written by rnPayne247 on 13/01/2024
Where shall I begin with this one….. please avoid at all costs!! Firstly, we were not fully informed of the price guarantee as were told on our initial visit if we found a car cheaper on Auto Trader it would be matched. After finding a cheaper deal we were then told it was out of a certain radius which was not presented to us on the first visit. We were not contacted when told we would be which is not great communication. I finally received a belated call to say the car was ready. When I asked if the paintwork on the door had been done and the seats had dried out where the window had been left open, I was told yes it had and was ready for collection. We therefore visited only to find the paintwork had not been done. They were apologetic and did arrange for this to be done the same day but this extended the length of time we were there. We asked for the one day's insurance we had paid extra for only to be told when going through the long process that they could not insure us and so we had to arrange our own insurance! One of the reasons for getting the advantage cover was that this was included. I therefore arranged my insurance on my phone and when I had completed this process was told there was no log book so the car could not be taxed online. We were told we would need to go to the post office which was a 20-minute drive and apply for a vehicle registration certificate. It was 5:20 by this point and the only offer given was that someone could drive us there to do it. I also noted there was a £25 fee for doing this which I am guessing would be payable by us even though we were not told at any time that there was no log book with the car. It was even suggested by one member of staff who worked there that we could take the car with us and go to the post office on the way home! So, they expected us to drive an untaxed car home with two young children, not impressed at all. I would like to point out that after I sent an email to them, I did get an apologetic response and my deposit back but this wasted a week of my time. I would not use this company again and would certainly not recommend them. I am glad to say I have since found a new car and the service received from that company was second to none so my faith has been restored but not with the Car Shop, Northampton.
written by Rachd08 on 22/02/2020
Would never, ever recommend. My husband purchased a car on finance for me just 4 weeks ago from Cardiff branch. The staff were very friendly and helpful on the day. But today a issue arose with the car and that’s when things have gone downhill fast. The person at customer support bad attitude, unsympathetic, unhelpful rude and didn’t have a clue (apparently the underneath of a car is cosmetic???). A person at Cardiff branch granted was a little better but nowhere near like the branch was previously (apparently 24 years experience and he mis diagnosed a fault on photos when a mechanic at reception at a well know chain garage without looking just by going from my description took seconds) and less than 5 minutes up on ramps the car was diagnosed (reception spot on correct) and fixed. Worst part not ONCE did car shop apologise NOT ONCE even if it was insincere.
written by richsimpson on 13/05/2019
Buy car. Within 2 hours the engine light is on. Book appointment to be looked at - within 6 days the car is total fail. Has to be dragged onto a flat bed and recovered, organised by them? No - by the customer!!! Seriously. Now wait for days to find out what they might do and in the meantime no courtesy car or offer to help. Unbelievably shocking service. Might repair, might not, might refund, might not..... either way it will all take 7 - 10 days! Need to make sure there is a problem first Its at times when there are problems that a company has the change to really shine. Not in this case though.They just get worse and worse.
written by cliveg73 on 27/01/2019
Unlike other car buying websites Carshop advertise a Guaranteed amount for your car - Not the case, when I arrived they looked at the car and valued it less £300 + £50 admin fee due to damage - in this case the alloy wheels & stone chips - Please show me ANY car on the road without stone chips! However I accepted as I was there and already arranged a lift home only now there was an issue with ID even though on the booking sheet it wasn't specified under 3 months to be valid - They have small print that YOU as a customer don't. Long story short they expected me to drive home & come back again for 1 form of ID showing an address even though they had 4!! They didn't apologise or empathise for such a waste of time & effort I wouldn't buy or sell to them - Poor customer service. They shouldn't be allowed to advertise a promise they don't keep or have small print not shown on booking sheets etc.
written by Nicholsuw109 on 14/04/2018
I would NEVER buy a car form them again. Sales guys are OK now that they no longer swoop on you when you enter the premises. However, quality of cars is awful and quality of after service is awful. In fact, I’ve been told various stories by various individuals within the team about what work has, hasn’t been done on my car. I bought an E type Merc, and on day one of driving it any distance I identified there were electrical problem, steering issues and engine problems. Not what you expect from best part of £12K. The swapping piece was relatively easy right up to the point of them identifying I had driven c300 miles. They then tried to invoke their petrol terms which essentially meant that the first 99 miles were free. One you hit 100 miles, you were hit with a charge of £50, and for every mile thereafter, it’s 1.50 per mile……..yep £1.50!. They tried to charge me best part of £400 for driving 300 miles v’s a the reality it being c£40 for the ½ tank of fuel! After quite a struggle, they waived all but the £50, and I identified another car and ended up purchasing an A6. Again, on day one of driving any distance, I noticed a dull thudding noise in 5th and 6th gears while accelerating. Since then my car has been in the garage for 6 days and I’ve been fobbed off with stories, incompetence, and bluff just so they don’t admit there is a fault and have to fix it. In fact, on one exchange I was told the car was fixed as ‘they couldn’t find the fault’ so they ‘can’t fix what they don’t see’ – they admitted there was an issue, couldn’t find it, and suggested I drive it around until it gets worse, then they may be able to spot the problem more easily. I have to do all the chasing, and I think I’ve received 2 calls over the 6 days, one of which was trying to tell me it was merely a ‘tyre noise’! The level of incompetence is frightening, the after service is awful, and I would NEVER buy from them again.
