Drive Green Reviews 95

I appreciated the walk-around video of the car which gave me confidence to place a deposit and make the 90 minute journey. The battery certificate was also reassuring. Despite having an appointment, they were busy on arrival so had to wait 15 minutes or so, which I spent checking out the car inside and out. But then I got individual attention and the transaction was smooth. I’m loving my EV and we’re now a two-EV household!

We're disappointed in the customer service we received. After traveling down from North Wales by train and staying overnight in Bath we were phoned that morning to say the only 'slot' available was at 09:30 that morning. This was despite us saying we weren't sure what time we could be at their showroom as we needed to catch unfamiliar buses.

When we did arrive we felt they wanted us out as quickly as possible and seemed reluctant to provide a test drive.

The Type 2 cable they supplied appears to be faulty but as they haven't or won't return my email I bought another.

Received the V5 today and found they registered it my name not my wife's despite her name name being on the forms.

I wouldn't use them again based on the poor level of customer service.

DO NOT BUY AUDI - RE20 YFA from these guys.

When I purchased the vehicle back in June 2024, it was advertised at 12,000 miles. However when I got the vehicle it was over 16,000. I questioned myself and wondered if I had read it wrong. However, after a long battle trying to return this car, due to software issues, it’s not back up for sale at 16,900 miles when I know the car has 22,000 miles on it.

Anyway, After attempting to set up my Audi app and MMI on the first few days of picking the car up, it became clear that there was an issue and I first contacted the Audi support team via phone call.

After my 3rd call with the Audi support on the phone, I was given a reference number and was informed that I should take the car to my local Audi garage to be investigated. I immediately rang Drive Green to explain this. Reece Cleverly (Sales Manager) was extremely cooperative and nice about the situation, suggested to get the car in and made me feel confident this issue would be resolved once we knew the problem.

I rang Audi after this conversation with Reece and booked in. The nearest appointment available being the 1st August (5 weeks away). I informed drive green of this and we waited.

1st August

The car went into Audi and explained the issue to them. Explained below.

Main Issue - Software - Location Services - The vehicle will not connect to my Audi app. When on the user settings on the MMI, I cannot access the user management. Tried everything on the phone with the technical team before they advised to get the car in.

Also, the SOS button is red and not green - which the technician on the phone said was an issue.

Navigation also doesn’t work, says you are off road and often comes up with messages that you’re crossing the border of foreign countries.

Audi told me all 4 tyres were over 70% worn and I hadn’t even drove 1000 miles.

There is a clicking/vibrating/rattling sound coming from the centre screen. Maybe this is the issue with the software/location if something is loose (see video).

Reece reassured me at first that this issue would definitely be resolved, until it came to them paying any money.

Also, Due to the software issue, I cannot link the car with octopus energy and get the EV tariff we need. This was making it costly to charge.

Audi could not find out what the issue was and after 2 hours of work claimed they needed much longer. Drive Green then wouldn’t let me return the car unless I PAID AND FOUND OUT WHAT THE ISSUE WAS DESPITE AUDI EXPLAINING THERE WAS AN ISSUE.

I had to pay £600 in diagnostic work to prove there was in an issue and after 6 months of battling and getting the finance company involved, they eventually accepted rejection of the vehicle.

It has cost me hundreds and left me massively out of pocket. And shock, they are claiming some damages to car on return and suddenly the car is back up for sale immediately in ‘stunning condition’.

Also, the images advertised are old , as you can see the dash says May 2024. Please do not buy this car and go through the same issues as me. They say the car has 200 miles of range but realistically at 80% charge you get about 100 real miles.

Highly recommended. We purchased our first electric car from Drive Green in 2024 and have been so happy with it! The customer service we received was excellent and the staff are very knowledgeable. As this was our first electric car we were a little nervous about making the transition to electric. However, the staff were able to answer all our questions helping us to feel we had made the right decision. They were also able to advise on a suitable car charger wall box for our home and help arrange the installation! We will definitely use Drive Green again if we decide to purchase another electric car in the future.

