SWMBO's Jazz had a recall requiring the replacement of a headlight switch. The deal was to contact a main dealer and book it in for the free, while you wait, job.
The day arrived and we took it in to the glass palace and wandered to a fancy desk labelled "Reception". The woman there then guided us to another smart desk - "Service Reception". We sat down with a grumpy git who tapped into a computer and making no small talk at all. He insisted on inspecting the car all over for existing damage, missing a lot (!) and we then had to ask him how long our wait might be. We suggested an hour, got an apparently affirmative grunt and we said we’d go for walk There was no offer to visit the customer comfy area with TV, tea, coffee and papers - no offer to phone us when the car was ready either.
Before our walk we looked in the showroom and got a bit excited (well, we’re not so young anymore !!) at the £16,000, gulp, Hybrid Jazz. In a glass office a regular (?) sales meeting seemed to be taking place where maybe 6 suited gents were talking in turn. After 15 minutes of looking around and after nobody approached us we left for our walk. By the way, I looked at an Accord Tourer too – what…. £32,000 !!
We returned, found the Jazz had never even been moved as the fix was done in situ in the car park. We asked grumpy git if the car was ready, he said it was and he handed back the keys and off we drove.
The reason for the mild rant:
Expensive glass palace with no outward evidence of staff economies or efficiency.
Honda prices - wow.
Grumpy Git.
This dealer writes to us about every 6 months urging us in to look at his cars – what an opportunity missed today.
Me buy a Honda ? – no chance.
Last edited by: Dulwich Estate on Wed 9 Mar 11 at 19:49
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I suggest BMW for your next car. Try certain branches of my local BMW dealer. They will provide all the smiling small talk you can swallow. Just not much else.
They'll sit for 5 mins waving your key ever more vigorously under the RFID key reader despite your politest protestations that a year 2000 728i does not have an RFID key - they handle these every day?! They look completely different from my key.
The workshop staff are hit and miss, there's 2 excellent staff but 2 is not enough to run a workshop so odds on you'll get someone less than excellent. Someone who points at your power steering pipe and says your autobox oil cooler has a leak. To be fair to the chap, the power steering does use plain old ATF fluid, but the auto box doesn't!
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To be fair, Skoda, dealers of all makes vary tremendously. By coincidence, I had to visit a BMW dealer today to get a problem fixed, and the service was excellent . . .and....wait for it....totally free. (Goodwill gesture on a car out of warranty)
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>> – what an opportunity missed today.
>>
As someone who is basically a salesman, this always absolutely astonishes me.
At my last trip to the Mercedes dealer I use, I waited as they were just doing the MOT. A gent, who had a "retired, well off" look about him, brought his 3yr old SLK in for service and its first MOT.
He asked the service advisor for a brochure on the current model and she walked him over to the brochure stand, where the sales manager was also standing, took a brochure and gave it to the customer. He glanced at it, and popped it in his bag, and walked off.
The sales manager appeared to not even notice any of this had happened - she made no attempt to engage with the customer at all. I wanted to ask her why, but I was speechless.
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When looking at cars a couple of weeks ago, I found one ideal model at a used car dealer with about 30 cars for sale. The intention was, if it had no major problems, to buy it there and then.
I phoned them midweek to ask if they were open on Sunday, they said yes but it would be a good idea to call when we were on the way in case they were out on a test drive. I asked about a few detail points on the car (clutch, DMF, condition of tyres etc) at the same time. I also phoned them on the Sunday about 40 minutes before we were due to arrive to remind them what car we were interested in and to check they were open.
When we got there we stood around in the rain for 15 minutes waiting for them to find the keys. Eventually we gave up and left. (Just checked AT website, it appears to have been sold now!)
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It's just endemic now in all trades. We wanted a small bed for Grandkid's room.
Various shops were visited inckuding a small indy in Timperley....a good area.
The lady assistant, possibly owner, was talking to a couple of ladies, but not bed orientated conversation, just chatter.
She made no effort to even acknowledge us and after ten minutes of invisibility we left.....with no pursuit from her.
We went to a real shambles of a shop in a poor area of Moss Side and couldn't have been better treated...he made a sale !
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When I was a valeter at main dealer, even we received a level of sales training because if all salesmen were tied up, which happened quite often, we were to get the keys to any car they were interested in and open it up so they could have a look round and inform the manager someone was waiting. Same went for brochures.
Its all just good practice IF you want to sell cars. If they dont even bother at that level, id hate to think what you get after you buy the car.
Say what you like about where I bought my car, but one thing they arent is inattentive.
Ive had several cups of coffee made there from a kettle, no machine stuff. I like that kind of thing and I like that when they say 'we will ring you on...' they actually do.
They always make sure I know whats going on and even if the car I bought wasnt up to much, they did their very best to paper over the cracks until they could resolve it.
I expect if id had the Honda response to my issues, blood would have been spilled!
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Devonshire Motors in Barnstaple North Devon (Mitsubishi). Can't do enough for you. Excellent.
