Anonymous

Avoid at all costs

Think very carefully before you buy from Hailsham Motoring Centre. Don’t believe any verbal promises made during the sales pitch. I bought a car in August 2019 and they promised all the stone chips and scratches would be treated for when I picked it up. They weren’t and when I queried it I was told to ‘borrow your wife’s nail varnish and do them with that’! I’ve no evidence that the promised full service was actually carried out as the Service Record booklet ‘must have been lost’! And it’s no use complaining by phone after you take the car away. The answer is always the same ‘ we’ll ask the Boss and he’ll phone you back’: he never does! After 10 weeks I had a catastrophic breakdown, the car was un-drivable and I live 80 miles away from Hailsham Motoring Centre. They made no offer to repair the car and I was told to take it for repair to my local garage and claim on the warranty. Incidentally the ‘free warranty’ isn’t completely free as you are charged £60 + on top of price of the car for the VAT. In my case the warranty company said the repair wasn’t covered and I ended up with a £600 bill. Two weeks later it happened again and another bill for a similar amount. Hailsham Motoring would take no responsibility and getting them to even reply was nigh impossible. They placed all responsibility on the warranty, which quite honestly is worth hardly anything: the maximum they will pay is £500 for parts and labour and these days that is hardly the price of a service. Finally and if you do buy from them read very carefully the sales agreement they get you to sign. If you don’t spot anything wrong on the test drive you have no comeback. Effectively you sign away your basic consumer rights.