Drive Vauxhall (Aldershot)

**Johnnyopolis** · 25th August 2005, 18:05

Well, been an interesting couple of weeks!

Bought my SRi CDTi 150 from them in March and have covered 11,000 happy miles

Service light has come on at 21,000 and I duly booked it in with Drive, the day of the service came and I dropped the car off.

Picked the car up in the evening and paid the £160 bill. When the Service Bod gave me the bill I noticed that I had been charged for Screen Wash. Now I checked the screen wash the night before and topped it up because I didnt want them to do that! When I questioned them about it they told me that they would have drained mine out and put theirs in!!!

Now its not the point that it cost me money for the screen wash, more the point that they say they took mine out! I got home and smelt the bottle of my screen wash and then smelt the one on the car (must have looked a nutta) and they both smell the same!

Then yesterday just under 2 weeks after the service I get the engine management light come on so I stop and turn the car off and back on.... its still there... yikes I am outside my house so I turn it off and go in for dinner. I have come out today and its not on then after 10 mins of driving there it is again. I phone Drive and tell them and they say "we will book it in for the 5th September" Im like what!! What am I meant to do till then? Surely its worth gettin it in to check its not anything really bad then if there is work that needs doing I will simply leave it there. She said Sorry cant do it before the 5th.... Great customer service!

She told me if it hasnt lost power it will be fine... hmmmm good diagnostics love! So I have now phoned Fox Garage in Camberley and the guy there said bring it down tomorrow at 1.30pm and we will take a look and sort it out for you, a complete diffrent attitude and one that I like!

So im off to Fox and to be honest I will NEVER go back to any Drive Vauxhall Garage again.

Phoned the service manager at Drive and he came across as "bothered.... Not" Oh well they have lost a customer now and I wont buy a car from them either.

/rant off

Regards,

Johnny

**Duncan** · 25th August 2005, 18:42

That always pi55ed me off with past dealers. They'd charge you for a sachet of screen wash and you knew fine well they couldn't have squeezed in a spit more liquid into the filler neck!! As for draining it and refilling with theirs, what a crock of s**t!!

You've done the best thing, voted with your feet and gone elsewhere!!

D

**24vElite** · 25th August 2005, 22:06

I also suggest you contact Vauxhall Customer Care with your concerns. If no-one complains no-one knows they're not doing a good job. It's worth the time for an eMail or phone call.

**denzo** · 25th August 2005, 22:55

That reminds me of the serive record for Vx dealers .... replace the battery in key fob remote controls .... don't forget the spare keys, (I have never once been asked for my spare key so that they could chnage the battery).

I once has the remainder of the screenwash left on my car seat ... it leaked

, I played hell with the service guy ... he reassured me that it would dry fine and it did ... 2 weeks later

**Trel** · 26th August 2005, 09:53

Different dealers are amazing. Drive Vauxhall in Bury is where I got my motor. Great stuff. Went to them as the nearest dealer I have had bad experiences with, but then a member of the VxSCC East Anglia region raves about them

Seems all down to luck really.

**Jamie** · 26th August 2005, 10:02

I always use Bicknells Vx in Worcester, they are a good old family run chain of only 3 dealerships, and you can tell that they really do value the customer. All the staff know my name and we are on first name terms, and they never need to ask my VRM when I book the car in. Have had 2 cars from them in the last 5 years, both second hand, but they treat me like I'm buying a new car every year!!!!

It helps that I used to work with the service managers wife, and was good mates with one of their best mechanics (who was unfortunately killed in an RTC with another friend of mine, but thats another story), but even without that I know a lot of other people who get the same level of service.

**Lloydy** · 26th August 2005, 23:14

Originally Posted by Johnnyopolis

So im off to Fox and to be honest I will NEVER go back to any Drive Vauxhall Garage again.

Fox in Camberley are pretty good. I used to use them all the time before I moved, and always got good service.

**Johnnyopolis** · 29th August 2005, 10:04

*Update*

Fox in Camberley are great. Spoke to them on Thursday night and they got me to "pop" the car in Friday lunchtime. 20 Minutes later they said it was something on the throttle bodies giving the error code and they were booking for the 2nd September. Everything should be fine with it and pop it in then....

Oddly the light hasnt been on since!

**Brake buster** · 29th August 2005, 10:19

Originally Posted by denzo

That reminds me of the serive record for Vx dealers .... replace the battery in key fob remote controls .... don't forget the spare keys, (I have never once been asked for my spare key so that they could chnage the battery).

I once has the remainder of the screenwash left on my car seat ... it leaked

, I played hell with the service guy ... he reassured me that it would dry fine and it did ... 2 weeks later

i just had mine seviced at Bailis Hains and Strange Glos , and they did change the batteries in the keyfobs, lol, even got a phoncall the other day asking if everything was ok with the service !!!

i can tell cuz the screwdriver left a small mark in the opening slots, the trick i used to get both keys done was to put both keys on the keyring when booking in the car,

BB