Volvo Owners Club Forum - View Single Post - Stratstone Volvo-Preston & Manchester Closing End Of October

shimon340 · Nov 17th, 2008, 16:51

hi there

If you're in Salford then you are very local to me! Im in Prestwich.

If you want local then I recommend my friend Howard at Horwich Motor Engineers near the Trafford Centre. He is a Volvo expert/specialist.

Call him on 0161 707 9224 and say Shimon recommended him via the Volvo club

Volvo will have all the Stratstone sites sorted by end of 2009 (few weeks really!) and the last sites will be sorted very early 2009. volvo has moved very fast on this. They didnt take the decision lightly as Stratstone had so many dealers but to take the decision they had to have a plan in place.

The sites will be replaced either at the same location by new companies or in the correct area but at the new company's site. I heard last week that Bury will be (initially) run as a direct dealer by volvo UK. That wont be a long term thing (probably) once a replacement company can be found. Stockport is a bit tricky as Strastone sold the volvo building and moved volvo in with GM and Saab whilst the new volvo site was made. That didnt happen so whoever replaces volvo in the south of manchester will need a new site.

I went to Warrington for the XC60 dealer launch this weekend. Dealer of the year 2007. Very nice site and nice staff.

There is a debate for manufacturers to go for large companies (who may not listen to your requirements and requests) but can be quite well oiled machinery and efficient with larger budgets verses smaller companies who are more "Fred in a shed" like but do have a more personal approach due to establishing better relationships with customers due to smaller vehicle turnover. I personally think the smaller companies are better that a large group.

Best of all is direct ownership of dealerships by the importer ie Volvo UK. No difficult relationships between HQ and the franchises!!!

Nov 17th, 2008, 16:51	#55
shimon340 Senior Member Last Online: Mar 2nd, 2023 14:47 Join Date: May 2006 Location: Manchester	hi there If you're in Salford then you are very local to me! Im in Prestwich. If you want local then I recommend my friend Howard at Horwich Motor Engineers near the Trafford Centre. He is a Volvo expert/specialist. Call him on 0161 707 9224 and say Shimon recommended him via the Volvo club Volvo will have all the Stratstone sites sorted by end of 2009 (few weeks really!) and the last sites will be sorted very early 2009. volvo has moved very fast on this. They didnt take the decision lightly as Stratstone had so many dealers but to take the decision they had to have a plan in place. The sites will be replaced either at the same location by new companies or in the correct area but at the new company's site. I heard last week that Bury will be (initially) run as a direct dealer by volvo UK. That wont be a long term thing (probably) once a replacement company can be found. Stockport is a bit tricky as Strastone sold the volvo building and moved volvo in with GM and Saab whilst the new volvo site was made. That didnt happen so whoever replaces volvo in the south of manchester will need a new site. I went to Warrington for the XC60 dealer launch this weekend. Dealer of the year 2007. Very nice site and nice staff. There is a debate for manufacturers to go for large companies (who may not listen to your requirements and requests) but can be quite well oiled machinery and efficient with larger budgets verses smaller companies who are more "Fred in a shed" like but do have a more personal approach due to establishing better relationships with customers due to smaller vehicle turnover. I personally think the smaller companies are better that a large group. Best of all is direct ownership of dealerships by the importer ie Volvo UK. No difficult relationships between HQ and the franchises!!!