[mattymito]

Having had 4 new alfa's in recent years we have had our fair share of good and bad dealers

AUTOWORLD CHESTERFIELD

Ordered a mito from here high pressure sales tactics used,very little knowledge of the brand or cars,
turned up to collect, car was filthy and sat around 2 hours after our collection time waiting for it, got the car home and had to clean it inside and out, found a long deep scratch on rear quarter dealer said we had done it wanted no responsibility,told car would be filled put £7.50 in not enough to get us home.
3 months later get a call to say car needs to come in re-call work, booked a day of work and traveled up to them only to find it was nothing more than a sales pitch to sell service plans they kicked the tyres and gave it me back totally wasted day off work and time and fuel used.

stupidly ordered another mito from here as was promised a good deal and better service after last time, ordered a etna black mito and paid deposit
dealer calls after 4 days to say the car is white, told dealer don't want it was told 6 months wait for black (load of rubbish rang around other dealers had the car in stock or on the way) told got to have it, cancelled order took many calls and e-mail to get deposit back
sales staff became rude and tried under hand tactics to keep our order and money.

SPOKE TO ALFA ABOUT THIS COMPANY WAS TOLD MANY COMPLAINTS AND ARE ON THIN ICE.
WOULD NOT RECOMMEND STAY AWAY

BEECHDALE DERBY -

ordered a g from here instead of the mito from autoworld sales experience very good dealer stayed open late for us and was very clued up on the cars,
no pressure sales and very friendly
deal was excellent cheapest in all the uk
car was delayed and communication was poor as to a collection date

the g started to have suspension issues, dealer after care very poor
car went in 7 times and always came back the same
would book in to be looked at dealer would ring and cancel this happened 4 times
1) its raining
2) tech in hospital took car down any way tech alive and well?
3) tech goes out in car yes can hear noise,then changes mind in front of me and tells manager no noise
4) on going joke that every time we book in they call night before at 5.50 and cancel and 4th time lucky it happens again.

OVER ALL WOULD RECOMMEND FOR A GOOD DEAL BUT AFTER SALES IS APPALLING,BUY IT AND GET SOME ONE ELSE TO LOOK AFTER IT.

CHRIS VARAVA
just had our latest g from here, very experienced staff, no pressure sales, deal was good and a staff member visited us at home on his day off to talk us threw all the details.

staff member came in to hand car over on his day off,
dealer has contacted us twice since buying by both e-mail and phone to see if all is ok and seems genuinely interested in customer satisfaction.

WOULD HIGHLY RECOMMEND FROM WHAT WE HAVE EXPERIENCED SO FAR HERE.

lets hear your stories of the good and bad

 

[alfa 4 ever]

are autoworld still trading?

 

[mattymito]

yes but did hear they are in poor financial health as a company

 

[alfa 4 ever]

yes but did hear they are in poor financial heath as a company

not surprising really ,shocking way to treat a customer:tut:

 

[via el diablo]

I bought both my G's from Beechdale and found the service really good, though I've not used the service dept. I bought the first one over the phone and got top px for my Clio. And when I wanted a 2014 car a year later, they took care of the negative equity and I basically started again.

I had two mito's from AMC in Chelmsford and can't fault them either. When the first one started going wrong weekly ending up with a blown engine, they arranged for a replacement car which was upgraded from a lusso to a veloce.

I find my local dealer, glyn Hopkins, useless. I've taken the car in for a few bits and have recently asked about the nav update. Now despite seeing multiple posts on here about people having the update, GH's say it doesn't exist! Also when I first looked at getting a G, the salesman wouldn't give me a px price unless I signed for a new car! And during my last visit to the service dept, one of the salesmen upon seeing the beechdale sticker, basically interrogated me about why I hadn't bought the car from them.

 

[mattymito]

when we arrived to pick the new car up at chris variava they were just doing the update but was having some issues they offered to send a tech round to our home to do it at a time to suit us,but after the hand over all was done but my self and my partner both thought that was a nice gesture

 

[JTD_Liam]

Autoworld used to get slated when they were just Fiat. Not sure at what point they got Alfa but I remember being stunned when they were announced as one of the Abarth franchises, especially given this was meant to be limited to just the best Fiat dealers! :lol:

Could never understand why Fiat gave them the franchise when there's no shortage of better Fiat or Alfa dealers in that part of the Country. Even more interesting is why they haven't taken the franchise off them given that if they lost them there's still a good choice of Fiat dealers in the nearby area, plus Chris Variava, Beechdale & Dews for Alfa, and they could give Abarth (for what its worth with one model) to one of the others.

You hear some negative and some positive about many dealers, but I don't think I've ever seen a good word said about them!

 

[JTD_Liam]

My experience of dealers is generally positive, but a few have given hints of not caring much.

Motor Village Oxford
Bought my MiTo here, as did my Sister. Willing to negotiate a bit (but not loads) on sale price, decent communication before collection and courtesy call afterwards. Never been a quibble over warranty work, car always washed and vacuumed on return. Have been back several times with various issues on the two MiTo's & it's been largely hassle free, though some faults have needed repeat visits. Main negatives would be the wait for courtesy cars - up to two weeks, which started to wear thin when returning with a recurring problem on my MiTo. Plus servicing costs - my Sister & Mother were both quoted more than £350 for the first 18,000 mile service on their MiTo TwinAir and 500 TwinAir, which I think is horrific. That price isn't unique to them, though.

