Ennis Rd Motors

manna452121

Sad to see another dealership closing http://www.limerickleader.ie/news/limerick-car-dealership-closes-with-loss-of-19-jobs-1-4068735

Zamp

This is a shame. I bought a car there earlier this year and found them great to deal with. It did seem like they were on borrowed time though. I hope all the people who lost jobs can find something very soon.

Brennans Row

General Motors U.S.A. have made a real mess of the German Opel brand name.

The Ennis Road Motors was a good quality business. What a shame. :mad:

vkid

Zamp wrote: »

This is a shame. I bought a car there earlier this year and found them great to deal with. It did seem like they were on borrowed time though. I hope all the people who lost jobs can find something very soon.

Sorry to hear people losing jobs...but can;t say I am surprised.

Twice I went there in Jan/Feb to look at cars, with the intention of buying.. I found them awful. No-one came near me on the first go, couldnt even get a price for one..walked around the showroom and no-one came near me. One of them chatting away on the phone, didnt even acknowledge me. Left after about 15 minutes of waiting.

Tried again about two weeks later, got attention this time but nothing to make me buy a car off them. Glad I didn't now, but I thought it was one of the worst car sales places i'd ever been in.

phog

vkid wrote: »

Sorry to hear people losing jobs...but can;t say I am surprised.

Twice I went there in Jan/Feb to look at cars, with the intention of buying.. I found them awful. No-one came near me on the first go, couldnt even get a price for one..walked around the showroom and no-one came near me. One of them chatting away on the phone, didnt even acknowledge me. Left after about 15 minutes of waiting.

Tried again about two weeks later, got attention this time but nothing to make me buy a car off them. Glad I didn't now, but I thought it was one of the worst car sales places i'd ever been in.

Well I've been using them for years now and couldn't fault them for service or price. Last year I was upgrading and went to nearly every car sales outlet in Limerick and the surrounding area and all of them promised they'd ring the following week with an offer and not one of them actually bothered bar Ennis Rd Motors.

liammur

I bought an Insignia off them 2 years ago and was very pleased with the service I got. This city is slowing closing down, and nothing is being done about it :mad:

bazz26

They have been struggling for about 2 or 3 years now. Not surprised as I always found them more expensive than the Opel dealer out in Knocklong and that is saying something.

This is not a Limerick thing though, franchise dealers were forced to upgrade their premises into glass palaces under EU regulations just before the economic downturn. They got into huge debts with banks and then car sales took a nose dive as the recession kicked in.

liammur

bazz26 wrote: »

They have been struggling for about 2 or 3 years now. Not surprised as I always found them more expensive than the Opel dealer out in Knocklong and that is saying something.

This is not a Limerick thing though, franchise dealers were forced to upgrade their premises into glass palaces under EU regulations just before the economic downturn. They got into huge debts with banks and then car sales took a nose dive as the recession kicked in.

You are right in saying that, however, there are more closing down here than elsewhere.

mgbgt1978

bazz26 wrote: »

This is not a Limerick thing though, franchise dealers were forced to upgrade their premises into glass palaces under EU regulations just before the economic downturn. They got into huge debts with banks and then car sales took a nose dive as the recession kicked in.

I believe it was more the importers (and manufacturers) who pushed the dealers into investing millions into their premises. All to make "The Brand" look good.
Although the EU regulations were intended to open the market somewhat by allowing any garage to sell (and service) any marque, it was the importers who insisted that the Dealers had to have modern glass showrooms, etc. if they wanted to hold on to their franchise.
On a side note, look at John Moloney Motors. He refused to put millions into a modern showroom, Honda pulled the plug on him and now look where he is.....back as the Honda Main Dealer and paying probably half the rent the previous (Honda Franchise) dealer was on a new showroom.

Tefral

My brother was a mechanic there. Said the accountants just came in at 5 and said the business wasn't viable anymore. Told come back in today and collect his tools.

To be fair the manager who bought the place made a real good run at it. Kept it going for 2 years.

My brother worked there since he was 16 starting with summer jobs and working his way up.

seachto7

Is the parts place out in Clondrinagh closing as well?

