“very poor customer service
I purchased a car from the Glasgow branch in July of this year, during the enquiry stage as we had only seen pictures of the car we were offered the car to be delivered to our nearest branch at the cost of £100 (non refundable) for us make our decision on if we wanted it or not. upon arriving at the Wolverhampton branch we were informed that the car had already been sold to us and we needed to make payment. we were not even allowed to test drive first.
during the sale process, we enquired about any form of discount (not unusual to ask) we were informed by the manager that nothing can be done on the price but once purchased they would give us cashback in the amount of £200. we waited for two weeks as that was the waiting time for the cheque to be posted. we received no cheque. we called the branch to be told that someone would call us back, after several attempts finally the person we were dealing with called back only to be told that it was the accounts departments problem and they will sort it out. this was repeated 6 to 7 times with the same answer being given and still no cheque.
This is not something you would expect from a company like Arnold Clark. i will not be dealing with this company again and will ensure to let others know of my extremely bad experience with your customer service (or lack of) very disappointed.”
“The car has been in there work shop for 9 weeks they are rude can’t get a engine for it won’t give me a curtesy car unless I pay for it from Arnold Clark rental. To part exchange the car it will be basically at scrap value as they can’t get the engine, they have ordered it from an Arnold Clark dealer and not searched other companies. One manager told me to by a runabout to tide me over until mine is fixed . I am paying £321 for the car £80 insurance and £16 per month tax and they think I can afford to have a runabout! I’m a carer but I’ve have to give notice to my employer as I need a car for work. I’m stuck! My mental health is shot
Please think twice you may have to pay alittle more but you are safe.”
“Took my car to Arnold Clark (Vauxhall) London Road Mt Vernon, Glasgow for an MOT as it was included when I bought the car last year. Was told my car failed the MOT and it would cost £725 to repair. Was very disappointed as only got the car last year but then started hearing stories of how Arnold Clark rip people off during MOT’s. Took my car to another garage who quoted me £100 for repairs. I was advised the stuff that Arnold Clark were saying was wrong with my car wasn’t even true. I doubt I will shop with this company again. Don’t trust them for your MOT”
“If you have any sense DO NOT BUY A CAR FROM ARNOLD CLARK I bought a car in January 23 paid £18000 cash and I do NOT FEEL SAFE in this vehicle as a community nurse I need a car to able me to carry out my nursing duties and often take patients in my car which I do not feel comfortable doing in this car😡😡the car has been back into Arnold Clark several times just after purchasing this as the left wing mirror was broken and facing downwards which left me driving a car that was a danger to me and others ARnold Clark had this 4 times to repair on the first occasion I was told it was fixed left the garage went out to car and it was still not working when I went back in I was told oh they “thought they had fixed it” then the next time they had it in all day only to be told they need to order part,then they had it in again and then contacted me to say oops wrong part ordered so had to go back a fourth time,I also asked Arnold Clark to check the brakes every time they had it in (4) they said they had checked them then when I spoke to head office I was told they were checked on 1 occasion yet more lies from ARnold Clark I have written to head office and said I wanted to use my right to return this vehicle as I feel unsafe in it,I was told that because I had allowed them to fix it then I could NOT use the right to return this car I have now wrote to Mr Hawthorn at Arnold Clark and sent letter recorded delivery after several weeks I still had not got a reply so contacted then again to be told they did NOT receive my complaint (funny that as it was signed for by member of stake in ARnold Clark,so I forwarded them a copy by email, I had to contact again and then yesterday I was told to book it into an Arnold Clark and have it checked again😡😡😡This has now been going on for months, also explained that when on motorway and go over 60mph it starts to shudder I honestly wish I had never purchased this car from Arnold Clark,The only reason I bought this car is because my car was hit by a fallen tree with my daughter very nearly being killed as a result,and as a community nurse I had to purchase another car as soon as possible to allow me to carry out my job,I have explained all this several times to Arnold Clark but they don’t care I will never buy another vehicle from Arnold Clark again 😡😡😡😡”
“I had a small problem with my brand new sandero drivers door was catching when opening and marking paintwork slightly went to a c dumbarton was told it was a body problem and I would have to contact a c glasgow they told me l should have been refferd to a warranty clark as dumbarton sold me the car back at dumbarton they told me this was not the case all this without anyone looking at the car on the other hand sales staff did try to help”
“Wow wow wow stay clear of these crooks
Sold me a mazda cx5 1 month later clutch goes
2 months later dpf needs replacing
1600 pound not covered with auto care
Loads of advisers on my mot
0 on the last m.o.t
Stay clear plz”
“Please avoid buying a used car from these 1970s style cowboys purchased last September from kirkcaldy branchcost £6540 has now had more than than that spent on repairs if it had been properly checked in beginning most of those would have been picked up last repair cost £2000 and within 3 weeks had to take it to an independent garage took fix broken part that arnold clark had fitted. Looking at other comments shouldn't there be a media investigation and exposure of what has to be a scandal so many people ripped off by this garage I'm going to find out if there is a group we can form to highlight our issues as a way to ensure maximum publicity to save others being subject to their worst nightmare of a bunch of cowboys who have no appreciation of the stress they put people under selling them rubbish vehicles this should be in the papers”
“I must admit that my current state of mind is far from calm. I find myself compelled to reach out to you once again, burdened by the immense distress and profound impact this ordeal has had on my mental health and overall wellbeing. The situation with your Preston branch on Hartington Road has left me deeply disillusioned and agitated, as they continue to evade their responsibility, disregarding the indisputable evidence in the comprehensive AA report.
