How have dealerships got so bad ?

Discussion in 'Dealer and Trader Experiences' started by edthefed, Apr 23, 2024.

  1. edthefed
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    edthefed WARLORD

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    Came home on Sunday after a weekend away, during which we left Mrs Eds X1 on the driveway at home.
    Monday morning it would not start - flat battery. I fully charged it on my CTEK a month ago so something amiss. Until the weekend it had been in daily use

    Put it on the CTEK yesterday for 6 hours and was able to start it and drive it for 90 mins.

    However the car is 6.5 years old and on the original battery so its probably on its way out.

    Started OK this morning and been on the CTEK most of the day its now showing fully charged know idea how long it will hold the charge.

    The battery is also hidden away at the back of the engine bay, and looking on U tube its a fiddly job to get it out and then it needs registering to the car

    Started ringing round looking to get a new battery supplied and fitted

    Dealer 1
    Parts advisor could give a price for the battery but when asked "dont think it needs registering - ask the service desk"
    3 young girls on the service desk none of whom knew about registering the battery to the car "we are only here to take bookings". Finally got a price to supply and fit after they went off to find out

    Dealer 2
    We have bought 4 new BMWs from them in the past "fully booked till May 16th" sorry cant help

    Dealer 3
    We use for servicing and MOTs on both cars - as recently as last month - fully booked till May 2nd

    Dealer 4
    40 miles - we can do it later this week but its an all day appointment, you will need to leave the car here at 0830 and come back for it when we tell you its ready, could be as late as 1730

    Dealer 5
    40 miles other direction Service advisor could not assist until I had rung the parts department, confirmed they had a battery in stock, got a price, rung her back - she then offered a slot for Thursday.

    Spoke to a couple of Indys - a specialist BMW place could do it later this week and can code it but price is on a par with dealer 1

    Another more general Indy could do it on same day "not familiar with the X1 but i am sure we will be able to do it and register it" but were not too convincing.

    Its on the extended warranty with roadside assistance and one dealer even suggested just waiting till the battery fails again and call them out, which went down well with Mrs Ed !

    What happened to nipping to the motor factors and buying a battery and swapping it over on your drive without having to dismantle parts of the engine bay and get it registered
     
  2. Kev2005
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    Kev2005 WARLORD Site Supporter Good Egg

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    wow, interesting read. How long before Dealer 1 can do it compared to the others?

    I know when i needed a battery for my 320D a while back, i was a bit alarmed at the price to fit & register & program to the car etc... was day light robbery but I needed it doing as i needed the car and couldn't take a chance on it lasting etc...

    Kev
     
  3. edthefed
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    edthefed WARLORD

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    Kev
    Ive had bad experiences previously with dealer 1 - they just happened to be nearest to where i was yesterday. They could have done it next week, but the fact a parts advisor and 3 service advisors did not know that batteries required registering to the car was off putting !

    Halfords mobile claim to be able to do it, but various bits of under bonnet trim, the full air intake / filter and a cross member all need to be removed to access the battery the
    battery according to you tube and its a Halfords own brand battery - earliest they can do it is Thursday

    She needs it doing as her elderly mum is in hospital and she is using the car everyday for hospital visiting and when ma out law comes home she will be joint carer.

    Needs must so its off to the dealers Thursday morning at least it should minimise any potential extended warranty issues if a dealership does the job
     
  4. Kev2005
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    Kev2005 WARLORD Site Supporter Good Egg

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    ah ok, yeah not ideal then dealer 1. Sorry to hear the news, hope all is ok goes well for out law, can't be fun being in hospital. So I guess it's Dealer 5 then, fingers crossed the issue is resolved smoothly as possible and car goes back to be reliable!

    All the best, hope all goes well

    Kev
     
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  5. edthefed
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    edthefed WARLORD

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    Yes dealer 5 tomorrow - in the meantime its connected up to the CTEK to make sure it starts in the morning.

    And the good news is that my mother in law (91 this year) was discharged from hospital this morning - having been admitted on 5th November last year !!
     
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  6. Abh29
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    Abh29

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    my son got a competitive price and good service on his Merc from either AA or rac ( i can not recall which).
     
  7. edthefed
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    edthefed WARLORD

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    We are not members of either so would no doubt have to pay a call out fee or join up.....and of the 6 batteries available via the RAC 2 are more expensive than BMW including fitting, 2 are very similarly priced and 2 are only slightly cheaper !
     
  8. MarkGray
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    MarkGray Site Supporter

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    Check out MDS Battery

    I picked up a battery for the 550i from these guys, substantially cheaper than the auto factors were offering. On mine the coding was only required if you changed the size of the battery (Amps). I used Bimmerlink to tell the car the new battery was on, nd it resets the clock on how long it has been in there.

