Recommend me a good dealer
Discussion
I'm in SW London. Wilsons are the nearest but I, and others, don't have good things to say about them. There is another on in Guildford but I've not tried them yet.
Can anyone suggest a good one? I really have a hankering for a Guilia Veloce before I get too old but just need to find a dealer that can not only find me a secondhand one but make it a good experience and be able to look after it.
Cheers.
Can anyone suggest a good one? I really have a hankering for a Guilia Veloce before I get too old but just need to find a dealer that can not only find me a secondhand one but make it a good experience and be able to look after it.
Cheers.
The salesman recommended used to be Ajay at Thames Alfa in Slough - https://www.thamesmotorgroup.co.uk/alfa-romeo/cont...
Not sure if he still works there, though - as this was from a couple of years ago. If he's still there, then I can recommend him personally as I dealt with him when buying my Abarth Spider a few years ago (even though he didn't work in the Abarth department of Thames Group at the time).
Wherever you buy one though, seriously forget the main dealers for servicing and take a trip a few miles further out to AHM. They come highly recommended on here (including by me - I used to use them to service my Abarth 124 Spider) and they have loads of horror stories about Alfa main dealer serviced cars that have had service items missed and basic procedures neglected. They're great for their in-house 'mods', too - and not just power upgrades.
https://alfacare.co.uk
Not sure if he still works there, though - as this was from a couple of years ago. If he's still there, then I can recommend him personally as I dealt with him when buying my Abarth Spider a few years ago (even though he didn't work in the Abarth department of Thames Group at the time).
Wherever you buy one though, seriously forget the main dealers for servicing and take a trip a few miles further out to AHM. They come highly recommended on here (including by me - I used to use them to service my Abarth 124 Spider) and they have loads of horror stories about Alfa main dealer serviced cars that have had service items missed and basic procedures neglected. They're great for their in-house 'mods', too - and not just power upgrades.
https://alfacare.co.uk
Can you email me through here with an address I can reply to?
The dealer I traded it with is hundreds of miles from you, as he was me, but I can vouch for the car - it's stunning. Monte Carlo Blue, tan leather interior, 15k miles, fsh, quadrifoglio alloys...
I think they could organise delivery.
The dealer I traded it with is hundreds of miles from you, as he was me, but I can vouch for the car - it's stunning. Monte Carlo Blue, tan leather interior, 15k miles, fsh, quadrifoglio alloys...
I think they could organise delivery.
I did wonder if you'd see what I'd done. I put on my sensible pants for once as I needed to rationalise the 'fleet'.
Out went a thirsty 4.4 petrol L322 Range Rover and the Giulia and in came a 159 TBI Ti Sportwagon. I love the 159 over the looks of the Giulia - what can I say?
The SZ is still in the garage for now. At the end of the month it's off to Alfa Aid to have them go over it and tidy up the bits which are starting to look tired after 30+ years. Mostly cabin trim pieces; it runs perfectly.
I was warned it'll attract attention and they weren't wrong. I've come back to it while it's been parked outside shops to see people taking photos and a guy even stopped his van in the middle of the road next to me and shouted across a compliment. I like that people like it, it's a nice feeling.
The most common comment is "I've never seen one of these in the flesh".
Anyway, back to convincing Croyde to buy my old Veloce
Out went a thirsty 4.4 petrol L322 Range Rover and the Giulia and in came a 159 TBI Ti Sportwagon. I love the 159 over the looks of the Giulia - what can I say?
The SZ is still in the garage for now. At the end of the month it's off to Alfa Aid to have them go over it and tidy up the bits which are starting to look tired after 30+ years. Mostly cabin trim pieces; it runs perfectly.
I was warned it'll attract attention and they weren't wrong. I've come back to it while it's been parked outside shops to see people taking photos and a guy even stopped his van in the middle of the road next to me and shouted across a compliment. I like that people like it, it's a nice feeling.
The most common comment is "I've never seen one of these in the flesh".
Anyway, back to convincing Croyde to buy my old Veloce
norchi said:
My experience with Palmers in Hemel 4 years ago whilst buying the car was down right shocking.... I have never been back and have had excellent service since from Glyn Hopkin in Hatfield/St.Albans.... surprisingly good.
, just off the A1M Hatfield
I've bought and serviced with both., just off the A1M Hatfield
Glyn Hopkin sales was very good in 2017, but I'd be concerned about their devotion to the brand now. The amount of space allocated to AR in the showroom has declined a lot. Service was ok, until I had the first MOT. It was in for MOT + Service and they produced an MOT with advisories for things they could easily have sorted in the service. Every garage I've ever dealt with will sort anything before doing the MOT... On two consecutive services they also failed to reset the engine oil service indicator leading to me needing to go back a few months after when the car thought it needed new oil (despite them changing in the service)
Palmers sales were very pushy in 2017, but in 2020 the same salesman (who remembered missing out with my last time) was great. Faultless sales experience. Only had one service so far, but very slick whilst you wait service.
Don't know about the service side yet, but Thames Alfa were great to deal with when buying.
We'd arranged to go to Wilsons as they had a car I wanted to test and I'd told them that. When we got there, the car was "blocked in, had no fuel" so a test drive "wasn't possible".
Looked on Autotrader, Maidstone Alfa had a Veloce on their forecourt and were happy for us to pitch up and take it for a test drive. Now just waiting for it to be built.
We'd arranged to go to Wilsons as they had a car I wanted to test and I'd told them that. When we got there, the car was "blocked in, had no fuel" so a test drive "wasn't possible".
Looked on Autotrader, Maidstone Alfa had a Veloce on their forecourt and were happy for us to pitch up and take it for a test drive. Now just waiting for it to be built.
JONSCZ said:
The salesman recommended used to be Ajay at Thames Alfa in Slough - https://www.thamesmotorgroup.co.uk/alfa-romeo/cont...
Not sure if he still works there, though - as this was from a couple of years ago. If he's still there, then I can recommend him personally as I dealt with him when buying my Abarth Spider a few years ago (even though he didn't work in the Abarth department of Thames Group at the time).
Wherever you buy one though, seriously forget the main dealers for servicing and take a trip a few miles further out to AHM. They come highly recommended on here (including by me - I used to use them to service my Abarth 124 Spider) and they have loads of horror stories about Alfa main dealer serviced cars that have had service items missed and basic procedures neglected. They're great for their in-house 'mods', too - and not just power upgrades.
https://alfacare.co.uk
+1 for Ajay and Abb at Thames Abarth/Fiat in Slough. Have bought two cars off them over the years. Not sure if he still works there, though - as this was from a couple of years ago. If he's still there, then I can recommend him personally as I dealt with him when buying my Abarth Spider a few years ago (even though he didn't work in the Abarth department of Thames Group at the time).
Wherever you buy one though, seriously forget the main dealers for servicing and take a trip a few miles further out to AHM. They come highly recommended on here (including by me - I used to use them to service my Abarth 124 Spider) and they have loads of horror stories about Alfa main dealer serviced cars that have had service items missed and basic procedures neglected. They're great for their in-house 'mods', too - and not just power upgrades.
https://alfacare.co.uk
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