Derek Slack Motors - Middlesbrough

[athol]

Just got my 53 Octy from Slacks, salesmans was nice when i went for look, didnt push me either way. talked him to a cheaper price with no part ex. went back following day for test drive with a fellow Octy owner for his opion. as part of the deal, got them to fully service car, inc timing belt and water pump, and to put in a boot liner. When i picked up the car, it had been fully serviced, new front brake disks and pads, new rear shoes, 2 front tires replaced, 12months MOT, 6months tax and 12 months warrenty, washed and ready to go at agreed price, left happy after 20mins of paying signing paper work, would of been quicker had we had not had to phone up the bank to let the money go.

the staff all seemed friendly and pleasant, will be going back there for servcing and mot next year

[VRSPhil]

Bit of a late entry here, the following actually occurred some months ago.

I no longer use Slacks. I had a fault which they struggled to diagnose. When I made suggestions, they treated me like an idiot. Eventually I diagnosed and repaired the problem myself.

Not good :thumbdwn:

Edited 17 July, 2008 by VRSPhil

[06octy]

Pretty good for our recent 40k mile service + brake fluid change. Will definitely consider using them again next time round.

[a_Duncan]

Always a difficult one this and you can only go by your own personnel experience with Dealers but I think they deserve some positive feedback........

Bought my car from them a LE ordered it in February arrived in May not a very good start I agree, but most Dealers had problems get hold of the LE octy to be fair due too whatever, :confused: reading previous threads. Dealers were upfront and honest with me saying that is was out of their hands and will arrive when it arrives...ok went along with it. Salesman (Carl) was spot-on nice chap, obviously they all are until they get your money...but no.. I found him very helpful and informative even after the deal/payment and am sure if I found him in the local pub he would by me a pint or visa-versa...or is that just wishful thinking... Ian the sale manager similar very helpful and a person you can really put your point of view over and have it listen too and considered, overall found them very good. Had my first issue with the car took it back and I was seen straight away with the problem getting sorted in the near future as parts become avialable. .....and no am not after a parttime job there :D

[rallynige]

Derek Slack Motors is the best car dealership in the world, I have a Octavia VRS and a Fabia 1.4 TDI and the aftersales service is second to none. all the staff are very helpfull at all times and you DON T get ripped off. I recomend them to anyone:thumbup:

[Viking1]

I am quite happy with the deal we negotiated with Slack’s but when we went to pick the car up I was surprised to see it sat on the forecourt with the wrong licence plate on it.

When we signed up to buy the car we were pleased to hear they could register it on a licence plate that matched SWMBO’s initials. We organised to have our insurance swapped over on the night we were due to pick it up, phoned up to get the free short term insurance from Skoda (so that Slacks could get the road tax) all in the agreed registration number.

When I challenged the salesman I found out it was not the wrong licence plate because they had registered it on that number .. .. ..

Apparently we had been given a number from the wrong list, so they simply registered it on a number from the right list, but did not bother telling us of the change!!!

So there we were in the show room with two insurance documents, neither of which covered me to drive my new car. (I could not even drive my old car home as I had only 30 minutes insurance left on it). So I had to make a rushed phone call to my broker to explain the problem and they faxed me a cover note over, which allowed me to take my new car home.

A couple of days later, I called in the garage to ask a couple of questions about the new motor. One of the questions was how to turn on the daylight running lights.

· First answer – not fitted to this car, no try again.

· Second answer – after talking to the senior technician, the salesman told me they were fitted but could only be turned on by connecting the car up to a computer which was in use, but that he would give me a call to book the car in to sort it out.

Two months later and I’m still waiting for the call, that computer must be in constant use. Fortunately I managed to decipher the section of the manual on how to turn the lights on two days after talking to the garage (no computer needed).

Sorry, but not the best of starts!

[The Muppeteer]

I miss being able to take my car to Derek Slack. I lived in the 'Boro for many years and had a '99 reg Octy which I bought from them as a used vehicle in 2000 and took it to them religiously for servicing. The after sales service is everything that you would hope to receive from a dealer, and something that many drivers simply fail to consider when they buy a car. They get schmoozed by the sales rep into buying their flashy motor and then spend the rest of their ownership suffering a miserable experience with shoddy after sales service. Not so here.