Kess73

Bloody shame if the service part of the business out in Coonagh shuts as well, as they have a good team there and are very good for services etc.

mgbgt1978

Yes, apparently the Service Dept in Clondrinagh is gone also.

vkid

phog wrote: »

Well I've been using them for years now and couldn't fault them for service or price. Last year I was upgrading and went to nearly every car sales outlet in Limerick and the surrounding area and all of them promised they'd ring the following week with an offer and not one of them actually bothered bar Ennis Rd Motors.

I'm sure they were good enough, or they wouldnt have been in business that long, but I thought it was very poor to be standing there like a pleb waiting for someone to come near me. Other places were falling over themselves to help or sell cars.

Still, sad to see any business go and jobs lost.

liammur

vkid wrote: »

I'm sure they were good enough, or they wouldnt have been in business that long, but I thought it was very poor to be standing there like a pleb waiting for someone to come near me. Other places were falling over themselves to help or sell cars.

Still, sad to see any business go and jobs lost.

Some people prefer to look around and not have someone in your face the minute you arrive. Just a different form of doing business.

That's Motorzone, Elm, Kilroy, Keogh, Ennis road gone, maybe others that I can't think of.

phog

Kess73 wrote: »

Bloody shame if the service part of the business out in Coonagh shuts as well, as they have a good team there and are very good for services etc.

That's where I got my car serviced, so now I'm on the look out for a decent garage/mechanic, any recommendations?

bucks73

I know a few of the lads working there so disappointed to hear they are out of jobs now. They had been doing less hours and job sharing but obviously this still wasnt enough. Bought my last two cars there and used the service centre too and found them very good.

bazz26

phog wrote: »

That's where I got my car serviced, so now I'm on the look out for a decent garage/mechanic, any recommendations?

Clondrinagh Motor Centre which is just down from it. They are BMW specialists but they service other makes too.

gregers85

seachto7 wrote: »

Is the parts place out in Clondrinagh closing as well?

Ya the whole place is closing! My uncle is a mechanic there, got the marching orders during the week! sad to see he's there at least 20 yrs!!!

ninty9er

liammur wrote: »

You are right in saying that, however, there are more closing down here than elsewhere.

This is due to the saturation of the Irish market with dealers. We have had a massive overepresentation of dealers. Audi has recognised this and is rationalising its network to just 10/12 dealers nationwide, 2 or 3 of which will be within Co. Dublin.

I was in Ennis Road on Monday and the place was quiet enough, although I was taking a car for a test drive within 10 minutes and had a (pretty decent) cost of change and back out of the place all in the space of half an hour.

There will be more of this as the popular 3/4 year old family saloon market is massively under-supplied due to the collapse of new car sales in 2008/9. I'm finding it nigh on impossible to find a car at the moment and of one of the few places I went that I got decent customer service, it goes out of business within days.

I must also say kudos to Leonards and Hinchys for the customer service, Lyons, Hogans, Clareview and Shiels on the other hand, nobody even came near me, not that any of them have anything on the forecourt worth looking at unless you have upwards of €15k to spend.

mgbgt1978

liammur wrote: »

Some people prefer to look around and not have someone in your face the minute you arrive. Just a different form of doing business.

That's Motorzone, Elm, Kilroy, Keogh, Ennis road gone, maybe others that I can't think of.

And Tony o'Mara's Toyota Garage gone also.

gregers85

mgbgt1978 wrote: »

And Tony o'Mara's Toyota Garage gone also.

O'Mara's is still Open! He just lost the Toyota dealership! Geary's in Raheen have it now!

bazz26

I see Frank Hogan now has the Seat dealership too.

mgbgt1978

gregers85 wrote: »

O'Mara's is still Open! He just lost the Toyota dealership! Geary's in Raheen have it now!

Might be still open.....but a massive "To Let" sign is stuck up at the premises. Rumour has it they might move back to the original Ennis Rd site and just deal in 2nd hand stuff but nothing definite yet.

mgbgt1978

bazz26 wrote: »

I see Frank Hogan now has the Seat dealership too.