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Well, my Honda experience was entirely different.
My Accord Tourer was booked in for its service and MOT a couple of weeks ago. Met at reception of Lightcliffe Honda - used to be Lookers -by a charming lady who first of all made a fuss of Henry - my six month old Cocker Spaniel - then did the paperwork. I was offered a lift into Southport but declined.
I went to the lounge area, was asked what I would like to drink, and was made an excellent cup of coffee. Henry was given a bowl of water. Finished coffee, took Henry for a walk, returned to be offered another coffee. Fuss made of Henry, and more water given to him. Read my Telegraph and then told my car was ready - rather less then three hours. Car was cleaned thoroughly inside. Completed survey about my treatment, paid bill and left. Three days later had a call to see if everything was alright.
Don't paint all Honda dealers with the same brush.
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Colliers in Erdington, near Birmingham, have been good to me as well. Honest, straightforward and friendly service. Price is reasonable as well, especially given it keeps the breakdown cover current (I think, maybe I should check that?).
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When SWMBO had her Civic FN3 the local Honda dealer was polite and helpful, however they never fixed any of the numerous problems first time or on some occasions at-all. Go look at the civinfo forum if you want to know how problematic these cars can be. I formed the impression that they weren't used to unreliable cars and found it all a bit traumatic...
It was our first (and probably last) Honda.
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>> Don't paint all Honda dealers with the same brush.
>> When SWMBO had her Civic FN3
>> It was our first (and probably last) Honda.
Don't paint all Hondas with the same brush.
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>Colliers in Erdington ...have been good to me as well.
been in business since 1926. Speaks for itself.
Happy Motoring Phil I
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>> ..especially given it keeps the breakdown cover current
>> (I think, maybe I should check that?).
>>
There's some paperwork so you should check that if you're relying on it.
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I will stick my oar here in for Gatwick Honda, another dealer who are unfailingly helpful on both sales and service.
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Update: We get a mail shot today from the dealer inviting us to a "cost price" new car event this week-end.
Just how old and experienced is the Sales Director ? 12 and works only Saturday mornings ?
By the way, I was not slagging off Honda and their dealers in general - only this outfit. I also think it's fair to say that although generally good cars with top notch engines they are too pricey for what they offer.
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I'd tend to disagree.
My Honda with 115k on the clock is in better mechanical nick than any car I've owned above 60k before. My colleague couldn't believe it was a diesel, and didn't believe the mileage until I showed him. It's essentially as new, with no slop in anything, and everyting still works. When the clutch went at 100k Honda were so surprised they replaced it under warranty.
I'm happy to pay for the superior engineering.
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>> I'm happy to pay for the superior engineering.
>>
I have to say that when it came to time to change wifey's car we usually get something else just for a change, but this time there was no reason we could think of not to just buy another Jazz, so we did.
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>> I'm happy to pay for the superior engineering.
>>
So am I but I don't think Honda provided this on the Civic FN3.
On the FN3 these superior engineers clearly ran out of time, energy, motivation or money when they got to the suspension, the locks, the exhaust system, the trim materials, the driveshafts, the water sealing, the handbrake, the ECU (on the 2.2 CTDi) and so on. It was the first car we've had in 20 years that failed to start on our driveway - unforgivable in a (then) 6 month old car.
Back in 2006 I had one of the old model Accord Tourers with the 2.2 CTDi for a weekend and it impressed me, I regretted selecting the A4 B7 Avant out of badge snobbery and was so impressed we bought the FN3 Civic for my wife. I still doubt I'll be buying a Honda any time soon after the FN3 experience though.
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Ouch. Mine's an 2005 Accord Tourer with the i-CTDi engine, so I'm happy with my choice.
That said, it failed to start twice early in its life - a failed alternator and a failed EGR valve. Has run like clockwork since 42k though, so I'm starting to forgive it.
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...it failed to start twice early in its life...
I can forgive a car anything - except that.
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>> Ouch. Mine's an 2005 Accord Tourer with the i-CTDi engine, so I'm happy with my
>> choice.
>>
Quite reasonable, as I said - driving one in late 2006 impressed me greatly. A question I would ask is whether the latest Jazz, Accord and CRV are engineered like your Accord or the Civic FN3 ? I might consider a Honda if their standards haven't slipped.
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>> Quite reasonable, as I said - driving one in late 2006 impressed me greatly. A
>> question I would ask is whether the latest Jazz, Accord and CRV are engineered like
>> your Accord or the Civic FN3 ? I might consider a Honda if their standards
>> haven't slipped.
The Accord and CRV have always been well regarded in various reviews. Which Magazine could not recommend a current shape Civic due to too many faults. But the previous Civic was a good machine. I think Honda just got too radical and changed too much of the car in a short period of time. Usually the best cars are steady evolutions of the previous model, though not always (cavalier to vectra).
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Honda - Another Main Dealer moan.....yawn.... - Skoda
