This is EXACTLY why I hate car dealers!

[Pondrew]

I am going to re-count the experience I have had with York Audi (JCT600 franchise) over the past 6 days (yes six)!
It is going to be a long rant and could just be me expecting too much, but here goes:

Saw an Audi A4 estate on AT which looked like one I could want. Being sold by a franchised Audi dealer and advertised as "Audi Approved". The price was average retail, not super expensive but definitely not cheap. Price for the 2019 car with 29k miles was £19,708 (odd number I know).

So I rang the dealership and spoke to a trainee sales rep who is 19 years old. I asked for a walk-around video of the car and details of any marks the car had. I asked him not to do the video in the rain or on a wet car as it can hide many things.

10 minutes later I get an email with a video attached. It was taken outside in the rain and the car was wet. It was also dirty, so the rain had made the dirt run and look like multiple chips and scratches. I spoke to him once I had seen the video and said about the rain and dirt. He responded by saying yes it was dirty, that was because it has been sat on their outdoor 'pitch' for weeks! As for the water, he said it was raining, so it would be! He did confirm that everything I could see was dirt and not marks and the car was spotless.

OK, I thought. So I then asked for a copy of the service history. He said "it will have a full service history as it is Audi Approved, that is part of the conditions of them approving it". OK, so I asked him to send the history to me, so I can check it.
About 10 minutes later I get an email with an attachment of the Audi digital service printout. It had four entries: first was PDI entry, second was a service interval reset to 'fixed servicing' (every 10k or annually), third was a recall in 2020 and the last was a service done by the dealership selling it (done Nov 2023 at the same mileage it is currently on). That was it, no other services between 2019 and 2023.
So I rang him back and asked where the service history is? I had to explain to him that there was just one very recent service on the print out which doesn't constitute a full history. All he kept saying was that the car had passed all the inspections to make it 'Audi Approved'.

So half an hour later he emails me an invoice for a service done in 2020 by an independent (first service) which was in with the paperwork of the car. OK, so we have one service; what about the other two? He didn't know!

So I asked him to contact the garage on the invoice on the off-chance it had been serviced by them until recently. Two days later he responds and says they did service the car until earlier this year but were reluctant to send the invoices to him (quoting GDPR bollox apparently). So I said I would not buy the car without seeing proof that these services had been carried out. This went on from Friday morning until this morning (Wednesday).
I ended up ringing the servicing garage myself and asked the girl for the invoices. Within 5 minutes I had them!

Happy days! So I said I was happy so let's talk money and logistics. He then said "oh just to let you know, the price of that car was increased yesterday to £20,990 (from £19,708). You can imagine my response (or maybe not); suffice to say I wasn't very happy and there were more than a few expletives uttered.
At the previous price I was planning on paying around £19k for the car which I thought more than reasonable seeing as:
1. It's two weeks before xmas. How many people buy cars two weeks before xmas?
2. I know they have had that car a while (at least three months).
3. It's not a desirable spec as it's manual
4. Cars are (or so I thought) going down in value.

The last thing he said to me was "I can see if I can get it down to £20,700 but that will be the best I can do". I responded with "DOWN? That's £1,000 MORE than the retail price yesterday"!
I told him and his dealership to go and procreate with their respective mothers.

So bullet points from my experience:
Audi Approved means nothing, just two random words
Car salesmen are lazy, arrogant w*nkers (although I knew that already TBH)
Increasing the price of a car because you can't sell it seems to be perfectly logical to Audi York!

Sorry for the long rant! Again!

[Scubaregs]

Ok, I work for Satan incarnate, sorry a main dealer, so will deal with your first point regarding videos.
I can easily do 8-10 YCP videos a day. (Your car preview) This is amongst other duties, fuelling cars, test drives with customers, in car handovers, customer walk ins with queries about the idrive system/functions of their car, getting keys and a car from the compound to show a customer around it, talking to customers on the shop floor if no sales consultants free, etc, etc, etc. You get the picture.
We have a big push on just now on generic videos, so a customer can get a video immediately upon asking. These are short, 2-3 minutes long and we only do them on cars that are fully prepped and where possible we do them inside in the photo booth or service tunnel as they are dry and well lit.

A YCP is longer and more tailored to the customer, it's personal. We do however have a structure to follow and are audited on it. Quite simply it is not possible to always do this video indoors in a dry, well lit setting. (Be much nicer for me if it was.) My dealership is the company’s flagship branch, only built and open around 8 months ago, however we do not have a dedicated indoor area for videos.

So I get a request from the product consultant to do a YCP for Mr Pondrew. It is pissing down with rain and the car is on the pitch or in the compound. I simply do not have the time, or access to valet bay resources, to get the car, wash it, dry it off then do a video of it and it is highly unlikely I would be able to that video indoors, so it is done outside in the pissing rain so negates any point in drying it off in the first place.

Oh, another thing, it is not unknown for a customer to request a YCP and want it asap, only never to view the actual video even though the link is sent to them 20 minutes later.

I don't really want to comment on the Audi salesperson, I have no idea of their criteria for the role, but do know they have to have SAF qualifications in order to sell, along with GDPR and ethics training.

Re the Audi approved, again I don't know their criteria. For us it has to have a full BMW service history, however on a sub 20,000 mile car that could easily have just one service due to the service intervals.

If you buy remotely from us, after doing your deal over the phone or online, and you are not picking the car up from us, i.e. we are sending it to your nearest delivery centre, we do a DC video for you once the car is fully prepped and valeted and the sales consultant has inspected the car and approved it. The DC video is longer than a YCP, it covers both your essential controls and your final condition report, both inside and outside of the vehicle. The customer must view this video and be happy with the condition of the car before it is transported. If they are not happy and we cannot resolve the problem, they can refuse the car and have their deposit returned.

