Antwerpen Volkswagen

Reason for Visit: Sales

I recommend this dealer: No

My Review of Antwerpen Volkswagen:
I purchased a used VW from Antwerpen prior to my move to Hawaii. They sold me a $900 anti-theft product that doesn't work here. Prior to purchase, I specifically asked if it worked in Hawaii, and they replied "absolutely". I even tried to cancel the product, prior to installation, but they said I couldn't- too late.
A month after I arrived in Hawaii, I found out that the product is completely useless to me. I spoke with the General Manager, Mr. Morris, who told me that he "understood" my frustration, but there was nothing he could do. After 10 minutes of telling Mr. Morris what I feel that they could do for me to remedy the problem and getting shot down, I realized my efforts were useless. I'm working on getting this situation resolved in other ways.

I can't believe these crooks can't even own up to their own employee's mistakes!!! What ever happened to "customer satisfaction"?

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Reason for Visit: Service

I recommend this dealer: No

My Review of Antwerpen Volkswagen:
Three times in as many months I brought my Passat into Antwerpen (where I purchased it) in an attempt to diagnose and repair a misfire that was so bad it rendered the car undriveable. Granted, the car was not actively misfiring when I brought it in (seemed to only happen at start up during wet/cold weather), but each time I was treated with what could only be described as complete and utter contempt and disbelief. The first two times in the shop, the #2 plug and wire set were cleaned and tightened (first visit) and then replaced (second visit). These first two visits were within days of each other. The third time in, I was basically told (paraphrasing here): "Hey, we can't figure out what it is, and since it could be any one of dozens of things causing the misfire, you're on your own." I asked the service rep if it seemed reasonable that I paid 30K for a car that, although still well within the warranty limits, is virtually undriveable in inclement weather. His response: "We can't fix it if we can't figure out what's wrong with it." UNACCEPTABLE. The customer should not be left holding the bag in situations like this. To top it all off, Antwerpen was apparently incapable of returning my car to me without grease and oil stains all over the seats, carpets/mats, and anything else a person's hands might touch while working on a car. Antwerpen lost both my and my wife's (2002 Golf) business--not that they care--and we are both, or rather were, VW fans who spent a lot of money on Driver Gear and routine maintenance. We now take both cars to another VW dealer out of town.

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Reason for Visit: Sales

I recommend this dealer: No

My Review of Antwerpen Volkswagen:
10/25/2005 - Order placed after internet inquiry with Donna Shoemaker (internet sales rep). Was informed that it could take up to five months for the vehicle to be ready for delivery.

Checked in every month and didn't know anything until after the new year.

2/13/2006 - Donna called and informed me that the vehicle had arrived and stated "luckily it is exactly what you ordered". Advised that I needed Antwerpen to fax the buyer's order for the vehicle to my credit union so that I could get a check cut and take delivery of the vehicle. Was advised that Trish Thomson would be faxing the information over and it was "at the top of her list". Checked in with my rep at the credit union just before they closed for the day to see if the documentation had been faxed and it had not.

2/14/2006 - Spoke with Donna and she asked me to give Trish Thomson a call to find out if it had been faxed. Called and asked for Trish and was transferred to a voicemail for someone else. Later I foudn out that it was really Trish's voicemail, but she hadn't changed her greeting. Waited for almost two hours and did not receive a response to my voicemail. I called back and explained my situation to the receptionist and was advised that Trish Thomson had her phone on "do not disturb" and that her phone had been that way all day. She then went to Trish's office and got her on the phone for me. Trish said that an employee had fell on the parking lot and she had to take him to the hospital. Unfortunate situation, but business must go on. She said that she had already faxed it over. Called credit union, they checked their fax log, nothing received. Finally, Antwerpen agreed that the bank check would be sent to them via FedEx once the credit union received the paperwork a
nd I could take delivery of the vehicle in good faith. I came to pickup the vehicle, and Donna greeted me and handed me off to John Hucks (salesman) to complete the transaction. He went over the paperwork, and offered to show me the features of the vehicle, but I declined. When I inspected the vehicle, I noticed that it had less than 1/4 of a tank of fuel and I mentioned this to him. John Hucks stated that "well, with a Diesel, that will get you pretty far". I also mentioned this when I met with the finace guy to sign paperwork and he claimed he didn't handle that. I had to drive off low on Fuel.

Summary of problems I had with antwerpen:

1) Miscommunication and excuses. After waiting for such a long time, I don't want delivery of my vehicle delayed even further by incompetance and miscommunication (e.g. the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing). Don't make excuses, just do your darn job.

2) I have purchased 5 new vehicles in recent years, and this is the first time I was forced to drive off with anything less than a full tank of fuel. While the Diesel does get good fuel economy, that is no excuse for not properly filling the tank for a valued customer.

3) I asked that no dealer advertisements be installed on my vehicle when I took delivery and found that they had installed Antwerpen tags on the front and rear of the vehicle. I later removed them and threw them in the garbage.

During the time that I worked with this dealership on this transaction, I got the impression that they are very disorganized, have a high rate of employee turnover, weren't very experienced with ordering vehicles, and can't get anything done in a timely manner.

Based on my experience, I would not do business with this dealership again. Also, I will not be taking my vehicle to their service department.

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Reason for Visit: Service

I recommend this dealer: No

My Review of Antwerpen Volkswagen:
I'll start by saying the sales experience was above average, the salesmen was very nice. The problems started immediately after we signed the documents. There was a serious deep scratch on the car when we bought it, the dealer gave us a &quot;We owe You Repair&quot;. Took the car in to get fixed and picked it up at night. The next day noticed it wasn't fix, some kind of filler was inserted - it was by no means repaired. Tried to bring the car back in and they wouldn't take it. The sales guy no longer worked there, so the man I dealt with from service didn't believe me and said there was no record of this reapir. Anyways, I eventually got them to take a look at it - they improved it, but again it wasn't in new car condition, which is what I paid for it. At this point I gave up and accepted it was never going to be fully repaired.<br>Part II. I called to bring the car in for the 20,000 miles service (they don't provide loaner cars for routine service). They told me the service would be about $365, seemed quite high so I called a different VW dealer, $250. There wasn't any advantage to get the service done where the car was purchased so I'm taking my business elsewhere for less money.<br>I do not recommend buying a car here, or having service performed here - for service they charge you much more then other VW dealers.

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