JA Autos Richmond road

Even google has never heard of them. What sort of set up is it?

colm_mcm wrote: »

Even google has never heard of them. What sort of set up is it?

http://www.jaautos.ie/index.php

I bought a used car there a few months ago. No BIG issues per se, but a few things niggled.

1. The car came with no owners manual. Had to go on eBay and buy one. Thought they could have taken care of that themselves. The car also had no service history with it, but I suppose that's not their fault if the person they bought it from didn't keep one.

2. Was told initially that my mechanic could have the car for an entire afternoon to check it out. He was only given it for 10 mins. Was told that it was a manpower issue. They seem to be a two man band, and they only had one guy spare to drive the car over to him. Am in still in 2 minds if that was bull$hit or the truth.

3. It took 3 weeks to get my new registration paperwork, and new log book from Shannon. Posted about it here, as I was getting a bit worried at the delay. Many peeps here said that it should not take that long. Called JA 3 times to find out what was going on. They said each time it was out of their hands, they sent the info off to Shannon as soon as I took delivery of the car. Again, not sure what to make of that.

4. Two weeks later, I left my lights on and drained my battery. The radio was knackered as a result. A Ford dealership quoted me 30 quid to look it up and re program the radio. Called up JA and they said they get for me for free. Said they'd call me back. They never did. Called them back. Same story. Had to cough up 30 quid for the code in the end. This was totally my fault, but seeing as the car came without the manual that would have had the code in it, I felt I was entitled to some help there.

Niggley stuff like that would make me wary about going back to them again, but the important stuff was taken care of, so I suppose I shouldn't complain. I got a great car at a great price & that's the main thing. Several people that are car savvy told me that the asking price of my car was pretty fair to begin with. I haggled and I got it for 700 euros below that. Four months later, the car is going great, and I have no complaints about it at all.

So all in all, if you expect grade A customer service that you get from major dealerships and car show rooms, go somewhere else. But if price is your main consideration, this could be the place for you. JA have no where near the overheads that the bigger, fancier showrooms have. If that is reflected in the sticker price of the cars they sell, its a win win for the customers.

They do have mechanics, two that I saw. Their patter was that they couldn't spare one of them for an entire afternoon to drive the car over to the other side of town, and have him just sit about and wait while my own mechanic checked the car out. It irritated me at the time & it didn't seem to be very sales savvy. But as the place seemed to be a pretty small operation, I could understand their point of view from a manpower angle.

The car was given a thorough check out before I bought it. My mechanic just had to go over to JA and do it there, not at his place. Re the missing user manuals and service log books, that's just a fact of life when you buy a used car. Not every seller will be diligent about having them and/or maintaining them. It doesn't have to be the end of the world. It certainly wasn't in my case.