[XK140]

This is my local dealer in Chestefield and they also have branches at Derby,Doncaster and Leeds.
Anyone with any experience of them?
What I'm getting at is discount on a new car.
I'll get figures from Coast2Coast and BMW Heathrow so is it worth bothering locally?
My experience with franchised dealers around me being willing to provide fully competitive quotes is very poor!Last one I tried wouldn't quote at all so I ended up buying through a broker.

[Ronstein]

Not the best by a long way if others are to be believed. Mrs R works for Sytner and they pick up everything from customers to whole dealerships from Stratstone getting it wrong!!

[simon.]

Only as good as the salesman is, as per most dealers. Elms Bedford & Berry Heathrow have both looked after me very well with last 2 orders.

Can't harm popping in & seeing if they are on the same page. If not, walk away without wasting too much of your time & call one of the above

[black stig]

They were less than transparent when putting together numbers for me, and still a way off c2c.

[TouringPleb]

I bought a AUC from there with no problems.

I know you said you are after new, but they have a lot of keenly priced pre-reg cars which they price well.

[Jack_is_Back]

Originally Posted by XK140

This is my local dealer in Chestefield and they also have branches at Derby,Doncaster and Leeds.
Anyone with any experience of them?
What I'm getting at is discount on a new car.
I'll get figures from Coast2Coast and BMW Heathrow so is it worth bothering locally?
My experience with franchised dealers around me being willing to provide fully competitive quotes is very poor!Last one I tried wouldn't quote at all so I ended up buying through a broker.

I have bought new cars from 2 of those dealers and had a good experience, both in terms of service and deals.

Sytner Sheffield on the other hand were rude and arrogant.

But, as said, it is usually down to the individual sales people. Just go armed with your research and see what they are prepared to do on the day.

[fat dog]

I've had dealings with Doncaster and Leeds in an attempt to buy an AUC but left very disappointed with the enthusiasm to do a deal. Also found the staff at Leeds to be very hard work, making very immature comments with poor product knowledge.

I have bought a car from Chesterfield, but for reasons I can't fully go in to, the car was returned almost immediately for full refund plus some goodwill. Nothing really to do with the car itself, but rather the way in which the business was undertaken. I personally wouldn't go back there under any circumstances.

Needless to say, although I buy a car every 6-8 months on average, I don't even look at anything offered by Stratstone. To be fair though, my mum recently bought a 4 coupe from Stratstone Harrogate and said everything was pleasant enough with the transaction.

Good luck with your hunt either way. Out of interest, what do you have in mind?

[isleaiw1]

Originally Posted by Jack_is_Back

I have bought new cars from 2 of those dealers and had a good experience, both in terms of service and deals.

Sytner Sheffield on the other hand were rude and arrogant.

But, as said, it is usually down to the individual sales people. Just go armed with your research and see what they are prepared to do on the day.

Interesting as I have bought three new or pre reg Minis from them but when I tried to buy a BMW they were completely uninterested... I ended up asking the dealer principle at Mini to try and stir up some enthusiasm from them but he came back and said "buy the audi"

Do let me know how you get on though OP as I may be in the market again in new year and want to know whether to make the effort to contact them again....

[Ss66]

Tbf when I popped into my local sytners they were more than willing to match coast to coast on price for new bmws

[Hanchurch]

Leeds is the worst garage I have ever dealt with, and I mean garage not just main dealer. Safe to say they didn't get my money.

[XK140]

Originally Posted by simon.

Only as good as the salesman is, as per most dealers. Elms Bedford & Berry Heathrow have both looked after me very well with last 2 orders.

Can't harm popping in & seeing if they are on the same page. If not, walk away without wasting too much of your time & call one of the above

You're right, that's what to do but I still don't look forward to it!
....present a (say) Coast2Coast online quote to a 19 year old sales person who looks at it with a baffled expression and then goes into the back to consult his boss ( the one who must be kept in a locked room because they never seem to be allowed out to meet customers face to face).
Said young person emerges 20 minutes later with some story that anyone cheaper than them can't be trusted and they only sell at full retail but you will get a free set of mud flaps and a bunch of flowers for the wife.
I've seen it all before,several times...

[XK140]

Originally Posted by Hanchurch

Leeds is the worst garage I have ever dealt with, and I mean garage not just main dealer. Safe to say they didn't get my money.

Thanks,I'll not get my hopes up then!

