Worst Main Dealer Stories, get it off your chest!

[Morgan84]

Awful service -  Desira Alfa Romeo/Fiat Norwich

 

Couldn't give a damn once we have sold it -  Motorvogue

[Hendry]

I'm not so sure about that, there's clearly more to this than meets the eye. It is possible to lump a chunk of negative equity from a previous PX on top. That said, to owe £23000 on a Fiat Punto I don't think is possible (unless it's a sorted Abarth). Firstly, finance companies have to underwrite the business and they have no interest in lending way over the cars value. This is because they'll either end up with a termination at midway point (customer can return the car legally and owe nothing) or the customer will default meaning they all lose out. Perhaps the total amount payable was £23000, but you'd have to have horrendous credit and be rather dumb to sign up to that.

Tbh I have no idea what the script was, just going by what the guy told me which was exactly what I wrote and also how funny he thought it was to shaft this person/how pleased he was with himself.

 

I think the moral of this thread is small independent franchises are generally ok with only the odd one being rubbish, whereas for big chains its vice versa

[cms206]

My mother's just about due to hand her last motability car back to AC. Been fucked over so many times - including an insurance claim by AC "on our behalf" to replace a PAS pump on her 2004 Focus back in 2006, which only came to light in 2010 when trying to get RSA to insure her current diesel Mondeo. My mother insisted on AC Ford as our first Motability car - an Escort in 1999, supplied by Clanford but returned to AC after they took over - was from them and the Motability salespeople were so helpful. I've managed to get her to come round to not taking another car purely on the grounds that the service department are shitehawks and we keep getting fucked over by poor main dealer backup. I feel sorry for the motability salesman to be honest, got a lot of time for him but theres simply no-one there to back him up.

 

If I was to buy a new or nearly new car now it'd be from Phoenix, but as I'm about as likely to do that as I am to start spunking fifty quid notes from my japs eye it's all a bit academic I suppose.

[Jim Bell]

Good thread.

But "my family has bought 5 cars from AC and they're terrible" "I worked for AC and they're were terrible every time I bought a car from them" "I've got loads of horror stories about AC because I'm in there all the time." I find a bit bizzare.

If they're shit, don't go back.

If you do, you're part of the reason they're still in buisness.

[Mr Lobster]

Arnold Clark is an Autoshite core thread topic - without a regular thread the colour drains out of the site or something and all the worlds stock of Talbot Solaras will die.  They are pretty shit but they exist for a reason and plenty of people rightly or wrongly have experience and opinions.

 

We'll probably all move onto ALL NU CARZ R SHIT / ALL VOXHALLS R SHIT / D701 SWL / BLU FORUM  / BANGER RACORZS R EVIL shortly.

[londonm]

My mother's just about due to hand her last motability car back to AC. Been fucked over so many times - including an insurance claim by AC "on our behalf" to replace a PAS pump on her 2004 Focus back in 2006, which only came to light in 2010 when trying to get RSA to insure her current diesel Mondeo. My mother insisted on AC Ford as our first Motability car - an Escort in 1999, supplied by Clanford but returned to AC after they took over - was from them and the Motability salespeople were so helpful. I've managed to get her to come round to not taking another car purely on the grounds that the service department are shitehawks and we keep getting fucked over by poor main dealer backup. I feel sorry for the motability salesman to be honest, got a lot of time for him but theres simply no-one there to back him up.

If I was to buy a new or nearly new car now it'd be from Phoenix, but as I'm about as likely to do that as I am to start spunking fifty quid notes from my japs eye it's all a bit academic I suppose.

If that's the same Phoenix as on my original post with this thread, I wouldn't bother.

[JohnDeere]

When I was in Scotland the other week, I began to wonder if any other dealership existed - every car seemed to have the garish yellow sticker taking up most of the back window.

 

On a more positive note, I was reasonably impressed by Pilgrims of March when we went to buy Other Half's Festa. Went armed with lowest internet quote, which salesman beat straight away. Happy to accept 'cash', not a single mention of paint protection or finance. Tried hard to find a car to spec in stock. No problem either with the test drive - he just handed us the keys to a near-new model off the lot, stuck the trade plates on and sent us off on our own. I must look honest!

