Drive Motor Retail Reviews 

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

Valued a nissan qashqai at £156. Riddiculous offer.

I genuinely cannot believe how badly we have been treated by Drive Vauxhall Bristol (or Drive Motor Retail - same business).

A few months ago, we booked a test drive for an electric Corsa at the North Bristol branch. We had a confirmed appointment and drove 45 minutes to get there, only to arrive and be told that the car had already been sold. We were told they could potentially try to get another one sent from elsewhere, but ultimately we had completely wasted our journey and left extremely disappointed.

You would think that was a one-off. Apparently not.

Today, we called the East Bristol branch to arrange a test drive for the same car. Again, we went through the booking process. Again, we received confirmation of our appointment. And again, we drove 45 minutes to the dealership… while I am eight months pregnant… only to walk through the door and be told that the car had been sold and we couldn’t test drive it.

How does this happen TWICE?

If a vehicle has been sold, why are you confirming appointments and allowing customers to travel all the way to your dealership to test drive a car that isn’t available? Once is poor organisation. Twice, at two different branches, makes us seriously question how this company handles test-drive bookings.

Today, Mike booked our appointment and John was the consultant who greeted us at the branch with the wonderful news that the car we’d specifically travelled there to drive wasn’t actually available. What made the situation even worse was the complete lack of apology or concern. When we explained that this was the second time Drive Vauxhall had done this to us, the response was essentially, “Yeah, alright.”

No apology. No acknowledgement of the wasted journey. Nothing.

We have now spent around three hours driving to and from Drive Vauxhall dealerships across two separate occasions for confirmed test drives that couldn’t actually happen.

It is incredibly frustrating, disrespectful of customers’ time and, frankly, an awful way to sell cars. We were genuinely interested in buying a Corsa Electric, but after being treated like this twice, we certainly won’t be buying one through Drive Vauxhall.

Your team should be seriously disappointed with the level of service being provided.

Absolutely would not recommend Drive Vauxhall Bristol.

I recently bought a Vauxhall Astra GS from Drive Darlington and honestly couldn’t be happier with the whole experience. From start to finish, Raul Husulei was absolutely fantastic. He was incredibly helpful, friendly and so knowledgeable, and made the whole process of buying my new car feel really easy and stress-free.

Raul went above and beyond throughout my purchase. He kept me regularly updated on how everything was coming along, including the progress of getting the car ready for me, which I really appreciated. I never had to chase for updates and always knew what was happening. He was also happy to answer any questions I had and explain everything properly, without ever making me feel pressured.

I also have to mention the garage team, who were brilliant in getting my Astra ready for collection so quickly after I purchased it. They worked really hard to get everything sorted and ready for me in such a short space of time, which was genuinely appreciated.

What I’ve really loved is that Raul’s help didn’t just stop once I’d collected the car either. He’s since checked in with me to see how I’m getting on and how much I’m enjoying the car, which I thought was such a lovely touch and really shows how much he cares about his customers.

I’m absolutely over the moon with my Astra and couldn’t recommend Raul and the whole team at Drive Darlington enough. Raul is a real credit to the company and I’ll definitely be recommending him and Drive to everyone I know. Thank you again for making buying my new car such a positive experience! 😊🚗

Van went in for a recall. Now the engine light is on and drive vauxhall want to charge me. No faults before the recall and software update. Google the symptoms and its now a common thing but vauxhall are denying and faults or responsibility. They just want a payment. No one will say what parameters have been changed

Had exceptional service when my car went in for repair to the Darlington branch.

John Wears and Christine Mudd kept me fully updated.

Hight recommend.

Extremely disappointing experience – would not recommend.

I purchased a Vauxhall Mokka from Drive Vauxhall Nuneaton in April 2026. Unfortunately, what should have been a straightforward purchase turned into months of chasing the dealership to resolve issues that should have been dealt with at the point of sale.

The vehicle was supplied with only one key. I was assured that a second key would either be located and sent to me, or that the dealership would arrange for a replacement key to be made. Despite numerous promises, this was never actioned.

The V5C was also not available when I purchased the vehicle. I was repeatedly assured that this was being dealt with. After the original salesperson apparently left the business, another member of staff took over and again assured me that the V5C had been ordered and that the replacement key would be arranged through a third party.

The problem was that these assurances were not followed through. I subsequently discovered that the V5C had not actually been ordered, despite being told that it had. I was also told that the necessary V62 application had been completed, only to discover that this had not been done either, leaving me to complete and pay for the application myself.

Communication then became increasingly difficult. Emails were not answered and calls stopped being returned. I even had to arrange mail redirection when moving home because I had been told the V5C had been sent, despite it apparently not having been sent.

