Car dealers need to put in some effort?

DirtyOilBurner

Hello,

I know im going to be knocked down for saying this but i can only tell you what i've experienced lately.

I know there is some decent guys out there but so far the one's i've come across could'nt care less about selling cars.

At the start of this year i was looking for a new Audi A4 as some may remember and the response i was getting from the Audi garages was terrible even though they were about 10 grand dearer than Audi in the north, So in the finish up we ended up buying a far better spec'd car, with no waiting list, far better customer service and approx 12k euro cheaper inc vat + vrt. No Brainer?

Now we didnt want to be going north, we would rather keep the money in the country as our business is getting hit bad too, so in the past two weeks i decided to give them another go so started getting prices for a new Jeep and a small saloon car for January, Jeep going to be costing 60 - 70 k and saloon car approx 20k, cash sales, iv rang around the different garages approx 15 in the Dublin area, i got one call back and that was to say they could get me a jeep out of the uk. So i cant help but not feel sorry for them all closing down as they are putting in no effort, all it takes is a call back not even that, one of the receptionists actually hung up while i was waiting to be connected to sales, now dont get me wrong im far from an awkward customer i just wanted a price and availability.

So i ring the guy in Isaac Agnew's in the north where i got the Audi, he's in the audi devision but sure enough bent over backwards to accomodate me and got the prices for me from Isaac Agnews other dealerships, couldnt be more helpfull.

I also rang other dealerships in the north and all the same couldnt be more helpfull, phone or email back within 10 minutes, just in a different league!

So from my eyes it is very easy to see why everybody is buying there cars in the north and the southern dealers are getting hit so bad, i think the dealers in the south need to put in some effort?

Anybody have similar experiences? Or agree with me?

I apologise if i offend any car dealers that may be on here but this is my opinion based on my experience.

Anan1

Mine too, i'm afraid. Although there is the odd honourable exception, Castle Subaru in Bray being one. I rang them yesterday for a four wheel alignment and they remembered my voice even though I haven't been near the place in six months.

bazzachazza

In my personal experience 50% of the dealerships I have been too since 2002 just can't be bothered. Each time I went shopping for a car in 2002 for a Vectra in 2005 for a Volvo S40 and in 2008 for an A6 half the dealerships didn't even bother to get me a price and call me back when they said they would. In each of those years I actually did by the car I went in to them asking about I wasn't a time waster.

To hear that dealerships are still doing the same thing is frankly stupid. You can use any excuse you like dealers but you really need to be chasing those sales. Even if those calls don't end in a sale.

I agree with you completely OP.

Bazzy

Our company was looking at upgrading our 48 vans we have on lease. We went into a well known dealership which closed recently in tallaght area and asked about test driving one,

We werent dressed the best to be fair as we were just back off a site clean all the same just in work wear. Sales guy didnt like the look of us and "couldnt" find the keys to the model we were looking for.

Out the door we went further up the belgard road and leased all our van through nissan. Again sales guy couldnt do enough for us, Threw in parrot kits etc with all the vans FOC pleasure to deal with.

Some dealers have an awful attitude.

Only thing is to be fair with such a big purchase it probably doesnt seem that you will commit to deal over the phone and is probably better if there in person.

I know people have problems in person too

bazzachazza

Anan1 wrote: »

Mine too, i'm afraid. Although there is the odd honourable exception, Castle Subaru in Bray being one. I rang them yesterday for a four wheel alignment and they remembered my voice even though I haven't been near the place in six months.

Spirit Volvo in Sandyford. I went back in after 2 YEARS and was asking about a D5 S40. The guy when writing my in the book for a call back knew my name he didn't ask and I hadn't told him. Now that was good service shame he doesn't work there anymore.

johndaman66

Would agree OP. The level of service you get from car dealers tends to be pretty poor in general and you would seriously wonder if these guys are actually trying to sell cars and vans. I was looking out for a small second hand starter car for my sister some time back and the very average response you would get whether over the phone or in person would be "yerrah we've nothing at the moment but we do be getting stuff in from time to time". A lot of the time they would not take a contact number. Granted the money we were talking about was 5k or under. Perhaps they're only interested in people who are spending bigger bucks but I'm quite sure a lot of cars are bought and sold for under 5k too on a daily basis also

helimachoptor

I'm in the market for a used car paying 3-4k cash but I've only had one place call me back out of 10-15 places, mental stuff.

My mam is going to buy a new car, maybe a Fiesta/Micra type car, again she's been to a few garages and will be paying in cash and not one hs called her back.

Mr.Boots

Agree with OP
The only three i have delat with that are any good are Autostation sandyford and a guy in EP Mooney (RIP) and Barkel Subaru in Dublin.(gone now)
The other 30 or so ive been in and out of over the years are rubish

Absurdum

I'm still waiting for Toyota to send me the new Prius brochure, 4 weeks after they said it would be sent :rolleyes:

Flat2dmat

are those company cars you're buying or for personal use?
if not commercial...what do you work at cos I want a bit of that?!!!

