DGW

H L Austin
60-62 West Hill Road
Wandsworth
London
SW18 5HT


020 8874 6262


Authorised Repairer
Approved Used Car Sales

DGW

Originally posted by steve - Sun Nov 16, 2003

Three months ago i bought a Brand New Skoda Superb 1.9TDi from HL Austin.The following morning i noticed Greasy hand prints on the headlining and noticed the interior was filthy, dirty marks on the plastics and dead Blue Bottle Fly's on the rear seats. Also the speedometer diplayed 174 miles but the trip computer Memory level 2 stated the car had done 250 miles?
A few day's later i found a series of small dents in the bonnet.
I booked the car in to the dealer to have the headlining steam cleaned and have the dents rolled out, but it came back with water stains in the headlining.
A short time later i had HL Austin put my car on one of their ramps {because i was concerned with the gear shift}.While under the vehicle i found a Gash over 20 inches long in the floorpan.I pointed the damage out to the service manager and another member of staff who said my wife must have done it driving over a speed hump?
Not very happy with HL Austins veiw of the damage i spoke to Skoda Customer services and told them about the problems with my car.
I wanted a second opinion on my suspected gearshift problem so i booked the Superb into another dealer 50 miles away.
They took me out in an identical car to mine and while the driver compared the two Superbs he made a comment about the car{dealers car} having just done a 40-50 mile round trip but the speedometer only displaying 21 miles?
He then told me that you can wipe the speedo clean by turning on the ignition and pressing the speedo reset button!{Now i know why my trip and speedo had two different readings.}
Having seen the way he hammered the car i started to worry about my own vehicle.
Had mine been thrashed around before i took delivery?
Why had my speedo been clocked/reset?
I got straight on the phone to Skoda Customer Services to tell them what i had just found.
I spoke to a very helpful lady called Nikki who made a note of what i had said. She asked about my Superb and i explained that my car had come from a dealer in Wales- and that i had let HL Austin drive it to London because the salesman said it would be cheaper for them if they could.{Austin's had problems finding my car -they said there was a shortage? of Superbs at the time}.Nikki asked who had supplied Austin's with the car but at the time i was'nt sure,so while i had her on the house phone i phoned HL Austin's on my mobile.
I spoke to the salesman and asked where my car had originally come from,he refused to tell me saying i had NO right to know and that he didn't want to involve the 'other' dealer.He became very defensive and rude,Nikki was able to hear what was going on and again made a note of the conversation.
The salesman spoke to Nikki and mentioned that they would'nt have seen the damage underneath because they DONT PUT THE CAR ON A RAMP WHEN THEY PDI THE CAR{pre-delivery inspection}
This was later denied-The service manager said ALL cars have to go on ramp for the PDI.
Nikki decided to send a Skoda Area Technical Manager down to Austin's to inspect my car.
So another day off work and another trip to the showroom.
After the intervention of the Technical Manager HL Austin have agreed to replace the headlining and repair the damage under the car.He said the damage under the car had been caused by a transporter but in the report somehow the damage unerneath has shrunk from 20+inches to 50mm? i wonder why?.
I asked the Technical Manager if Austin's should have supplied the vehicle in this state?
NO he said.
I've asked for it in writing but it was left out of the report!!!
Im 3-4 days money out of pocket, HL Austin refused to even consider compensation, not even a proper apology.The Director thought it amusing that i had seen the 'salesman's bad side!!
This is the 2nd and last car ive had from them, infact ITS THE LAST SKODA I WILL EVER BUY.
Ive never met more UNprofessional , RUDE and arrogant people ever.Skoda UK have done NOTHING to assist.
The only person to take the whole thing seriously has been Nikki at Customer Services,she even bothered to send my Wife flowers.
When a dealer can't even decide if the car has been PDI' ed properly it makes you wonder?????
So...if you do buy a New Car from HL AUSTIN make sure you get them to put it on a ramp before you sign for it, IT MAY BE DAMAGED.

Steve

DGW

Originally posted by JayTee - Tue Jan 20, 2004

I have seen some poor reports on HL Austin, which is a shame as I have found them to be very helpful.
I took delivery of my L&K TDi Estate in April 2003 having negotiated a very good price based on the best internet price I could find with further haggling over a towbar etc. The sales guy I dealt with, Tony Crisp, was extremely helpful and was not patronising, like some of the car salesman that I have had dealings with in the past!
The car was delivered without any faults and pristine.


On 22nd December at 5.30pm, a Jeep backed into the car whilst in the hand car wash round the corner from our office and broke the n/s indicator lamp unit & damaged the bumper.
I took it into HL Austin at 0830hrs the next morning and they replaced it while I waited - I was impressed as when I have had Ford & Vauxhall the best that the dealer will do is give you a 10 day lead time for a booking!!


So, so far, I have no complaints - however they do not appear to be selling new Skoda any more, the showroom has a variety of used cars on display, so I am not sure what the future holds for service work on my car.


John.

JBr

I bought a family run around (Fabia 1.4, 16v Elegance hatch) second-hand from HL Austin a couple of years ago. I have to say I have found the overall experience from purchase to service outstanding.

To my horror, the engine management warning light came after a couple of months and, due to a number of bad experiences in the past, I thought it would be a lot of agro to book the car in and get the problem resolved first time.

I duly made the call and they were extremely helpful and knowledgeable. After a few questions, they diagnosed the problem and asked me to bring the car in and they would rectify the problem while I waited as it would only take 45mins. When I arrived it was as simple as it sounded. They had everything ready so the process was quick and effortless. I left within 30mins, very happy and no lighter as the work was covered under warranty.

I have recommended the garage to a number of friends who have bought cars from there and are also very happy.

HZ123

Collected a pre registered 19 days ago and happy with the overall performance but Mr Crisp seemed to be the only person in the front sales area on the three visits I made. Collecting the car was a rush too and was only too apparent when I got home 19 miles later. It had the wrong registration plate on it.