Makes sense I suppose seeing as he is already dealing with the importer for VW and Audi.
Just needs Skoda now to complete the set:D

bazz26

I heard a rumour around that a few months ago but nothing seems to have materialised yet.

ninty9er

There's also a rumour that Audi are heaping pressure on for a bigger showroom from Hogans as part of its reorganisation in Ireland, but he'd rather lose the franchise than spend millions on a new showroom.

gambithh

gregers85 wrote: »

O'Mara's is still Open! He just lost the Toyota dealership! Geary's in Raheen have it now!

i rang o maras last year looking for a part number for a turbo my 07 avensis had broken.(i was looking on-line)
i was told by the parts dept toyota doesnt divulge that information to the public.

i was brian gearys and not only did he give me the part number but also the engine number for which the turbo is attached to to aid my search.

guess which garage i will deal with in future?:D

phog

bazz26 wrote: »

Clondrinagh Motor Centre which is just down from it. They are BMW specialists but they service other makes too.

I rang this crowd to book my car in on a Saturday morning recently to have my brakes done, on the said Saturday the place was locked up, 2 other cars waiting there as well. I left my mobile but no one bothered to contact to cancel or to re-arrange the booking, I have to say I'm not impressed with them. :mad:

snowman707

gambithh wrote: »

i rang o maras last year looking for a part number for a turbo my 07 avensis had broken.(i was looking on-line)
i was told by the parts dept toyota doesnt divulge that information to the public.

i was brian gearys and not only did he give me the part number but also the engine number for which the turbo is attached to to aid my search.

guess which garage i will deal with in future?:D

Jees they were an ignorant bunch in that part's dept .. was looking for a belt for the daughter's yaris , wasn't in stock and i would have to call in and pay for it before they would order..

rang ivers and cullinan in nenagh , wasn't in stock either, but would have it at @ 9 in the morning ,, about 8.45 in the morning my phone rang that the courier van had broken down and apologising that the part would be about an hour late.

Mc Love

phog wrote: »

I rang this crowd to book my car in on a Saturday morning recently to have my brakes done, on the said Saturday the place was locked up, 2 other cars waiting there as well. I left my mobile but no one bothered to contact to cancel or to re-arrange the booking, I have to say I'm not impressed with them. :mad:

Wow they are normally very reliable?!

bazz26

phog wrote: »

I rang this crowd to book my car in on a Saturday morning recently to have my brakes done, on the said Saturday the place was locked up, 2 other cars waiting there as well. I left my mobile but no one bothered to contact to cancel or to re-arrange the booking, I have to say I'm not impressed with them. :mad:

Cannot say I have ever had a bad experience like that from them, my father and sister have their cars serviced there too and never complained either.

phog

Mc Love wrote: »

Wow they are normally very reliable?!

bazz26 wrote: »

Cannot say I have ever had a bad experience like that from them, my father and sister have their cars serviced there too and never complained either.

I don't doubt you, but it wasn't a great first impression for me.

I needed the breaks done by the Sunday as I was heading to Dublin and wanted to be safe rather than sorry so I rang on the Tuesday to book it in, they were busy all week but said they could fit me in on the Saturday. I rang back to confirm the booking.

As I said no one around when I went down and a East european guy arrived in a BMW while I was there he was also waiting for it to open, there was also a lady in another car waiting but I didn't speak with her.

MarkR

mgbgt1978 wrote: »

Just needs Skoda now to complete the set:D

And... Done. Saw a Skoda sign there over the weekend. Which is nice as I'm looking into vrs's

M three

bazz26 wrote: »

franchise dealers were forced to upgrade their premises into glass palaces under EU regulations

Really?? Have you a link for that?
I've never seen the glass palaces that doubled as car showrooms anywhere else in europe.

I think new car dealers in ireland were making more margin than anywhere else in europe so decided to go mental and borrow a ton of cash to try and have the flashiest showroom on the block.

bazz26

M three wrote: »

Really?? Have you a link for that?
I've never seen the glass palaces that doubled as car showrooms anywhere else in europe.