written by ECoskun on 28/01/2017
I purchased a Jeep Grand Cherokee 2014 and was told that the car has full service history and first time I need to service the car would be 10 months time. Since the purchase I have been chasing CarShop to provide me the service book showing the service history but 1 month passed and they failed to do so. They have sent me a word document saying when the car was serviced which is useless worth nothing. I have also purchased RAC 3 Warranty which requires you to have service history in order to be valid and I have paid over £900 for that just to find out that the car have no valid service history which makes warranty invalid. Totally unacceptable service for a purchase costed over £25k from a company with multi sites across the UK. CarShop? Never again... Well I am pursuing my options, legal if required. This is like a joke. Not a shopping from your corner shop which you would not mind. This should not have happened for a vehicle purchase from a large retail group. Shame!!!
written by ReaganO'Neill on 26/10/2016
this company will promise you anything to get a sale but deliver nothing if anything goes wrong they wont return your calls they just fead me lie after lie i was only given one key on collection my px was seriously devalued and after all docs were signed i was told i had no log book mot or service book whaaaat my advise is to look elsewere or if you are seriously tempted look at there feed back guess a lot of simlararity there
written by Figueroa225 on 13/05/2015
Before you buy a car you are subjected to constant pressure to buy extended warranties, guardex £300 to protect the seats, GAP insurance, RAC cover. When you decline these services they become aggressive and incredibly patronising. After buying a car within minutes we realised it was not fit for purpose as you could not fill up with Diesel for more than a few seconds at a time. They will do anything in their power not to return the car or give you a refund. We ended up being charged £500 for buying a broken car and trying to return it 2 days later. Their 7 day return policy is a joke. Also 1 previous owner means it has been owned by europcar for 2 years and hired out to hundreds of people. These are the worst kind of used car salesmen. DO NOT BUY A CAR FROM HERE.
Written on: 12/01/2018
Having the same problem with this company. Don't pay them a penny for returning the car, it illegal for them to charge if you've had problems and or the car wasn't as sold to you. Report them to TS. If you have used finance to buy the car you are covered by the company providing the finance, contact them and tell them the issues.
Written on: 30/10/2016
i totally agree wanted to charge me £2 per mile plus admin charges and wont pay for the broken stereo after they agree to reimburse me now in the hands of trading standards also they had my neg feedback removed
written by Riti on 28/01/2015
Brought an astra £7000 2013 with RAC warranty paid £500 for this 2yr plan. Was told that everything covered. I have done 17k miles after 1 1/2 yrs driven 25yrs never had clutch issue. Well last week it broke down garage checked clutch worn no friction at all , this falls under wear and tear so they refused claim. It was so worn that likely to to have caused by previous owner not me I never ride clutch pedal always place my foot down! I am now out if pocket a lot money not happy as car only done 34k. RAC warranty not worth the printed paper .. Don't believe the finance salesman it's not true they pay out all claims !!!! Beware rubbish after sales support don't want to know you after they take your money !!!
Written on: 13/02/2015
Hi,
Thank you for taking the time to feed back to us about your recent experience. We are extremely sorry to hear that you you have been left dissatisfied by the warranty product you purchased from us along with the vehicle. We firmly believe that this product offers excellent value for money, it has been of great use to a number of customers.
Should you wish to review this with us further we would be pleased to look into the matter, please contact us.
Regards
CarShop Northampton
Written on: 09/05/2015
Sounds all too familiar to me, bought a 3 year Audi from this dealership and it had electrical problems. Got permission to get it seen to under warranty and was then told garage had to be VAT registered and charge maximum £45 an hour labour!! Places like that don't really exist unless you like back streets so I ended up paying half of costs myself. The Car Shop also had forgotten my years inclusive MOT and just rustled a certificate up, no way they had done the test as there was 1 blown bulb and two bulbs actually missing from rear light clusters, really wish I had reported them as the issues could have been dangerous ones for all they knew. I would never buy from them again.
