Are VW dealers serious about sales?

[VW Convert]

As some of you will know, my beloved Jetta was written off in August just before I headed off to Italy for a long holiday. Now that I’m back, I want to replace it with another VW but I’m having second thoughts due to the apparent lack of desire by VW dealers to actually get off their collective backsides and sell me a new car.

When I bought the Jetta in 2006 I felt the dealerships were somewhat arrogant. I visited 3 dealerships, one refused to give me a price unless I was ready to sign on the spot, another promised to get back to me with a price but did not do so and ultimately I bought from the 3rd dealership despite having to chase the dealer many times to get the deal done and even then, the whole process ultimately degenerated into a farce due to their incompetence.

I visited my local dealer’s showroom on Saturday September 21st and spoke to the salesman (the same salesman that sold me my Jetta), we discussed various cars and I asked what was available to suit my requirements. Whilst he was checking on the computer, the system failed and he promised he would look into it and call me to advise what was available. I did not hear back from him and eventually called the dealership on Tuesday 29th September, it was his RDO so I left a message for him to call me, I have heard nothing since and on principle I will NOT call again. I bought the car from this dealer, I had all the servicing done by the dealer and in return I am totally ignored when I want to buy another new car.

Having come to the conclusion that this dealer does not want my business, and not having a great deal of time on my hands, I sent an e-mail via their websites to four VW dealers in Sydney at around 4.30 PM Wednesday detailing the car I am looking for and giving various choices that I would accept. I received 3 auto responses promising to respond to my enquiry shortly, it’s now mid Friday morning and I have not had a single response.

I felt pretty cranky about this so on Thursday afternoon at around 4.00 PM I contacted VWA via their website, I’m interested to see what if any response there will be. The questions that come to my mind are why the hell should I have to pursue the dealers to sell me a car? Is my business not worth their trouble? Are they so flush with orders that another sale does not matter? If they treat me like this before I buy a car, how would they treat me in the case of any dispute after I bought the car?

I'll be checking out other brands of car this weekend.


Cheers

George

[Greg Roles]

Go an Audi mate!

It does amaze me that in this day and age of crisis, poor sales and overall increasing competition, that customer service is lacking more and more.

I found going outside the city got me a decent level of service as the dealer WANTED the sale. Perhaps a few country phonecalls mate?

Surely someone on here can recommend a few of the Sydney rural dealers who remember that in sales, the customer comes first.

[572]

George, I have exactly the same problem. I always though it was more to do with the fact that I was part of their 'younger' customers, and they simply assumed I couldn't afford a VW. I even had better customer service from BMW - he was actually quite helpful and willing to do deals in order to get a sale.

Might have to follow Greg's advice above and see what dealers outside of Brisbane are like!

[neil]

Its the same old story George.
It makes you think if VW dealers where actually interested in selling cars their National sales would look better.
Just like you, how many people are out there who gave up on the brand due to the dealer.

Took me 5 dealers to be able to even get a ride.
Parra no
Gosford no
Hornsby no
Newcastle no
Chatswood yes

I had not decided whether I wanted a Golf or Jetta and was told by the first 4 to come back for a test drive
when I had decided which one I want.

Thankfully I plan to keep mine for many years to come and wont have to deal with another dealer for years.

Perseverance George, If you have gone back looking for another VW you must realize the brand is good.
Why not look at a decent motor this time, I think the Jetta now has the 77kw TDI with 7speed DSG.
You'll be a real VW convert then.

[static1800]

Have you guys spoken to management about your experiences? i'm sure they would be very interested in your feedback, if they arn't escalate it further to VWA

[neil]

Have you guys spoken to management about your experiences? i'm sure they would be very interested in your feedback, if they arn't escalate it further to VWA

I think part of the problem is VWA
When I first bought the car I did the VWA survey thing and let them know my experience,however no response from them.

I've read many post with VWA issue and getting nowhere with them either.

[gregozedobe]

I think many of these problems are are a direct result of the business model used for new car sales. The following are generalisations, and I'm sure there are some exceptions, but you will get the gist of what I'm on about.

Because of the way they are paid (ie much emphasis on commissions, less on salary) the sales people behave more like independent contractors with a primary focus on looking after their own selfish interests, rather than the interests of the dealer, and not looking after the reputation of the brand in general. As for working with or helping out a dealership owned by a different dealer principal to help a customer, well I suspect that is very rare event indeed (based on my new car buying experiences over the last 34 years anyway).

Consequently, if a sales person thinks you aren't likely to buy from them they will exert almost no effort to help you. From their perspective that is the rational thing to do, they won't make any money from you, so why bother doing any work ?