I think new car dealers in ireland were making more margin than anywhere else in europe so decided to go mental and borrow a ton of cash to try and have the flashiest showroom on the block.

No I don't have a link but for example the common word going around was that John Maloney lost the Honda franchise a few years ago because he wouldn't move from his then premises on the Tipperary Road to a more appropriate premises. He has since regained the Honda franchise via a new premises on the Dock Road.

M three

bazz26 wrote: »

No I don't have a link but for example the common word going around was that John Maloney lost the Honda franchise a few years ago because he wouldn't move from his then premises on the Tipperary Road to a more appropriate premises. He has since regained the Honda franchise via a new premises on the Dock Road.

Well thats a lot different from what you stated earlier which was "franchise dealers were forced to upgrade their premises into glass palaces under EU regulations"

The only people I've heard peddle that line were the dealers themselves.
The reality was that they were making so much money, that they themselves decided to go nuts and borrow millions to build huge stupid glass showrooms.

reckless stuff.

Tefral

M three wrote: »

Really?? Have you a link for that?
I've never seen the glass palaces that doubled as car showrooms anywhere else in europe.

I think new car dealers in ireland were making more margin than anywhere else in europe so decided to go mental and borrow a ton of cash to try and have the flashiest showroom on the block.

I worked as a quantity surveyor on the White Bishop Motors new showroom Opel had in Dublin. The directive was indeed from OPEL. They gave us a brief document on how everything had to look down to flag poles and layout. Pat White had to build it.

I think he came out in the papers after the company got liquidated and stated the amount he spent. I wont divulge that here but google it and look.

Even with massive profit margins the money both ennis road motors and white bishop spent was enough to hurt them in the down turn.

The EU regulations were more to do with waste disposal such as oil storage and access requirements for disabled users etc.

My brother was a Mechanic in Ennis Road motors: worked there since he was 16, its him and his colleagues that I feel sorry for.

M three wrote: »

The reality was that they were making so much money, that they themselves decided to go nuts and borrow millions to build huge stupid glass showrooms.

Thats not true. The car makers gave them an ultimatum, either build it or we will give it to someone who will

M three

cronin_j wrote: »

I worked as a quantity surveyor on the White Bishop Motors new showroom Opel had in Dublin. The directive was indeed from OPEL. They gave us a brief document on how everything had to look down to flag poles and layout. Pat White had to build it.

I think he came out in the papers after the company got liquidated and stated the amount he spent. I wont divulge that here but google it and look.

Even with massive profit margins the money both ennis road motors and white bishop spent was enough to hurt them in the down turn.

The EU regulations were more to do with waste disposal such as oil storage and access requirements for disabled users etc.

My brother was a Mechanic in Ennis Road motors: worked there since he was 16, its him and his colleagues that I feel sorry for.

That the directive came from Opel is one thing. Bazz26 is trying to say that a lot of car dealers built huge shiny new glass showrooms because of an EU directive. Thats nonsense.
Of course Opel would get involved, your are using there name and brand.

Agreed on the job losses. How many of these are down to over borrowing and reckless management by dealers who went nuts building massive showrooms though? Just so they could have the biggest showroom on the block.

seachto7

most of them glorified salesmen

M three

cronin_j wrote: »

Thats not true. The car makers gave them an ultimatum, either build it or we will give it to someone who will

And why did this not happen in france for example? Car showrooms here are nothing like the palaces that were built here.

What happened here was that dealers went and built huge showrooms in order to become main dealers. Not the other way round.

Tefral

M three wrote: »

That the directive came from Opel is one thing. Bazz26 is trying to say that a lot of car dealers built huge shiny new glass showrooms because of an EU directive. Thats nonsense.
Of course Opel would get involved, your are using there name and brand.

Agreed on the job losses. How many of these are down to over borrowing and reckless management by dealers who went nuts building massive showrooms though? Just so they could have the biggest showroom on the block.

Did you not understand, the "reckless" borrowing was in fact not reckless. They would have LOST their dealerships had they not borrowed the money and built the showrooms!