The Recliner

I am in the market for a new car and have had dealings with 4 different car dealers recently for various new or second hand cars

None of them have called me back, I have had to actively chase them to arrange test drives, in a market like this is that not insane, surely they should be gnawing my arm off for the business

Tabnabs

bazzachazza wrote: »

Spirit Volvo in Sandyford. I went back in after 2 YEARS and was asking about a D5 S40. The guy when writing my in the book for a call back knew my name he didn't ask and I hadn't told him. Now that was good service shame he doesn't work there anymore.

Funnily enough, I've had the opposite experience with Spirit. So it broke my heart to see Kopping close yesterday as they were excellent for my last service.

Noel Cullen cars (a one man outfit) provided great service when we bought two cars in relative quick succession from him a few years ago. Hopefully, people like this can survive the downturn

time42play

OH went looking at the A5 some time ago. Brochures to be posted out to him, and let him know when they'd have one he could test drive... never got post or call. He had also gone to look at BMWs and they were even worse.

Marlow

As well for buying cars and for servicing cars, some of the main dealers with "big showroom" are insane like that.

Most recent experience was, not in regards to buy, but repairs, I was trying to get a quote for my bimmer to be repaired in Quinn Colm in Athlone. They had the car for a week, gave me 4 dates for when i'd have a quote, didn't call me back once and were puzzled, when I collected the car after a week.

I used a local repairs guy instead and had the parts shipped from a main dealer in the north, next day courier, less than half the price as what another bmw serviceshop here in the republic had quoted me.

No point shopping for cars or servicing them in the republic with that attitude.

/M

roosterman71

Marlow wrote: »

As well for buying cars and for servicing cars, some of the main dealers with "big showroom" are insane like that.

Most recent experience was, not in regards to buy, but repairs, I was trying to get a quote for my bimmer to be repaired in Quinn Colm in Athlone. They had the car for a week, gave me 4 dates for when i'd have a quote, didn't call me back once and were puzzled, when I collected the car after a week.

I used a local repairs guy instead and had the parts shipped from a main dealer in the north, next day courier, less than half the price as what another bmw serviceshop here in the republic had quoted me.

No point shopping for cars or servicing them in the republic with that attitude.

/M

Colm Quinn is a disaster. He'd nearly charge ya for talking to him

Marlow

roosterman71 wrote: »

Colm Quinn is a disaster. He'd nearly charge ya for talking to him

Very snobbish shop alright. Is the last time i set my foot in there.

/M

WestWicklow1

I'm in the market and found something on carzone (cz) that might fit the bill. Its in a small dealership with about twenty cars for sale on cz. Rang Monday - no answer and left a message, rang Tuesday - no answer, rang Wednesday - no answer, rang today got an answer but he wan't in the dealership so couldn't answer my questions. He asked me to ring tomorrow because he's painting the house today

DirtyOilBurner

Flat2dmat wrote: »

are those company cars you're buying or for personal use?
if not commercial...what do you work at cos I want a bit of that?!!!

In a business that's on the go 25 years and never got involved in property, stuck to what we know and are good at.

DirtyOilBurner

Im surprised no dealers have came on here and defended themselves, maybe they know its true?

Untill the service, attitude, extortionate prices and rip off trade in values change the irish car industry will keep crumbling.

One of the audi garages i spoke with i asked the guy why a non audi dealer in the south also could be selling the exact same brand new car so much cheaper, his response was they arent genuine audi dealers, they wouldnt spend the millions on showrooms to get the audi dealership, so i said oh so im just paying for your showroom? No reply...

McSpud

Is car retailing a mirror of estate agents?

I remember being told off by an estate agent because I was 10 minutes late when viewing in the early boom years. Maybe they have changed now?

Maybe its just an impression but many car dealers give off this impression that you almost need to dressed up to visit them.

VolvoMan

bazzachazza wrote: »

Spirit Volvo in Sandyford. I went back in after 2 YEARS and was asking about a D5 S40. The guy when writing my in the book for a call back knew my name he didn't ask and I hadn't told him. Now that was good service shame he doesn't work there anymore.

It wasn't a guy called Peterson was it?

roosterman71 wrote: »

Colm Quinn is a disaster. He'd nearly charge ya for talking to him

And that is who BMW Ireland replaced Capital Cars with?:rolleyes:

Anan1

DirtyOilBurner wrote: »

Im surprised no dealers have came on here and defended themselves, maybe they know its true?

Why would a good car salesperson feel the need to defend the reputation of a bad one?