Written on: 25/03/2015
Riti - we're sorry to hear that you are not satisfied with the warranty you purchased. Unfortunately a clutch is an item on the car that is subject to wear and tear in the same way that brakes and tyres are. Our RAC Approved Warranty offers a similar level of cover for mechanical issues as most warranties but as with most warranties does not cover wear and tear items. All CarShop vehicles are prepared to a high standard but have obviously been subject to use from their previous owners and therefore we always encourage customers to budget for the continued running costs of their vehicles to cover any repairs required due to wear and tear.
written by daveesh1 on 27/10/2014
Reserved a car last week paid a deposit was told car would be available to View Wednesday which it was test drove everything fine so far. Bought car collected Thursday that's when problems started. Got car home found there was no Bluetooth even though was advertised with Bluetooth spoke to customer services and emailed them still waiting a reply. Be careful when dealing with these people all is not what it seems
Written on: 31/10/2014
Dear daveesh
I am sorry to hear that you have been dissatisfied with some elements of your recent dealings with CarShop.
The specifications of all our vehicles are checked thoroughly against the vehicle itself so I am surprised to hear that there may be a potential discrepancy.
I note that you have contacted our customer service team who will investigate this matter for you, I'm sure that an amicable solution will be the outcome.
Regards
CarShop Northampton
written by Abrahamf1994 on 15/10/2014
Test drove a car and agreed to buy if glove box was replaced and promised low rate finance. Six days later travelled to collect car and finance deal was 10%pa more than quoted also glove box was on the front passenger seat! Staff appeared clueless as how to fix the car. We demanded a refund (which was speedily agreed) and departed with no car. Be very careful when dealing with these people.
Written on: 31/10/2014
Dear Abrahamf1994
I am extremely sorry to hear that your recent experience with CarShop has fallen below our usual high standards. Whilst I cannot comment on the individual circumstances you have described, it certainly seems that we have some food for thought regarding how we ready our vehicles and represent finance.
I hope you have found a suitable vehicle and wish you many years of happy motoring.
Regards
CarShop Northampton
written by on 10/10/2014
Placed a deposit on car, after we were offered a £600 price reduction. The "adviser" told us that the £600 would not show on the deposit receipt. Perhaps that should have sounded the alarm. Went to pick the car up and was told discount was only £300 and that they had made a mistake and if we wanted the car we would have to pay. Also no parcel shelf, but we were told when we placed the deposit this would be sorted. Guess what, no parcel shelf and if we wanted one then we would have to pay £110???? Do not believe a word they tell you and make sure you get a written quote (our mistake). My only concern now is that we have been sold a heap of junk!!!! My advice........avoid at all cost!
Written on: 31/10/2014
I am extremely sorry to hear that you have experienced these issue when purchasing your car from us recently. It is our aim to be completely transparent with regards to a vehicle's price and what our customers can expect from their vehicle.
Should you not be satisfied with the condition of the vehicle or feel that parts are missing then we would be pleased to review this with you. Please contact us.
Regards
CarShop Northampton
written by Mr_Lee on 11/09/2014
I spent over £13k with them a few weeks ago. Drove the car away, got a mile down the road and realised they had a) left 0 miles of fuel in the car b) left three of the tyres with low pressure When I rectified the above I got on the motorway only to find the car shakes to the point my three year olds voice was shaking when she spoke. I called to complain immediately and the chap proceeded to tell me how 'he could not help me' for about a week! No apology until I eventually lost my cool and reminded him I had just given CarShop £13k Problem was not resolved in time for our holiday so had to take a different vehicle. Problem eventually fixed by Halfords - or so we thought. Got on motorway yesterday and same problem remains. The only time I appeared to get any apology was when I mentioned them on twitter. That apology was not good enough in my opinion and the car remains unfit for purpose. We have also still not received the full service history which they said would be in the post the day after purchase! It feels to me like they have absolutely no interest in you when you have handed over your money. It has been all down to us to get it sorted with Halfords.
Written on: 31/10/2014
Hi,
We are sorry to hear that you have been left less than satisfied with your recent experience at CarShop. It is very disappointing that the vehicle left us with a vibration but please rest assured that we will resolve the matter fully for you- on this occasion I believe that taking the vehicle to our local authorised repairer was more convenient that bringing it back to us.
