Winter Checkup Dealer Experience

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IanSmith
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Winter Checkup Dealer Experience

Post by IanSmith »

I have just moved from Southampton up to Durham and had my first experience with a new VW dealer, and am not impressed. Today, the first time I've driven my Jan 2019 Polo Beats since it went in for the £20 "Winter Check" that VW are pushing the "Exhaust System Warning" light came on, and I'm suspicious that this should have happened immediately after a check. A lot about this experience with a new dealer didn't feel good, compared with the superlative experience I had with my dealer in Southampton, but I don't know if it's just coincidence and I'm being paranoid, or if I've just discovered a very dodgy dealer. Would be interested to hear what others think.

In early October my second service was due and although I was literally in the middle of moving "oop North" I decided to stick with the Southampton dealer I'd been happy with. They flagged the front tyres with an amber warning saying they would likely need replacing "in about 6 months time".

The WInter Check wasn't really necessary so close to servicing, but at £20 with a free wash thrown in, it seemed to be a good deal. I booked it in at the Durham VW dealer, telling them I knew about the two front tyres getting close to needing replacement, but would be replacing those in March not now.

I was told the WInter Check (at Durham's dealer) would take 90 minutes and I would not be allowed to stay in the main building because of Covid. Sod's Law says on the day I booked in the pavements were trecherous with snow and ice and it was freezing cold - spending 90 minutes walking the streets wasn't going to be much fun, especially with lockdown in effect and the local shopping centre being pretty much closed. Then when I arrived the time needed had changed from 90 minutes to 2 hours. An extra half hour freezing to death outside. Oh well!

Then right on the two hour mark I got a text message asking me to approve replacement of the two front tyres (with three options ranging from about £60 all the way up to £120, depending on quality) despite me having said when I booked the appointment I didn't want them doing. Because they were "waiting" for my reply I was asked to go outside the building and walk around for another half hour. More worrying, there was a comment that the tyre on the spare wheel needed replacing (at a similar cost to the front tyres) despite the fact this is a Beats and I'd been told when I bought the car there was no spare wheel because the space reserved for it was needed by the Beats system subwoofer. I pointed this out to them, as well as saying "Even if there was a spare wheel it would be new and unused so why would it need a replacement tyre". I kept going around the houses about it not being an issue. I pointed out they'd specifically told me it needed replacing and would cost at least £60 so for me this WAS an issue. The receptionist sensed my displeasure but seemed to think it was that there might be a problem with the car rather than the fact I felt they were trying to pull a fast one and I wanted to know how it had happened. The only "explanation" I got was that the engineer might have made a mistake but "not to worry because this report goes out to everyone. It's safe to ignore that bit. It's just telling you what the tread is" (on a non-existent tyre?!) And no it isn't "Just" telling me what the tread is it's telling me I need to replace it and should pay for it.

I got the car after walking around outside for another half hour and returned to find a small bottle of de-icer and windscreen washer fluid. A nice extra, but the two were wrapped together with some sticking tape that had someone else's name and postcode handwritten on it. Was it meant for them or for me? Seemed a bit clumsy.

As I drove away I noticed the speakers were silent. The controls showed the volume level rising but there was no sound coming out of the speakers. This has never happened before and I assumed they must have broken something and pulled up to do a U-turn and take it straight back. I decided to restart the car after pulling up ready for the U-turn and after the restart the sound came back, so this seems to have been a very weird glitch, and one I've never had before in two years of driving the car. It seemed odd.

And now this morning - the first car restart since I got back from the Winter Check I have a "Exhaust System Warning" light that doesn't change after restarting the car or taking it on a short drive, and I'm very suspicious. I guess I'll have to trudge back to the dealer but am now worried what else they might mess up. Am I being paranoid? Is this likely to just be a coincidence? What do others think? Should I look for another dealer even if it's twice the distance away?
Steve_2019
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Re: Winter Checkup Dealer Experience

Post by Steve_2019 »

Might be coincidence. But be worth reading reviews on the deanship like on google earth etc.to see what other people say about them.

