Struans dealerships terminated by Toyota

[FROSTYBALLS]

As part of restructuring their dealer network, the Struans dealerships at Dundee and Perth have been terminated by Toyota.

Struans will no longer sell new Toyotas from November 2023.

Toyota and Lexus franchises for Dundee and Perth have been awarded to Eastern Western Motor Group.

[delbois]

I'm disgusted by this decision. Struans has been my preferred dealer for over 10 years even though it meant a 150 mile round trip. It was worth it to avoid having to deal with the local Arnold Clark (now Parks) dealership. Struans is well regarded, provided good customer service and was easy to deal with. My only option now is to use Parks who I know nothing about other than loads of one star reviews on Google. I could continue to use Struans but this wouldn't qualify me for the ongoing extended warranty and they could undertake any warranty work. I don't know why Toyota UK has decided to shoot itself in the foot and alienate its customers. It'll certainly make me think twice about my next car. 

[Haliotis]

Does seem like a bad decision - usually, franchises are only terminated by the car maker if a dealership fails to meet certain standards.

[mcntosh]

It seems to have come as a shock to Struans themselves. I’m wondering what the new Eastern Western dealerships will be like.

[Hybrid21]

Our local dealership has been carrying out major changes to their workshop over the last few months. Maybe Toyota are now requiring a certain standard of workshop and premises now, along with a standard of customer service to retain the franchise.

This dealership has always had a good level of customer service, but has lacked adequate premises for any type of expansion, etc

 

 

[Parts-King]

13 minutes ago, Hybrid21 said:

Our local dealership has been carrying out major changes to their workshop over the last few months. Maybe Toyota are now requiring a certain standard of workshop and premises now, along with a standard of customer service to retain the franchise.

That has always been the case, every so often new standards come along and each dealer has to go through an upgrade process, usually for the showroom, but workshops too. These upgrades are phased in over a few years, all at the dealers expense. Some don't want to upgrade, especially privately owned smaller business's, as the upgrade costs can be huge, these smaller dealers often "retire" and relinquish the franchise. All the big players want a Toyota dealership, it is very much the standard "go to" franchise, but high standards come with it, including bigger premises and better showrooms, it's how business's grow and nothing new in the motor trade 

[Cyker]

Ahhh, are these 'upgrades' why the PlayStation area went away? When I had my first D4D I used to play Gran Turismo on it while waiting for the car to be serviced  

 

[Gren]

On 11/30/2023 at 11:31 PM, mcntosh said:

It seems to have come as a shock to Struans themselves. I’m wondering what the new Eastern Western dealerships will be like.

Yes, I was there recently and they said that T had never previously given any indication of the decision and would not negotiate on it.

[mcntosh]

The latest twist to this story: the new Barnetts in Dundee can’t open properly because of fire safety concerns:

https://www.thecourier.co.uk/fp/business-environment/business/4845376/dundee-car-showroom-delays/

So it’s Barnetts Perth if you need work done by a Toyota dealer.

[RonYarisX]

Just looking to see about Scottish dealers closing.

I passed by Square Deal Motors in Falkirk this morning and thought it funny to see used cars sitting where the new cars usually sit. Or rather returning to where they once sat, ( I remember going with my father to collect his new Toyota back in 1971 ! )  

I think Square Deal Motors ( SDM ) one of the original UK Toyota dealersips - think they may have been going from late 60's or very early 70's.

And then on my way home I heard an advert on the radio " Western, the new Toyota dealer for the Falkirk area".

It was still SDM branding on the showroom so I'm assuming Toyota have pulled out of the local area altogether with customers presumably having to travel to Stirling or Edinburgh. 

Anyone heard anything about this?

EDIT: Just spoken to my father about this, he said they were selling Toyotas from that same garage in 1967 !

It is, or rather was, Toyota's oldest dealership in the UK.