Dealer attitudes

[superskib]

Being disappointed with the number of problems with my 5 year old Skoda Fabia since the warranty expired, and having driven an automatic in Australia last monthe I decided to buy a new car. I narrowed my choice to
1. VW Golf Match with 105 bhp diesel with DSG or
2.Toyota Auris D4D with MM transmission,
Both have electronic clutch auto + manual sequential.

At the VW dealers I was told they did not have the relevant demonsrator, only a manual version. I could have it for a test drive but it had to be back by 3 pm so the sales person could collect her child from school!

The Toyota dealers - Listers of Lincoln - offered me a 48 hour test drive in the model of my choice. They had a very welcoming approach and offered a good PX deal.

Result Goodbye VW. Incidentally there is no facility for contacting VW UK on their website. Arrogant or what?

[hardboiled]

Automatics are still relatively rare cars in the UK. You can't really expect the local dealer to have one of everything in stock and available for use. A neighbour of mine had trouble getting a TT demo but a quick chat with Audi UK managed to get her one to try. Hence there are methods available for you to get to try what you want.

Saying that there's no excuse why a customer should have to return a car for a salesperson to be able to go home. They are funded as demonstrators/customer service vehicles by VW / VW finance and the dealer will receive bonuses as such for registering these vehicles for customers to use - not salesmen. Might be worth pointing out to the general manager of the dealership why you went elsewhere. However I can understand if you don't have the time for them.

There is an address for Volkswagen UK and a phone number for Volkswagen Customer care on the FAQ section of the vw.co.uk website.

[Porker]

I had a similar-ish experience of a VW dealer when I went in to look at a new Golf for Mrs P.

I went to reception and said that I was interested in talking to someone in new car sales. Noone was available so I said I'd wait. 25 minutes later noone had approached us. We left and bought a BMW.

P.

[Nigel]

[hardboiled]

I think that happens a lot less now Nigel seeing as though the number of company cars make up such a large percentage of new cars sold - they can't afford to ignore cc drivers.

I used to work for a motor manufacturers finance company and so I spent a lot of time in the dealer network. Out of all the dealers I used to visit (50-60) there were perhaps only a handful that I'd be happy spending my own money with. Mostly the dealers I would have bought from were, as you prefer, personal businesses rather than part of a corporate empire.

[superskib]

There is an address for Volkswagen UK and a phone number for Volkswagen Customer care on the FAQ section of the vw.co.uk website.

Just went to the website you give, had to use 'search' to find FAQ. could not find an address (postal) an Email address or anyting titled customer services – definitely not user friendly. Don't they want to hear from owners or customers?

[TripleS]

If you find dealers' attitude and performance is poor when you first go looking to buy, just wait until the deal is done and they've got your money, and then you go back later with problems to sort out......!

I think the motor industry needs a good dose of falling on hard times, and then they might get their act together a bit better. In the meantime they are mostly competing at a pretty low level of customer service behind all the hype and presentational hogwash.

Best wishes all,
Dave.

[hardboiled]

Just went to the website you give, had to use 'search' to find FAQ. could not find an address (postal) an Email address or anyting titled customer services – definitely not user friendly. Don't they want to hear from owners or customers?

I went to the site initially and saw a link to "Company" in the top right had corner. I presumed that would tell me information about the company. Hovering over this link popped up another menu with several links, one of which was FAQ.

I think a "Contact Us" link would have been easier to find than putting the address in FAQ. Might be worth emailing the webmaster and pointing out that searching for customer service returns no useful results.

[Angus]

I think most of us will have anecdotes concerning "customer care" of the various dealers.

My favorite concerned 2 visits to the local Peugeot dealer some years ago. The first was on my way home from work (so I'm fairly smart) to get some info on a recently announced car. The salesman was pretty indifferent, but as I'm leaving the manager sees me and comes out for a chat.

The following Saturday I'm going past & note the Volvo estate they've been trying to shift for weeks has been reduced, so I go for a look. Now I'm wearing scruffy jeans & t-shirt. As it happens a quick glance was all it took to dismiss the Volvo, but I'd been spotted by the same salesman and he recognised me from a few days before. Of course he asked me about the chat with Frank (the manager). "Oh" I reply, "He sold us the last two cars".

Great way to wipe the grin off a salesman's face

[superskib]

To put the record dtraight there are demonstrators of Golf Match 105bhp diesel with DSG at three dealers – London, Birmingham and Cambridge. That was from phononing VW at their Sunderland HQ. I also found another one in Coventry.

Shouldn't the local dealer I approached in Lincoln have done this work?

I think they are all in a comfort zone

[Angus]

I wonder - do the dealers in the vicinity of the car supermarkets give a better service?

When I've looked at Motorpoint, they seem to charge about the same for a virtually new, pre-registerd car as the local dealership does for one 18-24 months old.