Lookers Reviews 

Guildford Lookers (VW)
Our experience with Guildford VW Lookers has been extremely disappointing. The sales process started positively, but once we took the car home, the customer service became almost non‑existent.

We bought a car in July 2026 and reported a fault the very next day. Despite this, the earliest appointment they could offer was two weeks later. When the car finally went in, the Master Technician went out with my husband and heard the noise, yet we were repeatedly told afterwards that they “could not reproduce it.” We were advised to take the car away and return it if the noise came back.

The noise reappeared within a short drive, so we returned immediately. From that point on, we had to constantly chase for updates. The car was driven around 500 miles by staff, yet we were still told they couldn’t reproduce the noise. Communication was extremely poor, and we were left without clear information for days at a time.

We also had issues obtaining a courtesy car, receiving contradictory information from different staff members. Eventually VW Customer Services arranged one for us.

We were then told the car had been “fixed” with a software update. After a test drive, they claimed the noise was gone. However, after driving just 30 miles home, the exact same noise returned.

Over the following week, we made multiple phone calls and sent emails with no response. When we finally spoke to someone about formally rejecting the car, the process became even more frustrating. We are now heading into the third week of trying to get the rejection resolved. Calls are not returned, staff blame each other, and no one takes accountability.

We have spent over six hours sitting in the dealership previously, and I can say confidently that they are not “too busy” — staff spend a lot of time at desks and occupied by their mobile phones while customers wait.

Even the manager, who I spoke and he informed me that he hadn’t got to my email and said he would respond the next day- I phoned the following day and he was on a day off. No phone calls or acknowledgment from anyone in response of emails- they have been received as Lookers head office send a notification to respond but then they don’t investigate or get in contact.

Customer service has been extremely poor, and it is clear the customer is not a priority. This situation has caused stress, time off work, and disruption to our plans, especially as we cannot travel anywhere with the courtesy

Still waiting someone finally takes responsibility and resolves this ongoing issue ASAP.

I have always bought my cars carefully, checking every detail, trusting no-one, this time I just wanted a good honest vehicle and thought I would go to the VW Lookers Darlington for a guaranteed experience, you pay more but that was fine with me, I was paying for what should have been a great experience and sound vehicle with expert advice and trusted service....

A good deal. Better.

How very wrong was I, I let my guard down, so foolish, from the start "don't worry about the things that seemed to be wrong with the car, before you collect we put it through a vigorous series of checks and anything, anything at all, that is wrong with the car will be made as good as new" still rings in my ears. During the test drive the vehicle had a couple of odd noises and drifted on the road, I was absolutely assured everything would be addressed, after all its VW right, why wouldn't I believe them....

£££ later I picked the car up, on the way home I began to realise that nothing had been addressed, absolutely nothing. How could I be so stupid.
The car was returned to VW Lookers Darlington 5 times over the next two months, every time I was insulted by both the Sales manager and Service manager, both collaborating and talking to me as if I was a child, the service manager telling me allsorts of rubbish, trying to convince me that the car was fine, he personally had checked the car etc.

What was wrong with the car, on the surface it looked like a very clean example, but in reality, it wouldn't hold a straight line on the road, swaying and unnerving me as I drove, the engine management light constantly returned after every visit to the dealership, every time I turn a sharp corner a moaning noise comes from the rear axle, they would keep my car for weeks at a time, each occasion I had to go out of my way to drop and pick up as this isn't offered anymore, I lost time from work on many occasions, every time I turned the engine off the exhaust gave a loud clunk and squeal - apparently this was designed to do this, the windscreen wipers juddered across the screen because they has perished and had gone hard, can you believe I was told by the service manager I had caused this by putting a rich dilution of screen wash, perishing the wiper blades, at this point I had owned the car for 6 days!!

The set up is geared against the customer, now I run a business and believe me I understand the need to make profit, however, never should this be at the cost of losing customers.

Was the car fixed, eventually some things have been resolved, not the groaning noise, I will come to that later or the car swaying on the road, the constant engine management light was found to be due to a faulty sensor, the exhaust was removed and repaired, the wiper blades replaced, these faults have been fixed because I would not let them walk all over me, otherwise this would definitely not have happened.

Swaying, the service manager rang me and told me nothing was wrong with it he had driven it himself, he said that this model was known to bob around, out of desperation, I took the car to an alignment specialist, who found all 4 wheels severelyout of line, I paid for this to be fixed £90, Lookers refuse to refund me, blaming me because when I complained that the car was swaying I mentioned can you check the sway bars, I didn’t ask for the wheel alignment to be checked, the car now drives as it should have from the start.

