$500 worth of accessories

[sh|tbmxrider]

Ok, just to clarify, I haven't bought a car in the last 10 yrs that didn't come with a full tank, most other forums apart from this one funny enough, see a full tank as part of the delivery and handover, it has become a minimum standard. And once you have had it, if you didn't get it from another dealer, you begin to wonder what other little things were forgotten. I do find however that VW dealers for some odd reason don't treat people as well, so maybe most people here have a lower expectation. I've seen a few interlopers like myself point a few things out that Japanese car dealers do that they didn't get with some of the VAG dealers (usually Audi excepted). The other points rate higher for me as well, but if it has become an expectation, then it looks bad when it doesn't happen. I do actually know a few people who didn't even bother with certain Mazda dealers as they were reknowned for not giving a full tank. It's not the fuel itself, it's the perception, that you just bought a umpteen thousand dollar car, and the dealer who can get petrol cheap screwed you over on a few more bucks. Generally that attitude pervades the whole dealership, which is why they get that reputation.

A truck isn't a fair comparison really unless the salesperson knew they were going to be driving it a fair way back, for the price of a truck, I'd be pissed if I had to fill up on the way back to home/work not far away.

I once was given a courtesy car (that I had to pay for) during a car service with the fuel light on, wasn't happy trying to find a fuel station in peak hour straight away either.....again attention to detail.

To be fair, all my big trucks go out with 1/4 tank (250-300L), and the small ones about 1/2 (again, 250-300L)

I ran out of petrol after picking up a service loan car from within my own dealer group one day... My solution was simple, park it where it was (500m up the road) walk back, demand another car.


I think this 'full tank' thing must be a hit and miss thing, I have asked several people over the weekend, not one of them ever got anything more than 1/2 tanks...

[BlackSuperb]

I have bought 4 new cars in the last eight years, a Commodore, an Outback, a Superb and a new Mazda 3 just last week. The only one that didn't come with a full tank of fuel was the Superb.

In the overall scheme of things its only an extra $30 on a $55,000 car to fill the tank all the way up. Why would the Skoda dealer skimp on something so simple that certainly left a poor impression with me?


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[K1W1]

I assume then that all you full tank on delivery people make sure that your trade in has a full tank when you take it in to the dealer.

[brad]

I assume then that all you full tank on delivery people make sure that your trade in has a full tank when you take it in to the dealer.

Nope. nor do i clean the car; fix up any of those niggling problems that are causing me to sell the car; fit new tyres, put 12 months rego on it or anything else..... Why should I as the trade-in is wholesale & I'm paying retail for my NEW CAR. I wouldn't expect a used car to come with a full tank.

BTW: When i worked for a Toyota dealership, the first thing we did with trade-ins was syphon the fuel off down to near empty. That fuel was equally shared around the workshop for all our vehicles. 90% of the trade-ins went off to the wholesaler, so it was no issue.

[tlli]

Anyway, regarding the manual gearing in the Octavia, has anyone found it to lag a bit when you up change gears?
I first thought it was really quick, and being a manual underneath it all, the MFD shows the gears changing almost instantly (say from standing start and you hold the accelerator down to 80km/h), but what seems to be actually happening is a reasonable lag between gear changes.

Any one experience the same thing?

[Maverick]

I have bought 4 new cars in the last eight years, a Commodore, an Outback, a Superb and a new Mazda 3 just last week. The only one that didn't come with a full tank of fuel was the Superb.

In the overall scheme of things its only an extra $30 on a $55,000 car to fill the tank all the way up. Why would the Skoda dealer skimp on something so simple that certainly left a poor impression with me?

How would you feel if you new car was written off on the way to a service station to fill the car up? If the dealership doesn't have a service station nearby it's a cost in both time to have someone drive there, plus there is always the risk of an accident however small. I'd rather get my car with a 1/4 thank of fuel then have to wait 4-6 months for another one.

