opel dealer no new cars to see

cena

I was in collecting my mothers astra on saturday after a service. I noticed that had no show room cars on display. They had a 07 astra in the show room with the sold sign on it.


anyone find it odd that an opel dealer would that have show room cars to look at?

George Dalton

What dealer was it? I know Young's in Kilkenny are Opel service only now.

cena

It's the one in athlone. She was told they are hardly selling any new cars. I would say they are just doing services etc anymore.

ba_barabus

cena wrote: »

It's the one in athlone. She was told they are hardly selling any new cars. I would say they are just doing services etc anymore.

I've noticed a couple of showrooms like that lately.

bazz26

It's traditionally a slow time of the year for new cars sales despite the number plate change fiasco. Most people will wait for the 141 reg now. Pointless pumping cash into new stock only for it to be sitting in the showroom for two and half months.

fl4pj4ck

cena wrote: »

It's the one in athlone. She was told they are hardly selling any new cars. I would say they are just doing services etc anymore.

she prob doesn't know about the 132- hype

cena

fl4pj4ck wrote: »

she prob doesn't know about the 132- hype

She wasn't in to buy a new car

colm_mcm

Ah come on, you need one corsa, Adam, astra and insignia as a minimum. Nobody's gonna buy off the plans like.

road_high

colm_mcm wrote: »

Ah come on, you need one corsa, Adam, astra and insignia as a minimum. Nobody's gonna buy off the plans like.

Yep. One here in kilkenny is brimming with new opels. Does sound like they lost the franchise. Hills of arklow was like that for ages before they took down the opel signage.

George Dalton

cena wrote: »

It's the one in athlone. She was told they are hardly selling any new cars. I would say they are just doing services etc anymore.

No Opel dealer listed in Athlone on www.opel.ie so does seem like they lost the franchise.

RandomAccess

Seem like good cars, shame they arent selling so much as they used to.
Few clean Astra OPC around Liffey valley. Super clean DL reg one and a Nurburgring special edition about as well.

road_high

RandomAccess wrote: »

Seem like good cars, shame they arent selling so much as they used to.
Few clean Astra OPC around Liffey valley. Super clean DL reg one and a Nurburgring special edition about as well.

Damaged themselves with reliability issues on the mark II Astra, mark 3 vectra. The previous models had been very good as regards reliability. Know several people that were loyal opel customers and after those switched to other makes, namely VW. Opel are making good progress recently now though with the Insignia and present corsa had been popular.
Could do with upping the spec though on some of thier base models; insignia with plastic wheel trims is just ridiculous these days. Handing sales on a plate to Kia/Hyundai right there.
The flight to premium like audi/BMW has really hurt makes like opel too in the middle ground as they are perceived to stand for nothing in a way with skoda and now Dacia haven eaten into the more budget end of things.

delly

road_high wrote: »

Damaged themselves with reliability issues on the mark II Astra, mark 3 vectra. The previous models had been very good as regards reliability. Know several people that were loyal opel customers and after those switched to other makes, namely VW. Opel are making good progress recently now though with the Insignia and present corsa had been popular.
Could do with upping the spec though on some of thier base models; insignia with plastic wheel trims is just ridiculous these days. Handing sales on a plate to Kia/Hyundai right there.
The flight to premium like audi/BMW has really hurt makes like opel too in the middle ground as they are perceived to stand for nothing in a way with skoda and now Dacia haven eaten into the more budget end of things.

I learned to drive in a '91 Kadett, then went to a '96 Astra and a number of years later put up 150k km in an '06 Vectra. From personal experience reliability never was an issue.

I always had the image of Opel being an honorary Irish company what with the sponsorship of the Irish team, I wonder how many sales this link got them? I wouldn't be too critical of the base model wheel trims however, nearly every company is the same when it comes to the entry level for a class. What does play a big factor though is the warranty. I'm looking at new estate cars at the moment and both the Astra and Focus just don't cut it with their 100k km limit on the 5 year warranty. The Focus's doesn't even come as standard. Put it against the C'eed's 7 yr 150k km and the i30's 5 yr unlimited warranty and this is another reason why they could be said to lose sales.

unkel

delly wrote: »

the Astra and Focus just don't cut it with their 100k km limit on the 5 year warranty. The Focus's doesn't even come as standard. Put it against the C'eed's 7 yr 150k km and the i30's 5 yr unlimited warranty

As road_high said, there's been a rather big flight up (but also down)

The likes of BMW are able to sell relatively very cheap, yet upmarket cars (because of their very low emissions, the cars were never as cheap compared to run of the mill cars like the Astra and the Focus)

On the other hand, the massive warranties from the Korean companies (combined with their steep increase from absolute sh1te to not quite there yet, but very reasonable quality and fairly well designed cars in the last decade)

The middle ground is getting squeezed out. Opel, Ford and the once almighty (in Ireland) Toyota, are suffering badly...

furtzy

The 96 Vectra B didn't help them at all. It was a terrible car and killed the reputation of the previous model. A reputation for timing belt failures and associated engine damage hasn't helped either. Although dropping the sponsorship of the Ireland team probably did more damage though! Still have a soft spot for Opel though and their current model range is very good. I've owned 6 of them over the years and would have no hesitation in buying another

road_high

furtzy wrote: »

The 96 Vectra B didn't help them at all. It was a terrible car and killed the reputation of the previous model. A reputation for timing belt failures and associated engine damage hasn't helped either. Although dropping the sponsorship of the Ireland team probably did more damage though! Still have a soft spot for Opel though and their current model range is very good. I've owned 6 of them over the years and would have no hesitation in buying another

Had forgotten about the timing belt ones that was a big problem and did a lot of damage to the good repuation Opel had. Also wasn't there engine managment issues with some Astra petrols that resulted in big bills too. The first Vectra was a great car and there were lots on the road still up to a few years ago.

furtzy

road_high wrote: »

Had forgotten about the timing belt ones that was a big problem and did a lot of damage to the good repuation Opel had. Also wasn't there engine managment issues with some Astra petrols that resulted in big bills too. The first Vectra was a great car and there were lots on the road still up to a few years ago.

