Harwoods Group Reviews 2,250

It is startling that two emails have been sent, as instructed by the reception one to a Portsmouth Audi address on 16th September and a follow up to Harwoods customer services and yet still nothing heard! The narrative is:

The reputation of Harwoods is good and my experience of Tom Stocker at Portsmouth Audi has been excellent, but I am somewhat frustrated by the marketing of an Audi A3 that we were at the time interested in purchasing. I have bought a number of Audi cars, many new and some through the Audi Approved Used scheme where I have taken for granted that full checks are made, service history verified and amongst other points a two year warranty offered.

I enquired about a silver A3 reg VN70MHJ, it seemed interesting, only to find out by accident from my local Marshall Audi Dealership that the vehicle they were marketing had no service history in the last three and half years and five recalls! Yet this is being promoted as an Audi approved vehicle with full service history?

Never the less my wife and I were persuade to visit the Portsmouth Dealership on Saturday 14th September to see the car, the so called "big sales event", only to find the A3 in the service area with no keys available. Apparently locked away by a technician. We could see very little. A completely wasted journey.

I have to say rather unimpressed, we are buying an A3 but it seems that the customer now has to make additional checks themselves through other dealers as the Audi Approved Used car service checks are proving to be poor with Harwoods Portsmouth! This car had never been serviced in the previous ownership, nearly 29,000 with no checks since it was first collected on 9th January 2021. Even now rather disingenuous to continue claiming a full service history on auto trader and the Audi web site! I would not expect this through the Audi Approved scheme and Harwoods.

Perhaps more focus is required to maintain the standards expected in the Audi Approved Used Car scheme?

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As a further update having already sent an email on 20th September to Customer Services at Harwoods, the only response in Trustpilot is the standard one, send it again to this email address. This very poor service.
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Email sent as requested on 30th September to Customer Service, three weeks later a no response! Its fine I bought a car from their competition, excellent service as opposed to my experience with Harwoods Portsmouth.

Hardwoods Crawley. They tried to scam us when trading in our car. They had all the details of my car prior to going to see the car we wanted, they had given a quote to change (not an estimate) as well as info on dent insurance, scratch repair, ceramic coating and wheel insurance and extended warranty.
When we said we only wanted the warranty they said they had made a mistake on the cost of the warranty and they wanted another £200. Also they wanted more money for alloy wheel damage which I had already told them about (£400) and £200 for a scratch on the front passenger window. This turned out to be bird poo which I scraped off.
I wish I had walked away but said I would pay a bit more which I now regret.
Untrustworthy and I’ll never go back there.
Make sure you pay only for what you want and remember that there are lots of choices in car dealers

Saturday 14 September 2024 12.55pm.

Just telephoned Crawley Jaguar to book an appointment to trade in my almost new Mercedes for a Jaguar. Imagine my surprise when the receptionist told me they close at 1 pm, so no one can speak to you until we open again (The website showed they we open until 5.30pm). I had no chance to leave a telephone contact number.

I was proposing to spend in the region £70,000 with them.

If this is the level of customer experience I can expect from Jaguar, then I will never be returning to any of their branches.

We have just collected our first Land Rover from Harwoods in Basingstoke and we were very impressed,

From initial contact to collection
I dealt with Niki Howard who was brilliant, always on hand to answer questions and gave us an excellent handover

