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Swindon Motor Park.

Bought my car brand new from there in 08 and have discovered a job they did to fix my windscreen washer a couple of years ago was a botched one and the problem was covered up. Had ongoing problems with the washers from about 10 months of having it. By first annual service they didn't work and then again by the second service.
They billed me first service for labour but i refused to pay second time around.

What they did on the second occasion unknown to me was to put a 15amp fuse in place of a 10amp(which i'm guessing kept blowing when they attempted to fix it) which should have been there,rather than sort out the route cause whilst the car was under warranty. They also broke the washer jet casing the first time(the bit that fires the water to the screen and didn't tell me at the time either,which they replaced the second time time after i pointed it out to them)

The problem came back today and i went straight to look at the fuse and noticed they'd put the wrong one in last time after looking in the cars instruction book. That one has now blown.
Tried a correct 10 amp and that blew straight away and then another 15 and althought that didn't blow got no power to the washer pump.
Spoke to the manager there who refused to help and even said that putting the wrong fuse in was no issue(i asked him to send me that in writing) Said it had been ok for 2 years so it wasn't their problem.
Eventually he hung up on me.

I've e-mailed citizens advice and will pursue this one.
Avoid the cowboy cunts at all costs is my advice.

Not much wrong with the Clio we bought in 06. But that was six long years ago, bastards!

What make you got Arriba?

citroen.

Are they the ones in Greenbridge by the roundabout

Yes chalkies

If the fuse keeps blowing then you must have a short or a bad earth in the circuit somewhere.

Looked at a few second cars there the other day. The bloke had no idea what he was going on about - recommended something totally unsuitable and did absolutely nothing to help me find the right car, let alone convince me to buy one. Not overly surprised to hear they're shoddy after the sale.

My friend bought a car there.  She had problems with it almost immediately and after a big row in there, they took it back and swapped it for another one.  She then had problems with that one, which ended up costing her alot of money to get sorted elsewhere because they wouldn't help. The sales people she dealt with were rude and unhelpful as soon as there were issues.  I've got a feeling she reported them to CAB as well.

Typical used car dealership really. Feed you bollocks to sell the car then claim any issues after the sale are nothing to do with them. 

Hope you get your car sorted soon Arriba.

Is this the Seat dealership? My brother had loads of problems with them servicing his car. Worst one was them putting a massive dent in it and then denying it was them as all their staff denied any knowledge of it. They eventually backtracked when someone admitted to doing it but even then their initial repair job wasn't much more than slapping a bit of paint on with a brush.

I had major run ins with Dick Lovett over the engine in a new car burning oil and a largish accident repair job they did. It took a good few months sorting it all out but to be fair to them they never once told me to fuck off and they sorted it all out perfectly in the end. I reckon BMW dealerships care a lot more about their reputation than Seat's.

Typical used car dealership.  Good luck in getting any joy, unfortunately I would be surprised if you do.  This is exactly why I don't take any exended warranty, not worth the paper.

Word

almost bought a car from there last year but decided to keep my current one, even though my golf if not the most practical of cars for commmuting in, but its the best car ive had, with minimal issues, im very reluctant to get rid of it bcause knowing my luck i will go and buy a lemon

Spot on.

It's going into auto electrics next week and they are going to fix it and do a full report on it for me.
The prick service manager at the motor park has fucked up big time by saying it was ok to put a stronger fuse in(I think once he's thought about it will never admit to that comment). A potentially dangerous short cut preformed by the twat mechanic endorsed by the boss to the customer. Unbelievable.
Says it all and proves they don't do work properly.
They have a don't care attitude and if he had spoke to me like he did on the phone to my face would have been eating pavement.

I wouldn't usually have used them but did as the car was under warranty at the time.  A trusty back steet garage is always the way to go with servicing and repairs.

