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Dealership Experience in Greater Vancouver Area

Pablo18

New member
I visited Capilano last Tuesday (while wifey's Subaru was having a warranty item fixed) and lo and behold, there were some 2011's on the lot. Shaun Openshaw came to greet me and after checking out a 2010, took me for a test drive in the 5dr 2011 DSG. I was impressed:). Lots of scoot and handles superbly when driven quickly. He was very knowledgable and sincere.
Needed to consult wife on whether jackie or leather, so didn't get into any direct negotiations but he did indicate that $500 would be the best discount I could expect, based on the popularity of the GTI. We'll be away for all of September so might not have a chance to visit other dealers' salesmen to negotiate and order before we leave. Guess I'll take my chances on seeing what's in stock when we return in October.
Just wanted those of you in the GVRD to know the 2011's are about and eager to be test driven:happyanim:
 

Rickfactor

Passed Driver's Ed
Im having a bit of an experience with 3 different salespeople. One has the personality of a stuffed animal, and the other two dont respond to emails for several days. A fourth was such a dolt, that I wont go back to that dealer. Im not sure where some of them learned to sell cars but it may have been off the back of a box containing crunchy breakfast fare.

Im still going to get this car but it seems that they have little interest in actually selling them.
 

plat

Ready to race!
I feel for you, Rickfactor. However, I also understand why sales people are unmotivated. In their industry, the person closing the sale is someone else other than them. If, I, as a sales person has done a great job in motivating a prospective client to buy a vehicle but the closer does an awful job then all my hard work goes down the drain. I would be very frustrated and disappointed. If I were a sales person, I would like to be responsible for the sale from start to finish. Only then will I feel that I have made an accomplishment and will be satisfied with what I am doing. Unfortunately, the auto industry treats front line sales people as walking/talking brochures and that's it. The rest of the deal is handled by the Sales Manager who could be an a$$.

Anyway, keep looking for that perfect sales person. Generally, dealerships out of the way such as Surrey, Langley, Abby, or White Rock will be more accomodating than the ones in Vancouver or Richmond. But then, they also have their share of crappy sales people. One suggestion though is to scope out a sales person while walking around a dealership before you approach them. Study the way they interact with prospective customers, the way they move, and the way they present themselves. First impressions count. Dont' just deal with the first sales person that comes your way. If you are not ready to sit down and talk, just say you're there to just browse around.
 
First off,

I want to thank Plat for directing me towards this site and seeing the kind words shared to all about the experiences that I had a part in sharing.

Yes it is true, I assisted in Plat and Dhillon's dealings on attaining their Mk6. and I'm sure that if some of you have popped by Regency, or perused through Dubberz.com's site you've probably seen me at the dealership, or seen my postings on the local forum.

Anyways, as mentioned, I have moved onto Audi's but I can do what i can to assist any one else that is after a 11 Mk6. I have clout with Capilano VW and I can do what i can to net you value towards a new mk6 is anyone is interested.

Alternatively......if you want an Audi....lets talk shall we?

anyone interested in getting a hold of me, please give me a call 604.306.4487
 

atrain24

New member
I met with Shaun as well in North Van...Good lad to deal with..
I'm wanting a carbon steel 4 door fully loaded 6 speed and Shaun was saying it would be 3 months if we go ahead with the purchase.
I decided to drop into the VW dealership in South Surrey (Goldkey) and talked to Joe and he states he could get one in within a week or 2.
Any idea how or why the timeframes would be so different? I would rather take my business to the North Shore dealer as the experience has been good to date.
 

plat

Ready to race!
I met with Shaun as well in North Van...Good lad to deal with..
I'm wanting a carbon steel 4 door fully loaded 6 speed and Shaun was saying it would be 3 months if we go ahead with the purchase.
I decided to drop into the VW dealership in South Surrey (Goldkey) and talked to Joe and he states he could get one in within a week or 2.
Any idea how or why the timeframes would be so different? I would rather take my business to the North Shore dealer as the experience has been good to date.

Hello and welcome to the forum. Here's my take on your query. I think the Surrey dealer has an in-bound order of GTI's that is in the configuration you want. The North Shore dealer probably has a share of the in-bound GTI's but either they are lacking the desired options or come in colors other CSG. It could be as simple as that.
 

