Car dealers, experiences?

[Dr Zoidberg]

7 minutes ago, kevberlin said:

I recently bought a Mini soft top. The mini dealers I visited were first class.......helpful but not pushy.

A far more pleasant experience sadly than VAG dealers I visited. 

 

That's the 2 seater Mk2 isn't it? How are you finding it?

[kevberlin]

13 minutes ago, Dr Zoidberg said:

 

That's the 2 seater Mk2 isn't it? How are you finding it?

I am really pleased with the car. I chose the roadster over the 4 seater cabrio for a number of reasons:

1. I don't need four seats and the cabrio rear seats are not particularly practical anyway.

2. The roadster offers a really good size boot in return plus storage behind driver and passenger. The cabrio boot is tiny.

3. The shorter roof span means a quicker and less fussy roof release with neat foldaway.

4. Better aesthetics, in my view, of course.

 

i have the Mini Cooper with 122bhp. It's not mega fast but it's great fun to drive. The engine is sweet and the handling is fabulous. The most impressive thing for me is build quality. Everything feels very solid and the seats are mega comfortable. I sought out a car with heated seats and I am pleased I waited for such an extra as it makes roof down motoring a pleasure even in mid winter.

I did a recent 400 mile round trip up to the Lake District....brim to brim economy, with roof down, was 52mpg.

 

i genuinely wished I had bought a soft top years ago. 

 

My my love affair with VW and Skoda is over. I will buy another Mini when the time comes.

 

Hope this of some interest to you. Any questions, please feel free to ask away. All the best.

 

 

[Dr Zoidberg]

That's good to know, thanks. I'd been looking at them at Goodwood and was very impressed by the interior. Both the design and build quality seemed first rate and they were a far nicer place to sit than cars costing two or three times as much. 

 

I also really like the new countryman but have wanted a convertible for a while. If I did get one it would probably be the 2 litre Cooper S with quite a few options. 

[kevberlin]

29 minutes ago, Dr Zoidberg said:

That's good to know, thanks. I'd been looking at them at Goodwood and was very impressed by the interior. Both the design and build quality seemed first rate and they were a far nicer place to sit than cars costing two or three times as much. 

 

I also really like the new countryman but have wanted a convertible for a while. If I did get one it would probably be the 2 litre Cooper S with quite a few options. 

I don't think you would be disappointed with that choice.  I like the combination of German quality and the quirky styling.

The switchgear is a bit "different" but you soon get used to it. I never thought I would own a convertible but now I realise what pleasure I was missing. They are great.

Good luck with whatever you choose to do.

 

[Dr Zoidberg]

On 26/07/2017 at 21:27, kevberlin said:

I don't think you would be disappointed with that choice.  I like the combination of German quality and the quirky styling.

The switchgear is a bit "different" but you soon get used to it. I never thought I would own a convertible but now I realise what pleasure I was missing. They are great.

Good luck with whatever you choose to do.

 

 

Well, no surprises, I really enjoyed the Mini Cooper. 

Very comfortable, nice quiet engine with a reasonable amount of power, and plenty of gadgets in their demonstrator. 

The test drive was very low pressure too. Basically got given the keys and told to bring it back when I felt like it, and they were ok with me not being ready to buy anything just yet - got work stuff to sort first. 

[Dr Zoidberg]

On 26/07/2017 at 20:49, Dr Zoidberg said:

That's good to know, thanks. I'd been looking at them at Goodwood and was very impressed by the interior. Both the design and build quality seemed first rate and they were a far nicer place to sit than cars costing two or three times as much. 

 

I also really like the new countryman but have wanted a convertible for a while. If I did get one it would probably be the 2 litre Cooper S with quite a few options. 

 

Bit of a thread bump, but I’ll be collecting a nice Cooper S at the weekend. 

[kevberlin]

19 minutes ago, Dr Zoidberg said:

 

Bit of a thread bump, but I’ll be collecting a nice Cooper S at the weekend. 

Good choice of car. Hope you enjoy it. What version of mini have you chosen.?

