Can anyone name a good Mercedes showroom near Glasgow?
Discussion
Emphasis on the "good"...
I know everyone has a story, so very briefly mine is as follows.
At the weekend my missus and I decided on the next car for her, a mercedes c class circa 2010. We thought the first place to look would be of course the local Mercedes Glasgow showroom however we actually left quite offended. To start we were completely honest about what we wanted, budget etc, the showroom had 6 models that fitted within this.
We were hovering round a model with pano roof but no price displayed for a few minutes when this guy comes over, we ask the what the price is and he says he will need to find out. Off he trots. We continue to look around whilst waiting and this guy is taking a while, my missus is saying we should go and find him, I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt saying he is probably trying to find the keys so we can have a look inside.
10 mins later this guy returns and says a price which is within budget, no keys, no offer to sit in the car, no reason or apology for taking so long whilst leaving outside for 10 mins in glasgows lovely February weather... I ask him to point out other models, specifically petrol, at which point he starts pointing out diesels, I explain the car is going to be used for a max 4000 miles a year so a diesel will probably cost me more and the short journeys will probably not be good for the engine. He gets quite offended by this and asks what we drive, I point out girlfriends Mini Cooper s, at which point he says "I drove one of those once, it was a bit s
tty, if someone gave me one I would hand the keys back".
I was gobsmacked! I have never had a dealer tell me my existing car is st, I actually quite like the mini but it has chilli pack and after a year my missus just wants something more comfortable. It's a good car none the less and I would recommend it.
Salesman then suggests we go to his desk to "talk figures". Now I've not even sat in a c class at this point, let alone driven one. He takes across the car park away from the main dealership to what can only be described as a shed. With sliding doors wide open it was freezing, we sit at his coffee stained desk with a computer that he says doesn't work (he repeatedly hits the mouse on his desk throughout the conversation). The light above his desk flickers constantly and I find myself thinking wtf am I doing here? I've purchased cars through bmw Edinburgh and audi glasgow before and A nice warm showroom, with a nice desk and seats, and somebody that offers me a coffee does make a huge difference. It really made me appreciate the service I have received previously.
The salesman goes back to telling me how good the diesel is obviously targeted to sell one, I start getting annoyed with him at this point looking to end the conversation so I can leave. He asks to swap contact details which I do. I then actively ask if I can at least sit in one to see what it feels like and he points to an estate se in the corner ( we are specifically after a saloon sport) which he says is open. We sit in it and agree it is a nice car. Then we leave and the guy doesn't even lift his head away from his stty PC.
Half hour later I get an email with a link for "the perfect car, what a spec!!!", I click on the link a brings up a bloody diesel e class!?
Suffice to say it ruined my experience of buying a premium brand car, and since coming away from there I have read that a significant amount of mercedes dealerships are the exact same. My apologies for turning a brief story into a long one but my original question still stands, can anyone recommend a good mercedes dealership? Is it even worth buying a preowned car from mercedes as they seem to try to avoid all warranty claims anyway?
I know everyone has a story, so very briefly mine is as follows.
At the weekend my missus and I decided on the next car for her, a mercedes c class circa 2010. We thought the first place to look would be of course the local Mercedes Glasgow showroom however we actually left quite offended. To start we were completely honest about what we wanted, budget etc, the showroom had 6 models that fitted within this.
We were hovering round a model with pano roof but no price displayed for a few minutes when this guy comes over, we ask the what the price is and he says he will need to find out. Off he trots. We continue to look around whilst waiting and this guy is taking a while, my missus is saying we should go and find him, I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt saying he is probably trying to find the keys so we can have a look inside.
