In 1990, I was a Ford man & bought a new 1.8 diesel escort with a view to keeping it for a few years. At 1000 miles I wanted an oil & filter change, I phoned my local ford dealer repid fit dept who quoted me £18, when I took it in later that day & they did it, I was presented with a bill for £21, the young spotty lad on reception said ha ha ha, I forgot to add the VAT, he thought it amusing, he wouldn't back down so I just paid the £21, left feeling angry and vowed to myself never to deal with that garage again.
A year later, I joined the company car brigade and the new cars I had were:
Rover 418 (company) 60k miles driven
Cavalier 1.7TD (company) 103k miles driven
Vectra 2.0TD (company) 60k miles driven
Passat 1.8 (company) 30k miles driven
Rover 618 (private) 65k miles driven
Punto 1.2 (private) 65k miles driven
Plus all further servicing on the escort, 70k miles, done by a Ford dealer in another town.
Not a ford in sight.
For the sake of £3, that young man cost his employer the potential sale of 6 new cars and 450k miles worth of servicing. I think this highly amusing.
The moral of the story is, some people have a long memory.
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That awful noisy 1.8 engine put me off Fords for years.
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I know, the only good thing about it was that it was cheap to run on a 60 mile round trip to work each day.
The bda points were it was agricultural, slow on acceleration & top speed and ate front tyres.
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horrible engine,now the old 1600 was slow but what a nice engine.
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\"a little man in a big world/\"
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You are absolutely correct - I took alittle longer to learn though - as I continually received poor service from VW dealers after a period of owning 7 of them.
Some of the remarks from the VW dealer service department included:-
When asked if my Golf locks were subject to the problem highlighted by BBC Watchdog I was told not to worry about it - if a theif wants to get in he will break a window - it does not matter if your locks work or not!!!!!
Then when I could get them to do something:-
I also reported what I thought was a problem with my 2003 Passat which had covered 500 miles from new. (I could hear a knocking noise when the car first started off) After having the car for 3 days and replacing all the suspension bushes, a wheel bearing and stripping down the gearbox as well - they returned the car fixed - the noise was normal !!!!. They had consulted the Technical department at Milton Keynes who informed them that the noise was the ABS re-setting itself at the start of every journey.
Then I saw the light and bought and Honda for me and a Toyota for SWMBO.
The difference in both vehicle quality and dealer service is huge.
I have vowed never to own a VW again.
Also for whatever reason I am regarded as knowledgeable about cars and I know of at least 5 family members/friends who used to buy VW and will not again because of my experience.
(But I also apprecaite some people have had poor service from Honda and Toyota)
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There is an hotel chain that once treated me like dirt, mid September 1988 in Montpellier to be precise. I now organise large conferences in the UK and Europe as part of my job. Guess who never gets a look-in?
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There is a ceratin pleasure taken in saying "no thank you' to people/companies who have been less-than-efficient...
A senior member of staff of our company received shocking treatment from a car hire company last year - his CD changer was stolen (actually ripped out) from their 'secure' parking lot at the local airport, and they couldn't give a monkeys when he complained.
He told the MD, who told the MD of the 'parent' company, who sent them a rude note, and moved the company accounts to the opposition (who were delighted with getting the business, and gave a VERY good deal.)
Loss of about 2500 car-hires a year...
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I carry a grudge much longer - in 1971 I paid my own non-stop flight back to the UK from the Middle East on a VC10 - £220 to Edinburgh ( more like £3,000 today) and expected a direct flight to London in 6 hours -
A well know British Airline cabin staff went on strike and 2.5 days later I arrived in the UK via Riyadh, Jeddah, Cairo, Athens, Munich, Frankfurt & changed at London to end up in Glasgow rather than Edinburgh. 2.5 days eats into a weeks holiday somewhat.
35 years later it is B Midland, Ryanair, Easyjet - anyone except...
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Except
Better On A Camel
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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I have to say most of this is pure Tosh.
If you are all prepared to cut your noses off to spite your faces then more fool you.
Sure, boycot the outfit for a while, but to carry a lifetime grudge means you are probably missing out.
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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There sure are some grumpy folk out there. Just how long can a person hold a grudge? Besides a grudge is useless if the other party doesn't know (a) you are in a huff with them and (b) why you are in a huff with them.
