Arnold Clark Horror Stories

[Boghead ranter]

Bought a car from them 4 years ago in Gorgie - part of the deal negotiated with them was that they would clear the finance on the car we were trading in, including the monthly payment that fell due at the end of the month, a fortnight away. About 6 weeks later, we start getting legal chaseups from the finance company, as, yes, they had received finds from AC, but not including the monthly payment as above. Despite the deal having been witnessed by me, Mrs Ranter and my brother-in-law, AC denied it, and indeed the salesman we dealt with "no longer worked there" conveniently. We ended up coughing up to the finance company rather than having a bad debt against our name, as we were looking to move house and didn;t want to complicate the mortgage application process.

But, as we thought it could be a one-off, we went back to AC in Grangemouth a year ago. When the temperature got cold (minus figures), we got a funny knocking noise from the front wheel, which seemed to disappear after a while, presumable once the engine warmed up and warmed whatever was knocking, which was very convenient as every time we drove Larbert-Grangemouth, the noise was away by the time we got there. We left the car with them overnight a couple of times, but they could never "hear any knocking noises". Eventually Spring came and temperatures rose, so we were advised to wait till this Autumn/Winter and assures they would look at it then. We had a coldish morning this week, there was our friendly noise back. Duly we contacted AC, to be told "we only fix issues that are within 6 months of purchase" and they refused to touch it, despite us actually having waited all this time at their advice.

Horrible, horrible company, we won;t be fooled a third time.

And, they can be premier-league efficient when they want to be - leave an example of bad service on their Facebook page, it gets deleted and you get a nasty PM within 20 minutes.

[wintonfan]

dont view buying from arnold as if you are going to get customer service, it s a place to buy a motor cheap. Bought 3 cars from them and the 1st thing i do is to get my local independent garage to give it a good checkover (costs me a few quid) all okay then great if not back to arnold

back in 06 I bought a 05 plate almera, cost me £6.5k, other nissan garages were charging 8k for same cars on same miles, diff casing failed on gearbox 2 years later so had box overhauled using diesel spec internals to uprate it at a cost of £300 plus £100 to refit, still a grand in pocket. car hasnt missed a beat since, it gets worked hard inc towing. fact is you buy a decent reliable car from arnie and get it checked it will be sound, I almost view buying a car from there in the same way as I do buying at auction

[Pickysnr]

Bought a range rover sport 2weeks ago put car into land rover dealer to check it out they found over £5000 of faults went back to Arnold Clark what a waste of time No seeking legal advice will never buy or recommend them ever rant over

[sjc]

When it comes to servicing your motor - nobody fcuks you over quite like Arnold Clark!

Sent from my GT-N7000 using Pie & Bovril mobile app

[Addie]

When it comes to servicing your motor - nobody fcuks you over quite like Arnold Clark!

Sent from my GT-N7000 using Pie & Bovril mobile app

I know they have a huge staff turnover, especially in the sales dept. Not a good sign IMO.

[tree house tam]

When buying a used car from ANYONE , you should get it checked over by an independent garage or your mechanic mate , then go back with the inevitable list of faults to be fixed . Big motor groups will sell loads of faulty cars and will fix them if you have any issues . Their take is that if 2-3 out of ten come back then they have saved on 7-8 cars .

I have used Arnold Clark several times and if there are any issues with cars I have bought they have fixed them for me , promptly. I would use them again.

1 thing I have learned is that ALL car salesmen are self absorbed cocks who will tell you anything just to get that sale.

[Ivo den Bieman]

You should never buy used from Arnold.

The only way to buy is to buy brand / nearly new cars at a cheap price- he is still quite good for that.

Never buy used from him, and never, ever go near Arnold's greasemonkeys- at best they are indifferent, at worst damagingly clueless.

[RandomGuy.]

When buying a used car from ANYONE , you should get it checked over by an independent garage or your mechanic mate , then go back with the inevitable list of faults to be fixed . Big motor groups will sell loads of faulty cars and will fix them if you have any issues . Their take is that if 2-3 out of ten come back then they have saved on 7-8 cars .

I have used Arnold Clark several times and if there are any issues with cars I have bought they have fixed them for me , promptly. I would use them again.

1 thing I have learned is that ALL car salesmen are self absorbed cocks who will tell you anything just to get that sale.

[tree house tam]

What's so funny wee man ?

[RandomGuy.]

What's so funny wee man ?

Are you trying to claim that bigger garages are more likely to fix problems before a car is sold then a small garage?

[RH33]

I've just bought a car off Arnold Clark. They had the make and model I wanted. Hate the way the salesmen act though.

[tree house tam]

Are you trying to claim that bigger garages are more likely to fix problems before a car is sold then a small garage?

No , the exact opposite . They purposely don't fix them before its sold , if you have any problems they then fix it , but if you don't come back within the warranty period , job done . ALWAYS get it checked over by mechanic within the warranty period . Even if its just minor things like tyre treads are quite low , they change them.

With the volume of cars big companies sell , its not cost effective to fix them all before they sell.

[RandomGuy.]

