Worst trained franchised dealers

[craigjm]

Over the years I have been in just about every manufacturers franchised dealers at some point to look at buying a car and I am always amazed at the level of competence from the sales staff and knowledge of the product they are selling and not in a good way on the whole. Who do you think has the worst trained sales staff? I have been into a Jaguar dealer today and it reminded me that every time I have done that in the past I get faced with someone who is less knowledgable about their product than a trained monkey. The only franchises that have impressed me are Porsche, Ferrari and Maserati. So, which brands do you think really need to spend on developing their sales staff?

[eltax91]

VAG. Awful, awful, awful. It's all about perceived brand and of course the imagine....

[jamoor]

A BMW used car salesman knew what he was selling.

[Puddenchucker]

In my (limited) experience, I've found the more upmarket the brand the better trained/knowledgeable the dealers. And independent/family dealers tend to be better than national franchises/dealer groups.

[BE57 TOY]

eltax91 said:

VAG. Awful, awful, awful. It's all about perceived brand and of course the imagine....

Where did all this imagine nonsense come obout?

[uncinquesei]

eltax91 said:

VAG. Awful, awful, awful. It's all about perceived brand and of course the imagine....

This is getting tiresome. "VAG" encompasses everything from Skoda/ Seat to Bentley/ Lamborghini. It is a lot about brand and image but that's what sells cars. The OP's point was about product knowledge and general selling ability, which, judging by the ubiquity of "VAG" products seems to be pretty effective.

[Mr2Mike]

uncinquesei said:

The OP's point was about product knowledge and general selling ability, which, judging by the ubiquity of "VAG" products seems to be pretty effective.

Perhaps the average VAG customer is even less informed than the salesdrones Only jesting, I quite like Skodas.

[xreyuk]

I've not met a single person at a SEAT dealership who isn't a tard.

[Andurron]

Encountered a fairly decent Mitsubishi dealership actually. The guy behind the counter owned a Ralliart Colt and admitted some of its' downsides as well as praising it, but also seemed a bit of an Evo fan as well. That was a fun test drive chatting about that.

[Grenoble]

Bad : Audi. In a certain chain.

Good: Suzuki, Subaru (friendly and business like in both cases) - fair and easy to haggle with, no bs and a good chat over a coffee.

[FisiP1]

Far more about the franchise chain rather than the manufacturer.

Endlessly slating good old 'VAG' gets incredibly tiresome on here.

Worst I have ever experienced just happens to be Fiat, but I'm sensible enough to realize it was just that particular group of staff on that particular day.

[ruff'n'smov]

Grenoble said:

Bad : Audi. In a certain chain.

Too busy racing historics to train his staff (get well soon)

Good: Suzuki, Subaru (friendly and business like in both cases) - fair and easy to haggle with, no bs and a good chat over a coffee.

Mainly single garage indies for these Marques ...so generally great service.

[Red 4]

I think it depends entirely on the sales person. They can, and do, vary greatly from dealer to dealer irrespective of the marque.

On the whole though BMW have been excellent in my experience. Audi were pretty good and Vauxhall (not my car !) were too.

Ford were ste, but I know the salesman and he is a first class tt.

[Dog Star]

BE57 TOY said:

Where did all this imagine nonsense come obout?

On PH for 12 months, so you won't remember - there was a chap who came on here, obviously a comedy-troll (who's username I can't remember, I suspect he was about 14 years old) but on every thread he would pop up extolling the virtues of the VAG marques; he went on and on about it was all about the "imagine" (image).

Sadly he got banned.

[David87]

I find that when the salesperson knows more about gap insurance, paint protection and tyre insurance than the car, you tend to have a problem!

[BE57 TOY]

Dog Star said:

On PH for 12 months, so you won't remember - there was a chap who came on here, obviously a comedy-troll (who's username I can't remember, I suspect he was about 14 years old) but on every thread he would pop up extolling the virtues of the VAG marques; he went on and on about it was all about the "imagine" (image).

Sadly he got banned.

Sounds like comedy gold but it is a shame PH is to anti Audi.

[uncinquesei]

BE57 TOY said:

Dog Star said:

On PH for 12 months, so you won't remember - there was a chap who came on here, obviously a comedy-troll (who's username I can't remember, I suspect he was about 14 years old) but on every thread he would pop up extolling the virtues of the VAG marques; he went on and on about it was all about the "imagine" (image).

Sadly he got banned.

Sounds like comedy gold but it is a shame PH is to anti Audi.

I think his username was "S Line Luxury" - might have been a clue as to his preferences...
The answer was always Audi/VW no matter what the questions was.

[Grenoble]

My preferred Audi dealer is excellent. Expensive (massive shock) but polite, friendly, efficient and flexible.
My nearest Audi dealer is awful. Arrogant, expensive, failed promises, etc.

I tried my nearest one several times, it was the same outcome each time. I now travel 10 miles further to use the better one.

Ironically, they are part of the same group.

[Paul Dishman]

Its difficult to tell how good dealers are unless you spend a lot of time shopping for cars.

We dealt with an Audi dealer last year who were fine, as was the Porsche guy at the new Boxster launch, but before that hadn't been to a franchise dealer for years

[uncinquesei]

S Line Luxury....