OT - Larry thought he'd seen it all, but this beats the lot!

Oh the joy of it.

Regards. Mark.(AKA, Mr.Nice.)

Just phoned the local Volvo dealer to book a service. I bought a Volvo largely because BMW and Subaru (the other two options) don't have dealers in Barnsley.

However, to improve customer service they have closed the Barnsley dealer and transferred all the customers to Sheffield. "Would you like me to book your car in for you Sir?".

"No, I effin' wouldn't"

Bastards.

Ah what you need is the truck that delivers the courtsey car can take your car to be serviced. After the service is complete the reverse can happen.

That is just what happens up here(*) but then this is remote a rural rather than urban or even populated.

(*)SWMBO'd Ford needs a service 'twill be interesting to see if they still do it.

I feel so much better having read the posts about Merc and Volvo customer service. I thought it was just Landrover that were s***t!

TonyB

s/Renault/Any trade "professional"/

Main manufactures vehicle dealers doubly so.

It seems that someone with a brain has spoken to someone with a computer, and a bit of sense has (at last) prevailed.

The bloke with the recovery truck went to the dealer, collected the new arm and came to our house and fitted it.

Time to do job - 4 minutes

Time sat in cab filling in paperwork - 12 minutes

If they'd done this straight off I'd have been posting about great Merc service, but what a bloody fuss!

"Tim Hobbs" wrote

Similar thing happen with a new Alfa I bought from Thorobred Cars of Shepperton, a garage with an excellent reputation10 mins down the road, only had it a couple of months and get a letter to say they had lost their dealership to a chain and the nearest dealer was now in Alperton just off the Hanger Gyratory (and they wanted it there for 8.30am, in the rush hour!). When I complained to Alfa GB they said I could use any Fiat Group garage so I suggested Maranello at Egham and they agreed but only if I would like to pay their hourly rate! (it's the UK's senior Ferrari dealership) I didn't go there. :-) Personally I don't think anyone can beat the service standards of our local BMW garage, and they are also cheaper for services than a VW garage a friend uses.

Don't get me started on Awful Romeos....

On or around Tue, 22 Feb 2005 16:24:14 +0000, Colonel Tupperware enlightened us thusly:

'course the one I'd love to have if money were no object is an SM. Amazing car, even now.

Can;t help thinking that no-one's really that innovative now, not even citroën any more. Looking backwards, the DS was probably 20 years ahead of its time when it was launched. Most of the competition still had live axles and non-assisted drum brakes...

I still have a DSpecial - but stored at present due to cost, plus I am afraid of damaging it, as it is in good condition. I've owned it for

25years. The DS was in many respects more than 20 years ahead of its time, but by the mid seventies it was getting dated particularly for noise levels. These were very hard to reduce because of the detail aerodynamics round the windows and the basic design of the door seals. Also because the suspension used no rubber whatever. Suspension arms moved on tapered roller bearings, and the chassis alignment specified relative position of front and rear suspension to +/- 0.1mm. This precision gave exceptional tyre life. My experience is that the electrics on mine were very good compared to similar age Landrovers - no wiring problems at all, still got the original starter/alternator/distributor/switches etc. The only electrical problem has been a worn spade connector on the coil/distributor lead due to the need to remove the distributor to set it up every major service. Despite being designed in the mid fifties, it still has safety features not yet common - for example you can see forward with the bonnet open and back with the boot open. JD

JD wrote: it still has safety features not

Seems very safe to drive around with the bonnet and boot open......:-))) Erik-Jan.

On or around Wed, 23 Feb 2005 00:13:32 +0100, Erik-Jan Geniets enlightened us thusly:

but if the bonnet managed to come open on the motorway, I know I'd be pleased if I could still see.

I'm not so sure aabout them not innovating any more...... (Cut to previous live as a software engineer) Citroen had a all CAN bus version of the XM (not available in the UK - officially, we got ours from France) - way ahead of everyone else. A few years ago (4?) they were looking like being first to market with either 36 or 42 volt systems, again way ahead of the rest. Personaly I don't like Citroen, but they are probably the most inovative car maker - certainly in Europe.

Richard

I'll second that, some of their designers must be amazingly intuitive "out-of-the-box" thinkers. BUT- having worked on some of their products and seen how they design systems to be unfixable by your average joe mechanic (more so than most other manufacturers), I'd never buy one. Certain models with odd-size brake pipe and special fittings that can only be purchased from Citroen spring to mind, now there is absolutely no logic behind that move other than to force the return of the car to the $tealer. Badger.

And how many parents have backed over their small children because they could not see behind them? JD

If this happens with Citroen's why did they skip this safety feature on newer models....;-) Erik-Jan.

So the best safety feature would be telling them not to drive with the bonnet or boot open. At he other hand. This wasn't a safety feature but a coincidence which came with the design of the car. Kind regards, Erik-Jan.

What is a 'CAN bus'? Erik-Jan.

On or around Wed, 23 Feb 2005 09:10:55 +0000 (UTC), "Badger" enlightened us thusly:

the small-bore brake/hydraulic pipes are to do with the high pressures, ISTR. larger bore pipes would need to be heavier to be strong enough, or something.