How I chose my BMW company car.

TimsterC · 02-04-2008, 09:51 AM

So your company car is up for renewal and you want to make sure you get the right car this time. What do I mean by that? Well I have a 4 year old Mazda 6 Sport (diesel) and it's an absolute waste of my time. Last year (2007) it spent a total of 92 days in the garage (workshop). That's 3 months!!!

So this time I wanted to make sure I got a car that was going to run for a total of 3 years.

I was allowed to test drive only three cars, so these were the ones I had chosen. My shortlist was Mondeo 2.0 d Titanium X, Skodia Octavia vRS d and Volvo S60 d.

At this point it might be worth pointing out that I had a really bad perception of BMWs. In the past when I had tried to get a test drive of a 3 series at the dealer in Ascot (no longer threre) I walked inand asked to take a look at a 3 series at which point they said they would get the sales person to call me back with a date for a test drive. Not a problem I thought as I walked out. 6 years later and they have never called. I did call them about a week later and got told, and I quote, "We didn't think you could afford a BMW so we didn't bother calling you back". I then got hold of the dealer manager and tore him a new one. Suffice to say that I never even considered a BMW after that. Add to that the fact that all modern BMWs are way to expensive on options, e.g. They don't seem to come with indicators (turn signals) as standard anymore. You must to order them as an option and they must be expensive as no BMWs I see on the road have them fitted, or working. (It's OK before you flame me, it's a perception, not the truth. I know that now). So why would I consider a car that is way to expensive for me and makes me act like a w**ker on the road?

The Ford Mondeo 2.0 d Titanium X

It's a fine car, you can get at least 3 bodies in the boot, spacious and comfortable, nice on the motorway, OK on the back roads. And that's the problem, I want a car that drives itself on the motorway but that I can really engage with and drive on the A/B roads. Whilst the cabin is gorgeous in the Titanium X Mondeo the rest of the car feels very average. So whilst on paper it was top of the list, the physical drive let it down.

The Skoda Octavia vRS d Estate.

Talk about chalk and cheese. This car was bland inside and was a hoot to drive. Very engaging and easy to drive on the motorways. So this got a really good rating in my books. It wasn't like you had to work hard to drive it, but if you wanted to drive it hard it rewarded you with a rock solid performance. What else would expect from the Volkswagen Audi Group?

The Vovlo S60 d Saloon.

This car was also very very good in all aspects and surprised me a little. The seating position was just amazing and so comfortable that I could easily gone to sleep at the wheel had I put my head back into the soft head rest. Just a little dangerous for me then. Easy to drive, engaging on the B roads but not a big enough boot (trunk) opening for me. I play drums and would have had to downgrade to the V50 (estate/wagon) to get them in the back. A visit to my local showroom proved that they must be employing the same salesmen as the Ascot BMW mob used to. No reply to a request for a test drive, even though I made the effort to go in a see them on a Sunday afternoon.

So at this point I'm getting the Skoda.

All of the test drives had been organised through the leasing company and the format was all the same. Car arrives on a Monday, with 1/4 a tank of fuel left. Gets picked up on Wednesday and is expected to have 1/4 a tank of fuel left. Some of the drivers got a bit fussy over being picked up at the station which is 10 miles from where I work, so it's time out of my busy day trying to look at cars. None of the companies, Ford, Skoda or Vovlo would let me have a vehicle over a weekend.

The BMW story

So one rainy Tuesday lunch time I am on the phone to friend who has a liking for BMWs. He persuades me to go and take a look at the 3 series touring on the BMW website. Oh dear, that was a bit of a let down. I don't use Internet Exploder from Micro$haft, so the site didn't really work for me. But from what he said I was interested enough to go to a dealership. My local dealership, Barons of Farnborough were fantastic. They talked to me even though they new it might be a company car lease. I do have the option of taking a personal lease if it makes financial sense. Took me out for a test drive in a 330d touring. Showed me all the features, got me all the literature and quotes for PCP deals.