My wife and I have purchased 2 EV's from Drive Green and on both occasions the serive has been excellent, the staff friendly and knowledgeable, and we have been very happy with both vehicles.

Highly recommended if you're in the market for a used EV.

Great experience at Drive Green.
Reece was super helpful with recommending and advising what EV would suit me. The range of cars was great with all shapes/sizes available. Charging solutions were discussed with charge points on offer to buy and take away which is great and takes the hassle out of researching what charge point i would need. Great experience all round and would highly recommend.

This year, we’ve switched both cars, from petrol and diesel respectively, to electric, my wife’s in Feb and mine, late Aug. The service we received from Reece, Dan and Haywood (@ Drive-Green, Emborough) was excellent, from start to finish; an overall, very positive experience. There was absolutely no pressure, nor corny sales pitch. What we did get, was a straight forward, transparent process and great advice, which was very welcome as we were new to EVs and especially me, as I thought the furthest step change I could go to, was to a PHEV. We were really surprised that we were able to part-ex our normally aspirated cars and then that the price on each, was so competitive, on both cars (compared to the equivalent-ish normally aspirated cars that we were initially considering). The Site offers a substantial range in terms of size, brand, range and price and we’d have no hesitation in recommending Drive-Green to anyone.

We recently bought an electric car (EV) from Drive Green. We are very happy with the car and with the advice we had in choosing it. We didn't know where to start with that. Their advice and support made it all possible.

This business is a joy to deal with! I agree with other reviewers - they are not your run of the mill second-hand car dealers; they are very knowledgeable about EVs and are keen to get people driving them. We went from a leased EV to a used one through Drive Green, and Reece was so helpful. The car has been superb since we purchased it in April 2024. I'm sure if there were any issues, they would have resolved them - but there weren't! We will definitely return to Drive Green when we change cars.

Bought multiple cars from Drive Green over the years and always had great service. Reece is awesome to deal with and all the staff make you feel at ease.

If your looking for a used EV I can’t recommend these guys enough.

Extremely personable and knowledgeable about all vehicles in the EV market, they were honest about positives and negatives of vehicles and their battery ranges. I will most certainly buy another EV from them at a later date

Bought our Renault Zoe here, our first all electric car, so we appreciated their expertise, a good selection to choose from - we did have to book an appointment, but that meant someone was available to answer our questions and able to organise a test drive for us.

Such an easy transaction, I completed the whole thing online, which was easy, the car arrived exactly as described and I am 100% happy with both the car and the service, arrived on the day I requested valeted and fully charged, when I upgrade the wife's car I will definitely look to see what they have A***** company and car

No problems at all. The car was as described and the two small unforeseen problems were sorted out quickly and without question. Would use again.

First rate service, they know EVs, guided me to my first EV, talked charging, servicing and how the tech works. Went through the warranty and options to extend it. I can only say perfect, not like used car salesman, more enthusiastic fans of EVs. Hope they line up my next EV when the time to change comes around.

Excellent company to deal with. We brought our Renault Zoe from them and the car and service have been brilliant. Rhys was so helpful and the part exchange went very smoothly. We just love the Zoe and recommend drivegreen 100 percent

good service, nice car, pathetic aftercare.

fine until a couple of months later when we had to replace all 4 tyres at a cost of near 1200 pounds. Their aftercare just fobbed us off and didnt want to help. please avoid this place!!! there is no way we should be having to replace all 4 tyres so soon.

Unfortunately though we'd each agreed to buy a car from Drive Green my wife had to pull out of her purchase of a Fiat 500e when we talked with a specialist wrecker yard who had had several 500e in before (not from Drive Green), and two currently, that had spontaneously burst into flames! I also saw the EU recall notice, 6 countries had already conducted safety recalls of 500e because of the risk of some bursting into flames, though not at that time the UK. Despite providing Drive Green with a copy of the EU recall notice, and 3 photographs of Fiat 500e that had spontaneously burst into flames (ie not as a consequence of an accident) Drive Green insisted on keeping my wife's £500 deposit, and putting the 500e out for sale again, later blaming us for being duped by social media, though our info came direct from breakers and EU, not from social media. As the saying goes "buyer beware".

