Sytner Audi Leicester - Bloody awful place

[geekman]

I was saying to some friends a while ago that it's so funny how "premium" dealers are the same all over the world. I had to go to a Jaguar main dealer a couple of months ago, and my experience was exactly the same as I've had in 4 other countries in that all semblance of customer service disappears as soon as you move from the sales area to the service / parts area.

Went in and was greeted by a beautiful salesperson who immediately complimented me on my car and asked what she could help me with. Asked for the parts department, and was sent downstairs to an empty desk. Waited a while, as all the service personnel did their best to avoid looking at me. Eventually ran out of patience and asked one of them to find the parts guy, which took another 10 minutes.
Parts guy came out and acted like he was doing me a massive favour just by existing, gave me one word answers, and only smiled at the point when he told me the parts would take 6 weeks to arrive.
Came back 6 weeks later, same story, nobody on the parts desk. Spoke to a more efficient employee this time who went to find the parts guy, who was sitting behind a storage rack playing on his phone. I collected the parts and asked for an invoice so I could declare it as a business expense, turns out he didn't calculate the tax correctly even though the tax was clearly on the original order form he gave me. He then tried to get me to pay the extra, so I went back upstairs and asked for the manager, who agreed I didn't need to pay anything and issued the invoice for me.

All that for a PCV valve and a small plastic pipe.

 

[mattyg]

Audi Preston. We emailed them asking if the Q5 was having the same engine supply issues as the Skoda Kodiaq we had just test drove... The email back asked us if we were sure we were in the market for a Q5 if we had also looked at a Kodiaq. They are at very different levels sir..

 

[[TW]Fox]

Audi Preston. We emailed them asking if the Q5 was having the same engine supply issues as the Skoda Kodiaq we had just test drove... The email back asked us if we were sure we were in the market for a Q5 if we had also looked at a Kodiaq. They are at very different levels sir..

It's an odd email response for sure but the Kodiak range does start at almost 15 grand less than the Q5 so you can sort of see the point.

Which does make me think what great value the Kodiak seems to be.

 

[Housey]

The email back asked us if we were sure we were in the market for a Q5 if we had also looked at a Kodiaq. They are at very different levels sir..

Such an arrogant and foolish response, not least when you are talking £50-£100 a month real difference to 'buy' using the model most will use. The customer might be deciding between a high spec Kodiaq and lower spec Q5, so maybe even closer in numbers that that. Naive response at best.

 

[turbot1984]

SUV's, mmmm, plenty of choice these days

 

[Hades]

Long term I think franchised dealers for used cars are going to really struggle unless they offer a better service. I can get an average service from the likes of Cinch, Car Supermarket, etc. I think the problem is they are struggling to compete with lower cost outlets so rely on a faster turnover and therefore have to drop the service. But if I can get a similar service for a lower price from a supermarket then what value do franchised dealers offer? Similarly I can see a similar thing happening with the new car market.

Audi Preston. We emailed them asking if the Q5 was having the same engine supply issues as the Skoda Kodiaq we had just test drove... The email back asked us if we were sure we were in the market for a Q5 if we had also looked at a Kodiaq. They are at very different levels sir..

I don't see that as an unusual comparisons of cars. They are from the same stable and one is priced higher. It's quite obvious that a lot of people would want to drive both to see if the extra money on the higher priced car is worth it or not.

 

[Rroff]

Had something similar when looking at pickups.

I was undecided on how much money I would/could spend and what I wanted - went to one place which had some Amaroks at upwards of £30K and Navaras mostly around lower 20s both new and used. Took a look at the Navaras with the sales guy first, I'd really been interested in the Amarok but starting to realise I couldn't really justify spending upwards of 30K - saw a sign saying something along the lines of "This is only representative of our full stock ask a member of staff for more details" so I asked the sales guy, referencing a nearby Navara at around 25 grand if they had any Amaroks available around that price or a little higher to which he pretty much laughed in my face and said quite arrogantly "you won't find an Amarok at that price new or used" (apparently autotrader is a lie).

 

[Greebo]

Audi Preston. We emailed them asking if the Q5 was having the same engine supply issues as the Skoda Kodiaq we had just test drove... The email back asked us if we were sure we were in the market for a Q5 if we had also looked at a Kodiaq. They are at very different levels sir..

Audi Teesside was the same after I told him I had test driven a VW Touareg before the Q7.

And Mercedes didnt want to know me test driving a GLE. Yes they gave me a coffee and took me on a test drive but the sales rep had no interest in me and got me out of there as fast as he could.

Ended up buying a SQ7 by email from Audi Listers which was pleasant and hassle free.

 

[Drollic]

You should see Honda Nottingham

If they can't plug a laptop in to get a fault code it's a nope. They also keep your car for days and take it on lifters when they need not just to properly inspect the tyres and tell you the tread depth - they'd covered less than 1000 miles and I told them not to.

 

[mattyg]

Have to admit though Preston Bowker BMW have been spot on. Helps we had a family member in service and because of that got friendly with sales. Cars booked in for 30k service tomorrow and they are lending me an X5 for a few hours whilst its in. (half way through PCP on the X3 maybe they smell an upgrade)

 

[LordVader]

Well booked into Derby Audi for service next week.

Had a call yesterday confirming everything from them and it's covered under the service plan. Let's see how there customer service holds up.

Reading the above posts agree main dealers need to up there service levels.

 

[Hedge]

Evans halshaw were my worst experience. The bloke who sold me the car / test drove with me seemed to think that just because I maybe seemed a bit "laddish" that Id be interested in stories of how him and his mates would go on holidays to good brothel hotpots and bang different women, then in the next breath tell me about his wife and kids. Total helmet.

They then tried to insist I paid the £100 admin fee and my point blank refusal caused quite a stir.

Never again.

 

[Pyscho_Si]

You want to try the average Lexus dealership … wait a sec, they are fantastic so I’m in the wrong thread.

 

[MagicBoy]

You want to try the average Lexus dealership … wait a sec, they are fantastic so I’m in the wrong thread.

Same here. Nothing but praise for my local Toyota dealership. The products are a little bland, but the ownership experience is very good.

 

[HoneyBadger]

Good experiences here of VW Dartford, Gillingham Toyota/Lexus and Kia Ebbsfleet JCB.

 

[MrFunex]

Same here. Nothing but praise for my local Toyota dealership. The products are a little bland, but the ownership experience is very good.

Ditto. Lexus Hedge End have always been excellent.

 

[GinG]

Same here. Nothing but praise for my local Toyota dealership. The products are a little bland, but the ownership experience is very good.

One of th best experiences we had was with Toyota dealership.

No pressure, couldn't be more helpful with testing the car seats in various cars. Very professional and a great environment created on the showroom. The receptionist helped with the kids and they even had a little play area with CBeebies on the TV.

Service I would expect from a high end garage to be honest.

Worse was BMW Teesside. Didn't seem interested, had to book to see a sales person (a few years back not Covid) even though there was plenty around having a laugh with each other and just felt like I was a waste of time!