I then organised a test drive through the fleet manager at work. The Lease company refused to let me test another car, as I'd had my three test drives. The fleet manager waived this restriction as I had been through so much with the Mazda 6. The nice folks at BMW Park Lane called me and said they had a 320d M Sport Touring that I could test drive over the weekend. "What? Over a weekend, are you sure?", I inquired.
"Yes sir, it's one of our demo fleet so needs to be here during the week." came the reply.
So one Friday in December a shiny 320d M Sport Touring arrived at work with a full tank of fuel too. No instructions to bring it back full either. Nice.

It took me about 10 minutes of faffing about to get the seat right, but once I had it was fabulous. The dashboard (without i-drive) was a little plain compared to the Mazda 6 or the new Mondeo, but all the information was there and easy to get to if on a different screen. The foot well for the driver is a little cramped on first impression but I soon got used to that and it didn't bother me at all. The drive was sublime. Very poised and sharp even though it's only the 2 litre engine. I had to look for the power a little bit, but I'm sure I'll get used to that. When I did find the engines sweet spot it certainly made good use of the fuel. It's not like I have a lead right foot or anything but I do like to go fast.
The car also had the Bluetooth prep and I found it very intuitive and easy to use. The integration with the stereo was good and the sound quality was crystal clear, even on the motorway.
I liked the rims, boot space, tailgate opening choice, seats and adjustments, body colour (Le Mans Blue) and the driving position.

So the overall choice came down to the BMW 320d M Sport Touring or Skoda Octavia vRS d Estate.

Which badge would you rather have on the drive? If I had all four cars in the car park and could take just one of them, the BMW would be the winner every time.

Overall Comments about the whole process.
The one comment I would make about all the test drives I had, was that none of the companies/dealers provided a list of features that the actual vehicle you drove had as optional extras. As a consumer it would have made it so much easier to work out what was worth having and also what would be available that I hadn't thought of. All it has to be is a single sheet of laminated paper listing the exact model of the car and what, if any, options had been added. Plus leave a brochure, options list and price list in the car. Even if I've got one, it's nice to have it in the car to browse against.
So if any dealerships are reading this. Add it to your suggestion box for this month.

dxb335d · 02-04-2008, 09:57 AM

Good write up. Gald you made the correct choice

I agree with the last paragraph. They really should state what the car your actually test driving has option wise.

bells0 · 02-04-2008, 10:34 AM

Good choice Tim - bet u can't wait!!

NFS · 02-04-2008, 10:46 AM

Did you order the optional indicators then Timster?

creepy coupe · 02-04-2008, 10:53 AM

Should have got a Skoda, I've just had my 320d coupe le mans blue M sport valued at £25k It done 3900 miles since new Aug 2007 that's a hit of £7.5k off list price

TimsterC · 02-04-2008, 11:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bells0

Good choice Tim - bet u can't wait!!

I can only count like a child at the moment. 3 more sleeps

Bring on Thursday morning. I will be posting pictures!!!

Quote:

Originally Posted by needforspeed

Did you order the optional indicators then Timster?

Yes, I thought I should change perceptions from the inside. ;o)

Quote:

Originally Posted by creepy coupe

Should have got a Skoda, I've just had my 320d coupe le mans blue M sport valued at £25k It done 3900 miles since new Aug 2007 that's a hit of £7.5k off list price

That sucks. I'm just glad mine is a company wagon and I don't have to pay for it. On the plus side, if they drop that much I might buy it at the end of the 3 year lease.

- Paul - · 02-04-2008, 11:55 AM

Nice write up - depreciation is a bugger!!

beemerbird · 02-04-2008, 11:56 AM

Good write up Timster, interesting that you liked the Skoda. I've driven an Octavia 2.0d to France and back and found it overall very competent.

Try and get some sleep eh

NFS · 02-04-2008, 12:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TimsterC

Yes, I thought I should change perceptions from the inside. ;o)

I find that flashing the headlights is a good way to indicate to slower traffic that they should get out of my way

scotw · 02-04-2008, 01:29 PM

nice write up and welcome

Hope your last few sleeps go well enough, remember, WE WANT PICCYS!

or else we'll talk about you.

