My Old-Faithful Seat Ibiza recently failed its MOT and the garage in question wanted a very large sum of money to carry out any further repairs. Considering my bank balance is not exactly worth of a lottery winner, I thought I’d venture out and buy a replacement vehicle. Scary thought. Being female, and wanting to enter a male dominated environment does not exactly instil me with feelings of joy!
To begin this journey, I bought the local newspapers to search for a roadworthy car of reasonable value. The choice was overwhelming. Everywhere I looked was another dealership; offering yet more deals, for what were reported to be excellent cars. Not to prove a point, but I know nothing about cars, so didn’t really know what was a good bargain and what wasn’t. So where better place for a girl to turn, than to her Dad.
My dad instantly suggested going to a Reg Vardy garage, he had recently taken my older sister there for her new car, and
he had been very impressed with the service, so being a good daughter I followed my dads advice.
*Website*
Logging on to the Reg Vardy website, www.regvardy.co.uk, I was able to easily navigate there website to the used cars section. Here I was offered a range of options to held me find the car I was looking for. I could choose from the “lifestyle” of the car, e.g. Small, medium etc, Whether the car was a manual or automatic, what type of fuel it used, the car make etc. I was also able to choose from a range of offers designed to aid the purchase of buying a new car – these for example included GBP99 deposit, or GBP1000.00 part exchange for your old car.
Clicking go, instantly brought up a range of cars suited to my selection – excellent.
Using the choice of cars, I selected a few I was particularly interested in, mainly the Citroen Saxo's, and filled in an info box asking Reg Vardy to contact me. This again was impressive; I was able to choose whether they contacted me via e-mail or phone, and even the time of day. The guarantee was also there that they wouldn’t disclose my details to anyone.
The next point of call, was finding a dealership close by. Reg Vardy has sites located over the majority of England, and I had 4 to choose from within a 20-mile radius.
*Phone Calls*
I received my first phone call the same day as I made my Internet selection. The Internet Sales contact was friendly, polite and professional, and his knowledge of the website and its details was up to speed. He answered all the questions I had, and even expanded on several with additional details he was able to provide, about the specific stock of the four dealerships I was particularly interested in. He provided me with details of special offers, regarding the cars I had selected, and talked me through several Finance options.
The Sales contact advised he would also contact the dealerships in question to provide them with a time and date of when I would be free to browse, in order that someone would be there to answer my questions.
The next day I received calls from two of the dealerships, providing me with contact details of their Sales Executives and details of any cars that were now out of stock since I had initiated my enquiries. Again the calls were made by polite, friendly, professional and knowledgeable staff.
I made the effort to visit the Citroen dealer the next day, in accordance with the times and dates I had provided them. I was offered refreshments upon my arrival, and the option to browse whilst the Sales Executive finished with another client. Although I declined the service was available, and appeared to be enjoyed by other customers.
Within 5 minutes of being seated, the Sales Executive who had called me the day before approached me. He showed me outside, and proceeded to ask questions of what cars was interested in and when shown, proceeded to provide detailed knowledge of the cars, showing me around inside and out. At all times he was very genuine, asking sincere questions and providing honest answers.
During my visit there I was suitably impressed and was lucky enough to see the car I wanted. The Sales executive instantly asked if I wanted to take the car for a test drive, and was obtaining my driving license details prepared the car. Understandably I was very nervous. My Old Faithful was a very basic car; with none of the modern accessories or standard equipment you generally get with new models. However I was very reassured when the Sales Executive offered to drive me to a quieter location before I started the test drive. This I was particularly grateful for, especially as I live in a very busy town.
*Sales*
After choosing my car, the Sales Executive proceeded to walk through all the details he required in order to process my application. He was detailed throughout, and consistently stopped to ensure I understood the process and procedures. His understanding of the process was impeccable and not once did I feel in incapable hands.
The whole process of choosing my car, taking it for a test drive, going through the necessary paperwork took just under two hours. A Reasonable amount of time, I think for the detail that he provided.
*Handover*
I went back to the dealership 3 days later to collect my car, and hand over mine as a part exchange. Again the service was impeccable. I was assisted by the same Sales Executive who had sold me the car, who again showed me around the car in question, ensuring I was familiar with the controls before leaving the Dealership. The final signature and the last handshake came, leaving me with the knowledge that my car and the finance procedure had gone successfully.
*Result*
Reg Vardy Citroen in my opinion, are to be rated very highly. The Sales executives are all polite and friendly, and exceedingly knowledgeable about the cars they hold in stock. The service I received was overall, fantastic, and I would definitely recommend them to anyone.
UPDATE Aug 04 - I've been the proud owner of my Citroen Saxo now for almost 5 months, and I am incrediably proud of my purchase. This is one of the most reliable cars I have ever owned, and fuel consumption is a dream! At the moment she is providing me with almost 400 miles to a full tank, costing me about £30 per time. This little stroke of luck is a dream come true, as its lasting me for weeks!!
Thanks for reading,
Kels x
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Apr 1st, 2004
(Aug 18th, 2004)
exceptional by (3%):
very helpful by (97%):
