Reg Vardy, third in the AM100, has 80 dealerships in the UK, but when Automotive Management carried out a web survey last October, the group was still constructing its site.

Now the website – www.regvardy.co.uk – is live, but it is of mixed quality. On the plus side, the home page loads relatively quickly. It has a simple, uncluttered design, with several icons representing the main facilities.

The website has a section for prestige cars, new cars, used cars, servicing, corporate information and a less conspicuous dealer locator. Users enter each section by clicking on an icon. But loading time varies each time a section is accessed – it is either instant or extremely slow. This is frustrating, especially for users that enter and exit the site several times.

Users can search for cars by manufacturer, model, price range, fuel type and transmission. A list of models appears, at which point users can click for a detailed description of the car and register interest by e-mailing personal details.

The locator function works in a similar fashion for prestige, new or used cars.

Although many special deals were mentioned within each car locator, it is hard to find further information about the promotions. Once again, it is a case of 'e-mail us and wait for a salesman to reply'.

There is a detailed service and parts booking service that is responded to by e-mail or telephone if the user prefers. A finance section allows users to request further details while the dealer locator system is simple but pleasing to use.

But the site is hardly worth the wait. Overall, it is clumsy in its structuring, inhospitable to information-hungry users and offers nothing new compared to rivals that were available months before.

You can visit the site here at www.regvardy.co.uk