Thread: Buying a New Defender - Sydney

Hey Beast,

Thanks very much for the detailed and informative report. I'll drop them a line.

Appreciated.

Duke

Thanks Seano,

Blacklocks seem to be shaping up nicely...

Duke

Hi DukeR,
I would be interested in how you go with Blacklocks.

cheers

austastar,

No problems, I'll keep you posted.

Duke

I bought my Defender SVX through Blacklocks around 12 months ago.

I travel a bit for my job so I visited the following dealers. At every dealer I told them I did not require a test drive as I has already test driven them and I told them the words they want to hear "I was ready to buy now"

1. Southern Cross in Toowoomba QLD (1 in stock) - saw the vehicle but unable to agree on purchase price when I was there. They rang me an hour later, dropped their price further, but not where I wanted it to be.

2. Austral Fortitude Valley QLD - Salesman told me he could get one. 12 months later, and I am still waiting on the saleman to ring me!!!! Pathetic!

3. MLR Melbourne - some quallity issues with the model I was looking at like bonnet wouldnt close properley, rubbers hanging off, tailgate needed adjusting and had 5500kms as it was a Demo - unable to agree on a price. The final coversation I had on the telephone with the saleman told me "Let me talk again with my boss and I will ring you back" (Still waiting)

4. Trivett Parramatta (2 in stock) - saw the vehicle, agreed on the base price of the vehicle, but I wanted the pricing of changing the tyres and a few extras. This was on a Friday and they did not ask for a deposit, if they asked, I would have obliged pending the tyres and extras additional cost. I was waiting on a call from them on the Monday. I received an email the next day on Saturday afternoon telling me they were sorry but they had sold both in stock and couldn't get anymore. Not even a follow up call from the Salesman. The customer service team rang me to find out why I didn't purchase. I gave then some constructive feedback! The girl agreed it wasn't good enough and said she would pass on my comments and get the Sales Manager to ring me. Still waiting!

5. Blacklocks Albury/Wodonga - It was a very simple sale in that I never met the salesman nor saw the Defender I purchased...until I took delivery.
I negotiated over the phone, agreed on a price that was lower than any of the other dealers mentioned above, paid a $1,000 deposit over the phone, and picked it up 3 weeks later. This was all on the premise that I was happy with the car when I saw it. I was except for bubbles in the window tint in every window. They said because it was only done a few days ago that they would disappear so give it a few weeks. I did, and not one bubble disappeared. To their credit, after a phone call, they arranged an approved tinting company in Melbourne close to where I live to inspect as I wasn't driving that far to show them. It was approved and all re-done free of charge as expected.

My only gripe is quite trivial really and it concerns the SVX key ring. You get a special key ring with it that the salesman didn't know much about. Now wait for this. It took a few phone calls and numerous emails over 8 months before I received a reply to say they would mail it out to me! I was constantly on their back. I was doing this based on principle that I should have received it rather then truly wanting the big heavy thing!

It is the tiny simple things that can leave a poor impression and I felt the after sales part was poor.

Would I buy from then again? Yes, but I would buy from who ever has the car you want with the best price. I would definately get a firm price from Blacklocks before purchasing elsewhere.

SVX37

Thank you so much for such a detailed and comprehensive reply!

I have to say - even though I've only been here for a few days, I am already very impressed with the helpfulness of folks here on these forums.

I tip my beer in your general direction! /salute

Duke

Originally Posted by SVX37

My only gripe is quite trivial really and it concerns the SVX key ring. You get a special key ring with it that the salesman didn't know much about.

Thanks for the detailed posting.

I must ask though, (yes I did Google it but only got a list of landrovers for sale), what on Earth is an SVX key ring?

I only have had experience with one dealership in Sydney. It has turned out to be the most surprising, frustrating and disappointing experience I have ever had with a service department of any kind. This dealership really is quite a weird and dysfunctional place, I don't know how they survive.