AvailableCar Castle Donington - Derby

matthew B.

Went there found a car i liked went in and spoke to someone at 5.45pm he gave me a number and asked me to sit and wait for someone to come and see me, I ended up leaving at 8pm after still not seeing the car or anyone didn't get to ask a single question about the car at all, complete waste of time especially when I done a hour journey there and a hour back for no reason. Never experienced anything like it in my life, the cars might be available but the staff aren't

Paul K.

Great place to visit for a wide selection of motor vehicles. Staff are friendly and helpful with hot drinks to keep you warm while viewing cars.

Victoria W.

Really can't fault available car for there customer service. Unfortunately due to a change of circumstances we had to cancel a sale/part exchange. Steve on sales has been truly wonderful and a pleasure to deal with. He has been polite, patient and professional throughout the whole saga, which we are genuinely gutted about. My partner and I truly appreciate this as buying cars can be so stressful and we feel awful for the change of heart but Steve's has been gracious and helpful, for that we truly would recommend available car and in particular Steve and Jordan for there care & professionalism. Five starts and above. Thank you! 👍🏻

David L.

All staff friendly, brought a car at a reasonable price.
Drove car away and found a fault within 5 minutes which wasn't a problem until I had to use after sales. Poor service and lots of waiting. 5 weeks have passed and 2 visits back to the branch, I've just had a call to say they're going to fix it in 3 weeks.

Helen M.

I phoned to arrange a test drive, but was told to wait a few days as the car had no MOT. We arranged a test drive for the next week. I arrived and was seen on time and all the admin was done, ready for the test drive. I had a look at the car which was FILTHY with bad scuffs to the paintwork! I then asked if the car had passed its MOT and the salesman didn't even know, so he checked it and found that it HAD NO MOT!! I decided to leave, as I had taken time off work (self-employed so no work = no pay). The salesman suggested test driving another car, same make and model but a bit younger. I agreed. After all, I had taken time off work, driven 30 miles and wanted to test drive a specific make / model. He disappeared for half an hour ... I wasn't offered a drink or told what was happening. I wasn't enjoying the (too loud) awful music from the overhead speaker and was thinking about leaving. He returned saying it needed petrol and disappeared again for 15 minutes ... We then went out to the car which he had left running as the battery was dead when he tried to start it! What a joke!
I sat in the driver's seat and wanted to elevate my seat, but the lever had been snapped off, leaving a piece of metal sticking out of the side of the seat!
The salesman told me that people often stole parts from their stock! I drove the car and loved it.
We got back to the showroom and they tried to sell me paintwork protection and a dashcam. Not interested!! I was handed over to a manager who wouldn't let me reserve the car for £99! I wanted to come back and test drive the specific car I was interested in, after it had passed its MOT. He eventually agreed to let me reserve it, after all, you can reserve a car online for £99, ffs!! WEIRD!
I slept on it and the next day, the alarm bells rang ... I decided to search elsewhere. I rang to cancel the test drive and to request a refund and was bombarded with questions! This would have been a 1 star review, but I gave 2 stars because I was seen on time and I
got my £99 back within 2 days, thankfully.
My advice to anyone needing a new car would be DON'T GO TO AVAILABLE CAR IN DERBY.
That's 3 hours of my life I won't get back.

James J.

Poor experience buying my car, and even worse aftercare.

Summary: wasted time on trips to the showroom, mechanical issues, aftercare refusing the fix issues, aftercare making poor repair jobs, and previous owner's medical records, medical equipment, and bank statements left in the car

First trip
I rang ahead about viewing a car I'd seen on the AvailableCar website. I was told the car would be available to view and test drive and was given a time.
Once I arrived I was told the car wasn't able to be test-driven, all I could do was look inside. The car hadn't been cleaned, it looked as though it had just been dropped off by the previous owner, something I pointed out to the salesperson. They said next time the car would be cleaned and ready for a test drive. One tyre was also bald, definitely not legal. I pointed this out and I was told it looked fine to them but that they'd raise it with a mechanic.

Second trip
I was able to test drive the car, but it still hadn't been cleaned, I pointed this out again to the salesperson. They said by the time I collect the car they'll make sure it's had a full service. The bald tyre had been replaced and I agreed to purchase the vehicle and part exchange mine.

Third trip
I drove down to collect the vehicle, I had to wait around for nearly an hour for someone to see me. When I got to the car it still hadn't been cleaned, there's coffee stains on the pillars, spilt and dried hand wash in the glove box... but by this time I'd already part exchanged my vehicle and switched the insurance.

I now noticed multiple issues:
- As soon as I turn on the ignition there's a warning light telling me there's no fuel in the tank.
- On the drive home I realise that the air conditioning also isn't working.
- There doesn't look to be any screen wash in the car. I refill the reservoir only to see that the screen wash pours straight back out again.
- The car is dirtier than I first realised, there are even old medical records and bank statements from the previous owner left in the car
- There's even an empty pot for a stool sample left with the medical records
- The car was struggling to start on occasion. I had the batter tested, it wasn't charging and needed replacing
- The seal in the driver side door was torn

Aftercare:

Don't expect friendly customer service from these guys

I ring the the aftercare team, they tell me I can drop the car off at the weekend, borrow a rental and return the following weekend. The rental car was also filthy and full of pet hairs (despite them lecturing me on how animals are allowed in their cars and how extra cleaning fees would be charged).

They replaced the door seal and the battery, they also re-gased the airconditioning (but did not check for leaks). For an entire week I'm told they cannot see the screenwash leaking. (I'm asked to believe they cannot see water leaking from a bottle). The car was also finally cleaned-ish, but the coffee stains and dried hand wash were still missed!

I believe the aftercare team stretched this out so I'd give up, I needed my car back and they don't have to fix anything under warranty if they don't admit there's a fault. I'd tried to book in for a repair again after this, but now I'm told I can't borrow a rental for the week like last time (I can only get there on weekends because of work), just another way of them stopping you using the warranty.

My garage found the leak straight away, they even said there were screws missing from when someone else had taken a look.

My aircon is now not working again. Although it was re-gassed AvailableCar either didn't check for leaks, or hoped that their temporary fix would outlast the warranty period.

Ann H.

Came to find the exact car we already have but in automatic transmission. They had it! Brilliant. However staff knew nothing about the car or if the timing belt was changed or nissan policy regarding this. Rude staff. Took over an hour to get a price for our car which turned out they said itwas £11000 less for the same car. I expected them not to give the same price but£11000 less?.All they were invested in was getting our driving licence details. Drove from their to Arnold Clark and got a much better deal.
Very disappointed as available had been brilliant when we went to the Cannock store in the past.

hilary B.

My husband bought a car nearly 12 months ago. He had a dash cam fitted at the time of purchase. After a a couple of months he noticed the cladding coming away above the passenger window. He was about to contact them when he was taken in for spinal surgery, which he is now recovering from, however he hasn't been able to drive.
He decided to contact Available Car after taking the car to Halfords to have a reversing camera fitted. The technician obviously checks the car before carrying out work, & he mentioned the cladding to my husband. This guy Paul, was so helpful & advised my husband to take the car back & get them to sort it. He believed a clip had been broken at the time the dash cam wiring was done.
I wish I could say the same about the customer service from AC. 5 times my husband has phoned them & each time told someone will phone him back. He phoned them again about 5pm this evening, & the girl said she would pass it to management when my husband said no one was returning his calls.
Have they called .....no
They are quick to sell the cars but then don't want to know.
Disappointing & unprofessional service.