Group 1 Automotive UK

Very pleased with the service I received from here

Ever since group 1 took over BMW they have become the worst company to deal with. Never ever again will I be purchasing a car from any group 1 retailer, regardless of the offers they have. Synter is way better and never ever had any issues with servicing or purchasing. Stay clear for your own sanity and wellbeing.

Ive left my local vw branch in Maidstone negative review recently on google and as expected they’ve replied to my comment within few hours asking me for more details and to contact them on email address provided. I’ve sent them couple of emails and gave them my phone number as well. Unsurprisingly there’s was no response whatsoever! They only want to appear to take customers comments seriously but in reality they couldn’t care less

Fantastic great service.

Jack was most helpful

The whole experience was bad, enough to say that I was told I would not pay at all for a Mercedes me update which I already purchased, was told that I would be advised if I need to pay before proceeding with any actions.ended up with the workshop wanting me to pay more than 200£. My car was left the whole day and no one bothered to update me until I called. Of course no loan cars available so always be prepared to use your own transport. Need to mention that there has been a huge communication gap prior to this appointment and even a complaint which seems like it was a waste of time.

The staff were professional friendly showroom clean and tidy. From the first meeting with Joe to completing the purchase was seamless.

Excellent service from sales executive Amelia

My daughter purchased a four year old used Skoda Fabia for 9500 pounds from Group1 Skoda Maidstone in 2023. A couple of months later the battery failed completely and the AA stated that it must have been almost dead when sold to her. She returned to Group 1 who reluctantly replaced the battery even though it was under warranty. Six months on, I was valeting her car when I discovered rust in the boot. It was obviously old and predated her purchase. Again she returned to Group 1 where a battle of attrition began. She was sent to their approved repairer who confirmed they rust would have been on the car before my daughter purchased it. Unfortunately they couldn't repair it. Skoda boast a 150 point check on all used vehicles. This includes the battery health and spare tyre in the boot. The boot floor was new so must have been replaced by someone prior to it either being traded in to Skoda or before they sold it on. Either Skoda saw the rust and did nothing about it or they didnt do the 150 point check. ( I have a signed copy of their form claiming it had been done) Either way it brings their integrity into question and I believe it could amount to a criminal offence. To cut a long story short, it took six months of arguing and threats of legal action before the matter was resolved. Skoda UK and Group 1 bounced the issue back and forth like a tennis match. To their credit Skoda UK did eventually offer a small donation towards a replacement vehicle. Unable to sell the car anywhere else my daughter was forced to deal with Group 1 . They refused to offer any more than trade price for her Fabia and deducted their profit off another used car. In essence it cost them nothing. Buyer beware. Check any vehicle over very carefully regardless of who you buy it from. I ask the question, If a dealership takes a car in part exchange then discovers a fault that would wipe out their profit to repair what would they chose to do? So, a few weeks after this we were contacted by a new manager at Group1 Skoda Maidstone offering a free paint and upholstery protection package to make up for what had happened. She took up their offer and by appointment dropped her car off. She was told it would take a couple of hours so she waited nearby. Three hours later she called Group 1 asking if her car was ready. She was promised a call back but an hour later having had no call she went to the showroom. They were unable to find her car and had no idea if the work had been done. Needing to collect her children from school they gave her a courtesy car. When she got home and checked the insurance cover note they had given her it was in someone else's name. We had the guys full name, address, date of birth and driving licence details!!! [thankfully we are honest people] The same day her car was driven to our home but she was out. They hadn't phoned ahead to check so they had to take the car back to the showroom. Collecting her car the next day staff denied giving her someone else's details and blamed the delay on having to valet her car. I spoke with the manager who had made the original offer but he said there was nothing more he could do to make up for loss of earnings and the stress caused to my daughter. I contacted Group1 complaints but they havn't had the decency to respond. No one has asked for the insurance cover note back or asked me to destroy it.