[Cavcraft]

Having never been able to buy a new car I have no idea what main dealers are like. Parts departments seem to be hit and miss: Lookers Vauxhall used to be shit then went great, really helpful and polite.

The local VAG dealers parts dept went the other way, were great the first time I used them then developed a massive 'attitude' which they can shove right up their arse.

 

There may be an AC round here somewhere now as noticing quite a few cars with their stickers on. They seem to be knocking a few out so they must be doing something right.

I will also point out that nobody gets ripped off on the price of a car or the finance. If you haven't checked the market price then the only person to blame is the one you see in the mirror every morning.

[fiatdaft]

Wat paying cash is different from a draft or a cheque,i would prefer you paid it with your debit card,when would you like to pick it up?

[kinkersaab]

In my experience customers wishing to pay cash generally mean debit card etc, not actual cash. Which I prefer as bank charges for paying in cash are crazy. In 18 years I have never ever sold a warranty or any other commission based stuff, nor do I push finance, I sell cars not money.

[cort16]

I've always found BMW main dealers helpfull when I've been after some random £5 part for an ancient shite box that's sitting weeing oil on their perfectly paved car park. I've also found that BMW are sometimes cheaper than the factors for certain parts. I can't quite figure out how this can be but I now always check first.

[Cavcraft]

S60Rs are well fit. FOW seem to knock shit loads of cars out, three people I know have bought from them more than once and raved about the place.

 

I think they get their stock from the auctions and buy up what I assume is slow moving dealer stock.

[cort16]

Most dealers will let you buy a car with your switch card but they won't touch that level of physical cash (2 bin bags stuffed with 20's) as it breaks money laundering rules.

 

People can slag AC off all they want but the truth is he sells shit loads of cars to shit loads of people and 97% of them are probably happy because without doubt he's the cheapest out there. Where AC maybe falls down a bit is on the post sale process as once the car is gone they want to be onto the next sale then if there is a problem it can be a bit of a ball ache sorting it out and this leads to the complaints. This and the high turn over of staff means in a lot of case there's not a long term customer sales relationship. They shift so many cars that the 3% with problems can seem like a lot and therefore they get a bad rep.

 

In Scotland you can't compete with AC on price they're just moving too much stock so you have to be more customer focused and build relationships so they come back to you first when they buy their next car. They're willing to pay a bit extra for the service and the view that if something goes wrong they'll be taken care of. They do this by not trying to upsell too many add on products (tyre insurance etc) , not selling 5 year HP finance products that lumber you into negative equity you can't escape for and by mainly making the customer feel good about the buying experience.

 

Customers will pay more if they get a good service. This is exactly how Daewoo managed to get to the number 1 spot in the JD power surveys in 2 years with recycled Astras and Cavaliers.

[londonm]

So, basically, buy a car off AC outright to take advantage of the price, then service elsewhere. You're not bound by law to have car serviced by dealer/manufacturer anymore. They do sound like a nightmare.

[cms206]

As an addon, I was in AC Ford today with a Transit recall; a woman was tearing a service manager a new arsehole because she had phoned in, made an appointment, and took her car in at 8am to get the radio code. She was still there at 9.45am because "every car that comes in gets a complimentary safety check to make sure it's legal". The check highlighted that the front discs and pads needed replaced, as did a rear wheelbearing and a smattering of other stuff which. Two prices were offered - £545 using genuine Ford parts, or a smidgen over £400 for pattern parts.

 

The woman - by this time livid - informed the service manager that the car had just gone through an MOT and service last week. And had work done. And produced the documentation to prove it. Egg on faces? No.

 

"Well just let us know if you want the work done. We'll just wash and hoover the car now and bring it round, but remember it's a safety issue."

 

Oddly enough the Tourneo I dropped off yesterday hadn't had a safety check...

[Hendry]

See this whole thing with AC saying work needs doing that really doesn't, I've never found that tbh, infact its usually the complete opposite where they either miss things that need doing or if you take your car in for a specific fault they say they can't find the fault, because they rush through jobs too quickly, that's also the reason so many people who buy cars there have post sale issues because the preps are rubbish and things are often missed.