Where to start... my father in law (to be) is a chauffeur. His boss sent his car there for an MOT as a tester, they were looking for a decent garage to send all their cars to for work. Went ok, work was done well, not too expensive, but they had swapped the nice, non-rusty steel wheels on his car with an identical car on their lot, who's wheels were rusty and dented. As he couldn't provide evidence they'd swapped them, there was nothing he could do, they wouldn't do anything either.

I bought my Focus from there. 3 days later it needed some work, took it there before I went to work and they said they could drop it back at my work. Bonus, I thought, and told them to leave it with the guy at the front gate. Got a phonecall when I was out saying they'd dropped it off, but they had dropped it at completely the wrong place, I had to speed back as the place they'd left it shut for the night before I'd normally be back. I was fuming, didn't get an apology.

My driving instructor got crashed into by one of their mechanics who was joyriding in a customers car (who then drove off), but they wouldn't tell him who.

Didn't this used to be called Swindon Autos?

Luckt this thread appeared when it did.  I'm back next week looking for a house and a car (need to try and find both in 4 days which is a stretch), was literally going to walk into this place and chose a car.

Anyone know any good places to buy second hand cars?

my wife took our people carrier into its dealership, having had a puncture and had "lost" the wheel locking nut, she was chareged £100+ for the tyre and £50 for a new lock nut!, they then told her that she needed emegency work done on the brake as they were dangerously worn ....if she booked it in there and then they would do the work for £685. more if she left. fortunatly she left.
took it to our local garage, his diagnosis was overcharged for the lock nut, the rear brakes had 5,000+  miles and the front 1000, nice dealer tried to rip off lone female customer!, to add insult to injury  having phoned to complain about there service - denied it ever happened!!, they phoned me a week later to see if I was interested in a service package with them! told them in no uncertain terms where they could stick their package. funnily not heard from them since and a years happy trouble free motering

If this is the same place I am thinking of, knew somebody who worked there as a foreman mechanic.  This was about 20 years ago, got fired out for getting caught drunk driving whilst so say taking a customer's car out for a test drive.  Turned out he had a whole cupboard full of spares that had been booked out to customers and never used and he was using on private weekend jobs!!  Mind you I would never trust any main dealer, Fish Bros are damned notorious!!

Privately.

You'll get more for your money and you can tell if the seller is genuine or not.

Interesting thread, will avoid this place like the plague when I look for a car.

Chances are when I leave my job later this year i'll be working in Gloucester so will need to sell our car and buy two, one for wiffy just to get to work and back and one for a commute to Gloucester every day.
Car Shop have a good selection, but I just hate the place and the people.

Its always a risk buying privatly as you dont get any guarantee, atleast with a decent trader, although you will pay slightly more you will get some form of gurantee. If you buy privately, and within two days the clutch goes, theres not  much you can do even if the seller did seem genuine.
Always handy taking someone with you from the auto trade to give it a once over.

Swindon Motor park are truely awful, it's a shame it's the only seat dealership in town.

My advice is find a brand you want then look at various forums on the net for recommended dealers. I travelled to the south coast to get my skoda as heard dodgy stories about the fish bros dealership.

As above shows though, if the trader is a cowboy then the guarantee isn't worth the paper it's printed on.

I'd much prefer a service book full of stamps and a wallet full of receipts than an ex-fleet service sheet printout.

I'll do you a good deal on my Vectra. Nice commuter car that'll do 45mpg. :)

I'm buying one from Slades of Devizes at the moment. A small dealership who've been around quite a while, and the guy seems like a top bloke. Can't guarantee that as I've not had any problems with the car yet, butI reckon it's a safe bet.

Not sure about places in Swindon.

How old is it Samdy? (how many miles, how much you looking for it, etc)

The trouble is, I don't know when i'm finishing yet, initially they said October, now they say it could be December, so i'm kinda stuck in limbo at the moment, we are/were planning on moving this year, so that's been put on hold until I know what i'm gonna be doing jobwise.

Slades of Devizes, Rowde etc are excellent

Ging, I think Sam was fishing. Had numerous issues with his car I think...

