“DO NOT BUY A CAR FROM ARNOLD CLARK
they sold me a car with a major fault and trying to get them to repair it, replace or refund my money has been nothing short of a nightmare. AVOID AT ALL COSTS!!!”
“Fantastic service from Ste Aspinall at Arnlod Clark Liverpool. He listened to what we were after and matched us with the perfect car. Smooth sale from beginning to end, would highly recommend.”
“Bought a brand new car on pcp from arnold clark, linwood in January. I reported 2 days after purchase that it was scratch and had a faulty break light. 60 days later and the issues have still not been resolved despite 2 visits to arnold clark service dept, numerous phone calls and emails. Never experienced customer service as pathetic as this. Completely inept!”
“Lovely professional service from Michael at Arnold Clark, Liverpool. We were looked after with lots of information and explanation of the process. Car is great to drive, will update after a couple of thousand miles. Highly recommended!!”
“I bought a car from Arnold Clark Stafford on January 30th and 30 minutes into the journey home, thick smoke started pouring from under the bonnet. I was genuinely worried it might catch fire. The AA was called, and when the mechanic arrived, he told me he would be very surprised if Arnold Clark hadn’t known about this fault beforehand. The main cause of the smoke was a major oil leak, which was dripping onto the manifold. He said the car wasn’t safe to drive, so he towed it straight back to Arnold Clark.
Also, I took the morning off work to collect the car, only for it to break down almost immediately. Then, because I was left without a car and couldn’t get another one until my refund was processed, I was stuck and unable to get into work.
Understandably, I requested a full refund, as the car was clearly not roadworthy. Since then, I have had to constantly chase for updates, only to be met with delays, excuses and vague responses. The only explanation I was ever given was that there was a "serious mechanical fault"—no details, nothing. To this day, I still have no idea what the actual fault was. Their customer service was non-existent after they had my money. Before the sale, however, they were calling me at least once a day, sometimes more, desperate to close the deal.
Whenever I called to ask for updates, no one seemed to know what was happening with my car or the refund process. When I asked for the right person to speak to, I was always told someone would call me back with more information—but that never happened.
When I finally managed to speak to the manager, Christina, after explaining my situation to a kind receptionist, her dismissive and unhelpful attitude only made things worse.
To make matters even more frustrating, I put £45 worth of petrol in the car before it broke down. They promised to refund me, yet now, on 10th March—well over a month later—I’ve only been refunded £5, despite providing the photo proof of my receipt as requested. Now, they’re claiming they need the log book to process the rest of the refund. What does the log book have to do with fuel reimbursement? It’s beyond ridiculous. I still have the log book and spare key because I told them I’d send them off once they refunded the money they promised—and now they’re using that as another excuse to delay.
After all this, Luke, the sales rep who handled my sale, started responding to my emails with one-word, all-lowercase messages—completely unprofessional and just another sign of how little they care once they’ve got your money.
Safe to say, I will never buy from Arnold Clark again. Thankfully, I’ve since bought a car elsewhere and the experience was night and day—fantastic service, couldn’t do enough for me. If you’re considering buying from Arnold Clark Stafford, don’t bother. They’ll chase you non-stop before the sale, but the second things go wrong, you’re on your own. Absolute nightmare.”
“After speaking to the General Manager at the branch last week who passed on my request to speak to a Manager at the Arnold Clark Head Office. Today i had a call from Customer Services, the same person i have spoken to in the past about the terrible experience when purchasing my new car. I asked to speak to a Manager to which the agent said he cant pass me on to a manager. I have purchased my last 8 cars brand new through Arnold Clark whose motto is to treat the Customer fairly which has not been the case. On rechecking the paperwork for tre car other issues have come to light that i would like to discuss with a manager. In my opinion everyone should steer well clear from Arnold Clark MG in Kirkcaldy. If you do purchase check the paperwork very carefully. Tom Will.”
