Junction 17 Cars, Peterborough - A Review - The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

[hawker1986]

Im sure ive posted my experience of them else where but I echo others concerns about this place.

 

The Mrs and I went there to have a look around there 350's when we were looking, they appeared helpful even bringing another Zed over from their Peterborough branch but then they fed me a load of rubbish about the cars clutch feeling normal when it clearly didn't and they tried to make a very hard sell. At one point we had 3 of them stood around us asking us what they needed to do to make a sale there and then despite me making it clear we would just be having a look at that visit. On leaving I received a very off hand comment about how we were obviously too picky and would be looking a long time! - very rude.

 

Even if they had the right car for me in the future I wouldn't go back and give them any of my hard earned!

 

Terrible company.

[galgazza]

Another trick to look out for is their website and stock of cars, its very rarely updated. I went there back in November and the Lamborghinis & Ferrari still on their website were sold then (if they ever had them)

[Siman350z]

Interesting- I planned on seeing their cars but never made it. I was impressed by their high end stuff- perhaps a ploy to look smart!

 

Shame as they always have a good selection.

 

I try to buy private, much better chance of buying a good car and you meet the owner who will know more about it than some sales rep.

[RobPhoboS]

Stick to buying from owner clubs, it's what I've always done.

Their (dealers) warranties aren't worth crap IMHO - better off with warranty wise if it's THAT important.

[Sargara]

Stick to buying from owner clubs, it's what I've always done.

Their (dealers) warranties aren't worth crap IMHO - better off with warranty wise if it's THAT important.

 

In an ideal world sure, but not everyone is in the situation where they dont have a Part-Ex and have cash burning a hole in their pocket. Warranty had nothing to do with it (for me at least).

 

Id just like to contribute that Junction17 Nottingham were no better with me either. Copy/paste from when i posted this previously:

 

I purchased a 350z from them in November (Nottingham branch) and was initially impressed! I wanted my friend to have the test drive on my behalf as he owns a 350z and knows what to look for whereas I have no idea whats normal and whats not, but the salesman (Ian?) ended up chucking us the keys and letting us go off on our own test drive, result! Deposit left.

 

However things turned for the worse when it came to the weekend collection and meeting their manager (Lee?) and I had to sit through 20mins of him and his colleague chipping in trying to force their warranty upon me. They convientently had already applied for the finance with warranty included and would now have to "re-do the lot without warranty etc" despite me telling their receptionist when she phoned this was not wanted. When this didnt work they tried bribing me with free services to take it, then switched to stressing it was only an extra "£30pcm" repeatedly etc. Very patronising and awkward!

 

I then went to leave only to find the car had both key batteries flat, and a bodged drivers door window motor (pinch doesnt work, its dieing).. So yeah my experience with them could be better I suppose as the initial impression was very positive but there wasn't much choice within a 50 mile radius.

Edited March 25, 2015 by Sargara

[david85williams]

Right I decided to email Junction 17 a link to this forum. Not sure if that was the right thing to do or not so sorry if that offends anyone.

 

Here's a copy of the emails....

 

From J17:

Hi David,

Many thanks for pointing this out. We are already aware of this malicious forum. It's funny isn't it people will go out of their way when they've had a not so great service from somewhere to write a bad review when they don't get their own way but we've checked the website and there is only 1 person on there that has ACTUALLY bought a car from us. IF we're looking at that we're looking at only 1 bad review in a year as he bought that in June last year - in this last year we have sold over 200 Nissan 350Zs so one going wrong isn't too bad is it?

We have a complaints procedure too - and deal with everything properly. So if a problem is reported we en-devour to solve them. With selling thousands of cars unfortunately you are going to encounter some minor issues - cars are machines and we stock used cars not brand new ones. Having said that new cars go wrong too. We prepare our cars to a very high standard both mechanically and cosmetically and as stated before if a discrepancy arises we always go out of our way to resolve them.

