T&T OFFICIAL New Vehicle Prices & Discussion Thread

[worksux101]

richmond and ansa service - anyone care to share their experiences?

[triniboi49]

richmond and ansa service - anyone care to share their experiences?

My experiences so far


Classic no complaints so far.


Toyota - had to line up in the morning like a government office. And the check in process is long. The check out process even longer

[kamakazi]

Yeah... That part about Toyota is sad as appointments don't mean a thing

[carluva]

Our friends in BA have been busy lately. Take a sample of their new stock:

2017 VW Amarok 3.0 V6 - to be confirmed



2017 VW Passat 1.8TSI Highline - $415k


Anybody wishing to get this Passat in favour of the starter 3-series, C-Class, A4 or XE will be making a good decision.

Will they? It has a 7 speed dry clutch DSG.

Gak.... same old transmission, new look. 415k is alot of money to spend to get a headache

[carluva]

Yeah... That part about Toyota is sad as appointments don't mean a thing

Strange, in the three years ive owned my toyota, i have never had such an experience. True, sometimes the check in takes a while, but thats always due to having other vehicles in front of me waiting to be checked in.

In my experience, the service process went smoothly. On average id say 25 mins to check in and 10 mins to check out. Plus the vehicle is always ready when i come to pick up unless i get there earlier in which case the reason for the wait is my earliness.

[agent007]

Hey guys, if you see the quality of materials used in this new Passat's interior together with the equipment listing you get for that price, I guarantee you that no starter 318i or C180 etc can match that.
Drchaos, Passats locally have been more reliable than Jettas and this new Passat got major improvements to quell any concerns about drivetrain issues despite the dry clutch carry over.

As for dealership service issues?
I can write a thesis on this lol but to keep things very short, all I can say is not 1 dealership in this country gives exceptional service. None!

Massy Morvant:
Went to collect our Hyundai @ 10k kms a few days ago and the service advisor was busy chatting away with some friends until I was given the keys and documents etc after about 30mins. Reviewing the vehicle, I saw that they did a tyre rotation but failed to mention it as a line item on the invoice. There was a particular issue I wanted them to address and basically they said that they don't have the time to do it and to book another day. This is Hyundai's dedicated service section at the back where Service advisors did not arrive to deal with customers until after 8am but at least the guy handing you your appointment documents was there to greet us and sent us to the back of the facility via the employee's only door since security did not open the main customer door yet. We got to sit inside for 2 hrs watching news and at least they had coffee.

As for the service bills?
$1,375.22 @ 5,000kms
$2,299.33 @ 10,000kms

Diamond motors POS:
Customers have to wait on the road before the service center door is rolled up for you to drive inside. There are only a few spots so there is a hussle for staff to drive your cars into the service bays to clear up space to the front. Prepare to walk to three different spots to speak to a service advisor, manager and then pay your bill. The cashiers move like appliances. They do what they have to do but no greeting at all. Straight face right through. Might as well automate that process with robots. Certain concerns I had with a wheel and the steering of the Lancer I asked them to address and nothing was done in that regard.

Lifestyle Motors:
They refused to align the Cruze at one point in time because the OEM supplied tyres was worn to the indicator mark where GM has a rule which says "do not align vehicles with worn tyres". Back when they were replacing the transmission under warranty, they took 2.5 months to hand over the car back to me but I got a loaner SGV for a measly 10 days. Outside of those 2 instances, LSM treated me the best. At least every concern I ever had whether it was through an appointment or impromptu visit, was dealt with asap and ALL warranty concerns was handled with basically no fuss. The aranjuez compound is large and spacious so when you reach early, you're safe in a secured compound and advisors will start to see customers long before 8am. In my experience, the drivers, the advisors and the technicians though are all personable and friendly and built rapport with you especially when they get to know you and your car. I'm very outspoken and meticulous with my Chevy and they know this.