I would recommend them to anyone

I have absolutely no confidence in Harwoods Southampton, or indeed the Audi brand.
I purchased my Audi TT convertible in Jan 2020. It had been pre-registered by the garage, but I was the first owner, it had 9 delivery miles on the clock.
I had previously owned a 2007 Audi TT which I kept for 10 years, it had 30k on the clock when I sold it to a private buyer.
I extended the warranty on my new TT after 3 years, mainly because I had experienced some issues with the soft top roof mechanism on my previous Audi.
At the time of writing, the car has 6900 miles on the clock.
A couple of weeks ago, I noticed that the clutch pedal hadn’t returned to its usual position, but was kind of frozen. After a couple of gear changes it returned to normal. It’s literally only happened about 3 times. On the second occasion I put my toe under the pedal, it came up with very little resistance, so I assumed there was an issue with the clutch pedal mechanism. I wasn’t particularly concerned, but I thought might as well take advantage of the extended warranty to ensure all was ok.
I booked the car in on 3/9. I was greeted by Ryan who is a very pleasant young man. I walked into CF to kill some time.
A few hours later, Ryan updated me that the technician couldn’t do a proper assessment, because that would involve ‘dropping the gear box’
The technician thought the clutch is failing, so full clutch replacement required. £2300 quoted (labour £250 an hour - 6 hours work) Ryan also told me that clutch issues aren’t covered by the warranty, but are considered to be fair wear and tear!
I was obviously far from impressed, plus not convinced that a 4 1/2 year old car, with less than 7000k on the clock should have a failing clutch!
I’ve previously owned from new a golf GTI, put 90k on the clock, no clutch problems, same for my first TT. 30k on the clock, no clutch issues.
I’m sure that if I’d purchased a Dacia or a Kia (no offence meant) the clutch would be fine with less than 7k on the clock!
I had a phone call from one of the mechanics, which to be fair I declined to take. I have since asked to speak to the mechanic again, no call received.
I have made a formal complaint to Audi UK. My issues are how can 6900 miles on a relatively new, high end car be considered to be fair wear and tear? I’m not convinced the entire clutch mechanism needs replacing because of a very occasional intermittent problem with the clutch pedal. Gear changes are smooth, there is no slippage, and bite point is the same, despite what the technician said to the contrary- absolute nonsense!
I have asked 3 independent very experienced mechanics to review the issue.
I also intend to contact Martin Lewis to raise the fair wear and tear extended warranty issue. If the car had 69000 miles on the clock fair enough, but not 6900.
I have lost all confidence in the car now so will sell it. I will never buy another Audi again, definitely BMW or Mercedes.
If I could give a lower rating for Harwoods than 1 I would.

I have absolutely no confidence in Harwoods Southampton, or indeed the Audi brand.
I purchased my Audi TT convertible in Jan 2020. It had been pre-registered by the garage, but I was the first owner, it had 9 delivery miles on the clock.
I had previously owned a 2007 Audi TT which I kept for 10 years, it had 30k on the clock when I sold it to a private buyer.
I extended the warranty on my new TT after 3 years, mainly because I had experienced some issues with the soft top roof mechanism on my previous Audi.
At the time of writing, the car has 6900 miles on the clock.
A couple of weeks ago, I noticed that the clutch pedal hadn’t returned to its usual position, but was kind of frozen. After a couple of gear changes it returned to normal. It’s literally only happened about 3 times. On the second occasion I put my toe under the pedal, it came up with very little resistance, so I assumed there was an issue with the clutch pedal mechanism. I wasn’t particularly concerned, but I thought might as well take advantage of the extended warranty to ensure all was ok.
I booked the car in on 3/9. I was greeted by Ryan who is a very pleasant young man. I walked into CF to kill some time.
A few hours later, Ryan updated me that the technician couldn’t do a proper assessment, because that would involve ‘dropping the gear box’
The technician thought the clutch is failing, so full clutch replacement required. £2300 quoted (labour £250 an hour - 6 hours work) Ryan also told me that clutch issues aren’t covered by the warranty, but are considered to be fair wear and tear!
I was obviously far from impressed, plus not convinced that a 4 1/2 year old car, with less than 7000k on the clock should have a failing clutch!
I’ve previously owned from new a golf GTI, put 90k on the clock, no clutch problems, same for my first TT. 30k on the clock, no clutch issues.
I’m sure that if I’d purchased a Dacia or a Kia (no offence meant) the clutch would be fine with less than 7k on the clock!
I had a phone call from one of the mechanics, which to be fair I declined to take. I have since asked to speak to the mechanic again, no call received.
I have made a formal complaint to Audi UK. My issues are how can 6900 miles on a relatively new, high end car be considered to be fair wear and tear? I’m not convinced the entire clutch mechanism needs replacing because of a very occasional intermittent problem with the clutch pedal. Gear changes are smooth, there is no slippage, and bite point is the same, despite what the technician said to the contrary- absolute nonsense!
I have asked 3 independent very experienced mechanics to review the issue.
I also intend to contact Martin Lewis to raise the fair wear and tear extended warranty issue. If the car had 69000 miles on the clock fair enough, but not 6900.
I have lost all confidence in the car now so will sell it. I will never buy another Audi again, definitely BMW or Mercedes.
If I could give a lower rating for Harwoods than 1 I would.

