[steveh]

Hats off to these guys. I booked my Treg in with them at short notice because of the dreaded stepper motor symptoms and the fact that my private warranty (the car is over three years old) was about to expire. When I booked the car in they apologised that, because of the short notice, the courtesy car wouldn't be a Treg. From other peoples posts I hadn't really expected a Treg but it's nice to know this is what they normally provide. Anyway, they checked the car over and did the software upgrade which (touches wood) seems to have cured the problem

and as the service warning indicator had come on even though the private dealer I bought the car from just three months and seven thousand miles previously had supposedly serviced it, they also discovered that the wrong brake pads had been fitted. So we've got to take it back to the other dealer and get him to sort the brakes out - which is annoying.

Sidlow rang my wife to tell her all this and she said she would go and collect the car - 'oh no' they said, we've got to valet it yet. So when I got home yesterday evening there's the Treg sitting on the drive looking absolutely immaculate and - the best bit - they didn't charge us a penny and the wife said that they were a pleasure to deal with.

The downside is that I've got to go back to the other dealer and sort out the brakes.

 

[Paddy2bsure]

My Touareg was there last week... I had a "neutral to negative" experience...

Positive was they could fit the car in at 2 days notice, they were courteous & efficient on the service desk, and they valeted the car.

Negative was despite them telling me the car was still under warranty, it wasn't (due to mileage). No-one had ever told me there was a 60,000 mile limit (even though I purchased the car from their group (Sidlow Horsham) a year earlier with 45,000 on the clock). Two of their VW branches assured me the car was indeed still covered under warranty. They went ahead and replaced the bonnet cable then told me I had to pay for it myself. A nominal 10% discount was applied as a softener, but it still worked out at over ?340 for a bonnet cable & the MOT. No offer of a courtesy car (but it was booked in at 2 days notice) but no offer of a lift to Horley station either, just directions. Lastly, their labour rate. ?110/hour plus VAT. Complete rip-off - there is no way on earth they can justify that. Had they been half as sympathetic to my cause as they were making out, they could at least have given me their warranty hourly rate, which is approx. ?75.

It's things like this that have prompted me to get out of VW ownership (as I had similar hassle with the Audi A6 previously). So from this weekend, it will be "Bye Bye VAG". Somewhat sooner than expected, but I literally can't afford the next thing that goes wrong with the car (at ?110/hour).

Overall... 5 out of 10 for Sidlow (trading as VW Gatwick)

 

[steveh]

Sorry to hear about your experiences. It's weird as it sounds like a different dealer. When I rang to book the car in they offered me a lift to Horley Station as I thought I was going up to London that day but then when my plans changed they offered me a courtesy car (but not a Touareg because of the short notice). My wife took the car in and spoke to them during the day as I was out all day and she was very impressed with the service. Mind you, I'm sure she would have been less impressed if they had presented her with a huge bill.

My other car is an Audi TT and Crawley Audi is where I get that serviced (and repaired

) so I'm used to big bills.

 

[Paddy2bsure]

My other car is an Audi TT and Crawley Audi is where I get that serviced (and repaired

) so I'm used to big bills.

Crawley Audi... where I test drove an Allroad, agreed to buy it, then waited 3 days for the salesman to get back to me with the trade-in & finance figures. Meanwhile one of his colleagues sold the car. I was not very impressed (understatement) :thumbsdown:

 

[steveh]

Crawley Audi... where I test drove an Allroad, agreed to buy it, then waited 3 days for the salesman to get back to me with the trade-in & finance figures. Meanwhile one of his colleagues sold the car. I was not very impressed (understatement) :thumbsdown:

Yeah. I bought my first TT from them when they first opened at the end of 2003 and the salesman who sold me that was brilliant. I then bought my current TT from him but then he moved on to another Audi dealer in Maidstone last year and when I tried to trade in my TT earlier this year at Crawley they just didn't seem to want to know. They made me an insulting offer on my TT and wanted much too much for the TT I was thinking of buying. I thought they would do me a good deal as a loyal customer but loyalty seems to count for nothing these days.

 

[steveh]

Crawley Audi... where I test drove an Allroad, agreed to buy it, then waited 3 days for the salesman to get back to me with the trade-in & finance figures. Meanwhile one of his colleagues sold the car. I was not very impressed (understatement) :thumbsdown:

Actually, just thinking about it, if that was a 2.7T about a year or so ago then it was my in-laws who bought it. Sorry if it was.

 

[Paddy2bsure]

Actually, just thinking about it, if that was a 2.7T about a year or so ago then it was my in-laws who bought it. Sorry if it was.

2.7T? And a towbar for the petrol bowser on the back????

No, it was a 2.5 TDI Auto, Y-reg (2001) in Silver. Must have been just after they opened too - Christmas 3 years ago IIRC.

 

[steveh]

2.7T? And a towbar for the petrol bowser on the back????

Yeah, my father-in-law started moaning about the fuel consumption about a month after he got the car.

I did warn him but he wanted the power.