BMW dealerships - shakeup

mickmmc

Murphy & Gunn is expected to end its BMW Franchise according to today's Irish Times after nearly 50 years.

All dealerships are up for renewal in September and further closures are expected.

Joe Duffy are building a new BMW dealership close to their existing dealership in the Northside and they must be holding onto BMW.
https://www.irishtimes.com/business/retail-and-services/murphy-gunn-expected-to-end-bmw-franchise-after-50-years-1.3493653

Stallingrad

Wow.

HappyAsLarE

Glad to hear that. Got shocking service off them short while back. Dick Turpin wore a mask.

Clareman

Are Murphy & Gunn losing it or are they giving it up, huge difference in fairness.

ht9zni1gs28crp

Given the amount of BMW's the import 2nd hand from UK its probably a franchise that isnt working for sales, but shows their desire to retain the servicing side of things.

iomusicdublin

Hopefully BMW will have new prices, still way too expensive here compared to importing from UK.

btkm8unsl0w5r4

I would say BMW are making certain things mandatory that M&G are unwilling to put in place, maybe revamping their showroom or something, or not lending customers cars. to junior staff for the weekend to go scuba diving on a 600 mile round trip down the country..who knows....

DrZeuss

Antonella Prickly Tightwad wrote: »

... or not lending customers cars. to junior staff for the weekend to go scuba diving on a 600 mile round trip down the country..who knows....

That sounds like there's a story there to tell?

Gumbo

DrZeuss wrote: »

That sounds like there's a story there to tell?

Do a search. It’s documented on here

scooby77

Heard from numerous sources that one in North West have refused to upgrade showroom and are to lose dealership.

JoeA3

It’s not something unique to BMW. A fair few of the distributors, particularly the premium ones, put serious demands on the dealers to invest major money in their premises - or lose the franchise.

Leonard Hofstadter

I go past the current M&G in Milltown every few days. Sure it's not the fanciest BMW showroom, but it's still nice and posh inside and it really does everything a premium make showroom should do.

I don't get the fascination with these massive showrooms. I remember what car showrooms used to be like when I was a child - and there is no question that things were bad back then, especially outside of the big cities, and something needed to change, but now we've gone to the other extreme.

These super duper showrooms require massive investment which many dealers quite understandably don't want to invest in, especially in the current climate when there is such value to be had by going to the UK, and anyway, we are a very small country with quite a low population density so there is never going to be the volume you might get in the big European cities.

I'd rather cheaper servicing and more of a discount when buying a car to be honest - because let's face it, it's the customer who ultimately pays for the super duper showrooms anyway. BMW's labour rates for servicing are scandalous when you consider that a specialist will charge €60 per hour (plus VAT), although I'm sure they're no dearer than any other premium make. Some parts from BMW cost an arm and a leg as well, the OEM part could be less than half the price, everything exactly the same bar the BMW logo on the box. I'd also rather more dealers so there is more competition and better value to be had for customers.

JaMarcus

All new dealerships for the big brands are like hotel receptions now. Went into Frank Keane LV recently and you'd swear you were after walking into Apple's HQ.

undergroundeye

VW did this re-alignment about 7 years ago.
I know one main dealer who was due to be removed from the brand took VW to court and lost but still sells as a main dealer!!!

https://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/dealer-fails-to-stop-vw-terminating-contract-236021.html

Audi did the same a number of years back shaking up their dealer network here, most notably awarding Charles Hurst/Lookers their south Dublin franchise to which they’ve invested millions into since then.

BMW are obviously getting fed up with the stagnation of the old irish franchises. FK has managed to keep them onside though, but he’s a BMW man through and through.

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/hurst-to-take-over-audi-centre-1.862752

bazz26

Celtic Tiger 2.0

mickdw

I recently drove around a few dealer in Dublin. Being a country person, 2 things struck me.
The lack of space around some dealers really is not acceptable for premium car franchises. Main bmw dealers will zero spare customer parking. No doubt this is completely down to them having overgrown old sites but they need to move if that is the case. No doubt bmw have recognised this and are putting pressure on.

The second thing that stunned me was the sheer scale of the Joe Duffy operation off the M50. His bmw dealership has lots of space then nearby, the vw and audi setup is absolutely huge. Some overhead to cover there.

Seth Brundle

DrZeuss wrote: »

That sounds like there's a story there to tell?