But I travel about 4 miles extra to use a VW dealership I feel I trust. But I do get in impression with most dealerships soon as your car gets too three years old they don't seem interested in you or your car unless they are selling you a new one.
Stuart_Rendall
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Re: Winter Checkup Dealer Experience

Post by Stuart_Rendall »

If this was me, just regarding the exhaust issue, I would book it in at a separate VW dealer and have them check the exhaust over. If they report it has been tampered with etc. Take that info back to the original dealer and tell them to replace/fix the exhaust for free or you will take further action. Exhaust issues are very rare on newer cars especially with yours not being so old.
monkeyhanger
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Re: Winter Checkup Dealer Experience

Post by monkeyhanger »

I feel qualified to offer opinions on the dealership in question, and the Southampton one. You've refrained from naming (moderator- feel free to censor if what I'm about to say breaks any rules) the dealership, but living in Tyne and Wear, from Teesside originally, but lived the second half of my childhood in Southampton (hate the place to be honest but my parents and siblings are all still there).

I've had 11 VWs from new, most bought locally, a few from further afield via drivethedeal.

There are 4 VW dealerships near me, and to be honest, I only rate one of them.

Silverlink Lookers are very close to home, but they've never been competitive in discounting new VWs and have damaged 2 of my cars in their care during servicing and outright lied about pursuing a warranty claim for me.

Newcastle Lookers used to be close to my place of work before I changed jobs. I've bought some cars from them, they used to be competitive. They are extremely averse to putting in warranty claims, and I had an abysmal bodyshop repair from their affiliated bodyshop down the road.

Both Lookers deslerships charge the earth to use their "courtesy" cars - you're talking £21 to borrow one of their cars for a warranty claim or service. It's despicable to charge £21 for a warranty claim causing you to need a temporary loan of a car.

Pulman Durham (the dealership you've had issues with) went through a few big changes a few years ago - they have a cafe onsite - you'll only get a free cuppa or soft drink if you're in the latter stages of negotiating a purchase - otherwise you gavd to buy your own! They'll take your car in for warranty work but rarely provide an effective fix (which is annoying for me as they're 18 miles away from me). They are the best in the area for price if you negotiate hard.

Finally we have Pulman Sunderland- my go to place. Friendly, genuinely helpful, will fight your corner for a warranty claim that needs to be authorised by VW UK. Complimentary drinks. The Head Technician "Barclay" is the best I've come across at a VW dealership. Free courtesy cars!

Pulman don't have a bodyshop.

So if I were living in or around Durham, I'd avoid Lookers like the plague, i'd buy my VW at Durham, but I'd have servicing/warranty work done at Sunderland.

If you ever need a good bodyshop, the best in Tyne and Wear for me is BMW Coooers at Boldon. I don't rate either of the Lookers bodyshops.

My Dad comes up to buy his VWs as he can get a far better deal at Pulman than Peter Coopers branches in and around Southampton.

One of the technicians at Shirley Peter Coopers took my Dad's car out for a post warranty work test drive and ran a red light. My Dad got a notice of intention to prosecute a few weeks later, but could prove they had it at the time (they hadn't mentioned it) and tried to rip him off for DPF issues (unnecessary work suggested).

All the dealerships are suffering at the moment so gouging and pestering for unnecessary work is probably rife in the current climate.
SRGTD
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Re: Winter Checkup Dealer Experience

Post by SRGTD »

@IanSmith; not a good experience from your first visit to a different dealership.

I’ve never been tempted by these cheap check-ups - maybe I’m old and cynical, but I see them as a money generator for the dealer; not from the £20 fee charged, but from the additional (often totally unnecessary) work they suggest needs to be done from ‘issues’ they find with the car when checking it over. I certainly wouldn’t be wanting them to wash my car - I’ve seen customer’s cars being cleaned at dealerships, and I think my car deserves better than being treated to a grit-laden sponge that’s dipped in a bucket of dirty water and then rubbed over my car, inflicting swirls to the paintwork in the process. I always instruct the dealer not to wash my car, even if it is part of the service.

