Research Garage Group Reviews 

Laura was great help with informing me about the process and what was happing with my car and making sure I was comfortable while waiting

The staff were brilliant with me . blake spent hours with me finding the car i wanted and test driving them with me nothing was too much trouble. helped me sort out all the paper work out with my old and new car. i was really looked after and not rushed . i found my perfect car for me and so happy with the service i received from blake and the rest of the team

Saw a Fiat 500 on Autotrader, was quite a rare model and exactly what I was looking for. Phoned up and went to see it on the same day (170 mile round trip), I was helped by Blake who was great. There were a few bits and bobs that needed addressing on the car which we were assured would be sorted. We were offered a good trade-in for our vehicle, test drove the 500 and loved it. Deposit put down, finance accepted and we collected the following week. All issues had been sorted (all minor, but needed doing) and I am very happy with the car. Blake was very professional to deal with and I would definitely recommend this dealer - 100%!

I have been dealing with Saber Ali at your Nuneaton Office, this gentleman is the most friendly salesman I have ever had the pleasure dealing with. He was totally professional, accommodating and helpful. I expressed the vehicle and specifications I require as a disabled driver, mr Ali provided exactly the vehicle I required, he even gave me a realistic delivery time and because I was flexible with timings he was able get me a same modal same spec, vehicle sooner than expected. This man is a credit to your company and your Nuneaton Team.

I purchased a new Fiat from Research Garage several years ago but due to living over 70 miles away had used other retailers for servicing. However following a move slightly nearer & other retailer closures I've now used Research twice more since 2022, for both a major service including cambelt, plus a minor service this time. On both occasions they've been spot-on! Pricing has been transparent & work has come in at less than quoted. They've also completed jobs promptly & informed me of completion in good time to allow me to travel the hour+ to collect the car, which has been washed & vacuumed each time. A video has been sent to me showing the inspection, with accompanying paperwork given to me on collection, and all staff have been extremely polite, from small gestures like holding doors open to going above & beyond.

I must particularly single out Amanda in the Service department for praise. I emailed Research a few days prior to my booking to ask if they had an Alfa Tonale courtesy car as I was considering it as a next car. Amanda promptly replied to say they have some Tonale courtesy cars & if one was available she'd let me use it. I was pleasantly surprised to receive a further email to say one had been returned so she'd put my name on it! Sure enough on arrival, two other members of the team knew & duly showed me to the Alfa Romeo. On arrival back at the dealership the following day, Amanda was present & we spoke about my car & the courtesy car, with Amanda being naturally warm & knowledgeable without it feeling like a sales pitch. The invoicing & bill for the service & other work was all clear & handed to me in a branded folder with complimentary air freshener & vehicle health check - I received the same last year with a major service/cambelt/waterpump/aux belt & all filters costing nearly £900 but didn't expect it for an oil & filter change & minor work costing a fraction of that price.

Other retailers have sometimes 'not had valeters' to carry out the wash & vac, or forgotten to phone to advise when the work is complete, with me being given a single piece of paper for the invoice and a random & sometimes filthy courtesy car - not the case with Research, where they're always clean, with a bit of fuel, screenwash topped-up & mats fitted. I have at least 4 other Fiat or Alfa retailers closer, but will continue to make the longer journey to Research (as i know others do too) because they simply are consistently good at what they do. Every touch point is great & they often manage to exceed expectations, which is a real rarity these days.

We bought an Alfa Romeo Guilia in January. The car has been a total pain since we collected it. On the 7th of December we dropped it off for an oil service. £300 which is expensive to start with. On collection we were told the radiator was leaking and it would be £400 to strip out the car and it may not be covered by the warranty if a stone had gone through, fair enough. My complaint is that I have had to top the car up with water for the past 10 months. If you read my previous review the water was very low when we collected the car. I emailed my the time and got a patronising email back telling me how the cooling system works. It had also scrubbed the front tyres in 10 months. If you take my advice, do not buy an Alfa and do not buy anything from this dealer. We have now sold the car and lost a fortune because we cannot trust the car or research.