I have since found that this vehicle was sold to another customer from the same dealership 2 months before me, I have spoken to this person they returned the vehicle because it had a series of faults, in and out of the workshop.
Now the final insult, I took the years warranty and two years servicing, my car shows it is now due a service, I asked several times for the service period to be adjusted, it was serviced by them before I bought it, now tells me every time I get in or out of the car that it is due a service, so annoying, when I bought the car I was told "if I was you I would take out the service pack because the next service is a big one that will cost you over 500" if I didn't take out the service pack(half the price roughly)hence I took it out, I have just enquired about the service double checking that the car isn't due a service, I was right it isn't but then I was told that the service pack I have been sold/allocated doesn't cover the big service that is due, I only have an oil change allowed, this is disgraceful.
So what about the groaning noise, this I have been told by an independent specialist is coming from the Haldex unit of the rear axle, the basic service pack I have does not cover this service, the service record shows that the Haldex service has been overdue for over 1700 days, how is this possible VW lookers Dtn,I bought with full service history and you serviced it before I picked it up, you knew it was overdue when you sold me it, so wrong.

Never again.

Mercedes-Benz Maidstone
Well first of all I forgot to take off the deposit amount when paying for my car, and overpaid £250. Was told by salesman that finance would refund it. After some weeks, then a month of no refund, I started contacting them to see where it is. Was told it would be with me by the end of the week. That comes annd goes and still no refund. After one more round of emails and phone calls still no sign of refund so I done a chargeback via my bank. Crazy it had to come to that to get £250 back.

Then the car (2017 C43), I had it a month before engine light came on, call up to have it looked at, and they say it will be 4 weeks until they have a date with courtesy car available. A dealership full of hundreds of cars doesn’t have one spare, and expect me to go that long with a potential issue. So I booked a date without courtesy car to get it seen quicker, still had to wait a week for even this. Took my car in to get scanned (this takes them 7 hours apparently) then had to wait another week for the warranty to approve the part needed (Coolant thermostat).
Knowing how long they seem to be, I booked in a date before getting this phone call and ended up taking it in 2 days after the call.

So I finally get my car taken in on a Friday at 10am, they have the part, the warranty work has been approved so I thought it would be ready that day. I thought wrong.
They say it might take them longer than a day so if I could collect at 1pm Saturday.

8:30am Saturday morning (today) I get a call saying they don’t think they will have it done (the day has only just started?!) so now want me to come in Monday, but I’m starting work at 2pm so this is already tight.

And this is where we are at, I am trying to ring the dealership to ask if they can skip the free health check to speed things along, but after 4 attempts at calling it just keeps ringing through. Perhaps they have all gone home early hence the phone call to tell me it won’t be done.

So I have been without a car all weekend and fully expect to be late Monday as they never get your car ready in time, every visit I have been waiting around to collect keys for at least 20-40 mins.

If you are looking to buy something here just save yourself the hassle and go elsewhere

The Service Department at BMW Stoke has been extremely unhelpful.
I currently own two BMWs purchased from the dealership and was also visiting with the intention of buying another new BMW. My current BMW M440d has developed an oil leak from the turbocharger oil feed pipe, which is spraying oil over the engine. The leak is clearly visible at the top of the engine when the bonnet is opened.
While at the dealership with the bonnet open, I asked whether someone could take a quick look at the leak and advise if it was safe to drive and whether it might be covered under my BMW extended warranty. Despite the issue being easily visible and me already being a customer with two BMW vehicles one of which was in for service last week, I was unable to get any assistance. I was told it was against their policy.
I find this level of customer service extremely disappointing, particularly given my history with the dealership and the fact that I was actively considering purchasing another BMW. I would expect a much more helpful and customer-focused approach from an authorised BMW dealer.

Appalling customer service from Lookers Stafford. I organised to have my vehicle valued and sold here. I explained to the sale representative Edward, that I struggle to do weekdays with work but agreed to an appointment time of 15:00 on Friday at his request. I had my vehicle cleaned, finished work early and travelled half an hour to the dealership for the appointment. Only for the receptionist to tell me that Edward “is up to his eyeballs in work, can you come back another day”. I explained that I had struggled to come today and gone out of my way to do so. I was told that he wouldn’t be able to honour the appointment as he was just to busy. This is shocking customer service and a lack of respect for existing customers. My time and effort was not respected and they didn’t have the courtesy to even look at my vehicle. I would avoid this dealership at all costs as they have no respect or decency for their customers.

