Melbourne Dealerships and how do they rate?

[spaz74]

I just ordered a Superb wagon fully decked out to be delivered sometime in November. I had 2 weeks holiday so decided to use some of this time to look for a new car. There are not many Skoda dealserships around, in metro Melbourne so I thought I would create a review for other people thinking about purchasing a Skoda.

Brief: Purchase a car but get three quotes from 3 different dealerships. I hate companies that say if we are beaten come back and I am sure we can do better. If that were true why did you try and rip me off with your first quote???????. My position was to ask each dealership to put together what they considered their best quote with no chance of making a second offer. They would have to stand behind their one and only quote: effectively removing counter offers. In the end 2 dealerships were only about $3 different but I did what I said I would do and went with the lowest offer. That however should not detract from the other dealer who in my opinion was also a worthy winner.

So here are my reviews of each of the metro dealerships in Melbourne:

Bayford Preston and Heath: Stock at this dealership was in abundance, in different colours and configurations. New model floorspace was also good. Heath was very knowledgable about Skodas and having worked at a VW dealership was able to answer some questions that other dealers had no knowledge about. I presented my no frills no BS position to Heath and he responded like wise. Heath's offer was excellent and delivered as promised.
Bayford Dealership amenities 8/10
Heath 9/10
Offer 10/10

Mentone Motor Group and Chris: As an extension to their other businesses they would do better to give up some of their prestige floor space in their main building up the road to Skoda rather than having them in a secondhand car dealership kind of setup. Chris is very friendly and helpful. When he doesn't know the answer to something he tries to find out for you and has good telephone communication to keep you informed. As with Heath offered his very best price with one quote only and no BS.
Mentone Motor Group Dealership amenities 4/10
Chris 8/10
Offer 10/10

Skoda Richmond and Staff: Great facilities linked to Audi. Almost looks like a new dealership with good floorspace but 1/2 given to Audi secondhand cars. And from there the experience goes pair shaped. Arrogance of being apart of an Audi dealership oozed from the salesman. When I asked for a quote for their best price I was told they don't do that for two reasons:
1. It devalues the product (even though he handed me a business card with Audi on it NOT Skoda) So who is devaluing the product again?????
2. They "sell the experience of buying from them".............
As you can imagine they were never going to get my business if they thought a cup of coffee and chat (just to get their experience) was worth $4000-$5000. A sales stunt that fell flat on its face.
Skoda Richmond Dealership Amenities 5/10 (lack of Skoda stock stopped it from getting an 8/10)
Salesman 1/10 (scored just for being there in body)
Offer 0/10

Overall the experiences at Bayfors and Mentone were very good and worthy of your business. I however would not recommend Richmond unless you want to pass money over to sales staff that want to charge you for sitting in their presence. For some people this might just float their boat and stroke ego's, but for me I don't need it.

[K1W1]

It's interesting how different people have diametrically opposed experiences.

[raph]

I bought mine from richmond skoda, the salesman there had a richmond skoda card. Also, had a good offer straight off the bat. I suspect you were unfortunate enough to get a audi rep who was filling in.

[spaz74]

Could have got the Audi rep I suppose, Marcel was his name. Makes you wonder if that crap sells cars over in the other showroom? Or worse how many buyers they loose for being, well snobbish??

[raph]

my only complaint about richmond skoda is that they still havent sent me my genuine skoda keyrings. They were apparently all out when i got the car, and still havent managed to get them

[Graybags]

We found George from Richmond to be great, but we are still waiting for our keyrings as well. I like your method of bargaining and will use it from now on.

[pwcar]

I'd agree on Bayford Preston Skoda, Heath had answers to questions, didn't talk crap and was easy to deal with.
Plus they had cars to look at and drive.

[woofy]

Unfortunately, you got the same clown I got twice recently, George has been on leave over the school holidays, and I think that guy is an Audi guy covering....he is very unprofessional, I wrote a bigger reply but it was lost. Enough to say I was thinking of sending George and email, but now I've dealt with that guy again, I think it would be well placed to send one.

He isn't doing them any favours.....sorry to Say if you got George (or Adil if he is still there), it would have been very different. And yes the Audi part like using the Skoda part as a dumping ground, although they have never outfitted the SKoda service area which is what most of that is supposed to be.

