I had an interesting conversation

As a dealer selling cars built in the EU the potential for price increases come November 1st due to the application of tariffs under our WTO agreement is really not going to help them so building customer loyalty through good service is going to be rather important.

That's the bit I reckon is a dangerous game. I think there is a large part of the market for BMW, Audi, Mercedes etc which is price sensitive. Cheapish monthly PCP payments got them into the cars but high service costs will quickly drive them away again.

Maximising servicing profits sounds like a synonym for milking the punters - Audi's great at it with labour rates having increases by the best part of 50% over the last five years.

Don't forget the piss poor wash and hoover followed by a return visit 2 weeks later to let them find out why the car now has a slight stutter under load!
All for the reasonable price of £470 (so far).

I'd argue that a BMW dealer saying they're going to focus on good service should result in that BMW getting a kick in the balls because they're surely acknowledging that while they have been charging premium rates on the premium product they're not been giving a matching service.

Maybe I've just been unlucky due to my local dealer having the same surname as the other large franchise group that's always been the byword for notorious crap after-sales.....




(That's Clark just in case you're not sure)

I used Cooper BMW on Teesside for my last car and they were very good, so I'll be using them again for this car. My opinion on AC has changed somewhat after the excellent service I got at their Edinburgh branch. 

It's not AC, it's JC!

I'd much rather use Grassicks in Perth but, in common with so many dealerships nowadays they don't offer a courtesy car, rather just a minibus into town. That's not much use to me when John Clarks are in Dundee and I can get a lift to & from with a colleague.

Haven't JC been bought over recently?

Some dealers may well wish to go back to old days - "Do you want a radio in your BMW sir? You do? Excellent, that'll be £500 thank you". But the German manufacturers have all become volume players and once you've invested billions in fixed plant and equipment, you've got to keep it running. That or do a Ford and decide to close several of your factories of course as the volumes are just not there any more.  

If sales numbers fall, dealerships will have to close or amalgamate.  

Perhaps the reality is that the motor industry has just managed to avoid the internet revolution in sales and service so far (Tesla being the exception). What is happening to the high street may well happen to car dealers in the end. Go to your nearest manufacturer supported showroom to view and test drive. Order over the web and get the car delivered direct to your door. Finance sorted over the web too.  Which means that those dealers that survive are going to have to make their profit from servicing and second hand sales, probably catering for multiple makes in the same venue.  But that does not mean to me that they can increase service prices - the opposite in fact as there will be more competition.    

I think there is a distinct danger that the BMW, Audi, Mercedes brands could find themselves with a much smaller market share, fewer dealers and very much a premium product, as they were in the 60's and 70's. It's either that or they continue to discount the cars to the extent that joe public doesn't mind being fleeced for servicing if he can get a BMW for the price of something he considers much less premium.

£27k?? Wash your mouth out with soap! It was £25k 

It's cheaper to lease a BMW, Audi or Merc than a Ford or Vauxhall, basically down to better residuals. It's not just PCPs on new BMWs; people looking for a 3 or 4 year old secondhand car would also prefer one over a cheaper/newer Ford or Vauxhall. 

Whether or not they are built to the same standard I don't know. It would be interesting to see the quality standards BMW, Audi etc put on their supply chain and compare to what Ford/Opel ask for. I know, even within Toyota, the levels of permitted defects per million parts are lower for Lexus  than they are for Toyota as a whole. 

Let's face it; no residuals are good, it's just some (Ford/Vauxhall) are worse than others. It's the difference between being  kicked in nuts by someone wearing plimsolls or steel toe capped boots.