So I also then did a safety recall check on the Kia Soul that was due for delivery to me in four days time, and found that there was an outstanding UK safety recall on it, regarding the parking brake, saying that it could roll away and crash. I insisted that that be carried out before delivery, and they subsequently got it done by Kia. For your information, and not saying that Drive Green would have, it is illegal for a car dealer, new or used, to sell vehicles with outstanding safety recalls, it is a requirement that they check that no recalls are outstanding. It seemed to me, rightly or wrongly, because Drive Green already had had the car for a few weeks without the work being done, but shockingly the car was available for the public to test drive (as I had) though it may crash, that unless I had pointed it out the parking brake wouldn't have been fixed maybe not even known about, no doubt they will argue that it would have been, without my intervention. So maybe even before a test drive at Drive Green it's important to check whether there is an outstanding safety recall even just an EU one, especially before putting a deposit DOWN that you wouldn't get back.

Also be aware that even if a claim within the very short warranty period that Drive Green offer of 3 months is accepted, that the claim limit is £1000, and does not cover deterioration of the battery (fortunately, usually for at least 8 years from new, and within limits, the battery is covered by the manufacturer). £1000 does not go far with repair bills these days and in any case the list of things not covered was pretty exhaustive.

Aside from these important issues, and only seriously irritating, was that it was pot luck whether the Sales Manager, Reece, would return a call, and despite the General Manager's desk looking straight at all desks they'd often say that they'd check whether he was at his, ie look up. It was usually the young aforementioned General Manager that gets to answer the phone. Most people at Drive Green, and there aren't many, are called managers or supervisors. Maybe the title is to give customers a sense of reassurance, it didn't.

On delivery by the cheerful Dave of the welcome and spotlessly clean, Kia Soul I found that a lead that had been in the car when I test drove and agreed to buy it. was missing, as was the extended warranty information that I paid for (because Drive Green's is poor and the car is outside the manufacturer's warranty).

After all these issues we are left unreasonably £500 out of pocket for the 500e that probably wouldn't have incinerated my wife, but might have, but with a decent (so far) Kia Soul for myself. Would we use Drive Green again? Not a chance, safety comes first, customer service next, and we couldn't depend on getting either from Drive Green, despite them calling themselves the UK's biggest and best used EV specialists. Maybe one day, if less mean, with greater care, and if they listen to complaints and stop blaming the customer, they will be.

I reserved an EV from Drive Green back in April, when the car turned up there was a deep gouge on the bonnet and heavily stained upholstery, after complaining the salesman promised he would sort out these issues, I then had to take the car to valeters and be without for a day. When I chased on the paint issue, I have been continually promised it would be sorted then placated with various excuses, couldn't get the paint, got the wrong colour etc.
I can honestly say this is the worst experience of purchasing a car I have had, no customer care whatsover. The car cost in excess of 18K, top price! there was no negotiation on this price, and the car was under prepared for handover, it's been a constant battle to try and get the paint issue resolved. From my experience, the company does no match it's marketing hype and the salesman has no integrity whatsoever. I thought by dealing with a local company that you would be looked after, it seems not. Buy online and get a better deal

Awful buying experience. I had to chase them up as not returning emails or calls. I did purchase a car but had to research the service history myself as no one there was interested. The handover was dreadful. Was told to wait at a desk for ‘30 seconds’ whilst my part exchange was inspected. Sat there for 10 minutes whilst the other chatted about their personal business, no one said a word to me, felt very awkward. The man dealing with my sale, returned, didn’t say a word just filled out the paperwork and said thanks, good bye. I did intend buying a charger and a warranty but will go elsewhere. The floor mats that were in the boot were not there when I had got home, had to spend more money to replace them. This should have been a great day.