Dealer issues ?

[homer simpson]

^^ sounds like they are a bit like some local traders.

A friend of mine bought a car from 'The Trade Centre' which is local to us. She bought the car and then asked me if she did the right thing

The seller told her the car requires an MOT and should it fail on anything they will put it right. Alarm bells straight away as

1. They obviously knew there were faults and the PDI checks are worthless
2. They cannot sell a car which is not road worthy
3. It should have had 12 months MOT if it didn't have one or was less than a month.

They are in the process of rectifying some faults as it failed the MOT (one was a tyre!). They have told her she cannot reject the vehicle (false) and they will not refund her (against the law).

This is a large company but it's not the first bad review I've seen. My brother's friend bought a car and the gearbox went after a couple of weeks, they weren't interested.

[tintin]

Originally Posted by homer simpson

I have to agree their prices are extortionate but then again which dealers aren't? They also have massive operating costs - those flashy dealerships and tea/coffee/biscuits don't pay for themselves lol.

Originally Posted by ainarssems

All or most dealers are independant and each will be different. Out of 2 of my closest Bedford has been pretty bad the only time I interacted with them so I have not been back but I have no complaints about Northampton. That being said it might have been just my luck with Bedford, maybe it was wrong day or wrong person I was dealing with but I don't go back there as I never had any issues in Northampton

It's the dealership operating model that's the issue. Most Audi dealers are part of a bigger group (e.g. Inchcape...), and have layers upon layers of lower and middle management who add no value to the business or the customer experience. These suits often have little or no meaningful contact with either the customers or the grease monkey/Audi MasterTech who actually touches the cars, and aren't really interested in anything more than where their next bonus is coming from, or which dealer group they're going to jump ship to next.

Add to that the fact that Audi is a "premium" brand with a high proportion of business (and therefore lease...) customers, and the link between the customer and the guy who knows your car gets even weaker, and means most dealers really don't give a stuff about individual customers

When Neil and I organised the Portmeirion meet, the presence of the fast Audis that we had as demos was simply as a result of me creating merry hell with Inchcape at board level with just how badly their Stockport branch was behaving. Even on that day the little oik who was in charge of the 5 sales guys couldn't be a**ed staying till the end of his allotted time, and buggered off with the Audi freebies which he was supposed to give us: classic, and not in a good way.

Unsurprisingly, I've had no such issues with Tesla, who own the service centres - which aren't run as profit centres - and I know the service manager and workshop manager personally, even though they've grown like topsy in the 5 years since I got my MS.

Audi have literally no control over how your car is serviced, and probably no interest either.

[sarg]

Luck if the draw

We recently bought a nearly new BMW but the salesman could not fit us in his diary to test drive and couldn’t be arsed to even video the car because “I’ve 16 people on this car and it will be sold to one of them”

Roll forward 2 weeks, the same car has moved to another branch of same dealer, salesman couldn’t do enough to help and we bought it.

The same car

Those who know me will not be surprised to learn I emailed the original “sales” person with a photo of me and our new car.

He never replied ��

It is a sellers market right now and prices are very strong, stock is low, but that’s no excuse for a poor customer experience, so just vote with your feet.

[Adrian E]

I've been persuaded to drive half a lap of the M25 to view an S5 Sportback that was described as immaculate by the main dealer......needless to say turned out to be nothing of the sort (loads of trolley dings and the lamest excuse for why a front wing had been replaced that involved them saying it was to access the washer bottle, plus the spec wasn't as described)

Sales people want to sell stuff with the minimum of aggro so will go with whomever they think will be the 'easiest' sale route.

I get that a lot of sales folk see e-mail contact as indicative of 'timewasters', but also think they want to avoid putting anything in writing that can then be used against them from an aftersales perspective.

Luckily I don't buy cars very often, but I'll always prefer a private sale, especially now dealers will bin all previous paperwork 'because GDPR'. My Golf was the perfect private purchase - lovely family, easy to deal with, pragmatic on price and gave me every bit of paper including the original sales invoice.

[roberto]

well i must say our private purchase of my missis A4 was brill too
1 owner low miles FSH etc
went to his house, he sent me off on a test drive on my own
agreed price bank transfer went home well chuffed

this dealer crap is putting me right off now going to look at anything else
ive seen an S4 2020 reg with 100 miles on , so thats a new car really

dear me what have Audi done

[tintin]

Originally Posted by roberto

well i must say our private purchase of my missis A4 was brill too
1 owner low miles FSH etc
went to his house, he sent me off on a test drive on my own
agreed price bank transfer went home well chuffed

this dealer crap is putting me right off now going to look at anything else
ive seen an S4 2020 reg with 100 miles on , so thats a new car really

dear me what have Audi done

It's not a new thing either, in my opinion. I spent 5 - five! - years trying to find the right S8 (so I can be patient, when I need to be ): I tried lots at Audi main dealers during this time, most of whom were pretty disinterested in a private, used, dealership sale. In the end I got the perfect one from Ian (IT) - an all round better experience in every way!

