umesh 336 Posted January 23, 2014 ‘Specification Check’ As we all know it’s the spec that sells the cars, or makes it desirable to buy or not to buy ! More and more dealers particularly on ATM wanting a bid on car they’re trying to deal/or have keep saying “spec check†etc As we all know it’s not always that easy (well I don’t think so ..is it just me!) and sometimes the spec check isn’t correct i.e. I have a E250 CDI Avantgarde According to ‘Mercedes’ main dealer it doesn’t have Sat Nav or parking sensors – my car does ! I guess it puts the onus onto the person bidding as it’s a get out clause , but like in the example above the options make it more desirable to buy IF the buyer knew the options, but if it was spec checked most would either walk away from it or bid low ,and the dealer not being able to deal the customer ! no one wins! I get a friendly friend to spec check any Audi – VW ‘s that I’m looking at , BMW & MINI Pay the premium per minute calls but where do I go for rest of the franchise’s ? What do others do? Are there hotline numbers for all franchises that you’d like to share? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lovelycars.com 2 Posted January 26, 2014 Hi Umesh, Congrats on your recent award! We also like to go to great lengths to get the full spec on cars we are considering for stock and we are finding the customers love those three page printouts with the HPi Spec Check data. When they see an executive car with £6-7K of options they even forget to haggle. For Merc I email their UK customer services (very useful for service histories too!) on cs.uk@cac.mercedes-benz.com, for BMW we call them on the pound-per-minute 0906 number and with Volvo I either call customer relations on 01628 422522 or if I have more time I ask a friendly parts advisor from a local main dealer to print me the spec/radio codes which they hold on a central system. With the Japanese brands I find that the HPI system is accurate enough. Nick 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
umesh 336 Posted January 27, 2014 Thanks Nick, Very useful to have the additional contact info. I've always said it would be very useful if ALL manufacturers had a non removable sticker/plate on the 'B' Pillar with all the factory fitted options listed! Even some of the main dealers who have access to their own systems don't list the valuable options ! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gavin@Rousdon 137 Posted February 5, 2014 VW Spec Check -09040200001 BMW - Mini Spec Check - 09062090001 I've used both and they seem helpfull but a little litted that they can only tell you dealer visits and not what was carried out and also only what opitions were added to the car and not what was standard i.e Business or Professional Nav. I feel I must name and shame here because in 5 years of using the BMW Spec line and chasing service histories I've met very few dealers who have a problem giving info and stamping the service book. This week I phone Halliwell Jone BMW in Chester to chase a missing stamp. They said they could tell me what was carried out but not dates and mileages (Company policy!!), I then asked if I could send the service book to be stamped and return in a S.A.E and the reply was 'We charge £50+VAT to do that, it's company policy'. £50+ VAT for 2 minutes work if that!!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SimonSpidersnet 4 Posted February 6, 2014 Umesh - you could always get CAP data spec as a feature to your website....? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
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