VW Citygate Wooburn Green.

[Lewis]

I've had a good impression so far from VW Citygate Wooburn Green.

First issue was a broken catch on the pop out table. I walked into the service desk on a Saturday without an appointment and walked out 20mins later with a brand new table no questions asked.

Second visit was for our first service last month. Good communication on the phone and a free courtesy vehicle. Two warranty issues to deal with at the same time, kept me well informed and told me early on day 1 that a part was needed so wouldn't be ready until next day. Water/hookup housing replaced and also a cable in the control panel was plugged in to give me a functioning water display (apparently left unplugged from the factory)

Also had a good experience with their body shop (in Chalfont), was a slight issue with the repair that they addressed properly when I picked them up on it.

 

[Devaprem]

I went to Citygate in Wooburn Green for some minor warranty fixes. They did a first class job and the engineer went through each item thoroughly at the handover back to me. He also spotted some other things that needed attention. I will certainly consider going back to them again.

 

[Loz2286]

I've bought three vehicles over the years from Citygate Wooburn Green, a 2016 Amarok, 2018 Caddy Maxi and 2021 (22MY) California. Always excellent service.

 

[Moore288]

I think Wooburn are awful - no knowledge or interest in Cali’s aside the van basics and easy warranty work or service.

Had to take mine to Maidenhead - further for me but much better expertise and customer care at Cordwallis…


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[studioTUNGSTEN]

I say. 50:50
I ask for the quotation of New GC but they ask back what price I wanted. :-(
Felt that they are playing with the price with customers.
Sent lists of questions, but never got a reply with all answers. That's niothing if the customers are experts like them, but for those who do not have experience with Cali's, it might be a massive pitfall.

 

[Perfectos]

Be aware, they have very recently hiked the price of routine maintenance works, far more than other VW dealers On a like for like basis!

suggest anyone proposing to use them for paid for works, get a written quote and alternative quote prior to any work being carried out.

example of the recent & IMO excessive & uncompetitive quote:
Cam belt £799 inc Vat (last year £360 in Vat )
Water pump £399 inc Vat (previously £100)

when I queried why their quote was so high & uncompetitive in comparison to last year and to other like for like quotes, they said they have increased prices recently!
(in Excess of Double the price a few months ago !)

I asked if the VW National pricing for vans over three years has been scrapped (no response).

They were not interested in price matching an identical OEM quote (£400 in vat)
despite advertising a price match promise, which clearly doesn’t apply unless they want it to ! (No promise)

In this instance, they were very slow to come back to me (over a week to respond to my price match request) to let me know they would not be interested in price matching the like for like quote!

unlike the communication from the other supplier who responded the same day on every occasion I have contacted them & whom will be carrying out the exact same OEM work at a considerably cheaper price Saving me over £400 !

For a truly balanced opinion, I have previously been happy with pre paid servicing & warranty work, and I would have continued to use them for paid for works if the pricing was remotely competitive Or they actually did provide a price match promise.

Needless to say, if these price increases are an indication of things to come I will be taking my paid for business elsewhere.

funny really when only very recently they bombarded me relentlessly & considered me to be a VIP customer when they were trying to sell me an ID Buzz

 

[Jon A]

@Perfectos, Thanks for your post. I've been taking my van to the same place and have been happy with the work. But uncompetitive pricing loses business, irrespective of service level!!

Sooo, on that note .. Later this year, I'll need exactly the same work as you (ie cambelt+waterpump.)
Can you please share the OEM details who you're taking your van to for this, so I can contact them due in course . Thankyou

 

[Perfectos]

@Perfectos, Thanks for your post. I've been taking my van to the same place and have been happy with the work. But uncompetitive pricing loses business, irrespective of service level!!

Sooo, on that note .. Later this year, I'll need exactly the same work as you (ie cambelt+waterpump.)
Can you please share the OEM details who you're taking your van to for this, so I can contact them due in course . Thankyou

Hi John,

I can’t PM you, (your not a VIP member)

I will post the details of the alternative company when I have the works done (Next month) initial contact with the company has been good, as are the company reviews, so I have no reason to suspect otherwise.