I was kind of jesting after my previous posts about my problems with it. Although I will be looking to sell up later this year. Just think of it as all the problems that might've happened already have and they've been fixed!

It's 2006. I think there's about 88k on it at the moment. Hoping to get £3k for it.

Ahh, OK, didn't see that.

Never mind :)

There is alot of luck involved in buying a car. I'd judge a garage on what they do if things go wrong. As we can see by mine and the other shocking tales from you lot is that Swindon motor park are disgraceful in that aspect.

I'd be interested to hear of stories where dealers have done well and sorted issues out with an apology as they are clearly the places we should be buying from with confidence.

To be fair, Carshop get a lot of stick, but their service was good. Yes, I bought my car from them and I've been shit out of luck with things going wrong with it, but they're all common faults.

Sounds like these people should be subjected to some rather more formal investigation?  Anyone alerted Watchdog or similar to them?

They did exactly the same with my missus, checked it out with garage in Shrivenham who told us at least 5,000 miles left on them.

Got my last car from a guy called Stuart White, think he's moved now to somewhere near Devizes.  We agreed a deal, I spotted a couple of things I wanted sorting, he agreed and put it through the mot for me, something showed up on the mot which he paid for to be put right - had that car now for eight years!!  Guess that in itself is a recommendation for him, although I am changing it in a month or so as I am buying my daughter's car, she has had it from new, just had first mot!!  So if anybody wants a very reliable Scenic contact me in a month or so!!!

Bought an 08 astra from skurrays at hillmead. nice salesmen, nothing wrong with car yet. good buy in my opinion  :toocool:

Totally agree Samdy, I nearly always buy privately and I've never had any duds.  The worse car I had was a Peugeot 307 bought from one of those Trade places. I spent out more money on that in 2 years, than I'd spent in the previous 8 years.  When I sold it, I bought my Honda Civic privately and all I've spent out in nearly 2 years is tyres, MOT and services.  I'd only ever buy a car privately with a FSH though.

I purchase mine at auctions. It's a risk but you can save thousands if you're lucky.

You need to be careful you're not actually buying from a dodgy dealer. I was about to buy a car once from what I thought was a private seller. Fortunately I got the car inspected by the AA (I think) and checked the service history with the garage (who were really helpful). Turned out the mileage was false, think it had actually been round the clock.

About a year or so later there was an article on the bloke in the paper. He was actually a dealer and was done in court for dodgy selling practises and clocking the cars. Lots of arseholes out there so you need to be careful.

I'll be needing a newer car soon, I'll play it safe and buy from a proper BMW dealer. Worth paying the extra for the piece of mind.

That's why you do an HPI check.

You can check mileage now for free through DVLA - go to their mileage checker and enter the reg with the V5 number and it will tell you the mileage history.  If the seller hasn't got the V5 then you be stupid to buy it in the first place...

Seems to be a recurring theme

I think with dealers it really is pot luck. I once bought an astra from skurrays and had god damn awful problems. I then bought a pug 206 from fish bros which I had for 12 years and had no issues with it whatsoever.

Bought a brand new Seat from Swindon Motor Park, have problems with it and found their after sales was awful and the service dept just as bad, I ended up reporting them to one of the motoring industry body's that soon made them get in contact and sort it all out - would never buy from them again though

how old are you sippo?

32

Reckon you are right. Fish Brothers Toyota in Swindon always seemed pretty good. The only reason I don't use them is because of dealership prices not really being justifiable on an ageing car.

There is a local Renault dealer who I wouldn't touch, not the one is Swindon I hasten to add but is is in Wiltshire. They told a colleague his entire fuel system on his Clio needed replacing at some extortionate price. Because of the age of his car he decided to replace it...

Fast forward a few months, his oldish Scenic was leaking oil - their diagnosis > £1K repairs needed because multiple seals were failing ans so it was probably some engine pressure issue. This time he got a second opinion from a backstreet dealer - diagnosis one seal had failed and was spraying oil on long journeys - couldn't do the repair due to some reason other. Took it to a third garage, did not tell them the issue. Cam up with same diagnosis as second guy and repaired for £250ish.

