Glasgow car dealers in the 60's -70's

[S2red]

HendryG said:

Forgot to add:

another recent acquisition has been by Lookers plc who own Taggarts, theyve taken over the Lomond Audi Motors Group who own Glasgow Audi at Braehead as well as other Audi dealerships in Ayr, Stirling and Edinburgh

Always thought the Mega Big Audi dealerships were owned by importer

[S2red]

Trouble with Arnold is you'll find great difficulty in buying a new car ie one you want to buy they just want to sell what they have in stock They push his bulk bought pre reg cars, Gap insuance finance etc then the deal killer for me last year £500 extra for metallic paint on a pre reg car!

[cardigankid]

Sure, they want to sell the cars they have in stock, but its no different at Aston Martin Mayfair or Jack Barclay. The point is that some of Arnie's deals on pre-reg and nearly new cars are terrific by any standard.

I have no connection with the Arnold Clark group by the way, just an honest opinion, I don't particularly like their management.

Some other suggestions:-

Wylie & Lochhead, Ford Dealership to the gentry, St. Vincent Street
SMT, New City Road Cowcaddens, Vauxhall
Dickson's (Ninian Sanderson) Great Western Road, Citroen and maybe DAF
Merrylee Motors, Merrylee Road
Jim Watt, Garrioch Road, Citroen
Melvin Motors
Prossers, British Leyland & Rover
Gaulds, Paisley Road, Rolls Royce

Outside Glasgow:-

Mackay & Jardine
Heron Rossleigh Autoplex, West Edinburgh
Grassicks of Perth

Edited by cardigankid on Monday 6th August 13:41

[S2red]

cardigankid said:

Sure, they want to sell the cars they have in stock,

Yes but I get really p'd off when you walk in looking for a well spec'd diesel car in a specific colour and salesman tries to sell you poverty spec 1.6 petrol which you have no intention of buying and lies through his teeth when you ask for an option to be added Oh that will add three months to delivery and trade in price will drop etc then you go to a local solo independant Vauxhall dealer who in 2 mins on Computer locates car from manufacturer stock and a week later you are driving it cheaper than it would have been from Arnold

Then there's the advertise " great" deal you are almost about to sign up for whci is suddenly sold by another dealer despite the "hod" you salesman had on it Or the v5 which takes monthe to eventually appear in your name Now no longer legal I believe

OK if you walk in with £250/month for a car you are a perfect customer for Arnold and thats how he makes his money

Yes I dont like dealing with the company!

[alanm_3]

Not sure if I've maybe missed them in the thread, but I recall the company I worked for in the late 70's used to get their company cars (Morris Marinas and Itals) from Fraser and Crawford in Whittingham Drive just off Great Western Road.
They moved out to Kirkintilloch a few years ago and now sell Peugeot.

[Craigie]

I find Arnold are good at what Arnold does.

Have bought my last 5 cars from them, 3 pre reg, 1 sales manager's car and current one was supposed to be pre reg but I am first name on it.

My current car is a 2007 plate Seat Altea XL, at the time my choice was

a 4k mile demonstrator from Seat Livingston
b. pre reg from Arnold for £200 less. No brainer on cost reasons?

The thing about Arnold, or any dealer in fact, is that for every "pistonheader" who goers in clued up, there are 5 unwary folk who will just look a monthly price and sign for it not realising they have signed up to GAP, paint protection, extended warranties or whatever!!

I recently accompanied a female friend as she went to buy a Honda Civic brand new - went to Park's, Phoenix and Arnold Clark and the whole experience was mind boggling to say the least!! They all really do use, as a starting point, that you are a numpty and then see where it goes from there!!

However I would not recommend their servicing as they ended up costing me close to £1k on a botched gearbox job that they deny!!

Anyway, this is drifting the thread slightly so I will stop!!

[S2red]

I'll hold my hands and admit they did not get a big as what they are whithout doing something "right" but who is ultimately paying for it?

[ian2144]

alanm_3 said:

Not sure if I've maybe missed them in the thread, but I recall the company I worked for in the late 70's used to get their company cars (Morris Marinas and Itals) from Fraser and Crawford in Whittingham Drive just off Great Western Road.
They moved out to Kirkintilloch a few years ago and now sell Peugeot.