The car was always ready exactly when they said it would be, the bill was exactly as they had quoted, and they always called me to report any unexpected problems, which being a Skud, were few and far between. I had some minor work done under warranty with no quibbles at all, and prior to the warranty expiring they called the car in to see what work could be justified under the warranty to head off any future problems. Every visit the car was presented back to me having been valeted, and I thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

All of the service department team are great, and Craig is a star. These guys are the reason why Skoda have the reputation they do for owner satisfaction, and it's a shame that some of their colleagues in other dealers let the side down. Having subsequently moved to Newcastle and now Belfast, I can say with certainty that Derek Slack kick the other dealers into a cocked hat when it comes to the whole dealer experience, and because of that I used to trundle down the A19 to get the old Skud serviced there instead of Benfield in Newcastle. Well worth the time and mileage.

I'm Skudless at present, but I'm eagerly waiting delivery of a brand new Superb Estate, and if it were at all possible to justify a trip on the ferry from Northern Ireland to DS just to get it serviced, I would. In my opinion, they were that good, and I'm glad to see so many other owners have shared the same experience. I'm delighted to see them continue to go from strength to strength.

[skodanorman]

I would like to give Derek Slacks a positive report but I find that challenging in all honesty.

I was there yesterday looking at second hand Fabia's for my mother. The reception I got was luke warm at best. The salesmen seemed unwilling to enter into discussion and every question was answered with the very minimal of information. Okay, so I am 20 and there is no way I could afford to buy a new Skoda; but I do know what I'm talking about. We've had Skoda's in the family for fifteen years, I'm a paid up member to the Skoda Owners Club and I've got a Rapid myself. I even had a tour of the Skoda factory in August. But the judgemental staff they he assumed me to be some scrout who was wasting his time, perhaps you have to wave some money under the noses before they get interested. I do not appreciate being automatically judged like that. As it goes, my mum has a car waiting to trade in and would prefer a Skoda, but I can guarantee we will not be buying it from DSM. This is not the first complaint I, or people I know, have had about them.

For your consideration, I left DSM and visited the Vauxhall dealer across the road. I don't think they could have treated me any better. On customer services alone I'd buy a Vauxhall - and that from a die-hard Skoda fanatic.

[PhilP1903]

Bought my brand new VRS from Slack's excellent service, the car was a month longer arriving than expected but that was outside dealers control. They kept me well informed about build date etc and were always very polite when i "popped in" to chat about a couple of things. Car was prepped and handed over with absolutely no problems whatsoever it even came with a spare wheel which i hadn't specced and was not charged for, i even inspected it for swirl marks in the paint and it was fine. Very pleased with the service and would defo use them again.

[decuk]

Picked up my new insurance replacement Octavia L&K from Derek Slacks on 1st sept after a not my fault claim. Without their help I was struggling to get a positive result from my insurance company. Jed, who sold me my original car was more thn happy to help when I had issues with the insurance side of the claim.Initially Ordered June, told Oct/Nov delivery. But then build brought forward which allowed for early delivery. They had a few problems getting the Insurance company to part with the money, but told me not to worry as they were sorting that out. Think they let me take it before they got the money, just an I owe you!!!Now that's brave.

Derek Slack Motors has en excellent and helpfull team, They are not pushy as soon as you walk in (that makes me walk away)but they are there when you want them.

[vRS_Corbie]

Bought my Octy MK2 vRS from their... initial service was great... until my car got delivered with 9000k miles more than it was meant to have, slacks admitted they are in the wrong and would compensate me for it, still haven't received a penny of the money and have been putting off paying me it for about 5 months now.

Been in personally about 14 times I think it is and every time I go in it's "Oh the guy dealing with it is on holiday" or "We have nearly settled compensation with the garage we got it from" Only to find out today that no such thing happened.

Another reason I would not recommend them, my friend bought a MK1 Octy vRS which failed its MOT on bottom arms, after 4 days of it not being sorted he asked for his deposit back and that he would go elsewhere, they said it would be done within the hour, came back and picked the car up with a brand new MOT on it only to check the bottom arms and find they had not been changed.

[skodanorman]

Haha ^ brilliant!

I've found their second hand car prices way over inflated too. I'll be taking my business elsewhere.

[Arkaig]

I've found their second hand car prices way over inflated too.

Not only that, some of their Ebay Skoda parts prices are way over Skoda's own RRP list prices. Example: Skoda Safety Kit - P/N:000093059 - Skoda rrp £17.35 - Slack's Ebay price £24.00 + postage £4.99.

My link

[cbr600]

Just been here to see if they would price match SKoda dealer service prices that are advertised on net all skoda dealers by the way ,but said no as they are franchised dealers not sponsored dealers......didn't know there were two types of dealer !

