Martins Group Reviews 157

I received fantastic service from Neil, Colin and Michael at Martins when buying my Gold R Line this week. Thank you for all of your help.

Avoid Martins Group at all costs. My car (HN18 MWL) has been a prisoner at their Reading branch for 6 months. During this time, I have been paying Insurance, Road Tax, and MOT for a vehicle I cannot use. My family and I have been left stranded, and every time I went to speak with them in person, nobody cared. It was only when I started making noise on social media that they suddenly "woke up." This is not a game; this is our lives.

THE LEGAL DECEPTION:
Martins Group is systematically misleading customers. In their public responses and on their website (Sections 1.1 and 27.1.1), they claim to be accredited with The Motor Ombudsman. This is a LIE. The Ombudsman (Case Ref: 00311730) confirmed in writing they are NOT members.

Furthermore, their "Complaints Procedure" points customers to the Financial Ombudsman Service to look professional, yet they fail to provide any real solution or a courtesy car while they admit the WRONG PARTS WERE SUPPLIED TWICE.

They offer "transparency" on paper but deliver incompetence and deception in reality. I am done waiting. Small Claims Court filing is happening this Friday. If you value your money and your family's mobility, stay away.

I phoned to arrange test drive for a Renault new to the website at Basingstoke. Quite some distance away but worth it I thought. We agreed a time for the following day and I indicated I was keen to buy the car. It was clear I was the first to make contact. We talked through timings and costs for delivery

Then the same afternoon I had a phone back to say there had been later calls about the car and a deposit to have first dibs on the car had been taken.

Nothing wrong as such, and I was probably naive, but it left a bad taste in the mouth. I accept we are long past the days when a garage would form a relationship with a client, but I was surprised not to at least receive a courtesy call inviting me to leave a deposit - if that's what they needed. I'd have been very happy to pay one.

I recently took delivery of my new Alpine A290 from Martins Winchester and had a fantastic experience dealing with Nick Anderton. From start to finish, Nick was professional, highly knowledgeable about the new EV platform, and made the entire purchase process stress-free. It’s clear he’s passionate about the Alpine brand. If you're looking for a smooth, enthusiast-led experience, I’d highly recommend asking for Nick. The car is now off for PPF and a wrap to keep it pristine, but the service at Martins was the perfect start to ownership!

Just asked for a PCP quote on a car advertised on Auto Trader. Cash price £42995 a discount had been applied of £4170. VW offer a further £4250 IF you take PCP this is nothing to do with the dealer. This was there responce.

I can confirm you do not get an extra £4250, we are offering the advertise price as a cash offer,

We get cash in leiu instead of the contribution from the finance company. We are unable to offer both. Recieved from
Kristofer Wale.

Had this confirmed by another dealer if I bought this from them and took VW PCP it would get a further £4250 off from vw finance nothing to do with dealer.

You have been warned

The worst car dealership I have ever had the misfortune to use they don’t respond to phone calls or emails 8 months in to a brand new car and they just don’t care, key fobs are going through batteries every 2 weeks. The DAB radio has never worked properly. But they don’t care as long as they get your money. Alan Booker Martins of Winchester don’t use them

Looking at vehicles opposite the shell garage for the security camera/tannoy advise they are recording and reviewing footage. Just avoid this dealership!!! Why have cars outside with prices on then if you can't look. Big brother is watching lol

Bought my car from Martins of Winchester Nissan last March. Had a year of no problems.

Sent it in for MOT and a service. Told them there was a problem. I was told it’s fine so I take it away and carry on driving. The cooling fan is broken and the Problem gets worse over the week. Takes a week of back and forwarding to get said fan sorted. No hire cars, no assistance to get a hire car. Only got one when the RAC got involved and Nissan assistance. Since they also replaced the battery (with an absolute cheap one - not what I’d expect from main dealer service!) the stop start dosent work and hasn’t since. I’ve now had a month of trying to resolve that. RAC out again due to message on screen. Again, no loan cars at their garage, but apparently this dosent trigger Nissan assistance hire car either - so I can’t get my car fixed now as Martin’s of Winchester seem to never have any loan cars available! Living rurally this is really hard to live without a car.