Their Showroom was at the Crow Rd end of Whittingehame Dr, just by the railway bridge. Did they not change to a Honda dealer by 1980??

I have a vague memory of looking at a new 1st Gen Honda Civic.

[StescoG66]

alanm_3 said:

Not sure if I've maybe missed them in the thread, but I recall the company I worked for in the late 70's used to get their company cars (Morris Marinas and Itals) from Fraser and Crawford in Whittingham Drive just off Great Western Road.
They moved out to Kirkintilloch a few years ago and now sell Peugeot.

Fraser and Crawford were Rover dealers in Kirkintilloch, then latterly Peugeot. Alas went tits-up a few years back.

[HendryG]

cardigankid said:

Sure, they want to sell the cars they have in stock, but its no different at Aston Martin Mayfair or Jack Barclay. The point is that some of Arnie's deals on pre-reg and nearly new cars are terrific by any standard.

I have no connection with the Arnold Clark group by the way, just an honest opinion, I don't particularly like their management.

Some other suggestions:-

Wylie & Lochhead, Ford Dealership to the gentry, St. Vincent Street
SMT, New City Road Cowcaddens, Vauxhall
Dickson's (Ninian Sanderson) Great Western Road, Citroen and maybe DAF
Merrylee Motors, Merrylee Road
Jim Watt, Garrioch Road, Citroen
Melvin Motors
Prossers, British Leyland & Rover
Gaulds, Paisley Road, Rolls Royce

Outside Glasgow:-

Mackay & Jardine
Heron Rossleigh Autoplex, West Edinburgh
Grassicks of Perth

Edited by cardigankid on Monday 6th August 13:41

Mackay and Jardine is now Park's Renault, i believe Parks bought them out in 1980, when they had sites at both well road in Hamilton and Hamilton road in Motherwell, they didn't change the name to Park's until 1992 when they moved the Hamilton branch to the multi franchise place at Nerston and installed a Fiat franchise in Hamilton, Parks dropped Vauxhall from EK and Motherwell in 2004.

That's probably their biggest problem, the lack of Ford/Vauxhall franchises.

[HendryG]

Ps how long before Peter Vardy starts blitzing acquisitions too?

Lastly, does anyone know what the garage/showroom is that sits empty on the Kirkintilloch road in Bishopbriggs just past the Asda, theres an empty dealership there and I can't work out who operated it

[HendryG]

S2red said:

HendryG said:

Forgot to add:

another recent acquisition has been by Lookers plc who own Taggarts, theyve taken over the Lomond Audi Motors Group who own Glasgow Audi at Braehead as well as other Audi dealerships in Ayr, Stirling and Edinburgh

Always thought the Mega Big Audi dealerships were owned by importer

Nah they were owned by a guy called Hugh McMahon who operated Lomond Audi at Kyle Street where Henry's Skoda now is before opening the Braehead one, that was there since the VW and Audi brands were split and sold in different dealerships

[S2red]

HendryG said:

Ps how long before Peter Vardy starts blitzing acquisitions too?

Lastly, does anyone know what the garage/showroom is that sits empty on the Kirkintilloch road in Bishopbriggs just past the Asda, theres an empty dealership there and I can't work out who operated it

Weirs Honda and latterly BMW bikes

[Dinoboy]

S2red said:

Weirs Honda and latterly BMW bikes

Volvo for a while too.

[StescoG66]

HendryG said:

Lastly, does anyone know what the garage/showroom is that sits empty on the Kirkintilloch road in Bishopbriggs just past the Asda, theres an empty dealership there and I can't work out who operated it

I can help you there as it is my home patch. My earliest recollection as a kid was as Weir the Datsun People in the early-mid 1970's. It then got sold in the late 70's early 80's to the JM group operating under the Belmont name for a number of years then reverting to Weir (Toyota, then Honda) after Nissan UK at the time defranchised them as they were setting up their AFG chain (rumour has it was an acronym for Another fking Garage).

Latterly it was Motorrad Central selling BMW motorcycles. It had a bad fire in the workshop a couple of years back. Been empty since about the turn of the year.