[steamship]

Originally Posted by tintin

When Neil and I organised the Portmeirion meet, the presence of the fast Audis that we had as demos was simply as a result of me creating merry hell with Inchcape at board level with just how badly their Stockport branch was behaving. Even on that day the little oik who was in charge of the 5 sales guys couldn't be a**ed staying till the end of his allotted time, and buggered off with the Audi freebies which he was supposed to give us: classic, and not in a good way.

And I for one was very grateful for your 'merry hell'. Where else would you get an opportunity to drive a RS6 Avant, RS7, S8 'and' a Tesla in one day, unless you're dripping with money when going into an Audi dealership.

And yes, now that you mention it, I remember seeing all those Audi goodie bags in the boot.

Regarding the theme of the thread... 'Dealer Issues', I've had three over the years.

1. A Friday 13th car. A brand new A4 1.9tdi ('95). Issues from bumper to bumper. At first 10k service, I faxed (yes, that long ago) them a full A4 page of issues beforehand, they had the car for two days and had an excuse for every single one when I went to collect it. Spent 10 months arguing with manager about quality and then went to Audi UK who resolved the issue, another brand new car for £1,000.

2. Another A4 1.9tdi, but an Avant this time. T-boned by a Land Rover pulling a trailer coming out of an iced up laneway. I insisted with the insurers (bad idea) that it be repaired by Audi. First repair looked okay (collected in the dark), but extreme wind noise on way home. Found that I could put my finger through the gap at the top of the back door. Repair two collection - gap issue resolved, but they somehow smashed the drivers door mirror. Repair three collection - mirror replaced but now a two inch gouge in the middle of the bonnet.

3. Same A4 as number 2 which we kept for about seven years. Went in for a massive service. Around 20 years ago and the bill was £1,200. A week later it failed the MOT because two of the four front subframe bolts weren't replaced.

[tintin]

Originally Posted by steamship

And I for one was very grateful for your 'merry hell'. Where else would you get an opportunity to drive a RS6 Avant, RS7, S8 'and' a Tesla in one day, unless you're dripping with money when going into an Audi dealership.

I was delighted to arrange that - it ticked sooo many boxes for me, all in one go . And it was over a weekend, rather than just a day Sean, although some of you did seem slightly dazed about things after being in the P85D

[tonupkid]

Originally Posted by tintin

I was delighted to arrange that - it ticked sooo many boxes for me, all in one go . And it was over a weekend, rather than just a day Sean, although some of you did seem slightly dazed about things after being in the P85D

That was a lot of fun, but not the bit where I could feel my brain slapping about as it was reluctant to join in the Tesla's demonstration of accelerating mass at an astonishing rate.
Insane it was, dread to experience Ludicrous and whatever now rules. Plaid?
I still use the Tesla mug and backup battery Goof PR can return benefits years to come.

On Audi dealerships. My local, Tamworth, is shockingly incompetent. The one I use, Stafford, have been excellent and fought my corner with warranty stuff. However returning my car with hydraulic fluid pi55ing out of the brake calliper did make me pause.
The D4 is in for MOT and major service next week

[paulrstaylor]

Originally Posted by tonupkid

That was a lot of fun, but not the bit where I could feel my brain slapping about as it was reluctant to join in the Tesla's demonstration of accelerating mass at an astonishing rate.
Insane it was, dread to experience Ludicrous and whatever now rules. Plaid?
I still use the Tesla mug and backup battery Goof PR can return benefits years to come.

On Audi dealerships. My local, Tamworth, is shockingly incompetent. The one I use, Stafford, have been excellent and fought my corner with warranty stuff. However returning my car with hydraulic fluid pi55ing out of the brake calliper did make me pause.
The D4 is in for MOT and major service next week

Tamworth was where my Q7 came from - there approved used checks were seemingly appalling, and when I pointed out they needed to put a windscreen in it (would have been a MOT fail, but apparently okay in the 100+ pointchecks) they agreed. However as it was on backorder, they offered to knock £250 off and I "could claim only insurance for an aftermarket one when I got home"! I told them I wouldn't commit insurance fraud for £250, but they could knock it off for the insulting suggestion - which they did. When the car was finally ready, I took it to my local dealer for a health check (same group), who found over £4,000 in work needed including all brakes under spec - Tamworth picked it up (100 mile collection) and begrudgingly fixed most of it, but not before offering me a full refund as "they could sell that car all day long" They screwed up the fixes and left me with an un-coded climate control module, that the local dealer did sort for free.....