“Three months into buying the car, I started to notice the breaks were not as sharp as it used to be , been calling them ever since but i got no response from them , they kept on ignoring until i hired an investigative company bit claim. ne t, they were my only hope after a week i was able to return their car and a refund was given to me, £20,000 refund is not bad from my £25,000 due to the 3 months i used the car for , i employing anyone interested in returning their car or anyone that has been scammed by Arnold Clark should file a complain to bit claim. n e t to get it doneASAP. I am for certain bit cla im ,.. . ne t, would help navigate the process of retrieving your funds successfully.”
“Bought the 23 reg vitara last june got it serviced in December no faults , since then
Car has developed a squeal from the back brakes due to a fault on the hand brake linkage, car as only done 13000miles now i m told it needs discs and pads on the back, totally unbelievable, no customer service”
“Only had the car for 4 months and engine management light on screen. Arnold clark not willing to pay to check fault and repair. Very poor customer service.”
“A low class service.
Not only did they sell me a car that has damp issues and stank since day 1 even though they valeted it, it has had other engine troubles too.
Initially they took it back to rectify the issues but took an entire month before I got my car back having added around 2000 miles by them.
Upon the return, 2 of the several issues still exists and and a new one created by them.
At this point they asked me to take it to my local garage, the issue being is that I’d be left without a car as any available local garages did not provide a courtesy car so not only would I lose out on business but I would also have to take unpaid leave from my day job or pay for a rental car which I cannot afford.
Since reporting the remaining 3 issues and the car remaining unusable, I being asked by the MD to pay for a diagnostics of the issues myself.
So they’re washing their hands of the responsibility they have as a trader.
To say the service at this place is awful is simply an understatement.”
“I am utterly appalled by the experience my daughter and I had with Arnold Clark. Two years ago, she bought a car from them for £7,000, and not long after, the engine management light came on. We were told it was just a sensor issue, and they simply cleared the light. Last year, during her MOT, the car failed due to the same light, but she was charged £136 for a diagnostic, only for them to pass the car without resolving any real issue.
This year, it got even worse. They tried the same trick, but this time the diagnostic fee had increased to £168—just to plug in a computer to confirm the obvious: the engine management light was on! When I complained about this ridiculous fee, they offered to do it for half price if it only required a reset, but full price if it turned out to be a bigger issue. They conveniently called at 5 PM when no other garages were open, forcing us into a corner. Then they claimed my daughter needed to sign paperwork stating she was taking the car away at her own risk, warning of a £1,000 fine and invalid insurance due to a “serious fail.”
The next day, again at 5 PM, they called and said her engine was completely ruined, needing a £7,000 replacement. Adding insult to injury, they referred her to a sales representative who offered her £250 for the car as a trade-in and pressured her to buy a new car for £16,000—despite knowing she’s a student!
We decided to collect the car the following day, and strangely enough, they no longer demanded any signatures about risks. Suspicious, we took the car to another garage, and they were shocked by what Arnold Clark had done. The other garage confirmed that while the issue wasn’t ideal, it wasn’t dangerous fail. They assured us the MOT was still valid, there was no risk of a fine or invalid insurance, and the issue was simply a malfunctioning sensor. They passed the car’s MOT without any problems.
This experience has been nothing short of disgraceful. Arnold Clark tried to exploit my daughter’s situation, overcharging her at every turn and attempting to sell her another car at an extortionate price. This level of dishonesty and manipulation is unforgivable.
Having purchased three cars from Arnold Clark in the past, this will be the last. Avoid them at all costs—they are robbing, deceitful, and untrustworthy. Absolutely disgraceful service!”
“I have been discriminated and offended by Whats App chat staff by George Williams. When i requested a video of Nissan XTrail, He stated in the chat "No point this car is away above you budget"
When i challenged him regarding his discriminatory comments he started to make several excuses to defend his comments. I also complained to customer service who asked me for further information which i provided and now they are ignoring me and not responding to my several sent emails. I will be taking this matter further as this kind of behaviour not acceptable and Arnold Clark are trying to cover this up.
I have a copy of the chat transcript.”
“Customer service is awful broken gear box on a car that's 4 years old and only done 36000 miles. Thankfully covered on the warranty but will take over 2 weeks to get repaired not even offered a courtesy car whilst it's getting repaired. I am now left with no car to get to and from work and collecting my young child. I have been passed onto 2 different branches, autocare warranty and customer service no one seems to want to know. They are not very quick at answering emails either. They are good at selling you a car but the aftercare is awful.”
