Carsa Gloucester
Barnwood Point, Corinium Ave, Gloucester, GL4 3HX
Carsa Gloucester
Barnwood Point, Corinium Ave, Gloucester, GL4 3HX
I recently looked at a 5.5-year-old BMW X3 MF70 YYU priced at £21,000, and I strongly advise anyone buying from here to inspect the car in person before committing. Do not trust the online photos.Before my visit, the sales associate assured me all cars are prepared to a high standard, noting only that a "few age-related marks" might be visible. Red flags appeared early when I noticed the car was fitted with budget tyres. When I questioned this on a premium vehicle, the salesman claimed that because it is a petrol hybrid, it eats through tyres faster due to rapid acceleration. While a questionable excuse, he assured me the car had a full main dealer service history and was well-looked after. Having had a good experience buying a car here for my partner before Christmas, I decided to take a chance.However, after a 1.5-hour journey to view the car, its actual condition was shocking:Over 15 prominent stone chips on the bonnet and multiple chips across the front bumper.A heavily scratched rear bumper.Three distinct dents in the rear passenger door.A physical tear in the leather upholstery on the centre console.When I pointed these out, the dealership tried to dismiss the extensive paint and interior damage as mere "age-related marks." They only agreed to repair the dented door. In my opinion, this wasn’t normal wear and tear for a £21k BMW—this was a poorly maintained vehicle.I ultimately decided to walk away. To give credit where it's due, the sales staff were understanding and fair about my decision, and my £39 deposit was returned to my account within three days. While the refund process was smooth, the vehicle prep standards were highly disappointing.
Usually I find visiting car dealerships a quite daunting experience but with Carsa Gloucester that was not the case. From the moment I stepped into the branch I was welcomed with multiple friendly faces. I was as then introduced to Ray who was absolutely brilliant, his personality shone throughout. Although he in his early days with Carsa I’m sure with the guidance of his amazing manager Ali he will be a great success and addition to the team. Massive thanks to them both for the swift and easy process.
I wanted to view two cars so I booked two appointments at £39 each. Prior to this, I had emailed and called to request the battery health report on one of them. When I turned up to the branch, I was told that only one car was ready as they didn’t know I’d booked two and that “the system doesn’t actually allow you to book two”. Well, the email confirmations I got and the two £39 deposits I paid beg to differ… and both cars had been moved to the branch so at least some part of the system knew. They gave me a half hour speech on finance and then asked how I’d be paying. “In full”, I said, and the guys attitude immediately changed. He became completely uninterested in us and my questions. I asked again about the battery health report and he said “well the one I’ve prepared for you is 100%. I don’t know about the other one” and walked off. I test drove one and wasn’t allowed to test drive the other one, even though I’d paid. I did get to “look” at it though… After all that, and the lack of willingness to get me the battery report, I walked away with neither car. Had the battery report been available for the car I wasn’t allowed to test drive, I probably would have driven away with it. To date, still no battery health report have been received and both cars have been marked as available again. Carsa still have my two £39 deposits as well. Absolute shambles of a morning. Their AI bot via WhatsApp is useless and their service team on the phone seem upset that you’ve dared to call. Guess I’ll have to raise a chargeback with my card company is I want to see my deposits returned. You literally could have sold a car on a Friday morning and you couldn’t do the absolutely minimum.
I visited the wolverhampton branch to view a vehicle. I couldn't test drive it as the keys could not be found. I left contact details in order that once found I could return to test drive and purchase. I contacted them to reserve the vehicleand was asked to leave a deposit. I paid the depost and some days later I was contacted to be advised that keys had been found and arranged for a test drive. I travelled down from Stoke on Trent as arrangedfor the appointment at 14:00hrs. Upon arrival I was met with a very lackadasical attitude with no sence of urgency. The vehicle jad not moved from the position that it was in on my previous visit, so as feared the keys had not been located and no prep had been completed. I was kept waiting for a further 30mins. It was obvious the the keys were not available. I now inccured travel costs and loss of time. At the time of writing I have not recieved my deposit back. It pretty obvious that there is poor management of this site and very poor customer service. This is at the point of sale one can only guess what customer service would be like for aftersales. I would not recommend the business.
Reviews provided by dealership customers who were invited to provide feedback on their sales experience using TrustPilot.