BrianD3

Well in the last year I've had a couple of car dealers pester me to buy a new car off them. One dealer principal has rang me on a few occasions to tell me about his latest "great deal" that he can give me. So some of them are making the effort.

mickdw

I enquired by phone with many dealers about cars on carzone, stuff like 06 S class that wouldnt find a buyer everyday of the week. They are never available & they never call back.
A northern Ireland audi dealer rings me every couple of months after I enquired once about importing a new car. At least they are keen.

Drummerboy08

I'd just like to point out that this is a case of swings and roundabouts here - there are plenty of timewasting punters out there too, just like there are dealers.

A very senior person in a Large BMW dealer was telling me today about a guy he was dealing with yesterday.

When the customer was approached and asked if he was ok, he replied he was looking for a brochure for a 1 series. Had no interest in looking at one that happened to be just outside the showroom, no interest in talking to the salesman, just wanted the brochure. When the salesman asked him for his name and number so he could give him a call when the new model lands in, the customer point blank refused to even talk to him!

So my point is, yes there are plenty of bad dealers out there, but for every bad dealer, there are 10 bad customers IMO.

There are certain quarters of the general public who seem to have adopted a very hardline when it comes to buying a car in recent times, and there are even a few of these people on Boards.ie. Yes, dealers are falling every day it seems now, but no, your not doing us a favour by offering thousands less than the asking price just to "take the car off our hands".

As a salesperson, I dont take every customer to be a timewaster even though I have been messed around by more people than Jordan's had operations. I think its only fair for the customer to treat the dealer as "innocent until proven guilty".

Mr.Boots

Drummerboy08 wrote: »

I'd just like to point out that this is a case of swings and roundabouts here - there are plenty of timewasting punters out there too, just like there are dealers.

A very senior person in a Large BMW dealer was telling me today about a guy he was dealing with yesterday.

When the customer was approached and asked if he was ok, he replied he was looking for a brochure for a 1 series. Had no interest in looking at one that happened to be just outside the showroom, no interest in talking to the salesman, just wanted the brochure. When the salesman asked him for his name and number so he could give him a call when the new model lands in, the customer point blank refused to even talk to him!

So my point is, yes there are plenty of bad dealers out there, but for every bad dealer, there are 10 bad customers IMO.

There are certain quarters of the general public who seem to have adopted a very hardline when it comes to buying a car in recent times, and there are even a few of these people on Boards.ie. Yes, dealers are falling every day it seems now, but no, your not doing us a favour by offering thousands less than the asking price just to "take the car off our hands".

As a salesperson, I dont take every customer to be a timewaster even though I have been messed around by more people than Jordan's had operations. I think its only fair for the customer to treat the dealer as "innocent until proven guilty".

Agree, there are some pigs walking around out there.

bazzachazza

VolvoMan wrote: »

It wasn't a guy called Peterson was it?



And that is who BMW Ireland replaced Capital Cars with?:rolleyes:

Yes

bazzachazza

Dyflin wrote: »

Funnily enough, I've had the opposite experience with Spirit. So it broke my heart to see Kopping close yesterday as they were excellent for my last service.

Noel Cullen cars (a one man outfit) provided great service when we bought two cars in relative quick succession from him a few years ago. Hopefully, people like this can survive the downturn

Now service was different I drove 50k's to get my car serviced at the end of the warranty waited all day with brother in his house called to make sure car was ready they said yes waited in the service center for 30mins to overhear them say "eh what we going to do with him his car won't be ready till tomorrow lunch time" 20mins later they broke the news to me personally. Never brought my car back after that.

Padraig Mor

Drummerboy08 wrote: »

A very senior person in a Large BMW dealer was telling me today about a guy he was dealing with yesterday.

When the customer was approached and asked if he was ok, he replied he was looking for a brochure for a 1 series. Had no interest in looking at one that happened to be just outside the showroom, no interest in talking to the salesman, just wanted the brochure. When the salesman asked him for his name and number so he could give him a call when the new model lands in, the customer point blank refused to even talk to him!
".

Maybe he just wanted a brochure?

Drummerboy08

Padraig Mor wrote: »

Maybe he just wanted a brochure?

Thats timewasting then.

If your interested in a car, do you walk into the showroom, past the car your interested in, just to get a brochure? No interest in having a salesman call you back for a test drive or a price? Just a brochure?

No, any normal person who is interested in the car will want to take a look around it, even a test drive, and will want the salesman to give him a call with prices etc if it cant be done there and then.

00sully

I've had similar experiences about 4 months ago looking to get a 2nd hand car. now I've little time to be phoning around so I was emailing every dealer about the car I was interested in. not ONE reply.

emailed a dealer in NI - not only did he call me back he went out to his lot and took more pics of the car and emailed me them!

do car dealers in Ireland know what email is? brutal service.