[GiantMike]

Hello! I feel dealers don’t really add too much value when a car doesn’t need heavy adaptations. And test-drive could be arranged directly online like some manufacturers do nowadays.

So what are the good and irreplaceable things that dealers brought to you?

Topic

[Glos Guy]

I think it’s less about whether a dealership is good or bad but more about specific sales people. The salesperson who dealt with our BMW X1 order last year was superb. They weren’t the nominated Motability specialist but I had used them before for a private purchase (which was also handled superbly) so went directly to them for our Motability order.

The good points were numerous and started with being completely honest that they had no immediately available build slots and a wait of 6 to 7 months could be in order (most dealers won’t tell people about build slot allocations unless pressed, preferring to imply that they have ordered the car when they haven’t). I made it clear that I’d give them until the next months allocations to secure us a slot or I’d look elsewhere. They secured us a build slot the week after.

We’d had a good few hours test drive before ordering but then worried that the standard seats weren’t very good and we should have ordered Sport seats. The salesperson arranged for us to have a brand new (registered that week) X1 M-Sport for a whole day, even though we had already ordered (we added the Sport Seats as a result and have been very glad that we did).

They updated me every couple of weeks on the order status, without me chasing. Because the order started moving backwards, they went out of their way to secure a cancelled order from another dealership (one that wasn’t even in their group). When that order got pushed back they phoned the central factory build allocations people and got it restored to the original date.  They got us the car (factory order with options) in less than 4 months. They also spoke to BMW Technical and obtained very detailed info that I wanted on the functionality of an option we had ordered. To top it all, they gave us nearly £1k discount off the AP and options.

So, to answer your question, we had no adaptations but none of the above could have been achieved had we ordered online.

We are likely to leave the scheme when the lease on our car expires. Guess which salesperson I will be speaking to first about a private purchase?

[struth]

i think i will keep this car as long as im able to then stop with motability unless huge strides are made. i will be interested to see if there is a ‘scottish’ version of motability tho.

Current Car: Hyundai Kona Premium EV...2 way 40kg hoist
Last Car: Toyota C-HR Excel Hybrid...4 way 80kg hoist

[gilders]

The last Motability car I leased (subsequently purchased), the salesman was good. I received a discount on AP, he sourced an in stock vehicle for me, made sure the car was presented like a new purchase (e.g. it was under a cover and then revealed), took photo’s of the reveal with me and my wife – generally made it seem like a special event. Not only that, he went through all available registrations and picked one that ended with my initials. It was the service afterwards that was terrible. Just remember if you get a poor salesman, you might be lucky and get a good service team, which long term, is more important if you have trouble with your car.

Although my salesman was good. I would be more than happy to have a car delivered (or visit somewhere) for a test drive and order online, without actually seeing a sales person. My main pre-lease wish is a long test drive in a vehicle that has the same engine and gear box as the car I wish to lease. I never get to test the car for long enough.

[Author]

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