Must admit, my first dealer experience was similar to yours, I booked an appointment next time and they were fine after that. This time round, my sales chap was fab, really can't fault him.

mjh93sa · 02-04-2008, 03:12 PM

Nice write up.

You'll soon figure out that the indicators are fitted and do work.... it's just that a lot of people forget to top up the indicator fluid.

You can get it here:
http://kalecoauto.com/index.php?main...&products_id=6

DIY fluid change here:
http://www.geocities.com/changeyourb...kerfluid1.html

booforty · 02-04-2008, 05:21 PM

Very entertaining write-up Timster, you would be great as a presenter on Top Gear!

I've got the super duper deluxe indicators on mine. Okay, so they were a £795 option but, hey, they blink much better than scabby Mondeo's!

tisme · 02-04-2008, 05:45 PM

Interesting write up.

My experience was I had had Vauxhalls and was not happy with the Vauxhall dealership. So 4 years ago I decided to look at Mercs, VWs, Audis and Honda and took a day off work to get a shortlist.

I turned up at BMW Snows in Portsmouth in casual clothes and said I was after a company car and was looking but was not after driving one; I saw a rather nice new E46 320D M Sport outside and asked to sit in it. Having sat in it and rather liking it, I asked if I could have a short test drive to the roundabout...salesman said sure....we got there and I asked if we could go a bit further....he said sure. Anway, when I got back, I guess the guy knew I really liked it so he offered the loan of it to me for 2 days.

. I said I'd think about it; thanked him for his time

Now onto VW...I recall meeting a salesman and asking about company cars. His response was I am retail, you will need to speak to someone else and he walked off....so I walked out! I'm not taking that treatment after how BMW treated me!

Next onto Audi. I was taken into a waiting area and left there. I got bored or waiting so walked out.

Decided I wasn't going to select any car from a dealer that didn't treat me properly so decided I'd probably go for the 320D Sport and I had it on loan for 2 days and put 200 miles on it. I was asked to refill it before I returned it with the fuel I used. Anyway, now the funny part, I pulled into a garage and couldn't figure out how to open the filler cap, so had to leave without topping up. Returned the car to Snows, and apologised for not topping it up and explained I couldn't! So the smart alec took me outside, pressed the opposite side of the filler cap to the Vauxhall, and of course it opened. red faced me offered to pay for the fuel used, but he refused; he was really very pleasant with my style of humour. Anyway, the car was amazing, so I ordered a 320D M Sport in imola red and never regretted it. My next private purchase will be the bigger brother 330D M Sport soon.

Lesson for any dealers is, you never know, treat potential buyers badly and you could lose a sale. I had a completely open mind when I did my viewing.

below is part of an email I sent to the the Audi dealers a week ago after I looked at the new A4. It looks like they still have not learned. I'm NOT going to get an Audi!!!

But. more worrying was attitude to customers. A car that was in for service was parked in the roadway within the car park and not in a bay. I parked in a bay to the side of the parked car. Then, another driver with a small car squeezed through the gap between my car and the car in the roadway and parked in another bay. The small car prevented me from driving out as I now could no loner turn the wheel down hard to the right to drive out as the roadway parked car was in the way.

I spotted an Audi technician going into the building within the car park and asked if he could get the car parked in the roadway removed. Rather than put the customer first, he told me I should go to the showroom and ask someone there to move it; he clearly didn't put the customer first and do it himself.

So, off I went to the showroom and the guy came straight out. But, as we were arriving at the car park, another Audi technician thought nothing of parking his car in the roadway to block in many more cars and to make my situation worse. The guy who was with me suggested the new driver should not park there and he removed the originally badly parked car and I could leave.

So, I am very concerned about Audi's attitude to customer service; I do no believe that Audi care enough in this area, and if they do not care for customers, how will they are for cars in for service?

Finally, I never agreed for my mobile number to be used for sending out marketing texts and I understand someone sent out over a thousand a week or so ago; this activity also aggravates customers. I believe I have stopped this now.

