Auto Express – July 30, 2019

46 SpecialIssue http://www.autoexpress.co.uk

THEDEALERS

ULTIMATE GUIDETO

BUYINGACAR

THEimpactthatdealershaveon

ournew-carexperiencecannotbe

overestimated.Fromthemomentwewalk

intoadealership,mostofusaremaking

judgements.Howcleanandtidyisit?Are

staffapproachable,andkeenwithout

beingpushy?Dotheyknewtheirproduct?

Howwillingaretheytoofferatestdrive?

Manyofusdecidewhetherwewillbuy

fromadealerwithinthefirstfewminutes,

andgoodsalespeoplecanmakethe

processpositivelyenjoyable.Afterall,

asidefromahouse,anewcaristhemost

significantpurchasemostofuswillever

make,sowhyshouldn’titfeelabitspecial?

Butaftertheexcitementofthesaleand

unveil,doestheafter-salesexperience

matchuptotheinitialpromise?Are

serviceseasytobook?Areanyteething

problemsquicklyandefficientlyhandled?

Simplerthanthat,dostaffanswerE-mails

andreturnphonecallsinatimelymanner?

TheAutoExpressconsumerdeskhears

talesofbothwoeandpraisefromreaders,

withsomecustomersswearingtonotset

footinabrand’sshowroomsagain,and

otherssayingtheywouldneverbuyfrom

anotherdealership,letalonebrand,based

onhowwelltheyhadbeentreated.

Thenext10pageshighlightwhatlife

islikeintheworldofthefranchised

dealershiponcetheinitialpurchasehas

beenmade,withourresultsbasedon

feedbackfromthousandsofreaders.

Weaskedyoutorateyourdealersin

sevenspecificareas,takinginsubjects

likewhethertherewasgoodparking,how

clearlyworkwasexplained,ifstaffwere

friendlyoncetheyhadyourcustom,and

iflabourratesandparts’pricesfeltfair.

Soreadontofindoutwhichbrands’

dealerstakecareofyou,andwhichneed

morepolishifthey’retoliveuptothe

promisemadebysomeofthefantastic

newcarsthatareavailabletoday.

Yourbest cardealers

We deliver the verdict on 31 franchised dealer networks, as reported

on and ratedbyparticipants in the 2019 Driver Powerownership survey

Whattypeofdealer

doyouuseforservicing?

■Franchisedmaindealer 84.7%

■Localindependentgarage 13.7%

■Independentmarquespecialist 1.6%

ȐȐ̓̓ 11 ll

ȏȏ 6666 ll

ȍȍҟ 47799 ඪඪl 4 ࣬࣬ᅚᅚ˔˔lҟ ɡɡ 1 ஹ 122445 llஹҧҧ॒॒ፙፙ 5

Reasonsyou

choseyourdealer

■Iboughtmycarthere24%

■Ithasexpertiseinservicing/

repairingmyvehicle 18%

■Thestaffare

friendlyandhelpful 16.2%

■It’sconvenientlylocated 15.5%

■Itofferscourtesycarsand/or

pick-upanddrop-offservice 14.2%

■Ithascompetitiveprices 5.4%

■Other 3.5%

■Itwasrecommendedby

afriendorfamilymember 1.8%

■Itoffersextended/

outofhoursservicing 1.3%

LOYALTYandconveniencearebigreasons

foryourchoiceofdealer–almost40per

centofyousimplyreturnyourcartothe

dealeryouboughtitfromforservicing,

orpickagaragebecauseit’snearby.

Dealerswhoofferapick-upanddrop-

offservicearelikelytoattractbusiness

fromadecentproportionofcustomers,

whileanotherbigreasonyougavefor

usingyourdealerwasbecauseyoufelt

thestaffwouldhavetheexpertise

tolookafteryourcar.Theimportance

offriendlyemployeesshouldnever

beunderestimated,becausethiswas

anotherkeyreasonforchoosingadealer.

Perhapsthemostsurprisingaspect

ofthisanalysisishowlittleimportance

youattachtoprice:itseemsmany

ofyouarewillingtopayalittleextra

togettheservicethatyouexpect.

Whattypeofservice

wasperformed?

■Service 88%

■Repairs5.7%

■Both 6.3%

IT’Sreassuringtoseethatmostdealers

areonlyturnedtowhenaserviceisdue,or

whenyouneedanewsetofconsumables,

likebrakepadsorwindscreenwipers.

Routinemaintenanceisn’ttheonly

reasonyou’llcalluponadealer:12per

centwereforcedtocallin(orbetowedin)

followinganaccidentorbreakdown.

AndwhileEUrulespreventmanufacturers

frominvalidatingthewarrantiesofowners

whousenon-franchiseddealers,itseems

thevastmajorityofyouliketheadded

reassuranceamainagentbrings.

Biggestcomplaint

youhadwithyourdealer

■Carwasn’tready

whenpromised 17.7%

■Didn’tidentifyandfixfault 15.7%

■Carwasn’tcleaned 13%

■Costwasmuchhigher

thanexpected 11.7%

■Discourteousstaff 10.9%

■Unansweredphonecall 10.9%

■Didn’texplaintheproblem8.7%

■Unexplainedbills/charges 7.3%

■Wasnotprovidedwithanestimate

inadvanceofcompletingwork 4%

THEvastmajorityofyouhadnospecific

gripeswithyourdealeroverthelastyear,

with88percentlodgingnoparticular

issues.Butthatstillmeansmorethan

onein10ownersexperiencedaproblem

significantenoughtotellusaboutit.

Carsnotreadyontimecausedthe

greatestproportionofissues,andthe

abilityofworkshopstafftoidentifyand

fixglitchespromptedthenexthighest

number–worseningtheinconvenience

ofhavingaprobleminthefirstplace.

And,giventhatinmanycasesdealer

staffhadyourcarforlongerthantheysaid

theywould,thefactasignificantnumber

ofyoucomplainedthatyourcarwasn’t

cleanwhenitwasreturnedcan’thave

contributedtoapositiveexperience.

Staffcourtesywasanotherarea

whereyouwantedimprovements,but

theprocessaroundbills,estimatesand

chargeswasgenerallyfelttobeokay.

USER GUIDE: MAKINGSENSE OF THEDRIVER POWERDATA

1. DEALER RANKING

Our countdown kicksoff opposite,

and this number is the network’s chart

ranking out of the 31 franchises rated.

3. KEY CATEGORIES
   Seven categories cover your dealer
   experience; their scores areadded
   together to give an overall rating.

2. OWNER’S VIEW

To give an idea of what driversthink

of the dealers, we pick out aquote

from an owner –favourable or not.

4. ANY PROBLEMS?
   Each categoryscore is shown by a
   bar,and we also listpercentage of
   drivershaving issues with dealers.

1

2

3

4

Hugo Griffiths

[email protected]

@hugo_griffiths