M three

cronin_j wrote: »

Did you not understand, the "reckless" borrowing was in fact not reckless. They would have LOST their dealerships had they not borrowed the money and built the showrooms!

Of course it was reckless, I know a guy who spent 11million on a brand new massive showroom so he could get two dealerships.
Reckless is one of the milder words he uses now that he looks back at it.

You ask most of them now, in hindsight they would have stayed small, concentrated on what they knew best - 2nd hands, repairs, and not built massive showrooms.

At least they'd still have a business. But hey it musta been great fun for you while it lasted

Tefral

M three wrote: »

Of course it was reckless, I know a guy who spent 11million on a brand new massive showroom so he could get two dealerships.
Reckless is one of the milder words he uses now that he looks back at it.

You ask most of them now, in hindsight they would have stayed small, concentrated on what they knew best - 2nd hands, repairs, and not built massive showrooms.

At least they'd still have a business. But hey it musta been great fun for you while it lasted

Im not talking about guys who had to GET dealerships i am talking about the people who had dealerships but had to upgrade them because their franchise owners said they had to to keep the rights to sell their vehicles. Case in point, John Moloney in the Ballysimon road. Honda told him he had to, he said feck off, Ennis Road motors got the dealership as a result and then in the end, Honda came crawling back to John Moloney to set up their dealership in Limerick

If others borrowed money to get them when they didnt even have them, then id lump them in with all the other eegits in this country who thought spending 600k on a 3 bedroom house in the middle of nowhere was a good idea.

M three

cronin_j wrote: »

Im not talking about guys who had to GET dealerships i am talking about the people who had dealerships but had to upgrade them because their franchise owners said they had to to keep the rights to sell their vehicles. Case in point, John Moloney in the Ballysimon road. Honda told him he had to, he said feck off, Ennis Road motors got the dealership as a result and then in the end, Honda came crawling back to John Moloney to set up their dealership in Limerick

If others borrowed money to get them when they didnt even have them, then id lump them in with all the other eegits in this country who thought spending 600k on a 3 bedroom house in the middle of nowhere was a good idea.

Whether they didnt have a main dealership, and borrowed to get one
or
had a dealership and borrowed to upgrade it
is irrelevant.
It was all a race to the bottom but none of them realised it at the time.

And shouldnt you in a way be grateful to all the people who fueled the building boom? As a quantity surveyor an all. Biting the hand that fed you cronin j

Tefral

M three wrote: »

Whether they didnt have a main dealership, and borrowed to get one
or
had a dealership and borrowed to upgrade it
is irrelevant.
It was all a race to the bottom but none of them realised it at the time.

And shouldnt you in a way be grateful to all the people who fueled the building boom? As a quantity surveyor an all. Biting the hand that fed you cronin j

I have to work in the UK now because those people who over extended themselves drove up prices etc, so ya i begrudge them. I never got involved with property speculation etc.

All my work is/was government work like Kildare route project,schools etc now that the government bailed out all the banks who lent the eegits who bought house houses on 30k salaries, the government cant afford to build schools or train projects.

Although its a little off point it is relevant, as the people who over extended themselves to buy NEW franchises shouldnt have. Those who already had the franchises had to buy them and its not irrelevant. They simply would have been pulled and been no different from back water garages who had no dealerships and sold only second hand cars.

Your friend trading up to get further over reached himself in an industry he clearly wasnt ready for.

M three

cronin_j wrote: »

I have to work in the UK now because those people who over extended themselves drove up prices etc, so ya i begrudge them. I never got involved with property speculation etc.

All my work is/was government work like Kildare route project,schools etc now that the government bailed out all the banks who lent the eegits who bought house houses on 30k salaries, the government cant afford to build schools or train projects.

Although its a little off point it is relevant, as the people who over extended themselves to buy NEW franchises shouldnt have. Those who already had the franchises had to buy them and its not irrelevant. They simply would have been pulled and been no different from back water garages who had no dealerships and sold only second hand cars.

Your friend trading up to get further over reached himself in an industry he clearly wasnt ready for.