The dealer I picked up my GTI came from fills up all their cars IIRC but they have a Shell right next door. I don't remember my Subaru having a full tank (pretty sure it was only 1/4 full) and the same for previous cars. It's not really something I worry about.

[BlackSuperb]

How would you feel if you new car was written off on the way to a service station to fill the car up? ..

Not my problem. My car got delivered to my work anyway as a condition of sale from my employer whom I lease it from. The Skoda dealer had the choice of delivering it on the back of a truck or they could drive it 15km on congested Sydney roads, it was their call. They chose to drive it bypassing many service stations.

All I stated were the facts. 4 cars in eight years and all had full tanks except the Skoda. I can't change that fact and it's not something I worry about.

All I can say that I felt a bit like you do when you get a sloppy handshake from somebody you meet for the first time.

[K1W1]

All I stated were the facts. 4 cars in eight years and all had full tanks except the Skoda. I can't change that fact and it's not something I worry about.

I could give you around 4000 vehicles sold in three countries and probably 100 delivered with full tanks and not one customer complaint I can think of although I did have many repeat and referred customers.

This is a bit like an oil thread or a tyre pressure thread everybody has an opinion and everybody believes that their opinion is correct so imo it's one of those things where everybody should agree to disagree and get on with life.

BRW: I was somewhat concerned about the story of siphoniing fuel in the Toyoya dealer. I'll state here and now that that never happened in any place I worked and would not have been tolerated by management for one second. If management at that place were tolerating or worse unaware that that was going what else was happening there?

[tlli]

This is a bit like an oil thread or a tyre pressure thread everybody has an opinion and everybody believes that their opinion is correct so imo it's one of those things where everybody should agree to disagree and get on with life.

Yeah I think we can put this one to bed. I honestly don't care that they didn't fill the tank up full, or that he drove the car to get leather fitted. I would have been happier if the dealer knew exactly what he was talking about, options and car wise.

Now does anyone have an answer regarding the manual gear changes?

[brad]

This is a bit like an oil thread or a tyre pressure thread everybody has an opinion and everybody believes that their opinion is correct so imo it's one of those things where everybody should agree to disagree and get on with life.

All black Superb stated was what his experience was & how he felt. I don't think he stated what was right or wrong.

BRW: I was somewhat concerned about the story of siphoniing fuel in the Toyoya dealer. I'll state here and now that that never happened in any place I worked and would not have been tolerated by management for one second. If management at that place were tolerating or worse unaware that that was going what else was happening there?

The Dealer Principal & the Service Manager were both aware what we were doing. The dealership had 14 mechanics in 2 workshops. One workshop was small & had 5 guys jammed into an area better suited to 3. It was called The Top Shop & had the good mechanics in it. It was spotless & well run & the guys in there took pride in there work (yes, i worked in there too). The other workshop was a pigsty & the guys were a pack of f**k-knuckles. We were all on the same pay no matter how good or bad we were or how much work we did. So the bosses let The Top Shop have an unofficial reward system (plus a few other perks) because our pay structure was lousy. The Top Shop also worked all the overtime (because the other guys couldn't be bothered) and were the ones that stayed back 5-10 minutes to finish jobs or talk to customers (civilly & without swearing) without expectation of overtime. We made lots of money for the dealer - I could fit a Camry AC in 45 minutes & the factory time was 2.25hrs - it was fairly common for me to fit 5 units before lunchtime and then do a major service (6 hours in the book) after lunch. The guys in the pigsty would take 3 hours for an AC and spend most of the day doing a major. I've never ripped off an employer or a customer and am always satisfied at the quality & quantity of work that I knock out.

[tlli]

I've never ripped off an employer or a customer and am always satisfied at the quality & quantity of work that I knock out.

That's awesome. Can you guys recommend a good workshop for our Skoda's? Unfortunately I'm tied to my dealer for the next 6 years due to the extended warranty, but if I have a lot of trouble, i'll move to another service department.