Progress Skoda (Northampton)

[RapidPaul]

All four Progress dealerships have apparently been acquired by Marshall as of this weekend:

 

https://www.marshall.co.uk/skoda/

[Chathura]

On 04/03/2019 at 22:11, RapidPaul said:

All four Progress dealerships have apparently been acquired by Marshall as of this weekend:

 

https://www.marshall.co.uk/skoda/

 

Yes. I bought my car in the January of 2020 from Marshall Skoda Northampton here:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

• When I got the car, they had done the services and the MOT and they guaranteed that the previous owner had always serviced the car from their dealership garage and the car was maintained according to the manufacturer's guidelines by their "manufacturer-trained" staff.
• The MOT report was flawless! I spotted a small chip on the windscreen and asked about it. The gentleman who was there at the test drive guaranteed that it has been repaired properly by them and showed me the MOT report which doesn't even mention anything (adversary etc) on it due to this. To be fair, it was a minor thing which was almost covered by the interior mirror. But, I was disappointed with what they did about it when I came a year later for the Service and the MOT. They marked the same thing as a defect and an adversary in the MOT report and gave me a quotation of £806.04 to get it fixed.
  • The reason they probably didn't mention it in the MOT report when they sold the car to me was very clear at this point. They simply didn't want to reduce the value of the car. But when I came to their dealership garage a year later, it was a good opportunity for them to earn more money—they don't care if the value of the car gets reduced now because if I sell the car, it only impacts me, but not them. So, now they didn't have a problem putting the same thing into the MOT report and pushing me for an upsell of their services.
• They sold me the car at the mileage of 51,669. But according to their own Service Recommendation chart (image below), the following maintenance work had to be completed at 40K and 50K miles—which had NOT been done yet.
  • DSG Oil Change - at 40,000 miles
  • Brake Fluid Change - at 50,000 miles
  • Cam Belt Change - at 50,000 miles
  • Extended Scope Service - at 50,000 miles
• The odometer had 51,669 miles on it when I bought the car, but their 'manufacturer-trained' mechanics who did the service + MOT never even recommended getting these done as soon as possible.
  • As I see it, they clearly didn't want to leave any room for potential bargains/reduction of the sales value.
  • As an inexperienced car buyer, I never expected a used car to be perfect. When someone buys a used car in my home country, that person anyway brings the car to a mechanic and gets the car checked thoroughly and fixed/serviced as required. I had the same mindset.
  • But in this case, I didn't want to take it to another garage to re-check it or service it or seek to advise on essential maintenance work, — because an Authorise Skoda Dealership garage in the UK already guaranteed that they have already done it all after the previous owner returned the car after the PCP contract period.
  • Luckily, the pandemic made me keep the car at home mostly until the next year (2021). I only had driven less than 2500 miles when I drove to Marshall Skoda Northampton garage for the first MOT and Service after I bought the car. I had no idea about the things they had done to play me until this point—so, I drove there to get my car serviced with the service plan I had already bought in 2020.
• My service plan had 1 Major Service and 1 Minor service in it. They had done the minor service and my friend noted that they had charged me again for the service which I have already paid under the service plan. My friend told me that this is a very common practice among UK-based vendors where they overcharge at first and pretend like it was a mistake only if the customer comes back questioning it. This was exactly what happened!
• After the service and the MOT pass, they sent me a quotation for the following (recommended maintenance) work and asked me if I authorise them to carry these out because they were crucial. They even sent me a link to a portal on the web where these are marked in Red and Amber which gives you that psychological push to get these done ASAP at once!
  • DSG oil change = £248.22
  • Brake fluid change = £77.32
  • Cam-belt change = £899.82
  • Tyre sealant bottle replacement = £63.00
  • 3 Tyre replacements = £123.60 / each = £370.80
• Because I needed the car the very next day for family commitments, I couldn't leave the car at the garage for 2 more days to carry out all this work. Therefore, I authorised only to do the DSG Oil and Brake Fluid change. This gave me some space to get some advice from my friend who owns a driving school in the UK. Otherwise, I would have dropped my car again at the Marshall Skoda Dealership garage to get the cam-belt and tyres changed too.
• Once I realised how they have done things so far, I could NEITHER trust them for their VW Mechanic Expertise NOR for their integrity as an official Skoda Dealership in the UK.
• I never went there again, even though I had one Major service remaining for which I have paid them already! 

