Tom Murphy and Mercedes dealership

Wanderer78

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121277129#Comment_121277129

...and chatting to mechanic's wouldnt exactly fill you with confidence either....

spankmemunkey

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121277524#Comment_121277524

No absolutely not, having come from the land of Audi, I was always happy that their mechanics "on the whole" knew what they were talking about and had pride in their work, I'm sorry to say and I await the backlash but I haven't got much confidence in Tradespeople in Ireland in general. I know there are good trades people but maybe I have been unlucky in people that say they will and can do something and don't provide the service they advertised

Wanderer78

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121277750#Comment_121277750

i know a couple of lads that trained with our local audi dealer, none with good stories, all gone now, and doing their own thing, and thankfully so, sounds like a hell hole to work in....

goochy

Mercs . prices way over the scale now , over €60k for a fairly standard C class , no wonder sales so far behind the other two Germans.

goochy

BYD gone into old T & C motors premises , thought maybe Bolands might have put Mercedes in there.

goochy

Any update on Tom Murphy car sales on the Mercedes franchise?

Autobolands alfa fiat and jeep showroom is completed months ago now but they don't seem to be moving in .

Don't know why Simon kavanaghs don't take on MG

Aquos76

Tom Murphy is taking over Toyota and Lexus from the end of the year apparently, McConnells informed their staff of this earlier this month. When it was announced that he was losing Mercedes, he approached Toyota about Lexus only, but Toyota wouldn't separate the two, so hence he had to go after both brands. The word on the street is TM has lost VW also, there is no word on anyone taking up VW as of yet as VW only give out an initial 2 year franchise with no further guarantees that it continues after that time.

As a person in the know told me, dealers across the SE are reluctant to take on VW as the initial investent to get it off the ground with no guarantees of a longer deal with VW is a massive problem.

Dav010

it’s because both Mercedes and VW are rolling out the agency sales model throughout Europe which severely affects traditional dealerships ability to negotiate on price, and make profits. Cars will be ordered online for a fixed price, it will then be up to the dealership to negotiate only on the trade in, if there is one. There is currently little incentive for privately owned dealerships like TM to invest in expensive showrooms, it’s time to cut costs and see who survives the transfer to agency. Virtually all car manufacturers want the Tesla way of selling cars, online ordering which cuts out the middleman/dealership.

azimuth17

Word is that Mercedes wanted huge investment in showrooms with no long term guarantee and Murphy's would not bite. Not a question of losing franchises rather not being willing to commit to huge investment at this time. Mercedes only have 2.5% or thereabouts market share.

Azatadine

"McConnells informed their staff of this earlier this month."

Do what's going to happen with them?

Aquos76

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122072973#Comment_122072973

Some of their staff will be finishing up with them at the end of September. Some other garages have already looked at the premises, but no one has shown any real interest in it up to about 10 days ago anyway.

goochy

Wow that's mad news wouldn't have ever imagined Tom Murphy not selling Vw

Mc connells not a great Toyota dealer . Maybe they will take on MG

ltdslipdiff

'Not a great dealer' in what sense??

JohnC.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122073803#Comment_122073803

I know there were a couple of lads there with a bad reputation among people I know, and my own experience when I went there. But they retired since, so maybe it changed.

But I found them grand for services at least.

Dav010

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122074283#Comment_122074283

Is that your way of saying they didn’t sell you the car you wanted for the price you wanted?

JohnC.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122074296#Comment_122074296

No, it's my way of saying they were utterly uninterested in selling a car at all. It's like I was just in the way and they wanted me out as quickly as possible, despite being the only customer there at the time. I didn't even get as far as talking about prices or trade-ins.

I've heard the same from others that this couple were just like this to deal with.

goochy

No I meant premises are not that old but look low rent and outdated

Rather dull stock too

Dav010

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122074324#Comment_122074324

I’ve never found that myself, but do appreciate that different people can have different experiences. Given that they most likely work on sales targets and commission, it would be unusual to find a car salesperson who doesn’t want to sell cars. Is it possible they mightn’t have been interested in what you were trading in? It’s the only reason I can think of why they wouldn’t want to sell you a car.

JohnC.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122074368#Comment_122074368

Like I said, I didn't even get to mentioning a trade-in. Guy in Clonmel practically bit my hand off for my old car, so they got my money instead.

azimuth17

Always found them decent to deal with.

Buying a car anywhere can depend on time of the month for sales figures. Often better to buy late in a calendar month when dealer may be anxious to sell to make up quota..