Dillon went above and beyond when I purchased my A5 from Harwoods Southampton. Can’t recommend enough!

Absolutely Fantastic experience at Jaguar Crawley

We purchased our first F Pace and Marc Nicholls was professional, friendly and extremely knowledgeable.
The whole experience was faultless.
The car is amazing. I would highly recommend to anyone considering a Jaguar

I've got multiple faults on my car so I called Harwoods Basingstoke to get it booked in to investigate and then have the repair work priced so I could book it in to be repaired.

I was told that this would cost me £198 per hour!! Are you having a laugh! £198 an hour to plug my car into your computer!!!!!

Absolute scammers!!! Do not use.

Ros Earl is simply the STAR! She helped out and fully supported with the purchase of our beautiful car! No fuss or hassles when she’s there! Thank you once again 😊

We recently purchased a new RR Sport from Harwoods at Brighton. Ros Earl was the sales rep that we dealt with at this branch and we were so impressed with her approach and communication with us that we wanted to leave a review. We hope this review is fed back to her as she made the whole experience seamless for us. She worked incredibly hard to locate the exact vehicle for our needs and and went above and beyond to ensure we had it in time. Thank you Ros, you were a star !

Took the car in for assessing a fault with the parking sensors at Jaguar Coulsdon. From the point at which the assessment was completed, the trouble started. Firstly the advisor, Tracey, poorly explained the reason for the fault sensors. After finally being informed that the fix would not be covered under warranty, I was presented with a bill for 469. I was then phoned again to say actually it’ll be 800 and something. By which point I had already authorised the repair. When I went the next day to collect the vehicle, in Tracy’s absence, no one could find an invoice, give me an update on the status of my vehicle, all whilst my 2 week old son was screaming in the showroom. To add insult to injury, the baby changing room was locked with the staff making little effort to determine if it was occupied or out of service. By the time Tracey returned, the bill had once again changed after I challenged to understand a breakdown. It’s like they were making up costs as it suited. Since this fix the car has had more problems with the lane assist not working. I can only imagine that I’ll once again get another story about why this is not covered under warranty. And once again a series of different invoices. Shocking service and I’d stay well away from this place.

