Formula One Autocentre, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire

Received quote for front disc and brake pads replacement. Seemed reasonable so I booked my vehicle in at the earliest slot in a week's time. Was surprised to receive a phone call immediately after booking online stating that had parts in store and could do the work the very next day. I was a little surprised as most garages keep limited stock and have to order in parts. I made the mistake of putting my trust in him and taking his word took my vehicle in. When I arrived he seemed rather anxious that I did not stay around, and wanted me to get a coffee at the Costa across the road. Was informed would that the work would take around an hour to complete. I felt uneasy and from a distance without being noticed decided to keep an eye on the work being done. After 45 minutes and noticing that they had only removed the front wheels to replace the brakes and discs I decided to make my presence known. At this stage, he went and had a word with his colleague who then went about replacing the front discs. Around fifteen minutes later I was informed that the brake pads did not fit and would have to order the correct pads, and if I could leave my car with the garage until he was able to source the correct brake pads. I informed him that I needed the vehicle for work, and he then responded by saying that he would reinstall the old brake pads with the new discs and that he would give me a call the following day as to when could book the vehicle in to install the pads. As the old pads would wear the new discs unevenly I managed to persuade him to reinstall the old discs with the old pads and to give me a call when have the correct brake pads. I am still waiting to hear back from the garage. Do not trust the garage, just beware.

The cheltenham centre failed my son's car for brake pads being worn below 1.5mm. The lowest pad they removed was 4mm. They then charged him £73 for a set of budget pads that I can buy for full retail price for £22 from THEIR supplier.

The one pad was at 4mm the rest are atleast 8mm so I agree the pads should have been an advisory but not a fail. When my son said he would pick the car up and bring it back in the morning with new pads fitted he was told you can do that but we can't retest it for atleast 2 weeks - funny how I could book a different car in for a full MOT online for the next day!

Disgusting customer service and pricing which is way over the top.

My visit was prebooked and I came ca 10 min before my appointment. No waste of time there, the mechanic started to help me very quickly and he was very professional from start to finish. The service at the grage is fantastic!

I strongly recommend their services.

Great mechanics and nice people!

Our company van needed an MOT and another large autocentre turned it away from a booking because it was "too big for their lift"..........it has a normal Class 4 car MOT and they knew exactly what it was when the booking was made.

Taking it to Formula 1, the man on the desk looked at it and said it would be no problem but not today - so it was booked in for the following week.

Following week I turned up with van and settled in to the waiting room. Ten minutes later I am told that they can't do the MOT because the van was "too big for their lift". I explained about their previous assurance of "no problem" but was sent away anyway.

Total waste of my day. Don't believe anything they say.

Went to Tewkesbury MOT Centre a couple of hours later and got great service.

If no stars were possible i would be giving that.

I have now had 3 bad experiences here

1. I took my own car in for a break pad replacement on the front. After waiting for 40 minutes they came out and told me that all my break disks where worn and then recommended I change them and the rear pads at the same time - I refused, not having the money at the time, took it to another garage at a later date and was told that all the disks were well above minimum.

2. My other half took her car here for a MOT, they failed her on about 20 different things and then quoted her £3000 to repair it all for her. Given that the car is only worth about £500 we chose to re-do the MOT elsewhere to see if they reported the same. The new garage failed her for 2 things (A break light being out and a worn suspension bushing), and then quoted £80 to fix them and give a re-test MOT for free.

3. Again my other half decided to go back, (don't ask me why) to get her engine coils changed as I was busy writing my dissertation. The price was fair, and they were changed. However when she returned with the car, I noticed that they looked like they had been installed wrong, they were in fact sticking up into the engine bay rather than sitting snug like usual. I called formula 1 to ask why this was, and they informed me that it must be the part they had used differed from the old one. Due to the fact the engine was running I thought nothing more of it. Fast forward two months, all three engine coils blew again at the same time, this time I insisted that she took it to a different garage to get their opinion. They informed us that the engine coils had been installed wrong, as I had thought, and that they had been jammed in so haphazardly that formula 1 had damaged the clips and the sockets that they sat in. Due to them being installed wrong, they had also been shorting out and causing extra damage around the engine. This other garage then repaired all the damage, and provided me with written and photographic evidence of the damage caused and the poor fitting. I went to formula 1 with this, and despite all the evidence against them, they tried insisting that the fault was because of the part and my other half's driving, not their fitting, and proceeded to mess me about for a month, with 8 phone calls, and 4 in store visits not being able to sort it. Today I finally have the refund for the initial fitting and parts after threatening court proceedings.

In conclusion, they will either quote you for unnecessary work to try and take your money, or they will fit something wrong and damage your car more and then get angry that you didn't take it back for them to fix.

I have just had 4 Avon Tyres fitted and Tracking done. Very efficient and friendly service from fitters and Branch manager.Will certainly use again and reccomend friends to do the same.

I had my car booked in for a mot sat 14 Nov, first of all I was told after it failed it's mot that if I didn't agree to them doing the work on my car and taking the car away I will have to pay another £30 on top of the already paid £30 to do my mot again,they never mentioned this before the mot, when I asked them how much to repair a leaking brake pipe, he told me £70 to £80 pound for the part, total rip off, a big rip off , you can buy this part for no more than £15, that didn't even include the fitting, and to be honest reading on the Internet about how bad they are, I wouldn't want them touching my brakes, I should of done my research before I went but didn't realise what a terrible garage it is,never again,

The advertised price looks great but beware we were told that the front brake pads are completly worn and must be replaced today!

Of course we declined the offer and took the car to our independent who informed us that we have around 6mm or 18 months of wear left on the brake pads.

Also we were told both rear tires are "down to the canvas" and again needed replacement before it left the service center.

Of course we declined the offer and took the car to our independent who informed us that we have around 12 months of wear left on both tires and the tires were not even at the wear indicator blocks.

Thirdly the brake fluid was changed as it looked "a little cloudly" and added to our invoice at the sum of £45, great thanks, however the brake fluid was changed when we changed the rear brake shoes 2 weeks ago... so please remove from our invoice....

Do not go here unless you like being charged for work that is not needed!

Noise from suspension on a Sunday. No choice but to get it checked, told it needs loads of expensive work! Took to my usual independent mechanic next day for required works to be told it's just a bush. Total costs of works £28 Inc labour. Formula 1 quote £300+ but surprisingly refused to put in writing!

My son took his car here for an MOT. It failed and he was quoted a figure over the phone. When the 'work' was done he was then told he had misheard the quote and it was actually double that figure. He paid it (stupidly) to then be told that the work wasn't sufficient to pass its MOT and that they didn't have the know how to do the rest of the work. Absolutely shameful. I didn't realise that garages like this still existed. I guess the clue is in the fact that 18 previous reviews all rate this business as terrible. Don't be tempted by the cheap MOT offer, it's a lure for them to demonstrate their expensive incompetence.

Amongst professional car repair outlets this business has an equally bad reputation.