We've all come home and our sixth sense tells us that SHMBO is in a mood with us. You don't know what you've done (or not done) but you know it must have been your fault, it always is. So what do you do? If you ignore her and try to carry on as normal she's going to get madder. If you ask her what's wrong a Pandoras Box may be opened. If you try to pre-guess what's wrong you can end up apologising for something she doesn't know you've done, yet. So just who's the customer and who's the client in this case? Think the answer may be to say you're sorry as soon as you wake up in the morning-get the apology in first 'cos you're bound to do something wrong during the day!!
Lighten up a bit. OK so you may have had bad service from a garage but don't blame the manufacturer for one bad apple, but at least let the people know you are not happy with them.
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Seems a long grudge just because someone forgot to add on the VAT initially.
I had much more serious problems with two Ford dealerships when I had my one and only Ford, back in the early 70s. One was damage to the oil filter after they carried out work on the steering rack, which caused the oil filter to spring a leak one dark night in March. The second was the same dealer's failure to adequately check the cooling system, after fitting a new engine block, following a cooling system failure. The result was that the new engine overheated. The third instance was another dealer who fitted something completely different to that which they had been asked to fit.
Never had a Ford since.
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I've tried being patient but gave up and now boycott Fords purely down to the appalling service I've had from 3 seperate dealerships.
And now forgetting the lousy build quality of their 2002 onwards Focii as well.
Hopefully Toyota (with my new Avensis) won't try my patience quite so much!
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It will when the gearbox goes.......
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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Uh-oh, time to buy a Honda!
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Uh-oh, time to buy a Honda!
and another packet or 2 of Werther's
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FB " ...to end up in Glasgow rather than Edinburgh ...."
is quite bad enough without having to go to all those other places as well!
Jack
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Many people swear by Fords, but I have never owned one. One day I might, but my parent's experience with Fords was not good.
After much persuading by my brother and me, my Mother decided about 30 years ago to buy a new RS2000 (the original shape). My Father disliked Fords and had not had a Ford for 25 years due to an unreliable Ford, but finally agreed as the RS was a hand built car rather than a mass produced production line car.
What a bad mistake it was to buy a new RS2000. It was the worst built car we have ever known and components kept breaking. From memory, what broke in the year we had it included: burst radiator (twice), burnt out alternator, burnt out valves, severe wheel balance problems (only solved by balancing on the hub), windscreen wiper cross linkage broke in heavy rain, and plug caps that came off when driven fast. To top it all, in one of the huge number of visits to the garage for repair, someone managed to dent a front wing. In the 12 months we kept the car it spent about 40 days in the garage being fixed. No doubt whilst there it was driven hard by a mechanic "on test".
Since this car, my parents have never owned a Ford.
--
Roger
I read frequently, but only post when I have something useful to say.
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I don't expect companies are really bothered about this. For every customer lost, they probably gain another one defecting from somewhere else. It all shakes out level in the end.
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Your MOTHER bought an RS2000?
What a kewl mum!
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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A few days before I recently went off skiing I asked the VW dealer in a certain windy city to post me a brochure on the new Passat range. Two weeks later I still haven?t received it. So I won?t be buying one !
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A few days before I recently went off skiing I asked the VW dealer in a certain windy city to post me a brochure on the new Passat range. Two weeks later I still haven?t received it. So I won?t be buying one !
>>
What were you doing in Chicago?
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What a kewl mum!
I was thinking that too. But wasn't the RS2000 basically a Pinto engine, tweaked? I thought the really good one was the RS1800 with two camshafts... A brother-in-law had an early Mexico and it was a really excellent quick, economical, invisible car.
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Yes it was only 100bhp and 0-60 in 9ish seconds, but in white with blue decals it still looked the biz.
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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0-60 in 9 seconds was pretty fast 30 years ago, the standard 1100 Escort of around that time would probably have taken about 20 seconds
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My Citroen Bijou, a 2CV and only 425cc, wouldn't get to 60 at all without a strong tailwind, although it once showed 90 down a very long steep hill...
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I thought 2CV was 602cc?
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I thought 2CV was 602cc?
Dons anorak.
First 2CV was 375cc, later enlarged to 425cc. Later still, as power-crazed owners clamoured for even more stonk and poke, after the initial success of the 602cc Ami 6, the Dyane came out with the same engine, which was also used from that time on for the 2CV proper.
Takes off anorak and goes back to sleep.
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I drove a 602cc one about 15 years ago, if you could hang on hard enough the handling was actually quite good. Bit slow though, I wouldn't want to try the lower powered versions...
