He'll be onto you again though - end of year sales targets to meet and bargains to be had! You of course will want to register a new car in January as a January 2007 "57" will be worth more than a December 07 "57" when you come to sell.
"I know Mr salesman that very true, but think how much more value an 08 will have if I buy in March............. Unless of course you can help me out here..........."
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< Ulla>
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I've had dealings with those guys both buying a car and after sales and I have to say I was pretty impressed by their general attitude and honesty. Cars a bit overpriced in my opinion but that could be said any main dealer!
Much better than the local Toyota and Reanult dealer who I have dealt with in the same period.
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Maybe co-incidence, but for the past 2 years I've been involved in delivering a training programme to Ford dealerships nationally (different modules to principal/manager & salesperson levels) focused on the pre-sale 'relationship' with the customer. It's quite a subtle business. One escoteric example: it's advised when talking to a customer on the phone, that the last thing the salesperson should listen for at the end is the disconnect, i.e. never put the phone down first because it creates, however subliminally, the impression the salesperson couldn't wait to stop the conversation ( - even if it was true!)
Despite my involvement in these programmes, I'm fairly sceptical about their efficacy oft times - mainly because the 'theory' isn't explained well enough to recipients, just the practice, hence it needs to be remembered rather than assimilated - always less effective.
Maybe though, now it's not only the cars that are improving..
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I've bought a total of 8 Fords, all from franchised dealers, and every time I was completely satisfied with the sales staff. Admittedly on all occasions I'd already decided exactly what model/colour and optional extras I wanted before I even walked into the showroom.
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L\'escargot.
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Much better than the local Toyota ... dealer ...
Oh dear. They're next on the list, and Mrs Mucker's preferred option.
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Yes the local Toyota dealer (and you'll know who they are!) were very courteous in the after sales and lacking elsewhere.
Presales; if you were trying to strike a deal they weren't interested. And the actual level of competance with repairs was not impressive. My avensis spent 16 days there in 12 months, with often a repeat of the same fault! I'm getting that with Renault now but thats my own fault for buying a car from a rubbish manufacturer!
Example being the oxygen sensor caused the engine management light to come on (at 20k miles) and they reset it twice before finally replacing it - the Ford dealer couldn't replicate the starter motor noise I described so they replaced the starter motor as a gesture of goodwill (and the noise disappeared)
Thats the difference that will have me heading back to Ford for my next car.
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I've always had pretty good experiences with my local Ford dealer. And when my car broke down on holiday, the local Ford dealer did an outstanding job of getting my car fixed before the end of the week (ie. before I was due to leave the area) - I'm sure it caused them a lot of disruption.
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I used two different dealers for servicing when I was running the Focus, and neither were any good. One neglected to tighten the gearbox level plug causing oil to spew everywhere, and even if I booked weeks in advance could never give me a firm time when they'd actually start the job ("we don't work that way - you'll have to just turn up and we'll see what we've got on"). The other lost my locking wheelnut key and then accused me of lying that I'd even left it in the car, and when I took the Mondeo in for a recall notice, came up with a whole list of "urgent" stuff that needed doing, which my friendly MOT man dismissed as "twaddle" a week later.
My local Renault dealer has been exemplary on the two occasions I've had cause to visit them.
Just goes to show that it's, to use that classic political term, a postcode lottery.
Cheers
DP
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04 Grand Scenic 1.9 dCi Dynamique
00 Mondeo 1.8TD LX
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........ we don't work that way - you'll have to just turn up and we'll see what we've got on .......
I bet you don't complain when the doctor's receptionist tells you something similar.
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I don't think I've ever been to the doctor's surgery without a firm appointment time.
I wasn't even asking for a firm time. Just an idea of morning or afternoon would be good, and I was booking the car in a good 3-4 weeks in advance. It's frustrating bringing a car in at 8:15 as asked, to have it still sitting there untouched at 2:00!
I can't believe that they don't have any idea of workshop time and job allocation until they walk into work that morning. Other dealers, including the other Ford dealer in fairness, could manage it. I had to ask, but they'd accommodate. As a paying customer (at £60+ per hour), is it that much to ask?
Cheers
DP
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04 Grand Scenic 1.9 dCi Dynamique
00 Mondeo 1.8TD LX
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My Ford dealer will pre book while-u-wait appointments at 8:00am, 11:00am and 14:00am.
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I've just bought a Nissan Primera from a local Ford dealership. Generally, very pleased so far - no pressure to buy, and a good part-ex allowance. It's the follow up service that counts though, so we'll see how they are if something goes wrong.
Interestingly, the manager did say that they were aiming to forge good relationships with customers to get repeat sales - they found newspaper advertising was costing a lot but brought in very little business.
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I see what you mean about lack of interest in making a deal, Snakey. Wouldn't depart from the list price, and offered me a fair (from Parker's, anyway) price on the trade-in.
In fact, he said, "If you can get it at that price, I would do."
I did like the Focus, mind. And DtD do it for almost a thousand less than their best price on the Auris.
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I've been praising the Rapid Fit department at this very dealership on this board for a very long time.
I've never had a bad experience, their prices are fair and the work is always spot on.
I've never dealt with the sales side since Holiways bought the branch, although I know it was always ok in the past as I used to work for the site's former owners.
Blue
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I've bought two nearly new Fords from the same main dealer and both times it was a good negotiation experience.
However I wouldn't take any car back there for servicing based on the problems I've had with both cars.
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Honestly, once your car is out of warranty, take it to the Rapid Fit there, it's top notch and it does more work than the dealership service for a lower price!
