The dealership satisfaction thread.

[rictus01]

well personnally I'm glad they are all there, they serve different people for different things, I use main dealers as they know more about (or have access I don't to) the model I need help with, and again I use places like Essential rubber for tyres and perhaps the odd pad change and C&S when I can't be ar*ed to do it myself, yet if it wasn't for this and the associated threads wouldn't normally post about.

Cheers Mark.

York Suzuki serivced my old Bandit 650 4 years ago and where great. Offered me a tea etc and always seemed helpful. Even though i only went once they still remembered me 2 years later when i was looking for an up grade. If i still lived nearby i would definately use them again.

Originally Posted by Jayneflakes

You have to ask, in all seriousness, what kind of a dealer will sell a sports bike to an unlicensed disabled woman who needs a walking stick and help to get on a bike?

Firstly - the SV isn't a sports bike in the true sense of the term, it's a fairly docile middleweight sports tourer in reality. Sports bikes are ZX6s, R6s, CBR600RRs etc and bigger bikes like Blades and R1s. Plenty of first time riders, some smaller and weaker than yourself, have bought SVs and had no problems. They only make as much power (72 claimed HP) than an ER6 commuter bike, they just have low slung bars and slightly rearset footrests on the S models, the rest is pretty low-tech but very functional.

Secondly - it's not the salesman's job to judge or make a decision for you, it's his job to advise and ultimately to sell you a bike. If he thinks the bike is physically too heavy, tall or intimidating then he should subtley point it out and try to steer the buyer towards something more suitable, but having said that one of my female friends is a very petite 5' 2" size 8 and rides a Ducati 996 and when she worked for Suzuki GB she had a GSXR1000 company bike.

When it comes down to it the customer is the one holding the cash, and it's their choice what they buy. I know of an 80 year old locally who can barely walk, but he recently bought an MV Agusta F-4 1000 Tamburini Edition to keep in his garage just so he can go and polish it and marvel at how lovely it is. He does occasionally go out on sunny days on his Ducati 748SP. Should the dealer have refused to sell him either bike because he's old and a bit wobbly? If someone comes in wanting a full on sports bike to do a 5 mile commute i will point out that it's not really a suitable machine for the job, but at the end of the day it's what the customer wants, not what he needs that seems to be their priority. Why do you think you see so many ladies wobbling around on pretty R6s that they can't ride to save their lives? They'd be much better off on a more upright bike but they want a pretty looking sports bike, even though they are totally unsuitable for gaining real world road skills on just after passing ther test. One of my close friends has just sold her beloved immaculate ZXR400 because she has finally come to her senses and realised she can't ride the thing properly and is buying a lowered ER6-n off me next week.

I frequently have people who have just passed their test or have it booked coming in and looking at used ZX6Rs and other sports bikes, but I point out to them that the limiting factor isn't normally the price of the bike or the power output, it's whether or not they can afford to insure it having zero NCB and a fresh pass certificate. In those circumstances reality soon hits home once I sit them in front of the office pc and do a quick insurance quote comparison, and they then start looking at bikes like ER6s and SV650s.

I don't really do dealerships - I've never bought a new bike (and probably won't) but I'll mention Southern Cross in Kilburn, London as James the salesman there was more interested in helping me out than making a sale.

From friends who have bought new, they only go to dealerships to keep the warranty, they know there's better places to get their bike serviced but without that special stamp the resell value goes down. That's the only reason they go to the dealer.

I'm gonna jump ahead here as I think there's a question behind your question

What would be good to see is a collective of independent mechanics that can leverage discount part purchasing from manufacturers, have the same level of credibility when it comes to their stamping of service manuals but still retain their individuality.

The issue there is that the manufacturers support their dealership as they're flogging their bikes. And you could argue that Xmake workshop knows Xmake bikes really well (not my experience but they might do, but as the mechanics never meet 90% of the customers its a moot point).

/end derailing

[Swin]

I've had a couple of jobs done by my local dealer - Mark Davall's in Harlow, and have found the service to be excellent.