So he'd have paid > £1K more had he listened to the dealer on unnecessary part replacement. And the fault may still not have been fixed.

who did you report them to?

thought you were younger thats all,

My good looks.

Your posts?

Ha ha. I've known Chubbs for a while now.

 :)

I thought you were older given the massive boner you have for the 80s :)

To be fair it is one of the best era's for music.

70s the best due to the diversity...something for everyone. (80s was my era).

Fixed by those who know what they are doing thankfully. Would be hard for me to prove a case against the dealershit so I'm not going to bother. Will keep spreading the word how shit they are though.

Add a signature to your profile of the below arriba. It'll come out as the links at the base of my post.

[url=http://thetownend.com/index.php/topic,48736.0.html]Swindon Motor Park[/url] [url=http://thetownend.com/index.php/topic,48736.0.html]Swindon Motor Park Review[/url]

This will provide links in all of your posts to this thread. By using the words Swindon Motor Park and Swindon Motor Park Review, it'll help it get, with any luck, some chance of being found in Google when people search for them and perhaps get word out a bit more.

Swindon Motor Park (http://thetownend.com/index.php/topic,48736.0.html) Swindon Motor Park Review (http://thetownend.com/index.php/topic,48736.0.html)

Not got the most glowing reviews already :)

http://www.reviewcentre.com/reviews142871.html

Thanks for that barry. Hate rip off merchants and the main reason for my original post was to warn others so hopefully others will now see it.
Can highly recommend Auto Electrixs in Westmead as they did a decent job for me,phoned me when they diagnosed it and gave me a price.

Fish bros skoda have pissed me right off. Twice this week I've had to call out skoda assist as my car wouldn't start. Have to say the assist people were superb. Take it to the dealers yesterday. Despite two good health checks on the battery performed by the assist guys, the dealer has come back and said it is the battery and needs changing. It is going to cost me £50 for the half an hour diagnosis and
£111 for a new battery!!

Either they are taking the piss by charging £50 for a 30 second job of sticking a meter on it, or they are incompetent at fault finding! I'd argue that £50

Fish Bros. are a rip-off, pure and simple.  When I had a company vehicle (Renault) I was aways getting a horrible asbestos -type smell outside.  It went back into them several times for fault finding under guarantee, they claimed there was no problem, I told them I thought it was the clutch.  On about the fifth visit back there they said they were going to change the clutch under warranty.  They had it about a week and it was still smelling awful.  Finally the clutch gave way - coming Crickley Hill out of Gloucester.  All hell broke loose as Renault said they would not honour another clutch under warranty as it must have been my driving style!  My company were hinting that I should pay for this "third" clutch!!  Eventually it was agreed that they would fit a new clutch and the company would have to pay half (never came back on to me!) - guess what, smell had gone and there was never a problem again.  I am very suspicious that the first "replaced" clutch ever found its way onto the vehicle at all.  No way of proving it of course, but a nasty experience with them all the same!

Half an hour is the minimum labour charge apparently...robbing bastards.

It doesn't take 30 seconds to run a multi meter across the battery. Is the car under warranty?

Go to motorists discount on broad street. They will rest it and sell you are battery if needed. Tell fish brothers to get fucked

Under warranty but surprise surprise the warranty doesn't cover the battery. I am tempted to go elsewhere but I don't think it is the battery as two health checks came back as good. I still have to pay the diagnosis check whatever I do, but if It isn't the battery and it gets changed there at least I have some fire power.

Whats pissed me off more than anything is this 30 sec job costing me £50!

So, when it doesn't start, is the battery completely flat? i.e. it doesn't try to turn over at all?

If any of you guys get want a garage that doesn't rip you off then go to Bridge Garage in Wootton Bassett...  Been using them for 10 years without a hitch - they would have checked your battery for free and would give you an honest opinion... ive referred loads of people there and not one has come back with a complaint...