Il be getting rid of it shortly as I can’t deal with the headache of martins, and to go elsewhere for a fix, I have to repay for diagnostics!

I will never purchase a car from Martins ever again, nor will I ever use a Martins service centre, nor will I ever likely buy another Nissan (having owned only Nissans for 15 years)

I didn’t even get an apology for all the stress they put me through!

They never call back, they don’t email back. They are doing you a favour it seems ! Even the service manager dosent seem to care, even when Nissan head office got involved.

I purchased a used Touareg black edition and received excellent service from Nigel Coleridge from the sales department and concluded the £35000 purchase swiftly, so far so good?
I am overseas the majority of time so low usage , my gripe is that my vw manufacturers official agent purchased vehicle requires service within 4500 miles I raised this issue with Martins and was told they had no interest or responsibility to rectify the situation , although the salesman was sympathetic those
Above him adopted and attitude of tough it is what it is we’re covered, which I’m sure is correct but it smacks of extremely sharp practice and a culture of you have paid we have no interest in customer retention, I think that most customers buy from VW main agents for peace of mind and we do this so we feel protected, although a small service costing £350 I feel let down and on principle wouldn’t use Martins in any future purchases
And would urge anyone thinking of purchasing from Martins Andover to look hard at the vehicle and paperwork as my personal experience is that they are an uncaring organisation ( nice car though) Gary Henderson

I had a very disappointing experience with Martins of Camberley regarding a 24-hour test drive booking for a Volkswagen Tiguan.

I booked the test drive on Thursday 22 January for Wednesday 28 January at 9:00am and arranged time off work specifically for this. At 8:30am on the morning of the appointment — just 30 minutes before it was due to start — I received a call to say the test drive had been cancelled because the vehicle had apparently been sold overnight.

I find this explanation hard to believe, but regardless, cancelling at such short notice shows a complete lack of respect for a customer’s time. I was given no alternative vehicle, no meaningful apology, and no attempt to resolve the situation.

This test drive was booked for a genuine reason. I previously owned a Volkswagen T-Roc and am now actively looking to purchase a hybrid vehicle, having owned a hybrid Range Rover in the past. The Tiguan is exactly the size and type of car I am currently in the market for, so I am a serious potential buyer.

Unfortunately, this experience made me feel that my custom was not valued at all. I went out of my way to accommodate the appointment during a busy working week, and the way this was handled was poor.

There are many other brands offering similar vehicles, and this experience has made me reconsider where I spend my money. I would expect far better customer service from a Volkswagen dealership.

Martin Plant Motors have recently carried out a full car service and resolved a number of issues including replacing car parts.
I would highly recommend Martin Plant Motors who have over the years and continue to provide a professional and customer centered service to the highest standards. At all times there is excellent communications with the customer. Martin's professional expertise and years of experience in automotive engineering is reflected in the first class outcomes the customer receives every time. The overall team in this family run business deliver a first class,high quality & friendly customer service. I have no hesitation in recommending Martin Plant Motors based on my customer experience now over many years. Philip Galvin

Visited the Andover Service Centre today. Three members of staff glanced up as I entered. I walked to a polite distance from their desks and waited. One lady stood up and left the area. The other 2 staff remained engrossed in their screens. Not a glance, not a 'I'll be with you in a moment'. No common politeness, let alone customer service. Minutes passed. I left, and won't be returning. Looks like Cleevely EV will be doing my next service.

Bitter sweet experience.....
Winchester Alpine Centre is impossible to reach. Phones not answered, emails ignored, internet forms unanswered. Gave up and rang bodyshop direct.
Basingstoke bodyshop are friendly, helpful and answer their phone. A delay over warranty work looks like it was down to Winchester not Alpine. The job was completed beautifully and it was a real pleasure to meet the manager and some of his team.

my Zoe stopped charging at home.L phoned Martins of Reading who service the car.l was given an immediate appointment.They gave the battery a detailed check and contacted me the next day to say it was fixed and fully charged.This high quality service is what l have received at reading over the years l have been using them.A bonus was that l was given a toy Renault car which my great grandson was the best toy car he had.Thank you.Martins of Reading

Took my car in for a service but hassle from the word go. Was told the car didn't have a service plan, despite purchasing one through them directly. Wasn't offered any solution, was just advised to call VW direct, which I did. They confirmed that the vehicle did have a plan. Back on the phone to Martins and had to become one of those 'awkward' customers and was told 'not to get ratty with them' because it wasn't their problem before they said they would call VW to sort it out. Turns out it was because Martins had booked the car in using the wrong details, but apparently that's my fault because I didn't tell them the car now has a private plate, despite purchasing they plan on that new registration and booking the service in on it.

