I'll never buy cars new for as long as losing over 8k a year in depreciation alone is considered good! :o)
I make that £4k/year. (£8k over two years).
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SNIPQUOTE!I make that £4k/year. (£8k over two years).
Still Eighty quid a week though.
MD
Edited by Dynamic Dave on 28/10/2007 at 14:23
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Well I get my 300c CRD touring with lux pack on Thursday :-) I chose hearse black , so will be interested to see how it turns out!
I work for MB and DBenz still own over 20% so I think the margin is still there for Chrysler. The deal is mainly effecting the US at the moment. Its unlikely to affect the UK for another year or so I reckon. Same staff, same shared HQ at the moment so we will wait and see. Its a huge company and change takes time.
MTC did you get a Startech Grille, or buy one of the ones off of ebay? Easy to fit or did you get the dealer to do it? Was there any hack sawing involved as I have to give it back mint in 9 months!! I'm hoping you will say ebay and just a few clips....
Edited by moulder on 26/10/2007 at 20:05
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Well I get my 300c CRD touring with lux pack on Thursday :-) I chose hearse black so will be interested to see how it turns out!
MTC did you get a Startech Grille or buy one of the ones off of ebay? Easy to fit or did you get the dealer to do it? Was there any hack sawing involved as I have to give it back mint in 9 months!! I'm hoping you will say ebay and just a few clips....
If my experience is anything to go by, then you'll love it I just hope that you enjoy car washing !
As for the grille, I brought it back with me from America and mine is the E&G Classics with Centre bar, plus, I got the lower vent covers as well. I think that it is the only one in the UK that is set up like this. As for fitting, my dealer did it for me as part of the purchase deal.
Sadly, I can't tell you how hard/easy it was to fit the grille, but I know of a website where someone would be able to help you. Its an American site, but it has a very active UK/european section.
Admins, I don't know what the rules are regarding other motoring forums, is it OK for me to post the addy ?
MTC
p.s, Pugugly. Thanks for the welcome back. I have kept looking in from time to time, but I've been a little bit put off from posting by the attitude that some posters show to non-regulars. I'll give it a go again and see how it goes
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Moulder
You work for a franchised dealer then? Do you really think Chrylser can make a go of it in the UK? Currently they offer the following range of models, all for less than 1% of market share:
Patriot, Compass, Cherokee, Grand Cherokee, Wrangler, Sebring (saloon & convertable), Voyager, Grand Voyager, 300C, 300C Touring, Crossfire, Caliber, Nitro, Avenger.
Imagine being a dealer and having to sell and support that lot...Lots of different engines and drivetrains to support in service/parts. The overheads must be tremendous. Most of the brands with very low market share stick to just a couple of models or have common engines/drivetrains.
Its a serious question BTW, I'm not trying to be sarcastic. I'd like to know what you think. It just looks a bit too overwhelming to me. I wouldn't fancy investing in a Chrysler dealership right now (and I notice they came one from bottom in recent NFDA survey).
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The Chrysler dealership in Stoke on Trent _ Cuomo (sp?) - appear to be doing well. new showrooms, expanding every 2-3 years.
Don't know what models they are selling: see a few new jeeps but only 1 300C
(and Stoke used to be a dump but these days I see a Brand new Ferrari every day driving into Stoke so there is quitealotofmoney there now).
Lots of Grand Voyagers..
I believe Cuomo are one of -if not the best - performing Chrysler UK dealerships... but I guess in volume terms they must be small beer. I would imagine the local MB dealership is 3 to 5 times their size in volume and 10-20 in value.
madf
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"and Stoke used to be a dump but these days I see a Brand new Ferrari every day driving into Stoke so there is quitealotofmoney there now"
Don't get your point really. A car driving past/through/anywhere does not mean anything to me. A Bugatti Veyron could be blocking my drive but it doesn't mean anything. I get off topic I know. A Ferraru driving into Stoke (dump or not) means it drove from somewhere else ;-) Somewhere in Cheshire probably.
