General Dealers

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General Dealers

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Help

Looking at buying a 500 Abarth and have rung 3 dealers and not one of them has got back with any prices, lead times etc.

Can anyone recommend a decent dealer who may actually want to sell a car or should i spend my money elsewhere?

Ian
 
Thanks for the responses.

I've rung SG Petch and got an email the following day to say that someone would ring me and nothing. I've had a test drive at Bauer Millett & got a call 3 days later and was told that they would get back later in the week with costs and nothing. I've also rung Corkhills on Saturday and they said they would get back on Monday and again nothing.

Maybe they don't want the business so i'll look at the others that have been recommended.

Ian
 
Ian, whereabouts are you in the UK? I can personally recommend Westover Sports Cars in Poole, Dorset for first class customer service. Ask for Ben Aldington on 01202 677511 and I am sure he will give you all the help you need.

As always, it is a good idea to ask for recommendations from forum members because they have real experience of dealerships.

Good luck. (y)

ps. Welcome to the forum and please let us know how you get on.
 
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When I was looking to order mine Meridien Milano called me the next day to say they had emailed me with full prices. Also Thames Slough immediately wanted to get me up for a test drive, so from a Monday evening email enquiry I had a drive next Saturday. Call Ajay, 01753 788000, they definately seemed keen to get the sale:D:D:D
 
I live in Burnley so tried the local dealers in Manchester, York & Cheshire 1st.

My business partner lives in Poole and i've spent many a night in Bournemouth so buying from Poole isn't a problem. My last car was purchased from Southampton.

I'll try ringing / contacting a few tomorrow and see what happens.

Thanks for all responses and i'll keep you informed if i eventually get one.

What would anyone recommend if not??

Ian
 
I live in Burnley so tried the local dealers in Manchester, York & Cheshire 1st.

My business partner lives in Poole and i've spent many a night in Bournemouth so buying from Poole isn't a problem. My last car was purchased from Southampton.

I'll try ringing / contacting a few tomorrow and see what happens.

Thanks for all responses and i'll keep you informed if i eventually get one.

What would anyone recommend if not??

Ian

Do you mean what would anyone recommend if not an A500. In short, after a week of mine, simples. Nothing else. You will love it:) Everybody else will love it:) Kids fall over when you fire the little beast up and you drive like this:):):):):):):):)

Meridian Milano are in Cosham which is not a million light years from Southampton, so if that's not an issue call them, talk to John Harkness. Sorry dont have his number but you can get it from www.abarth.london:thumb:
 
Yes i meant what would anyone recommend if not a A500.

Things are looking up as i've had two get back to me this morning.

Looking at 17" Wheels with 5 Petal Design (easy cleaning), Black Leather Upholstery. Colour of car will be Red with Black stripe or White with red stripe. Can't decide:confused:

Possibly Xenons as i have them on my current car.

Am i right in thinking that with the Leather Upholstery you get the rear seat with 50/50 split and head restraints?

Ian
 
Ian, whereabouts are you in the UK? I can personally recommend Westover Sports Cars in Poole, Dorset for first class customer service. Ask for Ben Aldington on 01202 677511 and I am sure he will give you all the help you need.

As always, it is a good idea to ask for recommendations from forum members because they have real experience of dealerships.

Good luck. (y)

ps. Welcome to the forum and please let us know how you get on.

I would echo how good Westover are, I have bought loads of new cars but the Westover experience was one of the best. I dealt with Chris Amey who was excellent but met Ben a couple of times & he seemed a nice chap. They have cut their teeth selling sports cars & some pretty nice ones & I feel for that reason they understand customer service very well.
Its always nice to walk round the showroom, theres always something you can dream about.


Stuart
 
Yes i meant what would anyone recommend if not a A500.

Things are looking up as i've had two get back to me this morning.

Looking at 17" Wheels with 5 Petal Design (easy cleaning), Black Leather Upholstery. Colour of car will be Red with Black stripe or White with red stripe. Can't decide:confused:

Possibly Xenons as i have them on my current car.

Am i right in thinking that with the Leather Upholstery you get the rear seat with 50/50 split and head restraints?

Ian

If you go for leather yes you do get the spli folding rear seat(y)
Good luck, if you want to know what red with black stripe looks like you can look at my car in the members motors, and also posted here last Friday:)
 
Thought that was what you meant, it's good to see some dealers are getting good reviews from satisfied owners. (y)

As there are so few of them dotted around the country most prospective purchasers will need to travel quite a long way and a list of dealers rated highly by owners can help to save a wasted journey.
 
