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Note 995.0                Help - test drive GTE wanted                No replies
VULCAN::BOPS_RICH "You never give me your money, .." 11 lines  28-MAR-1990 09:33
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    Crescent refugee needs urgent test drive of an Astra GTE 2.0
    Hi, I'm working in the solent and just about to order a lease car
    but cant decide between the R5GTT and the Astra. Have test driven
    the Renault (great car - worried about the fuel consumption), but
    not the GTE. (But have driven a 1.8 B reg one).
    
    Thanks,
    	Richard Porter
    	782 2691
    	allin1 = Richard Porter @ucg
    	mail   = shapes::porterr

    As a company car driver I have always found it difficult/awkward to get
    test drives at local garages. The first thing the salesman asks is
    whether it is a private purchase or not. When you mention that it will
    be a lease car, they immediately switch off because they know they will
    not directly get the business. Unless you lie through your teeth and
    pretend it is a private puchase the garages I've found are not helpful.

    Citro�n UK have a very good arrangement with Digital (For detais see
    VTX). They will supply a model of your choice for 4 days supplying fuel
    and insurance (for DEC employees only) and all they ask in return is
    that you fill in a form to tell them what you thought of it. I've
    recently taken up this offer on a ZX Aura Turbo Diesel. Its great
    because will this length of time you get to know what the vehicle is
    really like.

    What I want to do is contact the UK office of other manufacters to see
    if they have similar arrangements. Has anyone else had offers of
    extended test drives ?

    Roy

Wiggins BMW garage in Winchester are also very helpful when it comes
to test drives. They know that my car is a PHH leasemobile, but still
offer to let me test drive their new models for the day while mine's
in for a service, as they know that I'll be re-ordering at the end of
the year.

Pete

    I also found the VW agent in Henley (used to be Central Garage, now
    Clover Leaf Cars) very helpful. I think they supply PHH and/or Hertz -
    maybe the trick is to find such garages? The salesman did say "put in a
    good word for us" - I told him we had no control over who supplies any
    car we ordered (per Fleet's "rules") but that didn't seem to worry him.
    
    D.

    I tried for a test drive with my local AUDI dealership... when he
    found out it was for a compabny car he was more than willing to help
    
    when he found out it was for PHH/Hertz... he refused point blank to
    concider allowing me a test drive!
    
    Bob

    re .25
    
    Bob, That is exactly my point ! He is not at all concerned that you are
    interested in the Audi. All he wants is for you to buy a car from him !
    
    Contact Audi UK and see what they have to say. Maybe you'll get a
    courtesy car for a couple of days.
    
    Roy

    Roy,
    
    It wasn't the fact that it was a company car that bothered him... it
    was only when they found out that it was PHH/Hertz that he was
    unwilling to allow the test drive... he suggested we might want to
    approach LEX leasing as he has had no problem with them!!!!
    
    It may be that he has had a bad experience with the preffered leasing
    companies (haven't) we all!!
    
    Bob

    Before I changed to my Rover, I test drove one through my local
    dealer.
    
    I told PHH that thay asked to be considered for supplier. They also
    showed me a letter they'd sent to PHH offering to match any discuont
    offered by another Rover dealer, and discussed this with PHH over the
    phone.
    
    PHH bought the car from the regular Rover supplier. They didn't even
    reply to the letter, and the first the dealer knew that they'd lost the
    business was when I turned in in my new car to book the initial
    service.
    
    My conclusion from this and other dealings is, not only is the way PHH
    treat their customer and suppliers appalling, but they are ill-mannered
    too.
    
    And Hertz doesn't provide enough competition to make them feel the need
    to change.
    
    JK

    
    
    Perhaps we should have a winge about lease co. topic
    
    Personally I think PHH are better than HERTZ all they're interested in
    is they're profits not us.(both of them that is)
    
    When you go to Tyrecentres and you're told I don't think they'll let us
    change this the car hasn't done enough miles (tracking was bad from
    new) It makes you wonder what am I supposed to do drive it bald until
    the mileage looks good on paper??
    
    I have other stories if anyones interested.
    
    Perhaps carfleet will read these and realise what goes on out here!!
    
    Richard

    Richard,
    
    I can understand your problem. Yes, all the lease companies are
    interested in is making money. They are not a charity.
    
    The issue with tyre wear has been discussed before. The lease companies 
    have definate mileage cut off points. Any necessary work that needs to
    be done on your company car that the lease company will not pay for,
    you should be able to claim on expenses and your cost centre will foot
    the bill. The only reason the expenses will be refused is if your
    manager considers the costs are a result of driver abuse.
    
    Roy

    Roy,
    
    Good point about tyres....
    
    THe tyre situation is one of the main reasons I am moving away from
    the Hot Hatch type of car.... no matter how careful I have been with
    the tyres, the GTE seems to eat front tyres in around the 11-12,000
    mile mark.  This is not tyre "abuse"... this is with normal driving on
    A class roads "no dual carridgeway north of my location"...
    
    The GTE is a PHH car who stipulate 16,000 miles between tyres.  Hertz
    say 10,000 miles between tyres.  If I was into tyre abuse, I could
    probably burn a set of MXV2's in around 6,000 miles.
    
    So, I suppose PHH have a good reason why they have a cut off point 60%
    higher than that of Hertz.... (more money for them).
    
    Bob
    P.S. > It's not just Hot Hatches than burn tyres.  Whilst in Kwik Fit
    yesterday, a company rep (in a Cavalier) was haveing his front tyres
    replaced... *6000* miles....!  Wasn't a PHH though!

