James Alpe Reviews 

Deeply disappointing: selling a 40k vehicle should come with responsibility when things go wrong

My experience with James Alpe Ltd in Clitheroe has been profoundly disappointing.
I purchased a brand-new Ford Transit Custom through James Alpe. Problems with the van began almost immediately and were brought to James Alpe's attention within days of ownership. Rather than taking clear ownership of a problem involving a vehicle they had sold to my business, the response repeatedly became that they needed to contact TrustFord Stockport, who had supplied the vehicle to them, and would then come back to me.

That pattern continued. Responsibility appeared to be passed elsewhere while we, as the customer who had actually purchased the vehicle from James Alpe, were left chasing answers.

The faults subsequently escalated into a major breakdown while the van was still less than six months old, followed by weeks in a repair garage, unsuccessful repairs, further faults, additional vehicle damage while in professional custody and months of disruption.

Throughout this process, I saw remarkably little evidence of James Alpe proactively saying: “We sold this vehicle to our customer. Something has clearly gone seriously wrong. We will take ownership and do everything reasonably possible to put it right.”

Businesses understandably need to make money, but commercial success should never become detached from the people who make that success possible. When protecting margins, contractual positions or organisational interests becomes more important than fairness, empathy and doing the right thing by the customer, financial gain begins to come at the expense of humanity.

Small businesses are not faceless commercial entities. They are people working hard to earn a living, employ others and support families. Customers should not have to fight organisations simply to be heard after purchasing an expensive product that develops serious problems almost immediately.

There is an important distinction between identifying the minimum responsibility a company believes it can legally avoid and accepting the moral and professional responsibility that comes from having sold something to another human being.

We cannot thank the team at James Alpe , professionally repaired our car and we are very grateful Highly recommended

It is with extreme disappointment that I leave this review. In my opinion, the conduct of James Alps has caused a completely avoidable situation that has now put my insurance policy at risk.

A few weeks ago, I was involved in an accident and my insurer directed me to James Alps, their approved repairer, to assess the damage to my Subaru Impreza WRX STI. The damage was minor and limited to the front driver's side corner.

Before they carried out their assessment, I specifically contacted James Alps and clearly instructed them to contact me before submitting any estimate or report to my insurer. I did this because I may have been able to source replacement parts myself through the large Subaru community, where parts are often available at a fraction of the cost of new OEM components. Alternatively, if the repair costs were reasonable, I may have chosen to pay for the repairs privately rather than make a claim through my insurance.

James Alps ignored this request entirely.

What happened next is even more concerning. Rather than simply assessing the accident damage they had been instructed to inspect, they submitted information to my insurer alleging that my vehicle had numerous modifications. As a result, my insurer has accused me of providing inaccurate information and is now attempting to cancel my insurance policy.

When I reviewed the list of alleged modifications with my mechanic, he advised that some of the items reported by James Alps are not even fitted to the vehicle. Some of the modifications listed were things I had never even heard of. The fact that information of this nature was reported to my insurer without proper accuracy checks is deeply troubling.

I am not a mechanic. I bought the vehicle as it was and have never personally modified it or instructed anyone else to modify it. Yet I am now being forced to defend myself against allegations that stem directly from James Alps' report.

James Alps were instructed to assess accident damage, not to produce a report containing claims that could jeopardise a customer's insurance cover. Had they simply contacted me as requested, much of this situation could potentially have been avoided.

As a result of this experience, I removed my vehicle from their care because I no longer had confidence in their judgement, accuracy, or professionalism. When a company produces information that can have serious financial and legal consequences for a customer, accuracy is not optional.

The consequences of James Alps' actions have been significant. I am now facing the possibility of having my insurance policy cancelled and being labelled as someone who misrepresented their vehicle, despite having done nothing of the sort.

Based on my experience, I found James Alps to be unprofessional, unreliable, and careless in their handling of my case. I would strongly advise others to think very carefully before entrusting them with their vehicle.

This lot are an avoid. Poor communication, emails that look like a 5 year old has written them, keep asking for the exact same images which had already sent, reply to emails when they feel like it, 1 month wasted in getting my vehicle repaired.

1st class repair. I did have a problem on picking up the car which I escalated within their organisation and they responded in a professional manner and resolved it

I left my car here on the 7th December 2025 it's now 7th April 2026. And still no completion date 4 months and 2 weeks and counting. Keep adding day after day after day car sat not running 4 months 2 weeks tax test and insurance all wasted. Job reference number 8365711

What a carry on left my motorhome with 3000 miles on the clock to get some chassis strengthening work done for a Ford warranty recall . They had my van for a week instead of the couple of days no problem.they failed to tell me they had damaged my van onsite.i picked the van up they didn’t say a word .when I got home I noticed the overspray on the light .then after many exchanges by text and email they admitted damaging my van onsite .this is criminal behaviour not happy at all both sides of the van been repaired disgraceful.

My car is currently at the James Alpe, for 5 small scratches to the rear bumper. The car was collected on the 1st October and has to now go to Porsche for additional work to clear safety checks that they cant do! Begs the question why take the job on if you can't do it. Not a James Alpe issue by why did FMG insist on sending it there?
I think by anyone's standards over 4 weeks to repair 5 small scratches is unacceptable.
Lets see what the repair looks like when I eventually get my car back. I'm not holding out much hope.

Unfortunately for me I was in a car accident. My car was sent to James Alps. The staff were professional and Friendly and gave me regular updates. When they brought my car home it looked like brand new even though it is an old car. They even valet my car which I wasn’t expecting. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ thank you to the whole team for making the stressful time as accidents often are but the team easy as possible for me. Brilliant team and customer service. I would recommend that if you’re in an accident to use James Alps as they go above and beyond. THANK YOU 😊

My car was returned today following accident repair, delivered back to me although I am 25 miles away. They have done such a professional job, my car looks amazing. Staff were all very helpful and friendly, would recommend them in a heartbeat. Thank you.

