McCabes Toyota closing

Pipmae

I got a letter from Toyota Ireland confirming that McCabes Drogheda and Ardee are closing.

Such a shame they are closing - the letter said it was as a result of the recession. I hope they all manage to find alternative employment.

I have had nothing but positive experiences in all my years of dealing the the lads in Drogheda. I only had our two cars serviced there last month so I have a bit of time to find a new garage to look after them.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

This was in the Irish Times about 2 or 3 weeks ago. Recession perhaps but huge debts owed to banks according to the article.
http://www.irishtimes.com/business/sectors/retail-and-services/toyota-dealership-calls-in-receiver-to-louth-outlets-1.1454552

hargo

I went into McCabes years ago looking to buy a new Corolla. I was asked what I had to trade in and I told them I had a 4 year old Hyundai colt. The sales man said that my car was like herpes I had it for life. So I went and bought a Mercedes and was very happy. The only thing that surprises me is that with an attitude like that they didn't close years ago. They thought because they were Toyota dealer they were invincible. Guess not.

whelan1

i would assume those new buildings cost a bomb,for years toyota cars more or less sold themselves . The toyota name was always good

ShiverinEskimo

hargo wrote: »

I went into McCabes years ago looking to buy a new Corolla. I was asked what I had to trade in and I told them I had a 4 year old Hyundai colt. The sales man said that my car was like herpes I had it for life. So I went and bought a Mercedes and was very happy. The only thing that surprises me is that with an attitude like that they didn't close years ago. They thought because they were Toyota dealer they were invincible. Guess not.

Dealing with them for years and always had fantastic experiences with them. Some great characters over the years and were never afraid to have a bit of genuine craic.

Guess you were a tough crowd that day and possibly a little hard to please given you went looking for a Corolla and eventually drove home a Merc.

whelan1 wrote: »

i would assume those new buildings cost a bomb,for years toyota cars more or less sold themselves . The toyota name was always good

A massive series of large-scale recalls over the last couple of years dented that image somewhat. My Avensis is due a recall for a possible steering issue. This is after a recall for a gear-box problem.

It's never let me down and it's a lovely car but they have seen some hugely negative publicity in recent times.

hargo

ShiverinEskimo wrote: »

Guess you were a tough crowd that day and possibly a little hard to please given you went looking for a Corolla and eventually drove home a Merc.

I went in with a genuine wish to buy a new Corolla. They were a reliable car and one that I could afford.
I have a 97 model as a second car for 12 years which is one of the most reliable cars I have ever had, never any problems and always starts first turn.
I would be the first to agree that a Hyundai Colt at the time was a piece of muck and the worst car that I ever bought but I didn't need an arrogant salesman talking to me the way he did. I didn't think it was craic or funny and my thoughts were that if he was that arrogant when going to buy what would he be like if I had a problem later.
Maybe that attitude by some of their sales staff has contributed to their downfall.
I completely sympathize with the majority of the staff who will loose their jobs, it certainly is not a nice place to be.

positron

hargo wrote: »

The sales man said that my car was like herpes I had it for life.

I can't believe someone would try and justify or defend a comment like that.

Also have similar experience with another major brand dealer in Drogheda - I went looking for a 3/4 year old family saloon. Was told that would be 21k with hands crossed across his chest and rushed off disinterested. I guess he thought I was a time waster or that I couldn't afford it perhaps (I am foreign after all) but thanks to him and his attitude, I widened my search and imported a same model but much better car from UK for 10k. They are still trading though and I get mine serviced there occasionally.

cilles man

Have to agree with previous comments in relation to so called Sales men , had a similar experience not to long ago here when trying to buy a 2011 Avensis . Pure insult from the sales guy , ended up buying one off Tadgh Riordan 20 mile up the road.Proves staff are vital to keeping buisnesss a float.

washiskin

It's not all down to bad salesmen/downturn/brand damage - some of the Importers put the squeeze on Garages to build bigger & better premises with the intention of removing the Brand if they didn't comply. If you were a smallish dealer with a very reputable Marque there were plenty of other garages around just lining up to take it over if you couldn't.

recalled

The recent property investments did not help I'm sure but I never got good service from them. 25 years ago I had a recall problem with a Toyota, they handled it very badly and I went elsewhere. Ended up buying 18 news cars since in the garage I moved to.

MugMugs

Bought my car from them and never again. Had ongoing issues, tried to get them sorted and the salesman said "I don't need this" neither did I pal. He lost five customers that day, not just me!