No , the exact opposite . They purposely don't fix them before its sold , if you have any problems they then fix it , but if you don't come back within the warranty period , job done . ALWAYS get it checked over by mechanic within the warranty period . Even if its just minor things like tyre treads are quite low , they change them.

With the volume of cars big companies sell , its not cost effective to fix them all before they sell.

Do you expect a small garage to buy a car, spends hundreds fixing it, get it MOT'd, and then try and sell it for a profit? It's simply not possible. Big garages get cars far cheaper than little garages, so the price ghets pushed up meaning there's almost no profit in car sales for smaller garages anyway.

I'll tell you now that a small garage will do any work you want them to before it's sold, as it's a fucking nightmare is someone's constantly coming back wanting work done. Bigger garages don't do any more work before they sell a car, they generally do nothing as it's all about turnover. They just get newer cars, with less problems, for far less. Leaving them a huge profit, a high chance that there won't be any problem for a while after the cars been sold and also a huge margin if anything does go wrong

You seem to be suggesting small companies are all about the money and would rather shaft you than help you, when it's the complete opposite for most. You'll bound to find a garage of dodgy traders. But the majority of small garages are fighting everyday to try and make a profit. The Audi garage in Perth makes a profit of almost £500k a month from labour and parts alone. To try and compare a garage like that to a small independent is completely foolish, and for what its worth your customer service would be far better at a small garage. The bigger ones are all about profit, and trying to kill the smaller ones off, this is why you see so many finance deals at the moment. Small garages cant compete

[Al B]

Even I can tell you're completely misunderstanding what he's saying. He's saying a car you buy from a smaller garage will be more likely to be in good nick when you buy it, but a car from Arnold Clark is more likely to have things wrong with it as they sell so much volume that the percentage of people who will bring it back is small enough that they don't have to spend time and money sorting them beforehand.

[mrcat1990]

My best mate used to be a salesman for Arnold Clark and it sounded like a horrible place to work. Spoke about the salesmen happily shafting customers and each other for the cash.

[mozam76]

My best mate used to be a salesman for Arnold Clark and it sounded like a horrible place to work. Spoke about the salesmen happily shafting customers and each other for the cash.

Happens all the time - it's worse if the garage has a couple of different marques to sell - take the garage in Edinburgh that sells Alfa Romeo and Seats (Western I think). If someone comes in to look over an A.R, and gets cornered by a Seat salesman, there's usually hell to pay.

[hoopy1967]

My best mate used to be a salesman for Arnold Clark and it sounded like a horrible place to work. Spoke about the salesmen happily shafting customers and each other for the cash.

Same, i knew someone who worked for them for about 6 months and he got quite pissed off at the way he was treated and the salesmen he worked with

Edited June 15, 2013 by hoopy1967

[tree house tam]

Do you expect a small garage to buy a car, spends hundreds fixing it, get it MOT'd, and then try and sell it for a profit? It's simply not possible. Big garages get cars far cheaper than little garages, so the price ghets pushed up meaning there's almost no profit in car sales for smaller garages anyway.

I'll tell you now that a small garage will do any work you want them to before it's sold, as it's a fucking nightmare is someone's constantly coming back wanting work done. Bigger garages don't do any more work before they sell a car, they generally do nothing as it's all about turnover. They just get newer cars, with less problems, for far less. Leaving them a huge profit, a high chance that there won't be any problem for a while after the cars been sold and also a huge margin if anything does go wrong

You seem to be suggesting small companies are all about the money and would rather shaft you than help you, when it's the complete opposite for most. You'll bound to find a garage of dodgy traders. But the majority of small garages are fighting everyday to try and make a profit. The Audi garage in Perth makes a profit of almost £500k a month from labour and parts alone. To try and compare a garage like that to a small independent is completely foolish, and for what its worth your customer service would be far better at a small garage. The bigger ones are all about profit, and trying to kill the smaller ones off, this is why you see so many finance deals at the moment. Small garages cant compete

I have worked for both small and large companies in the motor trade . The small independent companies prided themselves in selling good quality , reliable cars . The larger companies I have worked for bought by volume and sacrificed reliabilty for cost . As has been witnessed by this thread .

Although this thread is about Arnold Clark , it could be about any number of large motor companies .

I have never said anything about small companies shafting anyone , you have obviously misread my posts . These are just my independent views after working over 20 years in the trade.

[RandomGuy.]

I have worked for both small and large companies in the motor trade . The small independent companies prided themselves in selling good quality , reliable cars . The larger companies I have worked for bought by volume and sacrificed reliabilty for cost . As has been witnessed by this thread .

Although this thread is about Arnold Clark , it could be about any number of large motor companies .

I have never said anything about small companies shafting anyone , you have obviously misread my posts . These are just my independent views after working over 20 years in the trade.

I think I have misread your posts after re-reading them. I apologise for acting like a douche

[port-ton]

My best mate is a salesman for them and says in the few years he's been there's been at least about 50 salesmen come and go.

Most just can't hack it at all.

My mate seems to do alright though. He's a really generous and decent guy, but he can get on with anyone and is a master bullshitter when he needs to be so he's perfect for the job.