WA Dealership Closes

[parisfrance]

Received an email from Barbagallo Skoda today advising that as of 1 July it is the only authorised Skoda dealership in Western Australia.

I had read on this forum that the Melville Skoda dealership was going to close; this confirms it.

This means we now only have two Skoda dealerships in Western Australia, one in the metropolitan area and one in Mandurah, 70km South of Perth, both owned by Barbagallo.

[furiousgibbon]

wow, I just picked up my Octavia RS yesterday from Melville Skoda and when I went in the showroom was basically empty. The sales guy who I dealt with was now selling Peugeots next door, all very strange. This explains it! Shame, because it was the best new car purchasing experience that I've had.

I didn't even visit Barbagallo but a couple of friends did, and based on their reports I'm glad I didn't go in myself.

[Stanton]

You will be going there now !

[furiousgibbon]

I'll try not to, I've been in contact with Steve from WA Euro about fixing the intake manifold on my mk6 GTI before I sell it, so if he does a good job I'll be getting him to do the regular servicing on the Skoda and he can also work on my Clio 182 track toy. There's no way I would take my car to Barbagallo for servicing. A friend of mine had an Alfa Giulietta and you would not believe the dire quality of work he received from that place.

[Benmac]

Re Barbagello. Found the sales experience pretty good. Of course servicing might/could be a whole other story. On the flip side found Melville useless and had obviously given up even a year ago.. Anyone have direct service experience with a Skoda at Barbagello?


"courtesy of iPhone using Tapatalk"

[Rubbadub]

I've not had a problem with servicing at Barbagallos - a bit expensive, but still cheaper than taking a day off work to go to one of the independent specialists, as I work literally two or three hundred metres away.

I bought off Melville Skoda, though as I was able to easily get a $3000 better changeover on my old Focus than Barbagallos were willing to offer.

[mazstar1980]

I remember posting something on this some time ago, VW rep told me on the phone. She did say that getting it serviced at VW wouldn't make warranty claims anymore difficult but any warranty repairs need to go to Barbagallo. VW could also diagnose but I don't know why they would do this for free.

The sales experience at Melville was pretty good, Barbagallo was the worst. I had a grumpy lady who was bordering on rude and couldn't care less, turned me off buying a RS 4 years ago and called last year and couldn't believe she'd still be in the sales game. I bought from Melville last year. Melville service was shocking though, had to lodge complaint with VW after returning 5 times without a fix.

This is more bad news for a brand that is trying to grow, spending money on marketing is pointless if the fundamentals around dealer service and support network is so poor. I might write to Managing Director Skoda as feedback, good to have others do the sa,e but who knows what difference that will make.

[parisfrance]

I am planning to write to Director of Skoda Australia regarding the length of time it took to deliver vehicle from time of order. I will also be making comment on what I perceive to be the business flaws of Skoda Australia regarding limited allocation of vehicles. Having spoken to dealer they are in a very difficult situation.

[afterdarker]

Perth is a long way from anywhere....

[brad]

I am planning to write to Director of Skoda Australia regarding the length of time it took to deliver vehicle from time of order. I will also be making comment on what I perceive to be the business flaws of Skoda Australia regarding limited allocation of vehicles. Having spoken to dealer they are in a very difficult situation.

You may as well piss into a Southerly buster for all the good it will do.

[parisfrance]

You may as well piss into a Southerly buster for all the good it will do.

You may be correct but how can we expect service to improve unless we direct our criticism to those who may be in a position to do something about it, rather than just filling forum pages such as this with our complaints.

While I am very happy with the vehicle and believe it was ultimately worth the wait, I can't recommend Skodas to friends unless they find one at the dealership (only one now in Perth) or online interstate that matches their desired specifications.

Given personal testimonials are the best way to increase sales, experiences such as mine aren't the best way to increase sales in Australia. Still, Michael Irmer probably thinks Skoda's languishing sales in OZ will be solved by the forthcoming large SUV scheduled to arrive sometime in 2017. That is if there are any remaining Skoda dealerships by then.

AHG in Perth has just stopped selling Skodas in Perth at the end of June and instead has this week spent close to $60 million buying the Western Australian Mercedes franchises. What does that say about Skoda Australia?

[brad]

If it makes you feel better then go for it. Everything you say is perfectly logical but you are speaking English & Skoda speak Swahili.

As a Skoda owner of 7 years (tomorrow!) I can assure you that nothing will change as long as the focus is on VW capturing market share.

[woofy]

The newest dealership here in Melbourne (a reasonably large group) have said that VW are pretty much flat in Oz and VWA are putting effort into growing Audi and Skoda, quite often together to get more traction.

I think that combo works for dealerships like Richmond and the Toowoomba sites as it means they aren't treading on toes as closely as a VW/SKoda dealership would.

Different times to 2007 when Skoda launched. I've sent things to the prior bosses and got nothing back, but go for it if you feel like it.

[sutty451]

sorry to resurrect an old thread......I picked my Vrs Wagon up in May last year from Melville (bought on a novated lease through work). I remember the sales guy (Nick...I think) telling me about the impending closure of the skoda franchise there....he told me that a delegation from VAG had been over to Oz and were not in the slightest bit impressed with what they found at Mellville, namely other (not skoda) 2nd hand veh's in the skoda showroom up for sale, and the showroom itself needing slightly more than a new coat of paint to make it look half decent. There was allegedly an ultimatum....spend some serious cash and fix it, or we pull the franchise off you.

back on point....im going to be coming up to first service in a few months and am struggling with where to take it. I'm not a big fan of barbagello for a multitude of reasons, many of which can be found on threads in this forum.
Anyone have any ideas or news/rumours on potential new dealerships? Im going to chance to my arm and start ringing VW/audi dealerships and see if any of them are willing to undertake the servicing.

[MJKooLio]

Give WA Euro a call for a service! Had mine at 15,000kms and soon at 30,000kms in a few weeks!

https://www.facebook.com/WAEuro/?fref=ts

Highly recommend and he comes to you! He's worked on VW's for a few many years including AUDI and ze other Germans. One of the best guys out there and better than a dealership!