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Thanks for that MTC - I think I'll give the ebay one a go and see what happens! As for the car washing, thats what Friday afternoons are for, we've got a hot water industrial pressure washer, so its no big deal. That black colour isnt too bad, I've got it on my Grand Cherrokee at the mo and its ok.
Aprillia, Yes I do, for a MB dealer though, so I don'tknow about the intricasies of a Chrysler dealers finances. What I would say though is that a franchised dealers money is mainly out of aftersales rather than sales, and a great deal of that is from Warranty work..... i.e. the manufacturer is the dealers biggest customer. Dealers make their money from parts purchases and vehicle purchases from the manufacturer and they are converted into bonuses. Lots of dealers (not mine thankfully ) rely on the bouses and make a loss on sales. Therefore those that dont meet target tend to go bankrupt very quickly. I'm sure this is the same accross most brands. As for the range, I can only comment on my experiences. Grand cherookee is fine, in fact very good, although not as refined as the ML but for the price very good. 300c I will let you know! From the dealers point of view I cant see why the extensive range would be a problem. the vehicles are well documented in electronic diagnosis literature and so knowledge is no big deal. The only detriment of a non standard drive train and engine range is the lack of immediate stock, although most "vehicle off road" parts can be obtained from Milton Keynes within 24 hours.
I'm not an average 300c customer as I pay a subsidised rental for the vehicle, but I like the looks, don't care what others think, will not feel inferior next to MB's or BMW's (thats marketing playing with your brain). Do you know what my biggest concern is? No parking sensors on the front! Other than that who cares - looks nice, good price, fantastic equipment, mb engine, mb auto box, mostly mb suspension etc.... am I bovvered :-)
Edited by Dynamic Dave on 27/10/2007 at 20:17
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Aprillia Yes I do for a MB dealer though so I don'tknow about the intricasies of a Chrysler dealers finances. What I would say though is that a franchised dealers money is mainly out of aftersales rather than sales and a great deal of that is from Warranty work..... i.e. the manufacturer is the dealers biggest customer.
Hmmm.. This might be true of the likes of Renault, but a lot of manufacturers (mainly Japanese) have very low warranty claim rates. Any Toyota, Honda or Subaru dealer hoping to make money out of warranty work will be very disappointed. Warranty work tends to be reimbursed at a much lower labour rate than retail work, often its only 'break even'.
>>I cant see why the extensive rangewould be a problem. the vehicles are well documented in electronic diagnosis literature and so knowledge is no big deal. The only detriment of a non standard drive train and engine range is the lack of immediate stock although most "vehicle off road" parts can be obtained from Milton Keynes within 24 hours.
A big range of vehicles is a problem. Whilst electronic service data is readily available actually using the data is another matter, it becomes very demanding for the technicians to develop expertise. This is particularly true when the dealer is small and can only aford to employ a couple of guys. Technicians need to be trained on the product, and with greater product diversity that means more time spent training and keeping up with TSB's etc. Its much easier on the techs if the manufacturer limits the range of product - e.g. Subaru techs have it easy because bascially every car they see is designed the same. That leads to fast and accurate diagnosis and repair, which makes for happy customers.
My own experience of parts supply is that Mercedes has always been excellent and generally arrive next day. Chrysler is the exact opposite and parts can take ages to arrive and be very expensive. They also allow parts to go obsolete on anything over about 6 years old - thats the 'American way' I think.
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Chrysler is the exact opposite and parts can take ages to arrive and be very expensive.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>friend has a chrysler pt cruiser, dealer wanted £500 for a pair of headlights (rhd lenses so no use ordering from the usa direct) so dealer only and hard to obtain he was told,he ended buying some chav lights for half the price,i darent even mention the price of a front bumper cover.
mtc ive said before i love these cars ,they have such presence on todays roads against all the other blog mobiles........enjoy and happy motoring
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