Drive Motor Retail

"I booked my car (which is under two years old) into the service department at Drive Leamington specifically to investigate an escalating electrical fault. I was explicitly clear during booking that I wanted the electrical systems, fuses, and wiring checked—not just the bulb changed, as the rear bulb had blown repeatedly and warning lights were flashing randomly.When I arrived, they had completely ignored my instructions. They simply took the spare bulb I provided, changed it, and performed absolutely no investigation. When I challenged this, the manager was incredibly arrogant and argumentative. He dismissively claimed that if the bulb worked, the electrics were fine, showing a complete lack of basic technical understanding and zero customer care. The young receptionist was visibly embarrassed and sympathetic to my situation, which was the only positive part of the visit.To make matters worse, they attempted to charge me an outrageous £75 for merely swapping a bulb that I supplied myself. The manager adamantly refused to back down. It was only after he listened back to the recorded booking call—which proved I was telling the truth—that he finally relented and dropped the charge. Shockingly, he didn't even have the decency or manners to come out and apologise to me directly. Instead, he made the young receptionist deliver the message. This dealership completely ignored my clear instructions, failed to diagnose an electrical fault on a nearly new car, and treated me with utter disrespect. Avoid this service department."

"Jose Hidalgo from Drive Vauxhall Ipswich, A fantastic experience, a very helpful, informative and knowledgeable gentleman. Both myself and mother are extremely happy with our dealings with Mr Hidalgo. Rgds, Mrs Margaret Vaughan-Chatfield Mr Edward Vaughan-Chatfield"

"Jose Hidalgo from Drive Vauxhall Ipswich , Very nice and helpful man"

"Would love to give -10 for their customer service the biggest disappointment, honestly went to see a car that they failed to communicate to us regarding and they failed to full fill promises they made regarding sending a video of the car, allowed a walk in customer infront of a customer that had booked an appointment sat there for 1 hour to be told that the car was sold despite we reserved it, what a absolute joke, the manager just said I’m sorry and walked away the shittest experience ever they do not know how to treat their customers!! Please stay away from the branch in Bristol!!!! Staff do not communicate with each other or the customers , Nathan had been blamed for breaking all promises And manager stood their saying walk in have more Priority than people who have an appointment, lied to our face saying they had an appointment!!!! Biggest mistake of my life going there!! Avoid at all costs!!!! Don’t be fooled disgusting customer service!!"

"Do not use this garage! Went to Hyundai drive motor scarborough. The mechanical quality of the cars are very poor! They sold me a Hyundai Tucson last year and the quality of the car was bad from start. After a week or so management light came on and found DPF filter blocked they had the car back and said they cleared the filter. Few days later problem happened again. They finally replace the filter or so i was told. 12 months later and within my recommended mileage my car was due for service. On the week it was booked in my turbo had failed and car brokedown so took it to local garage. The garage told me the turbo failed due to oil starvation, they said the oil was that thick and gloopy that there was no way the car had an oil change. Hyundai drive motor shown me documentation that it was done but believe documentation saying it had been done compared to actually doing it are 2 very different. I gave them opportunities to look at how bad the oil is but instead they wanted me to pay to have the car took to them so they could work on it and to make more money off me. Very poor garage!"

"Very disappointed with how I have been treated by Drive Motor Retail Stockton-on-Tees. I purchased an Audi Q2 outright in February 2026 and reported problems shortly afterwards, including grinding when reversing, parking-sensor issues and the promised warranty not being properly arranged. I have repeatedly emailed Mr Robinson asking for help and requesting details of their Alternative Dispute Resolution provider, but my emails have been ignored and the problems remain unresolved. I have given the dealership several opportunities to respond and resolve this matter. I expected much better customer service after purchasing a car from a large dealership. I hope someone from senior management will now acknowledge my complaint, contact me and take responsibility for resolving it. If I do not receive a response, I will have no alternative but to take the matter further through the appropriate channels."

"The staff at Bury St Edmunds are really nice and helpful, this is the second car I've bought from this garage. Saw the car online on Saturday, called in and had a test drive, sorted out all financial details and picked it up on the Monday. Good price for trading in my old car and good options on extra's if I needed them. One member of staff dealt with the whole experience and was excellent. Brilliant customer service and the whole experience was good."