I think I will put Audi's on hold for the time being. I am not ordering a car for another 2 months, and I do need to look at some others.

TimsterC · 02-05-2008, 04:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mjh93sa

Nice write up.

You'll soon figure out that the indicators are fitted and do work.... it's just that a lot of people forget to top up the indicator fluid.

You can get it here:
http://kalecoauto.com/index.php?main...&products_id=6

DIY fluid change here:
http://www.geocities.com/changeyourb...kerfluid1.html

I'm glad to see that someone has decided to educate the world about blinker fluid. Thank God!

TimsterC · 02-05-2008, 04:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tisme

Interesting write up.

My experience was I had had Vauxhalls and was not happy with the Vauxhall dealership. .......

tisme,

Glad to hear that someone else has voted with their feet and shown that consumer power is still alive and kicking.
Let me know how you future visits to dealerships go.
If you are anywhere near Surrey, then try out Merc World at Brooklands. I was very impressed with their cusotmer service, and it's a great place to have a wander round anyway.

TimsterC · 02-05-2008, 04:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by beauforty

Very entertaining write-up Timster, you would be great as a presenter on Top Gear!

I've got the super duper deluxe indicators on mine. Okay, so they were a £795 option but, hey, they blink much better than scabby Mondeo's!

Thanks for the comment. I'm sure your blinkers are super-duper and flash very nicely. ;o)

p.s. I like the style of your sig, mind if I create one like it?

TimsterC · 02-05-2008, 04:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by scotw

nice write up and welcome

Hope your last few sleeps go well enough, remember, WE WANT PICCYS!

or else we'll talk about you.

Must admit, my first dealer experience was similar to yours, I booked an appointment next time and they were fine after that. This time round, my sales chap was fab, really can't fault him.

Only 2 sleeps left.

Piccys? you want piccys? Oh boy are you gonna get piccys. I plan on taking the rest of Thursday off and driving home the scenic way. Not via a Renault garage, but the leafy picturesque way, with my camera by my side. I will then take a week or so to dick-about with the pics and then post them to my webshots site and post links. I will add a couple to the garage here of course.

p.s. thanks for the welcome.

mjh93sa · 02-05-2008, 05:39 AM

It had to be done

Snake Pliskin · 02-05-2008, 06:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by creepy coupe

Should have got a Skoda, I've just had my 320d coupe le mans blue M sport valued at £25k It done 3900 miles since new Aug 2007 that's a hit of £7.5k off list price

Hmmm thats interesting !

So its not just the 4 door cars which drop like a stone in value.

I've also had my 56 plate 330i m sport (with very low miles) valued recently and it has dropped by £12k in just under 1.5 years which i was NOT expecting ... ouch

BMW's are superb cars and I am very very pleased with my car. Whilst I now think they are a fantastic proposition as a company bought car, I am more than a bit concerned about private ownership now

Good luck with your new 3 series though ... you will love it

NFS · 02-05-2008, 06:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Snake Pliskin

Hmmm thats interesting !

So its not just the 4 door cars which drop like a stone in value.

I've also had my 56 plate 330i m sport (with very low miles) valued recently and it has dropped by £12k in just under 1.5 years which i was NOT expecting ... ouch

BMW's are superb cars and I am very very pleased with my car. Whilst I now think they are a fantastic proposition as a company bought car, I am more than a bit concerned about private ownership now

Good luck with your new 3 series though ... you will love it

Hi mate .. not heard much from you for a while. I had a valuation for my car as well recently, based on a March 08 trade in with 30,000 miles.

I was offered £19K, which is a drop of around £15 grand in 18 months.

It was an offensively low offer though and I think the car is worth around £24K as a private sale.

I'm hoping that some of this is down to the massive discounting we saw on new cars last year and that now this has been curtailed the residuals will recover in the next few months.

creepy coupe · 02-05-2008, 06:50 AM

Don't get me wrong I like my car very much, but one of the main reasons I've bought BM's in the past was becuase you paid a bit more for them and got a bit more back come trade in time, but with hits like these mentioned on here I have to wonder if that's still the case.