I recall organising BMW track days in Mondello where a certain BMW dealers service manager would bring along customer's cars for a spin.
Allegedly the customers were always aware :rolleyes:

Widdensushi

I had a number of BMW s, I was getting a service (maindealer due to warranty) and they managed to send me a video saying that the brake pads etc needed replacing even though they were not due . I fell for it but as I was on my way back to collect I continued on even though I was early . I sat for two hours watching a dozen or so people with nothing to do. They even told a member of staff who popped in but was obviously on a bit of time off that they had nothing to do. I went for a walk around and bumped into and said hello to the man who sold me the car and he barely acknowledged me. Needless to say I changed dealership forever but also changed car brand. Who's paying for all that? The customer who was getting his car serviced for free and ended up paying over 2k was not much good but to them. Their were too slow off the mark when Mercedes dropped their prices and are still less value than the Mercedes. I own neither but if I had to I know which one I would pick. Anyone that bought a new BMW in the last ten years has been crucified with depreciation,when they started selling the imports in their showroom s they acknowledged that.

ht9zni1gs28crp

kceire wrote: »

Do a search. It’s documented on here

any help with search terms at all, aka link

DrZeuss

kceire wrote: »

Do a search. It’s documented on here

Found it, wow is all I can say. How a dealer manager could sign off on that and say that's ok is bonkers!

Seth Brundle wrote: »

I recall organising BMW track days in Mondello where a certain BMW dealers service manager would bring along customer's cars for a spin.
Allegedly the customers were always aware :rolleyes:

Thats just crazy stuff, I'm sure if they were aware these garages wouldn't still be in business.

All this would make sticking a hidden tracker in the car a worthwhile investment, for car servicing more so than theft! :eek:

JoeA3

mickdw wrote: »

Main bmw dealers will zero spare customer parking.

This is something I noticed too in Colm Quinn's! Virtually zero customer parking and when I did find a space, I felt that they'd probably prefer if I didn't park my non-BMW car on their forecourt full of BMW's! I even mentioned it to the salesman and he kinda acknowledged it, muttered something about them extending the carpark in the near future...

JoeA3

DrZeuss wrote: »

Found it, wow is all I can say. How a dealer manager could sign off on that and say that's ok is bonkers!



Thats just crazy stuff, I'm sure if they were aware these garages wouldn't still be in business.

All this would make sticking a hidden tracker in the car a worthwhile investment, for car servicing more so than theft! :eek:

LOL, I just found it too - only because "scuba diving" is a fairly unusual search term in the motors forum :pac:

carsfan2

I just found that scuba gear story too.
Do I understand though frank Keane gave the 500 euro reduction not M and G?
It’s crazy stuff all the same.
Personally I don’t think less dealerships will benefit the customers as we will pay for the new mega showrooms and have less haggle room with fewer competitors.
My own experience is that smaller country dealers are more hungry than the big Dublin guys anyway.

kdevitt

Always found M&G great to deal with for parts and servicing, although I’m on the warpath at the moment regarding on a new car I bought from them as I think I was purposely misled.

Horror stories abound regarding loads of dealers here unfortunately - I know one lad who dropped his E46 into a main Dublin dealer to price significant engine work - quite was sky high, so he opted against it. When he went back they had misplaced his exhaust - from the manifolds back. Managed to locate it a few weeks later, presumably after they took it back off the other customers car it had been fitted to in the meantime.

Can’t see M&G being able to build the type of showroom that BMW seem to be demanding these days - they’re just too tight on space.

btkm8unsl0w5r4

carsfan2 wrote: »

I just found that scuba gear story too.
Do I understand though frank Keane gave the 500 euro reduction not M and G?
It’s crazy stuff all the same.
Personally I don’t think less dealerships will benefit the customers as we will pay for the new mega showrooms and have less haggle room with fewer competitors.
My own experience is that smaller country dealers are more hungry than the big Dublin guys anyway.

I forget what was in that thread, its was all MG milltown that the scuba incident was in, if I typed in FK that was accidental. I have had my own issues with nearly ever dealer. JD and Colm Quinn are the only ones with a perfect fitzgeme review thus far.

rabbitinlights

They should mass import BMWs from the UK and continue you with the service & support.

James Bond Junior

Antonella Prickly Tightwad wrote: »

I forget what was in that thread, its was all MG milltown that the scuba incident was in, if I typed in FK that was accidental. I have had my own issues with nearly ever dealer. JD and Colm Quinn are the only ones with a perfect Antonella Prickly Tightwad review thus far.

I've said it once, I'll say it again, Ahern in Castleisland are fantastic. Fly down to Farranfore for €50 from Dublin return is cheaper than driving down.

DaveyDave

JaMarcus wrote: »

All new dealerships for the big brands are like hotel receptions now. Went into Frank Keane LV recently and you'd swear you were after walking into Apple's HQ.

To be fair their flashy dealership does it's job. Go across to Opel or Kia and Frank Keane is a nicer place to be. It isn't as cramped and it's also the only dealership where I've been offered water or coffee, even when just browsing.

Nothing against the other dealerships. Maybe it's just me but I like the hotel lobby style.