    The battery on mine is under the lining in the boot, so from the sounds of it a bit easier to get to.
     
  9. edthefed
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    edthefed WARLORD

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    Thanks - i had i replaced this morning

    The dealers then gave me a list of required work from the health check (brake discs and pads all round) - i know they need doing shortly -
    "£902 and we can do them now"
    Er no thanks
     
  10. edthefed
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    edthefed WARLORD

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    Having owned BMWs since 1997 today was a first - along with the invoice i was handed a letter addressed to myself imploring me to grade them 9/10 or 10/10 in a follow up survey from BMW !

    "It is vitally important to us that you feel you can score the questions 10 out of 10 or at least 9/10 if you feel that we have room for improvement"

    And

    "If for any reason you feel you cannot give 10/10 and 5 stars please do not hesitate to contact us at the earliest opportunity"

    Seems they are desperate to get a good score for some reason !
     
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  11. Kev2005
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    Kev2005 WARLORD Site Supporter Good Egg

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    Yes, I had this all the time when I had a BMW, 2 different dealerships and both were the same. They both even changed staff as I noticed 1 guy who was at the first dealership was later at the 2nd dealership. The impression I got was if they don't get high scores it affects there jobs is basically what a couple of the guys told me, not sure how true it was, I occasionally got a call to do the survey but not all the time, or perhaps I missed the call.

    Kev
     
  12. edthefed
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    edthefed WARLORD

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    This is the same dealership who could not give me a price until i had rung the parts dept, got a price for a battery and then rung the service dept back !

    Clearly all "service advisors" have become "service receptionists" who have very little knowledge of how a car operates and as one said to me "im only here to take bookings".

    It all felt very "process driven" and I was just a number on a balance sheet. 24 hours later they will not even know my name.

    Gone are the days where the service department remembered your name and you could ask a question without being told "we can book it in for a diagnostics check but that costs £135"
     
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  13. Kev2005
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    Kev2005 WARLORD Site Supporter Good Egg

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    Yes agree, has the new battery resolved the issue or too early to tell?

    Kev
     
  14. Alan Gunn
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    Alan Gunn

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    Just had a look at MDS Battery and looked very expensive to me.
    I get my batteries from Tayna have a look at them for prices.
     
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  15. zarnd
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    zarnd

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    Having worked for main dealers for 18 years there has been a massive change in what we are there to do.

    Company I work for now is currently privately owned having been bought out. I’m tasked with 15% more in GP this year but have 12% less techs and 40% less support staff. Near impossible to achieve figures and provide any sort of customer service. We are also having our showroom redone currently and not due to finish until August.

    I’ve spent most of this year considering leaving and changing career as it’s bloody painful on a daily basis.

    I had a meeting with the powers that be and laid out my issues but nothing will change and I think I will end up leaving in the long term. Trouble is, pretty much all dealer groups are the same. Only care is profit, don’t really care about staff and or customers.

    Cheers


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
     
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  16. isleaiw
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    isleaiw

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    My brother was a main dealer tech and then a service manager from 16 to in his 40s, but gave it up and went to an independent when he was being tasked with more profit from fewer people, and the general view being you need to make more money per car in the garage. People talking to customers were young girls who didnt understand what they were talking about and he was constantly being tasked for under recovery on mechanics time - even though some of the jobs they got in were warranty on fixed hours that were unachievable...

    He now is a service manager for a fork lift truck company - no saturdays, customers who generally arent spending their own money and pay what is needed to get it fixed, less time pressure and more money!

    Cant get my car serviced for next to nowt anymore though ;)
     
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  17. zarnd
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    zarnd

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    I’m in the same boat. Only good thing about my role is that there are no Saturdays and I make my own hours as long as I do 45 between Monday and Friday so could be a lot worse I guess.

    Cheers


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
     
  18. edthefed
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    edthefed WARLORD

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    Took the X1 to a recommended BMW specialist this morning for the brakes doing
    New front discs and pads fitted (Pagid) and a BMW sensor.

    Despite the dire warnings from the BMW dealership that the rear discs / pads needed doing apparently they have plenty of life left in them - at least another 12 months at current level of use
     
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  19. Astonred
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    Astonred

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    How is the battery coded to the car?

    When I changed the one in the Golf 2012, I didn't know how to code it, and crucially couldn't find any info online. So had Halfords come out and fit one (at a pretty decent price actually), all he did was put the new battery in then get me to turn the ignition on and turn the steering wheel full left then right. Job done.
     
  20. MarkGray
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    I used Bimmerlink to code mine, (I think that was the one, or Bimmercode) to be fair it only needed to be coded if you changed the size of the battery - all it did on mine was change the date to when it was fitted so you can then see how old it is. Mine is an F10 550i so not sure if the newer cars are different.
     

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