Stratstone Volvo-Preston & Manchester Closing End Of October

[dave_mito]

Originally Posted by shimon340

hello,

thanks for the update. I guess volvo franchising will be moving fast to get these dealers replaced. The volvo dealership in Bury has already been completely stripped of volvo parts and signage...its just an empty site there now. Did know that stratstone or volvo would move that fast!!

hopefully the sites will be replace by new franchises soon. Id heard of problems with working for Stratstone especially given the way staff are treated and people being charged £100 an hour. I guess volvo also wasnt happy about £80 warranty rate

PS are you the Dave from the parts department?

cheers

shimon

yes thats me, are you mr shapiro (excuse the spelling) who works for nissan.

the labour rate went upto £105 in the end and with the longest volvo serveing tech there having less than 5 years experaince with the brand, i cant see how it can be justified

[shimon340]

ah! hello Dave!

hope you're well!

I guess you could move to the new volvo sites in manchester? I understand Bury is already sorted with a new company but there will also be some new sites. Stockport I guess is easier for stratstone given that they had already sold the building before the moved in with saab and chevrolet.

dont know if volvo bury will be on the same site or not.

I hope things work out ok for you!

S

[RobbieH]

Originally Posted by shimon340

ah! hello Dave!

hope you're well!

I guess you could move to the new volvo sites in manchester? I understand Bury is already sorted with a new company but there will also be some new sites. Stockport I guess is easier for stratstone given that they had already sold the building before the moved in with saab and chevrolet.

dont know if volvo bury will be on the same site or not.

I hope things work out ok for you!

S

Hi Shimon,

do you have any more light to shed on this? Who, when?

I've been using Bury for some years, initially when they were Walker Farrimond (940 SE estate bought used and serviced by them in the early days) and more recently as Stratstone (now V70 D5 SE). Had the last service done there as part of the purchase deal and to be honest I also used them to get a loan car whilst mine was in.

I understood Stratstone was in difficulties but only found out last night about the closure whilst talking to a mate who's brother worked in servicing (for 11 years since leaving school).

I have been looking at moving to an indie but struggling to really find a "local" to Salford where I am. I did use Guardian Volvo in Sale for the last couple of services on the 940. Not only cheaper than WF but still gave a loan car and were much easier to get to than getting Bury. Problem is they've gone now so I'm a bit knackered where to go.

I have heard (good) things about Hallmark in Stockport but when I went to call in one Saturday they were closed (albeit in the school hols at the end of August). Would use them if they opened on saturday or I could confirm they had loan cars (anyone know ?) The other point is that I want the front end polybushing and not sure if a main dealer would do this but I could imagine the price (Stratstone did tell me the front bushes were worn and probably accounted for the various clunks and clanks the front end seems to emit more often these days, so I think they are needing replacing sooner rather than later).

Cheers,
Robbie

[Alan Beckett]

Until I became more adept at doing my own spannering I used Hallmark in Stockport for service and repairs. I understand that Mike (the guy that runs (or ran?)/ owns (owned?) the business) was trained at Wallworks on the A6 (when Wallwork had the A6 Volvo franchise ie before Dean Smith / Evans Halshaw / Stratstone took over and the rot set in). I always found the guys at Hallmark to be helpful, courteous and straight.

Robbie - Hallmark always used to be open on Saturday morning - perhaps you called on a holiday week?

[shimon340]

hi there

If you're in Salford then you are very local to me! Im in Prestwich.

If you want local then I recommend my friend Howard at Horwich Motor Engineers near the Trafford Centre. He is a Volvo expert/specialist.

Call him on 0161 707 9224 and say Shimon recommended him via the Volvo club

Volvo will have all the Stratstone sites sorted by end of 2009 (few weeks really!) and the last sites will be sorted very early 2009. volvo has moved very fast on this. They didnt take the decision lightly as Stratstone had so many dealers but to take the decision they had to have a plan in place.

The sites will be replaced either at the same location by new companies or in the correct area but at the new company's site. I heard last week that Bury will be (initially) run as a direct dealer by volvo UK. That wont be a long term thing (probably) once a replacement company can be found. Stockport is a bit tricky as Strastone sold the volvo building and moved volvo in with GM and Saab whilst the new volvo site was made. That didnt happen so whoever replaces volvo in the south of manchester will need a new site.

I went to Warrington for the XC60 dealer launch this weekend. Dealer of the year 2007. Very nice site and nice staff.

There is a debate for manufacturers to go for large companies (who may not listen to your requirements and requests) but can be quite well oiled machinery and efficient with larger budgets verses smaller companies who are more "Fred in a shed" like but do have a more personal approach due to establishing better relationships with customers due to smaller vehicle turnover. I personally think the smaller companies are better that a large group.

Best of all is direct ownership of dealerships by the importer ie Volvo UK. No difficult relationships between HQ and the franchises!!!

[Clan]

Originally Posted by shimon340

Volvo will have all the Stratstone sites sorted by end of 2009 (few weeks really!) and the last sites will be sorted very early 2009. volvo has moved very fast on this. They didnt take the decision lightly as Stratstone had so many dealers but to take the decision they had to have a plan in place.

Thats a professional approach , anyone know when a full Volvo dealer will apear in Bristol ? It's crazy such a huge and rich area from south gloucestershire to weston super mare ( another rich area ) has had no volvo dealer since june .

[shimon340]

my opinion (and it is just that) is that the decision with Stratstone is one of the first things the new MD of volvo UK decided since taking up the post.

As for new dealer sites, the franchising group is currently very busy sorting the 30+ stratstone sites so I guess a call to franchising explaining any "on the ground" info about where new dealers should be would be very well received. Franchising relies of data from other dealers to determine their catchment area etc but any new info Im sure would be well received!

[TheJoyOfSix]

So is it 100% fact that Stratstones have been given the boot and that ALL their dealerships are up for grabs, or is it just the ones that have already shut? Derby is still going, but then again it was a fairly major one so I wouldn't be suprised if stock from all the local ones (Mansfield, Chesterfield, Burton etc) has been moved there for final disposal.

Hmmm, I may have to pay them a visit and see what bargains are to be had.......

[Clan]

I'm sure they are well aware of the Bristol situation after stratstone closed the long term volvo dealer in Bristol AND Weston about 6 years ago . They built expensive flats on the site which they sold for £ millions..

[TheJoyOfSix]

At least in this part of the world all the ex Speeds dealerships are still in Speeds owned buildings on Speeds owned land. When Ted Speed handed the franchiseover to Stratstones he kept ownership of the buildings and land and Speeds is now a successful property company. At least it means that there is somewhere for a replacement dealer to set up shop if needs be.