Since the inception of this distressing car purchase, I have endured sleepless nights, plagued by anxiety and frustration. The constant uncertainty and stress surrounding the faults in the car have taken a severe toll on my mental health, leaving me emotionally drained and physically fatigued. The inability to find resolution and the lack of empathy from your staff have left me feeling isolated and abandoned throughout this disheartening journey.
To reiterate the facts of this dismaying experience:
On 26th June 2023, I excitedly purchased an Audi A5 Sline - Quattro, envisioning a seamless driving experience.
However, within the first week, my enthusiasm was quickly replaced by distress as a litany of alarming faults surfaced, leading me to seek a diagnosis from a reputable local garage. Their findings, which I will also attach, confirmed the gravity of the issues, further intensifying my emotional turmoil.
The car's critical components, such as the gearbox, rear bumper, improperly sealed shark fin, and rattling offside heat shield, were found to be significantly compromised, rendering the vehicle unfit for safe and enjoyable use.
Given the blatant misalignment of the bonnet and the substantial faults uncovered, it is evident that the car was misdescribed, leading me to believe that I have been misled in this transaction.
The most distressing incident occurred on the evening of 24th when the car suddenly lost power, accompanied by an unsettling anti-lock brake system error (amber) warning. This terrifying experience, coupled with the uncertainty surrounding the car's warranty coverage, further exacerbated my mounting anxiety and emotional distress.
Since then, my mental wellbeing has suffered immensely, as I grapple with the burdensome process of seeking a resolution. The lack of assistance from your staff and the dismissive attitude towards the AA report have left me feeling abandoned and unheard. This, in turn, has led to sleepless nights and persistent feelings of helplessness and frustration.
In light of this dire situation, I urgently demand a swift and unambiguous resolution, including an immediate refund of the finance amount. Furthermore, I insist on the reimbursement of the £80 fee for the private registration transfer, as this only adds to the distress I have experienced throughout this harrowing process.
I implore you to approach this complaint with the utmost empathy and urgency, recognizing the profound impact it has had on my mental health and overall wellbeing. Failure to address these concerns promptly and sincerely will only exacerbate the emotional toll this situation has taken on my life.
I sincerely hope that you will rise to the occasion and demonstrate the integrity and compassion befitting a reputable car sales company, working earnestly to rectify this grievous situation.
Thank you”
“Dishonest Vehicle Servicing
We have bought our last 2 cars from Arnold Clark, after taking our most recent for a service (included when we bought the car) and we were advised that our from pads needed changing and we were quoted, what I consider a high price. They also said we needed 2 new tyres, again charging a premium for doing the work. We rejected the work due to the cost and booked the car into my local garage that we have used for years. After inspection the pads needed no work and I checked the "bald" tyres with the lowest reading showing 3.4mm. I find this shocking, I always recommended Arnold Clark as the sales service has been great, unfortunately I feel like they have tried to be deceitful with the after sales and service and will no longer buy from them.
Date of experience: 03 August 2023”
“A truly awful experience with Arnold Clark. Sold me a three year old car last year and it's only done 35,000 and it has packed in. Took it to the local garage who confirmed that the car has a major fault and will need to go back to Arnold Clark. Spoke to Arnold Clark helpdesk last week who clearly couldn't care less and the earliest they can even look at my car is 22nd August and I am without a car for 5 weeks. They're happy to sell you a car but as soon as you're out the door they couldn't care less and their after sales service is abysmal.”
