Went into my local Skoda dealer (Halls of Ruddington) to book my first service the other day to find they are no longer a Skoda dealer :thumbdwn: Looks like there are no small dealerships now, sad days for the customer :(

Darren

Skoda UK's site currently has Halls listed as an authorised repairer only. Is that information incorrect, Darren?

I live in Basildon, Essex and our local ones at Wickford and Southend have both closed in the last year. As far as I know our 'local' dealer is now an hour away in Colchester. Not sure how they expect to sell more cars with less dealers...

Denis, yes they can still repair and service the Skodas, at least I hope so as mine is in with them for it's service tomorrow

Darren

They are still authorised for service and repair. It's a great shame they are no longer a full dealership as there service and pricing was the best for miles around.

Is there a policy of forcing dealers to build a big, expensive showroom (with huge servicing costs to finance this) or stop being a Skoda franchise?

Since I bought my Fabia less than two years ago, my nearest dealer, Farmers of Leicester has moved to a new showroom on the opposite side of town. More recently, Hockmeyers of Sleaford and Albar Autos of Mountsorrel seem to have gone over to other manufacturers. I'd have considered either of these for servicing but now I'm stuck with Farmers unless I'm willing to travel.

Is there a policy of forcing dealers to build a big' date=' expensive showroom (with huge servicing costs to finance this) or stop being a Skoda franchise?

Since I bought my Fabia less than two years ago, my nearest dealer, Farmers of Leicester has moved to a new showroom on the opposite side of town. More recently, Hockmeyers of Sleaford and Albar Autos of Mountsorrel seem to have gone over to other manufacturers. I'd have considered either of these for servicing but now I'm stuck with Farmers unless I'm willing to travel.[/quote']

Albar in Mountsorrel are now just Authorised Repairers for Skodas. I still take my vRS there (they supplied it).

Like many small dealers, Albar weren't prepared to build the sort of Skoda Emporium that Skoda UK seem to require nowadays (and I don't think they have the physical space for one anyway). But they still have all the kit and the trained staff.

Does seem to be a trend. I bought my first Octavia from Walldonway in Maidstone. About 6 months after I bought it I got a letter from them saying Skoda had taken away their franchise and would I like to buy a Suzuki (ummm.........no. Thanks anyway). Then bought Octavia RS and Superb from QAS in Tunbridge Wells (which is tiny!). QAS recently taken over by Caffyns, but no worries because I've moved to Meopham. Hurrah - big dealership in Meopham itself (Whitehill), but Skoda seem to have taken their franchise away too. My closest dealer is now Sherlodge in Gillingham.

I'm sure the brochure for my original Octy said something about 240 dealers in the UK. Now they're listing something in the region of 160. So, more people buying Skodas than ever before, fewer and fewer places to buy them. Does this make any sense to anyone?

Edited: And another thing. Walldonway customer service was top notch. Proper "old fashioned" Skoda dealer. QAS was very good at first as well, but I can't help thinking that the customer care is suffering as Skoda closes down the smaller dealers in favour of the big boys - what does anyone else think?

Gordon Lamb in Chesterfield are giving up the Skoda franchise.

Skoda salesmen very sick about this as they are selling loads of cars but have been told they are to concentrate on the Mitsubishi and Honda franchises at the same premises. Management say there is not enough mark up Skoda new sales but will keep on with the servicing.

Seems they want the best of both worlds to me as Skoda service is expensive anyway.

I've heard from Whitequay in Reading that they're closing down the dealership too. They're part of the group as Ashmoore Green in Newbury which will remain (and has a vastly bigger showroom).

A shame really 'cos they were good for buying. Wouldn't have my car serviced there as I heard some horror stories in terms of car care by another briskodian :eek:

Would have liked to have bought a brand new furby from the Newbury branch, but the sales guy just wasn't interested at all and was rather patronising :thumbdwn:. Too bad. his sales loss, not mine

The reduction in dealerships is exactly the strategy Audi UK followed a few years ago. Its sold to the dealers on the basis of more sales per (bigger) outlet. The cost to we punters is spiralling workshop labour rates to pay for the gin palace showrooms (because we screw down the sales margins by demanding discounts) and long distances to travel to buy cars and get service. The way to fight this is to use good local independent service outlets and IMHO Briskoda offers an excellent place for members to register good servicing experiences. On the one hand its mighty tempting to whinge about bad service, on the other its too easy to forget about satisfactory service and not flag it up for the benefit of others. At the end of the day we should all be interested in supporting the good the good workshops and boycotting the bad. I'm not in a position to recommend anyone myself at the moment but I'm currently on the look out for good independents.

What's the effect on the warranty if you use an independent though?

What's the effect on the warranty if you use an independent though?

None for the first 2 years provided you and your chosen independent use genuine parts and follow procedures. If you are a high mileage driver the third year can be worthless these days anyway. If you are a lower mileage driver then make sure you use the variable servicing schedule. I get 25k/2 years on the variable schedule so only need 1 service in the first 3 years (at 24 months) which can be at a franchise, and the second is not needed until 48 months, well after warranty expiry. My nearest Skoda franchise charges

My local dealer in March used to charge

Thanks for the info. The guys at Wings seem quite decent, but my contact with them has been limited to arranging my 24 hour Octy II test drive. Vindis in Cambridge service is currently getting a roasting in another thread on here. Have been unable to find any service feedback on ALS but the sales side feedback seems OK.

ALS are good, service wise, from my experience. I've posted a couple of times about them. Once they spent 20 mins looking for a problem and didn't charge me a bean (mind you, I did buy a set of wiper blades), and the second time they sorted out my wipers while I waited (warranty job). Seem like a nice bunch of people.

Thats good to hear. Lets hope they survive.

And here was me thinking that I was causing these closures. My current Tavia vRS was about the last Skoda to be picked up from Shurlock Row garage near Reading before they became a Kia dealership, and I ordered a new Tavia from Whitequay in Reading in January, only to find that they've now stopped selling Skoda's.

It seems that Whitequay now don't want to know (one call resulting in "we'll call you back", second call chasing them up resulting in the receptionist transferring me to Ashmore Green for them to sort it out), despite me placing the order with them. Would have been nice of them to let me know that the business had transferred to Ashmore Green though. :(