Who is driving my new Fiesta from Morpeth to Poole. ETA tomorrow morning. Safe journey to them both. Rubber mat set and jack and spare are on order. The bits for the rear sensors are here and the contents of my Ipod are going to be transferred onto a USB stickover the festive season. The insurance company, to my surprise, after paying out about £12k were perfectly happy to amend the cover without charge for the new one so that is a result. Fingers crossed it passes inspection!

I expect the driver to be a big fat jolly old man with a white beard and a red suit 😀

Merry Christmas, enjoy your new car.

He was a big fat jolly young man without the white hair and the red suit. Nice chap. I felt rather sorry that he had had to bring the Fiesta down when I saw it.

It was rejected within two minutes of arrival due to serious undisclosed acccident damage that had been poorly repaired at the front where panels didn't fit, paint didn't match and the mopping compound in the door shut was very, very recent. The tailgate was a good quarter of an inch different in its fit side to side. The Dealer was very apologetic and put up no resistance but the driver had another job which was somebody else's Christmas treat so I didn't dig my heels in and they will be collecting it next Wednesday.

3 hours ago, anon said:

It was rejected within two minutes of arrival due to serious undisclosed acccident damage

So that was a "Ho, Ho, NO" 😧

 

Quite so. Needless to say, the 100% reliable MGF that is currently being used as a daily came out in sympathy and failed to proceed. There is a poor connection to the starter, I think and that means hardtop off and engine cover off which is an hour's work in the pouring rain, so give up for the day and sip whisky!

18 hours ago, anon said:

It was rejected within two minutes of arrival

Very sorry to see that didn't go well. Yet another poor experience of remote buying to add to those already reported by other members.

My friend up in that part of the world used to speak highly of Jennings Ford, but reported that standards dropped after the takeover by Vertu under its Bristol Street brand. 

This is the problem with the 'warranty culture' we live in now.  Sales people don't care whether stuff works or is up to a decent standard because it's someone else's problem once they've sold it.  Luckily for them, most people won't reject on delivery.

2 hours ago, Eric Bloodaxe said:

My friend up in that part of the world used to speak highly of Jennings Ford, but reported that standards dropped after the takeover by Vertu under its Bristol Street brand. 

I can confirm both of those opinions. Back in the days of 51 Reg, I bought a brand new Galaxy from Jennings Ford in Washington, sadly long gone. Service was excellent and any issue no matter how small was always sorted without a fuss.

More recently 2020, I very nearly bought a Focus from Bristol Street near me. The sales department were poor, showed little interest, and were even more disappointing once I had paid a deposit. So uneasy was I with the service (or lack of) that I cancelled the order and fortunately got the deposit returned. 

Most people don't know much about motor cars, including, for the most part, those that sell them. Bristol Street have been supplying cars to our family for sixty years but Vertu(!) have clearly sent the brand down the pan. When I bought the Ka (last of the mk1s with every toy in the box for £5850) , they treated me like royalty and I am sorry that their good name has been bought to be a front for shysters.

I have one to look at on Thursday, 4000 miles from new but it has obviously  had a hard life (and a £400 price hike in the move from Barking to Bristol since last week,) and another on 26,000 that has every single option I think I could think of,  only the 125 engine, 17" wheels and Mogadonetic Grey to count against it.  I hope this will be the one as the only other car around that meets the spec is a five door and despite the advantages, just as Henry didn't have a use for a car with more plugs than  a cow has teats, I don't have one for a car with more doors than I have friends! (Ok, so it is the looks, really. The 3 door is a pretty car.)

On the subject of Vertu, our local BMW dealership used to be very well regarded. I've considered Beemers in the past, never bought one but always had a good experience there from courteous and knowledgeable staff.

On my most recent visit, just pre-Covid, to take a look at the latest 1-Series, I noted that it was now Vertu.

When I eventually found someone who could be bothered to speak to me, it quickly became apparent that I already knew more about the car than he did. When I expressed some reservations about the latest "design language" (ie the big ugly grille) he had a paddy and waltzed off! I haven't been there since..........    

Similarly, our local VW and Audi franchises (once independent and very good - I bought 2 Audis from them) are now part of the JCT 600 empire and I wonder how they ever sell anything nowadays.

However, for balance, as part of my recent research I visited the Hyundai, Honda and Toyota franchises (Minstergate, Marshalls and Vantage respectively) and had a good experience at all of them.