226 replies to this topic

[jimgraham]

Guys, I didn't read through to see if anyone had already commented on this lot, but Bayliss Haines and Strange in Cheltenham were brilliant when i bought my VX second hand. Steve knows his stuff (he owns one as well). considering i didn't know my arse from my elbow, they were very helpfull. All the seal modifications were done ready for me to pick up the car when i wanted it. Very friendly and helpfull Haven't needed to go back since, so can't comment on after sales, but i will find out soon. Jim

Edited by jimgraham, 25 March 2004 - 01:28 PM.

[Timbo]

I should hope they were good Jim, there one of are site sponsors. It wouldnt do them any good to be sh*t like the majority of the rest of the dealers.

[caleebra]

They have suggested the peeling paint around the lights is under warranty but haven't advised when they will do it.

Hmmmm, be interesting to see if they try to send your one down to Luton... This seems to be Belmont Edinburgh's approach.

£142 sounds decent enough though, maybe wont have to go to Invershneck. Had your car covered any additional miles when you got t back? And did you get a car for the day?

[jimgraham]

I should hope they were good Jim, there one of are site sponsors.
It wouldnt do them any good to be sh*t like the majority of the rest of the dealers.

Fair point Timbo, didn't think about that one!!

[BAYLIS_VX]

I should hope they were good Jim, there one of are site sponsors.
It wouldnt do them any good to be sh*t like the majority of the rest of the dealers.

Timbo,that sounds almost bitter

Thanks Jim

Edited by Baylis VX, 26 March 2004 - 08:33 AM.

[exjagman]

I should hope they were good Jim, there one of are site sponsors.
It wouldnt do them any good to be sh*t like the majority of the rest of the dealers.

Timbo,that sounds almost bitter

Thanks Jim

Apart from the actual good service from Baylis, they take time to follow up with phone calls and letters to make sure you are satisfied and happy. They do make a real effort.

[two4oneuk]

My clutch spring went the other day. Went to local dealer ( Belmont Aberdeen)they never had any in stock so booked my car in for 10 mins the next day and borrowed one from Sales managers car to save waiting any longer. Souds like a good deal to me! Martin

[rubber]

OK Pomphreys of Sittingbourne strike again. I urge any of you that use this garage to cease, they are crap!!! Car went in for 20k service, with a few bits to do on warranty, maybe. Anyway go to pick car up,"All done Sir, apart from all the things you wanted doing on warranty". Oh fuc*ing good. I asked why nothing had been done, they say nothing is warranted anymore. My car is 17 months old. The windscreen surround was one issue I had, as I posted before, it let so much rain in it's rotted the mats. Anyhow they can't do it. I reminded them that they have already had the car in once to do it, and they attempted a repair. As it is that that has failed I pointed out they couldn't of done it right in the first place so feel they should do it again. No reply. F*ck it, not getting anywhere so I ask for the bill so I can get home. Are you ready...............................£220.00............WHAT! I said you can fu*k off, "That's the price Sir." Boll**ks. I refused, they came down to £155, I said no. So they made it £126.62. They honestly haven't got a clue. Apart from all this crap, this time I was told the car would be ready at a certain time , I had to wait 45mins, 'cos it wasn't. Still should be thankfull, last time it was 1 1/2 hours longer. Really Pissed off Ian

[Tidders]

Steve Thompson - Lichfield A positive recommendation for Steve Thompson - they have carried out any warranty work without any quibble and efficiently. The VXT is in at the moment because the ECU appears to have failed and is awaiting a replacement. They arranged a hire car for me (Astra 2.2 SRi) to drive about in whilst my VXT is sorted at no cost to me. This is what I call good service!

[DrSteve]

Bear in mind that if the car is under warranty, they will probably be claiming the money for the hire car back from Vauxhall!

Steve Thompson - Lichfield

A positive recommendation for Steve Thompson - they have carried out any warranty work without any quibble and efficiently. The VXT is in at the moment because the ECU appears to have failed and is awaiting a replacement. They arranged a hire car for me (Astra 2.2 SRi) to drive about in whilst my VXT is sorted at no cost to me. This is what I call good service! 

[turbo tubby]

vauxhall will not pay the costs of loans cars under warrany....only in extreme cases

[andym172]

Lookers Vauxhall of Chester - crap. Took my car in to have a few things looked at, have got my car back with my exhaust pointing to the ground... Also, £70 per hour labour?! YOU'RE HAVING A LAUGH!!! If you're going to charge prestige-car prices, how about giving presitge-car service!! If you're in the Chester area, forget Lookers and travel that little bit further to Slaters of Colwyn Bay - much better service!

[caleebra]

Baylis Haines and Strange Vauxhall, Cheltenham

I bought my Y-reg 2.2 from Steve Toogood at BHS.

For newbies, Steve is an active member of this forum (Baylis VX at work, 2good at home) and as such is very enthusiastic about the car (also owns one himself). Very helfpul and friendly chap, bit hard to get a hold of at times but after speaking to some very clueless tossers at dealerships up and down the country you tend not to mind!

Despite this not being a "normal" sale and there being some 500 miles between customer and dealer, the whole process went very smoothly. There was a bit of a delay in the car being prepared for delivery, apparently due to a bit of internal wrangling. It probably felt worse for me as I've been waiting a while, as most of you know

The car itself was prepared to quite a high standard (the usual careful valeter taking care to spread wax onto the mesh ) By all accounts their VX Technician Paul is also very knowledgable and enthusiastic about the cars.

