How does anyone buy a new car?????

[alebonau]

wow nice story srl ! always like a happy ending

nice touch with the dealer, obviously trying very hard to make ammends.

ps I know what you mean re foregoing a few options. I let go thoughts of dynaudio and ACC and took a sunroof and leather instead. Much to my joy actually two options am very much been enjoying. and very thankfull was forced to take them as an alternative to a 5 month wait hehe

amazing to hear that the gti is a blast coming from a bmw 325 ! a lovely car too, am absolutely loving my gti. definitely the best car have owned. one that will continue to bring a fair bit of joy and pride of ownership for a fair while I think.

ps didnt realise parking sensors were a dealer option. maybe a good option for the wife hehe

[Maverick]

After the experience yesterday morning, the drive home was heavenly, the car is brilliant, we just love it....

As for the dealerships...they can go to hell.....

Talk about a cockup, I'd be following that up with the dealer principal at least.

I'm assuming this is Northstar?

[V6Passat]

yep here your pain. Brisbane dealers i am sure are the worst offenders. I bought my v6 Passat sight unseen and without a drive. Lucky for me the gamble paid off, cause it would be a long 4 years till the next new car! Good Luck.

[Corey_R]

Terrible stories in here, but I'd like to share with you my experience with Denlo VW in Parramatta. Not all dealers are the bad guys.

I actually have a family member who had a bad experience with Denlo (but read on!). They were trying to buy a Tiguan and got impatient with the salesman not getting back quick enough and then went to another local dealer in Sydney. That local dealer stuffed up majorly. Not only did they not even order the correct specification (wrong colour paint, leather, no fog lights, a few others I can't remember), they then took 3 months to get the tow bar kit in and fitted (which only happened after an escalation to the dealer principle), and since then their servicing of the car has been suspect (turbo > intercooler hose blew off literally within 3 days of a service). They're now wishing that they were more patient and ordered from Denlo...

...which just happens to be where I have had great experiences. Not only have I found the Denlo sales team to be very helpful, but their after sales service has also been great. I too would recommend them to anyone in the area

[craig_the_german]

Talk about a cockup, I'd be following that up with the dealer principal at least.

I'm assuming this is Northstar?

It wasn't Northstar...the other dealership on Brisbane's northside....and not Austral either

[V6Passat]

Terrible stories in here, but I'd like to share with you my experience with Denlo VW in Parramatta. Not all dealers are the bad guys.

After agreeing a delivery date, it slipped by a couple of days due to bluetooth kit not being available. No biggie. Then my finance company had some issues processing the finance in time, so I had confirmation of payment advice but no money in the dealer account as of the Friday night. I had been travelling all week, so was pretty tired but obviously looking forward to picking up the new car on Saturday.

As soon as I got off the plane Saturday morning, I called the dealer to see if funds had cleared overnight, but no luck. I suggested there must be a way to arrange delivery, such as a loan agreement and leaving my trade-in, but Denlo wouldn't budge. They had apparently had problems with finance on a recent sale, so weren't willing to release car until funds were cleared. I was pretty upset, probably exacerbated by my tiredness. I lost my cool with 'my' sales guy and a business manager. Not very proud of that.

On the Sunday, Denlo called to say that they had just discovered that the reversing sensors on the car weren't fitted. Needless to say, I was unimpressed but I admired the sales guy for making what I knew was a tough call. He gave me some options - delaying delivery or picking up the car as planned, and then they'd pick it up to fit the sensors. I chose option 2, because I was about to get on another plane and I at least wanted to have the car for a day before I flew out!

Money cleared Monday morning, so I arranged to pick up the car at 10am. When I got there, the car was in the showroom with a big red bow on it and a sign announcing me as the new owner. They had also been able to fit the sensors, albeit unable to match the body colour yet. I got a full run-through, signed the paperwork, and I had the chance to apologise to the sales guy and the business manager for my exchange with them both the previous Saturday. Then the sales manager came over, introduced himself, apologised for the inconvenience and gave me a bottle of Moet champagne. I was surprised and delighted. (They also took a photo of me with the car and emailed it to me that morning - which I promptly sent on to a few mates and family as a skite!)

Since that day a couple of weeks ago, I've only clocked about 400km on the car, due to more travel, and the dealer has sent out their guys to change the reversing sensors plates to match the colour. All up, it's been a good experience with some difficult circumstances and I happily recommend Denlo.

BTW, for those waiting, the GTI is a sensational car. I traded out of a BMW 325i E46 (which I loved) and the new Golf is such an exhilarating car. My biggest concern now is keeping my licence! The only thing I wish I had got was the Dynaudio, but I wasn't willing to order and wait, so I got the car with the nearest spec. albeit a 12/09 build. The Xenons are incredible, DSG is huge fun, and I'm enjoying DCC (although I think over time I will probably leave it in standard setting).

Again, sorry to hear about others' experiences with their dealers, and hope your unhappy delivery doesn't spoil the ownership.

SRL

I am ok flying to Sydney to buy a car! thanks for sharing....

[team_v]

It wasn't Northstar...the other dealership on Brisbane's northside....and not Austral either

Suburb wouldn't happen to begin with a K would it?

[craig_the_german]

Suburb wouldn't happen to begin with a K would it?

As a matter of fact it does.

I have sent a message to VWA this morning...will wait and see

[team_v]

It seems Brisbane do have a pretty bad rep for dealers.

I went with Highway as they are close to my place of residence and they were the only ones who were willing to play ball with my price.
I had also heard good things about them from some other members.

The rest of the dealers either didn't ever reply to me or agreed to a price and then changed it when contacted to arrange a deal.


If i had of waited another month, i would have been contacting some of the dealers on here as they are more than willing to keep contact and are giving some very good deals.

[Maverick]

It seems Brisbane do have a pretty bad rep for dealers.

I went with Highway as they are close to my place of residence and they were the only ones who were willing to play ball with my price.
I had also heard good things about them from some other members.

The rest of the dealers either didn't ever reply to me or agreed to a price and then changed it when contacted to arrange a deal.


If i had of waited another month, i would have been contacting some of the dealers on here as they are more than willing to keep contact and are giving some very good deals.

I have heard consistently good things about highway where they have gone above and beyond what they have to do and regret not going with them initially but instead fell for the lies from Austral and signed with them. Since I've dealt with them I haven't had any problems, the whole experience was good, they communicated well and everything went smoothly which is the exact opposite of my dealings with Austral. It's easy to put up an extra good show up front which Austral do very well but once you sign it's all downhill from there and IMO it's important to look at the dealers track record and not just rely on a flashy showroom and dodgy sales staff.

From reading the forums and talking to customers in Brisbane Highway do have the best reputation across the board, Austral have a shocking reputation in all areas, Ian B has satisfied customers (but not enough to form a real opinion on), there are happy and unhappy customers with southport and a few happy customers with the sunshine coast. The two new ones on the northside (one of which is involved here) really don't have enough feedback to give an idea as to how they are (yet).