Carsa - Portsmouth Reviews 

Calum at Portsmouth was above and beyond helpful thank you so much to him and the Portsmouth team all wonderful

I genuinely struggle to understand how this place has any five-star reviews given the experience we’ve had.

My sister had been saving for years to buy her first car and was incredibly excited when we finally found the car she wanted at Carsa in Portsmouth. We made the long journey down there, but during the test drive my dad noticed that the car had no windscreen washer fluid and less than 15 miles of fuel, meaning they actually had to cut the test drive short.

When this was raised with the staff, there didn’t seem to be much of an explanation. At the time, these appeared to be relatively minor issues, and as we hadn’t spotted anything else concerning, my sister went ahead with the purchase and drove the car home.

Unfortunately, once we got home, things became much worse.

We topped up the windscreen washer fluid, only for it to come pouring straight back out. It turns out the washer reservoir has a severe crack in it, which certainly raises questions as to why there was no washer fluid in the car when we test-drove it in the first place.

My brother, who works as a car estimator, then looked over the vehicle and noticed further issues. In his opinion, the car showed signs of having previously sustained significant damage and been poorly repaired, including a noticeably misaligned bonnet. These were not issues that had been made clear to us when purchasing the vehicle.

What has made the situation even worse is the customer service afterwards. My dad has repeatedly tried to contact Carsa by both phone and email to discuss the problems, but has received no meaningful response. His calls are now not being answered, and it appears that both his and my mum’s numbers have been blocked.

For a young woman who had spent years saving for her first car, this has been an incredibly upsetting experience. She trusted that she was buying a vehicle from a reputable dealership and has spent a significant amount of her savings on it.

The complete lack of support or willingness to engage with us since the sale has been appalling. Whatever the explanation for the condition of the vehicle, ignoring customers rather than addressing their concerns is completely unacceptable.

I would strongly recommend that anyone considering purchasing a car here thinks very carefully and has the vehicle independently inspected beforehand.

We certainly wish we had.

Callum Portsmouth was very professional and helpful. It all went very smoothly after a mix up with head office.
Callum is very serious and professional

From initial enquiry through to driving my new car away, the whole experience was first class, the car I purchased far exceeded my expectations, would definitely recommend Carsa and a big thanks to Doug at the Portsmouth branch.

I had a great experience with Carsa from booking a test drive to purchasing a vehicle. The customer service was great, and the whole process was as smooth as it could have been.
At the dealership, Louis was very professional, welcoming and helpful throughout the process. He made everything straightforward and was happy to answer any questions I had, without ever making me feel pressured. I really appreciated how easy and stress-free the experience was from start to finish.
I’m really pleased with my new car and would definitely recommend Carsa, especially Louis, to anyone looking to buy a vehicle.

Brilliant experience, very smooth and very friendly! Highly recommend Joccoaa!

I attended Carsa Portsmouth to support my son purchasing a used car from the branch. To say I was disappointed is an understatement, so much so that if it was me buying, I would not have bought from this branch, and we will not be back to buy a car from them (my wife and myself are due to buy later this year, so Carsa can count this as two potential buyers as lost). Our initial test drive and meeting with the young sales assistant was a positive experience and he was a pleasure to deal with. When we returned a couple of days later the original sales assistant was absent so we had a meeting with a new assistant. As she was the only assistant available and working at this time, it was obvious she was being pulled in many directions with many appointments booked in. The initial chat was pleasant enough but it was obvious that the staff are pushed to sell all sorts of additional services (warranty, paint protection etc..). I get it that they make money from these services but the time wasted was ridiculous. The attitude of the sales assistant changed dramatically when all of the additional services were declined by my son. She continued to deal with new arrivals and move cars around the forecourt whilst we were sat waiting on her. All this whilst the two gentlemen on the main desk sat and chatted and didn't offer any help to either the assistant or ourselves.
Several cheeky comments were made during our visit regarding the process of buying the car - I was made fully aware that they are an internet sales service and that the sales assistant had very little to offer other than sort out the paperwork, she also was quite clear that because we had started the process with the other assistant days before he would benefit from this sale and not her. This made sense given the attitude during the latter part of the sales process. She also saw fit to question our experience of owning and driving cars (I am 52 and a very experienced Engineer, my wife 45 yrs old and has owned many cars) when we questioned the resetting of the tyre low pressure warning alarm (she pumped up the tyre and said this was the solution as this happens whenever a car is left on the forecourt for the day??) My question was what had they done to reassure us that there wasn't a tyre issue. Very cheeky and very unprofessional.
We were also left unattended for up to 20 minutes while she dealt with others in the branch , which would have been acceptable had she told us the timeframe for the process and paperwork to be sorted. I did ask her at one point as she was stood with the reception/management team what we were waiting on - to which she replied 'the invoice' - end of her conversation. I tried to tease a little more out of her and received the same explanation - 'the invoice'. It was at this point had it been my purchase I would have walked out of the deal. She appeared disinterested and I was made aware that when I turned my back on the team, she made a flippant remark and laughed with the desk team. Had I seen this I would have questioned the professionalism and left the premises there and then.
There are more issues than the ones listed here that I encountered with this woeful branch. Suffice to say I will take my business elsewhere in future. Not a good experience for my son in choosing and picking up his first decent car. I would NOT recommend this branch of Carsa.