 

That's actually just reminded me about a time someone bought an 03 plate mk1 Scenic, it needed loads spending on it, 1 of the things needing replace was a rear seatbelt, a new part from Renault was daft money so they sent 1 of the techs round to the scrappiest round the corner to get one, now nothing wrong with that but not the sort of thing you'd expect a main dealer to be doing.

[fiatdaft]

Wat,that citroen dealer that were really unhelpful with its 'issues' was that an AC branch?

[Junkman]

Five pages full of main dealer experiences on an Autoshite forum.

How pathetic.

[Albert Ross]

I've held off until now. I work in the motor trade, at a Main Dealer. I've read what you lot have to say, but the truth is, only a couple of you have a clue. Try this one. A car on the forecourt gets sold on a Friday night. Our company policy is a three day turnaround. So the Salesman will tell Mr Customer to turn up at 3pm on Monday. Yup, that's right, we get 6 hours to prep that car, because the knuckle dragging fucktard cannot compute that the staff required to make the prep happen at all, do not start until 9am Monday. These are the Admin team that make the internal job cards. Without the authority to work on the vehicle, we cannot touch it, and by that, I mean that we should not turn a spanner on a car unless a work order has been issued. The reasons are twofold. 1, Insurance, 2, We don't get paid for it..... So... This car wants work doing to it, namely MOT and a Pdi. We prefer to test first, for obvious reasons. Let's say it's a Honda Civic for instance (I work at a Vauxhall dealer) that needs this work doing. I get the work order, identify the car and key number. Locate the car and take it to the workshop, and go order parts (All the while the clock is ticking on MOT status) I then log onto the Test and carry that out. The outcome is then processed, whether pass or fail.... If it fails, it becomes an issue... so we carry out the Pdi at the next stage. We don't carry non-franchised parts, tyres may be non-standard sizes, or it may need AC parts, interior trim, that kind of thing. We the tell the sales department what the outcome is, and go to get authorisation to extend the work order. We then have to twiddle thumbs until the parts turn up, often replacing the wheels to take the car off the ramp, to do another, to return the car to the ramp, and remove the wheels once more. All the while, the bodyshop and valeters are screaming for the car..... I never release a vehicle from my custody until all the authorised work is done. I might report two tyres on 2.5mm, pads getting low, stained boot carpets etc, but if the Sales Dept. do not give authorisation, we cannot fix it to the right standard. Yet when the car comes back a week later, with a grumpy customers growling about tyres and brakes, we are held to account for it. So I always write down what was NOT authorised prior to delivery, and make certain I write down the Salesman's name to further incriminate him. We are made out to be bad guys, but it ain't us.

[Cavcraft]

Five pages full of main dealer experiences on an Autoshite forum.

How pathetic.

 

 

There's two pages about 1/8th models on here. Has anyone complained about that?

[Junkman]

OK, it's simply down to bad management then.

[Junkman]

There's two pages about 1/8th models on here. Has anyone complained about that?

Has anyone complained about a Main Dealer thread?

What I wanted to say is that I find it pathetic that even on an Autoshite forum, where people are likely to have less experience with Main Dealers than the 'normal' motorist, enough bad experiences with Main Dealers have been made to quickly fill five pages.

[cort16]

Like the whole of the rest of the internet and life in general if you don't like it then don't drive it/ read it /watch i t/stick your tadger in it and move on to what you do like.

[red5]

Has anyone complained about a Main Dealer thread?

What I wanted to say is that I find it pathetic that even on an Autoshite forum, where people are likely to have less experience with Main Dealers than the 'normal' motorist, enough bad experiences with Main Dealers have been made to quickly fill five pages.

 I am curious as to why you find it pathetic? Autoshite isn't just about shite cars...it's about transport in general. I am somewhat surprised that you think that everything not in your definition of shite shouldn't be discussed. As prev poster said if thread is of no interest leave it/don't read it/accept that life isn't perfect/don't sour it for others...