I agree with @Stuart_Rendall and get the exhaust checked over by a different dealer. It sounds as if a sensor that monitors exhaust gases may have become disconnected. It may be purely coincidental, but if it is a disconnected sensor that’s throwing up the warning light, there’s a good chance it was knocked and become disconnected, or was disconnected by the garage tech and not reconnected after carrying out the winter check.

Based on your overall experience, then in your position I’d be looking to use a different dealer for regular servicing and maintenance work even if it means travelling a little further, or alternatively, find a good independent VW specialist when your car is no longer under warranty. I don’t use the VW dealer nearest to where I live; the dealer I use is 30 miles from me, but I get far better service from them than I have done from the local dealer who’s just 7 miles down the road, so I consider it worth driving the extra distance to get better service.
IanSmith
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Re: Winter Checkup Dealer Experience

Post by IanSmith »

Thanks for the feedback all. The dealer in Southampton by the was was Peter Cooper, Hedge End. By the way I bought from them because I used the Wow car site to ask for offers on a new Polo Beat and Peter Cooper Hedge End came in the cheapest.
Andy Beats
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Re: Winter Checkup Dealer Experience

Post by Andy Beats »

monkeyhanger wrote: Sun Jan 10, 2021 7:00 pm All the dealerships are suffering at the moment so gouging and pestering for unnecessary work is probably rife in the current climate.
Certainly is.
Our neighbour put her A3 in for a software update to the phone prep, next thing she knows she's getting a video of the car up on a ramp with the wheels off and they're trying to sell her pads and new back tyres. :shock:
She said no. thankfully.
RUM4MO
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Re: Winter Checkup Dealer Experience

Post by RUM4MO »

A bit unfortunate for you, I hope that you took up the offer/bid to replace the worn tyres, waiting until the end of winter before replacing worn tyres is not a good idea, especially worse the further North you move!

The Benfield group grabbed my local (Edinburgh area) independent VW dealer and really did mess things up for customers, thankfully something happened after a few years and abandoned that dealership which luckily was snapped up by the local big motor group, which was not ideal but far better than being under Benfield or closed completely. I not sure what/who/where Benfield are now - good riddance though.

Really needing to deal with motor dealers under the current situation must be a horrible experience - even worse at this time of year, when I hand my S4 in for its MOT, I'm lucky enough to have a wife with her own car to provide transport after the drop off and for the pick up, I'll need to organise that soon!

Pre Covid I had a very annoying experience with a SEAT dealer in an out of town site - as most dealerships are located, drop car off > walk a mile or so to a crap shopping centre > walk around for an hour, try to contact workshop, always getting the engaged message > walk a mile back to dealership > NFF show the workshop manager the issue that the car was in to get fixed at my cost > walk a mile to shopping centre etc still getting engaged message at workshop > walk a mile back to workshop only to find that they can't carry out a 4 wheel re-alignment as one of the kit's cables is faulty, I ask what is next, they don't know, then suggest that they will hand the car over to another branch to carry out the 4 wheel re-alignment > repeat my time killing walking, again workshop calls not being taken > walked back, car waiting for me. All that took roughly 8 hours, weather was cold but no ice and at least shopping centres were open - I feel your pain!!

Oh, engine or emissions warning light - is that car not still in warranty, it will need sorting out either way.
monkeyhanger
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Re: Winter Checkup Dealer Experience

Post by monkeyhanger »

^

Benfield group were the local group of dealerships in and around Newcastle/Northumberland. They used to have VW dealerships at Newcastle, Silverlink, Hexham and Morpeth, under "Colebrooke and Burgess" (known locally as "cock-up and bodge it"). My local dealership group. They got swallowed up by Lookers about 3 years ago but most of the staff are the same.
Andy Beats
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Re: Winter Checkup Dealer Experience

Post by Andy Beats »

