Dealers for 8 years and tried very hard to support the marque, we even ran a race team which at one time fielded 4 cars in the TVR Tuscan Challenge, bringing drivers like Jamie Campbell-Walter and Jay Shepherd to the series, and in truth, I don't see how we could have been more supportive then we were.
We sold hundreds of TVR's and in the early years, it was great fun, so we were able to overlook the fact that being a main dealer wasn't all it was cracked up to be financally. We were so in to it that the money side of things became secondary, provided we, and our customers were happy.
However,in the last few years we felt that the direction that TVR seemed to be going wasn't in our humble opinion, the best way forward, so a seperation was the only option.
We wish them the best of luck for the future, as a world without TVR's would be sad indeed.
Would the reason that some TVR dealers are cutting loose be because of the S6 engine, coupled with silly terms and conditions to dealers? I am just wondering, as I have just bought a S6 engined Tamora, and if they are the reason that dealers are cutting their losses, due to possible quality/warranty issues, it would be nice to know!
Chris
Chris
Looking at this issue especially with Hawthornes, it does seem strange that Racing Green Cars must only be minutes away from them.
Is it may be the case with Mole Valley that another franchise may have been given to somebody locally?
Politics and spin are an important part of all business, we the paying public will never know the complete truth about what is happening between TVR and the more established dealers!!!!
Is it may be the case with Mole Valley that another franchise may have been given to somebody locally?
Politics and spin are an important part of all business, we the paying public will never know the complete truth about what is happening between TVR and the more established dealers!!!!
powerlord said:
Yes, to echo Chris, what going on here ?
I also heard the 'nobel' rumours about a certain dealer not a million miles away from me in Ipswich.
But then also heard that it was b*llocks and sorted out...
stu
Half the problem with TVR is sorting out the "bollocks" from the truth, I can only repeat what I said in my earlier post, i.e a number of dealers have spoken to me and some have said that they have had enough, whilst others have apparently been told that if they insist on adding other dealerships to thier businesses, they will run the risk of TVR cutting them loose. Most of these dealers will not accept being told how they should run thier own operations, and as many of them are far from happy with the events of the last few years, TVR could be over playing thier hand, still, they have never listened to the dealers in the past, so why should they do so now.
I can't comment on the nitty gritty details of why the relationships between TVR and the dealer network are not as good as they could be, but dealers that get into TVR's are different to the main stream. Most of us have a passion for cars, racing and anything fast and loud, and a passion can be hard to maintain if you feel that you and yours(customers)are being used, manipulated and ignored because of that very passion.
I never became a TVR main dealer for the money side of things (just a well as it turned out), I did it because I loved the cars, the racing etc etc, and TVR must understand that this is the prime reason why anyone gets involved with them, dealers and customers alike. We buy into it with our hearts not or heads, it is the dream we buy and it's TVR's responsibility to keep that dream alive for themselves and all of us, for if they can't maintain it, we all fall back to earth with a large bang and start looking for another route to Pistonheads heaven.
Do TVR understand this, do they care, lets hope so, for the world of motor cars and racing would be the poorer without them.
Looking for a car for my daughter at a main dealer for another marque on saturday; was in the Chimaera and
the sales manager asked if I used Mole Valley as he had taken on an ex-MV salesman. His story was that MV had steered a punter away from the TVR he had come in for in favour of a Noble. Said punter rang TVR about the strange anti-TVR selling behaviour ; the factory took a dim view and it ended in withdrawal of the dealership.
Only passing on what I was told for whatever it's worth.
the sales manager asked if I used Mole Valley as he had taken on an ex-MV salesman. His story was that MV had steered a punter away from the TVR he had come in for in favour of a Noble. Said punter rang TVR about the strange anti-TVR selling behaviour ; the factory took a dim view and it ended in withdrawal of the dealership.
Only passing on what I was told for whatever it's worth.
Hawthorns ltd said:
Most of us have a passion for cars, racing and anything fast and loud, and a passion can be hard to maintain if you feel that you and yours(customers)are being used, manipulated and ignored because of that very passion.
I never became a TVR main dealer for the money side of things (just a well as it turned out), I did it because I loved the cars, the racing etc etc, and TVR must understand that this is the prime reason why anyone gets involved with them, dealers and customers alike. We buy into it with our hearts not or heads, it is the dream we buy and it's TVR's responsibility to keep that dream alive for themselves and all of us, for if they can't maintain it, we all fall back to earth with a large bang and start looking for another route to Pistonheads heaven.
Do TVR understand this, do they care, lets hope so, for the world of motor cars and racing would be the poorer without them.
Brilliantly put, and I know all this is true....
As a customer I have had enough after the appalling way my T350 was "thrown" together. The way some of the people who work for them react to criticism (even from their most loyal customers like me) is beyond belief. If it was my business I would be seeking out people like me and finding out why I dont want another one....