 

Anyway - as i mentioned previously  - shit garage is shit garage. Badge/franchise is irrelevant. Although i will say i went for an interview at an AC garage locally and declined to join. Very strange chap running service dept.

[Junkman]

Sorry, but I still feel misunderstood.

I am following this thread with great interest and am quite happy that someone started it.

I find it pathetic on the part of the Main Dealers to provide such an amount of bad experiences to people who have less exposure to them than the average motorist.

I hope this is finally clear enough?

 

I only have experience from inside the industry, since I never had any dealings with Main Dealers as a customer.

I did my apprenticeship at BMW in Munich, amongst other in the new car distribution department and I was amazed how the dealers are bossed around by BMW with sales targets and whatnot, also all cars had to be paid for on delivery, so the dealerships were millions out of the window at any given moment.

 

I then worked for a Chrysler main dealer in the Frankfurt area. I left after one year since I considered what I was forced to do there to be immoral, and with this I mean first and foremost the finance scams.

 

Much later I read John Keats' book and couldn't believe the similarities between what he described in 1950s America, and the conduct of business I experienced in the 1980s.

I then tried to pursue a career away from the automotive field, which has failed in spectacular fashion, but that's a different story altogether.

 

I thought I might have just seen two bad eggs and the reason for me not to shop at main dealerships is simply that I never owned cars they cater to. But reading what you guys went through makes me glad I did what I did when I did it. I really had no idea it is this bad on such a big scale, and that still nothing seems to have changed.

 

I also hear horror stories from people around me who bought cars on a company purchase plan, but always considered them grossly exaggerated and thought it can't be this bad really.

[RichardM1]

Awful service -  Desira Alfa Romeo/Fiat Norwich

 

Couldn't give a damn once we have sold it -  Motorvogue

 

I'll second that, I made the mistake of taking my old Stilo there for servicing! Terrible customer service.

[Rusty_Rocket]

Albert- I was surprised you had not commented sooner!

I totally understand what you're saying, I did work experience as a young 'un in both Renault and Peugeot dealerships and even with those short experiences, I cottoned on to the fact that internal politics/ timescales/ parts supply/ staffing etc could throw the whole thing on its knees...

 

BUT.. I think the point you're missing is the fact the average Joe has no concept of the internal workings of an organisation and most of the time, sees only the glossy showroom, slimy salesmen and plush armchairs in reception.  As far as Mr Customer understands, he's buying a car from a single outfit.  If this product or indeed the service he's receiving is not as promised, he cannot be blamed for getting a little upset.

Can Joe Public really be asked to accept an organisation's lack of coordination/ staff management/ work schedules when he has been promised the world on a stick?

 

I think this is where most main dealers go wrong- not living up to their expectations and the blame for this cannot lie with the customer.

[beko1987]

Never used a main dealer before. Bought parts from them (ford were only a 15 minute walk from my old house, and cheap too which was fucking handy once or twicewith the puma!

 

As said earlier (and I remember you going into detail on another thread Albert) it's typical foreign target driven bullshit filtering down to the shop floor. I bet ye old honest mechanic hates it just as much as the ripped off customer.

 

There'sa cowboy repair outfit (not a main dealer) on our industrial estate at work. Shoddy, overcharges, ads work (charged me £800 for a front wishbone, brakes freeing on the rear a front cv joint or something an an MOT on my 1st car. Naively I paid up, and leaned a lesson). Now, any of the girls at work who ask me or others where to go for car work we recommend a little one man band working out of a small unit around the back, great service, he even waxoyls your brake pipes for free and pumps your rear arch full of silicone to get it through an MOT, and he then painted it black so it belnded in from half a mile away!)

[brickwall]

Does anyone remember the undercover documentary about one of those car supermarkets. It was a brand that advertised heavily on the telly but have since gone bust an dI can't remember their name.

 

They aimed at the lower end of the market and I just remembered the sales trainer saying, "Remember, the people you sell to are pond-life...the lowest form of life on earth....." 

 

They sold really cheap and hammered folk on the finance, but I don't suppose that's surprising.

[Mr Lobster]

^ Possibly the not missed very much Yes Car Credit.

 

Had a few big places selling tat to people who couldn't afford it.