After moving to its new address at 1, Vernon Court, Meteor Business Park, Cheltenham Rd E, Staverton, Gloucester GL2 9QG about 3 years, the Suzuki dealership has now closed.

SDM Falkirk

Toyota Dealer for almost 58 years - franchise withdrawn - Great Service BUT cars were expensive - new or 2nd hand. There was always a deal somewhere that was better.

Toyota wanted a Glass Palace apparently

Toyota Europe / UK is currently overhauling all the main dealers for the new customer hub concept, this roll out started back in 2022.

I spent 3 hours sitting in the waiting area of a large franchised dealer yesterday. I was having a service and decided not to go back and forth on the bus. Anyway, nobody came in looking to buy a car and it was somewhat cold in there. I think we are definitely going to see a change of approach soon - the status quo can't be sustainable.

Quite a number of dealerships haven’t opened on Sundays since everything closed for Covid, with very little, if any, loss of business. Sundays in showrooms aren’t what they once were, most are six hours of tedium for the sales team.

I'm surprised they are quiet on a Sunday...thought they would have been one of the busier days - I'd only be able to go on a Sunday/Saturday usally.

Indeed - my local Mazda dealership stopped doing maintenance work on Saturdays during the pandemic times, which is a right shame as it is easier to fit in on that day, plus now they (like most main dealerships) charge a daily fee (somewhere near £20 I think) for use of a 'courtesy' car, which obviously used to be free.

I always did my browsing for new cars on the weekend.

The "VAT registered garage" is also an urban myth.

However if you buy say a new Kia (with a seven year warranty) and get it serviced at a local independent, then your warranty would be invalidated after the 1st service (at one year old).

That's not true - you can get it serviced at any VAT registered garage as long as they use the correct parts/fluids then Kia have to honour the warranty...if you want to risk that then that's a choice you have to make but legally speaking then you can have it serviced elsewhere.

The problem is how can anyone prove that the service used the correct parts and fluids - only if the fault afterwards was during the time that part or fluid was on/in the car. You could use (say)m inferior oil for three years, then the proper stuff, and get a problem.

Similarly with the 'checking' part of servicing - have they actually checked all the things 'ticked off' on the docket?

Trouble is, all this can apply to any servicing, whether from a main dealer or indie. They only was to prove it would be for someone to video the whole thing, which isn't reasonable.

Mine provides a short 1-2 min video of what they've found when inspecting under the car - corrosion, suspension, brakes, but nothing else. Better than nothing I suppose, but bear in mind they said my car needed suspension work at the Jan 2024 service (also featuring on the MOT as 'advisories'), and yet it passed this year's service with no notes on that score at all - a completely blank MOT document apart from the emissions data and 'pass'. This despite me not having any work done of that nature. Hmmm...