Harwoods wasted five hours of my time this morning and left me without a vehicle. My new Polestar 2 (less than 6000 miles) developed a slow puncture which on inspection turned out to be caused by a crack on the inside of the alloy. I originally visited KwikFit who advised to contact a Volvo dealer as the cracked alloy should be covered under warranty. I made an appointment with Harwoods by phone during which they confirmed to me the work would be covered under warranty. On arrival they attempted to charge me £946.20 to replace the wheel, claiming the alloy had been damaged by an impact. I am the only driver, the car is new and had been driven on typical roads with no heavy impact. If the alloy cracks during routine driving it was clearly not fit for purpose in the first place and should be covered under warranty. I explained to Harwoods that I had described the fault to them on the phone and they had assured me the work would be covered under warranty. They said they would review the phone call record. I waited on the understanding that once they established I had been told the work would be covered by warranty they would honour that commitment. It took them more than three hour hours to do so. Eventually we listened to the call, the key part which went as follows: H: "It was regarding a crack in the wheel... is that right?" Me: "Yes". H: "Do you pay for your services?" Me: "No it should be all under warranty. H: "It's on the contract, ok, that's absolutely fine. I'll get that all added onto the booking for you." Despite reviewing the call (and making me wait hours to review the call) Harwoods then decided they would not honour that commitment and maintained that the £946.20 should be paid anyway. They would not take responsibility for the warranty, maintaining it was Polestar's problem, and I had to leave the car with a flat tyre on their forecourt in order to lodge a complaint and hope for the best. If they had been clear from the outset that they would charge nearly a thousand pounds for a cracked alloy I would have taken it up with Polestar in the first place and not wasted a journey and five hours of my time visiting them. I still have no idea why the asked me to wait to review a call that demonstrated what I had said was true, only to reject responsibility anyway. Poor customer service. Customer service responded to my review but have offered nothing to improve the situation.

Lee the sales executive was very helpful in making the purchase of my new car go smoothly and kept me updated on the sale. Will definitely go back to purchase my next car

Thanks Ros for a great experience. Ros patiently found the exact car I was looking for and was both kind and professional throughout the whole process with excellent communication between showroom visits. Handover day was unexpectedly fun, I would not hesitate to recommend Ros to any future buyers. In particular exchanging my car and sorting out a new plan was painless, compared to a couple of quite adversarial exchanges in the past in Lewes.

VERY disappointed in the non-existent aftercare.

I recently purchased an F Type from this dealership.

My issues started after returning home with the vehicle and handwashing it for the first time a week or so later, whereby I discovered:

1. Damage to the bumper which I had been highlighted to me and which I told specifically had been dealt with in the body shop.
2. Damage to the centre console carpet trim which has come away to expose a hole next to the driver side belt clasp.
3. A faulty SIM card reader that had glitched in the forecourt but had been "fixed" before I left continues to show error messages preventing me from using the Sat Nav.

Despite my emails and calls seeking help and a resolution, I have been fobbed off and ignored.

I let slide the fact that this car has been pulled apart and put back together again, and I forgave the fact that it was GROSSLY over-priced, but what I will NOT forgive is being treated with such disrespect when I seek solutions to problems such as these.

If I don't get everything fixed in the next 7 days, I will be returning the car and cancelling my finance agreement, REGARDLESS of what this dealership say in response - it will be parked on the forecourt and they can sing for their supper.

And until these issues are fixed PROPERLY, I would NEVER recommend Harwoods in Crawley. Of all the dealerships in the country, I'm certain you can find one who will treat you like human being and not just a cash cow.

Disgraceful.

We are thrilled with our new Jaguar from Harwoods Brighton. A big thank you to Ros Earl for keeping us upto date throught the build and ensuring the handover was prompt. Thank you to all the team from workshop, parts, valeting, admin and the finance guys to enable us to collect so swiftly after the car arrived. Great service throughout.

Hi I’ve just bought my jaguar E-Pace from Chichester Harwoods ,
Paul was very helpful honest and genuinely really nice guy .
Thank you so much for making my experience in buying my first jaguar such a joy and no messing experience.
Thanks again
Jackie

My buying experience at Harwoods Aston Martin in Chichester was exceptional. With first contact with Jack Skinner the sales manager and then buying through Ben Rowlatt the sales executive everything was seamless. Attention to detail, contact through out and after the purchase could not have been better.

Following up on my review of Harwoods Edenbridge. Good news they have now diagnosed the problem, 3 weeks, based n the labs rover app my hood was open for 30 minutes! Say it’s an electrical part that they’ve ordered bit it’s now been delayed? Due next week seemingly! Car is 9 months old now sitting on courtyard for a month +. Harwoods asked me to email which I’ve done but heard nothing! Avoid avoid avoid

I’ve just sent an email as requested.