    Bob,
    
    Thanks for your reply.
    
    You mention that you are moving away from a hot hatch because the tyres
    wear quickly. I do not quite understand why. Is it the inconvenience of
    getting them changed frequently or are you concerned that Digital
    rather than the lease company is having to pay for it.
    
    There should be no cost to yourself.
    
    Roy
                          

    Roy,
    
    It's not so much the inconvenience, as the hassle involved in getting
    tyres changes with PHH!  I have only once managed to get PHH to
    authorise a tyre change without any difficulty... and that was because
    I had flat spots after a rather hurried stop... flat cap and pipe
    pulled out of a side road!( The B*******!!!)  I did not have the GTE at
    the time, but horrible little ASTRA VAN.
    
    The GTE is an OK Hot Hatch, but when the tread depth goes much below
    3mm, it is very unstable in winding roads in the wet.  For this reason
    I went to the local tyre shop, who recommended that both front tyres be
    replaced as the MXV2's do tend to slip badly when worn to this stage. 
    The near side front had 2.5mm and the offside front had 3.5mm.  This
    makes both the tyres legal, but I felt very uncomfortable with the cars
    handling in these circumstances, and PHH only agreed to the most worn
    tyre being replaced.  the Kwik Fit people were very helpful and
    replaced the tyre PHH would allow, and then Put the spare wheel (brand
    new tyre) onto the other side.  This means I not only have a properly
    handling car again, but a legal spare, and a happy customer.
    
    Bob
    

    I see the problem. Did you approach your manager at all. I would of 
    thought that if the garage recommended that they were replaced then
    you should be able to get them replaced and claim on expenses.
    
    Roy

Just to Rat Hole further.

I think the tyres on my car must be made from everlasting rubber - 48,000
miles and still on Second set with last service showing 5mm of tread left.

R5GTTurbo
Driver

    
    For any of you that are interested,there's an advert in this months 
    TOP GEAR mag for a three hour test drive in the new Land Rover
    Discovery without the leering eyes of a salesman.The model is the MPi
    (2.9 16v I think!!??)and the only requirment is fully comprehensive
    insurance.
    
    I'm sure that when I phone them up they'll tell me i'm five years
    to young.
    
    I'll post the phone number here tommorow if anyones interested!
    
    Andy.
    

    �the only requirment is fully comprehensive insurance.
    
    Don't you think this is a bit of a snag ? 
    
    How much do you think it costs to get covered for a 2.9 16v vehicle
    fully comp ?
    
    Royston

    Re. -1 & -2
    
    I was under the impression that if you are a Digital Car Driver, then
    the Digital Car Insurance Policy will cover you, as long as they DO NOT
    charge for the loan/rental/test drive.!
    
    You may wish to check with Car Fleet ?
    
    Andy

    It used to be the case that you were covered by digital's insurance for
    test drives if it was arranged through the manufacturers fleet demo
    people rather than a loan from a dealer.
    
    Normally fleet demo will contact car fleet to verify it is a bonifide
    demonstation.
    
    I don't know if this is still the same since the car scheme changed in
    August. Chris Palmer is the guy who could clarify this.
    
    Royston

    There's no such thing as a 2.9 MPi  - the MPi is 2.0
    I think you dun a typo  :-)
    I saw a roadtest that basically said the 2.0 is too small for such a
    big body (similar comments have been passed about my shirts !)
    
    Steve "Tubby" Rice.

    
    
    re -1
      The "MPI" and "90 SV" are alledgedly going to have the 2.0l option
    from the Rover 220. The engine is adequate for the vehicle, but being a
    16v engine it's a little too revvie for the traditional Land Rover
    owners. 
    
    Alan

>    from the Rover 220. The engine is adequate for the vehicle, but being a
>    16v engine it's a little too revvie for the traditional Land Rover
>    owners. 

I've read that in the press.  I don't believe it.  The T16 engine does not have 
the typical 16V power boost at the top end.  Max torque is at 2,500 rpm, it 
pulls strongly from 1,500 rpm.  This engine is totally different from, say a 16V 
Golf engine.  Many 16V engines have max torque around 4,500 to 5,000.  This is a 
different beast.

    Anyone in the Basingstoke area got a 1.6 Astra they can let me 
    test drive?  Wadhams only do a 1.8
    
    Thanks, julia 7781 1238

    Has anyone asked Leaseplan to provide a test drive for a non-Vauxhall?
    
    Did they come up with the goods? How long was the test drive, how long
    did it take from your request until the drive?
    
    Cheers,
    
    Greg

    
    	Could I get a test-drive of a Lotus Esprit Sport 300 before I
    	leave the company in 2 weeks?
    
    	*grin*
    

    I asked for a test drive for two non-Vauxhall vehicles.
    Leaseplan seem to pass on your contact details direct to dealer to
    arrange.
    
    1. An Audi A4 was loaned for the weekend (Friday-Monday), within 2 weeks.
    2. BMW loan failed. BMW were not interested. I got fed up of chasing.
    
    Audi A4 was excellent, I couldn't afford the engine cc I wanted:-)
    
    Phil.
            

    Phil,
    
    So what are you going to get?
    
    Alan.

    I asked for a Ford test drive.  Leaseplan initiated the process, quite
    courteously, and very quickly I was put in contact with a Ford central
    office.  Ford had quite a backlog, around 4+ weeks.  On chasing Ford
    after a couple of weeks, they advised that I could always try the local
    garage.  So I did.  They seem to get some sort of reimbursement for
    company car test drives and arranged an almost immediate test.  I like
    it so much, I bought (well, leased) the car.
    
    Ken