“Please please do not buy from ANY Arnold Clark branch. The cars they sell are not fit for purpose. The sales people and managers tell the most disturbing lies! They really do think they can walk over anybody. The WORST buying experience of my life. Vehicle rejected by finance company as problems started after 9 days of ownership. The warranty/ service promises are absolutely ridiculous- not worth £1 let alone 100s. What they don’t tell you is wherever you get that vehicle from ( usually Scotland) is the ONLY branch that you deal with. So being 400 miles away diesnt really offer much hope when you have bought a complete pile of un drivable Cr**! horrible people, useless cars and even the CEO couldn’t care less. Please avoid or if you have been stung- fight them all the way. They need closing down!”
“I want to share our horrendous experience to help others avoid our mistake. We got an 5 year old car from Arnold Clark Seafield, Edinburgh a year and a half ago. In that time it’s been driven less than 2 months. After the first month it went into limp mode. A car garage told us it should never have been sold to us so we went to Santander our loan company to reject the car. They told us they needed to give Arnold Clark a chance to fix it. It sat in Arnold Clark’s garage for over 2 months before they attempted to fix it and less than 2 months later it went into limp mode again. We spoke to Santander and arnold clark attempted to fix it again. We told Santander we wanted the car rejected but they told us Arnold Clark had stated it was an different problem so they would be unable to reject it and because Arnold Clark had it at the garage so long we were not out with our warranty and could no longer deal with our case leaving us with an car that won’t work and no protection. The car broke down another 2 x times and each time Arnold Clark gave a different excuse. We have been to the ombudsman but because we didn’t take our warranty we had no protection leaving us completely screwed and stuck with an car that should never have been sold in the first place and is clearly not nor has ever been road worthy,”
“Wouldnt buy from them if I were you
Anyone thinking of buying a car from Arnold clark think again. Absolute shocking customer service from them!!! Lesson well and truelly learnt on our behalf. Taking back our faulty car and will fix it ourselves. Just short of 8 weeks they have had our car for a repair which is required and it has not even been touched. They sold us the car with this repair required too!! Communication is shocking passed to and fro. Never using them for anything again.”
“Bought a pre reg dacia logan from Arnold Clark kingsway dundee start getting problems with adblue warning light coming on checked adblue level ok then go into safe mode contact dealership bring it in said faulty sensor done under warranty few weeks later same light same fault back to kingsway not to bore you this happen six times over a period of 13 months ask renault to change car then dpf warning light came on car in to limp mode said I needed new dpf wasn't covered under warranty I would have to pay 1200 for replacement asked for old unit to be left in boot when I came to collect car no old dpf in boot when back to reception mechanic came to speak to me said the old one is still on the car but they charged me for a replacement back on the renault got a refund from Arnold clark renault then said this connected to my ad blue problem which Arnold Clark denied few weeks later car 200 miles out of warranty ad blue like on again dpf blocked again said it would need new chip new dpf new sensor total cost £6099 no contribution from renault no contribution from Arnold Clark took them 14 weeks to repair no loan car no help head office useless Eddie Hawthorn the boss would answer emails don't buy a car from Arnold clark.”
“Their business model is to buy cars at auctions and the resell them.
Often happens that the car they buy is faulty.
When you're lucky, they fix it and then sell it to you.
I was unlucky: my car wasn't fixed and they sold it to me in a faulty condition.
Unfortunately I noticed the issue after the 14 days return time frame (14 days...really??) and got stuck with it.
From there on, good luck get anything back from customer service, they have never answered any call nor any email. They have completely disappeared.
I've started a claim with the finance company (FCA) and the 6-8 weeks process just to give me a call back with some useful information (6-8 weeks!!!), didn't work: Arnold Clark didn't return their calls neither!
I had to get the car back from the garage because they didn't have space to keep my car there and this was interpreted as "he's happy with the fix" and even the finance claim was closed without action.
Long story short: don't buy from Arnold Clark, it'll be like buying from car auctions, you'd be better off buying directly from car auctions, at least it'll be half price and you know the vehicle could be faulty.”