Research replied below, do not fall for the rubbish nobody has ever contacted me. Probably never even bothered looking at previous reviews or looking at the emails I sent after purchase.

Nobody did reach out as promised in the reply below. Now back to driving German where I will be staying. Rubbish.

We purchased a car unseen, due to unfortunate circumstances. We were told it was immaculate so agreed to go ahead. The car arrived in a disgusting state, please see pictures. The drivers seat had collapsed on one side, this car was 15 months old. The problem is not the state of the car but the response we received. I requested the service history as there was nothing in the book, two weeks later still no history, we question if it had been serviced. I agreed I would get it valeted at own cost but needed the seat fixing. The sales man David said this problem is above his pay grade and someone will phone us. They didn't. You might say why don't I go there, both my husband and myself are currently undergoing chemotherapy. This is not for sympathy just an explanation

My third purchase from this dealership with Alfa Romeo and as per usual a top class service throughout every time. We’re so pleased with our new purchase and Nathan Stanton always goes beyond to make sure our experience is as great as it can be. The after sale service is also superb. Highly recommend, and Nathan is so informative and keeps you up to date throughout.

I bought my Fiat 500 Abarth collecting it on 6th December. The sale was handled professionally by Blake. The car was exactly as promised when I collected it and any issues were dealt with quickly, nothing was too much trouble

We recently purchased a used car from Blake. He was really friendly, helpful and personable. Smooth transaction from requesting to view the car to driving away in the car the same week. Great service thank you, would definitely recommend.

I have been dealing with fiat in Nuneaton for many years, providing me with a reliable car for getting me to and from work. My new car is a fiat tipo Cross, great size for fitting my 3 grandchildren in and a big boot for wellies, rucksacks etc.
The customer service is excellent, Blake keeps a track of when it's time to renew my car and works really hard at finding me the right new car at the best price. He makes the whole swapping of cars process completely stress free and when I drive away in my new car, I know I can call or pop in and my questions will be answered with a smile.

David tapping at Nuneaton fiat was great. From my initial call to going into the dealership was great. Not a pushy salesman. Knew when to leave us alone to talk about things. His attitude to selling was brilliant explained everything we needed to know. And had great coffee and hot chocolate. Thank you David.

my experience with the salesman blake was amazing he could’ve not been more helpful. told me everything i need to know even about the added bits!!

(Mathew) Blake my salesman could not have been any more helpful. I understood the whole process from start to finish and there were no hidden extras . He explained the dealership extras on offer clearly and precisely without being pushy or annoying 😁 He made the whole experience easy , smooth and pleasant . I love the car👍

Our experience with this company was excellent. Dylan dealt with everything from start to finish and was extremely friendly and helpful. We cannot fault anything with the service at all and would recommend using this company to find your new set of wheels.