NFS · 02-05-2008, 07:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by creepy coupe

Don't get me wrong I like my car very much, but one of the main reasons I've bought BM's in the past was becuase you paid a bit more for them and got a bit more back come trade in time, but with hits like these mentioned on here I have to wonder if that's still the case.

Put it this way .. just before Christmas drivethedeal.com were offering a 335i msport - with leather, nav, usb and through load system for £32K

Thats a 16% discount against list.

They are now offering no discount so the car comes out at £38K

BMW's discounting has to be a significant factor in determining residual values. When I bought my car a 1 year old example was still around £30K. During the course of last year, with the heavy discounting that was happening nearly new examples dropped considerably.

A new 330i msport in my spec is £35K. I paid £31K for mine in Sept 06, but if I'd gone through drive the deal during 07 I would have been able to get it for around £27K

So anyone paying list would be seeing an instant write down of £8K in value.

Theaa.com value my car at £21K trade in. BMW offered me £19K.

If I want to 'get back' the value of the 16% discount that was available on the 335i but is now lost they will need to offer me £24K.

Something will have to give here, so if the discounting doesn't come back, the trade in figures will have to go up. If BMW don't react they won't sell cars. They have a good product, but it's already at a premium price.

I'm waiting till September now to see how it pans out and if I'm not happy I'll sell privately.

