Big Motoring World - West Malling Reviews 

We bought a car from Big Motoring World and paid extra for an extended warranty, having been assured it would give us full peace of mind. In reality, it has been the complete opposite.

Less than a year later, the car developed a fault. When we tried to take it back to their Snodland service centre, we were told we couldn’t as it was now over six months and tit had nothing to with them. Had it been within the first 6 months then they would have help but unfortunately they can not and was advised to use third-party garages. We were directed to Kwik Fit and Halfords, but both refused to deal with Big Motoring World. Several other local garages also declined as well.

While speaking to some of  these garages to understand why, a consistent theme came up. Many said they avoid working with Big Motoring World due to ongoing issues—long delays on the phone to third-party warranty providers, difficulty getting approvals, and problems with payments. Some also shared concerns based on their past experience of vehicles coming in with faults shortly after purchase.

We were left without a car for nearly two weeks just trying to find a garage willing to take the job on.

When we finally did, the warranty process was extremely difficult. The insurer required the garage to carry out intrusive investigation work before even considering the claim. While we expected to pay for diagnostics, we were never told we’d have to cover significant strip-down costs just to prove the fault.

The total repair bill came to just over £2,000, and the warranty only covered around £400. We had no choice but to pay the remaining balance ourselves just to get the car back. The entire process took around six weeks, leaving us without a usable vehicle.

Even the recovery company we dealt with had negative feedback about their experiences handling vehicles linked to Big Motoring World, which only added to our concerns.

Overall, this has been a frustrating, stressful, and expensive experience. The extended warranty was sold as comprehensive cover, but in reality it offered very little value. Based on our experience, I would strongly advise others to think carefully before relying on it.

Customer service: welcoming, professional and helpful.

My only issue is they were meant to get back to me regarding the the value of my car for part exchange but i didn't hear back.

Met my requirements and also the sales person wasn’t pushy to buy a car

Very good service

Very personal and easy experience. All who were concerned were extremely knowledgeable and did not try to make me buy something that I did not need.

Didn’t have an appointment booked but was still treated very well and help wa given, although the car I wanted wasn’t at there branch they found the closest car they had tha matched mine and let me test drive it, the aim was to go there to ask about finance and see the rate of approval for myself which Denis helped with very well and I ended up buying a car, we where offered drinks allot which is quite nice and had a good salesman

Double check what you are buying. Might breakedown as you get home. Aftersales is abyssmal. Think twice if its worth it.

The staff at the West Malling branch were really lovely and Ryan was amazing. He made me feel at ease straight away. He let me look at the car alone so that I didn't feel any pressure to rush or anything like that. Talking to both Ryan and the finance lady was really easy.

The downside to the visit was how long the process was. I had already reserved the car on line and done the initial finance application online and was pre-approved and from my appointment time of 9am to leaving with the car was 3 hours. I can only imagine how long the process would take if you had no idea what car you wanted.

I understand the need to confirm finance, do a test drive etc. But I just feel that all the waiting around for 3 hours was unnecessary.

Further to this, the open concept is not very private - it would be beneficial if tables were not as close together or if there were cubicles or something like that.

Not a harsh criticism, just some feedback but as I stated, the service was amazing. Well done to Ryan and I love the new ca

Salesman was very helpful (James) thank you.
Offered me all the thrills and spills which I wasn't and am never interested in but it's all in the sales chatter.
I was highly offended however on the PX offer on my old car. This is where they try and turn you over massively. There was a minimum offer if the car was in poor condition, it was far from poor and they offered me half the minimum they initially offered me. This was extremely insulting!

I had a very good experience purchasing my new car at Big Motoring World.
From booking a slot to view the car, The very helpful sales person and the handover person on collection all very good.
My only issue was buying an electric car with no charging cables. I would think this would be an essential component that comes with the car. After asking I was given a home charging cable the works but to different make of car. I will have to purchase cables myself at more expense to me.
Overall good.

A professional friendly service

Very helpful service from Carl. Straight forward and informative.

Scammers!
We found a car that sounded great, listed all the specs we were looking for (rear camera, parking sensors) but it was based at a far away site. You can get the car moved for £129, which we did as we figured based on the listing, it was very unlikely that we wouldn't buy the car after test driving it.
Did the test drive at the West Malling site, which was great, until we realised that neither the sensors or camera were actually included. We said we would still take the car if they would drop the price to reflect the missing features, but said that the only thing they would do was refund the moving cost if we bought a car from them. They kept pointing to a disclaimer underneath the listed features saying that 'the specification can vary' and that basically they can't guarantee it's accurate. The disclaimer says that it's is up to you to physically inspect the car on site, but that isn't possible until you have paid to move it locally.
They refused to budge on the price, and said they only drop prices after the cars have been online for a while. There was another car with (supposedly) the specs we wanted at another site, but we would again need to pay to move it, and at that point we couldn't trust that the specs were actually included. That car was also priced lower with less mileage, but they still said that they couldn't drop the current car's price. This was yesterday, and today it is now advertised online reduced by £400. They are also falsely advertising this as a drop of £729, down from £10,229. Yesterday it was priced at £9,900 with no previous drop listed, so they are artificially inflating the reduction.
We are now being sent round the houses to get our £129 back, with neither head office nor West Malling taking responsibility.
Wish I'd believed the other rubbish reviews, don't be suckered in by what seem to be good prices!

West Malling Branch was completely horrible! Please go away with them. Yesterday I reserved Citroen C5 Aircross on their website. We live in 50 miles away, When we were on the way, They called me and say someone in the Branch and bought it. I RESERVED THIS CAR RESERVED!!!!! THAT IS WHY I WAS ON THE WAY 50 MILES FAR TO GO!!! ANYWAY PLEASE NEVER EVER GO THERE!!!!!! THANKS!

Your team at West Malling gave me the incorrect figure for the PCP deal, we agreed a price and the next day I was told it was £100 more a month, this was not only disappointing but also worrying as the finance being one of the most critical things was wrong, this led me to worry about what else they could have got incorrect. I had to resolve the issue my self by finding my own PCP externally to bring it close to the monthly I had been told, which was also a lesser APR and with the same lender as you’d done the proposal with the higher rate and monthly payment. You should have honoured the price!

Good customer attention, time given to discuss privately.

Hello,
Great service. Professional from “A to Z”.

They were ok.
Very pushy to adding the nonsense add ons like tyre and alloy care.
Had to wait some time even though they new I was booked in.

Also they left only 20 miles in the fuel tank which was really annoying.

Very polite helpful