Thames - Slough
Approached them by phone re purchasing a brand new Giulietta. The facelift G was just launched so they couldn't get the monthly payment down enough for me to order but I would go back - the sales guy worked his a*se off to get the price down and unusually (given I've been a car salesman) I genuinely believed he had no room left for manoeuvre. He let me go for a test drive even though was unsure if the figures would stack up. Had it been now I think I would've got the price, but the discounts weren't what they are now. It seems a busy showroom, which can be annoying, but it's essentially Fiat, Alfa and Abarth all shoe-horned into a space only really big enough for Fiat. Had an interview for a service job there, didn't get it, but got the impression the service manager took things seriously.

Johnsons Solihull
As above, approached re Giulietta by phone and previously in person about MiTo. Always very good to start with, but despite taking details following me going in to speak about MiTo, they never followed it up. After phoning about Giulietta they tried to get a deal together but appeared to lose interest much quicker than Thames. Seems like a very nice (ex Porsche) showroom though, and there appeared to be happy customers around when I called in.

Also had dealings, mostly by phone, with Research Nuneaton, Meridien Milano (Hampshire/Dorset) and TH White (Swindon). Research didn't have a sales person to come to the phone when I called, so only got as far as the receptionist. I didn't bother to phone back. Same with TH White - no one could speak to me when I phoned up, recommended I called back. Didn't bother. Meridien Milano were helpful when taking details down of what I wanted and the sales guy said he'd ring back with figures, but never did. Given Johnsons and Thames both phoned me back I just stuck with them and didn't bother with Meridien Milano again.

Obviously Research, TH White and Meridien Milano may all be better in person, but first impressions count for a lot, and Thames & Johnsons seemed to try a lot harder.

 

[giblets46]

Suspect the good dealers would be covered in this sticky:
http://www.alfaowner.com/Forum/general-alfa-discussion/128358-main-dealer-recommendations.html
As mentioned in there, took my car into Johnsons whose mechanic suggested I needed several hundred pounds worth of work, it then cost me £10 and 10 minutes to fix myself with an official Alfa Part.
(The bonnet release lever in the foot-well snapped, they said they couldn't open the bonnet, wanted to replace the whole cable involving dismantling the bumper etc!! (they also said I needed to replace the cooling fan, due to a PO code, nothing wrong with it) I replaced the lever..... funnily enough I've not taken it back)

 

[Roswell]

Best - Alexanders in Teesside and Piccadilly in Knaresborough.
Worst - Research in Nuneaton.

 

[spitfire]

Hi
Bought my current 159 ti from Research Garage- Rubbish after sales service!!!!

They had borrowed bits from the car for other vehicles such as plastic cover in armrest door pulls. Had to chase to get replacements. The bonnet catch was snapped off !!! It had been serviced by them prior to me picking it up - so presumably couldn't be bothered to change it. Got a new one in the post from them.

As far as I am concerned there was no pre-delivery check done!!!!

When I went to buy the car the salesman I had talked to on phone (arranged to meet) was on a course and didn't phone or text to say he wouldn't be there (I had travelled 100 miles). Was met by a young lad who had been with them a few months and previously worked for ASDA!!!!! Nice lad, but new nothing about the cars.

The sales manager was from Vauxhall (18 months) and when I mentioned the Mazda sports car/Alfa Spyder - now Fiat 124 he said , ' Yea pity Mazda didn't make all Alfa's and Alfa just did the design work' !!!!! This is from the Alfa Romeo Sales Manager?????

The car was sound that why I bought it, but the service from a Fiat, Alfa and Abarth dealer was RUBBISH!!!!!!!.

My wife has a new mini (November 2014) and the service before and after was superb.

I really want Alfa to succeed but the dealers are so important, especially with the ambitious plans they have for Alfa.

On the other hand L.C. Motors, Cwmbran in Gwent provide excellent service. They are now a service agent only. But they know and love Alfa's and often service Alfa's from South Wales that people don't want to take to Lookers (Main Dealers) in Cardiff. Not been there but have not heard good reports about them.

Whatever new range Alfa bring out they had better select and TRAIN decent dealers- its not rocket science either - 'the people who buy the cars and pay for servicing fund the business and pay the wages- so look after them'

Ok - rant over.

 

[cue2]

Spitfire wrote ; "When I went to buy the car the salesman I had talked to on phone (arranged to meet) was on a course and didn't phone or text to say he wouldn't be there (I had travelled 100 miles). Was met by a young lad who had been with them a few months and previously worked for ASDA!!!!! Nice lad, but new nothing about the cars."
Salesmen have a system of disappearing on courses etc whenever I've dealt them.

 

[eriksmate]

I don't have a "worst", and I'm lucky not to have had any problems that needed a return trip to the selling garage, and once the warranty is up I'm straight off to my favourite indy (a shame for the dealers actually). I have bought from Perry's Amersham, Palmer's Hemel Hempstead and most recently Bishops Guildford. All were quite fine.

I was impressed with Bishops. Bought my 2nd 159 from them earlier this year. No sales pressure, no claptrap. The sales guy was great. When I went to pick it up it had been properly valeted, serviced and they did the cam belt and water pump too - it was due on time but not miles and they didn't want to risk my going back there with a snapped belt. They had even given it an oil change - something that often gets 'missed' - I checked, the oil was very clean. It was a 5 year old car but like brand new - even every part of the engine was immaculately clean. It drives great too :thumbs:

.

 

[spitfire]

Eriksmate says:

I was impressed with Bishops. Bought my 2nd 159 from them earlier this year. No sales pressure, no claptrap. The sales guy was great. When I went to pick it up it had been properly valeted, serviced and they did the cam belt and water pump too - it was due on time but not miles and they didn't want to risk my going back there with a snapped belt. They had even given it an oil change - something that often gets 'missed' - I checked, the oil was very clean. It was a 5 year old car but like brand new - even every part of the engine was immaculately clean. It drives great too


Now that is good service- great to hear it!!!