# Dealership Excellence



## jampott (Sep 6, 2003)

Zed has been racking up the miles, and on Monday passed 18k on the trip to work. Service interval is every 9k, so it was service time yet again...

I phoned the local dealer (who I've not used before) on Monday lunchtime, expecting them to book it in for later this week or even next week (a la Audi).

"The earliest we can do it, sir, is tomorrow - is that OK?"

"That's fine - I don't need a courtesy car though, as I work all day - so can someone drop me back off at work?"

"We can do better than that, sir - we'll come and get the car, then deliver it back when its done..."

They called around about 09:30 on Tuesday, and returned it aroun 15:00 - all serviced and complete. I'd asked the driver to mention a slow speed "creak" to the technicians, which they duly phoned me about (and asked my permission to test drive it too)

Then a follow-up phonecall on Wednesday morning to ask me if everything was OK; were the drivers courteous, was everything handled to my satisfaction etc etc.

Pretty faultness. Why oh why did I never receive that level of service from Audi? Once they got 90% but the rest of the time made me feel like I was doing THEM a favour by driving their car and having them service it for me.

Is it because I drive such a quality marque? :roll: Of course not - by their own admission, the delivery drivers had only seen "one or two" go in for service (I daresay most haven't done the mileage that I have) - so if this is how they treat their more usual "Micra" or "Almera" customers, I'm even more impressed.

Its even better that I don't even have to get my credit card out at service time...


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## Kell (May 28, 2002)

As your post quite rightly imnplies, there's a lot more to the whole 'ownership experience' than merely driving the car.

My local Audi dealer now is about twenty times better than my previous, but that's not a hard thing to achieve as they were truly awful. :?


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## jampott (Sep 6, 2003)

Kell said:


> As your post quite rightly imnplies, there's a lot more to the whole 'ownership experience' than merely driving the car.
> 
> My local Audi dealer now is about twenty times better than my previous, but that's not a hard thing to achieve as they were truly awful. :?


I used to dread the hassle of service time. Run a mental "book" with myself for how much Audi would "load" their original guesstimate with "essentials", and put up with waiting 2-3 weeks to get my car booked in for its service.

My car is now serviced for a fixed price, flat rate, which I don't even pay when it is serviced, but have the option of paying (interest free) over 3 years instead. They fill the screenwash bottle up without charging me for it, and I have every belief they will use the correct oil without being reminded...

A breath of fresh air.


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## garyc (May 7, 2002)

That's good service quality Tim. Shame those levels of excellance do seem to elude much of the Audi dealer network.

I have been usind Dick Lovett in Bristol for 3 years now, and whilst they do not go quite as far as your dealer, and one always has to plan ahead a few weeks, they always wash/dry/clean wheels n tyres and dust/vac the interior as a matter of cause. The one time they couldn't do it, they called to say that it would delay return of car.

Good proactive communications is the key to manging service quality expectations. My previous Audi dealers have been poor to dismal at doing this.

Apparently Honda service is superb also. As Kell says, it really makes a huge difference on the total ownership experience fo any car -particularly when it extends to all models, not just the premium ones.

Hats off to your dealer.


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## snaxo (May 31, 2002)

BMW service is also leagues superior to Audi in my experience.

1) They always call you back
2) They have the car ready when they say
3) They will either pick up the car from you (then drop it back) or have a driver drop you off / pick you up. You can take a loan car as well of course

These are simple things. Really this does not imply exceptional customer sevice - rather, these things should be expected as the norm. It's just that it seems exceptional after the Audi experience.

Funnily enough when I used to have a Peugeot 306 GTi-6 company car, the dealer I used for servicing was exceptional. They actually issued you with a pager when you car went in, then page you when it was ready ! Marvellous.

Audi however, are not as bad as Fiat / Alfa dealers who are TRULY dire.

Damian


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## teucer2000 (May 14, 2002)

Lets face it, a 350Z is going to be the highlight of any Nissan garages day. I used to receive that level of service from Audi when I bought an early A4, before they beacme a trendy make again. Now the local Audi garage has TT's RS4's RS6's and A8's to play with.......Mr Nissan has Micra's and the Primeraazzzzzzzzzzzzz :roll:


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## Kell (May 28, 2002)

I have the same trouble with VW too though - so it's not purely down to just Audi.

You could say, in the terms of Nissan, that they need to try harder to attract more people to the marque - no offence meant Tim, but I think it's true to say that most people would rather have an A4, than a Primera, for example. But then that doesn't account for BMW being good - other than just the fact that they're good.

I think in an age where good manners are becoming increasingly rare, people are willing to go further afield to find individuals they like dealing with.

It makes such a big difference and the sooner some of the Audi dealers recognise this, the better. :?


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## garyc (May 7, 2002)

snaxo said:


> Audi however, are not as bad as Fiat / Alfa dealers who are TRULY dire.
> 
> Damian


Alfa dealers are indeed dreadful, getting Mrs C's Spider serviced is alway an unpredictable chore.


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## Carlos (May 6, 2002)

garyc said:


> getting Mrs C's Spider serviced is alway an unpredictable chore.


I've never heard it called that before


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## cplus (Sep 23, 2003)

I must be lucky when it comes to dealer experience, with my Audi i had no complaints, had a faulty keyfob which was fixed in around 5 minutes when i just popped to the dealer (intending to book the car in to have it rectfied) and they did and there and then! When buying the TT i also felt satisfied with the service, though the car was 6-8 weeks late i was able to get some kind of updates on the situation.

