In the past couple of days I caught back up on the Jim Ellis story, and all the while I was thinking about how we can help each other out by telling our GOOD experiences with dealerships. Because not all of the dealerships are crappy at everything they do (ie: Jim Ellis), I thought that we should point out who does good work, so that fellow V-Dubbers can know places that treat the customer right.
My two recomendations:
1. Morong Volkswagen/Audi/Porsche in Portland, ME
I went to Morong Falmouth in July, 1999 with the hopes of buying a used 95-98 Golf III GTI. When I got there I was disappointed to find that they did not have any used GTI's on the lot. After speaking with the dealer, and discussing what cars I was interested in, he told me that they would be searching far and wide for the car that I wanted, and that they will call me whenever a prospect comes up. In about a week they notified me that they found a 97 GTI with low miles and that they were sending someone out to look at it, and if all went well that I would be driving it the next week. When the employee checked out the GTI, they were worried that it might have possible frame damage, and recommended that I not buy it. I was dissapointed, but they were honest, and kept on looking. Luckily a couple days later, everything worked out. The dealer called me with an offer I couldn't believe. They had a Golf IV 8v GTI, that had just came to the lot that day. I immediately drove up to see it, as I could not believe that it would work out with my budget.....When I got there, there it was a satin silver GTI, loaded, tinted windows, with leather, with everything I thought I couldn't afford!!!!
They got me a super deal on my used 99.5 gti, that's all I can say. They came within $5 dollars of the monthly payment that I had asked for when I went in two weeks earlier. There was even someone else test driving it before I got there, but the dealer talked them out of it because he knew how much I wanted a GTI, and the other people just wanted a car. From that day on I had nothing but great service from them.
When I bought the car, the left seat heater was not working correctly, which they told me when I had test drove it (The car was used for 3 months, and then returned because the owner couldn't make the payments) and they set up an appointment for it to be repaired that day.
When the appointment came, they gave me a brand new jetta to use as a loaner ride, and got my seats fixed in one day. When I got my car, it was washed and waxed for me, and they also cleaned the interior. In the next months, I came in for some routine maintenance, and the service was excellent. They are a very busy dealership as far as service goes, but they ALWAYS had time to fit me into their schedule often on short notice.
In may of 2000, my check engine light came on, and my car was sputtering black smoke out of the exhaust....I was worried. I didn't live in Maine anymore, and the drive to the local VW dealership was only half an hour away. I tried to schedule an appointment with the local dealer, but they were always busy, and my work schedule was not easy to work with to say the least. By chance I headed to Maine for a visit during the week, and decided to try Morong for service. Sure enough, I spoke with a service manager, and he squeezed me within one hour for servce! My O2 sensor was bad, and even though I was over my mile limit for warranty, they replaced it for free!
Even though I don't in Maine anymore, I would recommend them to anyone who is in the area, because they always had time for me, when other dealerships didn't. They have the right attitude when it comes to selling and servicing cars, and hopefully they continue their excellent work.
2. Gunther Volkswagen, Ft. Lauderdale Florida.
I only lived in Florida for a short while with my 99.5 GTI, but the times that I went into Gunther were always pleasant. I went in on short notice to have my 20,000 mile service, and they pulled my car in shortly after I had arrived. They completed the service quickly, and took care of all the little things that I had asked about. The bill came to $2.00 for a non-warranty item, and the car was running 100% again. One of the mechanics came out to talk with me and he gave me a copy of the VW Service Bulletin regarding the "K"-wire issue and the VAG scan tools. My aftermarket stereo was installed correctly, and everytime I went to have my car serviced there after, I could let the dealership know that my radio was scan tool friendly.
Not only did they have good service, but they also had an impressive used car lot. I had never seen a lot with so many used GTI's, I wish that I only had the cash flow for three or more cars....
Another good dealer to me, considering that they got my car serviced on short notice, and always had time for me, the customer.