I was told by another rider that they seemed expensive to him, but comparing with other garages for a service and MOT, I found them to be slightly cheaper than where I had been going before!

The only problem they have is that they are so busy (so they probably don't really need or care about my recommend ) that you get the feeling you are getting in their way if you go looking for boots or stuff like that - although they did offer me a brew last time I was waiting for my lift home!

[L3nny]

World of Bikes Corby

Bought my Fireblade from there. The bike was overpriced when I went to look at it, as soon as the guy at the dealers realised I knew what I was talking about he knocked £850 off the listed price which made is cheaper than some of the nails I have seen on Ebay.

After 1000 miles the chain and sprocket were knackered, my fault, should have checked them properly when I bought it and as they are consumeables they weren't covered under the warranty.

I took the bike back to the dealer and asked him nicley if there was anything he could do. He said he'd only charge me for the fitting so I ended up getting a new C&S for £40.

When I said I had no way of getting home and lived 50 miles away he also lent me an old CBR600F to get back on.

Pure Tirumph in brum.

Fixed my damaged hub cover with no hesitation, gave me another bike to mess about on for a couple of hours.

Friendly staff.

Times they quote for work can be a bit out and they didnt order a rack for my topbox when they said they did but that was down to the salesman not doing his job properly.

Overall, id use them again as i have been happy, they also encouraged me to test bikes for a whole day rather than a couple of hours like some.

[gruntygiggles]

• Works done
• Amount charged
• Your own opinion of the dealer, were you satisfied with the service and the price you paid
• Anything they could have done better
• Name of dealer (optional)
• Anything else relevant

1. Bought the bike, a used 2007 Honda CG125 & had MOT done 2 months laster.

2. £20 special price including a chain adjustment and brake bleed. Bike was advertised for £1,600, I paid £1,400

3. I have been going to this dealer for over 5 years now as my ex had a Kwak. Both salespeople there are really nice, but Paula is by far the best and most professional bike sales person I have met. She's always got time to chat, gives you cups of tea, pulls out as many bikes as you want for you to sit on and is generally lovely. She is trying to get me to test ride a ZX6R even though she knows I won't buy one as she wants me to feel what they are like. I have never been anything other than impressed with the service there, both sales, service and parts.

4. Given me the bike and MOT free...other than that, no.

5. Drive (Bristol) Kawasaki

6. Both sales people will do their best to match you to a bike and encourage anyone buying to test ride a few different models before making the purchase. I think this is pretty good thing to do.

I will do a full update once I have had my first service but at the minute I am pretty happy with North Harbour Honda, Ayr. The manager, not the salesman because he was rubbish, was a genuinely lovely guy who was as excited for me as I was after my test ride, BEFORE I had told them I was buying!

• Works done - had my restrictor kit fitted (the SGP carburetor piston replacement)
• Amount charged - £85 for the two pistons; £117 for fitting (£50/hour + VAT)
• Your own opinion of the dealer, were you satisfied with the service and the price you paid. Not really, The dealer felt "inconvenienced" to do it. As if I was getting in their way (this is my personal opinion). They didn't really help me out much either. I needed either Saturday work or early morning work (to save having to take time off of work). They couldn't do either. Had to drop it off at 9am (when the garage opened). Then wait around (since it's in the middle of no where). Even then they didn't start the work immediately (knowing that I needed to get to work since I had a half-day holiday). They didn't help me out at all.
• Anything they could have done better Yes. The guy behind the service desk seemed a bit grumpy. After telling them I would prefer them to start at 9am so I could collect if for 11am to get to work, they didn't bloody start it until 10am! I was sat in the showroom for ages waiting for them to finish
• Name of dealer (optional) Motts, Basingstoke
• Anything else relevant They should lower their prices in general. No point in charging redicilous prices when I get get it for a fiver cheaper down the road! They say it's a family run business and they was in it for the customer satisfaction... I doubt that!