We paid £39 to reserve a car and have it delivered to the Portsmouth depot. Only to get a call the day before saying they could not do so due to logistics and we can then see the car another 7-10 days later. This was no good for us so I called and cancelled. They agreed to refund the fee but this has not materialised. I have further called and you cannot get through to customer services without seeming to have an order! Poor poor customer service, clearly we are glad that we did not buy a car from them as there would be no service afterwards, that much is clear! Avoid.

Please note Carsa, you could redeem part of this experience by actually refunding the amount as you had agreed!

Had a brilliant experience picking up my new car, Louis was very friendly and helpful explained everything all the way through.

We've just bought our new car! Callum at Portsmouth Carsa helped us go through the procedures smoothly, and was extremely diligent.

was nice deal

I recently purchased a seat Leon, from the Portsmouth branch.
My experience with Joccoaa and the team was great, they are such friendly, knowledgeable and amazing team. They went above and beyond for me to try and sort out the finance company issues.
I’m very happy with my purchase and my mars bars 😊

Only negative I have is with a head office, I spoke to Stuart on the phone regarding the finance and setting it up before my test drive. He asked me about warranty, and I only asked about price but he proceeded to add it on to my finance application, this is something that I didn’t ask for or had made a decision about. This then caused delays with my application having to reapproved etc.
Joccoaa and her team made sure this was corrected and we’re doing their absolutely best to make sure no more delays would happen!

I highly recommend this branch and the instore team! Thank you again😊

Very high pressure to buy extra products on top of car purchase . Took 3 hours to complete paperwork due to me refusing extras then dropped my part exchange price after they took off the extras . Not an enjoyable experience.

Absolutely shocking company to deal with from start to finish. The car I was interested in buying from them was pretty much my dream spec. Their customer service and lack of transparency was so appalling that it actually put me off buying it.

I asked for the information that was done on the previous services, and they refused to disclose that, claiming GDPR infringement. Yet I said I'm not interested in any of the customer details. I just wanted to know the work that was done on the car during the four services over the last four years, as I wanted to understand whether spark plugs have been changed and brake fluid had been changed, those sorts of things. They just flat out refused to give me that information.

They tried to force warranties down my throat at every given opportunity and were really bad at taking no for an answer. Customer service and head office are equally poor. The only person I dealt with who even had a modicum of customer service skill was a lady called Phoebe in head office, who provided a report that was done on the car for pre-inspection. That was just a series of ticks and didn't give any insight as to the actual condition of the car.

I would say that if you're trying to buy a car that's on the expensive end, stay well clear of this company and opt for a more reputable dealer. Don't be drawn in by the fact that the price is slightly lower through them.

Excellent service, quick, easy and fully comprehensive. Callum couldn’t have been more friendly knowledgeable. Would highly recommend. Also amazing car.

Today I went to buy a car with Stevie he was very helpful getting us the deals we want with the price we want even going the extra mile to get us discounts where possible.

I caused some trouble but he never wavered. The test drive perfect.

The car lovely,

Paperwork quick and efficient.

Couldn’t ask for a better salesman.

Was given a date and time to collect a car at their Portsmouth showroom. 15 miles into my journey to collect it I received a phone call to be informed it wasn’t there but 320 miles away in Durham, no explanation, just nothing. They did say sorry.

Callum at Portsmouth sold us our new vehicle. Great help, very welcoming and explained everything thoroughly. Thank you very much!

Great service from Doug every friendly

Great customer service. I was given time to ask questions. I was welcomed with smile and treated with respect.