Test Drive Day: Honda 1, VW 0

As a loyal VW driver, this is not the post I was expecting to write. We have just spent an afternoon in Bay Ridge where many of the Brooklyn car dealers are located. If we were to have bought a car today, it would have been the Honda Odyssey, hands down. Why? Service.

The sales rep we met at Bay Ridge Honda was great. He was personable and understanding.

The Honda Odyssey Touring Edition drove beautifully

The VW sales rep at Life Quality Volkswagen on the other hand was perhaps the least helpful sales rep we’ve ever met and on the verge of being confrontational. In fact, I can pretty confidently say the we will not be visiting Life Quality VW again. The experience was so bad, we ended slamming them (like many others it seems) on CitySearch.

The folks at Life Quality Volkswagen have forgotten why they’re in business; because of the customer. All they wanted from our visit was a quick sale. It didn’t matter that we were doing research and loyal VW owners for the last 15 years. They didn’t care that we are about to have a third baby and that it was our only chance to get out for a test drive before our new arrival. The fact that we were there several months before our planned purchase really put them out. I can understand that they’d want a sale before the year is out (it’s not been a great year for car sales), but at the detriment of losing a sale for next year? Come on. It was a horrible experience that will quite possibly turn us away from VW for our next purchase.

Who stole VW's soul? The bad car salesperson.

We had an opportunity to drive the Routan SE, a less equipped model than we want. It was a terrible drive, but I’m not sure if it was the overall experience or the fact that it simply drove very poorly. There was no comparison to the Odyssey Touring model I drove. So for now, the Routan is off the list. It could have been such an easy decision for us.

So the research continues.