Arnold Clark, Warrington, Cheshire

Noticed a car advertised on Autotrader and sent many emails to Arnold Clark and then the Sales folk at their branch in Warrington to establish the condition as minor scratches on boot and drivers door and a resprayed bonnet. They gave the impression that it was a professional repair. I was told the car was in very good condition so reiterated that I didn't want to travel 150 miles by train to waste my time. I arrived to find marks on virtually every panel and the respray was like a child with a can from the pound shop and included the n/s door. Too many touched in marks to even count. The car was very poor. The young salesman couldn't give me any paperwork to prove I had been and something printed with the garage's name for the return of my £300 deposit; instead he gave me a scribbled note on a piece of lined notepaper to promise the return. The service was worse than any back street dodgy trader and unreal from a dealership as well known as Arnold Clark. So what a wasted day and five train journeys and a 300 mile round trip for nothing.

I complained to Arnold Clark Customer services and they were quick to respond and apologise; but hadn't read my complaint carefully. Eventually they agreed to compensate my travel expenses and said the cheque would be actioned that day and with me in 7 to 10 days. After 15 days I emailed several times before they apologised again and sent the cheque out first class recorded delivery. You make your own mind up if you think it is worth a journey to this branch. I wasn't going to post a review as the Customer Services acted professionally until the cheque didn't materialise as promised.

I have had a new car from Arnold Clark before and everything was fine. Yet reading these reviews the Warrington branch has history and history repeating itself is eventually the nail in the coffin for the reputation of any business.

Pathetic. So be warned as there's plenty of reputable car traders and dealerships to try first!

Bought 2014 car with 22,000 miles on clock

Badly scuffed alloy

Wrong locking wheel nut key supplied

Only one car key

Cleaning of car on handover (what cleaning)

Brake pedal rubber missing

So replaced alloy, bought new key, had locking wheel nuts removed and replaced, had oil changed as it was well spent, bought brake pedal rubber, had tyre put on new Alloy.

Locking wheel nuts £39.99

Labour to remove locks £97.00

Oil Change £47.00

New key £143.00

Alloy wheel £110.00

Brake Pedal Rubber £9.60

Change tyre to new Alloy £17.00

No check from dealer at all... The little green tick on the window I think means they just check it's got doors on the car... That's it!

Worst experience in 26 years of buying cars and I have bought over 30 cars.

I spent around £480 to fix what should of been checked before car had green tick put on windscreen, managed to get £250 back from sales Manager... Still out of pocket over £200 manager offered for me to take car back to be fixed, but after all the bad reviews it would of come out of the garage worse no doubt.

Also sent a copy of email to the main Director... Please see reply below, so BEWARE and check everything before you buy.

Thank you for your email addressed to Mr Hawthorne. We are sorry to learn of your experiences with our Warrington Dealership. Mr Hawthorne and his fellow Directors take customer satisfaction very seriously and he has passed your complaint to ourselves at the Executive Office to investigate and respond on his behalf.

It is always our intention to make the customer experience excellent and by this example it is apparent that we have been unable to achieve our own company expectations. We continue to strive to provide the very best service and use feedback to understand how complaints impact our customers experience so we can make changes to improve our business, and we thank you for your feedback.

We understand and appreciate that you have encountered some issues, for which we apologise. We could have corrected this for you, however I understand that you have chosen not to allow us the opportunity to make these corrections and have arranged for these issues to be resolved through a local independent service department. As a gesture of goodwill, the Warrington Dealership have offered a substantial contribution towards these costs, a contribution which you have accepted and confirmed your understanding of the reasons why we would not offer to reimburse the full value.

We feel that the dealerships offer, which has been accepted by you, is a fair and reasonable offer under the circumstance and we would not propose making any alterations to this. I understand that you have received this cheque payment as a goodwill contribution towards these repairs.

On behalf of the Arnold Clark group, please accept our most sincere apologies for your inconvenience,

Yours Sincerely,

I WILL NEVER USE ARNOLD CLARK AGAIN

As a member of the forces who was always away from home I wanted to purchase a safe reliable run around car for my wife and family. With opportunity for warranty and service work for the car under the same roof, within walking distance of the house.