Mate of mine has a audi A4 quattro convertible and was getting quoted £3,000 by Audi to change the gearbox because of a rumbling noise that they couldn't diagnose - went to Audi/VW specialists and they were quoting £2,600 - went to Bridge Garage, and like true engineers they went to work in pin pointing the problem... turned out that, as stupid as it sounds, they Audi Garage that sold the car to him put cheap shit tyres on and as they wore down they created excessive road noise... new set of decent tyres and £2k saved... they didn't charge any hours for diagnosing it.

Their ethos is that if they ain't good enough to find and fix the problem then you shouldn't have to pay for their failed attempt of diagnosing it... The battery case in mind they wouldn't have charged you for testing it - if it had been good they would look for the root cause, if it had been bad they would have put a new one in.


p.s.
They've been looking after my Subaru since I got it and that's why it's now clocked up 220,000 miles with only the clutch being changed during that time...

If it's been tested twice then why did the garage say it was the battery? I can't see how it can be ok then the garage say it isn't.

If used every day its fine, but if left for a day standing it won't start. Nothing whatsoever. There is a drain somewhere. On both bits of paper work from the assist guys it says the battery is fine, the dealer has seen this paperwork.


That's correct. Someones got it wrong somewhere. My betting is the dealer, but that's why I will probably get them to change it as if I do have an issue I can take it back to them and kick off.

Have to say though, Skoda Assist have been spot on during this, but the dealer has been most unhelpful. Not even offering a courtesy car. Tomorrow I have to walk back from Mannington with my little girl to North Swindon because they can't help. I will be writing a letter of complaint once the car is sorted.

If you bought the battery and fitted it yourself you'd probably halve the cost.

I'd be checking to see if any lights are staying on after you've locked the car (interior & exterior). Might have to fold the back seat down to check the boot light.

I haven't bought it yet. I want to do it myself, but that's the predicament I'm in. If I change it myself then it isn't the battery then I'm stuffed. Is it easy to change a battery?

Piece of piss. The radio might need coding after you change it though, so make sure you have the radio code.

Can't see if I have the radio code as the book is in the car! Grr. Guess I could ask them while there.

What a fucking hassle. The weather is crap this week, and without a garage I may just get them to do it.

Used to have a problem with the battery draining in one of my cars and found it was the rear heated windscreen permanently on. Took the fuse out and it was fine after that...as long as I didn;t want a rear heated windscreen. Got it fixed when i needed some other work doing.
I've been using Auto Engine Tune in St Phillips Road for years, first Eddie, then Kev and they've always been fair to me.

You mean you've never had to fix something in the dark when it's pissing down with rain; spanner in one hand, brolly in the other and a torch in your mouth?

My Fiat Punto has a problem with the electric power steering being intermittent. I start the car again and it works fine then a few miles cuts out again.
Took it to Fiat and they said its ok to drive without the power steering :/

Gonna have bigger muscles than fucking Hulk Hogan at this rate driving to work

Auto Engine Tune are ok, although I now use Kall Fit on Kembrey Park - have found  them very helpful and do not rip you off.  Had a nasty burning smell coming from underneath this week, took it down there, they took the front wheels off, no sign of a problem, put it on the ramp and all became clear - a piece of plastic had wrapped itself around the cat converter.  Boss just said let it call down and I will put some cleaner on it and get it off.  Thirty minutes later he took it out on test drive and came back and announced the smell had gone.  Asked him "how much do I owe you", "nothing" he said!  If that had gone to Fish Bros Renault I'll bet my house they would have told me it needed a new cat converter!!

Kall Fit sound like a dodgy version of Kwik Fit..

Having been in the Motor Trade for 20 years in Swindon id probably only recommend Mike Allen and Bob Wiseman .Doubt either are cheap though.

Found an amazing online review of the place I work for the other day,well of one of our staff anyway

I always use Bob Wiseman, and he does seem to be very reasonably priced

This is some years ago and not in swindon but a friend of mine bought a renault 19 from auction. didnt have any problem with it but thought it would be sensible to take it to a dealer to give it a check after a few days.