Motorhome needed accident repairs. They were several hours from our home, they collected it and repaired the damage good as new, and allowed us to collect and use it whilst they awaited cosmetic parts. They kept us fully informed at every stage; when I dropped it off for the last few hours of work, they offered me a lift into Clitheroe or to collect me when it was ready. Also allowed us to discover Clitheroe, a lovely town.

Was unfortunate enough to have someone rear end my car after getting it repaired by James alps. First time around the experience was amazing. Second time around the company exceeded the already high standards they had set. They were kind enough to fix a non related damage to my Tesla. The class of the CEOs is something that can’t be taught. I’ve said it in a previous review, if that’s how the management behaves then the rest of the company will have that same class. And surprise surprise they do lol. Workmanship, communication all incredible. Made the trauma of being rear ended twice in 5 months practically non existent. Incredible company. Couldn’t recommend them highly enough.

I’m sure quality will be very good but to take 9 days possibly 11 (as delivery back is extra ) for a job that main dealer agent did same day 5 hours isn’t good

After what looked like a minor bump we were shocked that our insurers first response was to write our Honda CRV off! We were glad that we had the support of James Alpe throughout, which saw our car carefully restored and beautifully valeted on its return. This service include a courtesy car and regular progress updates. faultless service throughout.

James Alpe is an excellent company. My car was in for repair following an accident and the whole procedure was dealt with so professionally and pleasantly especially by the lovely reception staff. The damage on my car was carefully assessed and I was soon given a date for when it would be ready for collection. I was updated constantly on the progress by lovely Charlotte. The courtesy car was a brand new Seat. My car came back looking brand new! Many thanks James Alpe!

We purchased a Peugeot Estate Car from James Alpe earlier this month. We travelled from East Lothian to view the car first. I had been dealing with Oliver from the start and on arrival he met us at reception. Absolutely fantastic service from start to finish, personal to us and definitely aim to please. We highly recommend James Alpe if you are buying a car, high quality motors at reasonable affordable prices along with the best customer service I have experienced in a long time. Thank you Oliver for five star service. Car is amazing.
Gordon & Laura Whitelaw.

James Alpe arranged for the roof to be replaced on my Mazda. The customer service I received from start to finish was seamless and I am absolutely thrilled with the new mohair roof. The work was completed to a high standard and I received my car back earlier than scheduled which was great - they'd even washed the car before returning it to me.

- Customer Service 5* (Thank you Charlotte, Fiona, Natasha, Patty and Pam).
- Doug, the collection driver 5* (Doug took the time to show me how to operate the courtesy car, he was patient, pleasant and professional, thank you).
- Paul the delivery driver 5* (Paul returned my car and I found him to be professional and amenable).
- Communication & regular updates from Simon and the customer service team 5* (Nothing was too much trouble for them)
- Standard of work 5*

Highly recommend James Alpe.

Do not - and I do not say this lightly - trust this garage if you care about your car at all. My car (Mercedes Benz) went here through aviva for damage after an accident. I have no idea how they can be a Mercedes Benz approved garage and I fully intend to complain further about this as they should be stopped! After meeting with someone to go over the damage I immediately didn’t like his attitude as he tried arguing with me about what damage was on the car and you could just tell he wasn’t interested in my car - they get over 300 cars in a week apparently. There was also quite a few bad reviews online. But after speaking with my insurance company and them assuring me it would be okay I decided how bad can it really be. Bad believe me! They could not be more unprofessional and unskilled. Went to pick my car up after almost a month (a month of having an unserviced courtesy car) and you could clearly see where the damage had been repaired on my car and further damage (many different new scratches) had been done by the garage (apparently probably from things such as a hoover being dragged past it - how professional). The replaced windscreen, paintwork and bodywork all shocking beyond belief. A brand new bonnet with scratches all over it? And not put on correctly as it now has a bigger than normal gap down one side. A new windscreen not fitted properly and very poor paintwork. The worst thing the attitude of the staff. Trying to talk me into believing things were like that before hand when I had CCTV and pictures of every bit of damage before. Then after leaving it with them again (begrudgingly) to sort the mess they had made, they managed to deeply scratch three of my drop glass windows. How does this even happen?! THEN after them trying to say they didn’t do the scratches and having to involve the MD they replaced them but guess what... my car now leaks in at the back and there’s a terrible draft from both back windows as they don’t reach the top. Took it to Mercedes Benz and they were shocked that a ‘Mercedes Benz approved’ garage could so badly put new windows in. Not to mention another large scratch on the bonnet that has clearly been tried to get out because you can see the rubbing marks. And my bonnet was never readjusted. Somehow they’ve also left paint spots around the car. I cannot tell you how bad this garage is - I’m now in the process of further having to complain to my insurance company about this garage to avoid other people having to use them too. Please avoid at all costs, honestly!

Flawless service from James Alpe. Communication prompt and knowledgeable. Repairs to my smashed car well-executed. Couldn't ask for more.

Hi Oliver after spending all your time on my mother’s situation while COVID was taking control of everything possible you came through just like we knew you would my mother bought a car off you in partex and with in a few days (while in the COVID) you did your best as a company and we really appreciate your time and patience thanks Oliver du know what u even gave her a mot credit and paid for her registration plate to be changed plus you gave her 6 months tax I hope this review didn’t start the ball rolling for other customers to try and get such a brilliant complimentary gift and I had to say thanks and if I get a car off u I was the same looking after
Cheers oliver