[PhilP1903]

I bought my car from Slacks in 2010, had excellent service, car arrived was in perfect condition no problems at handover. I have had 1 free car check by them since purchase and last week had my 1st service and full brake check including new brake fluid. I was supplied with a decent courtesy car. The service has been brilliant all the way no complaints at all.

[GTWaites]

Took mine in a few weeks ago as the ABS light came on. Had the problem identified and solved within 3 hours. Turned out that the body shop that did the repair after an accident I had had fitted the bearings incorrectly. The service was excellent.

[decuk]

Now onto my 3rd Octavia from Derek Slack, this time a Vrs estate. Picked it up in May. No problems at all. Only been back for social visits, and a set of Mud flaps....

[freakyeke]

I emailed Derek Slack's after finding several small rust spots on the tail gate of my 2007 Octavia 2.0TDi L&K.

 

Their response was quick and helpful. I dealt with Craig Parry and what a lovely, helpful man he is.

 

The upshot is that he pushed for Skoda UK to replace my tail gate due to a manufacturing defect via a DISS. Skoda refused the DISS, stating that the rust was caused by stone chips, but Craig was having none of this. He took more pictures and sent them to Skoda with his assessment. Finally getting the DISS approved.

 

I was given a Fabia 1.6 TDi as a hire car at no cost. The only stipulation was that there was enough fuel for the next customer to use. Brilliant.

 

My car was valeted and returned to me and the workmanship was very good.

 

I can't recommend Derek Slack's enough. A truly painlessand impressive car experience.

[emotive69]

Used Car - Skoda Yeti 2012 CR170 tdi 4x4 purchased from Derek Slack - Feb 2017 , waited till car was inspected valeted etc before pick up and no issue with the sales process everything fine. Couple of days in noticed it wasnt holding the road as well as my last Yeti so took it to my local tyre people who informed me that there was around 2-3mm of tread left , so reluctantly i bought 4 tyres for £240 but rather be safe... Fastforward a week and coming home on the A19 i had occasion to brake hard when someone pulled out on me and found there to be very little in the way of stopping power at speed - narrowly avoided an accident, took the car back to my tyre guy who is also a brake specialist who took a look at the discs and said they were laughable and one of the worst conditions of brakes he had ever seen on a car...

 

 

these are the discs which i still have as evidence  

Derek Slack Motors idea of inspected used cars

 

So i had them changed their and then at another £260, and once done i kept the discs and pads and returned to Derek Slack , the service mgr their took a look and want particularly interested and in fact claimed they may have passed an MOT so that was ok. I explained they had sold me an unworthy car and I was giving them the chance to put this right , to which their reply was they were not going to pay for work done by another garage. The work would never have needed to be done had the car been inspected properly which it was not. The car left their premises in an un-roadworthy state and frankly i am appalled at their lack of service and downright denial of any wrong doing since.

 

So Derek Slack thank you for keeping me waiting a week whilst you washed ( not very well ) and valeted ( not very well ) my car , didnt properly inspect it , and let me put myself and my family in danger, obviously i wont be recommending or using you again and its now gone way past the point of just wanting compensation and now requires a full written apology from the director and the service manager.

 

BTW cannot knock the car now its had some basic maintenance done to it , excellent motor and love the Skoda Yeti

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited 19 May, 2017 by emotive69

[Rustynuts]

There's a reason he's known as "Slack Derek" round here.

[Dr Zoidberg]

Which lake did they store the car in while it was waiting to be sold?

 

[Auric Goldfinger]

I wonder what would have happened if someone was killed or seriously injured due to a dealers incompitence........

[emotive69]

They would be in court and facing charges, luckily for them it didnt , however that wont stop me spending the next two decades putting customers off buying from them , already have stopped two people buying from there , the little bit of goodwill and apology which would have cost them a set of discs and pads will turn into thousands in lost business. I run my own business and understand the importance of word of mouth and especially as Slacks are only a small business in a local area its even more important.

[Auric Goldfinger]

Send/show the pictures to the dealer principal, failing that, trading standards. Unacceptable 

[emotive69]

Have actually shown the disks to the dealer and the director , and also Skoda took the case up and the dealer turned Skoda away too , obviously not interested in reputation, Also I put a concise and facutal review on Autotrader ( twice ) and it was taken down , when i rang them they refused to comment on why suffice to say Slack have a big account with Autotrader !! make your own conclusion there 

 

Oh and also Derek Slack advised me to go to Trading Standards ! 

Edited 19 May, 2017 by emotive69