What are dealerships up to these days tech wise?

[Somewhatfoolish]

I'm probably going to sound like a provincial bumpkin here, but today I took one of my cars in for a recall at a dealership. I'd never normally visit one as I buy cash second hand and take to specialists.

Holy crap I was impressed by the tech and stuff:

1. While reception were lovely and welcoming, the actual servicing input was all done by a clever computer
2. Which asked my details, asked me to drop my key off in a secure compartment, offered me silly aircon stuff to upsell me, gave me an option for a free basic valet which I obviously selected. Even asked me to pinpoint on an ariel view of the dealership where I'd parked my car.
3. Car was given a free video mechanical check with a fun few minute video I can "share with my friends" of some tech going around the underside of the car. They also didn't pretend there was anything wrong with it - passed with flying colours (would have been amazed if this wasn't the case tbh) but interesting to see tyre tread depth measured to the nearest 10 micrometers on each groove.
4. Free drinks. I love free stuff.
5. All of this was for a *free* recall. Didn't cost me a penny.
6. I look like a total slob so I wasn't being targeted for perceived wealth or whatever.

Is this sort of thing normal in a car dealership? I must admit when I found out I can get a brand new M5 on PCP for less than a grand a month and only £17k deposit I was very, very, VERY tempted... indeed it may happen... which maybe is why they do this.

Edited by Somewhatfoolish on Thursday 4th May 01:23

[Gad-Westy]

Call me cynical (for you would be right!) but I just see this all as a cheap glossy veneer to offer a perception of a service that in reality is often extremely poor. Yes there will be brand and dealer group exceptions but we are talking about operations that now routinely charge £150-£200 per hour. There are some very highly qualified people in highly specialised fields that charge nowhere near that. In many cases they can be charging 3-5 times as much as a specialist and often offer a poorer service once you peel back the shiny surface. Every dealership I ever speak to seems to want to follow a script regardless of what the problem is so if you turn up with a bumper hanging off, they'll still want to plug it into their diagnostics machine (£175 for 10 minutes of work obvs) before deciding what the appropriate fix is. There is a pressure to churn jobs through so if you genuinely have an issue to fix, dealers seem happier to fix something then send you on your way rather than thoroughly diagnosing (despite the charge), fixing and then testing. I know in your case OP that you weren't being charged but if you were paying £175 per hour labour rates, I'm sure you'd be less impressed by the 'free' coffees and a £500 touchscreen. For any repair with more than a couple of hours of labour you could likely go to a specialist, leave the car there, get a taxi to the nearest Michelin starred restaurant, have a 3 course lunch, taxi back and still come away with change.

[Sheepshanks]

Somewhatfoolish said:

I must admit when I found out I can get a brand new M5 on PCP for less than a grand a month and only £17k deposit I was very, very, VERY tempted... indeed it may happen... which maybe is why they do this.

I'm not saying that's not a good deal for an M5 (I have no idea) but to most people that sentence would indicate that your sense of what's reasonable is a long way from normal thinking. You do realise that you "lose" the deposit, don't you?

So your overall view of the dealership is probably similarly adrift.

Take that M5 for 'servicing' - oil change and a snazzy video, that takes 20mins all in - and they'll probably want £600 off you, maybe more if there's an "M tax". Dealer workshops are fantasically profitable places.

[GeniusOfLove]

Man buys the sizzle, has no idea if the steak is actually dog food. Goes to show why they invest in all this superfluous crap, and then don't bother changing parts and rinse people into changing brake pads that have 5mm of material left.

Username fits.

[vaud]

You are still paying for it, just indirectly.

I don't like the big multi million glass palaces (Audi, BMW, etc). My favourite is a local Suzuki dealer who is "old school" service with tea in a mug and yesterdays paper + a pile of magazines. If you are waiting for a service and it's lunch time the receptionist offers to get you a sandwich from M&S.

[Presuming Ed]

Not sure if your joking on the M5. 53K to never own a BMW over 3 years or 65K over 4 seems far from good value.

I'd probably prefer to deal with an individual rather then a machine to be honest. If the whole servicing was as slipstream and a lot cheaper I'd embrace the technology.

[Baldchap]

GeniusOfLove said:

Man buys the sizzle, has no idea if the steak is actually dog food. Goes to show why they invest in all this superfluous crap, and then don't bother changing parts and rinse people into changing brake pads that have 5mm of material left.

Username fits.

If you have a decent new car under warranty you'd be mad to go elsewhere both in terms of resale and sorting that relatively common problem at 3.5 years old for free because of 'goodwill' from the manufacturer/dealer thanks to a main dealer service history.

If you're stupid enough to accept replacement pads or tyres at 5mm then I have a bridge for sale you would love!