RUM4MO wrote: Mon Jan 11, 2021 11:09 am A bit unfortunate for you, I hope that you took up the offer/bid to replace the worn tyres, waiting until the end of winter before replacing worn tyres is not a good idea, especially worse the further North you move!
They're not worn, they said they're perished (which would be weird for a barely 4 year old car).
Even if they are, who in their right mind would get tyres via a main dealer??
You'd take it away and get them far cheaper from blackcircles.
RUM4MO
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Re: Winter Checkup Dealer Experience

Post by RUM4MO »

Andy Beats wrote: Mon Jan 11, 2021 11:44 am
RUM4MO wrote: Mon Jan 11, 2021 11:09 am A bit unfortunate for you, I hope that you took up the offer/bid to replace the worn tyres, waiting until the end of winter before replacing worn tyres is not a good idea, especially worse the further North you move!
They're not worn, they said they're perished (which would be weird for a barely 4 year old car).
Even if they are, who in their right mind would get tyres via a main dealer??
You'd take it away and get them far cheaper from blackcircles.
My comments were directed at the OP, just unfortunate that you posted as I was posting.

Edit:- I'd think that most people that need a nudge to change their tyres will be buying from one of the national tyre fast fit outlets, I has given a very good price once for my old VX Cav GSI 4X4 tyres and I think that others I know have had similarly good quotes from a Ford dealership, that is when comparing what I and they were planning to buy brand and model with same from these two garages. Maybe VW Group dealerships are being greedy.
SRGTD
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Re: Winter Checkup Dealer Experience

Post by SRGTD »

RUM4MO wrote: Mon Jan 11, 2021 6:53 pm
Andy Beats wrote: Mon Jan 11, 2021 11:44 am
RUM4MO wrote: Mon Jan 11, 2021 11:09 am A bit unfortunate for you, I hope that you took up the offer/bid to replace the worn tyres, waiting until the end of winter before replacing worn tyres is not a good idea, especially worse the further North you move!
They're not worn, they said they're perished (which would be weird for a barely 4 year old car).
Even if they are, who in their right mind would get tyres via a main dealer??
You'd take it away and get them far cheaper from blackcircles.
My comments were directed at the OP.

Edit:- I'd think that most people that need a nudge to change their tyres will be buying from one of the national tyre fast fit outlets, I has given a very good price once for my old VX Cav GSI 4X4 tyres and I think that others I know have had similarly good quotes from a Ford dealership, that is when comparing what I and they were planning to buy brand and model with same from these two garages. Maybe VW Group dealerships are being greedy.
When I had my previous car serviced and MOT’d last February, the VW dealer I use told me I’d soon need two new tyres. Tread depth was at 4mm - 5mm, so they still had quite a few miles life left in them. Maybe the dealer was being cautious or was looking to generate some extra revenue from gullible customers? If so, they’d picked the wrong customer! 😀.

They quoted me a price for three different tyre brands and their price was actually pretty close to the Blackcircles price at the time. I declined their offer as I knew the tyres would see me through until I put the original wheels with almost unused tyres back on the car before I sold it.

The moral of the storey? VW dealers can sometimes be competitive on tyre prices, plus they use better quality wheel balance weights than many of the online or national outlets.
Andy Beats
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Re: Winter Checkup Dealer Experience

Post by Andy Beats »

There's no doubt in my mind that the more 'premium' brands (VW/Audi/BMW/Land rover etc.) do take the proverbial out of their customers, and I've no doubt it works a lot of the time.
Well-to-do clients that are far too trusting and will simply say "yes" to a faux concerned call from a dealer.
Maybe goes on with cheaper brands too, but I bet a higher proportion of their clients say no.
stevereeves
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Re: Winter Checkup Dealer Experience

Post by stevereeves »

Reminds me; had similar call from VW was I "interested in a winter air-con service for just £24.99 plus a complementary wash & valet, with a voluntary a deep-clense fee of £5.99?". I politely replied that since my car had covered an otherwise pathetic, but lockdown-friendly, 1600 miles since the last service and the air-con hadn't been used for at least 2 months that would be a "no thanks"....
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