Are all VW dealers the same?

[ifti]

Different ones! 

BUT before this turns into a total b1tch at the VW dealers, or sales men in general
Any recommendations for good dealers?

I don't mind travelling too far to find the car I want.

Good uns!
Loders in Dorchester (RedRobins local) comes highly regarded.

Cookes of Fakenham (Norfolk) - no real deals on price, but do seem to hit all the right buttons for 'customer service.

Abridge (cant remember the exact one) somewhere in Essex - one of the few to find me an R32 DSG for test drive when they were first released.

Leicester VW - seemed great when my olds were buying their Golf Plus, and always kept them informed even after the sale (some probs due to DVLA cockup on cherished transfers)

Northgate VW, Bury St Edmunds - seemed very keen to chase a sale, and also seemed to want to offer a discount too.

Ones to avoid!
Wolsey in Ipswich - the salesman lied to me about a 2nd hand car on their fourcourt being an import (he told me it wasn't, when I knew from the spec that it was an import), and he literally thrashed the arse off a stone-cold engine - with a turbo!

Kings Lynn VW - made a right fcuk up of spraying my side sills (no primer at all, and hardly any clearcoat  ), and told me they did warranty work to fix something when they didn't! 

Sorry TT, gonna have to disagree with you on one of them - Abridge.
Abridge VW is where Ive been going with any issues.
Crap service.
Never return phone calls.
When I was first looking for a car, sales just didnt seem bothered, which is why I purchased elsewhere.
To top it all off, heres a thread on a issue I had. The plastic hose had some very slight cosmetic marks on it, and they felt it warranted a complete replacement at my cost! When I say cosmetic, I mean marks that you wouldnt notice unless you inspected really close! To top it off, I think they have scratched my car as well, and will take no responsibility for it.

http://www.golfgtiforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=112703.0

I think we should have a name and shame thread!

[dan_apps]

^these must be the ones that would'nt put a clip back on your airbox for you under warranty!

[Caz]

Speaking on behalf of our dealership, Des Winks.. I can honestly say I think were way better than those experiences youve stated.
We are a family run dealership (Des Winks being a person - who has since passed away, dealership since run by his son in law). We own only this one dealership, in this one area, so no automated answering machines for different departments of dealerships. It's just us. 

Never heard of them?  What town are they based in? 

Merlinman got it, were in Scaboough.. by the sea out of the way.lol 

[jonylightweight]

i have to say i bought my golf back in dec 06 and the level of service the dealer provided was disgusting something i would expect from a backstreet dealer
there were so many issues with the vehicle even vw customer services were of little help i did expect a lot more from a prestige marque  

[ifti]

^these must be the ones that would'nt put a clip back on your airbox for you under warranty!

spot on

[icenutter]

I was quite impressed with Gilder's in Sheffield.  Salesman seemed like an enthusiast.  He was keen to make a deal but not pushy.  They sorted out two issues before I bought without query.

Plus they had a museum with an R8, an S1, an A4 touring car, and some air-cooled dubs...

[ifti]

Are there any good dealers at all in Essex??!!!
I dont care whether its an indy or a VW dealership, as long as they use OEM parts and it doesnt affaect my warranty!

[Golfgirl]

1. Listers VW (not Audi - see previous post) in Worcester (Maria Jeary to be precise) - great service, went above and beyond to help. Answered all of my questions AND managed to give me a p/ex valuation on the Audi   

Listers Worcester lost out on the sale of an R32 because of their unhelpful salesman so I bought it from the Stratford branch instead.  When it came to me replacing it for an Edition 30 they lost out again due to my previous experience and I bought it from Evesham.

However, the parts and service department at Worcester are good

[corgi]

In all fairness I haven't tried Listers of Worcester, although they did try to do the dirty when I was buying my Audi.
May give em a shout to see what they say
Will also be trying Birmingham too.

In my experience Listers Group will only employ those wearing a Stetson, chaps and spurs...

[illyun]

Ones to avoid!
Wolsey in Ipswich - the salesman lied to me about a 2nd hand car on their fourcourt being an import (he told me it wasn't, when I knew from the spec that it was an import), and he literally thrashed the arse off a stone-cold engine - with a turbo!

 

Wolsey are my local dealer.  I've had countless transactions with them since 2005 and I have to say that 95% of them have been very positive.  I've had a couple of transaction with Solihull VW, 2 out of 3 being positive.  The problem is that most dealers have one or two (maybe more at some) prats working for them and if you're unlucky to deal with them, then that informs your view of the dealership which sometimes isn't a fair reflection of them.