"Avoid"

I phoned the After Sales Department on 09 March to order additional wheelchair attachments for my VW Caddy Maxi, they said that they had no record of the conversion could I supply the VIN number. I couldn't for a week as I was bedbound following an operation, but when I did at 14:53 yesterday, 15 March, they found the vehicle record without me giving them the number. So a week wasted. They said that they would send through a VAT waiver form by email straight away before they could take the order, by 15:32 they hadn't so I rang again, the same lady said she'd been busy but would send it through in the next 10 minutes. By 16:43 they hadn't so I rang again, and was transferred by someone else to the wrong department then by them back to the original department, but that person worked on a different system (in the same department?!) so I had to go through it all again, but was promised by this lady that she would do it straight away, after complaining to another department she did. But the next day on chasing again was told that she had 40 orders to go through and had no idea when I would be rung to take the order. I asked her whether this level of service is acceptable to the company and was told it is. Fortunately I have discovered another supplier.

"If you lose the conversion certificate"

If you lose the certificate for the conversion it’s £350 to replace.

"I will have been waiting for my new wav…"

I will have been waiting for my new wav on the 4th Nov 2022 a year and get the same issues as the other customers you ring them and give your details and they say no date for being built yet. Promise to call you with an update no one rings back. They say they tried to ring but no one answered I have an answerphone when out and another online if I am on the phone so that's not true. I placed the order in 2021 and feel so angry that they just don't care. My mum has difficulties driving my old wav as it's not automatic and it's a bit small for me now as I need to carry hoists and my things when I go visiting family. please try other companies in your area as I have had nothing but heartache from this firm.

"Great telephone support"

Electric tail lift and ramp both stopped working off the remote control. Quick phone call to their support team diagnosed the remote needed resetting which they guided me through . 10 mins later we were off and running again... thanks for prompt service.

"Waiting for over a year for a new WAV"

Ordered a new Citroen Spacetourer in April 2021. We were quoted 2 and a half months until delivery. It’s now been over 12 months and our car has not even been built never mind adapted. We have no guaranteed build date yet and it’s getting beyond a joke. Currently we have no WAV for my 8 year old son and the company have been very unhelpful with trying to fix this situation, I have asked to change colour/spec/get nearly new but nothing it seems will speed up this wait. We now feel completely trapped and have no clue when we will have the car we desperately need.

"Think about ordering from this company"

Think about ordering from this company. I ordered a set of brake pads and discs for my ford transit. I then received a call from customer service saying the parts i ordered when wrong fit for my vehicle , the right parts are an extra £20 charge. I was then sent the wrong parts!! They did not fit my vehicle... Called up customer service, finally managed to get them to send over a return slip which i attached to the items and returned exactly as described, to then not be refunded. this was 3 months ago. Emails back and forth. So in the end i had to pay out for another lot of parts and haven't received my money back from automotive. Check other reviews about this company. This seems to be a reoccurring issue.

"Got a Vito Taxi the warranty has been a…"

Got a Vito Taxi the warranty has been a great help

"PLEASE READ IF YOU'RE THINKING OF USING THIS COMPANY"

We have had the most horrendous engagement with this company that has caused no end of stress and upset for over 7 months. Apologies this is long, but there’s no way of making this nightmare story brief.

We waited 6 months for the car after being promised 8 weeks for delivery. We needed it in that timeframe as it was mandated by Motability due to our current DLA award running out. Throughout that time we were never proactively contacted by the Automotive Group to let us know what was happening, and promised callbacks after our own chasing barely ever materialised.

We were told the delay was partly down to us opting for a fold flat ramp, which was sold to us as an option by the Automotive Group. Money was taken for the ramp but despite it being blamed for the delay, it transpires it was actually never possible in the first place (we were lied to by Phil Hind, Director of the company). We only discovered this when the car turned up with no fold flat ramp, much confusion and consternation ensued, and we sent the car away as no one seemed to know what was going on (plus it had scratches to paintwork, plastics and alloy wheels). It concluded with us eventually being refunded the money for the ramp.

Before this on the first attempted delivery of the car, we were called and told engine warning lights had appeared in transit and it had to go back to be fixed.

Having finally taken delivery of the car on the third attempt, the following happens within 24 hours:
- The seatbelt positioning is completely wrong meaning our wheelchair-bound son can't safely travel in the vehicle.
- A parking sensor disappears into the rear bumper, causing the whole parking system to malfunction. Automotive Group admit this is their fault as they modify the sensors during the adaptation process.
- The car starts to leak fuel onto our driveway. We're told it is safe to drive until it is collected later in the week. Later that day when collecting our son from school (not in his wheelchair, as we couldn't do that because of the aforementioned seatbelt problem), an alarm sounds mid-journey with an engine fault warning saying the car requires urgent attention.

The car is collected for all three issues to be fixed, and is returned a week later (we're told initially it would only be a couple of days). The seatbelt positioning issue had not been resolved, so the vehicle was still unusable.

When the seatbelt issue is finally sorted, on our first proper family trip out in the car the USB port disappears into the dashboard when we attempt to use it, and the car starts leaking fluid underneath from two new locations after driving just 10 miles. We were due to go on holiday the very next day with the car, but just after arriving home from our family drive we're told we're now isolating for 10 days due a positive COVID case in our son's class. This was terrible news, but with the silver lining that we didn’t have to rely on the car to get us safely across the country anymore!

By this time we’d reached the end of our tether, asked for a full refund, and for the car to be collected. The Automotive Group agreed to this and at the time were very apologetic for everything we’d been through with the car. They also offered to let us keep the car for a month after refunding the money to see if some confidence could be restored in the hope we’d keep/pay for it after all. We decided against this as frankly the thought of entering into a 5 year relationship with the Automotive Group filled us with dread. On informing Phil Hind, the Director of the company, of our decision my wife received an uncontrite call from him telling her “if the car wasn’t good enough for you, you should go back to our Ferrari”.

We are now without the WAV we so desperately need for the foreseeable future, but the trouble this will cause is nothing compared to pain of dealing with this company.

"Think very carefully before using this company"

I ordered my motability vehicle in January 2021 it's now July 21st and still it hasn't been delivered. It's supposed to be a 3 month turn around .

I have had all the excuses under the sun but still haven't got any where with recieving my vehicle.

I would think very carefully before using this company as the staff where unhelpful bar one called Paul.

"First time I've had to use my vehicle…"

First time I've had to use my vehicle warranty, it was for a new oxygen sensor, the job was carried out at great speed with no problems. The Auto Group called me just to confirm all the details were correct and within 30 minutes my taxi was back on the road. Great service really worth the money and great to have peace of mind, many thanks to Robert at the Auto Group who dealt with my warranty claim.