Our experience goes back a little while as Research Garage have forced us down the route of claiming our money back on our credit card (section 75).
If this was unsuccessful I would be pursuing a refund through the court system.
My son had his car in for a full service and MOT at Nuneaton Research Garage on 20/02, less than two weeks later an engine warning light came on so we contacted them to see what the problem was.
After booking in our car we learnt that it was sent to Hinckley Research Garage as they were the designated Peugeot dealer within group.
We then received a phonecall explaining that the catalytic converter had failed and our warranty did not cover the part.
Hinckley Research Garage then called to explain what our options were. We were told an original Peugeot part was going to cost approximately £2000 or an alternative one that they use is a non-branded version at a cost of £1000. At no point did they mention the cheaper option would be a problem as they are used often which is why they offer them.
On 05/03 we were told the work had been carried out and tested and was now fixed and okay.
There ensued, over a period of eight weeks, a constant back and forth to Research Hinckley with three failed repairs.
We then received a phone call asking us for another £1000 to change the non-branded part, which they originally recommended, for a manufacturer's original Peugeot part. We would not agree to that as we nor my son had the additional funds for this.
At this point the Service Manager 'Ashley Beard' tone changed and he was obnoxious bordering on nasty. We were flabbergasted and annoyed that a reputable car dealer that we had used for some years were basically washing their hands of an issue that was their fault.
As a last resort we then asked for a full refund pointing out our consumer rights with the reasoning of 'fit for purpose'.
We were told the director 'Ian Mackenzie' would not sanction a refund because we left a bad review on 'Trustpilot'. (WOW !!)
After this telephone conversation the car was returned on 9/04 without any notice and paperwork basically saying they couldn't do anything else ( No Fix ). We notified them by email saying we had lost all faith in the dealership and we believed that we'd been treated awfully. My son was left without a car on and off for approx 4-5 weeks after spending over £1000 with Research Garage.
We then decided to email our request for a refund as a way of documenting our start of a dispute citing Consumer Rights 'fit for purpose'.
A solution then was an offer of finally supplying the Peugeot part by sourcing from another part of the country and fixing… something we suggested after the third fail, a case of ‘shutting the door after the horse has bolted’ in our opinion.
We refused as no faith was left in Research Garage on our side and we'd taken the decision to go elsewhere to acquire a different car to get my son back on the road.
This is when they started being really awkward, acknowledging our rights, whilst making it impossible to try to get a refund.
The solution on their part was for us to remove the catalytic converter and return for a refund. This is an impossibility and an unacceptable request, the part replaced is a part of a full closed exhaust system, they know that I wouldn't be able to carry out the task and it would make the car unusable.
At this point we had nowhere to turn as we had to get my son back on the road in a reliable car so he could get to and from work.
We had to try and source a part exchange which we did eventually with a substantial loss.
The car was initially bought from Hinckley Research Garage and we had the foresight to purchase a warranty that should have covered any issues. The car had done 29k miles from new and a catalytic converter should last between 80-100k miles, the fact they said initially that the warranty didn't cover the fault of a major operating part of the car was mystifying and disheartening. The offer of an alternative part at a cheaper price seemed a solution but after all the trouble and attitude we have had they have lost regular customers.
We have been using these for an annual service and MOT’s on two cars for a few years and we should of been valued customers but I guess that you only can gauge a company when you have an issue outside of the ordinary, and in this case Research Garage Group have failed miserably and caused bad feelings, the customer service was unbelievably poor.

Initial contact 20/02/24
Refunded by Credit Card 14/10/24
8 months of hassle not needed.

Customer service from Blake was excellent 👍 I had previously been to other garages (not Fiat) and the customer service was not very good so it was refreshing to have someone who was helpful and professional. It made the whole experience of buying a car very positive.

Matthew Blake made the whole experience very ease very helpful . went through every think to make sure i new how to do every think in the car .made sure i had every think i wanted on with the car .wasn't pushe let me have time to think about it.

My experience at this dealership was fab! Blake helped me find my perfect car at a great price. It was the first place I looked then went onto other dealerships to compare and no other offer compared to this one alongside the super friendly and informative service Blake gave me. I hadn’t bought a car through a dealership before so I didn’t know what to expect and had little to no knowledge of what to do. He talked me through everything and made sure I understood everything before going ahead with it. I would definitely recommend this dealership and Blake specifically to anyone as I had such a positive experience!

Thank you!!

I bought a 2008 August 23 and it's been nothing but trouble. The car has been back to the garage on seven occasions since, and I'm still having the same problem ie engine fault and a resultant lose of power. The garages response is book it in and we'll put the diagnostics on it, this cost approx £130 and the result is the problem isn't showing up, which I then have to pay even though it's still under guarantee. I feel completely let down by the company and cannot recommend them to anybody given that they haven't resolved the o going problem. In my opinion the customer service has been appalling.