I don’t think it’s appropriate to post another companies details in this particular thread relating to a Named business.
I have not had any major issue with Citygate during the time I have used them for warranty work & pre paid servicing, so I will post the alternative details in another thread.

suffice to say that a saving of £400 for identical OEM routine maintenance work, (Update electronic service record & paper copy + VAT invoice provided & a free courtesy car, (Dealer charges £15) cannot be ignored & does not make financial sense Under any circumstance.

CityGate purportedly advertise a price match locally, (as most Dealers do) so you would expect them to be somewhere near competitive, locally, for routine maintenance work In the first place, which I have found them not to be.
when I naturally tested the “price match promise” to match a like for like quote, they took over a week to respond to say they had no interest in honouring the advertised price promise to retain existing business,
the response made it very clear that It would make more sense for me to go elsewhere at the cheaper price!
which for me is the reason why I will do exactly that for future paid works.

The alternative company was recommended by another forum member @Velma's Dad , whom has had a good experience with them in the past, I’m sure it wouldn’t be too hard for you to find the details of “VW specialist servicing in Great Missenden “ via a search here or on google.

 

[Jon A]

Hi John,

I can’t PM you, (your not a VIP member)

I will post the details of the alternative company when I have the works done (Next month) initial contact with the company has been good, as are the company reviews, so I have no reason to suspect otherwise.

I don’t think it’s appropriate to post another companies details in this particular thread relating to a Named business.
I have not had any major issue with Citygate during the time I have used them for warranty work & pre paid servicing, so I will post the alternative details in another thread.

suffice to say that a saving of £400 for identical OEM routine maintenance work, (Update electronic service record & paper copy + VAT invoice provided & a free courtesy car, (Dealer charges £15) cannot be ignored & does not make financial sense Under any circumstance.

CityGate purportedly advertise a price match locally, (as most Dealers do) so you would expect them to be somewhere near competitive, locally, for routine maintenance work In the first place, which I have found them not to be.
when I naturally tested the “price match promise” to match a like for like quote, they took over a week to respond to say they had no interest in honouring the advertised price promise to retain existing business,
the response made it very clear that It would make more sense for me to go elsewhere at the cheaper price!
which for me is the reason why I will do exactly that for future paid works.

The alternative company was recommended by another forum member @Velma's Dad , whom has had a good experience with them in the past, I’m sure it wouldn’t be too hard for you to find the details of “VW specialist servicing in Great Missenden “ via a search here or on google.

Hi @Perfectos
Thankyou for your reply and hints!
Yes I agree : there is no need to poke Citygate in the eye in this thread - given they are generally regarded as a good dealer with positive feedback from you, me and others. Although somewhat surprising to see they were so "weak" with their price matching.
I'll be waiting with interest for your feedback! £400 difference is a lot of beer tokens.
!

 

[Karlos]

Hi John,

I can’t PM you, (your not a VIP member)

I will post the details of the alternative company when I have the works done (Next month) initial contact with the company has been good, as are the company reviews, so I have no reason to suspect otherwise.

I don’t think it’s appropriate to post another companies details in this particular thread relating to a Named business.
I have not had any major issue with Citygate during the time I have used them for warranty work & pre paid servicing, so I will post the alternative details in another thread.

suffice to say that a saving of £400 for identical OEM routine maintenance work, (Update electronic service record & paper copy + VAT invoice provided & a free courtesy car, (Dealer charges £15) cannot be ignored & does not make financial sense Under any circumstance.

CityGate purportedly advertise a price match locally, (as most Dealers do) so you would expect them to be somewhere near competitive, locally, for routine maintenance work In the first place, which I have found them not to be.
when I naturally tested the “price match promise” to match a like for like quote, they took over a week to respond to say they had no interest in honouring the advertised price promise to retain existing business,
the response made it very clear that It would make more sense for me to go elsewhere at the cheaper price!
which for me is the reason why I will do exactly that for future paid works.

The alternative company was recommended by another forum member @Velma's Dad , whom has had a good experience with them in the past, I’m sure it wouldn’t be too hard for you to find the details of “VW specialist servicing in Great Missenden “ via a search here or on google.

Looks like the start of a revolution

 

[Perfectos]

Looks like the start of a revolution

Revolution or Realisation!

 

[trev0rk]

I use VW Wooburn Green for regular serving (using VW Service Plan) - no issues, and would happily recommend Autobarn Hyde Heath Amersham for repairs.
Not sure about Cali specific issues.