 

 

 

 

Edited 20 January, 2023 by Chathura

[haloween1]

On 20/01/2023 at 12:57, Chathura said:

 

Yes. I bought my car in the January of 2020 from Marshall Skoda Northampton here:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

• When I got the car, they had done the services and the MOT and they guaranteed that the previous owner had always serviced the car from their dealership garage and the car was maintained according to the manufacturer's guidelines by their "manufacturer-trained" staff.
• The MOT report was flawless! I spotted a small chip on the windscreen and asked about it. The gentleman who was there at the test drive guaranteed that it has been repaired properly by them and showed me the MOT report which doesn't even mention anything (adversary etc) on it due to this. To be fair, it was a minor thing which was almost covered by the interior mirror. But, I was disappointed with what they did about it when I came a year later for the Service and the MOT. They marked the same thing as a defect and an adversary in the MOT report and gave me a quotation of £806.04 to get it fixed.
  • The reason they probably didn't mention it in the MOT report when they sold the car to me was very clear at this point. They simply didn't want to reduce the value of the car. But when I came to their dealership garage a year later, it was a good opportunity for them to earn more money—they don't care if the value of the car gets reduced now because if I sell the car, it only impacts me, but not them. So, now they didn't have a problem putting the same thing into the MOT report and pushing me for an upsell of their services.
• They sold me the car at the mileage of 51,669. But according to their own Service Recommendation chart (image below), the following maintenance work had to be completed at 40K and 50K miles—which had NOT been done yet.
  • DSG Oil Change - at 40,000 miles
  • Brake Fluid Change - at 50,000 miles
  • Cam Belt Change - at 50,000 miles
  • Extended Scope Service - at 50,000 miles
• The odometer had 51,669 miles on it when I bought the car, but their 'manufacturer-trained' mechanics who did the service + MOT never even recommended getting these done as soon as possible.
  • As I see it, they clearly didn't want to leave any room for potential bargains/reduction of the sales value.
  • As an inexperienced car buyer, I never expected a used car to be perfect. When someone buys a used car in my home country, that person anyway brings the car to a mechanic and gets the car checked thoroughly and fixed/serviced as required. I had the same mindset.
  • But in this case, I didn't want to take it to another garage to re-check it or service it or seek to advise on essential maintenance work, — because an Authorise Skoda Dealership garage in the UK already guaranteed that they have already done it all after the previous owner returned the car after the PCP contract period.
  • Luckily, the pandemic made me keep the car at home mostly until the next year (2021). I only had driven less than 2500 miles when I drove to Marshall Skoda Northampton garage for the first MOT and Service after I bought the car. I had no idea about the things they had done to play me until this point—so, I drove there to get my car serviced with the service plan I had already bought in 2020.
• My service plan had 1 Major Service and 1 Minor service in it. They had done the minor service and my friend noted that they had charged me again for the service which I have already paid under the service plan. My friend told me that this is a very common practice among UK-based vendors where they overcharge at first and pretend like it was a mistake only if the customer comes back questioning it. This was exactly what happened!
• After the service and the MOT pass, they sent me a quotation for the following (recommended maintenance) work and asked me if I authorise them to carry these out because they were crucial. They even sent me a link to a portal on the web where these are marked in Red and Amber which gives you that psychological push to get these done ASAP at once!
  • DSG oil change = £248.22
  • Brake fluid change = £77.32
  • Cam-belt change = £899.82
  • Tyre sealant bottle replacement = £63.00
  • 3 Tyre replacements = £123.60 / each = £370.80
• Because I needed the car the very next day for family commitments, I couldn't leave the car at the garage for 2 more days to carry out all this work. Therefore, I authorised only to do the DSG Oil and Brake Fluid change. This gave me some space to get some advice from my friend who owns a driving school in the UK. Otherwise, I would have dropped my car again at the Marshall Skoda Dealership garage to get the cam-belt and tyres changed too.
• Once I realised how they have done things so far, I could NEITHER trust them for their VW Mechanic Expertise NOR for their integrity as an official Skoda Dealership in the UK.
• I never went there again, even though I had one Major service remaining for which I have paid them already! 

 

 

 

 

Almost similar buying experience to yours at this dealership , if it wasn't for the forum experts like @varooom I would have simply paid more than 1500£ for gearbox oil and cambelt change , both which were not required but was told I had to get them done at 40k /50k during my last visit to dealership ,