Al Hayes, Portumna

dnme

Further to my thread here, I thought I'd post a quick update about my expereinces at Al Hayes's car sales place in Portumna today.

I took a trip over there to have a look at a Mazda 323 diesel. Having been there before I knew to expect acres of used cars all piled up on top of one another with no room to walk among them.

The place is as bad as ever. I walked around the yard for over an hour looking for the particular Mazda but could not find it. Along the way I sat into several cars to try them out, Focus's, Mazda 2, Golf's, Bora's etc. Most of the cars that I sat into were riddled with damp (fungus spores and odour).

I eventually went into the showroom and spoke to Alan. He brought me outside and showed me where the dam Mazda 323 was, He and another mechanic tried /struggled to start it and I noticed they were playing with a switch over to the right of the steering wheel. "Whats that switch for" I asked, "It's to engage the spark plugs" replied Alan. "Isn't this a diesel, Diesels dont have spark plugs" I replied. "They do" he said... Then he looked at me and shrugged before saying "I dunno".

The place is truly a sham. You cannot get to 50%+ of the cars as they are piled on top of each other, you cant even walk near most of them. Yet it is busy and always hard to get hold of anyone in there. I wish they would have a clearence sale and thin out those acres of used cas that in a lot of cases have now been lying there for years.

I came across cars that had flat tyres, moss and algae all over the cracked rubber etc. But the fungus all over the interiors of most of the cars I looked at was the last straw.

MunsterCycling

Why are they not served with an order by the council to clean up their areas?

Bombbastic22

Well, the place is still a mess.I drove fourty miles out there a couple of weeks ago to see a car that was actually in their Tuam branch even though the online advert said it was in Portumna. I found this out after spending about an hour looking through tons of cars.

There is no organisation, none of the cars are serviced (with oil as black as coal in many), half of them smell inside and won't even start.

On the other hand they have a large selection of used cars and I figured the fact that they were filthy could in a way be positive, as in the past I have bought cars that were so well cleaned and polished that it was a few weeks before all the blemishes were apparent. It's a bit like meeting a beautiful woman with makeup when you're drunk and then waking up beside her sober in the morning, only in this case you're drunk on the excitement of finally getting the wheels you want/need.

Anyway, I decided to give them another try, made another 80mile round trip - got there at 12.45pm with the intention of spending a few hours looking at and trying out cars, only to be told they were closing at 1pm as they were going to a match. Here are people who seem like they just can't be bothered to sell.

The car I went to see wouldn't start although when they did get it going, it drove sweetly. However, when I asked the salesman to fill in a form his tone changed completely and he grunted "I'm not filling in nathin" before he even knew what was on the form. The form simply asked questions like - has this car been crashed, has bodywork been done, was it imported which he was happy to answer until it came to writing those answers on paper and signing it.

He said I could ring talk to the previous owner, which seems to be a common thing for garages to do. I said I had no interest in speaking to any previous owners and that I wanted to know what information there was on the car from him and I wanted it in writing. I don't think this is unreasonable since, when trading cars to a garage it's often typical to fill in something similar.

I won't be making a third trip out to them, that's for sure.

mickdw

Edit:

Duplicate post

mickdw

I feel if a car was genuine, a garage should be happy to put in writing the various details
however a garage would only be able to comment 'to the best of their knowledge' though so that is where it would fall down.
Its an interesting test though if buying a one owner car that was traded in to the garage. They would typically in that case have asked the original owner about any crash history. If they then were not willing to give any kind of written document re crash history etc, it would suggest a cover up.
it would be a different situation if buying a car with multiple owners or cars moved through the trade as any declaration would be worthless as nobody to pin any false declaration on.

-Corkie-

mickdw wrote: »

I feel if a car was genuine, a garage should be happy to put in writing the various details
however a garage would only be able to comment 'to the best of their knowledge' though so that is where it would fall down.
Its an interesting test though if buying a one owner car that was traded in to the garage. They would typically in that case have asked the original owner about any crash history. If they then were not willing to give any kind of written document re crash history etc, it would suggest a cover up.
it would be a different situation if buying a car with multiple owners or cars moved through the trade as any declaration would be worthless as nobody to pin any false declaration on.

I have purchased a lot of cars of Al and the sons. There is no bother in finding out the cars history but I can imagine the reaction the OP got whn asked to sign a form..:D:D

All the cars are very hard to get at but they will get any car out for you that you want with no hassle.

Al maybe no Gentleman but they sell good cars and provide first class customer service.

Rickwellwood

Bought a VW Bora from em in 07 - back in the Celtic Tiger days - anyways tbf they were the only dealer in Galway area who were prepared to do any deal back then - got a few free services, new tyres, extra parts and labour warranty & a few more bobs off for cash deal - car was solid then and still is. This was out in Tuam branch - Portumna was a mess then and still was when I was last in there late 2010 - btw if you can talk hurling they'll be all ears

-Corkie-

Rickwellwood wrote: »

Bought a VW Bora from em in 07 - back in the Celtic Tiger days - anyways tbf they were the only dealer in Galway area who were prepared to do any deal back then - got a few free services, new tyres, extra parts and labour warranty & a few more bobs off for cash deal - car was solid then and still is. This was out in Tuam branch - Portumna was a mess then and still was when I was last in there late 2010 - btw if you can talk hurling they'll be all ears

Thats true especially Damien..:)

carface

Clearly you are not a hurling fan so.... In all fairness closing at 1 o clock today to attend a match (in limerick) in which Al Hayes son Damien(also a staff member@ the garage) would be playing for the county team is hardly being unreasonable.

While there may appear to be no organization of the stock you have no way on knowing what is serviced and what is not (oil can be black as coal mins after being changed). With the amount of cars they have a call beforehand is advisable as they also have the Tuam outlet.

Al Hayes motors is an established business retailing cars for years so there should be no need for silly home made questionaires.
If you need assurances pay motorcheck or cartell their 35 euro a pop for peace of mind on the history of a car.

Rickwellwood

and corkie, what i know about hurling i could say in one sentence (ie Galway have a hurling team and play in Leinster) but the s**te i came out with must have sounded good at the time ---- bit o banter and horse trading, deal done, happy, out the door.

-Corkie-

Rickwellwood wrote: »

and corkie, what i know about hurling i could say in one sentence (ie Galway have a hurling team and play in Leinster) but the s**te i came out with must have sounded good at the time ---- bit o banter and horse trading, deal done, happy, out the door.

Very true for you. Some people think when they are the customer the salesman should be as nice as pie to them. Talking nice to the salesman and as you said yourself a bit of banter can do you favours on the price especially when dealing with a family run business.

I am still laughing at the thought of your man handing Al a questionare...:D:D

Rickwellwood

any self respecting salesman should expect the banter, wind up, horsetrading, all that, to make the deal. I'm old school when its comes to buying anything and love haggling the jaysus out of everything its just in my nature - got the deal I wanted at Al Hayes in Tuam - nuff said

EPM

Right, closing this. Old thread.

For the record...bought vans there before for a former employer and they are a proper no bull crap set up.