 

[GrumpyGranddad]

Mine’s in at Citygate tomorrow for a drivers door leak under warranty. Also going to look at purchasing a Service Plan now that i’ve used my 2 free services. Always had a positive view of Citygate, so hopefully that won’t change.

 

[OGII]

Sadly I found Wooburn Green pretty useless as a local dealer, both when looking to buy (crazy price expectations at the time) and later on when I used them for first service. Really poor central booking and shocking customer care dealing with a query about service plans.

Their car franchises at Wycombe and Watford were much better.

No longer my local dealer, so all is good.

 

[GrumpyGranddad]

Sadly I found Wooburn Green pretty useless as a local dealer, both when looking to buy (crazy price expectations at the time) and later on when I used them for first service. Really poor central booking and shocking customer care dealing with a query about service plans.

Their car franchises at Wycombe and Watford were much better.

No longer my local dealer, so all is good.

Sorry to hear that @OGII
Yours is the complete opposite to my experiences at Citygate.
Dropped the van off this morning for some warranty work. Discussed the issues I have with the van, and collected the courtesy vehicle. Very friendly and efficient service.
Also, over a coffee I discussed and set up a Service Plan in just a few minutes.
(1 minor/1major/1MOT).
Fingers crossed that the work is completed to my satisfaction but I’m confident.

 

[studioTUNGSTEN]

Sorry to hear that @OGII
Yours is the complete opposite to my experiences at Citygate.
Dropped the van off this morning for some warranty work. Discussed the issues I have with the van, and collected the courtesy vehicle. Very friendly and efficient service.
Also, over a coffee I discussed and set up a Service Plan in just a few minutes.
(1 minor/1major/1MOT).
Fingers crossed that the work is completed to my satisfaction but I’m confident.

I am sure their works are not in question as they have a Cali and a GC specialist on-site, the problem comes from the customer experiences such as long reply times on enquiries & not very clear on prices.

 

[Drpps]

Be aware, they have very recently hiked the price of routine maintenance works, far more than other VW dealers On a like for like basis!

suggest anyone proposing to use them for paid for works, get a written quote and alternative quote prior to any work being carried out.

example of the recent & IMO excessive & uncompetitive quote:
Cam belt £799 inc Vat (last year £360 in Vat )
Water pump £399 inc Vat (previously £100)

when I queried why their quote was so high & uncompetitive in comparison to last year and to other like for like quotes, they said they have increased prices recently!
(in Excess of Double the price a few months ago !)

I asked if the VW National pricing for vans over three years has been scrapped (no response).

They were not interested in price matching an identical OEM quote (£400 in vat)
despite advertising a price match promise, which clearly doesn’t apply unless they want it to ! (No promise)

In this instance, they were very slow to come back to me (over a week to respond to my price match request) to let me know they would not be interested in price matching the like for like quote!

unlike the communication from the other supplier who responded the same day on every occasion I have contacted them & whom will be carrying out the exact same OEM work at a considerably cheaper price Saving me over £400 !

For a truly balanced opinion, I have previously been happy with pre paid servicing & warranty work, and I would have continued to use them for paid for works if the pricing was remotely competitive Or they actually did provide a price match promise.

Needless to say, if these price increases are an indication of things to come I will be taking my paid for business elsewhere.

funny really when only very recently they bombarded me relentlessly & considered me to be a VIP customer when they were trying to sell me an ID Buzz

Just found this on main VW site for fixed price servicing. Prices definitely gone up.

I guess these prices are a reflection of lots of included service deals and leasing meaning there is very little private customer money?
Has anyone been charged recently for ‘infection control costs’ or whatever they called the COVID tax they added?