Rickfactor

Passed Driver's Ed
I met with Shaun as well in North Van...Good lad to deal with..
I'm wanting a carbon steel 4 door fully loaded 6 speed and Shaun was saying it would be 3 months if we go ahead with the purchase.
I decided to drop into the VW dealership in South Surrey (Goldkey) and talked to Joe and he states he could get one in within a week or 2.
Any idea how or why the timeframes would be so different? I would rather take my business to the North Shore dealer as the experience has been good to date.

I bought mine from Joe. He is the only salesman who actually seemed to want to sell me a car and put in extra effort to get me a good value for my trade.
 

atrain24

New member
Ya...I have an 04 STi with 106,000 kms on it...Its in excellent condition and would only net me about 15k I think on a trade. Blackbook says 14-16k, I believe.
Did he go above the higher end on the BB value?
 

rated_r

New member
zorq, here's a thread I created telling about my experience with Regency VW. http://www.golfmk6.com/forums/showpost.php?p=72302&postcount=1

I had the same experience with Clarkdale. My recommendation is bring your business elsewhere. There are other VW dealerships that offer a better buying experience than Clarkdale.

Small plug for Sara at Clarkdale. I thought she was pretty good. Took me seriously, didn't play any games, and understood the perspective of an enthusiast so she didn't mind the fact that I was anal about certain things.

In the end, I think I got a fair deal so considering I was able to locate the car I wanted within a week. Then again, I did close the deal within the same visit so that may have helped.
 

plat

Ready to race!
Small plug for Sara at Clarkdale. I thought she was pretty good. Took me seriously, didn't play any games, and understood the perspective of an enthusiast so she didn't mind the fact that I was anal about certain things.

In the end, I think I got a fair deal so considering I was able to locate the car I wanted within a week. Then again, I did close the deal within the same visit so that may have helped.

Congratulations on your GTI and welocme to this forum. Is Sara a salesperson or sales manager?
 

CSteelGrrl

Ready to race!
Similar to the above post, I went to Clarkdale and Todd the new Sales Manager was a TOTAL Douche. He literally told me "My car is selling hot and I'm not going to move my price at all". He also said he has only ever gone below MSRP by 475. To keep the long story short, the sales I was suppose to talk to was very rude. The manager seems like he is the ONLY one who sells GTI, and did not even show any interest to deal with me. He tried to find others to test drive with me but ended up doing the test drive with me and had ZERO knowledge about the car even though he said he loved the car and drove it himself. He did not fill up the gas tank enough and said you can only drive it around the block for 2 minutes. Even if someone begged me I would not EVER go to that dealership again.

I'm giving your impressions a big thumbs up :thumbup:
I do recall that he said the same to me "the GTI is a hot seller and there are no deals" but instead of saying he drove the GTI himself he told me he drove the car I was trading in (Eos).
Oh well, I was super happy to drive out to Regency for the good deal I procured a week later! :fighting0030:
 

roastpuff

Go Kart Champion
Guys, just a note: look up Thomas Monies at Capilano VW. He is the Asst. Sales Manager there.

I was talking with him earlier today, and he's a real fan of the GTI - moved from a Mk5 to the Mk6, and sold me some modifications that he had on his Mk5 that I can use on the Mk6. He said that if anyone was looking to buy to look him up and he would do his best to get us a deal on the VW's available.

He might also show up at our meets with his new TR GTI. :)
 

plat

Ready to race!
I'm giving your impressions a big thumbs up :thumbup:
I do recall that he said the same to me "the GTI is a hot seller and there are no deals" but instead of saying he drove the GTI himself he told me he drove the car I was trading in (Eos).
Oh well, I was super happy to drive out to Regency for the good deal I procured a week later! :fighting0030:

I got my GTI at Regency VW. I am glad I did! Their new General Manager seems to be a very nice guy. He was even helping out with the freebies that the sales staff forgot to include with my GTI. He even screwed my plate on my car. Now that's service!:w00t:
 

rogimk6

New member
I got mine at Clarkdale and was helped by Lucas. Pretty nice guy. One thing i can say is to stay away from shaun openshaw at capilano VW in North Van. I first dealt with him and he was offering me a lower trade in value for my old car so i told him ill try to sell it privately. I also dealt with VW in surrey with Jonathan. Clarkdale gave me the highest trade in value so I went with them. After i bought the car i emailed the other two dealers (shaun and jonathan). A few minutes later I received a nasty email from Shaun, dont wanna go into details but i was shocked when i saw it. Jonathan on the other hand was very professional and just said hes happy i bought a VW!
 
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