Toyota Barataria:
Checking in your vehicle is a task. Like diamond motors, you wait on the side street until the gates officially open. When you do drive in, the security places this magnet number on top of your vehicle (sometimes rough) and can scratch your car then you drive as if in a maze. Hard U turn to enter the service bay then make a sharp left. At that point, guys are there to inspect and check-in your vehicle. These guys take a while to reach you btw. They took almost 9 months to replace a steering wheel for us under warranty and we had another vehicle that required technical and warranty assistance which was NEVER resolved. They change oil every 5,000kms but oil filter every 10,000kms. Like Massy, they did a tyre rotation but don't mention it in the invoice but this is a bit different. It's called a "5 tyre rotation". Basically they took the front tyres and placed 1 at the back and the other as the new spare. They then take the spare and put it as a back tyre. The two former back tyres are now in front duty. I found that the vehicle was driving a bit awkward so I pulled on the shoulder of the CRH to investigate, I realized that the back left look brand new and was smelling new too. I was elated! I was like, those guys gave me a free Yokohama geolander tyre? Then I looked at the back right and saw that it was not new. When I opened the tailgate and checked the trunk, I saw the dirty wheel in there and an old dirty oily rag on top my trunk flooring. I got so MAD at that point. So I went by a tyre shop to put back the spare where it belonged and installed the worn one at the back. The reason why the vehicle felt awkward was because the newer tyre had more grips than the others and the rear left side of the vehicle felt higher than the other 3 sides which as mentioned above explained why it felt so. The waiting involved at TTTL and unfriendliness of staff was also a let down.

I'll talk about BA and SS another time. I'll spare you guys the headache with SS. Basically, I will never patronize that dealership even if they drop the 7 seater awd Sorento to $300k and give me a year free gas and insurance. Hmmmm

[car]

Hey guys, if you see the quality of materials used in this new Passat's interior together with the equipment listing you get for that price, I guarantee you that no starter 318i or C180 etc can match that.
Drchaos, Passats locally have been more reliable than Jettas and this new Passat got major improvements to quell any concerns about drivetrain issues despite the dry clutch carry over.

As for dealership service issues?
I can write a thesis on this lol but to keep things very short, all I can say is not 1 dealership in this country gives exceptional service. None!

Massy Morvant:
Went to collect our Hyundai @ 10k kms a few days ago and the service advisor was busy chatting away with some friends until I was given the keys and documents etc after about 30mins. Reviewing the vehicle, I saw that they did a tyre rotation but failed to mention it as a line item on the invoice. There was a particular issue I wanted them to address and basically they said that they don't have the time to do it and to book another day. This is Hyundai's dedicated service section at the back where Service advisors did not arrive to deal with customers until after 8am but at least the guy handing you your appointment documents was there to greet us and sent us to the back of the facility via the employee's only door since security did not open the main customer door yet. We got to sit inside for 2 hrs watching news and at least they had coffee.

As for the service bills?
$1,375.22 @ 5,000kms
$2,299.33 @ 10,000kms

Diamond motors POS:
Customers have to wait on the road before the service center door is rolled up for you to drive inside. There are only a few spots so there is a hussle for staff to drive your cars into the service bays to clear up space to the front. Prepare to walk to three different spots to speak to a service advisor, manager and then pay your bill. The cashiers move like appliances. They do what they have to do but no greeting at all. Straight face right through. Might as well automate that process with robots. Certain concerns I had with a wheel and the steering of the Lancer I asked them to address and nothing was done in that regard.

Lifestyle Motors:
They refused to align the Cruze at one point in time because the OEM supplied tyres was worn to the indicator mark where GM has a rule which says "do not align vehicles with worn tyres". Back when they were replacing the transmission under warranty, they took 2.5 months to hand over the car back to me but I got a loaner SGV for a measly 10 days. Outside of those 2 instances, LSM treated me the best. At least every concern I ever had whether it was through an appointment or impromptu visit, was dealt with asap and ALL warranty concerns was handled with basically no fuss. The aranjuez compound is large and spacious so when you reach early, you're safe in a secured compound and advisors will start to see customers long before 8am. In my experience, the drivers, the advisors and the technicians though are all personable and friendly and built rapport with you especially when they get to know you and your car. I'm very outspoken and meticulous with my Chevy and they know this.