10 mins later this guy returns and says a price which is within budget, no keys, no offer to sit in the car, no reason or apology for taking so long whilst leaving outside for 10 mins in glasgows lovely February weather... I ask him to point out other models, specifically petrol, at which point he starts pointing out diesels, I explain the car is going to be used for a max 4000 miles a year so a diesel will probably cost me more and the short journeys will probably not be good for the engine. He gets quite offended by this and asks what we drive, I point out girlfriends Mini Cooper s, at which point he says "I drove one of those once, it was a bit s
tty, if someone gave me one I would hand the keys back". I was gobsmacked! I have never had a dealer tell me my existing car is s
t, I actually quite like the mini but it has chilli pack and after a year my missus just wants something more comfortable. It's a good car none the less and I would recommend it.Salesman then suggests we go to his desk to "talk figures". Now I've not even sat in a c class at this point, let alone driven one. He takes across the car park away from the main dealership to what can only be described as a shed. With sliding doors wide open it was freezing, we sit at his coffee stained desk with a computer that he says doesn't work (he repeatedly hits the mouse on his desk throughout the conversation). The light above his desk flickers constantly and I find myself thinking wtf am I doing here? I've purchased cars through bmw Edinburgh and audi glasgow before and A nice warm showroom, with a nice desk and seats, and somebody that offers me a coffee does make a huge difference. It really made me appreciate the service I have received previously.
The salesman goes back to telling me how good the diesel is obviously targeted to sell one, I start getting annoyed with him at this point looking to end the conversation so I can leave. He asks to swap contact details which I do. I then actively ask if I can at least sit in one to see what it feels like and he points to an estate se in the corner ( we are specifically after a saloon sport) which he says is open. We sit in it and agree it is a nice car. Then we leave and the guy doesn't even lift his head away from his s
tty PC.Half hour later I get an email with a link for "the perfect car, what a spec!!!", I click on the link a brings up a bloody diesel e class!?
Suffice to say it ruined my experience of buying a premium brand car, and since coming away from there I have read that a significant amount of mercedes dealerships are the exact same. My apologies for turning a brief story into a long one but my original question still stands, can anyone recommend a good mercedes dealership? Is it even worth buying a preowned car from mercedes as they seem to try to avoid all warranty claims anyway?
I live in Glasgow and have owned 4 Mercs.
I bought the first in Glasgow, then for the subsequent three bought two from Mercedes Retail Used in Manchester, and drove to Lookers in Eastbourne for the other - that tells you all you need to know!
Milton St Glasgow, Giffnock, Ayr, Grangemouth and Hamilton are all part of the same Stratstone dealer group AFAIK so you need to travel further afield, I just gave up and switched brand.
I bought the first in Glasgow, then for the subsequent three bought two from Mercedes Retail Used in Manchester, and drove to Lookers in Eastbourne for the other - that tells you all you need to know!
Milton St Glasgow, Giffnock, Ayr, Grangemouth and Hamilton are all part of the same Stratstone dealer group AFAIK so you need to travel further afield, I just gave up and switched brand.
IMO the Glasgow dealership started going downhill after Stratstone took over.
I stopped taking my MB there for service after some minor irritations and 30 months ago when we went looking for a used SLK it was a bizarre experience that left us fuming. Net result was that my wife went and looked at BMW and within a few days had a Z4.
I know people can have varying experiences at the same dealership but the MB Glasgow one was just so oddly negative it's like nothing else I've experienced.
I went back there 12 months ago with the intention of going for a CLS. The same sales manager was hovering about. The place felt dead. And they didn't have suitable stock. Oddly though Giffnock did have stock. Rather than simply phone Giffnock and check the cars listed as stock there could be viewed they wanted me to come back in a day or two after they'd brought a car over. I went over to Giffnock and that was a bit half hearted too as they initially couldn't find anybody to deal with me and the first thing they said when asked about prices was that the sticker price was *the* price and Stratstone policy was that they didn't negotiate.
By comparison Douglas Park just round the corner from MB Glasgow were a class act from start to finish - despite the fact the showroom was being remodelled and there was there was variously the sound of drills, hammers, and and heating.
I've had some dealings with Western Mercedes over in Edinburgh when we were looking at the time of the MB Glasgow debacle. Western seemed to be better organised and when we were interested in a car that wasn't at the main branch they offered to phone ahead and make sure we could view it and them know we were coming - or if it wasn't that they'd bring the car to our house.
John Weir at Grangemouth is another alternative to Stratstone - I've had no dealings with them directly - they've been taken over by Arnold Clark.
