Auto Express – July 30, 2019

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

THE DEALERS

ULTIMATE GUIDETO

BUYINGACAR

VAUXHALLmaynotbetoopleasedtofind

itsdealersinthelowerreachesofour

table,butgiventhefirmisnowunderthe

watchfuleyeofGroupePSA,bossescould

turntohigher-rankingCitroentoworkout

howtoimprovethisstalwartoftheUK

dealerlandscape.Managersmightfirst

turntheirattentiontothelackofcourtesy

cars,becausethiswasresponsiblefor

Vauxhall’slowestmark.Thetimeittakes

mechanicstocompletework(orhowwell

expectationsweremanagedaroundthe

timeallottedforthetask)alsoneedstobe

lookedat.Still,atleastVauxhallowners

arereasonablycontentwiththequality

oftheworkcarriedoutontheircars.

THEtwobiggestissuesforBMWdealers,

accordingtoourreaders,arethetimeit

takestheirworkshopstocompleterepairs

andmaintenance,andthefriendlinessof

staff.Thislatterissueisashame,because

itdetractsfromthedecentresultfranchise

facilitiesgarnered;youreportthatthey

arecleanandwellappointed.Butaswell

astakingtoolongtocompleteworkon

yourcars,yousayBMWdealersdon’toffer

goodvalueformoney,andyoudon’tthink

toomuchoftheworkthatiscarriedout,

either.Giventhereputationthefirmhas

forbuildingpremium,wellmadecars,it’s

surprisingyousaythisisn’treflectedin

theBMWafter-salesexperience.

SISTERbrandDaciamaybelowerinour

surveythanbigbrotherRenault,butwe’re

stillinthetailendofourrankings,and

26thisadisappointingresult.Renault

dealersneedmorecourtesycarstouptheir

worst-performingcategory, whileattention

isneededtothefacilitiesonoffer:both

parkingspacesandcomfortofwaiting

areasreceivedlowmarks.It’snotalldire

news:areasonablevalue-for-moneyscore

indicatesdealersaren’tfelttobeoverpriced.

That’snotenoughtohelpfranchiseespost

anythingmorethanahumdrumoverall

result,though,butatleastit’sbetterthan

theonetheyachievedin2018,whenthey

wererankedsecondfrombottom.

ADISAPPOINTINGresultforMazda,whose

dealersplaced24thlastyear,butslump

threeplacesin2019.Ownerssavetheir

lowestscoresforthefacilitiesonoffer,

complainingshowroomsdon’thaveenough

on-siteparking,whilewaitingroomsand

collectionareaswerenotdeemedtobe

comfortable.Poorcommunicationfrom

dealerstaffwasanotherfactor,withthe

lowestindividualscoreinthiscategory

beingforhowmuchgaragestoldyouabout

howwellworkonyourcarswasgoing,and

howmuchitwouldbeexpectedtocost.You

don’tjudgeMazdadealerstoofferstellar

valueformoney,andsaycourtesycars

arenotaseasytoaccessasyou’dlike.

83.68%

83.30%

83.17%

82.60%

24. Vauxhall

25. BMW

26. Renault


27. Mazda

RATINGS

RATINGS

RATINGS

RATINGS

CATEGORIES

CATEGORIES

CATEGORIES

CATEGORIES

“Websitesayscourtesycarsareincludedinprices,butthedealer

chargesextraforinsuranceandtheytendtocomelowonfuel.”

“Servicedeskstaffarerude,apatheticandseeminglyuntrained.

Theyhavenounderstandingofwarrantiesanddidn’treturncalls.”

“Ihadbookedacourtesycarinadvance,onlytobetold

noloancarwasavailablewhenIarrivedatthegarage.”

“WhenIwenttocollectmycarIfoundithadbeendamaged

bythemechanics,soithadtobesenttothebodyshop.”

%OFOWNERS WHOHAD APROBLEM...

%OFOWNERS WHOHAD APROBLEM...

%OFOWNERS WHOHAD APROBLEM...

%OFOWNERS WHOHAD APROBLEM...

31 1

31 1

31 1

31 1

Carsbeingdirtyandnotready

whentheywereshouldbewere

themaincausesofcomplaint

Unansweredcallsanddiscourteous

staffwerecommongripes.Carsnot

beingreadywasthemainsingleissue

Fault-findingandfixingarethemost

commoncomplaints,followedbycars

notbeingcleanedorreadyontime

Aquarterofdealergripesrelatedto

fault-finding,butasimilarnumber

wereforcarsnotbeingreadyintime

10.7%

19.2%

9.1%

16.2%

OWNER’S

VIEW

OWNER’S

VIEW

OWNER’S

VIEW

OWNER’S

VIEW

Dealer facilities

Availability of courtesycar

Staff courtesy

Communication

Standardofwork

Speed to completework

Value formoney

Dealer facilities

Availability of courtesycar

Staff courtesy

Communication

Standardofwork

Speed to completework

Value formoney

Dealer facilities

Availability of courtesycar

Staff courtesy

Communication

Standardofwork

Speed to completework

Value formoney

Dealer facilities

Availability of courtesycar

Staff courtesy

Communication

Standardofwork

Speed to completework

Value formoney