Blue
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One thing I liked about the last big Ford dealer I went to was that they had a Service Advisor who would carry out a pre-service inspection of the car, both on the ground and raised on a hoist, in your presence. One of the things he customarily did was to measure the boiling point of the brake fluid to see whether it needed renewing. He was scrupulously fair. On one occasion when I pointed out the hole in the rear silencer he said it was only in the outer skin (it was double-skinned) and didn't require any action.
The small family-owned Ford dealer I currently use offers free collection and delivery of the car when being serviced. Things like wiper blade fitting and wiper arm adjustment are free.
I'm well pleased with the Ford dealers I've used.
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The small family-owned Ford dealer I currently use
There are three important words in that sentence.
The small family owned Renault dealer we use are also excellent, and also proudly carry the Royal Warrant from their former days as a Rover dealer.
These places offer the best of both worlds IMO. The service you only get with a small company, with the backing and official support of the manufacturer.
Cheers
DP
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04 Grand Scenic 1.9 dCi Dynamique
00 Mondeo 1.8TD LX
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There's a saying in the motor business that 'the sales dept sells you the first car, but the service department sells you the next one'....
The franchise model means that the dealers operate as seperate businesses from the manufacturer (although some manufacturers, like Ford, do own many dealerships) and so standards can vary quite a bit. There are 'dealer standards' which each has to meet, but that's more to do with facilities rather than the actual level of technical competence you'll expereince from the staff.
Manufacturers can also take different positions on warranty work - so some pressure dealers to do as little as possible on warranty, others are more generous.
In terms of getting a deal on a Ford, I gather that they have progressively reduced the amount of front-end discount and offer more at the back end (bonuses etc.). Don't forget that Ford are all about fleet though, so you'll always take a depreciation hit if buying new and there should be some good deals through brokers who will be sourcing cars on fleet terms.
Don't know what you're buying, but I hear there have been supply problems on the Ford/PSA Diesel engines and some dealers have used short supply to keep up prices. As supply improves in 2008 this will encourage them to 'deal' a bit more I suspect.
At the end of the day they need to shift cars to keep the factories operating at sensible capacity. There is oversupply in the industry (add up all the manfr targets for 2008 and its probably twice the number of vehicles that will actually be sold!). 2008 looks like it could be a tight year (credit crunch, housing market going soft) and since many manufacturers will have (over optimistically) already planned their RHD production volumes for 2008 there could be some heavy discounting in the future - particularly from the likes of VW...
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These places offer the best of both worlds IMO. The service you only get with a small company with the backing and official support of the manufacturer.
official support? I wish! Renault have effectively disowned me and my problems! Thats why I'm trying to get shot of the damn thing.
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So ...
SWMBO not convinced that Ford would be reliable as Toyota, but Toyota dealers not interested in dealing (to be fair, I think it's a Durham problem).
Bring on Drivethe deal and their very fair prices.
Auris ordered - though it'll have to be a special order because I want stability control and that means it'll be post-Jan price increase, maybe ... ah well.
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We recently chopped in our 52 reg Mondeo for one which is 12 months old. Saw one that fitted our bill advertised on a Car Supermarket website. (2.5 V6 titanium X Auto) When I phoned up it turns out the car is actually at Bristol St Motors in Stroud Glos and we live in Warwickshire. We were not overly keen to travel down to view the car so they agreed to fetch the car to us to try out on the understanding we pay a £500 card deposit which they would refund if we were not satisfied with the car. A provisional (reasonable) part x figure was given on the old car based on my description of it over the phone after they had done HPI check on it.
The new car was delivered and was exactly as described, test driven and everything was fine. A deal was done and the salesman hardly glanced at the old car parked on the drive.
A few days later we drove the old car down to Stroud to pick up the new one. There was coffee on arrival, a bouquet of flowers for my wife (she is the owner!) and the built in Sat Nav system was programmed for our trip home. (Unfortunately we were going away for the weekend straight form the dealership, so they had to reprogramme it for the right destination!)
We have had the car a few months now and are absolutely delighted with it. All in all a very pleasant experience for us at a Main Ford dealer.
Edited by Pugugly {P} on 15/12/2007 at 09:07
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When we bought our 2yr old MX-5 (from a main Mazda agent), we arrived to collect it and found our names on the "welcome" board in reception, and the car had been parked in the showroom so we could go through the handover in the warm, and drive our "new" car out of the showroom
Thought that was a lovely touch on a used car. Aftersales was also first class.
Sis-in-law picks up her spanking new mk3 2.0i Sport next weekend from the same dealership. I am SO jealous! :-)
Cheers
DP
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04 Grand Scenic 1.9 dCi Dynamique
00 Mondeo 1.8TD LX
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>>>> SWMBO not convinced that Ford would be reliable as Toyota but Toyota dealers not interestedin dealing (to be fair I think it's a Durham problem).
According to Warranty Direct figures (see link on right) they are. Also a friend had bad Yaris problems and bad dealer service dept experiences, so it is not just Durham, though bought a 2nd Yaris because Toyota gave much better p-ex on the old one.
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I went with my best mate a few weeks ago when he ordered a new Mondeo - the main dealership's salesman was extremely helpful, courteous and prepared to spend as much time as necessary over the negotiations.
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What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
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Couldn't fault the sales experience at my Peugeot dealer. And the after sales follow up was top notch as well. (And the big tin of choccy biccys was lovely)
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8<snip: name and shame a bit too clearly expressed is fairly dodgy. Example being, our avensis went in for a recall repair and after I collected it I discovered (via an owners forum) that Toyota were giving customer £10 of fuel and a bottle of champagne for compensation.
Needless to say neither were offered until I went back and asked them - then I received both.
Shame really as Toyota made an effort to compensate a recall and the dealers tried to keep the goodies!
Edited by Pugugly {P} on 15/12/2007 at 18:47
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