First I looked and researched into local car dealerships. I came across Arnold Clark Group .The more I looked into it the better is sounded .Established by Sir Arnold Clark who used to serve in the Royal Air Force, rose through the ranks. Automotive Management Retailer of the Year award three times after each other. Been in the business for over 60 years.

The salesman was eager for my business helped me chose the car for my wife. Safety in mind for the family I bought the winter tyres for the icy mornings. He even promised the winter tyres would be on the car when I picked it up

Three Days later I went to pick the car up. On arrival he apologised to me that the winter tyres had not arrived. He promised me that someone would collect the car in a few days’ time to place the tyres on. Knowing that tyres can be ordered and placed on car within three days by any garage I thought this was not a problem. I took the car on the understanding that the work would be carried out.

Days went by. While traveling around Europe on duty I would call him asking on the progress of the tires. I heard a lot of excuses for example, it’s in hand, wrong tyres have been ordered, I have been away for a few days .Not once did they have the common curtesy to phone me to let me know the progress.

Three weeks went by and I personally went into the showroom to ask him where the tyres where? He told me that they were still on order. I asked him why could I go to any garage in Winsford and order winter tyres and they would arrive in three days? I made an appointment to see the Manager on Monday because I was not happy they had messed me around for the last three weeks,

Monday came turned up 5min early for the meeting. I was told to sit down and wait for the Manager .He turned up to his own meeting late. I was informed by reception he had popped to the shops. I would understand if he was busy with customers. I was told I was unreasonable and he had personally ordered the tyres himself this morning. I told him I was not happy with the service of his branch, which fell on deaf ears. He gave me the telephone number for customer services to complain. Which I did to customer services Southport.

To the managers and Customer Services word the tyres arrived three days later. I took the car in myself. They took four hours to change the tyres. When I picked the car up I noticed that the tyre pressures were not correct on the car display. Took it back to the Arnold Clark they informed me it was okay the display would sort itself out in a few days. Another tall story from Arnold Clark I thought. I phoned Customer Services; they asked if I had received any fuel as a sign of apology for the wait for the tyres. I informed them I had not, and informed him about the sensor problem. I took the car to a local garage where they corrected the work in less than 10 minutes. They corresponded the correct wheel to the correct sensor on the car.

On principle I refused the £20 fuel compensation .Also their offer to rectify the tyre pressure sensor for the third time. For the fact I had lost faith in Arnold Clark Winsford Branch, hence I took the car to an independent garage. It’s not about money it’s about been treated fairly as a customer. Yes the experience cost me extra money. Three days away from my work duties abroad, that will have to be repaid on a future date. But I was taught a valuable lesson. Don’t stop keep driving.

Bought a 3 year old car from Arnold Clark, Farrel Street, deal went fine,

Paid for 2 years service, mot and warranty aswel, salesman was ok but they always are your best friend when chasing a sale.

He told me locking wheel nut key was in the car, i should have known never trust a salesman. I got a nail in the tyre and guess what no key in the car!!

Granted over 12 months had passed since getting the car but i thought since it wasnt in the car, they had basically lied to me and it wasnt unreasonable to sort me a key.

Went to see them and told to come back they would sort it.

Following week went back the greasy manager and salesman stayed out of the way, left a bumbling mechanic to tell me i would be changed to remove locking wheelnuts. Told them to forget it, wasnt happy bout keep my temper in check.

To make matters worse they never done the service complete i paid for.

They have lost a future customer deffo and ill tell others to steer clear.

You have been warned they are a bunch of -----!!!!

I have just purchased a used car for Arnold Clark, the branch on Farrell Street, Warrington and I've got to say it's not 5*. I have just read some of the reviews on here and have to add my little piece. Firstly my experience was very good from the start, the salesman I first met " Lets call him C" His name is mentioned unfairly in another post, was very helpful, not pushy at all (Welcome Change)and spent a lot of time letting me test drive and look at what they had to offer, his knowledge of the stock was excellent. After my first visit, having taken some hours of his time, I walked away, perhaps never to return. I did return and under no pressure purchased my next nightmare. It's early days yet, so can't advise on whether or not my purchase was good, the car does have a small issue which you expect with a used vehicle, and I intend to take this up with "C" tomorrow. Overall would recommend. Why not 5*? Lets see if issue is ratified.

