I'm starting to ramp up my search for an L405 Rangie.

I have called a few dealers.

Scores so far:
* Very helpful = 2
* Reasonably helpful = 2
* Not at all helpful = 2
* Failed to return calls = 3
* Clueless = 2

Given that I am looking at cars that are the thick end of £100k, it is a pretty poor performance in my view. The next global downturn will decimate them.

Name and shame them.

+1 for what iphs states.

Unimpressive emperor... Bet you would get similar stats though if you repeated that exercise with many makes of car.

Name and shame? Not my style. It could be an off day or that I got the trainee.

Other marques? Possibly. However, I have looked at Astons, Ferraris and McLarens recently. The dealer experience (for a car that is only a bit more expensive) is totally different. Professional, well-informed salespeople who manage to be both engaged in trying to make the sale and, at the same time, not overly pushy.

To be honest, I got a better response when I bought a Ford Fiesta for the kids to drive. Land Rover dealers seem to be getting it very wrong - they either need to approach people with the Ford approach ("this is a commodity, there are lots of them, I am going to make my dealership stand out by making sure you get great service") or the Aston approach ("sir would like a rare car, let's work together to find it for you and make you happy"). The overwhelming feeling I got was "we've got loads of people who will buy these: if you don't want this one, somebody will be in later who does"). That works while the product is "hot" (which it has been) but time is running out. Delivery times are falling, there are more used examples in the system - time is running out for this approach.

Oh and another thing that REALLY gets my goat is the following conversation:
Dealer: What car are you interested in?
Me: Range Rover Autobiography
Dealer: A Vogue?
Me (unsure how to respond): No, a Range Rover Autobiography
Dealer (confused): Er, a Sport or a Vogue
Me (sighing): A full fat 4.4SDV8 Range Rover in Autobiography spec
Dealer: Ah, a you mean a Vogue...
Me: [faceplam]

With 80% of dealers, one needs to go through this charade. FFS - they sell them all day long and don't know what they are called.

Last edited by Emperor Mong on 6th Jun 2014 9:28am. Edited 2 times in total

You can buy both SS & FF in AB trim though in fairness

So the answer should be:

Dealer: What car are you interested in?
Me: Range Rover Autobiography
Dealer: Range Rover Sport or Range Rover?

There is absolutely no such thing as a Range Rover Vogue Autobiography

Or the informed customer could give a first reply of, "L405 model Range Rover Autobiography"

If said sales person then asks, "Sport or Vogue" get your coat!

I do tend to agree with this, and it's not just LR dealers, Mercedes dealers I have been into have also been the same if not worse.

If there is steady demand it breeds complacency.

Now, a Ferrari, Aston Martin or McLaren dealer only have a few models to sell, at VERY high value. Land Rover has anything from a Freelander 1 & 2, Defender, 90, 110, 130, Disco 2, 3, 4, RRS 1, RRS2, L322s, L405 etc etc. It's such a broad spectrum to deal with and yes, if you don't buy it, someone else will.

The trick is to find a good dealer and stick with them.

One of my best buying experiences was buying the Wife's ML from a Jaguar dealer, the sales guy was SO good. Discovery 4 HSE
1998 110 TUM HS FFR Hard Top XD WOLF
1982 Series 3 Hard Top

*Gone:L462 D5 HSE LUX, L663 Defender 110 HSE, Discovery 3 HSE, 2014MY Range Rover Sport 5.0 Supercharged AB Dynamic; L405 Exec Vogue SE 4.4, 5.0 Supercharged Autobiography, Defender TDCi XS CSW, Defender TD5 HT, Vogue SE TDV8, Vogue TD6, RRSport SC 4.2V8, Classic 3.9 Vogue Auto, Land Rover Series 3 SWB

I agree on find a good one and stick with them but the best guy was about 200 miles from me (it was Leeds - praise where praise is due)

Did you watch the BA fly on the wall program this week? Bare with me...... They looked at customers in Economy, Privileged and First Class... A wide spectrum of people

Ferrari, AM, Porsche etc only really sell to the high end buyers... Right

LR sales men have to deal with tradesmen buying Defenders, Freelander owners, "cocks" buying SSRR's (sorry ) to high end exec's buying brand new FFRR's

No wonder there is a discrepancy... Like above, find a good one and stick with them...

Emperor Mong wrote:

There is absolutely no such thing as a Range Rover Vogue Autobiography

There is here in Australia but TBH I think it came about with the dealers getting fed up of explaining the difference so they all get Vogue badges , Barbagelos have asked me where my vogue badge is and I had to say "but it isn't a Vogue " blank look from the dealer  2008 MY Supercharged
Rimini Red / Jet
four zone climate
remote park heater
and no ugly kid windows.
magnus satis quod turpis satis

They are called Vogue's the world over...

Poor service is down to the organisation and not the brand or the product.

Consistently good service is achieved due to correct values & standards being conditioned from the heart of the organisation, made possible by appropriate recruitment & selection; and thereafter from ongoing strong management.

Organisational culture and conditioning sets the tone and sets the standard. Without those ingredients, apathy and complacency will always reign.

How many genuine prospective customers who experience the level of apathy that the emperor has found, actually bring this to the attention of people in the organisation who are suitably placed to act on such information ("If we don't know we can't do anything about it.")?

All of these organisations are measured on P.I's that include customer satisfaction. They employ management information systems and statistical staff.

Ambitious middle and senior managers being presented with negative [for example, monthly] stats showing a decrease in customer confidence due to inept communication, all having the potential to lose them sales that are at the core of their business.

Are said ambitious managers likely to sit back and do nothing to try and change the culture if that is the reality?

Or are the victims of the apathy (and I don't mean the emperor) too busy and apathetic themselves to try and do anything about it?

Vicious circle?

Communication is key.

Last edited by pld118 on 6th Jun 2014 10:03am. Edited 1 time in total

Don't forget, there has NEVER been a Range Rover Sport VOGUE, nor a Range Rover Evoque Vogue.

You can see where they are coming from. Discovery 4 HSE
1998 110 TUM HS FFR Hard Top XD WOLF
1982 Series 3 Hard Top

*Gone:L462 D5 HSE LUX, L663 Defender 110 HSE, Discovery 3 HSE, 2014MY Range Rover Sport 5.0 Supercharged AB Dynamic; L405 Exec Vogue SE 4.4, 5.0 Supercharged Autobiography, Defender TDCi XS CSW, Defender TD5 HT, Vogue SE TDV8, Vogue TD6, RRSport SC 4.2V8, Classic 3.9 Vogue Auto, Land Rover Series 3 SWB