We have just been discussing her choice of new cars with a member near Harrow who was looking at a new MiTo Alfa Romeo among other models on her shopping short list. She liked it when we told her that the name was a combination of the two northern Italian cities Milano and Torino, which explains a lot…
If she buys new she will have a warranty of course and we discussed the whys and wherefores of getting this serviced at a manufacturers dealership and we made sure she understood her choices here. Despite the excellent work done by the Right To Repair campaign many women drivers still think they have to have this work done by a main dealer which is not the case.
In reality sometimes the female motorist chooses the dealership because she wants to take it back to the business she bought it from and, rightly or wrongly, she might decide to pay a bit more for this thinking that it might add value to the resale value of her car when she came to sell it. Which it doesn’t but that’s up to her to decide.
This is anathema to the ears of Eddy Mann who runs Alfaman Services in Harrow opposite Rayners Lane Underground station. Alfaman specialises in Alfas (which can be tricky for some) but services and repairs all makes by the way. One thing that Eddy hates is the reputation the motor industry has for being unfriendly and, too often for either of us, for charging women drivers more for doing less. Perhaps offending businesses think we won’t know any better and clearly some women do retire hurt from these garages, suspecting they have been ripped off some way.
But Eddy is well known for putting the motorist first – for saying what needs doing, what doesn’t need doing yet and what can be fixed cheaply but safely. Alfaman Services is in effect an honest garage in Harrow who has signed the female friendly FOXY Promise and is a FOXY Choice subscriber because of this - which is how we know him.
Which is where this blog started because having talked about Alfas and then finding that the member lives in Harrow she happens to have a readymade garage solution on her doorstep which can save her money in the long term if she decides to buy Alfa.
As always, the choice is hers and we don’t try to tell anyone what to do of course. If any woman driver wants to know where the female friendly garages are and what the membership deals are, she can now ask FOXY Lady Drivers Club and visit FOXY Choice, that’s all.
FOXY Steph
Your Alfa interested member might like to know about a service called C It Now. This is a live video presentation tool installed in the dealership that allows potential customers to view cars without having to visit.
Budgen Motors, an Alfa dealer in Shrewsbury, has this service available. It’s proving particularly popular for used car purchase.
The aim of the service is to provide convenience and a level of service way beyond the current three photos on a web site. A potential buyer can ask the salesperson to show them exactly what they want to see – that includes the wear and tear, bumps and scratches which could only be seen with closer inspection (live video to your browser).
If your members would be interested in a list of dealers that provide this service I’d be happy to help.
Hi Andrew
I see I replied to you via LinkedIn and left this blog posting unacknowledged. My apologies.
By all means tell us more here and add a link.
This service looks great and I imagine that foxy ladies everywhere would feel reassured with this degree of honest visibility pre car purchase.
Keep in touch – we have a new newsletter and public forum coming soon and I feel sure women will be impressed – it’s different from the more traditional videos about manufacturer models and from happy motorists… this is clearly designed to reassure women who are happy to buy from a distant dealer.
What happens if they bought from a distant dealer like Budgen’s for example, and then have a mechanical problem after taking delivery – which would not have been covered by C It Now?
Steph Savill aka FOXY Steph