Drive Motor Retail Reviews 

Bought my 1st ever Vauxhall from drive Vauxhall 11 months ago,will definitely be my last Vauxhall purchase.just looked at service book and it has not been filled in,it says important that it is filled in by sellers.there were so many small things wrong with the purchase.i do not like the fact that the purchase was paperless and everything is online.if you try to contact drive Vauxhall you get somebody in Redcar or London etc,never the showroom you purchased from.as I said previously it is my 1st and last Vauxhall purchase.

While looking on a Car web site saw a Ford Ecosport at Aldershot with miles of 5181.Sent a message , Had a phone call from female asking if I wanted to view.
I explained that Gov. DVLA shows the true mileage of over 51K Not 5,she got really angry .
Clocking cars is illegal , getting details via trade is bad , Not a Company I would want deal with . All that woman had to do was thank me for the details and I might have looked at the Ford.
If Drive Motor Retail read this I want my details removed from your database as DGPR notice being informed to You . I see the correct miles showing 52K has been added .

Absolute Disgrace – Predatory Stalling Tactics & Bad Faith Dealing

I am writing this review to publicly document the appalling, bad-faith treatment my household has received from Drive Vauxhall Ipswich regarding our vehicle, registration AV24ZVN. Both my partner and I are physically disabled and managing documented mental health conditions, relying entirely on our vehicle for vital mobility. The level of customer detriment we have experienced here is a severe violation of the core principles of fair treatment.

The timeline of events speaks for itself:

• Point of Sale: Dealership management engaged in severe misconduct, attempting to pressure us into an act of insurance fraud over email just to push the finance package through. We have the written email proof. Furthermore, vehicle AV24ZVN was sold under false pretenses with a missing service history that is completely absent from the Vauxhall Digital Service Record (DSR) system and Drive's own database.

• Initial Repair Booking: An initial repair appointment was proactively booked to fit a replacement windscreen and address the missing history. It was only after this that the dealership explicitly offered to fabricate a brand-new, false service book to cover the gap.

• 10th August: An independent forensic inspection (Scotia Report) took place, confirming the vehicle suffered from inherent manufacturing defects across four categories: paint defects, electrical faults, a required windscreen replacement, and the missing service history.

• Good Faith Coordination: Upon discovering the severe paint and electrical defects on AV24ZVN, we postponed the initial booking specifically to wait for the manager, Sam, to return from his holiday at the end of August. This was a logical, common-sense decision to ensure that all major faults could be addressed cohesively in a single visit, avoiding unreasonable inconvenience for our vulnerable household.

• 3rd & 9th September (MotoNovo Requests): At the explicit request of MotoNovo Finance, we presented the car to manufacturer-authorized Vauxhall body shops (East Bilney Coachworks & Fix Auto Felixstowe) to gather official repair quotes. Their advanced Audatex diagnostics confirmed the paint failure was an inherent factory fault and uncovered widespread, actively spreading panel corrosion—including worn paint completely down to the bare metal on the sills—requiring a massive 7-working-day structural repair scope.

• 9th September Face-to-Face: Despite holding their own authorized network's corrosion reports—requested directly by the finance provider—the manager at Drive Ipswich looked us in the eye and attempted to dismiss bare, exposed metal and active structural rust on the sills of a nearly new 2024 vehicle as "acceptable fair wear and tear."

• 29th September: Instead of resolving the issue or executing a combined fix, the manager forced us into an exhausting, repetitive loop, demanding we return to East Bilney for even more pictures. This was a transparent, bad-faith attempt to trigger inspection fatigue and stall for time.

We formally refused to engage in further stalling and demanded a final vehicle rejection. Drive Ipswich completely breached their trade resolution cutoff on 19th October, going completely radio silent, ignoring our mandatory driveway collection adjustments, and leaving a vulnerable household completely stranded.
Due to these barrier-induced delays, we have formally escalated this entire matter to the government regulators. Our case is officially active with the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) to force MotoNovo Finance to unwind the full contract and pay our total out-of-pocket losses.

Avoid this dealership at all costs. They will use every predatory stall tactic in the book to try and trap you with a failing, rusting asset.