02-04-2008, 09:51 AM	#1
TimsterC Private 6 Rep 80 Posts Drives: '12 E91 318d & '16 F46 220d Xd Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Surrey, UK iTrader: (0) Garage List 2016 BMW 220d xDriv ... [0.00] 2005 Kawasaki ZX-10R [0.00]	How I chose my BMW company car. So your company car is up for renewal and you want to make sure you get the right car this time. What do I mean by that? Well I have a 4 year old Mazda 6 Sport (diesel) and it's an absolute waste of my time. Last year (2007) it spent a total of 92 days in the garage (workshop). That's 3 months!!! So this time I wanted to make sure I got a car that was going to run for a total of 3 years. I was allowed to test drive only three cars, so these were the ones I had chosen. My shortlist was Mondeo 2.0 d Titanium X, Skodia Octavia vRS d and Volvo S60 d. At this point it might be worth pointing out that I had a really bad perception of BMWs. In the past when I had tried to get a test drive of a 3 series at the dealer in Ascot (no longer threre) I walked inand asked to take a look at a 3 series at which point they said they would get the sales person to call me back with a date for a test drive. Not a problem I thought as I walked out. 6 years later and they have never called. I did call them about a week later and got told, and I quote, "We didn't think you could afford a BMW so we didn't bother calling you back". I then got hold of the dealer manager and tore him a new one. Suffice to say that I never even considered a BMW after that. Add to that the fact that all modern BMWs are way to expensive on options, e.g. They don't seem to come with indicators (turn signals) as standard anymore. You must to order them as an option and they must be expensive as no BMWs I see on the road have them fitted, or working. (It's OK before you flame me, it's a perception, not the truth. I know that now). So why would I consider a car that is way to expensive for me and makes me act like a wker on the road? The Ford Mondeo 2.0 d Titanium X It's a fine car, you can get at least 3 bodies in the boot, spacious and comfortable, nice on the motorway, OK on the back roads. And that's the problem, I want a car that drives itself on the motorway but that I can really engage with and drive on the A/B roads. Whilst the cabin is gorgeous in the Titanium X Mondeo the rest of the car feels very average. So whilst on paper it was top of the list, the physical drive let it down. The Skoda Octavia vRS d Estate. Talk about chalk and cheese. This car was bland inside and was a hoot to drive. Very engaging and easy to drive on the motorways. So this got a really good rating in my books. It wasn't like you had to work hard to drive it, but if you wanted to drive it hard it rewarded you with a rock solid performance. What else would expect from the Volkswagen Audi Group? The Vovlo S60 d Saloon. This car was also very very good in all aspects and surprised me a little. The seating position was just amazing and so comfortable that I could easily gone to sleep at the wheel had I put my head back into the soft head rest. Just a little dangerous for me then. Easy to drive, engaging on the B roads but not a big enough boot (trunk) opening for me. I play drums and would have had to downgrade to the V50 (estate/wagon) to get them in the back. A visit to my local showroom proved that they must be employing the same salesmen as the Ascot BMW mob used to. No reply to a request for a test drive, even though I made the effort to go in a see them on a Sunday afternoon. So at this point I'm getting the Skoda. All of the test drives had been organised through the leasing company and the format was all the same. Car arrives on a Monday, with 1/4 a tank of fuel left. Gets picked up on Wednesday and is expected to have 1/4 a tank of fuel left. Some of the drivers got a bit fussy over being picked up at the station which is 10 miles from where I work, so it's time out of my busy day trying to look at cars. None of the companies, Ford, Skoda or Vovlo would let me have a vehicle over a weekend. The BMW story So one rainy Tuesday lunch time I am on the phone to friend who has a liking for BMWs. He persuades me to go and take a look at the 3 series touring on the BMW website. Oh dear, that was a bit of a let down. I don't use Internet Exploder from Micro$haft, so the site didn't really work for me. But from what he said I was interested enough to go to a dealership. My local dealership, Barons of Farnborough were fantastic. They talked to me even though they new it might be a company car lease. I do have the option of taking a personal lease if it makes financial sense. Took me out for a test drive in a 330d touring. Showed me all the features, got me all the literature and quotes for PCP deals. I then organised a test drive through the fleet manager at work. The Lease company refused to let me test another car, as I'd had my three test drives. The fleet manager waived this restriction as I had been through so much with the Mazda 6. The nice folks at BMW Park Lane called me and said they had a 320d M Sport Touring that I could test drive over the weekend. "What? Over a weekend, are you sure?", I inquired. "Yes sir, it's one of our demo fleet so needs to be here during the week." came the reply. So one Friday in December a shiny 320d M Sport Touring arrived at work with a full tank of fuel too. No instructions to bring it back full either. Nice. It took me about 10 minutes of faffing about to get the seat right, but once I had it was fabulous. The dashboard (without i-drive) was a little plain compared to the Mazda 6 or the new Mondeo, but all the information