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There were three engine sizes in the 2cv: 375, 425 (later developed into 435) and then 602. As far as the Bijou was concerned, it got one of the smaller units. Combine this with a heaver body than the 2cv and you got motoring at a rather pedestrian pace. Bit of a sales flop for Citroen.
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DS steering wheel, comfortable front seats, chubby little fibreglass Colin Chapman coupe body, no room in the back, remarkably little to be said for it actually.
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I had the van version of the 2cv,complete with Dutch plates:)Although slow it was excellent at traversing the rough track down which I lived,also really comfortable deckchair like seats.It had to be reversed thru deep puddles due to the points being low down at the front,behind the cooling fan.
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There were three engine sizes in the 2cv: 375, 425 (later developed into 435) and then 602. As far as the Bijou was concerned, it got one of the smaller units. Combine this with a heaver body than the 2cv and you got motoring at a rather pedestrian pace. Bit of a sales flop for Citroen.
Never heard of the 435cc one. Must've made an enormous difference! You can borrow my anorak if you like.
Wonderful device though the 2CV even in its worst variants, typically French and completely intellectual, in a way the triumph of an idea over reality. But even though I liked and understood them, my own personality was too impatient for them in the days when I had them. Even 2CVs can have their joints loosened by consistent brutality, mea culpa.
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Yes it was only 100bhp and 0-60 in 9ish seconds, but in white with blue decals it still looked the biz.
You could hardly tell it was an RS2000 as it was in silver with a black interior. She also hated the decals and made the garage remove them before delivery! It fooled virtually everyone, unless you saw the wider tyres and big exhaust, or the rally seats.
--
Roger
I read frequently, but only post when I have something useful to say.
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Your MOTHER bought an RS2000? What a kewl mum!
The best bit was I was insured to drive it, even though I was only about 20 at the time. Do not think many would be able to drive a similar car at that age today!
--
Roger
I read frequently, but only post when I have something useful to say.
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Deserves a thread of its own but ...
Father at one stage was 'testing' potential company cars.
One of the options was a Cortina XR6.
Delightful beast - Homo'ed so they could race them over here. Tuned-to-hell V6 motor, fat wheels (13" as well!!!!!) and 'sports seats'.
Anyways, myself and brother were allowed to have a 'play'.
Needless to say, it was a bit rapid, but fortunately all of the skidmarks were rubber-on-tarmac, as opposed to the OTHER variety, and the car was returned in one piece.
A few years later, mummy got daddy's off-loaded Chevy Commodore 2.8 auto - some form of perk through the company where they bought their old cars at a smidgeon of book value, to beat the tax man. Alos seriously fast when neccessary, but wallowed like a sow, and drank juice at an astonishing rate when used enthusiastically. I recall getting 13l/100kms on a long trip once. Do the maths ...
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Yes, GM sixes especially with auto thirsty brutes... Came all the way down the M1 absolutely flat in a hired Vauxhall Cresta once doing my best to melt the engine. Wouldn't reach 100 and drank like a regiment of Marines.
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drank juice at an astonishing rate when used enthusiastically. I recall getting 13l/100kms on a long trip once. Do the maths ...
Works out to about 22mpg. Whilst not great it's not that bad for a 2.8 V6 driven hard.
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geoff1248 - "There sure are some grumpy folk out there. Just how long can a person hold a grudge?"
Geoff - this is nothing to do with seeing how long you can hold a grudge - why on earth would anyone go back to a maker/dealer that provided poor quality product and service. Isn't that a bit foolish. The thread was all about Companies who lost follow up business by not treating their customers correctlty.
If we followed your approach a dealer could treat us poorley and rip us off because it would not matter - the customer would just come back for more - and then why would you move from a make/dealer that treats you well and provides everything you need with value for money - please explain - are you saying Lexus has got it's customer care strategy wrong and it should just treat customers the same as VW does.
I do agree that you should not just walk away - I complained a number of times but the service never improved. Do you really expect me to keep going back for more ?
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I voted with my feet.... was let down by a local now defunct Rover dealer so I started driving Datsuns - now Nissans. Pity for Rover, obviously other motorists felt the same, look where it got them.
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I get that out of my 4lt Ford Falcon station wagon if I drive carefully. Only on long trips though Who cares if it is fun to drive. You can't beat a big engine for relaxed comfortable motoring with a good turn of power when you need it. If the fuel cost gets too much I will put it onto LPG.
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13 litres per 100km I meant to say.
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