Regards
CarShop Northampton
written by kim128 on 02/09/2014
We were after a c1, 107 or aygo and they showed us an agila with 60000+ miles and an aygo with similar mileage. Whilst my husband went for a test drive I looked around the cars and found a c1 for the same price with 15000 less miles on the clock but we hadn't been shown this which I found a little odd, we did like the c1 however so put a deposit on it. Straight after doing this they were near impossible to contact. Had to ring one day for 45 minutes before getting through to someone only to be told they would have to ring me back which never happened (I have been told 4 times someone will ring me back and it has never happened!) After reading various reviews and seeing the lack of customer service first hand I decided to cancel my purchase 8 days ago. I was assured my deposit would be refunded. I rang 4 days later and I was told it was in the process. I rang again 7 days later, once again someone would ring me back and that never happened. I emailed my business specialist no response from them either. Rang again today to be be told nothing had been done and they cant refund onto my card its got to be by cheque, I'm now wondering how many times they will tell me the cheque has got "lost" in the post! An incredibly frustrating company.
Written on: 31/10/2014
Hi,
Thank you for taking the time to feed back on your recent experience with CarShop. We are sorry that we were not able to do communicate with you more effectively and that this lead to you withdrawing from the deal.It is clear that we have failed to live up to your expectations and our own high standards and we will use your review to help us develop and improve our service level.
Regards
CarShop Northampton
written by Mr_H_S_Mahal on 22/07/2014
I recently brought a vehicle from The Car Shop in Northampton. The sales team were brilliant. I took my vehicle the next day and thats when it started. The braked started screeching on my new vehicle. I booked it in with The Car Shop for the 1st time - not repaired. Booked it in for the 2nd time - not repaired Booked it in for the 3rd time, this time they had it for 4 days - NOT REPAIRED!!!!!! My vehicle is still under their warranty and is still not fixed. I have also had other faults on the vehicle and as soon as you phone the "Customer Experience" team, you get all the promises in the world, (BE WARNED - THEY NEVER DELIVER OR STICK TO THEIR WORD) Please do not use The Car Shop as if you would like a decent car or good customer service once you have handed over your hard earned cash. ps DO NOT USE. THE CAR SHOP
Written on: 06/11/2014
Mr Mahal
Thank you for providing a review of your recent experience with CarShop. I am extremely sorry to see that we have not been able to more effectively resolve the issues you have reported with your vehicle after purchase. We offer a 3 month/ 3000 mile guarantee with all vehicles so repairing your vehicle was never in question, it seems like the quality of the workmanship has let us down on this occasion. Please rest assured that this is the exception to a usually effective repair process although it is clear that we have an area here where we need to improve.
Regards
CarShop Northampton
written by Gustavo341 on 25/04/2014
Personally I would not recommend The Car Shop servicing, we had a service about a month ago and paid £350 on repairs including some parts on the suspension (stabilizer link) 3 weeks later we had a issue with the car steering wheel shaking, we took the car back and we were told that there was still an issue with the suspension and we need a ball joint which would be another £160. We had this replaced but then received a call to say that this had not resolved the issue and we would need to replace the suspension arm another £220!! We then decided to go elsewhere and to have the balance checked and found that the issue was actually with the tyre which we replaced £60. We could have saved ourselves a lot of time and money if we just used another garage in the first place! (Also we did ask them if this was something to do with the wheel balance and was told no)
Written on: 03/11/2014
Dear Gustavo341
I am sorry to hear that you have been left disappointed with the service you received when visiting us for repairs. Please rest assured that any diagnosis that we reported and repairs completed would have been done with the best if intentions. Our Service Centre has an extremely high satisfaction rating so I am surprised that your experience does not mirror this. Customer's feedback is an important tool in our quest to improve our offering so we thank you for taking the time to leave your thoughts and can assure you that we have taken them on board.
Regards
CarShop Northampton
written by Gd2014 on 02/03/2014
Bought a car from CarShop Northampton in mid December 2013. Two weeks later the car broke down. I was initially told to take my car to a local Halfords motor center, however they were unable to fix the problem and suggested it should be recovered to a ford dealer. CarShop agreed to this and yet took it upon themselves to recover the car back to their own garage in an attempt to save money on the repair. 3 weeks and many irate phone calls later they finally gave in and took it to a ford dealer where it received a software update for the princely sum of £75. Throughout all this I had to chase CarShop every day and was passed from pillar to post with no one returning my calls. The car has since needed more work and is back with CarShop at the moment and I am experiencing the same couldn''t care less 'computer says no' shoddy customer service. I would never buy a car from them again and would recommend that anyone reading this doesn't either.
Written on: 03/11/2014
Dear Gd2014
I am sorry to hear that you experienced issue with your vehicle after purchase and that you were disappointed with the way CarShop attempted to resolve the matter.
