[cah197]

Not entirely surprising article here about German VW showrooms:

Study: German dealers refuse to sell ID.3 even as VW talks big on EVs

German VW dealers failed to recommend the brand’s flagship electric car, the ID.3, to secret shoppers with a “suitable driving profile,” according to a new study by Greenpeace. Out of 50 dealers visited, only eight of them (16%) recommended the ID.3, and the percentage was even lower (4%) for...

electrek.co

Seems like they are similar to the UK ones.

 

[burnt_crisps2]

Not entirely surprising article here about German VW showrooms:

Study: German dealers refuse to sell ID.3 even as VW talks big on EVs

German VW dealers failed to recommend the brand’s flagship electric car, the ID.3, to secret shoppers with a “suitable driving profile,” according to a new study by Greenpeace. Out of 50 dealers visited, only eight of them (16%) recommended the ID.3, and the percentage was even lower (4%) for...

electrek.co

Seems like they are similar to the UK ones.

True of all manuf dealers, bar one, which would be Tesla, but then they don’t have dealers And only do BEV’s so until all manufs cease ICE manufacture it will probably remain like that as it’s tried and tested!

 

[cah197]

Our Renault dealer seems switched on to EVs. They even have a Zoe and Twizy as the first cars you see out front of the reception area.

I found the Mini dealership pretty supportive of EVs. But I'm probably not a good example of someone 'on the fence'.

 

[Tooks]

I think most legacy franchised car dealers are Turkey‘s aren’t they, and cars like the ID.3 are Christmas...

 

[DoctorSpludge]

Not sure this is exclusive to VW, when I was shopping around for my EV, Nissan and BMW salespeople both tried to convince me to get an ICE instead. Neither had an EV in the showroom, either.

 

[cah197]

Neither had an EV in the showroom, either.

Might have something to do with it. If they aren't 'EV certified' they may not be able to service them.

 

[DoctorSpludge]

Might have something to do with it. If they aren't 'EV certified' they may not be able to service them.

Well I ended up buying one from them and they serviced it for me before handing it over, so I assume they are "certified" - nothing bad to say about the dealer to be honest, they just did their best to try and get me to buy a non-EV until I told them what I'd decided to get!

 

[E-Gizmo]

Every dealer without fail I have been in have tried this:
Audi
Nissan
Renault
Skoda
Tesla

They know less about their cars than I know, then always try and sell you what they have in stock rather than what I want.

 

[cah197]

Tesla tried to sell you an ICE?

 

[HandyAndy]

Frankly the way the software is on ID.3 at the moment, I don't blame the dealers right now. They're going to get a shed-full of complaints about how" the home charging stops suddenly for no reason"," where's my instant-air-recirculate button gone", that kind of thing. The stuff I'm meeting now. And I'm on 2.0 s'ware. Still buggy.

It'll change gradually. Expect to see the qty of VW dealerships/sites shrinking, while the throughput of the EV-friendly ones triples as they end up servicing 3x as many EVs in the time it used to take them to service 1x ICEs.

 

[HandyAndy]

Every dealer without fail I have been in have tried this:
Audi
Nissan
Renault
Skoda
Tesla

They know less about their cars than I know, then always try and sell you what they have in stock rather than what I want.

Peter Coopers VW in Southampton didn't. Maybe this was because I told them straight away I wanted an ID.3 and didn't give them a chance?

 

[DomJ]

Peter Coopers VW in Southampton didn't. Maybe this was because I told them straight away I wanted an ID.3 and didn't give them a chance?

"Yes but how about this VW Golf, it gets 80mpg so you may find its cheaper than an electric car sir"

I find it funny that people criticise EV's for not getting the range stated but aren't annoyed that their ICE car doesn't get anywhere nears its claimed MPG. I had a Fiat prior to my Ampera which had a claimed combined MPG of 67! I could maybe eek 58 out of it if I hypermiled it but average was 45 over 18 months

 

[WonkoTheSaneUK]

Peter Coopers VW in Southampton didn't. Maybe this was because I told them straight away I wanted an ID.3 and didn't give them a chance?

Same. I went into Lookers Renault in Chester this time last year and said "I want to buy a Zoe".

 

[DSLRed]

I had a Fiat prior to my Ampera which had a claimed combined MPG of 67! I could maybe eek 58 out of it if I hypermiled it but average was 45 over 18 months

In the early 2010s I had a Hyundai I40 with a claimed efficiency of 57mpg. I don't think it would have returned 57mpg free wheeling it down a 100 mile hill. With its underpowered engine needing to be worked too hard, I was lucky to get 40. Hated that car.

 

[Panda]

Not really the dealers fault, but VW's. Spend billions developing a car, launch it before it is really up to standard and don't fully train, support and incentivise the dealers. What is expected.

I see it as a bit of a soft launch. When they are firing on all cylinders, they will get the dealer network sorted out.

Also, do you think that many people wander into a dealership these days without doing background research first? Whenever I speak to anyone working in a dealership, they tell me their sales model has changed; customers pretty know everything about a car and they are there to see it, test it and negotiate a deal. Very little 'detailing' anymore.

 

[Padrino]

Not really the dealers fault, but VW's. Spend billions developing a car, launch it before it is really up to standard and don't fully train, support and incentivise the dealers. What is expected.

I see it as a bit of a soft launch. When they are firing on all cylinders, they will get the dealer network sorted out.

Also, do you think that many people wander into a dealership these days without doing background research first? Whenever I speak to anyone working in a dealership, they tell me their sales model has changed; customers pretty know everything about a car and they are there to see it, test it and negotiate a deal. Very little 'detailing' anymore.

I've noticed this as well over the last 4/5 years before becoming all EV. I had a several moments that the Dealer/Salesman was actually embarrassed by the fact that I knew way more about the car that he/she knew. It was actually very entertaining to watch them struggle to make an excuse 😂

 

[GTE Imp]

The specialist electric guy in my local dealership says that he enjoys it when I come in, because he usually learns something new when we chat.

He's one of the good ones, who know the limitations of their knowledge and is prepared to listen to their customers, who've done their research and know what they want.

Few and far between I'm afraid.

 

[Tooks]

Car sales people should;

1. Acknowledge what they know.

2. Acknowledge what they don't know.

3. Shouldn’t engage in idle speculation.

4. Should listen to the experts, even if that’s the customer.

Well, it is nearly Christmas.

 

[Hairy Leafer]

Our Renault dealer seems switched on to EVs. They even have a Zoe and Twizy as the first cars you see out front of the reception area.

..For the same reasons that every car advert for the last 20 years has featured a bicycle in it, it makes the buyers of the gas guzzler feel all warm and fluffy about how kind the company they are buying from is

 

[Olivier]

I had a pretty good experience with the Thames Ditton Jaguar dealer. Sales guy didn't know much about the car despite having it as his company car. but I'd left little room for interpretation about which model I was interested in and from there, seemed to assume I knew everything I needed to know about the car. So just got us into the demonstrator, showed us the basics and we were on our way for our test drive.

I'd registered my interest for the EQC about a year ago and to this date, have never been contacted. I have a policy of not forcing my money into any anyone's throat not let it at that.