[cardigankid]

HendryG said:

Ps how long before Peter Vardy starts blitzing acquisitions too?

it

The worst motor car purchase experiences of my life were with the Reg Vardy operation, then run by Sir Peter Vardy. I assume the Peter Vardy mentioned is son of Sir Peter. I assume he is rebuilding his company after selling out, to Pendragon I think it was. Sir Peter was /is of an extreme religious persuasion but that does not stop him being an extremely unpleasant man to deal with. I would go a very long way to stay clear of any operation with the Vardy name over the door. I think that all of their staff are under severe pressure to shaft their customers.

I think they definitely assume all their customers are mentally deficient, and they NEVER give a sucker an even break.

[750turbo]

HendryG said:

S2red said:

HendryG said:

Forgot to add:

another recent acquisition has been by Lookers plc who own Taggarts, theyve taken over the Lomond Audi Motors Group who own Glasgow Audi at Braehead as well as other Audi dealerships in Ayr, Stirling and Edinburgh

Always thought the Mega Big Audi dealerships were owned by importer

Nah they were owned by a guy called Hugh McMahon who operated Lomond Audi at Kyle Street where Henry's Skoda now is before opening the Braehead one, that was there since the VW and Audi brands were split and sold in different dealerships

The Lomond Audi dealerships were owned by the Importer, Hugh McMahon was only the front man for the setup, although apparently he did have a 6 figure sum invested in it.

[Craigie]

S2red said:

I'll hold my hands and admit they did not get a big as what they are whithout doing something "right" but who is ultimately paying for it?

I think ultimately the less clued up customers are paying for it - Arnold obviously get huge deals / commissions / incentives by buying bulk from manufacturers. o for instance they might buy a fleet of Mondeos, get huge discount (or repaid through incentive), then run them through their lease / hire division whic gives them more income and then sell them on at one year old at huge perceived discount from new. A win, win, win situation for Arnold.

If you treat them as you would a broker, ie what is the best price to change, without any add - ons, without any tie ins to servicing etc then you can get a good, transparent deal.

As said before, its the customers who are just interested in monthly payments and are willing to take out servicing deals, paint deals etc that are their target customers!

[HendryG]

cardigankid said:

The worst motor car purchase experiences of my life were with the Reg Vardy operation, then run by Sir Peter Vardy. I assume the Peter Vardy mentioned is son of Sir Peter. I assume he is rebuilding his company after selling out, to Pendragon I think it was. Sir Peter was /is of an extreme religious persuasion but that does not stop him being an extremely unpleasant man to deal with. I would go a very long way to stay clear of any operation with the Vardy name over the door. I think that all of their staff are under severe pressure to shaft their customers.

I think they definitely assume all their customers are mentally deficient, and they NEVER give a sucker an even break.

I'll be honest I have heard very bad things about the old Reg Vardy group, probably worse than what I've heard of AC, when I worked at Arnies Linwood Citroen branch they bought Vardys Fiat dealerships in Springburn and Paisley just after Pendragon took Vardys over and decided they didn't want Fiat and offloaded it to Arnie. Citroen got punted into Vardys Fiat in Paisley so VW could have our Linwood showroom after Arnie sold the original Ingrams site for housing.

There were a few Vardy salesmen still there and I heard all manner of horror stories about the 5 years finance they used to do, their 0% finance con and their "we pay half your payments for the first 6months" scam where after the 6 months when the punter had to pay the full payment on their own they couldn't afford it so they had to trade the car in for another, hence more sales, one guy told me how he had sold a female "friend" a few cars and now she had a year old 06 plate Grande Punto (this was 2007 mind) and now she was in 23K of debt to show for it.

Peter now operates similar schemes, and the Motherwell Vauxhall branch are liars, I saw a 10plate Corsa SXi for £6499 earlier this year at their head office, as the Mwell branch is 2mins from m I went down to enquiry to be told that was too cheap no way would i get a 10plate for that, for that money it'd be a 58plate, however my missus had copied the page on her iPod and showed them as proof and they said they could find no trace of the car on their system it'd probably been removed due to the price error.

[HendryG]

Ps I passed Verve at Dalmarnock today and the sign is now Arnold Clark, all the cars have the oval price stickers in the windscreen and there's the yellow flags everywhere, although the other showroom which was the Van centre showroom before moving to Baillieston still says Verve fast fit centre on it