was there and easy to get to if on a different screen. The foot well for the driver is a little cramped on first impression but I soon got used to that and it didn't bother me at all. The drive was sublime. Very poised and sharp even though it's only the 2 litre engine. I had to look for the power a little bit, but I'm sure I'll get used to that. When I did find the engines sweet spot it certainly made good use of the fuel. It's not like I have a lead right foot or anything but I do like to go fast. The car also had the Bluetooth prep and I found it very intuitive and easy to use. The integration with the stereo was good and the sound quality was crystal clear, even on the motorway. I liked the rims, boot space, tailgate opening choice, seats and adjustments, body colour (Le Mans Blue) and the driving position. So the overall choice came down to the BMW 320d M Sport Touring or Skoda Octavia vRS d Estate. Which badge would you rather have on the drive? If I had all four cars in the car park and could take just one of them, the BMW would be the winner every time. Overall Comments about the whole process.** The one comment I would make about all the test drives I had, was that none of the companies/dealers provided a list of features that the actual vehicle you drove had as optional extras. As a consumer it would have made it so much easier to work out what was worth having and also what would be available that I hadn't thought of. All it has to be is a single sheet of laminated paper listing the exact model of the car and what, if any, options had been added. Plus leave a brochure, options list and price list in the car. Even if I've got one, it's nice to have it in the car to browse against. So if any dealerships are reading this. Add it to your suggestion box for this month.
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02-04-2008, 09:57 AM	#2
dxb335d The Tarmac Terrorist 998 Rep 29,344 Posts Drives: 997.2 GT3 Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: ''Fandango Towers'' iTrader: (3) Garage List 2010 Porsche 997.2 GT3 [9.50] 2003 BMW E46 M3 [6.00] 2007 BMW E92 335D [5.50]	Good write up. Gald you made the correct choice I agree with the last paragraph. They really should state what the car your actually test driving has option wise. __________________ 997.2 GT3
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02-04-2008, 10:34 AM	#3
bells0 Private First Class 9 Rep 129 Posts Drives: BMW X1 23D Join Date: May 2007 Location: Leeds, U.K. iTrader: (0)	Good choice Tim - bet u can't wait!! __________________ Part time dreamer
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02-04-2008, 10:46 AM	#4
NFS Major General 285 Rep 9,218 Posts Drives: G80 M3 Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: UK iTrader: (0)	Did you order the optional indicators then Timster?
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02-04-2008, 10:53 AM	#5
creepy coupe Lieutenant General 1823 Rep 13,043 Posts Drives: BMW M340I G20 Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: UK iTrader: (2) Garage List 2015 BMW 435d [0.00] 2009 335i [0.00]	Should have got a Skoda, I've just had my 320d coupe le mans blue M sport valued at £25k It done 3900 miles since new Aug 2007 that's a hit of £7.5k off list price
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02-04-2008, 11:55 AM	#7
- Paul - Major General 752 Rep 7,308 Posts Drives: see above. Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Yorkshire, UK iTrader: (5) Garage List 2005 320D SE [10.00] 2005 645 [9.00]	Nice write up - depreciation is a bugger!! __________________ My Photos
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02-04-2008, 11:56 AM	#8
beemerbird Major General 177 Rep 7,953 Posts Drives: Merc diesel Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Yorkshire iTrader: (0) Garage List 2010 TTRS [9.00] 2007 Audi S5 [0.00] May 2007 Porsche 99 ... [0.00] March 2007 Porsche ... [0.00] Sep. 2007 E92 335d SE [0.00] July 2006 E90 330i ... [0.00]	Good write up Timster, interesting that you liked the Skoda. I've driven an Octavia 2.0d to France and back and found it overall very competent. Try and get some sleep eh
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02-04-2008, 01:29 PM	#10
scotw Lieutenant 17 Rep 468 Posts Drives: E90 320D SG Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: uk iTrader: (0) Garage List 2007 E90 320D [0.00]	nice write up and welcome Hope your last few sleeps go well enough, remember, WE WANT PICCYS! or else we'll talk about you. Must admit, my first dealer experience was similar to yours, I booked an appointment next time and they were fine after that. This time round, my sales chap was fab, really can't fault him.
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02-04-2008, 03:12 PM	#11
mjh93sa Major General 148 Rep 5,080 Posts Drives: 530d Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Gloucestershire iTrader: (0) Garage List 2012 BMW M135i [10.00] 2011 Mini Countryma ... [5.50]	Nice write up. You'll soon figure out that the indicators are fitted and do work.... it's just that a lot of people forget to top up the indicator fluid. You can get it here: http://kalecoauto.com/index.php?main...&products_id=6 DIY fluid change here: http://www.geocities.com/changeyourb...kerfluid1.html __________________ Gone: Fiesta - Focus - E46 320dSE - E91 330dMSport - E82 135iMSport - R55 JCW Clubman - M135i Now: 530d
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02-04-2008, 05:21 PM	#12