Shocking customer service at Drive Vauxhall Nuneaton- twice!
The staff on the service reception need some serious training regards customer service. The first occasion was a few months ago when my wife's Corsa had to go in for a software update, only to be told when I dropped the car off that they needed both keys, despite two separate phone calls from them previously to confirm the booking, and no mention of needing to take both keys in when dropping the car off, which meant I had to go back home for the other key. Then today when dropping the car off for a routine service, I was told that I would be contacted when the car was ready but no phone call at all. Luckily I decided to go into the garage anyway approx 10 minutes before closing time, and was then fed some absolute rubbish as to why I hadn't had a phone call to say it was ready. When I challenged the fact that I'd had a 'healthcheck video' sent to me at 13:00 so it was clearly ready earlier, I then had a half hearted apology as the person on the reception desk had gone home. I'm more inclined to think that I've been messed about after voicing my displeasure regards the two key incident previously. Sloppy doesn't even come close. I would find a different Vauxhall dealer if I were you.

Jose Hidalgo , from drive vauxhall ipswich , very helpful and friendly and very efficient would definitely recommend 10/10 customer service

I honestly can’t thank Harry enough for all his help throughout the process of buying my new car. From the very beginning, when I first came to view the car, he was fantastic. He was so helpful, friendly and funny, which made a big difference to me as someone who doesn’t know a great deal about cars.

The whole process was a bit of a kerfuffle, as I put a deposit down and was waiting for a loan to come through to pay the remainder. I then went on holiday and couldn’t access my bank account from abroad, which made things a little more complicated! Throughout it all, Harry was patient and understanding. He even spoke to a family member of mine to reassure them that I would still be able to collect my car when I returned.

I then had a bit of a hiccup when I returned from holiday late on Saturday night, excited to collect my new car on Sunday, only to find out that collections weren’t available at weekends. Despite a few things not going quite to plan, Harry kept me updated throughout.

I also want to thank Jamie, who was really helpful when it came to talking me through the payments and warranty. He made sure everything was explained clearly and was great at helping me understand everything.

Buying a car can feel quite daunting when you don’t know much about the process, but Harry made the whole experience much easier. His patience, communication and reassurance really made a difference, and I’m very grateful for all his help.

Thank you so much, Harry!

Appaling company. Took my 1 year old MG4 in for a service, at the time of booking we told them that the software needed looking at as it was glitchy and the headlights dint work sometimes. Just had a call to say i can collect car at the end of the day but they haven't had a chance to do the diagnostics as they only have 3 MG technicians over the company, i.e. they are not at this garage. I was told i need to book it in again to get the diagnostics done separately, but they could not tell me a date that they would have a technician on site. All I can say is, what a pathetic business. I rather use someone else and let my rac cover lapse. RUBBISH

Had the pleasure of visiting the Hyundai Scarborough site to test drive the Kona EV. I was contacted by Stuart Chadwick a few days before to make sure everything was correct and during that call he arranged for me to test a car similar to the one I was interested in purchasing. The car was clean, charged and ready for me at the time I arrived and Stuart showed me the features of the car. After the test drive I was unsure what spec to go for so to help me I was offered a test drive in the N line spec Kona. The car was perfect, the customer care second to none so I placed my order. Big thank you to Stuart Chadwick for his assistance over the past few days and to the rest of the sales team for accommodating me.

WORST CUST SERVICE IN THE WORLD

BEEN WAITING 3 DAYS FOR A PART EVERY DAY WE WILL DELIVER TODAY CALL AT END OF DAY OH IT WILL BE TOMORROW NEXT DAY COMING TODAY CALL AT END OF DAY OH IT WILL BE TOMORROW 3 DAYS WAITING FOR A PART IT WOULD OF BEEN QUICKER TO BUY OFF EBAY NOT TO MENTION CHEAPER. ANOTHER DAY OF WAITING CUST CAR OFF ROAD 3 DAYS NOW NEVER USE THIS COMPANY IF ITS GOING OK GREAT ANY PROBLEMS AWFUL .IT ALL STARTED AS WE RETURNED A PART THAT THEY HAVE LOST AND IVE EVEN PAID FOR THAT PART

Stay as far away from this place as you can ‼️‼️
One star is too high for them
I’m going to keep it short …………
Bought a vehicle for over 20k in MAY got told 10 days later when the engine management lite came on by ADAM SMITH the sales man, NOT to drive it take it to a specialist AND GET A TAXI TO AND FROM THE HOSPITAL FOR YOUR HIP REPLACEMENT SURGERY 😡
😡😡😡
ADAM SMITH CLAIMED HIMSELF TO BE A SUPER SALESMAN WORKING FOR DRIVE DIFECT FOR OVER 30 YEARS NEEDS TO TAKE THE TRUMPET HE IS BLOWING FROM HIS OWN BACKSIDE AND THEN BE SENT TO THE SCRAP YARD ( THIS IS A VERY KIND DESCRIPTION OF HIS ATTITUDE & CUSTOMER SERVICE)

