Do Car Main dealers rip people off ?

[pre65]

The other day I watched a YouTube video, and the subject was about how some main dealers are good and helpful, and others were not. The country was Australia, and I found the video mildly interesting.

I did work for a Citroen dealership for some years, and I was amazed how much was done to keep customers happy, it was a family business.

Now, today I read of a JLR dealer in Derby that got flooded, and customers were told that they would have to deal with their own insurance to get flood damaged compensation.

I thought that was a bit naff.

Then, there was one customer whose Jaguar I Pace (electric car) was in for a battery replacement under warranty (5 years old). Seems his car was up on a ramp, and therefore undamaged, but the battery was on the floor and flooded. The dealer said the cost of the battery wrote the car off. The owners opinion was that the battery was either his old one, and therefore worthless, or the warranty replacement which still belonged to JLR, and not him.

This situation really annoyed me.

Opinions ?

This is the BBC article.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-d ... e-67866072

[Daniel Quinn]

Deciding if car dealers are ripping people off on the basis of your evidence , would say more about you than the actual topic.

All I can say is the Hyundai dealer in Preston was nice and knowledgeable , and given that my some of my pip pays for lease of the car including insurance and breakdown , I’m confident I’m not being ripped off

[pre65]

Deciding if manufactures are ripping people off on the basis of your evidence , would say more about you than the actual topic.

Any "evidence" in the article is not "my" evidence Dennis, so STFU unless you can say anything that makes sense.

[Daniel Quinn]

Miaow !

And as you are utilising it , unless you have a different opinion than you have presented, it is by definition your evidence . If of course it is the latter , then you are a troll .

[shane]

As in anything, there’s good and there’s bad. My gripe isn’t so much with the dealers but with the manufacturers.

When I bought my old series 8 Honda Civic it was fitted with roof bars which had been in place for seven years from new. I wanted remove them because they whistled at speed, but the M4 barrel nuts that held them in place were rusted solid and had to be drilled out. Fortunately the captive bolts that they attached to in the roof channels were ok.

My local Honda dealer wanted £9.00 for each of the eight barrel nuts. A packet of ten identical barrel nuts from Screwfix cost me £4.99.

Mentioning Citroen though, a while ago I had a Citroen AX14TGS, which was a cracking little car and much to my surprise went on for 130k miles. Parts such as brake pads and discs which are easily available from independent motor factors were ridiculously expensive from the local Citroen dealer, but when I had to get parts which were only available from them, such as suspension rubbers or a heater matrix they were really reasonable. Go figure, as our transatlantic friends say.

[vinylnvalves]

They obviously don’t have insurance to cover the 100’s of damaged cars they had in the compound. Like most big companies they probably cover the risk from their corporate coffers, and haven’t the millions required. Other option is they could declare themselves bankrupt to avoid the liability ……. Not supporting their approach just trying to understand the logic.
They could take legal action against the council who raised the flood defences to protect the city, that caused them to be flooded.

BTW - I work with a few people who lost cars.

This and the number of cars written off due to water ingestion in the floods uk wide will mean our insurance premiums will increase disproportionately this year…

[Daniel Quinn]

The dealerships position may not be legally upheld.

The only thing you can be sure of is that they were told to repudiate liability by thier insurers . As it is illegal to operate without insurance , it is a safe bet , they had insurance.

So the decision is the insurers not the dealerships .

There is nothing to learn from this example about dealerships . The insurance industry on the othe hand

[pre65]

Depends on how one defines insurance.

Big companies and corporations can cover their own risks without having to buy insurance from outside.

That includes the Police, who are in effect, covered by the Crown (the treasury).

[chris661]

so STFU unless you can say anything that makes sense.

Bit strong there, Phil. Would you seriously say that in person?



As mentioned in another thread, I bought a car recently - a Mazda CX-30 from the local Mazda dealer. Chap at the dealership said their margins were thin post-Covid. My best haggling got me around 1% off the price, and a topped-up tank of fuel. He was happy for me to walk away instead of giving me a further £100 off, so I'm inclined to believe that the margins really are that thin these days.


With regards to the flooding at the JLR dealership, I suspect they'll find that the cars were under their care when they were damaged, so JLR ought to be contacting their own insurance.

Chris

[pre65]

so STFU unless you can say anything that makes sense.

Bit strong there, Phil. Would you seriously say that in person?

To Dennis, yes I would.




With regards to the flooding at the JLR dealership, I suspect they'll find that the cars were under their care when they were damaged, so JLR ought to be contacting their own insurance.

That would have been my opinion.

[Daniel Quinn]

Phil you are being stupid , I’d like to say it’s unusual but it isn’t .


And that’s doesn’t rely on the definition of stupid.

And would you care to name one private company that doesn’t insure its liabilities

The police are of course part of government

[pre65]

And would you care to name one private company that doesn’t insure its liabilities

That information is not in the public domain.

And, I did say they can, not necessarily that they did.

[Daniel Quinn]

I think you will find it is . Each company is required by law to name thier public liability insurers at convieniant points.

[pre65]

I think you will find it is . Each company is required by law to name thier public liability insurers at convieniant points.

Public liability insurance is not a legal necessity.(in the UK at least)

[Daniel Quinn]

That’s true , it’s employers liability which is compulsory . But anybody who doesn’t have public liability would be stupid .

I never came across a company with more than three employees with out it .

And if you have it , you have to display it , so as a customer you can decide wether or not to use them .