Everyday Car dealer issues/problems

[adyxw]

The initial message was deleted from this topic on 20 November 2023 at 10:19

[Xenoous]

I hope its Jaguar Land Rover! Ingenium 2.0D engines. Now that's a good car dealer and manufacturer issue/problem. I imagine the offset of that is rude customers, poor financial performance and fed up technicians.

Good luck with your placement

[anonymous-user]

Damaging the customers cars and then point blank denying it happened in their care. To the point of parking the cars in an awkward location in the car park so the customer cannot see the damage until they get home.

[PositronicRay]

Too many managers, too much micro management, too reliant on (massaged) customer service surveys.

Manage by numbers and people 'manage' the numbers.

[Trevor555]

adyxw said:

Essentially I've been given a project whilst I'm at the car dealers to identify any everyday issues with car dealers.

I could reply, but I'll wear my keyboard out.

I'll just leave here a quote from quite a famous film.

"Mos Eisley, you will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy"

In my 35 year experience of all areas of the trade (parts counter the only one I haven't done), I've seen first hand many of the underhand things dealers do, and main dealers are in no way exempt.

Not an industry for an honest man like myself to be in, glad I'm well out.

[Gin and Ultrasonic]

Lying and general brass neck. And not caring that people are (mostly) not too thick to notice.

After sales
No problem sir, we'll get that fixed / replaced / ordered for collection. On collection - where is X? Why hasn't Y been replaced? Cue complete lie from sales person - oh sorry, we forgot or similar dog ate my homework standard of excuse.

I've experienced 2 dealers who've nailed after-sales and fixed things for collection or gone above and beyond to fix an issue after collection, and been back for more servicing and to buy again from them.

Ones that have screwed me around I'll never be back in their showrooms as long as I live and will happily share with other how crappy they were. I'm sure other people are in the same boat - it can't just be me?

Servicing
Why can no garage ever call you to inform you of progress / completion? There's no amazing technology required. When your car is ready to collect, or when you have something to tell the customer, PHONE THEM and let them know. Oh yes sir, that's been ready since lunchtime, did no-one call you to let you know? Well obviously not because I have to call you EVERY TIME to ask it my car's ready.

[James_N]

Dishonest upselling (Discs and pads sir?!)

[mcflurry]

"You need new brake pads sir - the old ones are x% worn"

[greysquirrel]

Your tyres are dangerously low, they must be immediately replaced. When above 4mm.

[mmm-five]

Considering they've had 20 years of feedback from me and plenty of 'second chances' to resolve these issues, I don't really think they actually want constructive feedback.

My cars only go to the dealers when it's either 1) for a warranty repair, or 2) for a recall.

[barryrs]

My take is this is from the dealer side rather than a rant for people to vent their experience's.

Couple of things I have picked up on.

Setting target hours for tech staff bonus too high over the floor limit, therefore resulting in less productivity as the target was seen to be unobtainable so why even try.
Senior staff not being used to train less experienced staff for fear of loosing productivity, but ignoring the increases they can provide to the wider team.
Sales teams setting retail price & selling ASAP before the car had been through the workshop resulting is poor margins.

[Trevor555]

greysquirrel said:

Your tyres are dangerously low, they must be immediately replaced. When above 4mm.

I've seen the exact opposite when it come to used sales car prep.

Technician sees bulge, damage etc on a tyre, or damage on a wheel/buckling.

Lost count of the times I've heard "leave it, if they notice after a week we can put it down to pothole damage"

So every time I buy an expensive used car from a dealer nowadays I drive it straight to my local workshop and pay them half hours labour to carefully check tyres/wheels for damage.

[Sheepshanks]

Hmmm.......to me the OP reads as asking from the dealer's POV, not the customer's.

[PerfectDark]

Dealers that make guarantees they can't keep and aren't great at communicating are definitely a problem. I recently bought a 2020 Suzuki Swift Sport from a Suzuki main dealer and the experience left a lot to be desired.

- They said it would be ready within a week but ended up taking 2 weeks (I only found out the day before I had originally agreed to collect the vehicle that it wasn't ready - and only then because I called them to confirm it was ready).

- It was agreed before pickup that they would refurbish the wheels properly (one of them had been poorly done - instead of diamond cutting it had been sprayed silver and stood out like a sore thumb).

- I was assured it would have no MOT advisories (it didn't - it had an advisory on the rear brakes, and I was told by the salesman that the dealer manager had insisted that it would leave with no advisories)

- They also did a poor job of preparing the vehicle (it wasn't polished as they said they would as there were marks that would have polished out and the interior had dog hair in it still from the previous owner).

Admittedly I used these as a bargaining chip and got money off to sort the rear brakes and the wheel myself (as I didn't trust them when they said "oh we can get this redone for you"), but for a brand that seems to pride itself on customer service it left a sour taste - I would have expected these sorts of issues from an independent dealer like "Dave's Cars" (I am aware there are some amazing independent dealers that do care about the customer experience) but not from a main dealer. Thankfully my local main dealer has been great to deal with.

[119]

Unless i have read the OP wrong, it isn't about the product, more the business side of things.

[cootuk]

On the positive side, an offer to pick you up from the local train station is good when collecting a car.
Downside...all the extras that are on top of a service. Such as brake fluid needing replacing or an air con filter, all charged as extra when recommended. The initial service charge looks competitive until you see the items that aren't covered that should be.

[911Spanker]

It's a pretty hateful industry unfortunately.

[JimmyConwayNW]

I read the original post as what issues do car dealers face day to day.

As an independent car dealer of middling success a few things.

When something goes wrong with a car unexpectedly and completely unforseen one of my biggest gripes is when people are just plain difficult.
Refusal to return car to base, or refusal to get a garage local to you to sort it. Thats annoying, I am trying to help, I am trying to fix your car for free I know its inconvenient but lets just get it sorted.

Customers booked in for a collection at say 2:35pm Saturday who just turn up at 9:15am.

[Limpet]

PositronicRay said:

Manage by numbers and people 'manage' the numbers.

I think that describes a lot of companies across many sectors at the moment. Certainly the case with ours, and it has no link to the automotive sector at all.

It's become much more of a "thing" post-Covid for some reason.

[itcaptainslow]

OP, if you wish, I’m happy to help and give you the point of view of an ex service manager, who has now switched careers. You’re welcome to PM me.

This thread is just going to become a cathartic whinge for those who have been wronged, actually or perceived, by dealerships.