VW Dealers

[oats87]

I am going to get a new car in the next 2 months and am considering Mazda 3 Sport, Dodge Caliber RT and VW Rabbit or Jetta. We have a good choice of Mazda and Dodge dealers in Ottawa but only 3 VW dealers. I remember a few years ago there seemed to be lots of complaints from VW owners about their dealers. I'm not sure what the situation is today. Bytek VW is the closest dealer to my place.

Does anyone have any comments about Bytek or the other two VW dealers.

I believe that your relationship with your dealer has a big influence on how happy you are with your car, and therefore would not likely consider a dealer that has a bad reputation.

Any advice would be helpful.

Thanks folks...

[jww]

I am going to get a new car in the next 2 months and am considering Mazda 3 Sport, Dodge Caliber RT and VW Rabbit or Jetta. We have a good choice of Mazda and Dodge dealers in Ottawa but only 3 VW dealers. I remember a few years ago there seemed to be lots of complaints from VW owners about their dealers. I'm not sure what the situation is today. Bytek VW is the closest dealer to my place.

Does anyone have any comments about Bytek or the other two VW dealers.

I believe that your relationship with your dealer has a big influence on how happy you are with your car, and therefore would not likely consider a dealer that has a bad reputation.

Any advice would be helpful.

Thanks folks...
Not sure that I would place the Jetta in the same category as your other vehicle choices, but I am happy to pass on my not-so-good experience with Bytek.

Overall, I was unimpressed with Bytek when we were shopping for our new car this past January. We had narrowed it down to a loaded Jetta TDI, Acura CSX and Sonata GLS Premium. The Bytek sales rep was very slow getting back to us once we started talking a deal. We wanted to do a lease termination and they were making it very complicated in that they wanted to buy the car, then have us cough up an extra $5K, blah, blah. The Sales Manager gave me the distinct impression that he simply didn't think I could afford a new car. Not sure where he got that from, but it was quite rediculous. The Service Manager was very nice to deal with as I discussed with him various things around the service schedule, etc. (we were considering a TDI).

In the end, they didn't call us for over a week and a half. Then one day out of the blue - and 5 days after I took deliver of our 06 Sonata GLS - the sales rep calls up asking for our business. So I told her very frankly that she missed the boat by more than a week. She was all taken aback and seemed to be offended that we bought without telling her. So I reminded her that they were the ones who were supposed to ask for our business, not us asking if we can buy a car from them. In the end, the lease termination was a piece of cake - and only cost me $2K out of pocket - which was a wash of the remaining payments (a bit less actually, because of the way the interest charges and taxes get applied). When I presented them with what we did, they indicated that they could have done the same deal. Sure they would - so why did I have to go to 2 other dealers to have someone else figure out what they claimed to have done themselves??

I am not sure what the deal is with Bytek. It's a nice clean dealership, and has a cosy, friendly feel when you walk in, but I fear to say that they simply don't seem to want to deal with anyone. When we told them we would take Car A or B off their lot by Saturday, they didn't seem to care. Admittedly the girl we were dealing with was only a few months into the business (she was a Psych major waiting to get back and do a Masters degree so she was clearly filling time), and the Sales Manager was brand new to the dealership, but even still, this, IMO is not acceptable behavior.

In the end, I would say that the people are nice, but unless you are looking for a straight-forward deal with no tweaks, then you might want to go to one of the other dealers. BTW, I did call the other 2 VW dealers, and they were very helpful, but when they learned I lived in Orleans, they referred me back to Bytek. I don't know if VW has some kind of territory clause like BMW has, but I thought that was pretty odd.

jww

[oats87]

Thanks jww for you detailed response. It seems that not much has changed over the years. Then they had a reputation as being slightly arrogant and it seems not much has changed.

oats87

[jww]

Thanks jww for you detailed response. It seems that not much has changed over the years. Then they had a reputation as being slightly arrogant and it seems not much has changed.

oats87
np - I am not sure that I would call them arrogant, rather a bit clueless and not motivated to sell to just anyone other than a VW enthusiast that wouldn't give a thought of looking at another manufacturer. I guess they can afford to be a thought to work for their money like most of us.

jww

[andielicious]

i do not live in that area, but i will tell you of my experiences with various vw dealers locally to me (i live in burlington - outside of toronto).

my opinion of vw dealerships in general is very poor. i find the salespeople quite ignorant towards young people. i find the service departments to have terrible customer service.

my recommendation is not to invest in a vw. i'm having severe problems with my 2003 jetta tdi, not only in terms of the vehicle itself, but also with the service departments in various locations.

the #1 problem with my vehicle currently is that there was a recall on the driver's side seat heater. this was covered under warranty because it was a recall. it involved replacing the portion of the driver's side seat where you sit on, not where you lean against. i took it in a few days to get this work done and they replaced that part of the seat alright - IN A DIFFERENT LEATHER. that part of the seat no longer matches the rest of the leather in my car which has significantly decresed the resale value of my car.

i am 100% against purchasing vw's. a friend who used to work for mississauga told me your best bet with a vw is to lease it and get a new one at the end of the lease so you avoid all the problems that seem to occur after the car hits 100,000 kms.

that's just my 2 cents....

[jww]

andielicious,

Your problems are common amongst various VW dealerships.

[sarahluc]

Stay away from VW, it is a trap dude, poor dealership, once they sell it to you, you will only have problems, even with the service at your dealership. Good word of advise buy a Honda or a Acura for the similar price you will get better service and a better car altogether. :evil: :evil: :evil:

Mike

[airbalancer]

The dealers in Peterborough and Belleville are very good to deal with, the times I WENT IN LOOKING FOR INFORATION