There are a couple of issues I would like looked at - I haven't experienced the after-sales side of their operation yet but I will do in the coming weeks as these issues are raised. I'll report again later

Overall rating (thus far) - big

PS Steve did not pay me, nor offer any discount on my vehicle, in return for this feedback

[DanDare]

My car went in Monday/Tuesday for some warranty work around the lights nearside front and offside rear. There were folds/peeling paint so it went to the bodyshop at Lookers (Deeside, near Chester). The paint work done appears OK but. 1. The nearside front light was not put back on square and had to ask them to correct this. 2. They forgot to reconnect the lights on the offside rear so indicators were flashing erratically so took car back to get this done. When i get back the bodyshop manager says Oh we've not done one of these before. (no experience of the VX and the cars been out years now) he then proceeds to shut the boot by pushing the back of the lid nearly snapping it in the process. Explain to him that it has to closed by pushing above the centre point of the boot. It worried me that they have such a poor knowledge of the car and seemed to be very sloppy with their completion and hand over of the car. Poor customer rating

[Joe-Turbo]

I have to take my VXT in for its 10k serive very soon. (im on 9870) (i drive about 70 a day) any good service reports in essex/kent/london (im 10 mins away from toomy in basildon but dont quite fancy it if any ones knows any better) cheers Joe

[Ricardo]

Any recommendations for North Ches/ SW Yorks/ M/c area - had poor service at Grimshaws - but possibly need warranty bodywork attention.

[TJR]

Another for Bayliss Haines & Strange in Cheltenham. I initially went last month to talk to Steve (as a result of the positive feedback from this site) about trading in my NA for a VXT . He offered me a pretty good price on my VX, gave me a test drive in a VXT even at 5pm (he apologised for not being able to give me a proper run!) and I was generally very impressed with his obvious passion for VXs. I decided not to sell my car to him and sell it privately (he even admitted I'd get more for it that way) but subsequently, Steve even mentioned my car to a guy who couldn't afford to pay "dealer" prices!! Anyway, I managed to sell my NA via this site and find a year-old black VXT at a very good price. This needed its first service this month (as well as the front wheels balancing) so I rang BHS on the Tuesday and they booked it in for that Friday - result. I had a good chat with their technician Paul (who happens to race single seaters for a hobby) explaining that I'd had the car for 4 days and would welcome his opinions on it, and drove away in my courtesy car. They rang me 3 hours later to say that it was ready and that Paul would like to discuss a couple of (minor) points. I duly talked to Paul who told me that it was a very good drive, but also highlighted each fault he could find with the car and what he had done/was intending to do about it. For £144 (the basic cost of the first service I believe), he carried out the service, but also straightened the very slightly bent undertray, balanced the front wheels and highlighted that it was that it was understeering a bit too much (given I'd only had it 4 days, I hadn't noticed!) so suggested I needed the wheels laser aligning. He also pointed out that the top of the windows were not quite sealing properly and told me about various minor rattles, only 1 of which I had noticed (I had been driving an NA for 12 months so had got rather used to rattles). He said that he could sort normally sort the windows and the rattles under warranty, if the car was less than 1 year old (the next 2 years are to cover mechanical problems) and asked how old the car was. When I told him that it was 3 days out of warranty he said he'd see what they could do. Sure enough they rang me back and have managed to get Vauxhall to agree to all the warranty work. Paul has asked to have it for 2 days as he wants to ensure he gets everything properly sorted . Overall then I would recommend Bayliss Haines & Strange to anyone, either for sales (Steve) or service (Paul). Cheers, Tim.

[Micknw]

Recently bought a VX NA from Slaters Vauxhall of Colwyn Bay. Great service from Ray in sales. Knows his stuff non of the usual salesman bull***t a pleasure to deal with. Mick

[Spaceman]

Bought an ex-demo, low mileage, VXT from Victory Vauxhall in Portsmouth. Were great guys; even paid a small fortune to have a really professional touch-up job done on a stone chip on the nose, as it was otherwise as new. Even threw in a vauxhall cap so that my hair wouldn't get ruffled driving it away Later found I had a rear wheel out of alignment which Picador (Southampton) diagnosed as being due to damage. Initially, and perhaps reasonably, Victory claimed that it was my doing and the £1200 repair bill would be all mine . However, a little research & evidence gathering later, and I was able to convince Victory that it must have been damaged prior to delivery. Outcome: Victory picked up the whole bill without further issue. Picador fixed it in no time and it was as good as new. Generally impressed with Victory as a dealer, although I'm sure they were more attentive before I handed over the cheque. Very impressed with Picador as VX specialists; they seem to know what they are doing. VXT going back there for 10k service on 30th June. David D

[garyk220]

Belmont Vauxhall, Edinburgh Took my car in yesterday afternoon without an appointment, when the engine management light came on. Told them I was 90% sure it was a blown AMM, but wanted the fault code checked before driving down south at the weekend, in case it was something more serious. They took the car in almost immediately, diagnosed the fault and I had the car back an hour or so later. It has been booked in for next week to replace the AMM, which needs to be ordered, but I knew that already. Overall, I was pretty impressed with their knowledge of the VX. It has taken a few years, but they are aware of the obvious problems, faulty AMMs, DIS packs getting wet, the engine cover, etc. as far as I can tell, they no longer have a dedicated VX service guy, but there are enough VXes through the service area, for most of the techs to know the basics.