[lol-lol]

Found Mini at Worcester very nice and low pressure.

 

Mind you the diesel Mini bought was a bit of a dog, (Toyota diesel engine I recall but it did look pretty in Green with white strips, PAFC colours), and this first new Minis were quite cramped with small boots to for stuff, much better now of course.  

 

Now made in Austria, Netherlands and UK I gather.     

[Dr Zoidberg]

4 hours ago, kevberlin said:

Good choice of car. Hope you enjoy it. What version of mini have you chosen.?

 

It’s a convertible, with Chilli Pack, Technology Pack, Convertible Pack and a couple of other bits and pieces. 

[Chris]

I've been on the lookout for a replacement to the Superb for a few weeks now. I'm pretty much set on either a BMW 7 series ornament Jaguar XJ. Couple of places had what I wanted, sent some emails. One took 3 days to reply, then replied to a couple, then when I started asking about part ex and finance they stopped replying. Nothing. 

 

Another has been great, the car is a couple of hours away but they have been patient and answered my questions and even taken the car off sale for me while we try and do a deal. 

 

I went into another garage to look at a BMW and the salesman wouldn't even get me the keys to have a look inside because I wouldn't commit to buying that day if I liked it. Urgh!

[edwards]

Even with the same manufacturer, things can differ:

 

Citygate Skoda Watford - 'mo' the salesman was pushy, had poor product knowledge and kept calling my wife 'my dear' and smarming over her, while telling her how to drive - she's a much better and more experienced driver than me and probably than him. Tried to sell us a Yeti we didn't want as they had it in stock - only when I pushed the issue did they work out a deal on a brand new Yeti with 0% finance and acted surprised when the monthly payment was less than the second hand one would have been...

 

Willis Skoda Ruisilp - salesman was good but the treatment after purchase from the 'sales manager' over a relatively minor issue that he basically accused me of causing left a sour taste. It was all resolved amicably once I had contacted the owner Dennis Willis directly, but it did mean that when we were looking to buy the Superb they weren't top of the list...

 

Murray Skoda Plymouth - Jamie the salesman excellent. Gave me a 2 hour test drive even after I had explained we wouldn't be buying for months and had just called in as we were down on holiday. All he asked was I 'remember' him when we came to buy. He followed up with me a few times but unobtrusively and in a pleasant manner. Net result is we are actually paying a bit more to buy the Superb from him 250 miles away than we could have got it locally from Willis. Shows that good service (from Murray) counts and bad service (Willis) however it is eventually resolved, leaves a bad taste.

[Glen Mansbridge]

When my wife and I were looking at used Audi A3's, we visited three dealerships - our local dealer was quite helpful but rapidly lost interest when we explained that we wanted second hand not a £30K+ new convertible (and I'm still waiting for a quote for a new A3 saloon 6 months later...).  We then travelled about 2 hours to look at a second hand convertible.  When we arrived, there was some doubt that we could take it for a test drive (despite ringing them before we set off), the car was scruffy and had a broken wind deflector.  The screen price was completely different to that advertised on the web (a couple of grand more expensive).  The condition of the car, the salesman and the fact that they wouldn't agree to replace the broken wind deflector FOC made us walk away.

 

The following day (a Sunday) we started heading to another dealer (again a couple of hours drive) that had 3 suitable models listed on the approved Audi website.  On the way, we rang them to confirm the cars were available yet strangely, all 3 had sold!  We then detoured and started heading to Tetbury.  A phone call confirmed a silver A3 convertible was still for sale so we asked them to call us should they sell it before we arrived, as we still had several hours of travelling to get there.  We arrived in brilliant sunshine, mid afternoon to see the car, roof down, and gleaming sitting waiting for us outside the entrance.  Decision to buy already made.... We were given the keys for a test drive and as part of the deal they offered to drive the car to our home to save us that long journey - little cost to them but a huge time and hassle saver for us.  It was a genuine pleasurable experience, the salesman was great - professional and friendly but not pushy and if/when we are in the market for another Audi, I won't hesitate to make that long drive to visit them...