Great day of parking fun

We held the parking competition on Tuesday, and then had to set it up again on Thursday as we had more people wanting to try the Focus that parks itself. Everyone seemed to like the idea of the parking aid, but a lot thought it felt very strange to let go of the steering wheel and let the car do it for you. Customers who hadn't parked a car with just park assist were impressed and are looking to have us fit these to there existing car. The overall winner of parking the car without any aid was one of the first to try Sarah Kellett, who parked with only a 6am gap between the tyre and the kerb. If my memory serves me correctly she said "If I win this my husband will never believe it" Well Sarah will have some proof when we see her next week to hand over her prize.

Parking challenge event next Tuesday

According to a survey on net mums 21% of women say they are great at parallel parking and 38% say ‘Yes they are ok at it’, so thats over 50% are quite happy and a further 32% find it tricky but get there in the end.

Of course there was no such survey on Men parking as they would obviously all be great or not have answered the question.

We are holding a fun parking competition on Tuesday 11th from 11am to see if it is easier to park a car with or without the cars help.

With a prize for the best solo effort, along with some other great prizes.

Watch the focus part itself on you tube, just copy the link below

Have you neglected Herbert

It may be Herbie, Speedy or just plain Freddie the Focus, but an awful lot of people have been neglecting there cars since the recession, and think they have done very well saving £15 here and £35 there on a car service or an Mot, and yes sometimes you may be right. We are starting to see a large number of cars that have been neglected, but not always by there owners, as some believe they handed there car over to a professional, who has then not done the job properly, it could be as simple as not putting the right oil in, that the engine is designed to run on. We have seen some cases of engines blowing up from the wrong oil, were cheap oil has been put in , and then blocked the oil ways as it is too thick, leading to parts of the engine to not be lubricated and then failing, sometimes never to run again. But if you think you may be guilty of this, believe me there will be someone worse, and we can help you get it put right. And we will take a look for FREE. Just pop in and we will take 15 minutes carrying out a FREE health check on your Herbie for you.

Are you comparing Apples with Apples

Following a long talk with a customer this morning, who bought her 13 month old car in to be looked at, i sat down with James and digested what the customer had explained to me.

This same customer's sat down with us 3 months ago before they purchased the said Focus that she bought in this morning, the difference between buying from us came down to we were "too nice". My words not hers but this is what happened

1. We let her test drive with her daughter, without us in the car making her nervous.
2. We didn't put any preasure on her to buy the car there and then.
3. We explained our car had a warranty for 30 months.
4. We would service the car before she had it, and re valet the car for her.
5. We gave her a better part exchange price than she eventually achieved.

The reason they didn't buy our car was that there daughter found the same car! £400 cheaper but 130 miles away and they went to see it, after all £400 is £400. When they arrived there the car they had seen on the web site wasnt there (even though there daughter had called to check that morning) it was at another branch. But after agreeing that it was the model and colour they were looking for, the sales person went to value there car, and they then found themselves in a high pressure sales process that ended with them signing an order form and leaving a £500 deposit for a car they haden't seen, and the crunch was they ended up paying more for the car, as there was a purchasers admin fee, extra for it to be valeted and serviced. And although they purchased the car, they said they would never go there again, and didn't have a good word to say about them.

But even after learning about this, we will not be changing the way we do business.

After all we still want to treat people the way we would want to be treated.

Hassle free

New registartions out on the road now

September has been very busy so far with the new 61 plate cars leaving our forecourts last week and over the weekend.

But one customer who collected his new Focus really made me think, we were discussing the many new cars he had over the years, and every one came with some new technology. But what really came out of this was his surprise of exactly how much new technology the Focus now has packed into it.

We went down memory lane and discussed the first time he had power steering and then Anti lock brakes on the next one and airbags, and then they not only came from the front but the sides and the roof and now by your legs. Where is it going to stop he asked?

Its not was my answer, because you can now get a Focus that can parallel park itself with little help from the driver, it will tell you if you are drifting over the white lines while driving or warn you if someone is coming into the blind spot on the motorway.

He stopped me then and said Ian enough, i think all that can wait until the next one, its great to reminisce but i need to go and enjoy this one now.

He called me today just to tell me his new Focus is fantastic, and the best car he has ever had, and no he wouldn't swap for any of the old ones we talked about.

The lesson i learned from this, is we have a lot of customers who still would not know what is now available in the way of safety or convenience in the new Focus, and all other new models.

Its New and available right now

No its not a new model of car, or some fantastic new device, but thats not to say we are short of them right now.

But personal contract hire is now available in the UK, as we know the way they do things in the States always makes its way over to us eventually, and this is one we have been waiting far to long for.

I could go back 20 years and customers were asking for this then, I just want a car to drive for the next 2 years and then change it, no hassle of ownership just a monthly payment.

Well you can get that now, we are busy loading them up on the we site as i write this. Try this link for starters

http://www.buckinghamford.co.uk/vehicle_details.php?V_ID=88

There will be many more coming soon, but if you want to get a quote call James or Jeff now

Exemplary Service

Hello Ian,

I'd like to say that the overall service I have received from both Bicester and Buckingham Ford during the last few years has been exemplary.

I normally contact Bicester ford as its the closest to me, and I have to say that every time I have had to deal with the branch the same caring and considerate approach has always been displayed, whether working with Jeff Lawrence in changing cars, who is relentless in his perseverance in finding the right product, yet very patient when discussing the clients needs.

When working with Neal and Andrea, there is nothing that is too much trouble.

Just recently I have had to put some of our cars through the bodyshop at Buckingham, and again Russell and his team have done the company justice in the quality of their work and good service which surrounds it.

I visited the Buckingham branch this weekend to pick up my Son's Fiesta Black from the bodyshop after some minor repairs, but while at the branch promptly "dumped" some additional work onto your team at very short notice due to one or two worries I had about my Focus Estate prior to a very imminent family holiday journey to Cornwall.

Dave and his team were able to sort out the problems, very swiftly, including the sourcing of parts.

A special thanks to Scott who sorted out the bonnet release, a commitment taken on very late in the day, but still with the professionalism and enthusiasm which I have to say I have rarely experienced in other dealerships.

Working in the service industry myself I can appreciate the hard work that goes on behind the scenes by the whole team and very often this level of service is not recognised. Well done to all!

Kindest regards and thanks again,

Trevor Mockford

Edgcott