Do Main Dealers Hate Working On Old Cars?

Vern1961

Vern1961

Vern1961

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Joined
29 Mar 2007
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Location
Swindon UK
As per the title, really. Had the Corsa booked in at the main Swindon Vauxhall dealer to check out the engine service light coming on (intermittently) and rough idle (suspect MAF as that was the problem last time). Dropped car off on the way home from nights so they could get it in the workshop nice and early. Got up at 2pm and rang the dealer expecting to get the results of the diagnostic and that the repair (which I'd pre-authorised) was done and car ready to pick up. Wrong!

Cue somewhat flustered girl on the phone who at first seemed unable to find the car was booked in, then promised she would get someone to call me back. Tick tock, tick tock and no return call. Rang again just after 3pm and after a rather long wait got put through to someone a bit nearer the workshop floor, who stated it hadn't even been looked at yet and was still waiting a slot but should be next one to be done. Finally got a call back at around 5.30pm to confirm (as suspected) the MAF is knackered (again) and they need to fit a new one which won't be done until tomorrow. Told them to keep the vehicle overnight and I'll pick it up tomorrow afternoon (hopefully).

What's annoying is that I said on the instructions I needed the car back as I'm working nights so had to use the bike instead. The vehicle is a 56 reg Corsa so around 10 years old, but bought at 1 year old from the dealer and apart from a new battery at Halfords, I've used them for all servicing/MOT and minor repairs. So a bit miffed that it seems they pretty much forgot my car was parked up waiting to be looked at until I phoned them (twice). Up to now the service there has been fairly good hence the return custom (and Swindon doesn't have much in the way of independent garages anyway), but I just got the vibe that it's an old banger bought 9 years ago and we really can't be bothered with it vs. looking after newer customers.

Well, the labour rate is still the same and they perhaps forget a "former" customer looking to change the car in a year or two might be bringing £10 - £12k worth of business to the dealership which might now go elsewhere.
 
It's a bit off if you've used them for full servicing as well as buying the car from them. May want to draft a letter to the manager expressing your concerns and how they weren't met and that you are a loyal customer. Also drop in to the conversation you will be looking at a new car in a couple of years. ;)
 
wedrum said:
You take a 56 plate corsa to a main dealer
They must have your pants down over the years with it.
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It's not something I would have done years ago, but as I noted above there aren't that many decent indie places around here to get services etc. done, if you discount Halfords and Kwik Fit. The cost for fixed price servicing is fairly competitive as are tyres and it also avoids the risk of having a "jack of all trades" mechanic working on something better looked at by people who specialise in the make. Also catches any recalls or campaigns that a backstreet garage won't know/bother/care about.

The dealer recently changed hands and is now part of a national group rather than being a locally owned franchise. The demise in customer care and having to deal with a call centre initially rather than direct to the workshop reception, does seem to have coincided with that event.

Keeping all options open as regarding possible replacement, as apart from the MAF it's been a fairly reliable and sturdy hack. Bodywork still clean and aside from the current issue the engine block is sound and runs very clean. Ergo, Vauxhall built the cars to last so the dealers should expect people will be running them into the ground rather than changing every two or three years.

Jesus you could get a MAF out the scrappy for about £6 and fit it in about 6 minutes.
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Would if I knew what I was doing but outside weekly checks, my car maintenance skills died with the demise of the distributer and externally accessible spark plugs, not to mention manual dexterity and eyesight not what it was. I'm not going to list what the dealer is charging (with the test run and diagnostic on top) on the grounds OCUK will be awarding me dunce of the month, but there's food for thought. Of course no guarantee a used part won't fail 5 minutes after fitting, at least the dealer part should have a 12 month warranty on it. (And they'll reset the ECU to clear the warning).

However I will take on board the advice about trying to find an indie for future work, there are a couple but neither convenient in terms of getting to/from after dropping the car off. By contrast the Vauxhall dealer is a 12 minute walk from home.
 
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I looked at buying an Ampera from Now Vauxhall Swindon - I have honestly never had such an incompetent dealership experience. I'm amazed they even found your car in the car park.
 
It must be frustrating especially if you've never "dropped the ball" at work even the once before yourself OP....
 