But thank you for taking time out of your day to make us aware of this forum. If you would like to pop down so we can show you real written reviews from real people who have bought 350Zs you're more than welcome.

Many thanks

Customer Care Team - Junction 17 cars

 

My response:

 

Hello 'Customer Care Team'

 

Regardless of what you say above and what is true or not you have a bad reputation. I could send you many more links on other clubs etc. I experienced this first hand and you failed to resolve my issues. I'm not after anything from J17 or going into any detail on my experience. You can either act on this or choose to ignore these reviews, either way I don't care as I wouldn't buy a car from you again.

 

PS its nice you actually emailed me back this time....

 

David

 

J17's reply:

 

 

Hi David,

I can only apologise that any issues you had were not resolved but I'm sure that something was offered to try and help any issues you were having. You do not need to send any more review links to us - we are aware of people just wanting to bad mouth us. As i said before in this world you'll find people go out of their way to write bad but not the good. It is nice to see the good and as I said before we do not have many complaints at all.

If there is anything we can do for you in the future we will try our utmost best.

Many thanks

Edited March 26, 2015 by david85williams

[ilogikal1]

As i said before in this world you'll find people go out of their way to write bad but not the good.

 

Perhaps point them in the direction of the numerous trader appreciation threads on this very "malicious" forum. I don't think there's one for J17 though.

[WINKJ]

hahahahahahha I LOVE it that you have done that... the forum warriors won't be happy

[Ekona]

And yet, they didn't remotely try to help anyone out with the issues mentioned. No-one needs to bad mouth them, they can do that all by themselves.

[galgazza]

I Must say that was a less than impressive response from Jct 17, If anything they are now further down in my estimations.

 

Always them not us attitude was rather juvenile.

[david85williams]

As i said before in this world you'll find people go out of their way to write bad but not the good.

 

Perhaps point them in the direction of the numerous trader appreciation threads on this very "malicious" forum. I don't think there's one for J17 though.

 

The malicious forum bit made me laugh! There are always great reviews on here on recommended traders. Good reviews are a great way of doing business. They also say only one person actually bought a car from them, lies!

[galgazza]

Apart from new cars they also offer a diagnostic service.

 

I twice contacted them to book my Z in and both times they never got back to me.

 

Probably a lucky escape but another example of a very poor customer service.

[rabbitstew]

Looks like they must be doing fairly well for themselves though, as I when I visited them a few years back they were based in an old warehouse in Stanground next to a mobility aids centre & a fishing shop. Now it looks like they have moved to new premises in Yaxley?

 

Still, I have them to thank for me deciding to buy a 350z in the first place. I went along to look at an M3 they had, saw a 350z Roadster sitting there and immediately went off and bought one from elsewhere.

[NeilMH]

As long as I am on this earth I will never understand why a business person would respond so defensively. Surely the members here represent a major business opportunity. Equally, concerns and complaints are an opportunity. People realise things can go wrong....it's how you respond to it that matters. Often a complaining customer can be turned into a major advocate by the effectiveness and sincerity of the response. Imagine how different that reply could have been and what a positive impact it might have had. If only.....

[DivadElrac]

As a follow up to the post by David Williams, I had a phone call on Monday from the Sales Manager at Junction 17 Cars in Peterborough (Jamie Dyos). He told me that the directors were aware of the article and had asked him to investigate. I gave him a brief summary of events and he said that he would look into it and call me back on Wednesday 25th. (He didn't). I'll keep you updated how things progress from here.

 

 

I would also like to comment on the emails that David Williams received from the 'Customer Care Team' at Junction 17 Cars.

 

Firstly, to refer to this as a 'malicious forum' is ridiculous and childish. I have not personally seen any posts that could be considered malicious, and my own review is simply a statement of my experiences with this company, and I stand by it 100%.

 

I didn't receive "not so great service" - I received no service at all.