I had a fantastic experience buying my car from lookers in Teeside , thanks to Johnathan.
He was friendly, professional and incredibly helpful from start to finish .
He made the whole process easy and stress free , taking time to answer all my questions and making sure I was completely happy with my purchase.
Nothing was too much trouble for him , I really appreciate his patience and excellent customer service , I couldn’t be happier with my new car !
Thank you Johnathan !
I would highly recommend him to anyone wanting to buy a new car from lookers !

I bought a Volvo from Lookers Stockport in Feb 26 and they also sold me a Bumper insurance at £55 per month . I had a claim in August this year for a minor dent . Bumper insurance gave me a claim reference on 7th September and said the body shop Kia Stockport also part of the Lookers group would be in touch within 2 days. I have tried to contact them at least a dozen times and no one picks up. If I contact the sales team they agree to pass on a message and still no one calls me back . I have complained to head office who state they have to give the branch 2 weeks to answer a complaint so to ring back after two weeks . I am at a loss of how to get a company which should be a trusted dealer to respond . I would advise not to buy Bunper insurance from them and if this is their after sales service I will not be purchasing a car from them again

Have requested data from the GDPR Team, no reply have chased several times but nothing happens. Matt Foster is the Director responsible for this team, he should be ashamed that his fear are ignoring a data request as it is a legal requirement to provide subject access requests in a reasonable time frame. BEWARE OF THE DATA YOU PROVIDE AND ALWAYS ASK THEM TO REMOVE ANY DATA THEY HOLD ON YOU.

Sales experience is good, after sales has been very poor.

I tried to book a service but when I rang to rearrange a couple of weeks later I was told the booking was sat on the system and hadn't been approved. Zero communication.

I'm now trying to get a copy of my service history and two separate people in the dealership have said they'd send it to me. Neither have and I've been trying for 4 days. One of the people said it was a 5 minute job and now I am unable to reach anyone of the phone to try a 3rd time.

Very very poor as it's now holding up me picking up a new car

Was interested in buying a used ford puma from Colchester and was told they would not budge on the price it was up for. I asked what if it didn’t sell, I was told it would go in an auction!!! Guaranteed to fetch a lot less so why wouldn’t they budge on the price

Powertrain malfunction light has been on and off for over a year, first fix they just added a rattle to my engine (great help) in march they decided it was the oil life (despite being over 60% left) and said not to worry they’d get it straight in if any more problems. Rang in June was told they’d schedule an appointment for September but then ring to get me in sooner they just needed it as a reference. Then the day before they emailed to say it was now November, still no call back. Other highlights include when they fixed exhaust fumes coming in to the cab only for it to happen 30seconds after collection

I’ve had a few interactions with Lookers mainly car and alloy repairs in North Shields but also the sales and service department at Silverlink and I would highly recommend both. The day to day staff on the ground work very hard to deliver a great service.

Lookers Guildford
Test drove a car. Salesperson put together deal. Never emailed deal to me and failed to make the phone call promised to me.
Very dull.

Went to look at a used car yesterday in Lookers Kia Chester, after locating the car we requested the key from one of the sales man who went to get the key, after a while he came back and said it had been sold earlier,. We asked if he had any similar cars for sale he stated he would have to look through the stock. We went inside and after looking through the stock and not explaining what he was doing he turned round and said the only cheapest car they had was in Belfast and they wouldn't be getting from there for us! We were thinking of taking a lease out but it certainly won't be from therei think it was a Scottish gentleman who didn't help us.

Poor, bought from lookers ford had a fiat 500 for 11 months both shocks need doing already and the driveshaft needs replacing.
How do these people sleep at night.
Won’t be using them again!

