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Am I mad?


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This happens with all dealers then.  Not just the top ones!

 

I was chatting to a chap at my squash club and they all seem to love my A8s and the miles they do.  However, this chap has a Ford Fiesta and (after the front springs went just before he wanted rid, seems a certain batch of them do this after 7 years.....  They just break and the front of the car slumps!)

Anyway, he went in to look at the C Max Evans Halshaw Ford dealer......).  The car was filthy, scuffed and hadn't been looked after at all.  Only 20K miles too.  The saleswoman was basically huffing and puffing and just not interested at all, he even had his family there to try the car and still not helping.  In the end he happened to see a B-Max with more spec so bought that, but still the lady was so uninterested in a sale.  He was shocked at the attitude

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Talking of Evans Halshaw (again) I thought the other dealer that took over dealing with me from Cardiff were going to have much better customer service, turns out they didn't.

I'd have bought the car they had for sale if they'd bothered to ring me back.

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I'm still waiting for Craig at Western VW in Edinburgh to reply to my email, or get in touch via any medium he fancies, after promising to find me my ideal car. In November. Two face to face meetings and despite that, no regular contact. Just shit.

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...Two face to face meetings and despite that, no regular contact. Just shit.

 

How they 'qualify' their leads in their own minds is shocking. Exactly what does qualify a genuine and motivated seller to these SALES guys. Shocking.

 

I, like many it appears, had a similar experience with a Alfa GTV. Flew down from Edinburgh to Herts to view 2 cars at separate dealers with the aim of buying one - a mint low miler Cup, and a silver facelift 3.2 model. First dealer refused to let me test drive the Cup without a £500 non-refundable deposit as he'd "just had it detailed." Needless to say I went to the other dealers and bought the silver facelift car.

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How they 'qualify' their leads in their own minds is shocking. Exactly what does qualify a genuine and motivated seller to these SALES guys. Shocking.

 

I, like many it appears, had a similar experience with a Alfa GTV. Flew down from Edinburgh to Herts to view 2 cars at separate dealers with the aim of buying one - a mint low miler Cup, and a silver facelift 3.2 model. First dealer refused to let me test drive the Cup without a £500 non-refundable deposit as he'd "just had it detailed." Needless to say I went to the other dealers and bought the silver facelift car.

 

GTVs (and Spiders) are becoming a very rare sight in the UK nowadays

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Well, went to see another this morning, at another independent dealer who totally outclassed RSJ in his attitude.  Couldn't be more helpful, knew about his stock, chatty, etc.  Gave us a cup of tea, too, and a nicely-made one :)

 

Car was very good-looking, bright red exterior, looked really great.  Sadly, the interior was very tired and on the test drive it didn't feel like it had 400hp, more like 200 :( It also hasn't been serviced since Feb 2014 (about 14k previously), which could be why.  So that was a 'no'.

 

Also I might have popped into Porsche Reading :secret: to experience the surreal feeling of standing in a room with 2 918s and 3 Carrera GTs :blink: but not to look at the new ones because they're too expensive.  No.  Too expensive.  Although they did have a nice red one in the compound.  Very nice.  

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GTVs (and Spiders) are becoming a very rare sight in the UK nowadays

Totally agree, Ian. I bought mine in 2006, when stock levels were immensely low, particularly for late, low mile models. Perhaps the exclusivity at tbe time contributed to the 'salesman's' arrogance, but he mis-read my motivation that day I paid £14k for a '03 3.2 V6 with 17k n the clock. Traded it in a year later for £7k.....

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What's the tech like in these old Porsches?

I'd be amazed if it was cutting edge when new, let alone 7 odd years later.

I only mention it because you said you couldn't live with the tech in a new Jag, which while I agree with you isn't exactly the pinnacle of in car systems, it'll be light years ahead of an old Porsche.

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What's the tech like in these old Porsches?

I'd be amazed if it was cutting edge when new, let alone 7 odd years later.

I only mention it because you said you couldn't live with the tech in a new Jag, which while I agree with you isn't exactly the pinnacle of in car systems, it'll be light years ahead of an old Porsche.

It wasn't much cop even when new - the Nav is the old 5-digit postcode debacle and optioning the phone kit meant sticking your SIM card in the dashboard. The 996 could still be optioned with a physical handset on a curly wire :)

It's why Nav wasn't even a consideration on our Boxster hunt - there's a shiny modern Parrot unit being delivered tomorrow.

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It's the ergonomics of the Jag that irritates me, not the level of the tech per se. Bear in mind I still drive a 2004 Porsche :)

Well yes but the consolation in the 2004 Porsche is that it's a 911.

And probably not used for the endless trudgery of driving up and down England's motorways at 60 mph with a trailer attached to it.

I'm quite sure the Cayenne is capable of doing it a lot faster than 60mph and gets there pretty quickly, but I imagine a driving license is quite important to you! ;-)

I think personally, I'd be looking for the most comfortable and well appointed interior I could find in a car capable of towing, are the driving dynamics really that important given what else you have available?

I guess the answer is fairly obvious really given you're looking to change the Disco, which I imagine is pretty nice to sit in!

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Actually, the Discovery seats are awful. Mine is bad enough, but the passenger seat doesn't even have adjustable lumbar support so I drive everywhere with a flowery cushion that is just the right size to fit in the small of Mrs P's back. He first words when she got into the GTS yesterday were on how good the seats were.

The 2008 GTS that we looked at today has kit that is so out of date it would fit perfectly into a 2013 Discovery. Trust me on that. The 2009 model (yesterday) was built after an update that improved it hugely.

You're right about the relative need for good handling when you're sitting at 60 for three hours towing the Caterham, but I do use the Disco for a lot more than that, and would like a car with some degree of handling precision.

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