They wont, dont and have no intention of changing things and I for one think they are heading for serious trouble unless they change direction. Right now they remind me of Nottingham Forest, blindly carrying on with Brian Clough when he was past his best. Look where they are now......
lateconvert said:
Looking for a car for my daughter at a main dealer for another marque on saturday; was in the Chimaera and
the sales manager asked if I used Mole Valley as he had taken on an ex-MV salesman. His story was that MV had steered a punter away from the TVR he had come in for in favour of a Noble. Said punter rang TVR about the strange anti-TVR selling behaviour ; the factory took a dim view and it ended in withdrawal of the dealership.
Only passing on what I was told for whatever it's worth.
The dealer-manufacturer relationship is a complex one - I wouldn't put too much weight onto individual incidents.
Flash please don't take this personally but the anecdote " a customer not happy tells 50 but the customer who is only tells 5" does ring true.
I have been to an Evoactive day @ Oulton Park today and as usual my car performed brilliantly. I have done 5 track days there and had 3 days over Easter @ Nurburg and my car has just passed the 10,000 mile mark.
I went with 12 mates in tuned Evo's, Subarus, M3's, Skyline etc to Germany. My car never missed a beat, anhilating all but the highly tuned Nissan on the Autoroutes. Two Subarus had to be trailored home with breakdowns.
The engine has never had any work except a tune up for a very slight hesitancy @ 2,500 revs. I am still on the original tyres and pads. Hardly anything has gone wrong with the car as Heath in service would verify.
I have looked at other cars and posted on the Noble forum where there are some unhappy customers complaining justifiably, it seems the Nobles are not without problems either.
I got a great deal on my car I paid £4,000 extra for the red rose engine etc but at around £45,000 I have a car that is every bit as good as a Noble on a track (fact) it is faster accelerating/top speed.it has a lovely bespoke interior, it can carry luggage, oh and its £10,000 cheaper!
As for the new 400 BHP Noble thats over £60,000! I have cited the Noble because I feel they are TVR's biggest competitor nowadays.
I know you had a nightmare with yours and I feel for you but I thought it only fair to show the other side of the coin so to speak. My T350 is the best TVR I have had, if the company makes the Sagaris even better I can't wait.
The futures bright the futures orange.....er Blackpool FC colours!
I have been to an Evoactive day @ Oulton Park today and as usual my car performed brilliantly. I have done 5 track days there and had 3 days over Easter @ Nurburg and my car has just passed the 10,000 mile mark.
I went with 12 mates in tuned Evo's, Subarus, M3's, Skyline etc to Germany. My car never missed a beat, anhilating all but the highly tuned Nissan on the Autoroutes. Two Subarus had to be trailored home with breakdowns.
The engine has never had any work except a tune up for a very slight hesitancy @ 2,500 revs. I am still on the original tyres and pads. Hardly anything has gone wrong with the car as Heath in service would verify.
I have looked at other cars and posted on the Noble forum where there are some unhappy customers complaining justifiably, it seems the Nobles are not without problems either.
I got a great deal on my car I paid £4,000 extra for the red rose engine etc but at around £45,000 I have a car that is every bit as good as a Noble on a track (fact) it is faster accelerating/top speed.it has a lovely bespoke interior, it can carry luggage, oh and its £10,000 cheaper!
As for the new 400 BHP Noble thats over £60,000! I have cited the Noble because I feel they are TVR's biggest competitor nowadays.
I know you had a nightmare with yours and I feel for you but I thought it only fair to show the other side of the coin so to speak. My T350 is the best TVR I have had, if the company makes the Sagaris even better I can't wait.
The futures bright the futures orange.....er Blackpool FC colours!
Rod's comments are well written and sum up TVR dealerships for me too. Since April 1998 and in no particular order:-
Brandon*, Logik, Bauer Millet, Kinsey Jones, Team Central* (at Birmingham), MADS*, Team Central (at Stratford), Yarnolds, Clarks, Sytner Group in Warwick, Brundle, Broughtons (Cheltenham), Broughtons (Bristol), Stephen Palmer, HR Owen, Mole Valley (at Chessington), Redhill TVR Centre, Mole Valley (at Redhill), Fernhurst*, Hawthorns*, WLA, Westover*, Portfield, Brooklands, Williams of Bristol, Newtown (only service dealers now?), Hillfoot*, Prentice, JS (Channel Islands),
have all stopped being official TVR dealers. Some have given up totally; some have gone bust; some businesses have been sold on; and interestingly the ones marked "*" have carried on trading TVRs. Have I missed anybody out?
Brandon*, Logik, Bauer Millet, Kinsey Jones, Team Central* (at Birmingham), MADS*, Team Central (at Stratford), Yarnolds, Clarks, Sytner Group in Warwick, Brundle, Broughtons (Cheltenham), Broughtons (Bristol), Stephen Palmer, HR Owen, Mole Valley (at Chessington), Redhill TVR Centre, Mole Valley (at Redhill), Fernhurst*, Hawthorns*, WLA, Westover*, Portfield, Brooklands, Williams of Bristol, Newtown (only service dealers now?), Hillfoot*, Prentice, JS (Channel Islands),
have all stopped being official TVR dealers. Some have given up totally; some have gone bust; some businesses have been sold on; and interestingly the ones marked "*" have carried on trading TVRs. Have I missed anybody out?
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