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“Auction quality cars at dealer prices without the...”

written by on 20/06/2014

I bought a Suzuki a Swift Sport from Stafford branch of Arnold Clark. One word, terrible. Granted the car was cheap but you still expect a certain standard, particularly from a 'reputable' dealer.

The salesman was useless and full of lies. The first problem was the spare key. It had 'broken' and been thrown away, between placing my deposit and collecting the car apparently, but was on order and I would have to take it to Suzuki to be programmed myself.

Then I discovered that they had made a complete mess of the logbook and cherished number plate transfer from my part exchange. At one point they sold my old car with the private plate still attached and I had to argue it back over several weeks, despite the fact that id payed them an extortionate fee to complete the transfer for me.

Within a weeks driving I had an engine management light come on my dash, that they didn't want to know about. I was pushed from pillar to post trying to sort this problem on their began but they were refusing to pay the Suzuki dealers that they had told me to go to, I spent many days sitting in suzuki showrooms whilst the kind staff there argued with Arnold Clark over the phone to arrange payment.

Oh and the spare key still hasn't come at this point, two months later, despite being promised it within 'a couple of days'. Apparently there was an order queue at Suzuki but we knew this wasn't true since my father is in the trade and could have had the key himself in three working days.

Arnold Clark themselves tried to diagnose the EML problem but said that they found an "unknown code". This later turned out to be a lie as I could diagnose the problem myself on a £20 code reader from eBay.

After much chasing and 150 miles between Stafford and Kendal (my nearest Suzuki dealer) I was told by AC to go to a Suzuki dealer in Kidderminster whilst staying at my fathers in Birmingham. The reason for this is that they might have had an account so would be easier to pay them to diagnose the problem. After another days arguing on the phone, I had the diagnosis. Cat failure and a £1500 bill. Despite still being under warranty with A C, and the fault having appeared within a week of having the car, they would not pay for the work to be done.

Luckily, I was able to diagnose the problem myself. It was an O2 sensor which I payed for myself and was reimbursed from Arnold Clark by cheque, along with a very insulting £15 for my "travel expenses".

Since then a second problem has arisen. An ESP fault, which is not only an MOT failure, but another £1500 pound bill. The car isn't under warranty anymore but I have only had the axe for 8 months and am sure that is an underlying problem.

All the while, the staff where appalling. Even the receptionist was rude and dismissive. My salesman was always "out, on holiday" or "off sick" whenever I called as was the sales manager.

At one point I had arranged to meet the sales manager to discuss a solution but she wouldn't come out of her office. Eventually someone else was sent out, who was rude and confrontational, and did her speaking for her. I wasn't happy with this and she eventually came to see me and can only be described as useless.

I have heard many similar horror stories: a friend recently bought an Astra diesel from a separate Arnold Clark branch, which was missing an EGR valve and billowed smoke and couldn't climb hills. They told her it was because "it's only a slow car anyway". Almost laughable.