Of course they sometimes decide you aren't a serious buyer when you actually are, and that is where they lose out on sales (and commissions). I've walked away from a dealership that had the exact car I wanted because the salesman wouldn't let me and my missus take it for a short test drive (and no it wasn't already sold). I made sure I rang the dealer principal once I had bought the same model car from a different dealership so he knew why his dealership missed out on the sale.

I think what happens with emails at some dealerships is that they see emails as coming from someone who is shopping around for the best possible price, so if the salesperson knows that their dealership won't compete on price with other "hungrier" dealerships, then again, why would they bother exerting themselves and answering emails if it won't lead to a sale.

Another problem with car sales in general (used as well as new), is that it is percieved as a "zero-sum" game by both parties ie the less the buyer pays the less profit there is for the dealer and therefore the less commission there is for the salesperson.

So it often starts out as an adversarial process where a gain by one party is seen as a loss by the other. This leads the buyer to feel they are being manipulated by the salesperson to pay more than they should, and the salesperson to believe the buyer is trying to get the car too cheaply, thus not leaving a fair profit for the dealer (and therefore too low a commission for the salesperson).

So it is quite possible for both parties to be unhappy with the final transaction (which is quite sad if you think about it).

In the US some manufacturers have started to run their own dealerships and salesgroups with more emphasis on salary and less on commission. In theory this could work better, but would probably lead to less bargaining on price (for those that enjoy doing this). It should lead to more shared interests between the manufacture of the car and those people who sell it.

[anthony_VWJET]

Heres an alternative, buy low km, well taken care of second hand...

[Big Yellow]

have you tried interstate?

from my personal experience, the dealer i got my car from was very helpful and gave me an execeptional price over the phone on the first call.

[team_v]

Easy solution is going through a car broker.

It may cost a little more upfront but you cut all the hassels of contacting dealers and can even end up with a cheaper car due to discounts and alternative dealers.

[Greg Roles]

Jon, Maroochy were FANTASTIC with me, I made a time and went in and drove the GTI, TDI and TSI as much as I wanted, stayed there for almost 5 hours. Drove a few twice! They pulled (my) GT TDI from wrapping plastic and prepped it for a drive for me while I waited, purely on their recommendation that I'd like it. I remember scoffing at the time of the thought of a "performance" diesel, yet they went to the trouble. Plus they offer their own dealer warranty if you return there for servicing. Yeah it's a dealer warranty, but it's a nice touch. Perhaps it's simply the fact I'm such a good looking, charismatic guy, but surely it can't always be due to that.

Also Toowoomba won dealer of the year last year, and I've heard good things about them too.

Seems if you take a drive out of the smoke ( into the dust? ) the "country" folk are a bit more keen to help you out. It sure made for a fun, run in, drive home through the mountains!

[VW Convert]

Its the same old story George.
It makes you think if VW dealers where actually interested in selling cars their National sales would look better.
Just like you, how many people are out there who gave up on the brand due to the dealer.

Took me 5 dealers to be able to even get a ride.
Parra no
Gosford no
Hornsby no
Newcastle no
Chatswood yes

I had not decided whether I wanted a Golf or Jetta and was told by the first 4 to come back for a test drive
when I had decided which one I want.

Thankfully I plan to keep mine for many years to come and wont have to deal with another dealer for years.

Perseverance George, If you have gone back looking for another VW you must realize the brand is good.
Why not look at a decent motor this time, I think the Jetta now has the 77kw TDI with 7speed DSG.
You'll be a real VW convert then.

That's pretty ordinary isn't it Neil. Yes, I do think the VW product is good but I will now be considering other brands because customer service is as important as the product and to be frank I don't think the VW dealers deserve to get the sale.

Not sure I'm man enough to handle 77KW!

Cheers

George

[VW Convert]

Latest Development

Got a call from one of the four dealers at about 11.30 AM and had a discussion about availability and price. So far he is about 2,500 above the indicative price from the first dealer but will pay him a visit tomorrow and see what happens.

Got a call from another dealer (the one that promised to quote but didn't when I was looking to buy the Jetta). He promised to check stock and call back in 20 minutes......that was at 1.45 PM.......nothing since.

VWA.........their response has been no response! Why am I not surprised?


Cheers

George

[VW Convert]

Have you guys spoken to management about your experiences? i'm sure they would be very interested in your feedback, if they arn't escalate it further to VWA

I'll be contacting the DP of those dealers after I buy a car (whether it be a VW or not) to explain why they missed the sale.


I e-mailed VWA yesterday, no response.

Cheers

George

[VW Convert]

I think part of the problem is VWA
When I first bought the car I did the VWA survey thing and let them know my experience,however no response from them.

I've read many post with VWA issue and getting nowhere with them either.

True Neil, I've read a number of posts re similar issues with Skoda Australia, the common factor is VWA. The culture appears to be one of disdain for customers and a change in culture can can only be driven from the top down.

Cheers

George