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I would strongly advise people to think carefully before purchasing a car from Arnold Clark. While the sales experience was excellent, the aftercare and service I received afterwards was extremely disappointing. To begin with, the sales process itself was fantastic. The sales representative was helpful, knowledgeable, and answered all of my questions. At that stage I had a very positive impression of the company. However, shortly after purchasing the car I noticed the air conditioning was making a strange and clearly abnormal noise whenever it was turned on. At first I assumed it might be normal and ignored it for a few weeks, but after mentioning it to friends and family it was obvious something was wrong. As I had purchased an additional warranty, I booked the car into the Wolverhampton Arnold Clark service centre. They inspected the car and told me they had identified the issue and would order the necessary part. I returned once the part had arrived and was told the repair had been completed. Unfortunately, when I collected the car the exact same noise was still present. From that point onwards, the situation became extremely frustrating. I returned my car to Arnold Clark multiple times for the same issue and each time I was told the problem had been fixed. However, every time I collected the vehicle the fault was still there. In total, I had to take my car back around six times for the same “repair” that had clearly not been carried out properly. At one stage I even showed the technician the issue in person. Initially I was told nothing was wrong, but after a few minutes he acknowledged that the noise was in fact present. When I tried to raise a complaint about the situation, I was incredibly frustrated to be told that I could not make a complaint until the repairs had been completed. When I contacted customer services and spoke directly with the Wolverhampton service centre, I was even told that they do not always properly check cars after repairs have been carried out, which was honestly shocking to hear. Eventually, it was arranged for my car to be sent to the Oldbury branch to be looked at by FIAT specialists. The difference in service was night and day. They identified the issue and fixed it on the very first visit, even arranging collection and drop-off for my car. I cannot thank that team enough for finally resolving the problem. In the meantime I had submitted a formal complaint and waited around 2–3 weeks for a response. When I finally heard back from a senior member of staff, I was simply told that “cars obtain faults.” This completely missed the point of my complaint. I fully understand that faults can happen — my issue was that I was sold a car with a fault and then had to return six separate times while being repeatedly told the problem had been fixed when it clearly had not. From March to November it took eight months to finally have the issue properly resolved. At that stage, I chose not to continue with my complaint because it had become clear that customer complaints hold little to no weight within the company. While the sales team were excellent, the aftercare service at the Wolverhampton branch was extremely poor and the handling of my complaint made the experience even more frustrating. If you are considering buying a car from Arnold Clark, I would strongly recommend you think about what the aftercare experience might be like if something goes wrong.
My consultant Aidan McGinley was fantastic. He found me a vehicle that I wanted with the lowest possible mileage and age for my budget. He was great at keeping in touch too and notified me that my car would be available earlier than originally planned. Overall, very satisfied with my journey.
Reviews provided by dealership customers who were invited to provide feedback on their sales experience using TrustPilot.
(20,435 vehicles in group)