Toyota Barataria:
Checking in your vehicle is a task. Like diamond motors, you wait on the side street until the gates officially open. When you do drive in, the security places this magnet number on top of your vehicle (sometimes rough) and can scratch your car then you drive as if in a maze. Hard U turn to enter the service bay then make a sharp left. At that point, guys are there to inspect and check-in your vehicle. These guys take a while to reach you btw. They took almost 9 months to replace a steering wheel for us under warranty and we had another vehicle that required technical and warranty assistance which was NEVER resolved. They change oil every 5,000kms but oil filter every 10,000kms. Like Massy, they did a tyre rotation but don't mention it in the invoice but this is a bit different. It's called a "5 tyre rotation". Basically they took the front tyres and placed 1 at the back and the other as the new spare. They then take the spare and put it as a back tyre. The two former back tyres are now in front duty. I found that the vehicle was driving a bit awkward so I pulled on the shoulder of the CRH to investigate, I realized that the back left look brand new and was smelling new too. I was elated! I was like, those guys gave me a free Yokohama geolander tyre? Then I looked at the back right and saw that it was not new. When I opened the tailgate and checked the trunk, I saw the dirty wheel in there and an old dirty oily rag on top my trunk flooring. I got so MAD at that point. So I went by a tyre shop to put back the spare where it belonged and installed the worn one at the back. The reason why the vehicle felt awkward was because the newer tyre had more grips than the others and the rear left side of the vehicle felt higher than the other 3 sides which as mentioned above explained why it felt so. The waiting involved at TTTL and unfriendliness of staff was also a let down.

I'll talk about BA and SS another time. I'll spare you guys the headache with SS. Basically, I will never patronize that dealership even if they drop the 7 seater awd Sorento to $300k and give me a year free gas and insurance. Hmmmm

Changing oil at 5000km and filter at 10000km is like bathing and putting on the same jockey shorts that you had on before.
After the first service at Toyota my nickel door sill was full of fine scratches. Driver door tint nicked. Small dig at the back of the back light. Steering shaft plastic cover dig up. Cap for AC valve recharge was missing. Spent over 1 hour looking over the vehicle. Non of the issues above mentioned was resolved. They said the vehicle came so and this vehicle was delivered only 2 weeks to me at $345k
Never again went by them.

[jl6106]

Agent 007 waiting for you to share your experiences with SSL.

[kamakazi]

Yeah... That part about Toyota is sad as appointments don't mean a thing

Strange, in the three years ive owned my toyota, i have never had such an experience. True, sometimes the check in takes a while, but thats always due to having other vehicles in front of me waiting to be checked in.

In my experience, the service process went smoothly. On average id say 25 mins to check in and 10 mins to check out. Plus the vehicle is always ready when i come to pick up unless i get there earlier in which case the reason for the wait is my earliness.

Which branch did you go to cause South on a Saturday is usually chaos.. Well the last time I went anyway.

[carluva]

I always service in south. But i dont do Saturday. Ill plan my appointment one to three weeks in advance and then its as i described on the said day

[drchaos]

True that the general build quality on the Passat seems to be better vs jetta. There have been people locally with transmission issues on the Passat though. To me it's not worth it with that transmission in it. There are better options. Mazda 6 and Accord comes to mind with little to no drive train issues.

[Joshie23]

True that the general build quality on the Passat seems to be better vs jetta. There have been people locally with transmission issues on the Passat though. To me it's not worth it with that transmission in it. There are better options. Mazda 6 and Accord comes to mind with little to no drive train issues.

Indeed. The Accord Hybrid is similarly spec'd to its local counterpart, iirc, and can be had at half the price, RORO of course, which wouldn't apply to the New Vehicle Thread, so..umm..carry on, but I'm pretty sure they can be found brand new as well.

[worksux101]

richmond and ansa service - anyone care to share their experiences?

My experiences so far


Classic no complaints so far.


