Free Services in the future

[Expatman]

It seems to me that way we buy cars is changing. Now we are far more likely to do some research on-line then perhaps go try a car at a dealers before searching the internet for the best deal. Eventually of course this is at the expense of the bricks and mortar franchise dealers.
Where this takes us to I am not sure in terms of franchised dealers selling and servicing cars; perhaps dealers handling multi franchises  and servicing many marques of cars. Or perhaps servicing being a totally independent business catering for many marques.
Whatever happens it is gong to be much different to now in 10 years, maybe not for the better but surely different.

[peteo48]

Think you are right Expatman. The trend accelerated by the younger demographic seeing a car as an appliance like a Smart Phone. The rise of outlets like Cazoo is another straw in the wind but a number of dealers will now deliver a car to your home address.

Service "hubs" might become the new norm.

[Saycol]

According to SMMT, the best selling car in September was the Tesla Model 3. Tesla have very few showrooms, it appears to be online ordering and purchasing and I have no idea what happens for servicing. But none of this deterred some wealthy people from buying them.

[peteo48]

Not on topic but the number of Teslas I see on a day to day basis has risen exponentially. I would go as far as to say they outnumber every other EV on the road in our neck of the woods.

[richardfrost]

Honda’s instagram is awful - posts about dog guards/boot accessories/etc that every car has.

Nothing about how great the cars are and what makes them different to other hybrids.

Might they be targeting you with accessory ads because they know you have just bought the car?

[culzean]

It seems to me that way we buy cars is changing. Now we are far more likely to do some research on-line then perhaps go try a car at a dealers before searching the internet for the best deal. Eventually of course this is at the expense of the bricks and mortar franchise dealers.
Where this takes us to I am not sure in terms of franchised dealers selling and servicing cars; perhaps dealers handling multi franchises  and servicing many marques of cars. Or perhaps servicing being a totally independent business catering for many marques.
Whatever happens it is gong to be much different to now in 10 years, maybe not for the better but surely different.

Franchised car dealers are going the way of the High Street,  Honda so far have been quite good at keeping cars within their dealership network, but Tesla went the whole hog and captured their cars completely.  In the face of very reliable cars and internet sales / delivered to your home I am surprised Amazon hasn't gone into selling cars.  Problem comes when the car needs fixing, and we have 'jack of all cars, master of non' garages.

[sportse]

Honda’s instagram is awful - posts about dog guards/boot accessories/etc that every car has.

Nothing about how great the cars are and what makes them different to other hybrids.

Might they be targeting you with accessory ads because they know you have just bought the car?

No, there’s no connection between it and me - they’re just putting out posts about features that aren’t any different to any other car.

It’s a shame, as they have a great product but it’s very poorly marketed.

[nowster]

In the face of very reliable cars and internet sales / delivered to your home I am surprised Amazon hasn't gone into selling cars.

You know why. When you're out, they can't leave it inside one of your wheelie bins.

[culzean]

In the face of very reliable cars and internet sales / delivered to your home I am surprised Amazon hasn't gone into selling cars.

You know why. When you're out, they can't leave it inside one of your wheelie bins.

They could leave it on the driveway though.

[bobby boy]

 Amazon and Hyundai in America have set up a dedicated portal to sell new cars, according to the carbuzz website!

[Bristol_Crosstar]

When I bought my Crosstar back in June I paid for the 5 year service plan (I was not using PCP or finance). The Salesman said that eventually I would hear from Honda U.K. confirming the service plan. I have not heard anything so can anyone tell me how this works?

It is a separate line item on the sales invoice so I do have evidence of purchase.

Apparently Honda dealers send the info to the warranty/servicing company only once every quarter.

I've been chasing for my 5 year service/warranty pack paperwork as they should have now had the update through from the selling dealer.

FYI it's run by the below company:

Honda Associate
Assurant
The Aspen Building, Floor 2,
Mitcheldean, Gloucestershire,
GL17 0AF
Tel:  0330 100 3406

I bought an ex-demo Crosstar with the servicing pack but was concerned I didn't have any paperwork, just tell them when you book the service that it's under the deal and it comes up on the computer system, I didn't have any problems with my first service.