Arnold Clark

...you bought the car from Arnold Clark, or the car itself has been through one of their showrooms at some point in its past. The simply dominate the Scottish car market in new, pre-reg, and second had sales and have franchises covering practically every car you can think of. Overall they run over 120 different showrooms (including a couple in the North of England) ranging from Citroen and Ford up to Volvo and Lexus.

At the ripe old age ...
...I went to a different Arnold Clark showroom to have a look around. . The guy who sold me the car I was driving at the time recognised it (could have been due to my number plate) and approached me and addressed me by my name which was a very nice touch and pre-empted my reason for getting a new car as he remembered my reason the last time and within two minutes had told me of a couple of cars that would have suited me. I do think that that was the ... more

If you live in Scotland and have bought a car, the likelihood is that either you bought the car from Arnold Clark, or the car itself has been through one of their showrooms at some point in its past. The simply dominate the Scottish car market in new, pre-reg, and second had sales and have franchises covering practically every car you can think of. Overall they run over 120 different showrooms (including a couple in the North of England) ranging from Citroen and Ford up to Volvo and Lexus.

At the ripe old age of 24yrs old, I have owned five cars, four of which were purchased at one of the said dealerships and therefore have had considerable experience dealing with the both pre and after-sale service.

The Showroom
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I have visited most of the showrooms in the Glasgow area and find them to be generally the same. They are clean, with as much as possible under cover, there is usually tea and coffee facilities in the main showroom area with magazine available if you have to wait to see someone. Oh, and lots and lots of cars! It’s fair to say that each showroom easily has at least 200 different used cars on display at any one time, with quite a few of them showcasing a lot more. Generally you will find the cheaper models outside the main showroom with the more expensive, sought after models in the main showroom.

The Staff
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Of these there are generally plenty, although they will always be trying to look busy. I have to say, I have noticed that depending on how you look when you walk into the showroom will have an effect on how likely you are to be approached. I found this as I went to the same showroom on different days one weekend. On the Saturday I wore jeans and an old t-shirt and it took about 20 mins for a salesman to come and ask me if I needed any help however on the Sunday I wore smart trousers and a shirt and was accosted by two at once! So it pays to go looking like you have a bit of money, even if you don’t. Generally the staff are friendly and helpful. For the most part they do come across quite knowledgeable however I have come across a few who are not very familiar with certain types of car and will try to bluff their way through it. They will usually give you their card, which has their name and the number to the garage on it. It can be hard to get a hold of them however, so you may have to be prepared to hold for them or chance getting a call back. There are some very good salesmen though, after buying one of my cars I went to a different Arnold Clark showroom to have a look around. . The guy who sold me the car I was driving at the time recognised it (could have been due to my number plate) and approached me and addressed me by my name which was a very nice touch and pre-empted my reason for getting a new car as he remembered my reason the last time and within two minutes had told me of a couple of cars that would have suited me. I do think that that was the salesman in question, but then I would have no problem buying a car from him again as he gave such a personal service and he did his job well as I still remember his name three years later!

The Cars
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As mentioned earlier, there are usually a lot of different cars on show on the forecourt. If you can’t find one you like at the dealership you are at, it is more than likely you can find it at one not too far away. The cheapest price you are likely to find is around about the £3000 mark going back to cars around the R registration mark with prices rising to as much as anyone is likely to be able to afford. I have seen top of the range Porches and Mercedes being sold for silly money. Most of the cars are presented in good condition, being washed almost daily and any that are not very clean will have a sticker on the window saying that it is ‘awaiting preparation’ I have to say that from my experience, the prices on the cars are usually cheaper than other non Arnold Clark dealers in my area however this should not be taken as a guarantee that you will get a good deal. I have found that they will usually make a very low offer on part exchange prices. I have only managed to get a proper price once, and that was because I had been in an accident and my car was being fixed in their repair centre at the time. I used this to state that it would (of course) be fixed to a very high standard and therefore should attract the top price for a car of its type. I said this AFTER I had negotiated my discount on the car I was buying so pretty much cornered the salesman as he could not stand there and tell me the car may not get fixed properly in his garage!