I said i knew the guy, I didnt say I was friends with him.
Even if we had the cash, we have pretty much already built all the new motorways we need. Yeah limerick to cork needs something but a dual carriageway would be a huge improvement.
Plenty of new schools are being built now regardless.
And didnt you say you worked as a qs on a new showroom? So why say now your work was all government?

Do you know that a serious amount of money was borrowed to pay back unsecured bondholders. That didnt need to happen and could have paid for and funded lots of the stuff we need.

You are trying to make a distinction between;
a guy who had a garage / dealership and borrowed to upgrade it or build a new one
and
a guy who borrowed to build a completely new showroom just to entice a car manufacturer to partner with him.

The distinction isn't important and theres very few or none in the 2nd category.

But both were wreckless and are now costing jobs because they overreached.

Tefral

M three wrote: »

I said i knew the guy, I didnt say I was friends with him.
Even if we had the cash, we have pretty much already built all the new motorways we need. Yeah limerick to cork needs something but a dual carriageway would be a huge improvement.
Plenty of new schools are being built now regardless.
And didnt you say you worked as a qs on a new showroom? So why say now your work was all government?

Do you know that a serious amount of money was borrowed to pay back unsecured bondholders. That didnt need to happen and could have paid for and funded lots of the stuff we need.

You are trying to make a distinction between;
a guy who had a garage / dealership and borrowed to upgrade it or build a new one
and
a guy who borrowed to build a completely new showroom just to entice a car manufacturer to partner with him.

The distinction isn't important and theres very few or none in the 2nd category.

But both were wreckless and are now costing jobs because they overreached.

Dear god, thats the most pedantic post ive had the displeasure of reading.

You have an idea in your head, its obvious your not open to changing that/ looking at it in a different light, so there is no point perpetuating this...

There is a distinction. The person who built the showroom to keep a dealership they already had and was/is making money off versus someone who tried to make a quick buck by borrowing cheap cash they could never afford in the first place to better themselves.

One was necesssity the other is greed.

Ennis road motors had to build the new showroom to keep the Opel dealership. The group that owned it lost money in their other businesses like Irish car rentals and the other place on the dock road (motorzone i think?) In the end the manager took on the business with a reciever looking over his shoulder. One day the accountants came in and said it wasnt making enough money to pay back the groups debts and closed it. The difference between that and "the person you know" is he was small, didnt have to expand like mad, over reached himself and ended up failing. Thats not what happened the other businesses.

M three

cronin_j wrote: »

Dear god, thats the most pedantic post ive had the displeasure of reading.

You have an idea in your head, its obvious your not open to changing that/ looking at it in a different light, so there is no point perpetuating this...

There is a distinction. The person who built the showroom to keep a dealership they already had and was/is making money off versus someone who tried to make a quick buck by borrowing cheap cash they could never afford in the first place to better themselves.

One was necesssity the other is greed.

Ok, I'll look at this is a different light if you tell me what % of "new" showrooms were;
brand new builds by people who tried to make a quick buck and had no previous involvement on the motor industry
and
upgrades to existing showrooms or new builds by people already involved in the motor industry.

And try and base your answer on facts please, not some "in my opinion" nonsense.

Or is that too pedantic for you?!

Tefral

M three wrote: »

Ok, I'll look at this is a different light if you tell me what % of "new" showrooms were;
brand new builds by people who tried to make a quick buck and had no previous involvement on the motor industry
and
upgrades to existing showrooms or new builds by people already involved in the motor industry.

And try and base your answer on facts please, not some "in my opinion" nonsense.

Or is that too pedantic for you?!

How am i possibly to know that? We are talking about Ennis Road motors, you brought up the people who traded up who tried to take on main dealers not me.

The percentage of either one doesnt make a difference, the distinction is the same regardless if it was 10 or 1000

M three

cronin_j wrote: »

How am i possibly to know that? We are talking about Ennis Road motors, you brought up the people who traded up who tried to take on main dealers not me.

The percentage of either one doesnt make a difference, the distinction is the same regardless if it was 10 or 1000

Ah right, you dont have any actual figures and are coming up with a distinction based on your own opinions. Figured as much.

I'm out.