Arnold Clark - one to avoid

Wh05apk

Stephb1986 wrote: »

I was sold a car I was told it had one owner what they didn't tell me was that it was an ex hire car!

Did you ask if it was an ex hire car? no reason for them to tell you otherwise, mine was an ex-hire car, and has been perfect for 5 years.

fivetide

I'd have thought the nickname "Arnold Shark" would give it away.

That said, I don't think they are that much different to many other dealers in the 'pile it high' category. On the plus side they don't tap you up for the HPI check like some... Not always the cheapest I don't think and given the masses of models they sell on I wouldn't trust them for work being done becuase they are unlikely to know what is actually needing to be done on any particular car.

Mosh

As things stand, I followed one person's advice and emailed the CEO. I got a reply this morning asking my wife to confirm that I could shout at them on her behalf (some guff about data protection) and the last I heard was they would "look into it".

I'm also gathering all the evidence from our previous misadventures with them to send to my MP with instructions to forward them to the OFT.

colino

They most certainly do have to proactively inform you if the car was, amongst other things, a hire car. Apart from this obvious breach of consumer law, you all know where the largest car businesses get their second hand cars from. A lot are self-generated, coming from their hire car, leasing, demonstrators, "managers cars", warranty returns and closed, dealer-marque only auctions. There is then the auction buys from straight entries to hire-car and fleet disposals and tagging along at the end, the trade-ins.

jase1

I have to say, once would have been enough for me.

Retailers generally don't get second chances where I'm concerned. You mess up (especially in cases of dishonesty like the above), you never get my business again. And I rant about it to anyone who will listen.

eschaton

Generally AC offer the best deals which is why people go there, myself included.

If you want good aftersales service then shop elsewhere.

I believe they must make extra money out of messing up and stringing out warranty repairs which is what they do - all the time.

Although, if you want the worst warranty work service then go to Verve, they make AC look like the best.

Mosh

Have to say I agree with both Jase1 and eschaton. I'm not forgiving - I had one issue with AC (well, two but relating to one purchase) and I won't deal with them again.

My mrs gets lulled into the trap spotted by eschaton - a good deal (helped by being a near-monopoly with massive buying power), followed by the most uncaring and lax customer service I've experiences in some time.

bod1467

eschaton wrote: »

Although, if you want the worst warranty work service then go to Verve, they make AC look like the best.

When I got my new VW Golf last year (company car) it had a mark on the roof. It was a Verve bodyshop that sorted it for me. I had no concerns or negative impression of them - quite the opposite actually.

eschaton

bod1467 wrote: »

When I got my new VW Golf last year (company car) it had a mark on the roof. It was a Verve bodyshop that sorted it for me. I had no concerns or negative impression of them - quite the opposite actually.

A mark on the roof could be sorted by a monkey in most cases. If you had a car costing over £25k and less than a year old to fix for 3 days, you would expect it back after 3 days.

You would not expect to go and pick it up and find out that it wasn't fixed and it would take another week.

Then at the end of two weeks with !!!! poor communication, it might be another 2 weeks - every extension costing a £26 admin fee for insurance courtesy car cover.

It was only fixed in the end after intervention by the manufacturer. A number of years ago, the same dealer albeit under a different name ruined an engine in a car at 2 years old which cost £3500 to replace.

When I had an issue with my current car, I thought I would need to take it to Verve as it was a few miles from home. Luckily Green Flag were excellent and agreed to transport the car 25 miles to the Arnold Clark dealer where I bought it.

I never thought I would see the day when I was desperate to get a car transported 25 miles to Arnold Clark rather than a dealer 3 miles away

As far as Scotland go, I have noticed that Parks have excellent after sales service.

no_summer_here

My father bought a second hand Jag from Arnold and hated it, after three days he took it back and did a straight swap for a mid range new car.
Arnold phoned him at home a told him he should have been given a better deal and a cheque was on the way. That was 50 years ago !

I had so much hassle from them I actually told one of their competitors that if they could get within £200 of Arnold's deal I would deal with them, no luck with that.

These days I only buy second hand from ebay.