Julia

Appalling experience

Appalling. Car faulty at point of sale. Within the last fortnight bought a vehicle from this company in Winsford. Initially straightforward , we part ex our car to buy it. Our car was completely blemish free on the bodywork. Picking the new vehicle up a week later after it had been MOT’D ( at my expense ) noticed significant grating noise from front near side on the drive home. Rang Carzone to report my concerns , fobbed off by an explanation that it had been washed twice , noise due to it being wet. Unfortunately the oil warning light was on all the time and we were advised by a mechanic not to drive it at all until it had been assessed. We had already filled the vehicle full in anticipation of using it for bank holiday trips , in the event the car sat on the driveway for five days unused. We decided to return the vehicle for refund and emailed Carzone over the weekend to tell them of our intentions. Arriving at 9am Tuesday 22 April 2025 I was told I should have phoned , then taken out for a brief test drive with Darren driving the vehicle. My concerns very much played down as minor even though he diagnosed the grating noise as bearings and told me he knew all the brake pads had been replaced . They haven’t been. I questioned the issuing of new MOT certificate with the warning lights , again this was played down by Darren. I reiterated I wanted a refund but he wouldn’t deal with me then and there , sent me home to wait for his phone call later in the day. Husband and I decided later on that we would like our part ex car back , and informed Darren of this. Wednesday morning 10am I drove again to Carzone to return the rejected vehicle for refund , and to pick up our car. Caitlin dealt with me , she was polite and pleasant , but no sign of Darren. Before driving our car home I had a cursory look at it externally , all seemed in order. Later in the day when looking more closely we found a crack in the rear bumper where it meets the boot lid. This was not there when we left our car with Carzone and obviously someone in the dealership has damaged our car over the BH weekend. Having now read some of the existing negative reviews I wish I had been mindful enough to check before buying from these cowboys. There’s no comeback on them , I was dealt with by Darren in a very diminishing way and all my husband and I can think is the damage was done in spitefulness. I suppose we’ve had a lucky escape judging by a couple of reviews , that we had the presence of mind to implement the law and reject the car as faulty on purchase. Carzone would have had me think otherwise , made me feel awkward and small when pointing out the existing faults to Darren. One review mentions he shouted at a customer , he stopped short of that with me , but had a very unpleasant edge to his demeanour. George who sold me the car in the first place was very courteous but whether he was aware of the problems with the car , I do not know. As for the garage that issued the MOT that is being looked in to. Overall I found the experience very uncomfortable and have walked away having lost a small amount of money which could have been a lot worse had I kept the car.