It came back the alternator was knackered and that and the battery needed replacing. Mate was a bit sceptical and rather than taking them up on their offer of about a grand to fix it he got them to jump start it and drove it home. Called the AA, who found that the boot internal light had been wired to stay on permanently, hence flattening the battery. Couldnt prove it was the renault dealer, but pretty strange that a car that was ok suddenly rewired itself. Could be a common scam.

Id never go to a main dealer. always find a local back street garage that has been there a good few years. if the workshop is really clean and tidy run a mile!

Looks can be deceptive.

I'd never have gone within a mile of the guy I last used in Hill Corner Road in Chippenham had work colleagues not recommended him. Runs a garage out his old house garage.

Bloke was totally spot on, got a timing belt/tensioners/other belts done on the Mrs car for £177, didn't charge anything for diagnostics to find the cause of the clunking from the engine.

Also hadn't made up the bill so told me to "pay him tomorrow" - despite barely knowing me.

DGS Autos in Dores Road is who i use....new battery,new tyre and full MOT for less than £150 including  VAT.

You might want to look at this.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/watchdog/2012/04/fiat_power_steering.html

If Fiat actually said that to you then that's pretty shocking.  If it cuts out at speed or in a corner it could be really bad news.

Luckily, my 59 plate Punto seems to be made after the fault highlighted in your post and in the clip.  I would go straight back to Fiat and shout at them.

The saga continues.

Dropped the car off this morning. Asked what the actual problem is.

'We think its the battery' They say.
'But it's been tested twice by skoda assist and came back as healthy' I reply.
'Oh...they use the same equipment as us... it may not be the battery then. We may have to do some more diagnostics...'

So leave it with them and ask if they can drop it off at home for me as they provide that service. It's a long walk with a one year old from North Swindon. His response was it is good especially with the Olympics on we should embrace it. But he agreed they could drop my car off.

As I was leaving he shouted 'If we have one driver, can you drop him back here?'.

I laughed, and said would I get discount and/or petrol money? He said no. He could see I wasn't impressed, so just left the dealer....

See what happens!

jesus wept.

Years ago my previous Volvo developed a problem with the power steering, Volvo said £1500 just for parts as the rack needed replacing.

I then took it to a place called Swindon Volvo (convenient name for service stamps because thu were nothing to do with Volvo) and they fixed it for £25. My Volvo never went to the main dealer again in it's 4 year life and my second Volvo likewise never went near one in the 3 years I owned it.

sippo, what year skoda is it? does your batter have a fuse box on top?
i had a problem with my golf where i would get alernator errors and battery errors and after swapping battery and alernator the car would still cut out, it turned out one of the cables going into this fuse box was totaly burned out.

So another problem with the lovely folk from Swindon Motorpark. The wifes seat will not start, and is still under warranty. I say 'still under', apparently because the yearly service is 4 weeks overdue this invalidates the warranty!! wtf?!! They are now refusing to come and get the car as it will not start - possible alternator issue.

Not serviced in line with manufacturers recommendations = no warranty.

How do you mean her seat won't start?

I now have this image of a random woman hovering around on a car seat!

But still serviced by seat at their main HQ....and stamps to prove it.

although you should stick to the service schedule for warranty purposes a good dealer would help I think of they want your continued business. That bunch of cunts  wont do Jack shit. I spoke to some twat  called Paul titherage and he hung up on me. Unhelpful doesn't even come close

Oww my god I know him!!!!

I know Jack Shit too :)

so do plenty of pissed off customers of that dealership. Sure trading standards do too

To be honest I'd rather get it serviced by a qualified seat person rather than those cowboys anyway.

As this has evidently gone well so far

*BUMP*

Nearly bought a car from Swindon Motor Park the weekend, agreed a deal etc got home sat evening looked at the paperwork and found that it was a different model and engine size listed, went back Sunday, salesman was out so spoke to sales manager he checked everything and said their paperwork was wrong it was an 'admin' error but he could not print of new correct paperwork as the salesman would have to do it but he adjusted it manually (no actual appology).