Toyota - had to line up in the morning like a government office. And the check in process is long. The check out process even longer

Had 2 cars with SSSL and one with Toyota...service was rubbish on all...parts lacking and service times long and unreliable....will never buy new from either company again...

Heard only good things with Richmond thus far and less bad things about Classic than any of the others, so thus far those are my options..

[aaron17]

Any word on the Arteon?

[4Motion]

BMW X4 xdrive20i M-sport - $590,000
Audi Q7 2.0TFSI (5 Seater) - $678,000
Audi Q7 2.0TFSI (7 seater) - $700,000

[Allergic2BunnyEars]

I love euros...Those prices make my belly hurt

[pipser]

Does anyone know if the new Swift that was launched a couple weekends ago comes with the new 1.0L BoosterJet semi hybrid engine and what the prices are like?

[neexis]

Hey guys, if you see the quality of materials used in this new Passat's interior together with the equipment listing you get for that price, I guarantee you that no starter 318i or C180 etc can match that.
Drchaos, Passats locally have been more reliable than Jettas and this new Passat got major improvements to quell any concerns about drivetrain issues despite the dry clutch carry over.

*Relatively more reliable. The dry DSG7 still failed after 2 years... on mine and several other owners I know. 415K would have been better if the configured it with the 2.0 TSI with 6 speed wet DSG. I wonder what they are pricing the CC at now.

Isn't the new A4 420k?
And a 320i 435K?

If those prices on the front page are correct, why not just spend the extra and get one of the big three.

[Chimera]

Neexis so whats the scene warranty wise with that issue?

[agent007]

VW has implemented new technologies and improved on many things under the "skin" of the car to make it more reliable. I was told and also read that mechatronic issues are pretty much over for the dq200 and 250. Though the 250 was preferred, in the past it was not immune to failure. With the improved mechatronic system together with the service fix of mineral oil application as opposed to synthetic oil, longevity is much improved.
The CC is no more which is to be replaced with the Arteon. I'm just not sure if we're getting them yet. Oh and I forgot to mention, that 415k price tag may be subject to discounts.

In comparison to a 320i or A4 2.0t, we know the 1.8t Passat doesn't stand a chance in sheer power (not by much), however, there are things the vw has that the Audi and bimmer still lacks. For example, the starting trim of both models have 17" rims, no sunroof etc etc. the bmw doesn't even have rear ac vents. Worse yet for the lower spec 318i. Yes we know the vehicles are highly configurable and the extra bells and whistles can be included but the price will skyrocket on those premium marques. The interior space (cabin and boot) of the Passat is also roomier. Not exactly an apples to apples argument here I know lol but there is some value in the vdub.

[Big Z]

Does anyone know if the new Swift that was launched a couple weekends ago comes with the new 1.0L BoosterJet semi hybrid engine and what the prices are like?

Comes with the K12 engine. No turbo and no hybrid at this time.

[Joshie23]

VW has implemented new technologies and improved on many things under the "skin" of the car to make it more reliable. I was told and also read that mechatronic issues are pretty much over for the dq200 and 250. Though the 250 was preferred, in the past it was not immune to failure. With the improved mechatronic system together with the service fix of mineral oil application as opposed to synthetic oil, longevity is much improved.
The CC is no more which is to be replaced with the Arteon. I'm just not sure if we're getting them yet. Oh and I forgot to mention, that 415k price tag may be subject to discounts.

In comparison to a 320i or A4 2.0t, we know the 1.8t Passat doesn't stand a chance in sheer power (not by much), however, there are things the vw has that the Audi and bimmer still lacks. For example, the starting trim of both models have 17" rims, no sunroof etc etc. the bmw doesn't even have rear ac vents. Worse yet for the lower spec 318i. Yes we know the vehicles are highly configurable and the extra bells and whistles can be included but the price will skyrocket on those premium marques. The interior space (cabin and boot) of the Passat is also roomier. Not exactly an apples to apples argument here I know lol but there is some value in the vdub.

I genuinely believe that in this man's past life, he was an car salesman. I would hate to be the salesperson to deal with you in my firm, especially with the kind of salespeople we have here in Trinidad.