WORST EVER EXPERIENCE GROUP 1 TOYOTA WARRINGTON On the 12th November 2024 a message appeared on the dashboard screen in the vehicle, a RAV Hybrid, warning that the Road Sign Assistance had stopped working and that I should contact the dealer. I contacted the dealer (Group 1 Toyota, Warrington) and took the vehicle, as arranged, to its premises on 19th November. The dealer did not solve the problem but did say that it would need the vehicle for longer. After telling the dealer that I was not happy with my experience, I asked to see a senior person. This was the Service Manager who informed me that the battery was probably losing its charge. He then went on to make the most ridiculous statements including: • You should drive it more • You should not use the hybrid mode • You should put it on a trickle charge each night • That I should have taken an image of the message, which only appeared when the vehicle is in motion; a highly dangerous and probably illegal activity I found these attempts to blame me for the dealer / Toyota’s problems utterly astonishing. At no point in the sales process was I told that I would have to do any of the above nor was I informed that as I was purchasing a hybrid vehicle, three months after purchase I would be asked not use this mode. I found it contemptible that having purchased a near top of the range vehicle, three months later I did not have a fully functioning car and that the dealer / Toyota were refusing to take accountability or responsibility. The conversation then continued as we were joined by the Head Technician. I was bombarded with much technical detail; as a non- technical person (I informed the dealer of this) I found this insulting. Eventually the Service Manager informed me that Toyota were aware of a possible problem with the battery and were developing a solution. Reluctantly and eventually, he arranged for the vehicle to go into the dealership on 16th December so that a new battery could be fitted. He confirmed that there would no cost to me for this. I agreed to this as I was dishonestly led to believe, by the dealer, that this would resolve the issue. At 10.27 on 10th December, I received a phone call from the dealer stating that the parts were not available, that the appointment for the 16th December would need to be cancelled and that I would be informed when the part was available and when another appointment for the corrective work would be made. I readily accepted this but now know that it was another lie. My tolerance and patience with this dreadful treatment was now finally exhausted. At 09.39 on 17th March 2025, after being totally ignored by Group 1 Toyota, Warrington - no contact whatsoever for three months; not even a courtesy phone call, e mail update or text, I decided to contact the dealer. I was informed that it was not on the system, clearly not only is this dealer an appalling communicator but also has no intention of solving problems created by it and Toyota. I asked for, and was promised, an urgent call back from a senior person. Needless to say, this was yet another lie and no such call back has been made by the dealer. It is strange that everything is on the system when the dealer wants to sell you something but it is only too ready to hide behind the “not on the system” excuse when a problem created by them occurs. I contacted Toyota by letter on 20th March, it responded 2nd April stating that it had sent my complaint to the dealer who would “work with me to provide a solution.” After yet again being ignored by the dealer I contacted Toyota again on 15th April who stated “I have reached out to them on multiple occasions to advise them to make contact with you.” I have been ignored again and had no contact whatsoever from the dealer. It is abundantly clear that this dealer couldn’t care less about customer service once it has sold and received payment for vehicles. I am now left with a vehicle that is less than a year old, not knowing if it is fully functional and a dealership / manufacturer that cannot be trusted. Over the years, my family has purchased four Toyota vehicles: two Ravs, one Corolla, one Yaris. After this dreadful experience we will not be purchasing Toyota products again nor we will ever use any of the Group 1 dealerships. As I have no confidence that anyone will make any attempt to resolve this issue it looks like this is the only course of action left open to me following this disgraceful experience and treatment, which has not only seriously damaged the Toyota brand but has also caused me considerable stress.

Easy to engage and interact with. Very simple to check in etc. work completed to time etc.

Bought a Mercedes EQE 300 on February 20th, 2024. The car was sold as new by Mercedes Benz of Southport (Owned by Group 1 Auto). In March 2025 I detected a fault with the sunroof. I took the vehicle to Mercedes Benz of Stratford (after sales) to be repaired under warranty. When MB Stratford (after sales) checked the vehicle to fix it they discovered that parts of the roof had been fixed with glue. I was not aware of this. Basically MB Southport sold a vehicle as new but it was repaired before it was sold as new. They did not conduct the repair properly and then sold the vehicle as new. Now Group 1 is closing MB Southport at the end of April. They asked me to send an email to tellusmore@group1 but nothing happened after that. This looks to me as fraudulent behaviour from an authorised Mercedes Benz seller.

Excellent communication from the sales Team. Staff knowledgable about their products

We were looking to update my wife’s car and, while it took a few minutes for someone to help us, the service provided thereafter was exceptional. Sophie was very helpful in tracking down the car we wanted to look at and allowing us to view it despite it not being prepared yet for the forecourt. They did everything they said they would and we took delivery of the vehicle on the day that had been agreed. The process was completed efficiently.

Top Class service from the Sales rep Arun and the finance manager. They both went above and beyond to help us with our new car.

GROUP 1 TOYOTA BURTON-ON -TRENT My husband and myself decided he wanted to view the new Toyota premier edition. As we entered the show room we were greeted with a hello from a lovely lady. We explained we had come to view a car we had phoned about. The lady went to fetch a salesman by the name of Paz, he greeted us with a smile and a welcome hand shake, we were invited to sit down and tell paz what we had called in for We were offered a test drive, discussed the car, price, and other things . We never felt pressured to buy, was treated politely and with respect and we were treated as valued customers. We decided to purchase the car which may I add we love and enjoy driving. May I just say a very big thank you to all the staff we meet especially paz and jo for making our experience with your dealership with the excellent customer service from start of walking into your showroom even up to the sale The part that smashed our expectations was when we picked our new car up Paz had covered it over and had a sign which said congratulations Mr and Mrs B on you new car from Paz, Jo and all the staff at Burton Toyota This experience would make us return in the future and recommend you to friends and family Once again thank you everyone at Group 1 Toyota, happy customers Mr and Mrs B and our lovley car Bruce

Jack, Zach and Tony were all very helpful. Appreciated the no pressure sell.

Very good, professional and friendly staff. Kept me informed of any issues with my car which was in for a service. the only issue i had was a long wait to check my car in and even a longer wait when i went to collect my car, despite the fact that it was complete and waiting for me to collect!

Everything is terrible. I had a car diagnostic and after that I started having a number of problems with the car. AdBlue sensors have failed and no longer respond. I asked to update the system because I was dropped by a kilometer when I turned off the engine, to which they replied that they couldn't. The worst service I've ever seen. One star is a lot for them. This place destroyed the Mercedes brand.

Great welcome from everyone. No sense of being rushed and friendly and professional staff. Handover was excellent and I can’t praise everyone highly enough