 

Am I really the only person on this forum who bought a car from them and wasn't happy with them? It seems unlikely to me. Notwithstanding that, they should really be addressing the issues I've raised rather than diverting attention to other reviews. If you did buy a car from them and wrote a review here please add a comment so that their statement can be refuted if appropriate.

 

A couple of points in their email ...

 

"We have a complaints procedure too - and deal with everything properly." - Not in my experience.

 

"We prepare our cars to a very high standard both mechanically and cosmetically and as stated before if a discrepancy arises we always go out of our way to resolve them." - Not in my experience.

 

 

My review in no way bad mouths them. It is just an accurate account of my experiences. As Ekona points out they are doing this to themselves by attacking rather than investigating and resolving.

 

It makes me wonder if they actually read my review with an open mind - "did we screw up here?", or just threw the rattle out of the pram. It's interesting that they're not refuting any of the points in my original review.

 

 

 

Finally, for the benefit of the Junction 17 Cars 'Customer Care Team' (and ANY business that deals with customers) here is my guide to Customer Service 101 ...

 

1. If you make a mistake or screw up (as every business does), this is an opportunity to turn an unhappy customer into a raving fan (and people love to hear of a SNAFU that was amicably resolved).

 

2. If a customer sends you an email, then reply.

 

3. If a customer sends you a letter, then reply.

 

4. If a customer sends you a recorded delivery letter, then this should be a warning that the issues should be addressed, and escalated if not resolved in the near term.

It costs extra to use recorded delivery so don't take it lightly. If the customer trusted you then they would have used normal post.

 

5. If a customer sends you a second recorded delivery letter, and you ignored the previous one, then this absolutely is a call to action.

 

6. If you promise to call the customer back, then do so.

 

7. The sooner you respond to a problem, the greater the chance of resolving it before it escalates.

 

8. Admitting that you were wrong is a much better strategy than attacking anyone who takes the time to point out your failings.

 

9. Don't assume that all unhappy customers write a review. It takes a lot of work to do so, and most people can't be bothered.

 

10. A follow up call to customers a few months after purchase would give you accurate information as to whether you've provided good service, and give you a chance to resolve any problems before they become more serious.

 

 

(Hmmm - this might be an interesting topic for a new thread - "What are the basics of customer service that dealers ignore?")

[Sargara]

Well I was not expecting this topic to turn out like this when I contributed above, but to be fair my comment was aimed at the Nottingham branch so I technically fall into the "not a Peterborough" customer category but rather a Junction17 customer.

 

To give the "Customer Care Team" the benefit of the doubt I also did not submit a complaint regarding my experience posted above as it was my opinion/persception on the sale process overall and their manner/handling of me as a customer rather than a particular unresolved issue that needed attention and would benefit from a complaint.

[keithvmx1200]

I would not touch J17 with a barge pole but thanks to the Nottingham branch I have been banned for life from buying a car off them simply because I fought tooth and nail to get my deposit back on a car that was a load of rubbish.

Regards Keith

[Marcus01]

I have voiced my opinion of this company a couple of years ago, they may claim they only had 1 unhappy customer out of 200.

I made the effort to visit the Peterborough showroom when searching for a 350 but within 10 minutes after a look and a chat to the sales person I new I would not be dealing with them.

My point is how many potential sales are they losing because the company is now viewed in such a bad light.

Always in business, more is better.

[dannybz]

I've been to this place, i used to live in Stamford nearby to there. I checked out a few of the zeds they had but they always seems a bit over priced.

[Joeld]

As stated when I brought my 350 from them in August last year from their Nottingham branch they did indeed give me a good deal on the part ex. I didn't have any trouble with the purchase of the car it was all a pretty easy procedure, however I did fall into the trap of buying a warranty off them which appears to not be worth the paper it's written on. Once I brought my 350 within 2 weeks I had a EML appear. As I live in Nottingham I took it straight back, they had a look at the car and discovered it was the bank 2 O2 sensor. So I left the car with them, they told me it was sorted, turns out it was far from sorted and they'd pretty much ruined the cats and the sensor as they'd pretty much hammered the sensor into place, so after a trip to the Cougar Store a few hundred pounds lighter I'm now running decats and I've had to have a new sensor fitted. So when they say only 1 of us has brought a car from them, I wonder if that is as true as when they say all their cars are prepped to a high standard?