After 3 months we were reimbursed around £2000 for repair cost & rental vehicles ( this was after lots of correspondence back & forth )
A few days later BIG PROBLEMS AGAIN 😡
This time I had the pleasure of speaking with THE GENRAL MANAGER who during on conversation had the audacity to TELL ME IT WAS A 50 / 50 CHANCE OF GETTING A GOOD VERSION OF THE VEHICLE WE HAD PURCHASED FROM THEM 😡😡😡
We are still totally AMAZED by both the MANAGEMENT AND STAFF at DRIVE DIRECT LEICESTER

At the advice & experience of a vehicle specialist we have resulted in going to another very PROFESSIONAL CAR DEALERSHIP purchased another new vehicle CAUSING US TO BE £12,000 OUT OF POCKET

DRIVE DIRECT LEICESTER THANK YOU, BOTH MANAGEMENT & CERTAIN SALES STAFF
IT WE COULD COMMENT ON A NIGHTMARE OF AN EXPERIENCE, STRESS, UPSET AND MEMORIES OF WHAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN A POSITIVE LIFE EXPERIENCE WE WOULD LIKE TO SAY YOU HAVE CERTAINLY EXCELLED YOURSELF

HOW DO THESE INDIVIDUALS SLEEP AT NIGHT 😡

I had specifically searched only for vehicles currently available at the Leicester branch for a reason. I found a really nice car but it turned out it was actually at their Aldershot branch. "That's no problem sir, because we can deliver it to the Leicester branch for free once you've paid the £99 deposit, refundable straight away if you change your mind", fair enough. Then a guy from Aldershot phoned me and he's talking about finance and warranty deals. I said "I just wanna pay the cash price for the car" then he told me I'd have to pick it up myself from Manchester. I mentioned that they were supposed to deliver it to Leicester and he said it would be an extra £250 for a driver. I agreed to it but then he said they still couldn't deliver it! So I told them I'm not interested because the car was 130 miles away, and could I have my deposit back. Their admin seems to be inconsistent between branches and as I write this I still haven't received my £99 deposit back 3 days later.

I would not recommend booking in for a service or repair. The man on the front desk was very arrogant and I would not return to them based on this. You can not book an appointment and they will not give you a tough time for collection. This is obviously the way they operate as the guy could not care a less. Poor customer service

The customer service from start to finish was amazing!
Johnny went above and beyond, he managed to find me a car to test drive on the day I went in, he was so easy to deal with, great communication, explained everything in great detail and answered all my questions…I couldn’t recommend him highly enough.
Thank you!!

Had a great experience with Richard again, who came in on his day off to look after us! He sold a car for my wife a few years back and was so nice we came back again. Highly recommend coming here, for the coffee if nothing else. Really trustworthy and kind.

We love Richard Biddle at Drive Direct in Leicester. He has looked after us throughout the car sale experience. I would highly recommend Richard as a car sales person and wouldn't go to anyone else. He even came in on his day off to look after us and topped up the drinks machine...which is also highly recommended, especially the creamy hot chocolate! Both myself and my husband have purchased a car each from Richard.
5* plus service. Richard you're the best! X

Great service from start to finish! The whole car-buying experience was made smooth, straightforward, and stress-free by Darren. Really happy with my purchase and would definitely recommend!

Jose Hidalgo, from Drive Vauxhall Ipswich.
Jose is the best sales person I have ever met from initial contact to the day I picked my car, he has been fantastic to work with, he has lots of patience and professionalism. Great customer service provider.
Excellent job Jose, keep on doing what you are doing to support your customers.

Great Customer Service 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

I received my car a few weeks ago from Connor Canvess at the Scarborough branch.
He was very patient, professional and hugely helpful, I was very impressed and will use this dealership again. Highly recommend.

Jose Hidalgo from Drive Vauxhall Ipswich , very impressed with our experience very friendly and helpful explained everything to us
Thank you

Joe and Phil at the MG Scarborough site were absolutely brilliant. Attentive, responsive, helpful. 10/10.