Imperial Cars Portsmouth

Bought a stunning Rav 4 from imperial cars Portsmouth April 2016. Within 2 weeks warning lights on for hidden fault with DPF. fobbed off with "pollen filter' this car I now know does not have one. This now explains why they did a brand new mot when existing one only 3 months old!!! So after loads of smoke and related problems I will have a huge bill to repair a car I am still paying off for!! The most I ever paid for a car - took out a bank loan for it and now worthless!! But of course only a 3 month warranty so no hope of any help - no wonder the grumpy sales man was trying to sell further worthless warranties! Lesson learnt. They blatantly new there was a problem yet took advantage of my lack of mechanical/ car computer issues. Typical we get a sale = customers problem now. Thanks Imperial cars of Portsmouth. Great work...

It was evident by the end that their ONLY aim was to sell me their warranty, they were not interested if i was a happy customer, me taking out the warranty was of upmost importance to them.

They started off on the day I agreed to buy the car with the warranty offers of:

1 year £500

2 years £976

3 years £1400

( it was very close to these sums I cant remember exactly as they were scribbled on a piece of paper and obviously made up but the sales person on the spot ) by the time I collected the car and it was drawing close to the final signing and after a number of price drops, they finally offered me the three years for £450; which i am glad I refused.

This to me just proves that the warranty is not worth the price of the paper it would be printed on and that you would never be able to make a claim against it. It also shows how they are trying to rip people off.

The other problem I had, on the day I agreed to buy their car their branch Manager took my old car for a drive and they offered me £50 trade in ( it was old and needed work it wasn't as outrageous as it sounds ) but i thought i might get more from my local scrap yard. The local scrap yard would give me £70 but as i lived outside of Portsmouth i phoned Imperial Cars and asked if they would still take mine for £50, the man said yes. I transferred insurance from my old car to the new to take affect on day/time i collected the car.

On collection day as it became evident i wasn't going to take the warranty, the man dealing with me, the same man who had told me on the phone that they would give me £50 for my old car asked for the key to take a look at it. On his return he closed his office door behind him, it had been open until this point and said they would give me £1 for it. I said the manager drove it and offered me £50, he replied he doesn't make the decision I do. I said you confirmed it on the phone, he said well the offer is £1. I had no alternative as i wasn't insured to even drive it home at this point and couldn't drive two cars anyway so i was forced to sell it to them for £1. I felt the man took some pleasure in this little victory as he couldn't win the warranty battle.

Summary of my feedback for Imperial Cars Portsmouth:

They had some nice cars.

They tried to really over charge me on the warranties actual worth.

The hard sell on the warranty made you feel very uncomfortable.

Two of the staff lied to me about buying my car for a said price.

The final man i had to deal with was very unpleasant, he was very careful what he said but it was obvious he was angry I didn't take the warranty.

Be prepared if you go there.

Just purchased a car from here, brought from here as only place with right spec car, out initial sales man Jason was perfect, not pushy just relaxed and informative, would buy from him all day long, unfortunately the rest of the team arnt so good, pushy, twisty stereotypical used car sales men, eventually the car was presented well, few jobs not completed as requested on initial handover, but sorted eventually, very pushy on there warranty program, only time will tell if it's worth the paper it's written on, I doubt it!

Communication after agreement to purchase requires improvement.

Final vehicle handover was long winded (due to warranty push)

Would never recommend these people, so arrogant, pass you from person to person when you call you can never speak to the person you want to speak to, they say they'll call you back and NEVER DO!!! On the plus side when you buy a car from here THE CAR DOES NOT COME WITH ANY TAX !!! Please please stay away !!!

Cant believe we were so stupid to buy from this outfit , car we brought has had a complete mechanical failure within warranty and they are refusing to do anything about it . Even though we are completely covered by the sale of goods act, they still refuse to take responsibility of what was a very dangerous car ( engine completely failed while whole family were in car) We are now preparing court proceedings and talking to various media outlets who have expressed a lot of interest so watch this space . And the space where the television sits :-)

After finding the car I wanted online I gave the guys at imperial a call, the salesman I spoke to over the phone was really helpful and was able to answer all my question of which I had a lot as I wanted to make sure the car was perfect before traveling 4 hours to see it. Everything was sorteid out over the phone and a refundable 'holding' deposit was taken. We traveled up early in the morning to see/collect the car, arriving at imperial car supermarkets showroom at around 10am to find it right out front being washed which was nice to see (especially the attention to detail). The salesman I had been dealing with over the phone met us as soon as we arrived and we all soon had teas and coffees. The salesman took me out for a ling test drive both town and motorway driving to make sure I was completely happy. As I was paying for the car outright there was very little paperwork to complete but I was still talked through all of the warranty and rac assurance which was very informative and helpful. Once the car was paid for they sorted me out with 5 days free insurance to drive home with. The only complaint I'd had was the lack of fuel in the car but this didn't ruin a otherwise excellent experience.

I went to the garage with the exact car i wanted in mind. As i walked onto the forecourt i was greeted by a staff member. I explained the exact spec and car i wanted and there was the exact car i wanted there at the garage. After looking at the vehicle with no pressure i was offered a test drive. I feel in love and new it was the car for me as i had previously viewed many others. After a talk with the staff member i decided i wanted it. I put a deposit down and filled in my preliminary paperwork. The next day i received a phonecall, my car was ready! I went down and finalised everything. It was such a smooth process and i left feeling very happy! Could not fault the service and efficiency!

I was looking to buy a BMW 3 Series on a budget which had to have a Euro 5 Diesel engine so I could benefit from low tax and low fuel consumption, on checking cars with Autotrader I found that Imperial Cars had a large selection which were cheaper than many private sellers for the same models with lower mileage, so it was a no brainier to take the risk of spending a lot of money on a private seller when I could buy from a trader at the same price!.

I sought out the car that ticked all the boxes for me using the Imperial Cars excellent web site and turned up at Imperial cars Portsmouth unannounced the following Thursday. Within 5 minutes of my arrival a salesman introduced himself sat me and my wite down and after filling out a wish list showed us a number of cars that met our approval and took us for a test drive. On return he allowed us to walk around until we were certain which car we wanted, whilst he did a valuation on our 03 plate Volvo S40. Within 30 minutes the deal was done and having took advantage of the 7 day free insurance I took the purchased car home.

I can not praise Imperial cars enough Fantastic experience - Thank you.

We had seen a car on line at the Southampton branch. For a deposit of £200 they would guarantee the car would not be sold and they would bring it to the Hilsea branch for us to view. 2 days later the car had not turned up. We were offered a better car that was going to be put up for sale for £13,500 with a good discount for our inconvenience. The car would be brought to this branch for us to view. They kept our £200 dep. we checked the website to further review the car and it was up for sale on there for £12,350! Not £13,500 we were told it was! Some discount! Needless to say 4 days later this 'wonderful car' has not arrived. We have suffered excuse after excuse and have had enough of their lies! We agree now persuing a refund of our deposit. Be very careful before buying here.

Don't be mislead by the national price promises guarantee. The small price ensures they will never match a competitors price. It took me 5 days and 5 phone calls to find out if they would match a price on a car. I was told to buy the car at full price and then submit a claim for the price match, which I said no to! I was eventually told they wouldn't match the price. When I asked why I was told that it's complicated and perhaps there is not enough profit in the deal!