Facelift Inchcape and customer service

[JonW1982UK]

Hello,

I'm just after some feedback from anyone who has purchased cars from an Inchcape dealership.

I'm finding that Inchcape (Macclesfield) are pretty poor at communicating but instead of just slagging them off out right, I thought I would try to get a better idea of how they "do things" at Inchcape as its my first Audi and have used Mercedes non-franchised dealerships in the past who were pretty good to be fair.

So the car is now in Grimsby waiting for a transporter and I've sent an email over to my contacts at Inchcape about the possibility of taking delivery around the 1st September (Mrs has got a new job so we need two cars again sharpish), now I receive lots of emails in my job and try to acknowledge them within a few minutes even if I cant fully answer them, just a quick "I'll look in to this" etc.. Heard nowt in a couple of days!

The only thing I've signed so far is the order which was a PFL S3 back in February....heard nothing since apart from when I badgered them for my order number!

Is this normal?

 

[jaypers777]

I bought mine from Audi in Macc and to be honest, I've found them superb. It does go a bit quiet while the car is waiting for transportation and I suspect that 1st Sept may be cutting it fine. The transporter thing is out of the dealership control to be fair. You should have a specific sales person you are dealing with who you should call. Email is hit and miss in a sales environment where they aren't sitting at a desk constantly monitoring.

 

[JonW1982UK]

Yeah I figure that they aren't at their desks much but I do think that if you have an email account to service then you should really have some kind of standard re response times. I was trying to get dialogue moving, if the 1st isn't available then we'll go from there, no worries, I do expect a reply though but will follow this up with a call on my lunch break. Not on great terms with them as they wanted to increase the price of my order when the FL hit, had a bit of meltdown with them and after reading this forum their star guard paint protection isn't worth it so I need to discuss that and the tyre insurance they popped on....

I'll pick up the blower!

I think coming to this forum has actually dampened my enthusiasm hehe, there's the harbinger of doom Jassy mentioning the poor seats, handling and low spots in higher gears, then there's the issue of them getting pinched a lot.....I wouldn't have been privy to all this! I would've just remembered the test drive and that I was quite happy and carried on naively without a care in the world, now I've done away with the electric kettle and got an oldskool hob kettle to buy me a bit of time (the whistle should give them away.....always thinkin!).....

Plus the 335d xdrive tourer bowker just sent me a pic of looks ace!

 

[jaypers777]

Don't let the scaremongering dampen your enthusiasm. I've had mine for 18 months and when I ordered, I s**t myself about all of the advanced key stories etc. As long as you take sensible precautions, don't let anything spoil your enjoyment of what I can assure you is a superb car. I still love mine and am not in any way bored. All of the issues with handling might bother you if you are going to push the car to it's limits etc, but in the real world it is excellent. One thing I would recommend however is GAP insurance for peace of mind. Post some pics when you have collected.

 

[Kugaman1]

Dont worry mate, it will be fine!

Im just about to get out of my S3 after 18 months of enjoyable ownership.

I would have bought the FL but just not happy that they dont offer sepang as a regular colour,and also totally and utterly hacked off at the rip off prices of optional extras!

Im going to the dark side....a BMW X3 M Sport + diesel with massive spec for less than the cost of a FL S3 sportback with a few options.


In my 18 months I never once had an issue with a bouncy ride and the seats were perfectly fine.
It pulled like a train in every gear and never gave me the slightest issue......apart from a slight knocking at the rear on rough roads, but I never bothered getting it looked at as it wasnt that annoying!

All in all, it was one of the best cars I have ever owned in 30 years of driving....well done Audi, you made a great car....just too ****** expensive though!

 

[paradigital]

Try emailing straight to Sean Graye (Sales Manager). Sean [dot] Graye [at] inchcape [dot] co [dot] uk

He's been dealing with my order and has been spot on from the word go.

Trust me, I've had more problems with Inchcape Macclesfield than just about anyone (if you really want me to go into detail I will), but Sean has seen me good.

 

[JonW1982UK]

Dont worry mate, it will be fine!

Im just about to get out of my S3 after 18 months of enjoyable ownership.

I would have bought the FL but just not happy that they dont offer sepang as a regular colour,and also totally and utterly hacked off at the rip off prices of optional extras!

Im going to the dark side....a BMW X3 M Sport + diesel with massive spec for less than the cost of a FL S3 sportback with a few options.
View attachment 100824

In my 18 months I never once had an issue with a bouncy ride and the seats were perfectly fine.
It pulled like a train in every gear and never gave me the slightest issue......apart from a slight knocking at the rear on rough roads, but I never bothered getting it looked at as it wasnt that annoying!

