Arnold Clark after sales and branch flexibility

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Tue 22 May 2018 23:42
Arnold Clark after sales and branch flexibility - Scott Stevens

Looking to buy a new car and I've seen a couple with Arnold Clark I like at one of their dealerships about 50 miles from home.

Just wondering how flexibile they are as a wider company with their after sales help. If I have any problems after buying the car would I realistically be able to deal with a more local AC branch without too much fuss?

I've got it in my head that they might not be that accomodating with such flexibility, but maybe I'm being unfair as it's not based on any personal experience.

Anyone had any such experiences?

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Wed 23 May 2018 00:00
Arnold Clark after sales and branch flexibility - SLO76
No problem, you'll be able to claim on any Arnold Clark warranty at any branch. If however it is a new or approved used car with a manufacturer backed warranty you'll need to use a franchised dealer for warranty or service work but again it won't matter who owns it.
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Thu 24 May 2018 00:16
Arnold Clark after sales and branch flexibility - notagoodname
I once bought a car from this company - it went on to develop an issue; due to how they handled it I’ve never had the urge to buy another car from them.

Edited by notagoodname on 24/05/2018 at 00:40

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Fri 25 May 2018 13:00
Arnold Clark after sales and branch flexibility - daveyK_UK
You can get £200 off the screen price in person by simply asking, any more requires the permission of a senior branch manager and you being serious about doing a deal
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Sun 27 May 2018 09:11
Arnold Clark after sales and branch flexibility - jgrahampo

Avoid them unless you are confident that there will be no aftersales issues to deal with.

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Sun 27 May 2018 09:20
Arnold Clark after sales and branch flexibility - gordonbennet

Those who detract, is there any chance of filling things out a bit so we know why.

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Sun 27 May 2018 19:29
Arnold Clark after sales and branch flexibility - Avant

Agreed - could be useful, although please no abusive comments.

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Mon 28 May 2018 13:43
Arnold Clark after sales and branch flexibility - galileo

Agreed - could be useful, although please no abusive comments.

My only experience was when I went with a lady neighbour to look at a used Citroen C1.

I pointed out to the sales person that the front discs were a bit scored "they will be checked in the workshop and changed if necessary". She bought the car and a service package, 11 monts and 2000 miles later they charged her £249 for front discs and pads, not included in the service package.

We got an appointment with the service manager, I put it to him this seemed to be taking advantage of a non-mechanical customer, which he accepted and refunded the £249.

Good result but not impressed with the original rip-off.

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Mon 28 May 2018 14:26
Arnold Clark after sales and branch flexibility - grumpyscot

Sorry, but I simply don't trust Arnold Clark. Bought a car off them. They said the car had JUST been serviced, and had new brake pads and discs fitted.

Took delivery, my mate ( a police traffic inspector) looked it over.

1. It hadn't been recently serviced according to the dirt on the oil filter and the muck inside the air filter.

2. The brake discs were not new

3. The brake pads were not new

4, One rear tyre was below legal limit.

So the two of us went back together the salesman insisted that the car had been serviced - so my mate provied it hadn't. The salesman denied havingsaid it had new brake parts fitted. He also denied that the car had an illegal tyre till my mate showed him. "You must have changed the tyre". "We've only done 3 miles since we picked it up". My mate then fessed up about what his job was. We got the car serviced (elsewhere), 4 new tyres, and new brakes - all paid for by Arnold Clark to keep us quiet. I would never, ever, go back to them.

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Mon 28 May 2018 16:09
Arnold Clark after sales and branch flexibility - Arrius

Well, I've done a quick research and they have pretty high rating overall. I don't have a personal experience with them but there have been some negative comments as well.

My personal experience with car dealers in overall is that they will try to overcharge with every step tho so I would be extremely careful and put everything on paper so they have to follow through down the road.

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Mon 28 May 2018 18:28
Arnold Clark after sales and branch flexibility - daveyK_UK

i would have thought buying new or nearly new from them would be less problematic

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Tue 29 May 2018 00:28
Arnold Clark after sales and branch flexibility - Avant

I should imagine that Arnold Clark are much the same - no better or worse - as other big chains of dealerships. What's missing is the motivation to give the customer good service which you normally get with smaller family-owned businesses, even though they may own quite a few dealerships.

One obvious symptom of 'big chain syndrome' is that the sales staff and the service staff don't communicate. In fairness the salesmen referred to above may genuinely have believed that a service had been done / brake discs changed etc. - but didn't care enough to check the facts properly.

The fleet market keeps these chains going. Private motorists buying new or nearly-new may find it's better to find a business that's family-owned but still a main dealer, even if it's not their nearest. If the car is older than that, then there are obvious advantages in going to an independent.

BMW seem well served by these in my experience: people train with big dealers and then set up on their own. Berkshire Motor Works near Wokingham were excellent: Eden Motors in Yeovil seem promising.

Edited by Avant on 29/05/2018 at 00:33

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