[4Motion]

VW has implemented new technologies and improved on many things under the "skin" of the car to make it more reliable. I was told and also read that mechatronic issues are pretty much over for the dq200 and 250. Though the 250 was preferred, in the past it was not immune to failure. With the improved mechatronic system together with the service fix of mineral oil application as opposed to synthetic oil, longevity is much improved.

I think VW would have to at least match both BMW and Audi with their 5 year warranties to gain back trust. VW and it's 2 year warranty is almost insulting.

[neexis]

Neexis so whats the scene warranty wise with that issue?

Turns out there were other non-reparable issues with the transmission so they had to change it out entirely. It was replaced under Good Will outside of the warranty period. Glad they fixed it for a minimal fee.

[drchaos]

VW has a 3 year warranty now.

[neexis]

VW has implemented new technologies and improved on many things under the "skin" of the car to make it more reliable. I was told and also read that mechatronic issues are pretty much over for the dq200 and 250. Though the 250 was preferred, in the past it was not immune to failure. With the improved mechatronic system together with the service fix of mineral oil application as opposed to synthetic oil, longevity is much improved.
The CC is no more which is to be replaced with the Arteon. I'm just not sure if we're getting them yet. Oh and I forgot to mention, that 415k price tag may be subject to discounts.

In comparison to a 320i or A4 2.0t, we know the 1.8t Passat doesn't stand a chance in sheer power (not by much), however, there are things the vw has that the Audi and bimmer still lacks. For example, the starting trim of both models have 17" rims, no sunroof etc etc. the bmw doesn't even have rear ac vents. Worse yet for the lower spec 318i. Yes we know the vehicles are highly configurable and the extra bells and whistles can be included but the price will skyrocket on those premium marques. The interior space (cabin and boot) of the Passat is also roomier. Not exactly an apples to apples argument here I know lol but there is some value in the vdub.

I don't doubt you.. but been there, done that. And that price tag for BA service.... thanks but no

[pipser]

Does anyone know if the new Swift that was launched a couple weekends ago comes with the new 1.0L BoosterJet semi hybrid engine and what the prices are like?

Comes with the K12 engine. No turbo and no hybrid at this time.

Thanks. That's a little disappointing though.

[Allergic2BunnyEars]

Does anyone know if the new Swift that was launched a couple weekends ago comes with the new 1.0L BoosterJet semi hybrid engine and what the prices are like?

Comes with the K12 engine. No turbo and no hybrid at this time.

Thanks. That's a little disappointing though.

Reading this made me cry. Boost in that car would be fun.

[Big Z]

Does anyone know if the new Swift that was launched a couple weekends ago comes with the new 1.0L BoosterJet semi hybrid engine and what the prices are like?

Comes with the K12 engine. No turbo and no hybrid at this time.

Thanks. That's a little disappointing though.

Very disappointing. Don't be surprised if we do get the hybrid later on.
Suzuki usually gives us the basic version first.

[agent007]

Suzuki Swifts have been getting less powerful as new models arrive. In terms of local offerings from LSM:

2005-2010 model had the 1.3 in basic trim, the regular 1.5 and then the 1.6 Sport
2010-2017 model had a 1.2 for the Dzire, a 1.4 for the regular model then the 1.6 Sport which became a special order vehicle
2017+ now this new model has a 1.2 offering and we don't get the 1.0 3-cylinder turbo even as an option atm.

Mainstream models move from 1.5 to 1.4 now to 1.2, whereas its the total opposite for the Chevy Spark. You all remember that 0.8 3-cylinder Spark (I won't blame you if no ones remembers them lol). Well the replacement model got a 1.0 4-cylinder engine and now the 2016+ model we get has a 1.4 inline 4. Basically its the new Cruze engine minus the turbo and direct injection. Times have indeed changed when a Spark can decimate a Swift. If the 1.0 3-cylinder Focus can put pressure on a Lancer 2.0 GT, you could imagine what a similar 1.0 inline 3 turbo can do for a Swift? LSM, take note!