The Vectra A was a fantastic motor. My Dad had several including a bizarre purchase of a 2000 GT version with the fantastic red top engine that he let me drive around in when I was 18 :cool:

road_high

furtzy wrote: »

The Vectra A was a fantastic motor. My Dad had several including a bizarre purchase of a 2000 GT version with the fantastic red top engine that he let me drive around in when I was 18 :cool:

It was light years ahead of the Carina and especially Sierra of the day. The Passat was hardly on the radar, was too expensive and flawed.

colm_mcm

I genuinely think that a lot of people saw opel as an Irish company and vauxhall as English. Sponsoring the Irish football team and having special edition world cup models.
This 'were German all of a sudden' marketing that theyre doing doesnt really work imo

ABajaninCork

Sorry, but they'll always be Vauxhall to me! Can't get my head around this Opel malarkey...:D

Shame they got rid of the Vectras. Excellent car, very reliable, and a MAHOOSIVE boot.

road_high

colm_mcm wrote: »

I genuinely think that a lot of people saw opel as an Irish company and vauxhall as English. Sponsoring the Irish football team and having special edition world cup models.
This 'were German all of a sudden' marketing that theyre doing doesnt really work imo

Looks like a desperate attempt to copy VW to me. And not very subtle at that.

bazz26

colm_mcm wrote: »

I genuinely think that a lot of people saw opel as an Irish company and vauxhall as English. Sponsoring the Irish football team and having special edition world cup models.
This 'were German all of a sudden' marketing that theyre doing doesnt really work imo

Yep, knew someone who was a mad soccer fan of the Jack Charlton era who bought Opel after Opel during the late eighties and early nineties for that exact reason.

road_high

bazz26 wrote: »

Yep, knew someone who was a mad soccer fan of the Jack Charlton era who bought Opel after Opel during the late eighties and early nineties for that exact reason.

Opel were no 1. back then. In every class. Hell, even the Omega was hugely popular here for its class. That is a big void in their range I think as it had a big halo effect on Opel. I drive an Insignia myself now, I suppose they are actually bigger than the Omega was.

MercMad

ABajaninCork wrote: »

Sorry, but they'll always be Vauxhall to me! Can't get my head around this Opel malarkey...:D

Shame they got rid of the Vectras. Excellent car, very reliable, and a MAHOOSIVE boot.

.....why would they always be Vauxhalls..........since they never were ?? Vauxhall stopped making Vauxhalls and instead badge engineered Opels !

Opel were good cars, German quality for the masses but they did have the odd issue here and there. They were cheap to own/service/repair too.

I think the current styling is very unique and modern and the range looks well.

I also think GM were right to drop the Omega as the trend was for higher end marques and the prices of Audi/BMW and MB have dropped. Ford did the same with the Granada as they had Volvo and Jag under their wing.

ednwireland

was trawling round cars recently and found an opel signum

never even heard of that before

http://www.carzone.ie/search/Opel/Signum/ELITE-2./201337218364303/advert?channel=CARS

road_high

ednwireland wrote: »

was trawling round cars recently and found an opel signum

never even heard of that before

http://www.carzone.ie/search/Opel/Signum/ELITE-2./201337218364303/advert?channel=CARS

Horrific and misguided attempt to replace the Omega. Good used buy these days i'm sure as they are worthless. Was a bigger Vectra really with more rear leg room.

MuppetCheck

OSI wrote: »

Was Opel's answer to the Vel Satis, wasn't it?

The answer to the question no one asked you mean:D

wandatowell

delly wrote: »

the C'eed's 7 yr 150k km and the i30's 5 yr unlimited warranty and this is another reason why they could be said to lose sales.

If I was buying a new motor I wouldnt be looking beyond Kia and Hyundai.
Fantastic value imo

Bpmull

ednwireland wrote: »

was trawling round cars recently and found an opel signum

never even heard of that before

I know someone who had one and loved it. There quite rare in Ireland as very few sold due to obvious reasons.

cena

George Dalton wrote: »

No Opel dealer listed in Athlone on www.opel.ie so does seem like they lost the franchise.

That is a shame. They have been there for a long time.

Last time I was In there they had the new astra on display but known to drive

AckwelFoley

cena wrote: »

It's the one in athlone. She was told they are hardly selling any new cars. I would say they are just doing services etc anymore.

I live a few hundred yards up the road. They're probably not selling new cars because. .how may I put it nicely and without libel... too expensive..eh that doesn't cover it really but im not going to get a ban for calling them anything else

Edit: They lost the dealership a couple of months ago.

PrettyBoy

RandomAccess wrote: »

Super clean DL reg one

Is there such a thing?

cena

AckwelFoley wrote: »

I live a few hundred yards up the road. They're probably not selling new cars because. .how may I put it nicely and without libel... too expensive..eh that doesn't cover it really but im not going to get a ban for calling them anything else

Pm me what you mean