Buying the Porsche was a totally different experience however! constant updates from the dealer, and they were very hepful and on the ball with all aspects (i suppose this should be expected due to the amount of money being spent, but it is still nice to be treated well). Discussing servicing or any work being required on the car, Dick Lovett offer to collect the car from me, service and return (even using a Transporter rather than driving it to keep mileage down!). Alternatively they also offer free golf at the local (and very nice!) Bowood golf course or use of a local Spa facility whilst the work is being carried out. Any calls i made to the salesman were answered right away or at worst i was called back within the hour.

Cheers

Matt


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## Kell (May 28, 2002)

Carlos said:


> garyc said:
> 
> 
> > getting Mrs C's Spider serviced is alway an unpredictable chore.
> ...


lol :lol:


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## garyc (May 7, 2002)

Kell said:


> Carlos said:
> 
> 
> > garyc said:
> ...


What's so funny about 'unpredictable' ? :wink:


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## Carlos (May 6, 2002)

Unpredictable is good - its when it becomes a predictable chore, thats when its time to ship out (not that I am speaking from experience in case you're watching Mrs Carlos).


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## garyc (May 7, 2002)

I avoid any on line fnnar and innuendo about MrsC for the same reason. (My MrsC not your MrsCarlos, to avoid any farcical confusion with 'hilarious consequences')


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## dimitt (Apr 21, 2004)

Lexus dealers are meant to be the best for customer service. Free car wash every saturday morning, for the duration of ownership. Proper feedback and techinical knowledge.

(shame there cars look naff!)


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## gazandjan (Sep 8, 2003)

Audi are not that good - when our car went in for a heated ssseat problem - it was 3 visit -- before it was sorted - plus the car got dented - Porcshe is a different world.
Janet was ask if she wish to go to Ladies day at York (we now drive a 996 C4 Cab)

Audi is - Seat - VW - Skoda

Good businesss plan - but shit sevice


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## Jac-in-a-Box (Nov 9, 2002)

> Porcshe is a different world


There are good and bad dealers regardless of brand.

There are enough horror stories on BoxaNet regarding shoddy treatment by Porsche dealers (as you should know Gaz!)

Audi seem to get a pretty hard time on here, and no doubt much of it is justified. My experience of Audi only merited praise...car picked up from and returned to work, no charge for recovery after a battery failure (out of warranty) free MOT's, 10% discount card for spares, accessories and servicing, very reasonable servicing charges...an entirely happy 3 years with a small and friendly dealership.

If Porsche can look after me in the same way Audi did I'll be very happy - time will tell

Jackie x


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## whirlypig (Feb 20, 2003)

> There are good and bad dealers regardless of brand.


Too true, however the Audi experience seems to extend to a larger number of their dealers than other manufacturers. My TT is 2k miles off its 1st service and I'm not looking forward to it, I hope they surprise me.

The best service experience to date has been through our local Land Rover dealer in Sheffield, very similar to Tim's experiences, they really do make an an extra effort. Popped in on the off chance to get some minor warranty repair sorted but they were backed up with work. Explained that we probably wouldn't be able to get it in for a couple of weeks due to work commitments, so one of the mechanics who wasn't meant to be working, changed into his overalls and did the work. 

My experience of BMW dealers has been very good. Found a dealer in Chesterfield who I used for 3 years and do excel, if I left the booking late they'd have someone ferry me around until my car was ready.

Not had a good experience of Peugeot, Ford or Vauxhall dealers though the last time I've been to one is a good few years.

I think most manufacturers/dealers realise that they have to pull out the stops as it helps repeat business. Audi seem to be running an experiment to see how many people will stick to a brand despite being given dismal sales and service. :?


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## HighTT (Feb 14, 2004)

dimitt said:


> Lexus dealers are meant to be the best for customer service .
> 
> (shame there cars look naff!)


Friend of mine has a large ugly naff Lexus 4x4 but he has had
very poor service indeed :!: 
My local Audi garage has given me really good service.
My wife has a Ford .... the service used to be excellent,
the dealership changed hands and now it's SH*TE.
It's still a Ford dealership ...... 
I don't know what this all proves??????


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## PaulS (Jun 15, 2002)

HighTT said:


> I don't know what this all proves??????


Part of the problem is that now days cars no longer require servicing that requires manual work - i.e adjusting clutches and brakes, lubricating suspension joints - modern cars just require 'checking' levels or plugging a laptop into the ecu to get diagnostic/failure codes. So the work may be less labour intensive but they still seem to charge the same (high) labour rates/hr. If you ask a dealer whats wrong with the car its no longer a mechanic shining a torch at a suspect component and telling you what he sees, its a tecnician reading off an error code from a computer! Combine this with non-technical service reception staff at some dealerships (noticably audi) and you have a recipe for confusion and disatisfaction :?

The first service interval is generally longer these days, (the TT is @ 20k I believe) The ast 3 cars I've had I sold on before the first service/tyres etc were due thus avoiding a painful dealer visit!

If you keep the car for a longer time/more miles etc then these free 'servicing' packages (Nissan etc) are worth looking into and maybe a good deal.

One good thing though about ecu/computer controlled engines is their easy tuneability without bolting on different mechanical components. For my engine - Chevrolet LS1 GIII 5.7 V8 - there is the 'LS1 edit' package (a bit like vagcom/revo) hopefully I'll be having an LS1 edit done soon


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