Dealer issues ?

[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.