He also gave us a copy of the HPI check to show what vehicle it was.  Sales manager told us he was not aware of this vehicle as he had been on hols for 2 weeks and just got back.

HPI paperwork said they had the car there for 4 weeks.

After telling them how poor we thought this was and we was not happy, and questioning whether we was being chared for a 1200 or a 1400 we left as he sat there and said I dont know what else you want me to do, later looking at the HPI paperwork it turns out this car is listed with finance but listed as 'group stock' so, phoned HPI and asked them what this meant and they said that the garage had taken finance to put it on their forecourt and to ensure when we pick the car up we get a letter from them saying they own the finance and it would be cleared.

Part of the deal we also tried to arrange when buying the car was to get a full tank of fuel for free but was told it cannot be done as they no longer have a fuel card, sitting at the sales manager's desk what was there but a fuel card and list of amounts it had been used for....£40 £20 £60 etc etc so he lied, the sales manager didn't appreicate being asked why his salesman lied to me and was it common practise

We got concerned over all this and decided we no longer trusted them and would not be happy having this car from them, and then we discused the details we was told about the car we realised there was things said that didnt sound right whe nyou think sabout them with everything else that had gone on.

So we decided I would call on Mon and tell them we no longer wanted to go ahead with this purchase (making up a reason), spoke to the salesman who tried the hard sell offering us their finance at a low rate no setup fee's etc but I stood my ground, he said he would speak to the sales manager.

I got a call a while later from the sales manager who then told me I could not have the deposit back as they had put the car into the body shop (bear in mind I called at 0920 and the salesman told me the body work would be done Thursday) I said it was not my problem as told them early enough, and I cannot afford to lose that money, he then went on to tell me he should be charging me double as it costs them, I said they would get that money back when they re-sell the vehicle as the scuffs and scratches would need sorting he said not always, and refused to refund the money and that that was the end of the conversation.

I didn't believe them so luckily the wife was at home so I got her to go down there and look for the car, and hey presto it was sitting in their compound area untouched, so she took photos and went in and demanded our money back and then got told she had to email a certain email address saying she wanted the deposit back and why, so daftly she agreed, but got the details to me I done it and got the refund late afternoon.

I'm really tempted to find out who actually owns the chain and send them a letter of complaint the lies and  deceit is unbelievable.

Moto of the story - keep away from Swindon Motor Park don't trust them.

Contact trading standards. And in future heed previous warnings of rip off garages  :sherlock:

Arriba, can't you put the topic in you sig in a bigger and brighter font?  :)

No.  :toocool:

I purchased a brand new citroen ds3 from Swindon motor park last june, delivered on time, full tank of fuel, they couldn't do enough for me, its like anything, people will experience problems whist others wont, I understand some peoples anger tho

Do you let them service it?
Buying a brand new car in most cases won't throw up many problems(especially major ones) Mine was alright until i let them work on it.

I think when you buy a new car you are buying it from the Seat/Citroen dealership, different thing all together.  When you buy a used car or go to them for service you are buying it from the dodgey part of the group.

I would suggest you take your Citreon to a different Citreon dealership to be serviced.

My boy bought a Seat from the Chippenham Seat dealership and takes his car there to be serviced, much better.

they serviced it this june, its hard to say if they did a good job as there was nothing IMO that needed doing, had to get it done as it was the 12 month one and wanted the book stamped :)
However I was shocked at the price, but after speaking to a few people it was about the norm

is there another citroen dealer local

interesting Power to people, wonder if they are tight on cashflow given the HPI and reluctance to give you YOUR money back.

Clarke & Rodway in Marlborough. No idea what they're like though.

Don't know about them specifically but the HPI/Group Stock thing is standard for the bigger dealerships in the trade - or at least it is in lancashire, they all do it so they don't have their own cash tied up in stock.