Absolutely astonished to see how high Lookers are rated and would question the legitimacy of some of these reviews. Not allowing google reviews and “reviews.io” being 2.5/5 suggests this is a very suspicious score on this website. My Jaguar car has been in for repair with their Belfast branch for nearly 3 months (after waiting 2 months for an appointment). Communication appalling, lacking fact or detail, dismissive and barely existent. This goes higher than the Belfast branch however as after several emailed complaints to Lookers directly, including vustomer service, complaints and even their CEO. I havr still heard absolitely nothing. Avoid at all costs because if you havr a problem in store, you can be guaranteed the parent company will not help at all either

Well done Dan and team at Lookers in Guildford! We had a problem with our car entertainment system and they did brilliantly. Really helpful, coffee while we waited. They also did a good job at my brakes. We had booked a date in advance and all ran smoothly. Only thing is I'd love more of is some collection opportunities as these can make a massive difference to people working. Thanks again for a great service.

Shocking experience from start to finish at Mercedes-Benz of Brighton

I visited Mercedes-Benz of Brighton today for what was booked as a service and MOT, together with a pre-arranged courtesy car.

I arrived at approximately 8:30am and the problems started immediately. Despite booking both a service and MOT, I was told they only had the vehicle down for an MOT.

I was then told the vehicle had apparently missed a service last September. I have only had the vehicle since November and it is a lease vehicle, so I explained that they should contact the leasing company and carry out whatever servicing was required and authorised. I was subsequently told they would complete the service.

I was then taken to the courtesy car.

For a Mercedes-Benz main dealership, the condition of this vehicle was frankly shocking. It had scratches and damage all around it, missing bumper trim and part of the bumper appeared loose. I was the one who had to point the condition of the vehicle out.

The trainee member of staff assisting me said she had not been aware of the damage and went back inside to ask if another courtesy car was available. She returned to tell me there wasn’t one. I was told they would video the existing damage and that I should do the same.

The situation became even worse when I opened the car. The interior was filthy and there was rubbish left inside it.

This was apparently considered acceptable to hand over to a customer.

Unfortunately, I needed to get home for work and therefore had little choice but to take the vehicle.

Approximately two hours later I received a call saying my vehicle’s service and MOT had been completed. I was told it was ready for collection but specifically asked to allow them another hour because they wanted to give the vehicle a good wash and clean before I returned.

Rather than giving them one hour, I gave them several.

I returned at approximately 3:30–3:45pm and discovered that my vehicle had not been cleaned at all.

After everything that had already happened, this was incredibly disappointing. I mentioned it at the service desk but received very little response. I was extremely frustrated by this point and decided it was better simply to leave rather than direct that frustration at the member of staff.

I then called the dealership whilst travelling home and explained how uncomfortable and disappointed the entire experience had made me feel.

I received an apology and was offered the opportunity to drive back to the dealership so they could give the vehicle a “quick clean”. They were due to close shortly afterwards. Considering I had already specifically been asked to leave the vehicle with them for additional time so it could be properly cleaned, asking me to make another journey back for a quick wash was hardly an adequate response.

There is also another issue which concerns me.

I asked for a detailed invoice/job sheet showing exactly what work had been completed on the vehicle. I particularly need this because the vehicle is leased and I want to discuss the servicing history and today’s work with the leasing company.

I called twice requesting the documentation and it still had not been sent to me at the time of writing this review.

After being told that work had been completed, I do not think asking a Mercedes-Benz main dealership for a detailed record of that work should be difficult. The failure to provide it has understandably left me wanting clear confirmation of exactly what work was performed, what was authorised by the leasing company and what has been recorded or invoiced.

This was not one isolated mistake. It was a series of failures throughout the same visit:

The booking did not reflect the service I had requested.

The courtesy vehicle was badly damaged, dirty and had rubbish inside.

My own vehicle was specifically promised a wash and clean and this was not done despite me leaving it there for several additional hours.

The response when I raised the issue was poor.

The detailed documentation I requested has still not been provided despite two calls.

Mercedes-Benz is a premium brand and customers understandably expect a certain standard when using an authorised main dealership. Unfortunately, nothing about today’s experience reflected that.

I have experienced substantially better organisation, communication and customer care from independent garages.

Extremely disappointing and I will now be raising this formally with both Lookers and Mercedes-Benz UK.

I bought a lovely little Fiesta last month from Lookers in Chelmsford and was looked after by Craig. What a professional service!! So friendly, helpful and made the transaction so easy and smooth. I left with my new car the same day and have been so happy with it!! So thank you

Karen Kelsall sale of CLA 250+ electric Sport
To Alwyn Morgan.
A great experience from start to end.
Very knowledgable of product, clearly describing this was the car that fitted all my needs.
Friendly manner, and highly professional.
A great explanation of the cars functions that got me on the road feeling confident.
Big thank you Karen.