[alscar]

Somewhatfoolish said:

Is this sort of thing normal in a car dealership? I must admit when I found out I can get a brand new M5 on PCP for less than a grand a month and only £17k deposit I was very, very, VERY tempted... indeed it may happen... which maybe is why they do this.

Edited by Somewhatfoolish on Thursday 4th May 01:23

I think you’ve answered your own question - enjoy the M5 !

[swisstoni]

They must be doing something right.
The chap takes his car to them, in his own time, to get a fault fixed.
And he comes away, singing their praises and thinking about leasing an M5!

[Sheepshanks]

swisstoni said:

They must be doing something right.
The chap takes his car to them, in his own time, to get a fault fixed.
And he comes away, singing their praises and thinking about leasing an M5!

BMWs dealer standards folks will be loving this thread - all their badgering of dealerships to spend millions on this stuff has paid off.

And I never cease to be amazed by the number of times people on here mention "free coffee" when they visit a dealership, as if it's the most amazing thing ever.

This what they get in the US, where an oil change is $99: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_yC-gc8ycdM

[Deranged Rover]

The independent where I take my Range Rover is definitely posher than it used to be as it moved into new premises a few years back, but the experience goes more like this:

(1) Arrive, drive past workshop (door open; no attempt to make it look like an operating theatre) and park up.
(2) Round to the door at the side, into reception, which is a counter-top with a computer on it (heavily oil-stained keyboard)
(3) If no-one in reception, ring the bell which raises a chorus of good natured "it's your bloody turn" type banter from the workshop.
(4) Cheerily greeted, place keys into suitably oily hand, grab free copy of "Land Rover Monthly" and depart.
(5) At collection time, situation reversed apart from some cheery banter about what a bd the job was/what a stupid design that particular part is/how they've never seen that issue before etc.
(6) Depart clutching slightly oil-stained invoice and receipt.

I'll happily trade all the, admittedly pleasant-sounding, experience detailed by the OP for these three brilliant blokes who know the cars inside out, who are always busy and whose labour charges are about a third of the local main dealers.

[descentia]

GeniusOfLove said:

Man buys the sizzle, has no idea if the steak is actually dog food. Goes to show why they invest in all this superfluous crap, and then don't bother changing parts and rinse people into changing brake pads that have 5mm of material left.

Username fits.

Harsh

[donkmeister]

Of course, if they had built the car properly in the first place you wouldn't have needed the recall...

(Slightly in jest... I was impressed that Mercedes got in touch to check the glue on my 16 year old Merc hadn't debonded. I'd have rather they had taken this approach to the SBC braking system though, replacing a pump with a pre-programmed service life was pretty galling. I'm sure anyone with a V8 BMW from 10-15 years back would prefer the timing gear and valve train was covered by a recall).

[Somewhatfoolish]

Sheepshanks said:

You do realise that you "lose" the deposit, don't you?

Nope, shows what I know, never bought a car on credit Not really a deposit then is it?

Incidentally they've called me twice since I was in asking me to do a survey. So I'm not quite as impressed as I was.

Still, free drinks! And personalised videos! Shiny things!

[swisstoni]

To paraphrase, cars will become more anodyne and indistinguishable so the selling points will be more about the cracking time you’ll have down the dealership.

[snotrag]

Somewhatfoolish said:

Holy crap I was impressed by the tech and stuff:

See, none of that stuff would impress me at all, because it’s just meaningless ‘tech’ which has zero affect as to the primary outcome of my visit to said dealer - which is to have my car maintained.

In fact, it only goes to further my suspicions that it’s all part of the illusion to disguise the fact that the actual maintenance of the car will be done by some poor mechanic under so much commercial and time pressure to perform, to hit targets, to upsell, to load the parts cannon up and fire etc etc… that the quality of the actual ‘maintenance’ will fall well below the standards I expect.

[Somewhatfoolish]

snotrag said:

Somewhatfoolish said:

Holy crap I was impressed by the tech and stuff:

See, none of that stuff would impress me at all, because it’s just meaningless ‘tech’ which has zero affect as to the primary outcome of my visit to said dealer - which is to have my car maintained.

In fact, it only goes to further my suspicions that it’s all part of the illusion to disguise the fact that the actual maintenance of the car will be done by some poor mechanic under so much commercial and time pressure to perform, to hit targets, to upsell, to load the parts cannon up and fire etc etc… that the quality of the actual ‘maintenance’ will fall well below the standards I expect.

I totally get this viewpoint (which has been expressed above too) and I actually agree with it fwiw. I will continue to have my cars serviced at knowledgeable independents. The reason this has all been new to me is probably because of this - I'd never have considered going to a main dealer. But this is a recall that cost me nothing.

I'm just impressed by how cool the tech is. And very curious to see if other main dealers (I guess it's pretty obvious from my OP that it was a BMW dealership but I'd like a wider view) offer similar sorts of things, if that makes sense?