“I went to Arnold Clark in Linwood for a Motability car as they had 2 models at 2 different advance payments displayed on their website. It was £999 for the car with more spec and £499 for car with lower spec. But after talking with the Motability specialist I was informed that I would have to pay £1999 for 1st car and £1499 for 2nd car. I asked him why I wasn’t getting the price on the website he said those were February prices. This was on Wednesday 26th February. I initially wanted the £999 car but I couldn’t find another £1000 for it so I had to get the £1499 and I have to find the extra money for that. I left a review on Trustpilot and I received a reply asking me to phone the number that was provided by them. I phoned and was asked to email screenshots of the prices as displayed on their website (I’m pretty sure they could have gotten them themselves). I also provided a screenshot of my application with the price I was being asked to pay. That was on Friday 28th February. I have updated my review every day since then stating that the pricing is still displayed on their website as £999 and £499. So today I decided to phone a different company who have the same advance payments displayed on their website and I was informed by the Motability specialist that the car manufacturer will cover £500 and Motability will cover £500 of advance payments if the car is registered and taxed in March. My car will be registered and taxed in March. I phoned the Motability specialist from Arnold Clark but I was told that he was with a customer and could the person who I was speaking to help me with anything and I explained about what I had found out after speaking to another company. He said that he didn’t know anything about Motability so Jon would have to call me back. This was at about 4:30pm and they don’t close until 8pm but I received no phone call from him. I think it’s ridiculous how they are trying to get more money from people when it’s already hard enough to get the advance payment.”
“Car booked in for service & MOT. Shock absorber on front driver side was broken do needed replacing as an MOT fail. Agreed to the replacement, advised OEM spring in stock but needed to keep my car overnight so could be finished Saturday morning. Called at 12:00 as heard nothing. Servicing gone home and wouldn’t now get car back until Monday. So no car, no call and sales team not bothered. Needed car for weekend so having to hire one. Will be escalating to claim back costs. Service levels are desperately poor. Had two cars from them but no more. Not surprised their customer services ratings are less than 2 out of 5.”
“I was misled about the vehicle I purchased. I was promised significant savings on running costs and was told it was a hybrid. However, after signing all the paperwork, I discovered on the pickup day that it was actually a plug-in hybrid, which doesn’t suit my needs and will cost me more to run.
The salesperson was rude, even turning his back on me during the handover. Now, they’re insisting I keep the vehicle—clearly prioritizing their commission over customer satisfaction—despite my right to return and withdraw from the deal.
This is my second purchase from them, and it will definitely be my last. They sell you a dream until you sign the paperwork—then you’re left to deal with the reality.”
“Terrible experiance with Arnold Clark. Have been left with no car since Christmas eve. First available day for repair was 30th January (now 5th feb), have called everyday since and they have not even looked at my car yet. No courtsey cars available and have still had to pay for a car i cant use. Put on several complaints and no further forward. Will need to look into taking this further”
“I bought a used car off Arnold Clark, they did not give me a MOT certificate, I called the garage numerous times and once they knew what my call was about they put the phone down on me every time
Shocking service”
“I will never buy from Arnold Clark again they had my ev car for 42 days and instead of supplying me with another ev car. They gave me a petrol car and after agreeing to pay me £300 towards my expenses They go and offer me £50 what an insult. They offer you everything until you sign your contract and then they treat you like rubbish. I have been a customer of Arnold Clark for 40 years and I don't think I will be back.”
“Terrible Experience
I recently purchased a car from Arnold Clark, and on the drive home, it was immediately clear that there was a fault. The next day, they picked up the car to investigate and later claimed to have fixed it. However, given the nature of the fault, I had no confidence in putting myself or my young daughter back in the car.
Despite my clear concerns, Arnold Clark has refused to honor my right to reject the vehicle under the Consumer Rights Act 2015. As a result, I am now without a car and out of thousands of pounds. Their handling of the situation has been appalling.
I would strongly advise against buying from this dealership. If anything goes wrong, don't expect fair treatment or accountability. Avoid at all costs!”
“Having bought into a service plan and MOT plan three years ago you feel kind of obliged to keep going back. This final took the biscuit though you pay premium prices, don’t get a premium service and although I have three things that require replacing for my car to pass its MOT just about cost £350/400 for the parts the bill was coming in at £1200 for this. Absolute banditry of the highest order.”
“Very poor service when trying to book my car in for service they put you through to dept then on hold for 25 mins then transfer u again only to be cut off rang again caller no help and said some dept closed should they not tell you instead of keeping you on hold all that Tim took care of elsewhere”
“Bought my MG ZS from Arnold Clark in Liverpool February last year, booked it in for its 1st Service which was done Wednesday, asked for a Courtesy Car when I booked the service. Service Staff were excellent, Courtesy Car was a brand new Kia Sportage, I had an issue with knocking on the Steering, this has now been rectified under Warranty, service done all in the same day. Alex in the service department kept me informed of progress and a video of the vehicle check was sent to my mobile with accompanying narrative from the Technician. Would definitely recommend Arnold Clark if you are looking for a new or used car!”
