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[Doctor Gollum]

Car Giant

This saga has legs...

[tunnie]

I cannot fault the experience, turn up look at cars. Go to the reception desk, give reg of the car you like. They take some details and your keys and hand keys over for the car. You then get to look it over, start it, open everything in peace with no sales guy trying to flog you everything and say how good it is.

Return, either ask for test drive or another car to look at.

Prices are fixed, no haggling, but this was cheapest example I'd seen of this spec, even JoshW could not beat this, one 6 months older on a 63 plate, but 10k more miles, went for nearly £1k more at Auction in Bedford.

Turn up the next day, after doing the deal. Wack the debit card in, pay, keys handed over and you drive off. Faultless experience really.

All warranty/insurance is a fight when you actually want to claim, so it's peace of mind really. But I confirmed that dealer service is not a requirement, I shall keep invoices of service parts, get an annual stamp from VW. Some things I'll get them to do, such as fuel filter and cambelt/water pump.

[Doctor Gollum]

A former colleague bought an Alhambra from them... Motd prior to collection.

It then failed it's Taxi mechanical inspection due to tyre and exhaust faults.

[tunnie]

A former colleague bought an Alhambra from them... Motd prior to collection.

It then failed it's Taxi mechanical inspection due to tyre and exhaust faults.

And your point being? No place is ever perfect, no garage will get 100% 5* reviews.

But wait no, I should buy a used POS Ford, try and flog it but it failed on way to the seller.

Buyer must have thought they had a lucky escape, a car you thought was good enough to sell failed on the way.

F*ck sake really do get tired of this place now.

[Mister Rog]

Car Giant. 

Have to say that I've bought a few cars through them, including my first Omega a while back.

I like them. No BS. Here's the price, buy it yes or no. Warranties ? In my experience everyone will always try to wriggle out of what you think they should do. A sales tool for the franchised dealers.

[tunnie]

Car Giant. 

Have to say that I've bought a few cars through them, including my first Omega a while back.

I like them. No BS. Here's the price, buy it yes or no. Warranties ? In my experience everyone will always try to wriggle out of what you think they should do. A sales tool for the franchised dealers.

Yes I liked this too 

There were some duffers there, clearly ones that had big dents/scuffs and some interiors were badly scratched. You could tell which ones had good owners, but clean un-marked interiors and the state of the alloys.

One BMW 63 Plate 5 series I started, said it had service over-due by 950 miles. 

So just look carefully and takes your choice.

Any big company will have people who like/hate it, take Sky, some love it (who don't work there) others say they are terrible with rubbish customer services. I only have to look at our App reviews to see some 5* some 1*

[Doctor Gollum]

I wouldn't have offered it for sale if I was expecting it to fail

I might be an arse on occasion, but I'm not a complete idiot

[TheBoy]

As expected, they have left enough wiggle room in the written T&Cs to make the warranty nigh on useless, irrespective of who services it.  DIY servicing just makes it easier.

But we all know the warranty is useless anyway (nothing specific against CG or AA, they all are, purely to protect the seller, and gives the buyer a (false) warm feeling), and you'll probably be getting an annual VW stamp anyway, so its probably a moot point, so lets move on...

[tunnie]

....onto fuel consumption. I know it's over due a service and looking to get my hands dirty not this weekend but next. As it's been 17k since anything was changed. I'm planning oil, filter, air and pollen myself and garage for the fuel filter.

Even so I managed this on the way home yesterday...

[aaronjb]

Not bad at all - I see similar out of mine despite the DSG which I guess shows the difference between generations of VAG engines (yours being one generation prior to mine and DSG being 5-10mpg worse than manual); and you don't have to arse about with AdBlue, either  (And it'll have cost you a lot less!  )

[tunnie]

 

Mine is a 13 Plate, but told it was a 2014 model on the VW forums 

I think a damn good service will see this rise a bit, plus my commute is not the most ideal for fuel consumption 

Off back home for first time in ages this weekend, so looking forward to a long motorway blast to see what I can get.

[aaronjb]

Depending on your definition of "blast" you might not see it rise much - if I sit at *cough* 70 *cough* I see ~47mpg, my regular commute (which, starting at 5:30am, varies between 40 & *cough* 70 *cough) gets ~51mpg.. granted there's only 2000 miles on the clock so it's all still a bit tight in there and might improve with age.

[tunnie]

Well when I say blast, I mean 70-80ish cruise. 

But over ~70 odd miles, not my 25 mile run to work. I'll see how it gets on, but being a diesel once every week or so, I'll drive like a stole it, make sure to keep things clear 

[Kevin Wood]

Bah! Listen to you tractorites.

I've decided. My next car is going to be a milk float like Guffers'. Even if it sounds like a washing machine on its' spin cycle.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nOgD2USbGXs

[tunnie]

I also now have full written confirmation:

Mr T
 
Thank you for your email.
 
As you mention we recommend the car is serviced in line with the manufacturers guidelines but we make no stipulation  on where you choose to have the servicing carried out.   If you prefer to carry out the servicing yourself then exactly as you state,  keep all the invoices for the parts you purchase in case they need to be submitted as part of a claim.
 
Should you have any further queries please do not hesitate to contact us.
 
Yours sincerely,