Nesta99

Pure Karma!!!!

cournioni

It's a sad indication of the climate the motor industry is in that another of the big dealerships have gone. I knew some of the guys that worked in both garages from dealing with them and they were always a pleasure to deal with. Sad to know that they are out of the job.

I think what Shiverin Eskimo, whelan1 and recall touched on are probably the biggest cause of McCabe's downfall. Toyota has much more competition in the market now and ironically Hyundai are probably one of the biggest movers of new vehicles nowadays, they certainly have put a dent in Toyota sales. Most of that is down to the damage that the recalls have done to Toyota's reputation. People no longer see them as "The Best Built Cars in the World". When you couple that drop in sales with the debts from the massive showrooms that they were expected to build, you can see why they were in trouble.

On the stories of the sales people, they are terrible people to have working in any business if that is the case. They certainly would not have done McCabe's any good with attitudes like that.

MugMugs

I don't think the Toyota recalls should be seen as a negative to be honest.

In my eyes, at least they had the balls to recall their faults as opposed to the likes of BMW and their legendary Timing belt.

It is a truth though that the Koreans are doing wonderful things at the moment and the others aren't stepping up to the mark.

My father was a long time Toyota user, wouldn't touch anything else. He laughed at me when I suggested Kia..... he now loves it!

Wonder what happened that old Land Cruiser they used to have in Drogheda

working fool

I never had any dealings with the sales staff but the parts dept were dead sound .
When i had a problem with my avensis and I rang up and got talking to the head mechanic in Ardee about taking a look at it , he told me over the phone what it might be and he was spot on
Absolute gent .

Rossin

the engineers where I work reckon Japanese cars are still the most reliable

ShiverinEskimo

Honda and Mazda cars are good enough to outlive even young owners generally.

Nesta99

Is John McCabe still going on Irish Street. Think he is non agent though. I may be mistaken but i think he is as son of McCabes Ardee - he was a good bit cheaper and a hell of a lot friendlier and more helpful when my folks bought a Corolla last year. and they like to shop around which can be frustrating if rewardin in the end

bewhiched

Never found them great at all!!!!

Geezer1000

Nesta99 wrote: »

Is John McCabe still going on Irish Street. Think he is non agent though. I may be mistaken but i think he is as son of McCabes Ardee - he was a good bit cheaper and a hell of a lot friendlier and more helpful when my folks bought a Corolla last year. and they like to shop around which can be frustrating if rewardin in the end

He is indeed. Big falling out with the oul lad thats why he set up on his own. No idea how he's getting on

BMJD

hargo wrote: »

I went in with a genuine wish to buy a new Corolla. They were a reliable car and one that I could afford.
I have a 97 model as a second car for 12 years which is one of the most reliable cars I have ever had, never any problems and always starts first turn.
I would be the first to agree that a Hyundai Colt at the time was a piece of muck and the worst car that I ever bought but I didn't need an arrogant salesman talking to me the way he did. I didn't think it was craic or funny and my thoughts were that if he was that arrogant when going to buy what would he be like if I had a problem later.
Maybe that attitude by some of their sales staff has contributed to their downfall.
I completely sympathize with the majority of the staff who will loose their jobs, it certainly is not a nice place to be.

I had a similar experience from one of the sales staff a few months ago (I would bet it's the same guy), I was interested in a car they had for sale ~€20k, I enquired about getting a price for my car as a trade in, he immediately started going on about how it was probably clocked because it was a UK import and how it was probably crashed because some stone chips were touched up. My old car was immaculate and I had full UK and Irish service history and I had the car checked out by a mechanic before I had bought it so he was obviously talking through his arse. I guess I was too polite to tell him where to go because I liked the car he had for sale a lot and I had cash waiting to spend if he was willing to do a deal with me on the trade in (which would have been valued at €3-4k). He said he'd ring me back with a price within an hour but never did.

In the meantime I went to another Toyota garage in Dublin who couldn't have been more helpful and enthusiastic. Gave me a decent price on my trade in and we done a deal that day.

My old car was sold on within 10 days for what would have been a decent price for the dealer.

calex71

See the place on platin rd had a window smashed in already and they left all the skylights open. Lovely folks :rolleyes:

JohnBoy26

ShiverinEskimo wrote: »

Honda and Mazda cars are good enough to outlive even young owners generally.

Honda maybe but Mazda no, especially when it comes to their diesels.