[sh|tbmxrider]

Heath @ Bayford's has been extremely helpful, and honest too... Being in the vehicle sales game myself, my bull**** meter is finely tuned.... and it didnt even twitch...

[woofy]

Just an update, George came back yesterday, and was told as an FYI about this and what I saw as well. They are not happy with that guy at all, and he was pretty angry about how I found that guy, and really not happy with that Marcel guy, if anyone wants more info PM me, but as most people suggested, it was an Audi guy covering. Unfortunately Spaz74, you got what I have seen go on over in the Audi section while I've been there. Although I used to see that at Penfold Mazda when they also sold and serviced the Audis in the same building...they got better once Audi was separated...nothing like elitist salespeople. I once had to wait when I wanted to order a Mazda 6 at Penfold as the two main guys on the floor were practicing their putting....in the end they passed me off to another guy who was buried in paperwork on a desk and clearly not happy they were so lazy.

[Tezzwokka]

I agree with all the things spaz74 says. It seems that not much has changed in the 9 months since I bought my RS. It was also a toss up between Bayford and Mentone for me but the presentation of the dealership at Bayford's and by Heath won me.

It certainly doesn't detract from Chris at Mentone but as you said, it just looked like an add-on to the main dealership - this must be a source of frustration to them.

[spaz74]

Good to see it wasn't just me!

I feel sorry for the staff at Richmond Skoda then if these Audi fools are allowed to mess with their business. I am sure they would spit the dummy if Skoda sales people actively ushered buyers out their doors.

I eventually purchased from Chris in Mentone due to my bidding arrangements with the dealers but I also felt for Heath because he was excellent. Heath was very professional in accepting my decision and would recommend Heath in a heart beat to other purchasers in the future. I am sure Heath does very well from his dealership.

As for Mentone, I haven't asked but I wonder if the new building (which looks like a car dealership) going up next to the Skoda dealership is their new head office? A more professional looking building would do wonders.

[Lams]

have you guys noticed a new trend where salesman won't talk price without a deposit? That is even more ridiculous. They argue that we'd just take their offer to another dealer who would then beat their price. But seriously, who buys a car without knowing how much?

I like your no B/S approach, it seems to be a very time effective way of doing things.

We bought a car from Heath last year, over the phone and trucked to Brisbane. He was very good at responding questions, but it wasn't until we saw the contract that we realised the car was built, specced up and complianced across 3 years. What the. Although this was a bit of a rude shock (as it was listed differently on the internet), it was still revealed before any money was exchanged. We took the deal, and the car was delivered to our door. Register the car at the office and we had a brand new (but 2 years old) car on the road, very easy.

Heath didn't really apologise or anything, would've been nice if he did, but we'd rather just let it go and enjoy the car.

[woofy]

I would add that the buying of the car is only a small component, I also check out the service guys pretty thoroughly as well, cause you can get the best price and then be stuffed around afterwards if anything goes wrong. I know that Preston and Richmond are about on par there, both places have ex VW mechanics, not sure about Mentone but I know Geelong seem to be pretty good as well. The FTG guys who are now gone, were hopeless all round.

I find that Skoda/VW HQ are quite often not helpful for any of the dealers though, hopefully that will improve.

[4thchicken]

have to say that in my dealings with the 3 skoda dealerships that you listed, I'd have them about the same level as you did.

Bayford+Mentone (phone only for mentone) were both pleasant/helpful. The mentone guy took a while to get back to me on a quote (was away) but after I informed him about having bought the skoda at another dealership, his attitude of 'thats fine, most important was factor was that I had gotten into/trusted the brand; was spot on and exactly what you would like to see from a dealer. Would recommend them on that basis alone.

Actually bought from richmond as they had the vehicle available/in stock for a good price however was less than impressed in my dealings with them due to (a) failure to be able to organise a test drive/get back to me (test drove at bayford) (b) being quoted a best price deal for the vehicle 2k above what it was advertised on carsales (same car) - admittedly it was an audi person who had gotten me the quote (as part of a multi-vehicle purchase and (c) the vehicle being delivered dirty (white marks on inside) and with a failed rear number plate light - something that whilst I've never done anything about (loaned vehicle to brother for a few months as his wife was pregnant) will certainly be in the back of my mind should I consider buying another skoda (or when recommending the brand to friends)