Special Offers
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Arnold Clark usually has some kind of special offer on at most points on certain cars on the forecourt. Usually these are cars that they want to sell quickly but you really can get something out of these if you look hard enough. The main deal that is used in to offer 5 years 0% finance on selected models with just £100 deposit. You don’t have to take the whole five years and this can mean a significant saving on what you pay each month on your new toy. Another favourite is to offer free insurance when you buy the car. This one is very good for young people as it can mean a significant saving on the true cost of owning a car and I have used this one a few times. Something they don’t always advertise is that they have access to special rates on insurance for ANY car. Usually this means 1 years fully comprehensive insurance for drivers aged 21-25 for £670 and 25+ at £345. I have always asked for this as up until recently I could never get insurance for under £1000 so if you are young, it is very much worth asking about this. They do also have special weekends where cars are priced at £1000 under the ‘proper’ price although I don’t trust this as all they have to do is have a similar car priced at the higher amount on sale for a short time somewhere in the network to be able to claim it is a saving. They could easily have a car sitting for sale at a ridiculous price in a quiet showroom, knowing that it won’t sell just to be able to offer this.

With each of these offers I would be wary of the salesman then trying to claim that they cannot offer anymore money off the car or onto your trade in as I have found this is a classic line. If you persevere with them and threaten to walk out the door, they will do something else to sweeten the deal a bit for you.

Aftersales Service
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This is where I find that Arnold Clark is a bit of a let down. Firstly, on delivery of the car (which normally takes about a week to ten days) I fully urge you to have a good look over the car to make sure that everything is in order and that you got everything that you asked for. Each car I have purchased has had something not quite right with it at this point. From the lack of promised car mats, bits of trim missing or broken, the car manual or service history not present and not having the tank of fuel promised when sticking the deal. I would also suggest having a good drive about for a few hours to make sure that anything you may have missed on the test drive (they are not keen on giving you a very long shot of the car before buying it!) and report it to the garage immediately. The warrantee on used cars (not including the balance of any manufacturers warrantee) is 30 days unless you opt for their extended warrantee so you don’t have very long to get any quibbles sorted out. I took out the extended warrantee the first time I bought a car from them however I had problems claiming off it so have never taken it out again and unless you are prepared to fight hard to get anything from it I would not advise wasting your money.

Other problems I have had with aftersales service are getting things fixed when they admit that there is a fault. I had one of my cars in the garage about 4 times to try and an alignment problem sorted but every time I got the car back I found that they had not done it properly so I got it done myself at another garage and sent them the bill. It did take a lot of effort to get them to pay this, but they did in the end. I also had a major problem with getting a tax refund as during a part exchange they lost my full years tax disc while they were changing over my private number plate. At first they tried to put the liability on me but after 3 months of constant phonecalls (during which my salesman was fired meaning I had to start from the beginning with the general manager) I got a refund direct from them, however it was not for the whole amount. On my current car, the back passenger window is loose and after taking it in to get fixed it was better for about a week but is now loose again and I am going to have to find the time to put my car off the road again to get that fixed. I now know the telephone number of the garage off by heart with the amount I have had to call it!

When your car is in getting fixed, the also don’t offer you a courtesy car which I find annoying. They do however offer a lift into the centre of the city or to your place of work as long as its not out with about a 5 mile radius so that’s not too bad.

So, my tips for buying a car from Arnold Clark?

1 – Make sure you are presentable when browsing for a car, you are more likely to get taken seriously by the salesman rather than being ignored.

2 – If you don’t find a model you are looking for at the showroom you are at, don’t just settle for one that is close to what you are looking for. A good idea here would be to go to their website where you can search their entire stock by either type of car or price. (www.arnoldclark.co.uk)

3 – Take advantage of the special offers, they can be very good money saving ideas however do not let the salesman tell you that you will not get any more discount because of them, keep haggling and threaten to walk out if you are not happy with the deal.

4 – The cars are cheap, but the trade in price is likely to be low. Tell the salesman that you are more interested in the ‘Cost to Change’. This basically means what it will actually cost you to change from you old car to your new one. It will make no difference to either the dealer of yourself when the discount comes from, be it from the price of the new car or the amount they will give you for your old one.

5 – Check the car when you go to pick it up. And I mean every aspect of it. Open all the doors fully, check the trim, check the boot, check for a spare, make sure you have a manual and service history (if it was sold on the basis that it had one) and do NOT be afraid to bring up anything you are not happy about.

6 – If you have trouble getting things fixed within the 30 days, stick to your guns until you get what they want. It is likely they will try and fob you off in the first instance, but if you persevere you will likely find that they will relent and you will get what you want.

So, in rating Arnold Clark I have decided to give it 3 stars as although I have had some problems with them that I do not feel I should have had, none of the cars I have bought have had anything seriously wrong with them however I would have liked the faults I have encountered to have been dealt with in a more professional and customer focused manner. However, if you push hard enough, you will find that you can usually get yourself a decent deal on a car from them.

Thanks for reading, and happy car buying!

drew x
 

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