The lack of the V5C also meant that I could not simply arrange the replacement key myself, so the dealership’s failure to deal with the paperwork created further delays. What should have been resolved shortly after purchase was ultimately only completed months later.

In the end, it was the finance company, rather than the dealership, that stepped in and resolved the situation. I had to arrange the V5C and replacement key myself and then seek reimbursement from the finance company for the costs incurred.

I am pleased that the finance company ultimately dealt with the matter and reimbursed the costs, but I am extremely disappointed that it took their intervention to get something as basic as the vehicle documentation and promised spare key resolved.

The most frustrating part of the experience was not simply the delays, but being repeatedly told that things had been done when they had not. This resulted in a significant amount of wasted time, inconvenience and stress chasing matters that should never have required this level of escalation.

Based on my experience, I would not recommend purchasing a vehicle from this dealership. If you do choose to buy from them, I would strongly advise making sure that everything promised is confirmed in writing and independently checked, rather than relying on assurances that something has been actioned. At the time of leaving this review, the only reimbursement I’ve received has been from the finance company and nothing from the dealership.

Looking to purchase a new or nearly new Hyundai Santa Fe. Contacted them via their chatbot, website call back request and tried calling their Scarborough dealership (only to hear pre recorded marketing spiel). Three days later still no response. I'm amazed they are still in business with such poor customer service. Now purchased vehicle from elsewhere. My advise if the customer service is so poor you'd be better looking elsewhere.

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Tell us more about your experience
I am leaving this review about my experience with Drive Motor Retail – MG Weston-super-Mare.
I left my car with the authorised service centre for several documented issues, including outdated navigation maps, system errors and repeated infotainment reboots while driving.
I provided screenshots and video evidence.
When I collected the car later that day, most of the original issues had not been resolved.
What made the experience much worse was what happened afterwards.
I was told that no software update had been carried out, yet after collection the software information was different and some infotainment functions had changed.
Then I discovered a completely new issue.
The radio, which had been working before the service visit, had completely stopped working afterwards.
This was not poor reception or an intermittent problem. The radio simply no longer worked after the vehicle had been in the workshop.
I expected an authorised service centre to take ownership of a new fault that appeared immediately after their intervention and to investigate it urgently.
Instead, the customer service was extremely disappointing.
The following day I contacted the service department repeatedly. Several times I was told that someone would call me back.
Nobody did.
I was later told that a manager would contact me.
Again, nobody called.
I had to chase the service department again myself the following morning.
Even then, instead of treating the new fault as urgent, I was effectively told that nothing could be done quickly and that another appointment might be around a month away.
There were also other examples of poor communication. A bodywork issue reported when I dropped the car off was not passed to the relevant department as promised.
For me, the biggest problem was not simply that the original faults were not resolved.
It was the lack of ownership, communication and aftercare once a new fault appeared immediately after the workshop visit.
For an authorised service centre operating under Drive Motor Retail, I expected a much higher standard of customer care, accountability and professionalism.
Instead, I experienced repeated broken promises of callbacks, poor communication and a complete lack of urgency.
My advice to anyone using MG Weston-super-Mare is to document everything before leaving your vehicle there. Take photos, screenshots and videos of the vehicle and its functions before handing it over.
Based entirely on my own personal experience, I cannot recommend this service department.

Richard Biddle thankfully helped with a test drive that although had been arranged, had not entered the branch's system and without him, we would have had a wasted journey.

Terrible, completely ruined my experience buying my first car. Pushy sales, encouraged to sign up to financial agreement didn't need, misleading said to do it this certain way then change later as meant better deal, lack transparency with documentation, poor communication, resulting in family member having help me, refusal to give me the legal documents meant I pulled out of the sale. I thought buying from big company would avoid things like this, how wrong I was.

I booked my car (which is under two years old) into the service department at Drive Leamington specifically to investigate an escalating electrical fault. I was explicitly clear during booking that I wanted the electrical systems, fuses, and wiring checked—not just the bulb changed, as the rear bulb had blown repeatedly and warning lights were flashing randomly.When I arrived, they had completely ignored my instructions. They simply took the spare bulb I provided, changed it, and performed absolutely no investigation. When I challenged this, the manager was incredibly arrogant and argumentative. He dismissively claimed that if the bulb worked, the electrics were fine, showing a complete lack of basic technical understanding and zero customer care. The young receptionist was visibly embarrassed and sympathetic to my situation, which was the only positive part of the visit.To make matters worse, they attempted to charge me an outrageous £75 for merely swapping a bulb that I supplied myself. The manager adamantly refused to back down. It was only after he listened back to the recorded booking call—which proved I was telling the truth—that he finally relented and dropped the charge. Shockingly, he didn't even have the decency or manners to come out and apologise to me directly. Instead, he made the young receptionist deliver the message.
This dealership completely ignored my clear instructions, failed to diagnose an electrical fault on a nearly new car, and treated me with utter disrespect. Avoid this service department.