Help

Looking at buying a 500 Abarth and have rung 3 dealers and not one of them has got back with any prices, lead times etc.

Can anyone recommend a decent dealer who may actually want to sell a car or should i spend my money elsewhere?

Ian

In 2009 i sent E.mails to 4 different Abarth dealers including the local one in Manchester asking for a brochure. Not a single dealer sent a brochure. In contrast i made the same request to other car makers,Fiat,VW,Mazda,Smart, and was sent brochures within 2 days from all of them.
I made a complaint to Abarth Cars who said they would look into it.NOTE they did not say they would send a brochure which would have been the obvious thing to do but that they will look into it.Needless to say i did not hear anything from them again.
I decided that if that is how they treat what could be a customer who could spend £14000 with them,then they do not deserve my business,and i bought another car.
Fast forward to this month April 11 and i thought i would try again.This time i contacted 2 dealers asking for a brochure,and YES you have guessed it.Ignored once again. Of course i could just pop into a dealer in person,but why should i. All the other firms are happy to send out brochures in the post,so if Abarth can not be bothered they will not get my business.
 
In 2009 i sent E.mails to 4 different Abarth dealers including the local one in Manchester asking for a brochure. Not a single dealer sent a brochure. In contrast i made the same request to other car makers,Fiat,VW,Mazda,Smart, and was sent brochures within 2 days from all of them.
I made a complaint to Abarth Cars who said they would look into it.NOTE they did not say they would send a brochure which would have been the obvious thing to do but that they will look into it.Needless to say i did not hear anything from them again.
I decided that if that is how they treat what could be a customer who could spend £14000 with them,then they do not deserve my business,and i bought another car.
Fast forward to this month April 11 and i thought i would try again.This time i contacted 2 dealers asking for a brochure,and YES you have guessed it.Ignored once again. Of course i could just pop into a dealer in person,but why should i. All the other firms are happy to send out brochures in the post,so if Abarth can not be bothered they will not get my business.

Anyone in the business of selling something has a 6th sense if someone is genuinely interested. In the business that I'm in now if I get an enquiry and I sense trouble I fob them off. If I can make a call from Ireland to an Abarth dealer in the UK and I get a quick response on my enquiries - I didn't get a brochure in the post - but I got a detailed email with an e-copy of one and was not hounded to know when was I placing the order. I would persevere if you're genuine on your interest in buying an Abarth. At £14k you're getting a lot of value for your £.
 
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Anyone in the business of selling something has a 6th sense if someone is genuinely interested. In the business that I'm in now if I get an enquiry and I sense trouble I fob them off. If I can make a call from Ireland to an Abarth dealer in the UK and I get a quick response on my enquiries - I didn't get a brochure in the post - but I got a detailed email with an e-copy of one and was not hounded to know when was I placing the order. I would perserve if you're genuine on your interest in buying an Abarth. At £14k you're getting a lot of value for your £.

I hear what you are saying,but i am not asking for gold bars,i am just asking for a brochure. I do not expect to be vetted by a dealer to see if he thinks it is worth his while to send a brochure to me. I repeat every other car dealer VW Fiat Mazda Smart all post out brochures instantly.
I have bought over 40 cars in my driving history from a Rover Mini to a Jaguar V12 E Type.The days of me chasing after a dealer to please take my money are long gone.If i am ready to spend £14000,then i expect them to chase me and treat me with respect.All cars are good today,and again the days of me lusting after just one make are also long gone. Yes i am interested in the Abarth,but if they do not know how to treat a customer,as they obviously do not,then thank goodness there are loads of other dealers of other makes who will be only too happy to have my business.
 
Did you just send an email? I hope you called them too. Remember how many emails dealers must get, imagine you put "sales brochure" as a title, it would go straight into their spam box never to be seen again. An email is no good to anyone, how do you know if they've read it?

With a phone call, you speak to a human being. If they don't send you a brochure after that then fair enough, but you have to do some work yourself. If you were as keen as most of us, you would have straight down there anyway looking and driving the cars! :)
 
I would agree with DraigFlag87.
Picking an Abarth is also picking your dealer. It's a specialist car in a sense and it will need a bit of looking after particularily if you start tinkering with it :). If you're looking for a BMW service on buying what is essentially a Fiat the car price might start going up :eek: and it may not be good value any more. Is the car for you or is it for your partner and have you owned any other cars in the Fiat group ?
 
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