So I travelled 3 and a half hours to fetch my car. On arrival I noticed a massive scratch on the car....before I left to buy the car I asked if it had any marks on it I was told no it was spotless!!! Anyway after an argument with the sales manager they agreed to pay for the repair! Everything through the sale after that seemed to run ok. I was offered a service package but because I lived so far away u declined!!! I'm pleased I did......when my car was due for service I rung my local dealer to ask how much it would be for a service...to be told all new clios come with a 4+ package which is 4 years service warranty and breakdown cover! Arnold Clark told me about the warranty and the breakdown cover but failed to mention about the servicing! I'm pleased I did live away as if I had lived closer I would of purchased the service package!!!! So watch out make sure everything they are selling you is needed!!! I think they will pretty much do anything to make an extra few quid!!!! Would I buy another car from here NO

Do NOT take your car to an Arnold Clark garage. I will attempt to make a long story short.

My clio sport went in for some big jobs to be done under warranty (clutch master cylinder, gear selector and gearbox) and the car came back with a damaged alloy, the exhaust blowing and hanging off and also a nut missing on my gearbox mount!

The exhaust is an MOT failure and therefore the car wasn't road worthy. Also, how do you replace a gearbox and forget to secure it properly??

In the meantime, I ordered a painted wing mirror from the same dealer. They firstly painted it the complete wrong colour then repainted over that and the paint work was shoddy and unacceptable which led to me getting a refund and new primered wing mirror cover from Renault and having it painted elsewhere! For this reason, I won't allow them to refurbish my alloy as they can't seem to do anything right.

To summarise, I could drive through Knowsley safari and the monkeys would do a better job on my car than their mechanics.

PS, they marked my paintwork right near my bonnet, a dopey mechanic probably caught his spanner on it.

Just been told by Arnold Clark that they will not reopen my mis-sold ppi claim when their form was clearly highlighted before signing. Please please please check your paperwork thoroughly when signing for cars. I will never buy another car from Arnold Clark especially at their Westbrook branch.

Having had a conversation with 'Carl' the senior salesman at the Arnold Clark Warrington, asking him verbally over the phone to go around the car and to check for any damage, dents, scratches etc before I committed to travelling over 160 miles round trip to see the car, he assured me the car was in 'immaculate condition' and that the car would walk off the forecourt very soon.

Sadly, when I went to see the vehicle I found that nearside passenger wheel had some really nasty damage (must have hit a kerb at 20-30mph) putting a really big dent in the alloy rim. The other rear nearside wheel was also kerbed to a very noticeable standard and the drivers sides were also marked up.

Carl said, "He hadn't noticed the damage" !!!!! - The senior salesman does not notice serious damage to alloys? I don't think so. Bald face salesman line to get people on the forecourt....

Also, he refused to budge on the price and knock of £50 per wheel for the two most badly damaged wheels, stating they would fix that damage themselves in house. Of course, given I had driven 80 miles with a view to buy the car and take it away that day, leaving the car in situ while repairs were conducted was no good for me, but still he would not knock the money off so I could get it repaired elsewhere.

Also, bearing in mind if was 11am on a Friday morning and they didn't close until 2000hrs, Carl also said to me, and I quote, "well I don't think you would be able to take the car today, you should have told me you were coming so I could get the paperwork sorted."

REALLY? Does he expect me to believe it was going to take 9hrs for me to pay for the car on my debit card, get a receipt, sign over the V5 and give me all the paperwork, documents and keys? Are these jokers for real.

Long story short, they lost an £11800 sale for the sake of knocking £100 off for me to repair the wheels. Good going.

So in summary, don't believe a word anyone at Arnold Clark says when they describe the condition of a vehicle, as they seem to forgot really obvious damage, that a blind man on a galloping house would not fail to notice.

took my 10 year old clio in today so they could look at the bonnet latch mechanism, which they fixed FOC , did a health check on my car filled it with oil and changed two light bulbs charging me for one only....

then they valeted my car FOC as well

all the guys on the desk where awesome and super friendly.

Arnold Clark in Warrington 10/10 !