Jose Hidalgo from Drive Vauxhall Ipswich, A fantastic experience, a very helpful, informative and knowledgeable gentleman.

Both myself and mother are extremely happy with our dealings with Mr Hidalgo.

Rgds,

Mrs Margaret Vaughan-Chatfield
Mr Edward Vaughan-Chatfield

Jose Hidalgo from Drive Vauxhall Ipswich ,
Very nice and helpful man

Would love to give -10 for their customer service the biggest disappointment, honestly went to see a car that they failed to communicate to us regarding and they failed to full fill promises they made regarding sending a video of the car, allowed a walk in customer infront of a customer that had booked an appointment sat there for 1 hour to be told that the car was sold despite we reserved it, what a absolute joke, the manager just said I’m sorry and walked away the shittest experience ever they do not know how to treat their customers!!

Please stay away from the branch in Bristol!!!!

Staff do not communicate with each other or the customers , Nathan had been blamed for breaking all promises

And manager stood their saying walk in have more
Priority than people who have an appointment, lied to our face saying they had an appointment!!!!

Biggest mistake of my life going there!!

Avoid at all costs!!!! Don’t be fooled disgusting customer service!!

Do not use this garage!
Went to Hyundai drive motor scarborough.
The mechanical quality of the cars are very poor!
They sold me a Hyundai Tucson last year and the quality of the car was bad from start. After a week or so management light came on and found DPF filter blocked they had the car back and said they cleared the filter. Few days later problem happened again. They finally replace the filter or so i was told.
12 months later and within my recommended mileage my car was due for service. On the week it was booked in my turbo had failed and car brokedown so took it to local garage. The garage told me the turbo failed due to oil starvation, they said the oil was that thick and gloopy that there was no way the car had an oil change.
Hyundai drive motor shown me documentation that it was done but believe documentation saying it had been done compared to actually doing it are 2 very different.
I gave them opportunities to look at how bad the oil is but instead they wanted me to pay to have the car took to them so they could work on it and to make more money off me.
Very poor garage!

Very disappointed with how I have been treated by Drive Motor Retail Stockton-on-Tees. I purchased an Audi Q2 outright in February 2026 and reported problems shortly afterwards, including grinding when reversing, parking-sensor issues and the promised warranty not being properly arranged.

I have repeatedly emailed Mr Robinson asking for help and requesting details of their Alternative Dispute Resolution provider, but my emails have been ignored and the problems remain unresolved. I have given the dealership several opportunities to respond and resolve this matter.

I expected much better customer service after purchasing a car from a large dealership. I hope someone from senior management will now acknowledge my complaint, contact me and take responsibility for resolving it. If I do not receive a response, I will have no alternative but to take the matter further through the appropriate channels.

The staff at Bury St Edmunds are really nice and helpful, this is the second car I've bought from this garage.
Saw the car online on Saturday, called in and had a test drive, sorted out all financial details and picked it up on the Monday. Good price for trading in my old car and good options on extra's if I needed them.
One member of staff dealt with the whole experience and was excellent.
Brilliant customer service and the whole experience was good.

If I could give them a negative star I would. I bought an MG from them in February. By the time I got home the screen wouldn’t work and by the Monday the battery was drained and I had to call the AA out. It took me two weeks before they returned my call. They replaced the screen and
Claimed to have put a new battery on. In the following three weeks I had to call the AA out four times and was told there was an electrical fault
On the car which kept draining the battery and it needed a drain test. A month later I still hadn’t heard back from the garage after multiple calls. I went to another MG garage who informed me electrical faults were not covered under the warranty even though I had only had the two months and the fault was on the car from purchase. I wanted to put it in part ex and was told in two months it had depreciated by £4000.
In the end I had to buy a new car and take the hit. Staff are lovely with you until you purchase a car but their after care is appalling. I would never buy another car off them or recommend them to anyone

We contacted Drive Redcar after we viewed a car online. A gentleman called Chris Lamplugh reached out to us,we told him that we could not get to the garage to view the car so he graciously agreed to bring the car to us so we could have a drive of the car.Nothing was a problem for him,we concluded the deal within a week and we love the car. Thanks again Chris.