All in all, it was one of the best cars I have ever owned in 30 years of driving....well done Audi, you made a great car....just too ****** expensive though!

That X3 is lovely, what kind of witchcraft have you employed to get that deal? I'd be interested!

Try emailing straight to Sean Graye (Sales Manager). Sean [dot] Graye [at] inchcape [dot] co [dot] uk

He's been dealing with my order and has been spot on from the word go.

Trust me, I've had more problems with Inchcape Macclesfield than just about anyone (if you really want me to go into detail I will), but Sean has seen me good.

I will use this if nobody gets back to me tomorrow, but if that turns out to be the case I'm not sure what I'll end up doing.....thanks

 

[Kugaman1]

That X3 is lovely, what kind of witchcraft have you employed to get that deal? I'd be interested!



I will use this if nobody gets back to me tomorrow, but if that turns out to be the case I'm not sure what I'll end up doing.....thanks

Mate, I pick the car up on Friday.
Dont want to reveal the costings just yet because I still cant believe the deal they have given me and dont want to jinx it until Ive got the x3 in my mitts!

New price on the X3 with all of the fitted options (m sport plus pack, pro nav, bmw connected, rear camera, folding mirrors, etc) is £46k!!

Im trading in my 2015(15) S3 sportback manual with comfort, satnav, ***, red calipers and 6500 miles.

....details will follow once Im back in the frozen North next week!

 

[JonW1982UK]

Mate, I pick the car up on Friday.
Dont want to reveal the costings just yet because I still cant believe the deal they have given me and dont want to jinx it until Ive got the x3 in my mitts!

New price on the X3 with all of the fitted options (m sport plus pack, pro nav, bmw connected, rear camera, folding mirrors, etc) is £46k!!

Im trading in my 2015(15) S3 sportback manual with comfort, satnav, ***, red calipers and 6500 miles.

....details will follow once Im back in the frozen North next week!

I've just built one to have a looksee, hope delivery goes well Mr Turpin!

I'm sure I'll be more than happy with the S3, I did read the reviews before a test drive and I was quite surprised after driving it, the handling felt perfectly fine to an everyday numpty like myself...

 

[Kugaman1]

Thoughts on handling can be very car specific.

Previously, I had an m135i, that was so bouncy, it genuinely felt dangerous.
As seems similar to this forum, on the bmw forums, some experienced it, others didnt.

Believe me, if you had driven that m135i at (ahem) legal limits, you couldnt fail to notice how bouncy it was.

However, on exactly the same roads at the same speeds, the S3 is totally rock solid, not a hint of bounciness.....

Oh and by the way, despite what some of the Schumachers on here think, we are pretty much all everyday numptys who drive our cars on the road, not the track!

In my opinion, the S3 is just about perfect as an everyday hot hatch.....

 

[JonW1982UK]

Thoughts on handling can be very car specific.

Previously, I had an m135i, that was so bouncy, it genuinely felt dangerous.
As seems similar to this forum, on the bmw forums, some experienced it, others didnt.

Believe me, if you had driven that m135i at (ahem) legal limits, you couldnt fail to notice how bouncy it was.

However, on exactly the same roads at the same speeds, the S3 is totally rock solid, not a hint of bounciness.....

Indeed, I didnt get on with M235 (same chassis and I like my BMW's) around where I live, the S3 felt better suited to those roads. Hopefully it'll be identical to the one I drove (non mag).

 

[4K]

Yeah I figure that they aren't at their desks much but I do think that if you have an email account to service then you should really have some kind of standard re response times. I was trying to get dialogue moving, if the 1st isn't available then we'll go from there, no worries, I do expect a reply though but will follow this up with a call on my lunch break. Not on great terms with them as they wanted to increase the price of my order when the FL hit, had a bit of meltdown with them and after reading this forum their star guard paint protection isn't worth it so I need to discuss that and the tyre insurance they popped on....

I'll pick up the blower!

I think coming to this forum has actually dampened my enthusiasm hehe, there's the harbinger of doom Jassy mentioning the poor seats, handling and low spots in higher gears, then there's the issue of them getting pinched a lot.....I wouldn't have been privy to all this! I would've just remembered the test drive and that I was quite happy and carried on naively without a care in the world, now I've done away with the electric kettle and got an oldskool hob kettle to buy me a bit of time (the whistle should give them away.....always thinkin!).....

Plus the 335d xdrive tourer bowker just sent me a pic of looks ace!

To be fair mate, it's not just jassy. I have no problem with the SS seats personally, other than how much they cost. But the standard suspension is another matter.

