I am about to change my 61 plate Freelander for a new one. I have been doing my homework regarding deals/ special offers etc. As I go about my travels, if I see a land Rover dealer I call in and see what if any deals are available.

Tuesday of this week I called into Guy Salmon on the A45 Coventry road between Coventry and Meriden.

I parked up and had a wander around the used car section, stopping to look and dream at the Range Rovers on display. There was also o good selection of used Freelanders.

I went into the showroom and prepared myself for a salesman to pounce.

The receptionist looked straight at me and then dropped her head and continued to read what was on her desk.

I wandered around the showroom and looked at the new vehicles on display. Some I opened the door and reach inside.

No salesman pounce yet. There were salespeople around but they were busy on their laptops or giggling with a rather buxom blonde lady.

I looked at what sales material was available, looked in the direction of a salesperson but he looked away.

Got in my car and returned home.

Do Guy Salmon sell cars or is it a front for a people smuggling empire.

The don't deserve to be in business.

Colliers of Birmingham got the business in the end.

Can't speak about them from a Sales point of view, but they always get my business with Servicing etc., as I find their attitude towards customers very good at that particular dealership. Foraging near Gaydon....
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MY13 HSE Lux SD4, Baltic Blue - current, 30,000> miles without fault
MY12 HSE 2.2 SD4, Sumatra Black - gone after 10 months/43,000 fault-free miles

I'm sure that GS is a very good company to deal with, I have never dealt with them before.

When you have visited lots of showrooms over the years, you get used to and wait for the standard patter from the receptionist and sales team. When I received neither, it became a bit of a game as to how long I could walk around a car showroom without being approached.

Almost certainly worth dropping a line to the Dealer Principal in that case, explaining just why they lost you as a potential customer. You never know, you might just get a complimentary Service out of it by way of apology.

In any event, if you don't let him/her know, they will never be able to address the issue internally. Complacency is criminal from a Sales point of view, irrespective of todays encouraging GDP forecast. Foraging near Gaydon....
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MY13 HSE Lux SD4, Baltic Blue - current, 30,000> miles without fault
MY12 HSE 2.2 SD4, Sumatra Black - gone after 10 months/43,000 fault-free miles

GS Knutsford always been very good ...

Be true to yourself. That way happiness lies...

I used the one that was in central Leeds before it became Farnell (Bristol Street Motors) and they were excellent, slightly different though as I had enquired about the car by phone and just asked for the salesman when I got there.
Hunters in Derby would give you a similar experience, whilst waiting for the parts department to get their finger out I have wandered round the showroom for ages with no approach from any of the salesmen.
Do we need to wear a pin striped suit and a bowler hat and carry a copy of the a Times to get some attention?. FL2 SD4 Metropolis Auto Santorini Black / ivory completely stock.

It's true that light travels faster than sound, some people look quite intelligent until you hear them speak.


Stop global winging.

When I bought my last one from Lakeland LR in Torver (Cumbria), I was wearing jeans and a T-shirt (it was summer 2013!) I was treated no differently to the well-to-do gentleman in his country Tweeds and his wife in all her Joules get-up who were enquiring about the new (then) RRS at the same time!

A family run Dealership, whatever the marque, will always go out of their way to put you at ease and do a deal with you. The corporate "chains" have no ethos, and as I have posted on numerous occasions in the past on here, strut about with big knots in their ties, preening themselves in the showroom cars mirrors at every opportunity. They ignore buying signs and body language, purely because they have not been trained like we were back in the 70/80's, to spot a prospect a mile away. That reflects todays me,me,me society unfortunately, with a sense of entitlement that a customer will just walk in and pay screen price for minimal effort by the salesmen.