Car failed it's MOT but they couldn't get the parts until 4 days later! I was then given incorrect advice regarding the MOT validity.

Car was booked in to a non-franchise repair facility who could get the parts the same day so that's where it went.

This isn't acceptable from a VW main dealer and I am astonished that the parts required, (nothing exceptional), couldn't be sourced by a main dealer for 4 days but could the same day by a local garage.

In summary, I won't be using Martins again - they are walking distance from where I live and I'd rather drive to another town to use a different dealer, which I will do because the car still has items on the service plan.

This isn't the first time I've had a less than satisfactory experience with them but it will be the last.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Nick was an absolute pleasure to deal with from start to finish. His professionalism, politeness, and exceptional patience made buying our car stress-free and enjoyable. He answered every question and made sure we felt confident throughout the process.
When we collected the car, we noticed the alloys weren’t quite up to the standard of the rest of the vehicle. Nick immediately worked with us to find a fair and practical solution, showing real commitment to customer satisfaction.
I’ll update this review once the alloys have been sorted, but I wanted to give praise to Nick for his part in this journey. If you’re looking for a car salesman you can trust, who genuinely cares and goes the extra mile, I would fully recommend Nick!
This experience truly exceeded our expectations – Nick made it memorable for all the right reasons.

I bought a Renault Clio from Martins Renault Winchester in May 2023 and said NO to every add-on. Despite this, I’ve just discovered that I’ve been paying for GAP insurance for nearly two years for a car I don’t even own! Set up under completely incorrect personal details. I was also charged for paint protection that I explicitly refused at the time.

This isn’t a small mistake. GAP insurance is a regulated financial product and can only be sold with clear, explicit consent. I never gave that consent. Somehow, a policy was created anyway, linked to a vehicle I've never owned under the wrong address. These products also generate commission for the dealership, which makes this even more concerning.

I raised a formal complaint over two weeks ago. Since then I've emailed, phoned, and even contacted another branch trying to reach a manager. No reply. No acknowledgement. I get told someone will call me and they don't. I can’t even cancel the policy myself, the insurace company say only the dealership can, and they won’t respond.

I’m currently stuck paying for insurance I never agreed to, on a car I don’t own. This is genuinely shocking behaviour resulting in me having to go through the financial ombudsman.

Please pick a different dealership if you're looking to buy a car.

After struggling to find a suitable vehicle from other dealers I took a chance on Martins of Farnham despite it being a very long way from my home town. They had a vehicle coming in that hadn’t yet been made available for sale. Shanice got the vehicle in for me to view within days of my enquiry, and we made the long trip to view it. I identified some things that needed some work and also test drove it. Martins assured me the vehicle would be prepped and everything checked. I returned the following week to pick the car up and it was so much better than I had expected. All the agreed work had been done to a very high standard and this also included some extra things found when it went through the workshop. They really went above and beyond. Even the little touches like mats and a keyring which I hadn’t expected were a fantastic surprise. I cannot thank the team at Farnham enough for helping me through what was turning into a stressful search for a car and coming up trumps. I now have a really lovely car. Thank you!

Reading Dacia - Martins Group

Agreed a package for a new Dacia Sandaro Auto with 'The Manager' at this garage on the 18th August 2025, with only a test drive of the car needed to complete the deal.

The garage failed to arrange a test drive before the end of August 2025, when they said the deal would expire.

They failed to find a Dacia Auto they claim, and didn't have the professionalism to even call back and explain.

Rather impotent garage, who are unable to do even very basic car sales.

Looking at the Dacia UK service and support reviews on trustpilot, we dodged a bullet; so thank you Martins Dacia in Reading for being incompetent.

Steve Myers at the Winchester Alpine store was excellent. Really knowledgeable about the cars and passionate about the brand. He did a great job convincing us that the Alpine was the right car to buy.