The rest sounds dodgy but from my exerience its fairly par for the course in the motor trade, the whole asking sales manager etc business is just a sham.

With the greatest of respect, virtually 8 pages of slagging this dealership off would cause me to think otherwise about even stepping through their door

Indeed - just think whats its doing to their chances of obtaining foreign investment.

Exactly

shocking situation to find ones self in

Does the owner have a Twatter account?

I never knew that horlock, you learn something new every day.

Good in my experience, had no problems in seven years.

I may just do that, I wasn't aware of this thread previous only that someone mentioned it on FB to me thought I'd find it

my dad bought a citreon from car shop, runs fine but has a warning light pop up every now and again.
Took it in, they booked him in to go to the Swindon motor park to get it looked at. He specifically stated to them, only have a look at it, do not do any work as he needs the car the next day, they agree and the next morning he goes to pick the car up and Swindon motor park have it stripped down and have started to fix (or try to fix) it. He went off his rocker and make them put it all back together there and then.

Has anyone used Car Shop in Swindon or can recommend somewhere good for used cars? I've been looking all day around my neck of the woods and found fuck all about from a Saab 95 that'd probably cost more to run than I can afford

Here's a tip...do your car research (using autotrader and whatcar) and decide what model/engine/trim you want before you choose where to get it from.

Then find traders that sell that car.

Not used it myself but a good friend bought his latest car there, he thought it was a high pressure selling operation, once inside they didn't want to let you out!!  There seemed to be a funny arrangement for paying as well but I cannot quite remember what happened, he ended up going to his bank in Wootton Bassett and drawing out the requisite amount and paid in cash!!  May be just a one-off though!

Trading Standards fella I know said beware.

Best used car trader? He reckons T James, Cricklade. Been going years and lots of repeat business.

Given my budget I can't be that picky.

Car Shop is very high pressure sales. You cant even browse, they sit you down the moment you walk in. Saying that, I bought my car from them 4 years ago, but I knew exactly what I wanted and mugged them off with my part-ex that needed over a grands worth of work.

Buying private will get you more for your money. Got the wife a Clio off Auto trader last year that had full service history and just 50,000 miles for £1,200.

I went in there to browse and it was alright until some young lad tried to muscle in on it when I went to leave and was extremely pushy, expecting me to put a deposit down on a car just in case. The deals look alright though.

Even if you only have £1,500 to spend, you should still choose what type of car you want (saloon/estate/hatch/supermini) and use AutoTrader and WhatCar to see what you can expect to get (in terms of age, mileage, spec) for that price. Then you can narrow down your options and find a dealer that has what you want.

Very high pressure to the point I felt a bit intimidated.  They wouldn't even give me a price for part ex on my car until I'd put down a deposit on a car.  Wasn't prepared to take the risk in case they offered next to nothing.  That was a fair few years ago though, so not sure if they still do that?

I wen there a few years ago but they seemed to accept "fuck off" without too much argument.

Good advice that.

Re-car shop, My old chap bought his car from there as i'm sure i've mentioned before. A year old punto with under 10k on the clock for £5000. This was in 2007 and not had any trouble. I personally didn't like car shop when i went in there as it's impossible to just browse.

I've also noted Swindon motor park getting more 1 star ratings recently with shocking comments to accompany them.

I'd also look on car owner websites. The sale will obviously be private but more than likely you would get a well looked after car.

Bought the Mrs a car last weekend from Allan Ford picked it up weekend just gone, half the things we agreed for them to do when we agreed to buy the car they didn't do, like for e.g a tank of fuel they tried to give us 1/2 so we sent the salesman out to fill it up

Then when we got home we realised there was other bits they had not done so took it back sat morning, the salesman was not there so asked for the manager but he decided he didnt want to dea lwiht us so got a different salesman to deal with us gave them a list of what they should have done and told them we would pick it up 2.5 hours later, they did do it all by the time we got back.

Goes to show even the main dealers are useless