No, it's just Vauxhall. Their customer service is generally awful from dealer to dealer!

Never had any nonsense like that from the two Ford dealers I've used, or the Toyota dealer who service my girlfriend's (also 56-plate) Auris.
 
I've had similar from Toyota dealers. Book the car in for some warranty work, get a call at 5pm saying my car is ready to collect, ask to see the service sheet of work done and then they admit actually they did nothing because they forgot to order the parts. There's been a safety recall on my car since the summer, the dealers didn't get the paperwork with the instructions on how to replace the part until the autumn, and there's still a shortage of parts so I'm looking at Feb at the earliest before I can get that done if they don't run out again due to the waiting list. It's not like the Yaris recalls where many 10's of thousands had to be brought in, this only affected 3-4k cars in the whole of the UK.

A bit of rust on the pillars, that's fine sir we need your car for a full day just to confirm it's rust, then bring it back a week later for another full day so we can replace those parts. This cannot be done at the same time as a service as we cannot allocate the time for it. Called up a dealer miles away who had never seen the car, mentioned rust on the phone, they knew exactly what the fault was, ordered the parts and fitted them at the same time as doing a service.

Car dealers are a complete lottery if you can find a good one.
 
The "specialist" angle is something I don't really believe in. Unless you're vehicle is "something special" then everything else is pretty much the same underneath.
A "VW Specialist" is going to have absolutely no problem finding their way around a Renault for example.

As for the argument with main dealers - I've actually found that in many cases they are the same price as indi garages.
My last service was no more expensive for example.

But I do always shop around.
 
it also avoids the risk of having a "jack of all trades" mechanic working on something better looked at by people who specialise in the make.
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You mean somebody who is used to working on older cars and actually has a much better idea as to what goes wrong with them than the main dealers do (Whose main business is selling new/nearly_new used cars and doing oil changes.)
 
Agreed. I found it amusing last time I went into Hyundai main dealer for a service that an MG Midget was on the ramps with someone welding parts of the underside.
 
indy's ftw, if you find a good one then they'll do the job every bit as well as a main dealer, especially on older cars where they know the common issues to keep an eye on.

i tend to mix depending on what i'm getting, servicing is normally the same indy place as they dont mess around and will tell you straight if something needs done, but likewise won't try and bs you into replacing something if it doesn't need done.

wheels, tyres, in fact anything suspension related is generally the local tyre place, mainly because they've got the kit for doing alignments, and i know their head mechanic pretty well so generally fitting costs are next to non existent.
 
Looks like it's coming back this afternoon - phoned at 2.20pm, after two attempts to get through, "Yes Sir, just coming out the workshop now, it will be ready to collect at, oh 4.30pm." So two hours to park it up and do the paperwork. My nasty suspicious mind thinking they've maybe subcontracted this out to another garage across town and its having to be driven back!

Yes it is "Now" Swindon, used to be Skurrays which was family owned but apparently the guy retired and sold out to the Now group, (one Internet source claimed solvency problems) hence the call centre when you phone rather than speaking direct to workshop reception. Shame as they used to be really good as Skurrays hence the customer loyalty but assuming I keep the car another two or three years as planned I'm going to take the advice on board and look around for a decent indie (there's one in Wroughton and another over at Stratton albeit not ideal for someone residing in West Swindon).
 
Funnily enough I had a similar experience today. My Jag (2003, so not new but not ancient either) is due a service, part of which includes a gearbox software update. My local Jaguar dealer totally refused to do it as they apparently don't have the correct diagnostic software for my car - they only have the newer one which works from around 2006 onwards. Currently looking like I'll have to buy the software (and a Windows XP laptop to run it on) and do the whole thing myself.
 
Howard said:
No, it's just Vauxhall. Their customer service is generally awful from dealer to dealer!

Never had any nonsense like that from the two Ford dealers I've used, or the Toyota dealer who service my girlfriend's (also 56-plate) Auris.
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Think it's more a complete lottery / sometimes franchise dependent tbh

Our local (Evans halshaw) ford are complete and utter clowns wheras ive had perfectly good experiences with the Arnold Clark (hardly the pillar of car service) near work. Same with Skoda and Honda, differing dealerships with totally different levels of customer service
 
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