How far is the dealer from you, would you have been buying remotely?

[IRD]

I know how you feel Andy. I had a similar experience with a BMW dealer a couple of years ago when I was looking for a 330e. They upped the price of a car I was interested in by £2000 overnight. I just don’t understand the logic of some aspects of car sales. But like your guy they wouldn’t budge on price. They even had the cheek to ask for a review of my experience with the garage. Needless to say what I wrote was colourful.

[Pondrew]

OK just for Craig (Scuby), as he seems to have taken my rant personally, I will change one part:

All car salespeople 'I have ever encountered' are lazy, arrogant w*nkers!

The irony is that thanks to me, they can now call that car Audi Approved as I found them the service history. I think I may call them tomorrow and ask for half of the additional £1,200 profit they are proposing to make on that car.

[Scubaregs]

I didn't take it personally, I just pointed out what goes on behind the scenes.

It's not a one way Street, we get plenty of customers who have little or no intent in buying, customers who are less than honest when describing their trade in, or it's mechanical condition etc.

One branch had a customer have their car delivered by low loader at night to an adjacent parking lot, then have their mates help push it into the dealership first thing in morning hoping it wouldn’t be noticed!

So, were you buying remotely?

[Pondrew]

So, were you buying remotely?

Yes it would have been. I know the rules; I have bought a few cars recently!

[coldel]

To be honest you can get shoddy service in any industry in any purchase moment, from fast food to cars

As above, I suspect that time is the contributing factor. Most sales people are on commission of some sort and arent going to spend hours on a single customer, their own manager will have a list of stuff for them to do and a list of other customers wanting lots as well. I dont blame the guy for just quoting what he knows rather than ditching his lunch hour and getting behind on work doing all the calling around for service history.

I was looking for an RCZ R before I got my E86 and went to a big Peugeot dealer near me as they luckily had one. So I was actually in the door cash on the hip wanting to buy. A quick look under the bonnet I noticed lots of shiny new bolts, shiny engine, dirty ancillaries ... I asked if it was a new engine ... they said no as they serviced the car from new and would know about it. I kept pushing in the end the chap looked at his computer and lo and behold previous engine blew up and this new one had been put in. I said I am still interested but would need receipts for the work done and they refused to hand them over citing GDPR ... I mentioned they could redact the PII but they refused to budge on that nor the price! So I walked.

I was frustrated, but I could understand their position, I am sure the second I went out the door that sales guy had the next customer at his desk. Ultimately any company that says 'customer first' is just talking out their backsides as 'profit line first' is always the real marker

[Pondrew]

I dont blame the guy for just quoting what he knows rather than ditching his lunch hour and getting behind on work doing all the calling around for service history.

For 5 days?
He openly admitted when I first called they were 'as dead as a dodo' in general.
It wasn't the service that was shoddy, it was the complete lack of being interested that the 'Audi Approved' remit was not adhered to with that car. Remember they have had that car for at least 3 months. They have had ample opportunity to look into it.
It wasn't even that that has really got me fuming; it's the increase in price across the board on cars that they haven't sold at the lower price and not even letting me know it was going to happen, which would have been a very good sales pitch as it may have hurried me up!

It is yet another example of people not doing a good job and being utterly blase about it. I am a firm believer that many people earn too much money which makes caring an option.
The irony is that 'carers' work really hard for their minimum wage in conditions that most wouldn't entertain.

[Pondrew]

Ultimately any company that says 'customer first' is just talking out their backsides as 'profit line first' is always the real marker

And that is part of the problem across the board. I have owned a business for over 30 years and have always put customer service first, then doing an exceptional job second; the profit will follow if you do. Maybe I shouldn't have bothered as it doesn't seem to be hurting most businesses.

[Nanu]

If I get bad service of any kind I just walk away with one comment, "My money spends anywhere".

[Mr Tidy]

Their lack of effort with the service history is disappointing given they are selling it as an AUC, but the price increase is very perplexing.

I don't see values increasing this close to Christmas. WBACs valuation of my Cat N 3 Series was £900 two weeks ago, £870 last week and £855 today!

But service seems to vary from dealer to dealer, even for the same manufacturer. Mrs Tidy got excellent service from Sytner when she bought her first new Mini, which is partly what made me buy my first BMW. It was an AUC less than a year old I got from Scotthall who were great. Mrs Tidy then bought her next new Mini from Sytner who were excellent again.

Then I got my next BMW as a pre-reg from Cooper in Croydon, who were appalling. If I could have found another I would have gone elsewhere but it was a 123d and they had only been on sale 3 months!

Good luck finding the right car at a garage that understands customer service.

[mmm-five]

OK just for Craig (Scuby), as he seems to have taken my rant personally, I will change one part:

All car salespeople 'I have ever encountered' are lazy, arrogant w*nkers!

The irony is that thanks to me, they can now call that car Audi Approved as I found them the service history. I think I may call them tomorrow and ask for half of the additional £1,200 profit they are proposing to make on that car.

Call them tomorrow and tell them you won’t be bothering because the independent told you about some concerning/upcoming issues with the car.

You’d love to tell them what the issues are, but you can’t due to GDPR bollox.

[Pondrew]

Call them tomorrow and tell them you won’t be bothering because the independent told you about some concerning/upcoming issues with the car.

You’d love to tell them what the issues are, but you can’t due to GDPR bollox.

I would put money on them not giving a shite. The attitude is 'someone will buy it one day soon'. They would probably be more than happy, as the Audi warranty is not held by them, so they would get paid by VAG UK for any warranty work. Win win for the dealership!

[Nictrix]

Your car ownership is getting shorter, you're not even collecting them now

[Pondrew]

Your car ownership is getting shorter, you're not even collecting them now

I know! I can't even give my money away!