[hawker1986]

As some have said earlier in the thread I notice that they show people cars and cosmetic things are picked up, promised to be fixed before taking the car and then it doesn't happen or is done badly. I remember when we were there we were made similar promises but I was sceptical. If you were going to deal with the issues you would deal with them before putting the car at the front of the forecourt, you want to car to be looking its best for the sale. Made me wary before I even spoke to a salesman.

 

Their response email is pretty much what I would expect of them tbh.

 

Ed

[bamdc2]

Exactly what I thought reading this thread, their response was very defensive and certainly not a good response to give a customer.

 

Any problems/complaints, no matter what the business, can be turned around in such a positive way that the customer leaves feeling positive and is potentially now an advocate of your business. I have no experience with this company but from reading this thread it appears their staff and business behaviors need some re assessing. Hard sales are all well and good but without quality aftercare you just feel like you have been done over.

[steve916]

I have posted about this before, but I did buy my car from the Peterborough branch and I can understand all of the above.

However, I wasnt ( or didn't feel ) pressured into a sale. I saw the car on auto trader and with 6 months membership on here under my belt, I went over there with my eyes wide open. The salesman was busy with another customer when I got there, so he gave me the keys and said go and have a look at it.

I went outside to the car and closely looked at all the exterior. I then jumped in and checked the interior for wear and tear. I then started the engine, popped the bonnet and listened carefully for any abnormalities. It had the usual click from the axles when changing directions. Both fans ran fine. Oil and coolant were fine.

The salesman then joined me some 20 minutes later, and said go for a drive. I drove out the village and onto the A1 where I could open her up. Drove fine. No knocks or bangs etc.

I returned to the showroom and tried haggling the price. It was up for £11k 2007 model with 68k on clock. I told them I'll pay maximum £10k. They said No. I said I'll carry on looking. About 3 days later the female boss rang me to say ok, they'll accept £10k if I would buy before the end of the month. I agreed and went to buy the car a week later.

Once over there, I had a quick look over the car again. It hadn't been cleaned. It had been sat outside in the rain all week. I told them to get it cleaned while we filled out all the necessary paperwork.

Next, the salesman started his warranty selling pitch. £400 for 15 months cover. I succumbed to this but not before knocking a further £100 off that.

Now, you say the warranties are worthless, but I have some positive news about that.

A few months ago there was a thread started on here regarding low oil pressure on an HR engine. Ross eventually took his car to Kaiser motors and the engine was stripped down to find the oil gallery gaskets leaking by, and Nissan now do an updated gasket for this.

I noticed that my oil pressures were a little lower than expected. Nothing dangerously low, but I wondered if it could be the same thing.

I also thought I would try getting this work done under the warranty I had paid for, as its a 9 hour strip down job.

Well, good news. The warranty company have covered the cost of this.

So, to wrap up, my advice would be that if they have got the car that you want, then as long as you walk in with your eyes open, and don't fall for any nonsense from them, then proceed with caution. I have owned my Zed for 6 months now and still loving it

 

Btw, this isn't me sticking up for them at all, as I agree with everything said above. I wouldn't own such a lovely car if it hadn't been for the advice from you guys on here

[docwra]

ID add that in 15 odd years of internet car forums, this one is probably the least malicious Ive been on. Everyone is lovely

[jimboy2]

ID add that in 15 odd years of internet car forums, this one is probably the least malicious Ive been on. Everyone is lovely

 

Yeah I agree with that. Never see any real arguments on here. Lots of friendly banter