Yes a couple of instances, both with Honda.

A 7th generation 1.7 diesel Civic which I bought used from a Honda dealer out of warranty and took it to another Honda dealer near me for a service and asked them to look at a faulty driver's window which wouldn't close properly, they immediately said that there was a recall on the window regulator and they would fit a new replacement FOC.

And my UK bought new 8th generation 2.2 CDT type S Civic which developed a slipping clutch just before the end of the 3 year warranty, after I had moved to France. New DMF and complete clutch fitted by my local French Honda dealer at no cost apart from some gearbox oil.

Edited by focussed on 03/10/2018 at 10:03

Edited by SLO76 on 03/10/2018 at 11:07

I think it is a mistake to make generalisations about major dealerships. Many will be poor, while others try to maintain good customer relations. The only way to find out is to try one or ask friends/acquaintances who have. Most 'garages' have reputations, and all have managers who try, or don't.

My experiences are relatively limited and mixed:

When I owned a mid 90s Nissan Micra, my customer services experience with them was, for the most part fine. Like with my current (12yo) Mazda3, occasionally I've had cause to complain about the quality of some servicing, but rarely.

When I had an accident in the Micra, I had to use another main dealer as mine wasn't on my insurer's 'approved repairer' list, but they were excellent - no problems booking in the car or arranging the courtesy car, and it was returned in pristine condition as promised and on time. I even used them to have it checked when a stone chip broke the aux belt (replaced by the RAC and only cost £8 for the belt) and I needed the coolant checked as some had boiled off after the original incident.

My normal dealership wanted £30 just to check it; the other dealer said they'd do it for free, and they were a similar distance away from home (just in the wrong direction to drop it off when on the way to work), so I popped in on a Saturday morning - no trouble, everything checked out and on my way in 15 mins.

I also felt that Nissan were sympathetic to a problem I had with the car's temp sensor (its on the Good and Bad section if its still up [it may not be any more as it is an old car]) even though it was out of warranty, and it was fixed FOC.

Mazda have been ok, but for the most part, my car has been very reliable, and so most of my dealings with them have been general servicing and the old 'wear and tear' replacement, like batteries, a clutch, suspension components. They've offered an extended use of a courtesy car (including free fuel) when they couldn't complete my clutch change (I think they got backed in in the garage and didn't want to start the job and leave it incomplete overnight).

My recent wheel and tyre change wasn't so good as they (probably) ordered the wrong size wheels and IMHO tried to foist the OEM design ones (without centre caps) on me without telling me. Luckily I noticed and, politely got them to get the caps and drop the price by £65 (including the £40 for fitting the new tyres).

At least they didn't try and fight me on this - probably because they knew I'd found them out and that I was a long-standing customer who could easily take my business elsewhere. I have had one dealing with Mazda UK, which was about why the rear numberplate light cluster didn't seem to be finished, which I thought they fobbed me off, and I've heard many accounts of poor customer service from main dealers and Mazda UK via the owners forums, so I think I've been relatively lucky.

My best experience was, like many, with Honda, when I was looking for my current car (the Honda Civic, Jazz & Ford Focus wre on my list as well as the Mazda3) in 2005/6. I turned up on spec, had a look around at the Civic and Jazz, and asked for both a test drive in both the models I was looking at and to bring my holiday luggage etc to check if they's fit in the boot (without having to put the back seat down as I had to in the Micra). All fine, test drives done there and then (and long ones) and I could check the luggage capacity with my stuff, even on the showroom cars (as long as I was careful - they weren't looking over my shoulder).

They weren't pushy, they answered all my questions and made sure (on the Civic) that I was getting the right car for my needs (i.e. not a diesel as my mileage didn't warrant one), even pushing the cheaper 1.2 Jazz SE as it seemed to be a better fit for me (which I agreed) than the more expensive Civic 3dr 1.6 Sport (which was nicer looking and a better driver's car). I found the Jazz more comfortable and user friendly - just a shame it wasn't really much quicker or better handling than my Micra.

They asked if they could call me in a few days to follow up, and they did, just the once. If it weren't for Motorpoint offering a Mazda3 (new) in the exact spec I wanted for £3.5k less than the list price and less than all the others I was looking at, I'd have bought the Jazz. It wasn't cheap (not much in the way of discounts on Hondas [when have that ever happened?]), including servicing, but I was very impressed with their honesty and integrity - they never tried to hide anything, push finance or me towards a car I didn't want just to earn them more money.

The Mazda dealer (same area as the Honda dealer - St. Albans) I'd originally got a test drive on the 3 (not my current one) was ok, but seemed disiniterested (I hadn't even thought about going down the broker or supersite route at that point - a colleague put me onto them), but not terrible - I got a test drive and they were happy for me to check the boot space as I previously described (one of the reasons why I bought one was because all my holday stuff fitted it, unlike the Hondas).

The Ford dealership experience was poor - sales people who were either completely disinterested or ones trying to push me on to cars/sub-models and optional extras I didn't want/need and especially car finance, which I specifically told them I didn't want as a cash buyer. I was so annoyed by their attitude that I walked out without a test drive (I'd driven one before as a hire car so knew it was fine, although that was a diesel).

They lost a potential sale as a result, not helped by the very variable customer service my Dad received with Ford dealers despite being a customer (mostly company cars) for decades. A shame, as the Focus (hatch or saloon) in 1.6 petrol form would've done me fine as it was very similar underneath to the Mazda that shared the same floorpan and underpinnings.

In terms of purchasing, Volvo have been the best for me. For the test drive, they simply handed me the keys and asked me to come back when I was ready. They were open to negotiation, made everything clear and even suggested that I don't bother buying the paint protection.

In terms of aftersales, I have to tip my hat to Honda as well. They replaced the exhaust manifold on my Accord whilst it was technically out of warranty without a second thought. I suspect a lot of other manufacturers would have used the car's age to wiggle out of it, even though the mileage was within the warranty period.