I stopped taking my MB there for service after some minor irritations and 30 months ago when we went looking for a used SLK it was a bizarre experience that left us fuming. Net result was that my wife went and looked at BMW and within a few days had a Z4.
I know people can have varying experiences at the same dealership but the MB Glasgow one was just so oddly negative it's like nothing else I've experienced.
I went back there 12 months ago with the intention of going for a CLS. The same sales manager was hovering about. The place felt dead. And they didn't have suitable stock. Oddly though Giffnock did have stock. Rather than simply phone Giffnock and check the cars listed as stock there could be viewed they wanted me to come back in a day or two after they'd brought a car over. I went over to Giffnock and that was a bit half hearted too as they initially couldn't find anybody to deal with me and the first thing they said when asked about prices was that the sticker price was *the* price and Stratstone policy was that they didn't negotiate.
By comparison Douglas Park just round the corner from MB Glasgow were a class act from start to finish - despite the fact the showroom was being remodelled and there was there was variously the sound of drills, hammers, and and heating.
I've had some dealings with Western Mercedes over in Edinburgh when we were looking at the time of the MB Glasgow debacle. Western seemed to be better organised and when we were interested in a car that wasn't at the main branch they offered to phone ahead and make sure we could view it and them know we were coming - or if it wasn't that they'd bring the car to our house.
John Weir at Grangemouth is another alternative to Stratstone - I've had no dealings with them directly - they've been taken over by Arnold Clark.
I've found Grangemouth to be excellent.
Well looked after the first time I went although couldn't work out a deal, the next time was when I bought the Shooting Break, the salesman worked hard for the sale and they were very professional from start to finish. Great deal as well!
In contrast I found Western at Newbridge less willing to go for the deal and we were on the verge of leaving after being ignored for 15 minutes when a salesman finally came up to us.
Arnold Clark gets a lot of bad press but they seemed to have turned Grangemouth into a really busy dealership.
They must be doing something right.
Well looked after the first time I went although couldn't work out a deal, the next time was when I bought the Shooting Break, the salesman worked hard for the sale and they were very professional from start to finish. Great deal as well!
In contrast I found Western at Newbridge less willing to go for the deal and we were on the verge of leaving after being ignored for 15 minutes when a salesman finally came up to us.
Arnold Clark gets a lot of bad press but they seemed to have turned Grangemouth into a really busy dealership.
They must be doing something right.
Hi guys,
Apologies for the slow reply.
In a strange way it's good to know I'm not alone in my experience. Sadly we don't want a bmw, no matter how good the service is, just not a fan of the ride quality, good cars that they are, we just want something more comfort and silent cruiser biased.
I'll try the garages mentioned above and see how we go. It's good to know a good chunk to avoid and I have no issue with travelling to get the right car/good service.
I'll report back on my experiences...
Apologies for the slow reply.
In a strange way it's good to know I'm not alone in my experience. Sadly we don't want a bmw, no matter how good the service is, just not a fan of the ride quality, good cars that they are, we just want something more comfort and silent cruiser biased.
I'll try the garages mentioned above and see how we go. It's good to know a good chunk to avoid and I have no issue with travelling to get the right car/good service.
I'll report back on my experiences...
Hi guys,
Apologies for the slow reply.
In a strange way it's good to know I'm not alone in my experience. Sadly we don't want a bmw, no matter how good the service is, just not a fan of the ride quality, good cars that they are, we just want something more comfort and silent cruiser biased.
I'll try the garages mentioned above and see how we go. It's good to know a good chunk to avoid and I have no issue with travelling to get the right car/good service.
I'll report back on my experiences...
Apologies for the slow reply.
In a strange way it's good to know I'm not alone in my experience. Sadly we don't want a bmw, no matter how good the service is, just not a fan of the ride quality, good cars that they are, we just want something more comfort and silent cruiser biased.
I'll try the garages mentioned above and see how we go. It's good to know a good chunk to avoid and I have no issue with travelling to get the right car/good service.
I'll report back on my experiences...
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