 

[Devaprem]

I'm due to go back to them in June for a service / MOT under the All-In plan. It will also be the time to replace the cambelt and water pump. I'm shocked by the price increase for these that Perfectos was given. I don't think that means it has to be a main dealer, although evidence of this being done may be needed in case questions arise afterwards. My main gripe with Citygate is getting through to them on the phone or by email. It is a central number coveringtheir Finchley, St Albans and Wooburn branches. The person who answers will pass you on to whichever one you want to speak to but the call automatically goes back to the central switchboard if not answered within a fairly short time. Sometimes booking a call back works with the central switchboard, sometimes not. If you want to just book a service, then they can just pass you on to someone in the central office if you don't have any specific questions, which is quicker than waiting for the dealer to answer. However, I've found communication with other dealerships much better, where there's just one branch so getting though to the service department is much easier. Wooburn Green hardly ever reply to email, which is also frustrating. On the plus side, once the work's been done, I have been very satisfied with their knowledge. Wooburn Green had two Master Technicians trained in VW Californias when I was there last June and St Albans had none.

 

[trev0rk]

I'm due to go back to them in June for a service / MOT under the All-In plan. It will also be the time to replace the cambelt and water pump. I'm shocked by the price increase for these that Perfectos was given. I don't think that means it has to be a main dealer, although evidence of this being done may be needed in case questions arise afterwards. My main gripe with Citygate is getting through to them on the phone or by email. It is a central number coveringtheir Finchley, St Albans and Wooburn branches. The person who answers will pass you on to whichever one you want to speak to but the call automatically goes back to the central switchboard if not answered within a fairly short time. Sometimes booking a call back works with the central switchboard, sometimes not. If you want to just book a service, then they can just pass you on to someone in the central office if you don't have any specific questions, which is quicker than waiting for the dealer to answer. However, I've found communication with other dealerships much better, where there's just one branch so getting though to the service department is much easier. Wooburn Green hardly ever reply to email, which is also frustrating. On the plus side, once the work's been done, I have been very satisfied with their knowledge. Wooburn Green had two Master Technicians trained in VW Californias when I was there last June and St Albans had none.

Get a quote from Autobarn first, they did mine last year and around 25% less.

 

[andyinluton]

My main gripe with Citygate is getting through to them on the phone or by email. It is a central number coveringtheir Finchley, St Albans and Wooburn branches. The person who answers will pass you on to whichever one you want to speak to but the call automatically goes back to the central switchboard if not answered within a fairly short time.

I had this problem, resolved by getting mobile numbers & direct emails to relevant people.
I text them & they ring me back. Its far simpler than trying via their central switchboard.

 

[Devaprem]

Thanks. I'm just waiting for one from them.

 

[OGII]

Sorry to hear that @OGII
Yours is the complete opposite to my experiences at Citygate.
Dropped the van off this morning for some warranty work. Discussed the issues I have with the van, and collected the courtesy vehicle. Very friendly and efficient service.
Also, over a coffee I discussed and set up a Service Plan in just a few minutes.
(1 minor/1major/1MOT).
Fingers crossed that the work is completed to my satisfaction but I’m confident.

Thanks.

Cutting a long story short it took over a year to get service plan set up. Only resolved when complained to Citygate's head office. To be fair when a newly appointed local customer service manager then took over I ended up with a generous outcome. Chances are Wooburn got some training on service plans as a result. Biggest irony was the central call answering hold message always included "ask about service plans". You couldn't make it up.

Hope the Chilterns are treating you well.

 

[GrumpyGranddad]

Thanks.

Cutting a long story short it took over a year to get service plan set up. Only resolved when complained to Citygate's head office. To be fair when a newly appointed local customer service manager then took over I ended up with a generous outcome. Chances are Wooburn got some training on service plans as a result. Biggest irony was the central call answering hold message always included "ask about service plans". You couldn't make it up.

Hope the Chilterns are treating you well.

All good in the chilly chilterns thanks.

 

[GrumpyGranddad]

View attachment 104349Just found this on main VW site for fixed price servicing. Prices definitely gone up.

I guess these prices are a reflection of lots of included service deals and leasing meaning there is very little private customer money?
Has anyone been charged recently for ‘infection control costs’ or whatever they called the COVID tax they added?

FYI Revolution VW Specialists Ltd reckon about £560 inc VAT to change water pump and fan belt on a 6.1. They use genuine VW parts.

 

[Perfectos]

I don't think that means it has to be a main dealer, although evidence of this being done may be needed in case questions arise afterwards.

Hi Davaprem

this should Answer your question

New car warranty and servicing requirements

We clear up the confusion about whether car owners must have their cars serviced by a franchised dealership to protect their new car warranty.

www.thecarexpert.co.uk