Guy Salmon in Coventry are clearly not exempt from this, and whilst I hold their Service department in high regard, would not entertain buying a vehicle from them, nor any of the other "chains", as I prefer to pay a little bit more for exemplary customer service. People buy from people...well, I do, anyway! Foraging near Gaydon....
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MY13 HSE Lux SD4, Baltic Blue - current, 30,000> miles without fault
MY12 HSE 2.2 SD4, Sumatra Black - gone after 10 months/43,000 fault-free miles

I bought from Hunters at Kings Lynn - they did everything possible to make the sale and and made the process as easy and friendly as possible, including a weekend test drive. My intial enquiry was with their Norwich branch several months before and they were similarly helpful.

Freelander was top of the list, but I spent a week visiting Audi, BMW, Honda, Volvo, Skoda, Subaru, Mazda and Volkswagen dealers when making the final decision. The dealer experiences were all pretty good but variable. Volkswagen was very good, but Audi didn't seem fussed about wanting my money and Skoda forgot my appointment!! Td4 XS manual, Orkney Grey, MY2014

I had a completely different experience of sales at Guy Salmon in Coventry to be honest. I went just for a browse on a Sunday morning. Was wandering around the cars and got approached by the salesperson within 5 mins. They weren't pushy but got a sale out of me the same day which I'm really happy with.

I guess its the luck of the draw.

GS Wakefield are brilliant. Bought both of my FL2s from there, use them for servicing, get free MOT's for life, and they treat you the same as somebody buying a top spec RR.

I've had my FL2 serviced at GS Bristol a couple of times and overall pleased with the service. They did an MOT on it earlier this week. Passed with no advisories again! The car was washed and vacuumed just like a service and I got given the same goody bag of some bottled water and sweets as everyone else. Whoever washed the car must have had a height problem though as I noticed they missed the middle of the roof

Mine is booked into Guy Salmon Coventry tomorrow for its 2 year Service, courtesy of LRUK who are kindly picking up the bill. (long story)

I shall update this thread afterwards. Foraging near Gaydon....
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MY13 HSE Lux SD4, Baltic Blue - current, 30,000> miles without fault
MY12 HSE 2.2 SD4, Sumatra Black - gone after 10 months/43,000 fault-free miles

I had exactly the same experience when I bought my new Volvo 245, I turned up with my BT clothing on (during lunch break i hasten to add) and the salesman came up to me and said " When you have the money SONNY then come back and see me"

When he didn't know was I did have the money, due to my parents estate when they died, and was a cash buyer.

I shall we say hit the roof just as the principal was walking down the steps from the upstairs office. I went up to him and told him to sack the salesman as he had just lost a cash sale on a fairly expensive vehicle. He did apologise but I said if that is the sales attitude what on earth was the service side going to be like. Needless to say I went to another dealership.

it doesn't matter two hoots if a salesman clinches a sale or not, a customer if only looking or prepared to buy should be given every respect as first impressions make all the difference,.

Oh forget Land Rover Wolverhampton as well I got treated badly there, Stafford LR were fantastic Ex 2010 Freelander2 GS-e Diesel manual Silver owner

As predicted, excellent service from GS Coventry again yesterday. I had the use of a new Disco 4 for the day, which was fun (see other thread), and after some off-road testing, Mrs.Badger decided we should go to Touchwood in Solihull to take advantage of the cavernous boot-space.

Picked up the FL at 5pm yesterday, all spick and span with no advisories etc etc. I deal with Kelly Parsons at this Dealership, and have done for the last 2 years....she is a very personable, professional and knowledgeable young lady!

As a point of note, the vehicle is 60 miles away from hitting 20k, yet all 4 tyres (Factory Continentals) still have 5mm tread all round. That is a fantastic wear rate in my opinion, and the best of any vehicle that I have owned in the last 27 years. Foraging near Gaydon....
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MY13 HSE Lux SD4, Baltic Blue - current, 30,000> miles without fault
MY12 HSE 2.2 SD4, Sumatra Black - gone after 10 months/43,000 fault-free miles

Personally, I don't WANT salesmen to pounce on me when I enter the showroom or shop. However I do expect them to attend me if I need their services What really gets my goat however is salespersonnel who know next to nothing about the product they are selling! From a time when dinosaurs weren't just confined to zoos!