“Update - arnold clark finally agreed to take the car back after 1 year of hell with no consideration on the distress and financial cost this whole situation has brought on me and my family, I told them that I was forced to accept this to get me back in the road and back to work but I’ve ended up paying nearly 500 per month for a car that I was paying 300p/m for, because they said the car was fine and they’ll take the car back and resell, then I found out the “perfectly working car” was sold at auction for half the price I bought it for! (Keep in mind the car had issues from 10mins after picking up and was never fully rectified)
Side note- notice the “approved cars” has been removed from marketing..
How the hell are they getting away with this!
Original post -
Bought car from Arnold Clark - major issues began before I got home.
- Noises from underneath (still there and worse)
- Diff replaced (quietened the above but now back worse)
- Cracked DPF (now fixed but car leaks oil everywhere since they had to strip the car back)
- Seriously corroded brake pads and discs and strut replacement (AC cumbernauld reported the week after selling branch MOTd the car and replaced)
- Convertible Roof Leaking (AC have tried twice to fix and the cars back at AC just now for the third ‘time-see further down)
- Noise from back left (still there and worse)
Bought car from AC and reported multiple issues when I got home from picking up.
Car taken to different branch the following week and more major faults reported by them that shouldn’t have passed MOT.
Told via call (recorded) the car could fail future MOTs and won’t have longevity even if the thousands to fix were spent (at this point I was under the impression we were only discussing the roof issue)
Discussed the limited options that AC offered which were win win for them? or lose lose for me?
AC decide to fix car (I raise my concerns with the sales manager and finance company about the conversations regarding “never being right and possibly failing future MOTs” and now being my responsibility.
- I was told the car is being fixed and that I was jumping to conclusions.
9 attempts to fix and the selling branch have paid well over £6000 (car still not fixed and never has worked without the issues)
Contacted DVSA who told me they sound like they were stalling me as I only had 3 months to report MOT issues, asked me to send them all the information I had regardless, but couldn’t act on my behalf.
Consumer advice agreed that I’d been sold a faulty product and provided me with 3x pre-written letters for the finance company, to which they ignored beyond the deadline. I eventually got a reply from them saying they were putting it down to mileage however my 2 options were to..
1. Return the car with a .35p per mile charge
2. Arnold Clark to “fully repair” the car and I receive a good will gesture.
Again, I raised my concerns they have had more than enough time and opportunity to fix the car to no avail but wasn’t willing to shell out more money to hand a car back that was sold with major faults and has been nothing but a nightmare, so hesitantly picked option 2.
This full process has taken one year and the cars never not been booked into AC. The car is now sitting in AC garage without an MOT and a cracked windscreen (cracked over winter and when Auto-glass came to install the screen the roof leaked on top of the installer and they refused to work on it as they would then be liable for Arnold Clark’s existing roof leak (fair enough).
Yesterday I was called by AC to tell me I was to drop off the courtesy car and that they couldn’t find a leak on my car (I’ve sent timestamped videos and images of the leak) and when I questioned about the noises they said “maybe it’s the brakes”. It wouldn’t elaborate further.
So now I can’t get the windscreen fixed because of the leak. AC say they look at the roof again but not the other issues and the courtesy cars to go back on Monday, I can’t get the car MOTd as it’s got a cracked windscreen and I can’t get the windscreen fixed because the next company will be liable for ACs “baby”.
Catch 22.
As of Monday my livelihood will be seriously affected as I’m self employed and have no long term means to get to work.
I’ve considered offering them a resoloution by taking another car from another branch, but realistically it’s an act of desperation as I need to get to work.
Just can’t believe they get away with this!
Ps. I traded in a car that never had any issues but was really high mileage. I had just taken on a large contract on that required me to drive to England regularly and I thought I was doing the right thing by updating to a car with less than half the mileage. I was wrong…”
“Huddersfield Arnold clark car still under warranty went in for a service a service they broke the locking wheel nut rang to say the car was ready but would have to pay for replacement and returned car in unsafe condition”
“Sold me a car they said had 7 years warranty but had invalidated that. Engine cracked and had my car for 7 months and in the meantime crashed it and didn’t bother to tell me. Found out about it when I had someone else’s insurer contact me. Denied all knowledge and treated like dirt the whole time.”
“Awful experience with the branch and overall customer service. We have had so many issues with our new car and they just give up on supporting you. They hide behind the customer service agents so that they can get away with it.”
“Awful awful awful...
Had car in three times for repair before rejecting the car under the Consumer Rights Act and what a stress it was. The lies they told the Ombudsmen to try and wriggle out of giving me my money back was ridiculous. Two years it took but won my case and exposed their lies in the process. Avoid this lot at all costs!”