 

[glasgowdubber]

Sounds like your typical lazy salesman, however doesn't surprise me one bit. Not to defend Audi salesman one bit, but they're targets are so ridiculous I'm surprised they get time to do anything apart from try to punt the cars, after the sales been had, it's not surprising not to hear from them until the cars hit port. They should have an exact date for the transporter, however it then falls down to their PDI team and how busy they are, and with it coming up to the 1st September, I'd imagine they're already under it!

As said above, call in, that's the best way to try and grab a salesman, email should, but doesn't work unfortunately.

 

[Satory]

Thoughts on handling can be very car specific.

Previously, I had an m135i, that was so bouncy, it genuinely felt dangerous.
As seems similar to this forum, on the bmw forums, some experienced it, others didnt.

Believe me, if you had driven that m135i at (ahem) legal limits, you couldnt fail to notice how bouncy it was.

However, on exactly the same roads at the same speeds, the S3 is totally rock solid, not a hint of bounciness.....

Oh and by the way, despite what some of the Schumachers on here think, we are pretty much all everyday numptys who drive our cars on the road, not the track!

In my opinion, the S3 is just about perfect as an everyday hot hatch.....

Pretty much sums up my feelings exactly. I bought the S3 uncritically; didn't even test drive it, so perhaps my lower expectations are a factor but I just admire this car more and more every time I drive it. I don't think, taking all factors into account: size, price, build, performance, practicality,.... that perfect is too strong a term - not for me at least.

I have found some roads that show the suspension to be under-damped for my liking but I was driving like a **** at the time. On normal roads it's a peach. I don't approach a car expecting it to adapt to my driving style; rather I expect to adapt to it's dynamics. So, yes, the S3 required a bit of a learning curve but, driven properly, you'd have to have a death-wish to find the outer limits of it's capabilities in public roads imo.

The ONLY thing that could drag me out of the S3 right now is next year's TTRS.

 

[HawkeyeS3]

Hello,

I'm just after some feedback from anyone who has purchased cars from an Inchcape dealership.

I'm finding that Inchcape (Macclesfield) are pretty poor at communicating but instead of just slagging them off out right, I thought I would try to get a better idea of how they "do things" at Inchcape as its my first Audi and have used Mercedes non-franchised dealerships in the past who were pretty good to be fair.

So the car is now in Grimsby waiting for a transporter and I've sent an email over to my contacts at Inchcape about the possibility of taking delivery around the 1st September (Mrs has got a new job so we need two cars again sharpish), now I receive lots of emails in my job and try to acknowledge them within a few minutes even if I cant fully answer them, just a quick "I'll look in to this" etc.. Heard nowt in a couple of days!

The only thing I've signed so far is the order which was a PFL S3 back in February....heard nothing since apart from when I badgered them for my order number!

Is this normal?

I traded my S3 and bought my RSQ3 through Inchcape Audi Crawley and the Sales Team there were absolutely bang on, not pushy, very attentive and actually went out of their way to return calls etc, couldn't fault them in the slightest. Whilst my sales person (Darren Ballard) was excellent, the other guys on the sales team couldn't be faulted in making it a pleasurable experience to purchase an Audi

I think it all comes down to the sales person you place the order with at the end of the day which is why you get mixed messages about how good or bad individual dealerships are for sales.

 

[JonW1982UK]

Still haven't got an answer, got told I'd get a call yesterday but that never happened....wonder what today will bring! Still status 40 so maybe they haven't been given info about when a transporter is likely to be allocated...

 

[JonW1982UK]

Update (I bet I come across as really impatient but it does annoy me when people say they will phone but they don't!)....

Still heard nothing after speaking to them on Monday morning so thought I'd phone Audi CS to see if I could get some kind of idea about the logistics of getting the car from Grimsby to Macclesfield. Good news in a way, a request for a transporter was placed last Friday and it takes up to 7 days for the vehicle to arrive once this has happened, the dealership have also stated that it takes around 72 hours to prep the car and get it registered.....so I've proposed the 3rd or 4th September but mentioned that this might be tight!

Chomping at the bit, and I'm sure Inchcape want me out of their hair as well.....

If I hear nothing by Friday I'll be visiting them to tell them I don't want it......this might seem absolutely bonkers considering the car is nearly here but for me its quite a big financial commitment and if they aren't willing to communicate I'd prefer to take my business elsewhere.....problem is though, there's not a great deal of choice out there!

 

[paradigital]

You can speed the process up slightly by telling them that you want no form of interior or exterior valet/clean, and to just do the PDI (and leave any protective covers, such as on the sills, footrest, etc in place). Granted this will only shave off a day at absolute most, but every little helps.

Macclesfield Audi won't be touching my S3 when it arrives, they can PDI it, but so much as look at it funnily with a dirty sponge and they'll be getting someone in to do professional paint correction!