Please rest assured that when repairing your vehicle we have were acting with the best of intentions and seeking to repair the vehicle was swiftly and effectively as possible. We will always try and repair the vehicle in our workshop first, however there are times when we need to advanced diagnostic capabilities of a main dealer.
Regards
CarShop Northampton
written by on 29/10/2013
I chose a vehicle from the company and was told they were going to 'service' it and 'valet' before collection that weekend. When I got there it should have all been ready - but alas not and we were kept waiting around for hours. I finally picked up the vehicle. In the 4 months I have had the the vehicle it has needed: -two new front tyres. A tyre went flat because of a bad seal between the alloy and tyre. -rear and front brakes pads -rear brake discs. Which were very expensive for this model of vehicle -the rear fog lamp is not working -the front one is tapped up for some unknown reason - it has had a real service and I was told the pollen filter was one of the most disgusting they have ever seen. This was in in a vehicle which has done less than 34,000 miles. I have ended up paying for what I thought was a fairly good deal..
Written on: 14/02/2014
I am very sorry to hear that you have been less than satisfied with your recent experience with CarShop Northampton.
Thanks you for taking the time to feed back to us and helping us to improve our performance. All our vehicles are checked and prepared to the highest standards so I am surprised to hear that it was necessary for you to complete some repairs within this timeframe.
Should you wish to review the issues you have experienced further we would be happy to do so, please contact us.
written by GeeBee83 on 28/08/2013
I purchased a car from CarShop Northampton, on driving in to the CarShop I was hounded by a sales person, you can not drive in without having to speak to someone, I parked my car and got my children out, in that time the sales people had followed me. I had an idea of what I wanted, Mini, Focus ST or MX5. I was shown to a computer and the sales people (one was training) went through the options and said what possible cars they had, I looked round two cars. They did give the children books and crayons to entertain them, this I was impressed with. I decided on the car I wanted, paid deposit to hold it. I sorted out finance. all fine. When It came to collection of the vehicle, the finance had paid and the deposit I had paid was too much, thus meaning I was owed £100. I waited for a cheque to arrive, it didn't turn up, I had to go back down there and sit in the showroom waiting for them to write it out. When they serviced the vehicle there was a fault with the lambda sensor, and the engine management light was on. I returned to have them change the sensor. They had ordered the wrong one, but fitted it anyway. I might add this service booking was not without problems, they didn't ring me to say it was in, when I tried CarShop at 1.50pm, and the item had not arrived, thankfully I saw the van arrive. The part was eventually fitted about 3months after I collected the car. I have to commend the staff for there part in looking after me, and trying to rectify an awful experience, but my experience there means I wouldn't ever step foot back in the dealership to purchase another vehicle. I would avoid them at all costs.
Written on: 14/02/2014
I am very sorry to hear not been entirely satisfied with your recent experience with CarShop Northampton.
Thanks you for taking the time to feed back to us and helping us to improve our performance, we seem to have done some things well one this occasion, but other things not so well.
Should you wish to review the issues you have experienced further we would be happy to do so, please contact us.
written by on 20/08/2013
My partner recently went to this car shop and bought a car which was worth 6000 pound but when we got home we looked again through the paperwork and it came up that the total my partner is meant to be paying has doubled that to 10,000 pound which was a joke so we returned the car and then they wanted 400 pound for mileage on the car so in other words it was 10 pound a mile. it is a ridiculous amount of money and i would not recommend this place to anyone the staff are not that great at there jobs either
Written on: 14/02/2014
I am very sorry to hear that you have not been entirely satisfied with your recent experience with CarShop Northampton.
Thanks you for taking the time to feed back to us and helping us to improve our performance, we seem to have done some things well one this occasion, but other things not so well. We offer some great finance deals which are tailored to an individual’s circumstances so would be very confident that you had the best rate available.
Should you wish to review the issues you have experienced further we would be happy to do so, please contact us.
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As rated by our community of reviewers
Carshop Northampton's Comment
Written on: 02/06/2015
Dear Figueroa225
I am sorry to hear that you have been left less that happy with your recent experience at CarShop.
Our Sales team and Business Specialists are able to offer an excellent range of products to complement your purchase. Whilst we highly recommend them, the purchase decision is always with the customer and I am sorry to hear that you feel your decision was not accepted with the grace that it should have been.
With reference to our 7 Day Return policy, this is subject to terms and conditions that include mileage and administration costs. If you had felt the vehicle to be faulty, CarShop would have been more than happy to have arranged with you for it to have been fully repaired.
CarShop Northampton