booforty Major General 345 Rep 8,809 Posts Drives: E92 M3 Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: London, UK iTrader: (0) Garage List 2008 E92 M3 [0.00]	Very entertaining write-up Timster, you would be great as a presenter on Top Gear! I've got the super duper deluxe indicators on mine. Okay, so they were a £795 option but, hey, they blink much better than scabby Mondeo's!
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02-04-2008, 05:45 PM	#13
tisme Captain 72 Rep 741 Posts Drives: F80 M3 in Sakhir Orange Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: England iTrader: (0) Garage List 2009 model year 330 ... [0.00]	Interesting write up. My experience was I had had Vauxhalls and was not happy with the Vauxhall dealership. So 4 years ago I decided to look at Mercs, VWs, Audis and Honda and took a day off work to get a shortlist. I turned up at BMW Snows in Portsmouth in casual clothes and said I was after a company car and was looking but was not after driving one; I saw a rather nice new E46 320D M Sport outside and asked to sit in it. Having sat in it and rather liking it, I asked if I could have a short test drive to the roundabout...salesman said sure....we got there and I asked if we could go a bit further....he said sure. Anway, when I got back, I guess the guy knew I really liked it so he offered the loan of it to me for 2 days. . I said I'd think about it; thanked him for his time Now onto VW...I recall meeting a salesman and asking about company cars. His response was I am retail, you will need to speak to someone else and he walked off....so I walked out! I'm not taking that treatment after how BMW treated me! Next onto Audi. I was taken into a waiting area and left there. I got bored or waiting so walked out. Decided I wasn't going to select any car from a dealer that didn't treat me properly so decided I'd probably go for the 320D Sport and I had it on loan for 2 days and put 200 miles on it. I was asked to refill it before I returned it with the fuel I used. Anyway, now the funny part, I pulled into a garage and couldn't figure out how to open the filler cap, so had to leave without topping up. Returned the car to Snows, and apologised for not topping it up and explained I couldn't! So the smart alec took me outside, pressed the opposite side of the filler cap to the Vauxhall, and of course it opened. red faced me offered to pay for the fuel used, but he refused; he was really very pleasant with my style of humour. Anyway, the car was amazing, so I ordered a 320D M Sport in imola red and never regretted it. My next private purchase will be the bigger brother 330D M Sport soon. Lesson for any dealers is, you never know, treat potential buyers badly and you could lose a sale. I had a completely open mind when I did my viewing. below is part of an email I sent to the the Audi dealers a week ago after I looked at the new A4. It looks like they still have not learned. I'm NOT going to get an Audi!!! But. more worrying was attitude to customers. A car that was in for service was parked in the roadway within the car park and not in a bay. I parked in a bay to the side of the parked car. Then, another driver with a small car squeezed through the gap between my car and the car in the roadway and parked in another bay. The small car prevented me from driving out as I now could no loner turn the wheel down hard to the right to drive out as the roadway parked car was in the way. I spotted an Audi technician going into the building within the car park and asked if he could get the car parked in the roadway removed. Rather than put the customer first, he told me I should go to the showroom and ask someone there to move it; he clearly didn't put the customer first and do it himself. So, off I went to the showroom and the guy came straight out. But, as we were arriving at the car park, another Audi technician thought nothing of parking his car in the roadway to block in many more cars and to make my situation worse. The guy who was with me suggested the new driver should not park there and he removed the originally badly parked car and I could leave. So, I am very concerned about Audi's attitude to customer service; I do no believe that Audi care enough in this area, and if they do not care for customers, how will they are for cars in for service? Finally, I never agreed for my mobile number to be used for sending out marketing texts and I understand someone sent out over a thousand a week or so ago; this activity also aggravates customers. I believe I have stopped this now. I think I will put Audi's on hold for the time being. I am not ordering a car for another 2 months, and I do need to look at some others. __________________ F80 M3 Sakhir Orange with DCT and TV collected 21 June 2014.
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02-05-2008, 05:39 AM	#18
mjh93sa Major General 148 Rep 5,080 Posts Drives: 530d Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Gloucestershire iTrader: (0) Garage List 2012 BMW M135i [10.00] 2011 Mini Countryma ... [5.50]	It had to be done __________________ Gone: Fiesta - Focus - E46 320dSE - E91 330dMSport - E82 135iMSport - R55 JCW Clubman - M135i Now: 530d
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02-05-2008, 06:50 AM	#21
creepy coupe Lieutenant General 1823 Rep 13,043 Posts Drives: BMW M340I G20 Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: UK iTrader: (2) Garage List 2015 BMW 435d [0.00] 2009 335i [0.00]	Don't get me wrong I like my car very much, but one of the main reasons I've bought BM's in the past was becuase you paid a bit more for them and got a bit more back come trade in time, but with hits like these mentioned on here I have to wonder if that's still the case.
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