latest dealer to leave Skoda

[littleade]

Just had a letter through the post from Savilles at Mustow Green nr Kidderminster to say that after 15 years they will no longer be a Skoda dealer. I have bought 2 Skodas from them and found them to be a small family owned business that offered a personal excellent service and being only 3 miles away very convenient too.

Now doubt this is another step in the Skoda master plan to make all their main dealers multi franchise, faceless and impersonal who are just interested in selling as many cars as possible using similar methods the other major volume manufacturers use which is good for them but not always good for their customers.

So if anyone can recommend another main dealer in the north Worcestershire/south Shropshire area or recommend any to avoid for both sales and service I would be happy to hear your views, as will others who've just found out too I guess.

Do you think SUK will bother to contact me to tell me of the changes and where I can get my final free service from or would that be expecting too much?

[adamal]

It was nearly three years ago but Faintree garage (then in Bridgnorth) sold me my current car and were very good to deal with from a sales perspective. No pushiness and took time on the test drive, changed the cambelt etc. They have since moved to bigger premises (at Telford I believe) as presumably their old premises were too small. Whether this has had an effect I am not sure but I would hope they are still good.

[DarrellGB]

Skoda are putting silly rules inplace, Mitchell Skoda in Elsmere port have had to build a big extension due to Skod's stipulation about how many cars must be on display at any one time!

Not surprised they are loosing dealers.

[littleade]

It was nearly three years ago but Faintree garage (then in Bridgnorth) sold me my current car and were very good to deal with from a sales perspective. No pushiness and took time on the test drive, changed the cambelt etc. They have since moved to bigger premises at Telford I believe as presumably their old premises were too small. Whether this has had an effect I am not sure but I would hope they are still good.

I didn't know they'd moved to Telford, so that's my 1st choice option down the tubes...... Looks like I'm going to be left with a choice between Trust and Startins, neither of which particularly appeals to me.

Cheers for the bad news!

[KBPhoto]

Startin Skoda in Powick are in the rough area (just off M5 anyway) and are OK but not great IMO.

[littleade]

Skoda are putting silly rules inplace, Mitchell Skoda in Elsmere port have had to build a big extension due to Skod's stipulation about how many cars must be on display at any one time!

Not surprised they are loosing dealers.

I think there's many loyal Skoda owners who've been around a lot longer than me who've been through similar experiences over the years. Strange thing is that Savilles have said they are expanding their showrooms to become a Renault dealer so there must be more to this than meets the eye. My guess is Skoda are playing hard ball, based on their desire to lift their profile so are presenting dealers with a take it or leave it scenario.

When I last spoke to Patrick Sword he said there were small single dealerships like his leaving Skoda that had customer satisfaction results that were better than the multi franchise/outletdealerships so as the old song goes "There're may be trouble ahead,........."

I wonder if we will start to see a shift in Skoda's goodwill policy when dealing with out of warrenty issues too.

[The Plumber]

Sympathise with you as we have similar issues finding a decent dealer here in the East Riding; overrun with DM Keith dealerships, which to date have provided me with nothing but poor service.

 

So I've been travelling 70 miles into Lincolnshire for service work of late, although thankfully the VW agent in Scarborough has recently opened a Skoda franchise and on first impressions seem OK.

 

 

TP

[adamal]

I didn't know they'd moved to Telford, so that's my 1st choice option down the tubes...... Looks like I'm going to be left with a choice between Trust and Startins, neither of which particularly appeals to me.

Cheers for the bad news!

Oops sorry!!

[Guy Incognito]

Well Ingrams in Ayr are now advertising they are "Skoda retailer of 2014" so Skoda are clearly scraping the bottom of the barrel! :(

[The Zee]

littleade, I know where you are coming from. My first Skoda, back in the Favorit days was from a small family run concern on the south coast. Could always pop in there for a cuppa and a toastie. It was like visiting friends for the afternoon. Sadly Skoda are going for the big time and are forgetting the loyalty of their old customers and smaller dealerships. My current dealer, who is very good as it happens, recently had a major extension built to accommodate more vehicles. I don't know if this was down to SUK or themselves but it has become more clinical and like any other marque's showroom.

[listensqueak]

Just outside North Worcester, All Electric Garages in Kings Heath are still a small concern with Skoda only dealership. I called in there a month ago to look at a Citigo in the flesh. They seem to have the monopoly on sales in the local area but parking is a little tight and the forecourt only takes a dozen or so cars. I was able to look around and sit in the car without attracting any attention from the sales staff who were all busy on the phones. Looks like a pleasant enough dealership though but I went online afterwards and ended up at Johnstons which is a multi franchise. Maybe I did the wrong thing. We'll see. 

[Auric Goldfinger]

My local dealer Benfield Harrogate are refurbing the Showroom, wonder if this is part of a bigger picture.

 

The showroom had a Major overall Last year when the Tour de France visited Harrogate. It was home to the Press cars for the day