“The worst experience of my life bought a car one week engine went , got fixed 2 weeks later broke again gasket the company were appalling to Me , didn't care I had no car hire cost me over 3 grand , which they paid for 3 hires only they hung up the phone, I'm lost thousands all I got was 700 , luckily my finance company have been amazing managed to get the car collected through them 5 months ltr
Arnold Clark are a scam company complete disgrace stay clear Aberdeen company and the staff are disgusting and rude”
“With Arnold Clark, it's more like "What went right?". They are incredibly skilled at lying to you, avoiding phone calls, not replying to emails and generally treating you like something nasty they just trod on. Like almost all car dealerships they are extremely good at hooking you in to buying a car. Once it's bought, they do not want to know. Between 4 Arnold Clark dealerships, not one of them has provided a service record, there are countless issues with the car, it took them TEN DAYS to do an MOT, head office complaints service is a joke. Also took out an MOT and service plan with them, wish we hadn't. Tried to reject the car within 30 days of getting it, they point blank refused. I have now been stuck with a car that still has issues, still needs repairs/replacements done since March 2024. As of writing it's now January 2025. I still don't have a service record for the car. One car I wish I had walked away from and like so many other people on this review site and others, you are treated like dirt once they've got hold of your money. Would not surprise me if the 5 star reviews are by staff members, because I have yet to meet one person with anything good to say about Arnold Clark, no matter where their dealerships are based. For the sake of your sanity and to avoid losing an awful lot of money please stay away from Arnold Clark and any company they've bought out. As for me I'm stuck with a dodgy car until I can afford to get rid of it. The best place for the car however is the scrapyard, because I definitely would not want anyone decent to go through what I, and many others have with various makes and models of cars. You have been warned.”
“I bought a bmw 320d automatic 2019 reg and before this vehicle audi a6 Quattro the both cars broke Both of them gave too many faults, Arnold Clark cars are not as good as before, they bought the car from another customer without doing any maintenance, they are selling it again, I bought about 10 cars, these last two cars cost a lot of money every one before the buy the vehicle need to be fully checked and health check and full service history please i need to get appointments to fix and waiting in the garage branch to fixed to much problems”
“Despite waiting for two months for Logan Owen and Grayson Douglas to send $785,000 to my account, they failed to do so. It became apparent that they were a scam in the trading world, as they stopped communicating with me after claiming they needed to show a loss on my account first. Fortunately, Financial expert Mrs. Doris Ashley helped me recover my money successfully. Now, I have all my funds back you can reach out to them via
Email: dorisashley71 (@) gmail com
WHATSAPP: +1--(404)--721---56--08”
“I bought a corsa e 2019 at £11.995 with 42.000 miles on the clock
I was only aloud to test drive for a couple of miles so I thought cool .so I purchased it but over 1 week I had loads of issues with exhaust ..Ratterly engine and electric faults the car says it covered only 42.000 miles amd when I took it back the sales person didn't want to know and I was flogg off saying it was fine I don't agree so I'm going to take this matter further anyone that reads this do not buy from arnold clark”
“Honestly Joe was absolutely fantastic with me he talked me through every step of buying my new car and when we picked up my new car he was such a genuine person, Thank you Joe and of course Arnold Clark for giving me my dream car.”
“The £99 fully refundable reservation is not refundable the kept it after I didn't want the car after finding out it was a commercial vehicle they said the reservation would pay for transporting the vehicle. Also when going through the papers they stated my part ex car had no locking nut or original manual it did this would have a effect on the price awful place to buy a car.”
“Called in Sunday at 5.25 to buy a car I seen online,told best to call tomorrow as we're closing soon.No problem bought a car from different dealership in Perth.”
“I feel compelled to share my harrowing experience with this platform in order to prevent others from falling victim to their deceitful practices. Their security measures are severely lacking and I speak from personal experience. I trusted them with my money, only to have it stolen by them. The sheer incompetence and negligence of this company in safeguarding their clients' funds is outrageous.
The customer support is practically non-existent as my attempts to reach out for assistance are met with long wait times, unhelpful responses, or no response at all.
In the nick of time TheresachinRecovery INC got involved and made them give me my financial retribution. You can contact them too if you're experiencing similar case Email them : t h e r e s a c h i n 1 2 1 2 @ g m a i l . c o m
Call/WhatsApp: + 1 4 3 5 5 0 0 8 3 0 4 TheresachinRecovery INC will give you complete happiness with restoration.”
“Got a price for my immaculate Grandland x. £9644. Took it to a portocabin where they were based. The guy looked all round the car,drove it photographed my car then photocopied my driving licence, log book and proof of address before rudely conversing on his lap top with his manager some 40 minutes later to offer £350 less than the price given.No reason given for the price drop. Avoid these lot at all costs,trade your car in at a proper garage, not Arnols Clark.”
“Please stay clear. I purchased my seat Ateca 4 months ago and low and behold it now has issues which I now think the sales team knew about. I contacted the autocare warranty team to organise getting the car looked at and was told it would take 3 weeks just to get it checked. I then contacted the salesperson that sold the car to me who surprisingly enough wasn't in on that day so I requested a call back by a manager and I am still waiting on that call 3 weeks later. I have sent numerous emails to customer services asking to be contacted and yet again no one has the decency to do so and i am the 1 doing all the chasing. This car was purchased as it suited our needs as we have a son with disabilities but that doesnt seem to matter to this croud. I am now near a month without a car not even entitled to a courtesy car and I am now left trying to get my disabled son to and from his appointments via taxi etc which again is more money. I have worked in retail for 29 years serving customers every day and I have never experienced customer service like it. Please stay clear.”
