No need to do this with skoda they even lent us a furby vrs to check how much quicker the chipped one was.

I'd forgotten about that

My parents had a wonderful experience quite a few years ago when they were looking to buy a car in France.

We used to live in rural countryside (very nice it was too ) and were after the lookout for a new car. We really liked the Opel Vectra at the time, and went to the local Opel dealer. We were greeted as if we were trash. They just weren't interested in helping us, despite the fact we said we had decided on the car and just wanted a quick test drive to confirm it all. As they weren't prepared to help us, we went to another dealer in another town.

They were a lot more helpful, and we bought the new car from them.

The twist came when our insurance policy requested that the windows were etched with the VIN / reg plate. And guess who was the local approved window etcher? Yup, dealer number 1

So, we went back, still dressed in our tshirts and shorts and espadrilles (bearnaise shoes with a straw sole), in our brand new car (still had the temporary reg plate you get when you buy a new car in France). As we drove into the forcourt, the original salesman who snobbed us walked out. When he saw the brand new shiny car on temp plates and us with a big smile saying we're coming to get our windows etched, his face was a picture :jawsmall: :rofl: :D

(post copied from the Colin's "Dealers" thread)

Well my vrs is the first dealer bought car for me (and also the newest at under two years when purchased) so we wandered around a few dealers.

1st up were skoda who gave me the keys to a vrs hatch and told us to be back before 5pm (it was morning!), then let us take a furby vrs up the road too.

Later the same day went to honda to take out a civic type s - salesman was a git, drove most of the way there and sat in the front so swmbo was in the back (big no-no!).

He then wouldn't let me drive a type r they had there till the following saturday, where he actually drove all the way to the turnaround point before letting me drive back with a "watch the speed" warning (um, hello, type-r..........). Add that to the awful interiors and complete lack of interest at what I wanted to know, sale lost!

Then tried a leon diesel cupra at a mazda dealership, very good salesman, only thing really against it was the price (2k more for the same year/mileage as mine) and the boot space.

Looking back I'd already made my mind up for the vrs on the first impressions and the dealer hasn't disappointed me yet, despite being in for several minor warranty claims.

Honda can go themselves though!