"If I could give them a negative star I would. I bought an MG from them in February. By the time I got home the screen wouldn’t work and by the Monday the battery was drained and I had to call the AA out. It took me two weeks before they returned my call. They replaced the screen and Claimed to have put a new battery on. In the following three weeks I had to call the AA out four times and was told there was an electrical fault On the car which kept draining the battery and it needed a drain test. A month later I still hadn’t heard back from the garage after multiple calls. I went to another MG garage who informed me electrical faults were not covered under the warranty even though I had only had the two months and the fault was on the car from purchase. I wanted to put it in part ex and was told in two months it had depreciated by £4000. In the end I had to buy a new car and take the hit. Staff are lovely with you until you purchase a car but their after care is appalling. I would never buy another car off them or recommend them to anyone"

"We contacted Drive Redcar after we viewed a car online. A gentleman called Chris Lamplugh reached out to us,we told him that we could not get to the garage to view the car so he graciously agreed to bring the car to us so we could have a drive of the car.Nothing was a problem for him,we concluded the deal within a week and we love the car. Thanks again Chris."

"I live about 4 hours away but Reaghan made the experience very comforting throughout. Sent videos, explained things clearly and was transparent for the outset, don't normally get that from my previous experiences. Very happy with my service, highly recommended."

"Jose Hidalgo from Drive Vauxhall Ipswich, very professional, courteous, informative, very helpful, no problem to big or to small, guided me through process of upgrading my motability car without any issues or problems, car was delivered exactly when stated in good condition, I would thoroughly recommend drive vauhall and especially Jose who is a credit to this dealership, a pleasure to do business with, first class service"

"excellent service from Oliver and team. well looked after and well informed"

"Jose hidalgo from drive vauxhall ipswich, anyone who needs help with mobility Jose hidalgo is the guy to see from choosing a car to completion he takes care of everything it is a stress free experience from start to finish"

""One of the worst car-buying experiences I have ever had! This dealership Drivedirect Bristol East promised so many things, including sorting out some small paint chips and a full valet for collection day. These jobs were not carried out, but because I travelled 100 miles to collect the car, I had to accept it like this. When the car was checked over when I got home, the exhaust system was rotted away. I paid over £11,000 for this car, so this wasn’t expected. The dealership also failed to notify the change of ownership to the DVLA, so I don’t have a logbook! I just cannot understand why some car dealers act in this way and are not interested in any aftersales problems. My advice is to avoid this company; there are much better dealerships around.""

"We have put a complaint in about the way we were spoken to by the sales manager Gary we put one complaint in on the 30th June it says allow up to 5 days for a reply nothing ,then sent another one on the 14th July still no reply .Then we sent another one on 24 July still waiting . We are really not happy. Stockton drive ."

"Very fast efficient and friendly service, very pleased. Jose Sanchez"

"I BOOKED MY KONA HYBRID IN FOR A SERVICE AT SCARBOROUGH A PLEASANT GENTLE MAN SOON GOT THE PAPER WORK DONE.AND SAID HE WOULD RING ME WHEN THE CAR WAS READY.THIS IS THE 4TH CAR I HAVE HAD FROM THIS BRANCH AND I MUST SAY THEY ARE FANTASTIC ALWAYS HELPFUL AND NOTHING IS TOO MUCH TROUBLE IF YOU HAVE ANY PROBLEMS. I WOULD CERTAINLY RECOMMEND DRIVE BRANCH AT SCARBOROUGH IF YOU WANT A NEW AND USED CAR.THE STAFF ARE ALL GREAT"

"Unfortunately, my experience with Drive Vauxhall Bristol East has been extremely disappointing. I purchased a Vauxhall Combo Life on 8 June 2026, paying a £3,200 deposit, only to discover numerous issues shortly after taking delivery. These included a missing passenger seat adjustment lever, a faulty rear charging port, ripped rear seats, scratched headlights (one cloudy), a scratched reverse camera, a parcel shelf that wouldn’t retract, a discoloured steering wheel and intermittent engine management concerns. I reported the issues immediately and requested to reject the vehicle within the first 30 days under the Consumer Rights Act 2015. My request was refused. The vehicle was booked into my local dealership for repairs, where I used my last day of annual leave. After being without my car all day, no repairs were completed because parts had to be ordered. As I urgently needed a reliable vehicle for my family, I agreed to change into a Peugeot 5008. However, this left me in a much worse financial position. I ended up with approximately £2,000 of negative equity added to my new finance agreement, paid a second deposit, incurred around £800 in travel and hotel expenses, and my monthly finance payments increased significantly. I appreciate that the dealership arranged a replacement vehicle, but I do not feel the overall financial impact on me was dealt with fairly. Because we were unable to reach a resolution, I have referred my complaint to The Motor Ombudsman, which has confirmed that my complaint is eligible for investigation. Based on my personal experience, I cannot recommend this dealership."

"Jose Sanchez was our sales specialist at the Ipswich Branch. He was extremely helpful and guided us through the process in a friendly and professional manner. he was a pleasure to deal with. We have been impressed with Jose and other members of the team, notably Rob Wallace."

"the honesty of the sales manager Gary on the price he offered for our car and Antony the sales rep who made the whole transaction so pleasant thank you drive mg darlington"