[isleaiw1]

Originally Posted by XK140

You're right, that's what to do but I still don't look forward to it!
....present a (say) Coast2Coast online quote to a 19 year old sales person who looks at it with a baffled expression and then goes into the back to consult his boss ( the one who must be kept in a locked room because they never seem to be allowed out to meet customers face to face).
Said young person emerges 20 minutes later with some story that anyone cheaper than them can't be trusted and they only sell at full retail but you will get a free set of mud flaps and a bunch of flowers for the wife.
I've seen it all before,several times...

Ring. Tell them what you want to buy. Tell them you have coast to coast quote which you can take unless they think they can beat it. Make an appointment to go in to discuss if they say they can.

If they then waste your time, remind them what they said when made appointment, remind them that in the internet age its easy to let others know who are looking for new cars and walk briskly away.

Then tell us.

What are you after anyway

[Hanchurch]

Originally Posted by XK140

Thanks,I'll not get my hopes up then!

Seriously I turned up in an S4 looking to buy a new 335d and I got the feeling they couldn't be arsed. Who do they want to sell cars to??

[XK140]

Originally Posted by fat dog

I've had dealings with Doncaster and Leeds in an attempt to buy an AUC but left very disappointed with the enthusiasm to do a deal. Also found the staff at Leeds to be very hard work, making very immature comments with poor product knowledge.

I have bought a car from Chesterfield, but for reasons I can't fully go in to, the car was returned almost immediately for full refund plus some goodwill. Nothing really to do with the car itself, but rather the way in which the business was undertaken. I personally wouldn't go back there under any circumstances.

Needless to say, although I buy a car every 6-8 months on average, I don't even look at anything offered by Stratstone. To be fair though, my mum recently bought a 4 coupe from Stratstone Harrogate and said everything was pleasant enough with the transaction.

Good luck with your hunt either way. Out of interest, what do you have in mind?

Thinking of a 240i coupe.
Actually they have a rather nice one in the showroom at the moment...spec' up to £43k!
About £10 k more than I would want to pay for the spec that I want.

[isleaiw1]

Originally Posted by XK140

Thinking of a 240i coupe.
Actually they have a rather nice one in the showroom at the moment...spec' up to £43k!
About £10 k more than I would want to pay for the spec that I want.

make them an offer - its end of quarter for one of biggest quarters of the year and they could still get that out to you by end of month....

This is how I always buy cars!!

[fat dog]

Originally Posted by XK140

Thinking of a 240i coupe.

Great choice. I let my M235i go just a few months ago and miss it dearly.

Be prepared to ring around and to travel and you'll no doubt find the deal for you.

[JNW1]

Stratstone Harrogate are my local dealer and when I was looking a couple of years ago they were prepared to match deals from the likes of Broadspeed and Drive The Deal (don't think Coast2Coast were that well known back then!).

However, as others have said, attitudes depend to a large extent on the salespeople (and perhaps even the dealer principal) and I know there have been a lot of personnel changes at Harrogate in the last couple of years; not sure whether they'd now play ball with matching a quote from someone like C2C but no harm ringing to find out?

Having said that if you get a quote from someone like TRL I suspect you're unlikely to beat it and it's perhaps a bit unfair to use his time and effort just to try to get a better deal from a more local dealer? If they wanted and deserved your business they should have sharpened their pencil sooner IMO!

[takumichinoku]

Not every dealer is going to be able to do or want to do a deal based off quotes from brokers like coast to coast etc however, if there is a dealer who can get close and is also within close distance then that should be good enough.

Go to JCT 600 Bradford. That's my dealer and they usually sort me out with competitive quotes and are a friendly bunch.

PM if you want to deal direct with my salesman there and il pass you his number.

[XK140]

Originally Posted by takumichinoku

Not every dealer is going to be able to do or want to do a deal based off quotes from brokers like coast to coast etc however, if there is a dealer who can get close and is also within close distance then that should be good enough.

Go to JCT 600 Bradford. That's my dealer and they usually sort me out with competitive quotes and are a friendly bunch.

PM if you want to deal direct with my salesman there and il pass you his number.

That's a good suggestion because I recently bought a SEAT for the wife via a broker but the car came from JCT 600.
It suggests that they want volume and are prepared to work on small margins.

[M40CCA]

Leeds are shocking to deal with arrogant w**kers

[ronime]

Sandal matched the online broker price for me. Trade-in on our SEAT is a little below the WBAC valuation but we have no obligation to proceed with the trade-in come delivery time (which will be around week 45 acccording to Genius today).