Harwoods Group Reviews 2,250

Warning! Before you buy from here please read...

We paid a deposit on a vehicle we were told was available and confirmed for purchase. Days passed with no paperwork, no receipt, and after attempting to contact via email and phone call, 3 days later, a different member of sales contacted me to tell me the car had been sold to someone else on the Saturday- after our deposit had been taken on the Friday morning.

Even more frustratingly, we still received the esign to confirm the sale of the car to myself. While the deposit was eventually refunded, the communication throughout was appalling! I dread to think what the aftercare service would have been like if we had have purchased a car from them!

I'd advise potential buyers to read all the negative reviews, as this is something we hadn't done.

As an apology and acknowledgement of fault, we were told the team would try to find us another vehicle of the same spec. Two weeks later, after hearing nothing, we reached out for an update, no one even replied.

When you're spending close to £40,000, you expect a level of customer service and professionalism!

I wouldn’t like anyone to go through the experience we had. It was frustrating, disheartening, and completely lacking in care or accountability.

For contrast, we ended up going through Tunbridge Wells instead. They were an absolute pleasure to deal with from start to finish.

Think twice before trusting this dealership with your time and money!

I wanted to keep my Jaguar Xe online history upto date, I explained my car had rough idle, My Service was carried out and when I collected car I never recieved a service booklet! Was told this would be posted to me. Unfortunatley the rough idle seemed worse!
Despite me complaining over the phone which I might add never once did i get a return call! I always got fobbed off! So made a complaint to customer service on faebook page and then got a phone call from Archie service assisant from Hollingbury (Brighton) saying it was nothing they's done to make it worse etc although I did stress at the time I wanted the rough cause idle looking at! He said they'd get it in again for me & half heartedly apologised for not getting back to me! Turned out they couldn't fit me in until mid May! So I stated I didnt wish to return to Hollinbury ever again!
I was directed to Chichester Jaguar via facebook Harwoods who also weren't able to book my car in until mid or end of May as well! So took to an indepandant garage and where it was discovered an Exhaust damper was worn cost me £85,
A word of advice take your car to a trusted independant garage for a service or repairs as a charge of £574 just for a service & then suffer a dreadful experiance simply isn't worth it! Oh yeah fully expect a standard reply saying how sorry they are etc! Dont bother

Update as expected standard response whereby nothing would improve!
Take your car elsewhere if you want good service & treatment.

Absolutely appalling experience. Our vehicle (WF21 OOD) has been with Harwoods for over two months, and in that time, we’ve received virtually no communication. Despite sending several emails requesting updates, we’ve been ignored.

No courtesy car was ever offered, and only now—after two months—are we being told to contact JLR ourselves, which is completely unacceptable.

The issue with the vehicle was not minor — it was a serious brake failure on a car with only 30,000 miles, with original discs and pads yet to wear out. The braking system failed in such a way that the car would not stop, which is a critical safety issue. Harwoods attempted to return the vehicle to us in this dangerous condition, which could have resulted in serious harm to my partner had she been driving.

We’ve been forced to rely on public transport throughout, with costs approaching £2,000—costs we now intend to formally recover due to Harwoods’ gross negligence and lack of duty of care.

There has been no customer service, no ownership of the issue, and a complete breakdown in responsibility. Harwoods has failed us at every step.

Avoid this dealership at all costs if you value safety, transparency, or even the bare minimum in communication.

Shocking service post agreeing to purchase a used Audi E-Tron S from Crawley Audi. Details as follows:
1) We agreed to pick up the vehicle on a Saturday. It wasn't until Friday evening the dealership decided to process the paperwork, the Audi links didn't work which resulted in me having to go into the dealership to sign.
2) Upon collecting the car, it was filthy / had not been cleaned inside or out - dealership agreed it wasn't to standard and agreed to drop off a car and pick up ours. We had to chase this for 3 working days. The collection never happened. They requested my pregnant wife and 1 year old needed to spend 2 hours at the dealership waiting whilst this was done.
3) As I had to go in the day before collecting, I looked the car over and noticed that the 2 new tyres that were agreed on purchase hadn't been fitted. This was "scheduled" to be done on Saturday morning. Either way, the wheels upon collection were disgusting (dirty), so I suspect it was a last minute slapsdash thing.
4) They had included 'ceramic' coating as a sweetener which was meant to be applied on the outside and inside of the car. I don't know how they applied it onto a filthy interior - just makes me think it's a £599 con. AVOID AT ALL COSTS.
5) I've just had the V5 through the post and it's in the wrong name.

Overall, when you have to attend a dealership 4 times in total to collect a car to a standard and they cannot get the naming on a V5 correct. Go somewhere else.

Absolutely outstanding service from Harwoods Land Rover Brighton. Special thanks to Ross and Simon who truly went the extra mile to ensure that my expectations were exceeded. This is the very best service I have ever received from a dealership and I would recommend them unreservedly to anyone. They are a credit to the exceptional JLR brand.

Bought a 2 year old Jaguar from Harwoods which has depreciated £1000 a month for the next 2 years.

Car booked in for Service and MOT a month ago and dropped off first thing as arranged.

Firstly Harwoods tried to charge £750 for the service, I was required to evidence already included when purchased from them.

Then at 1230 I get a text saying just realised haven’t got the parts for a service and telling me keeping it tomorrow too.

I brought my well cared for and low mileage Audi S3 to Southampton Audi for a recall service. As an engineer with experience in workshops, production, and repairs within the defense industry, I possess a direct understanding of field operations and after-service. Behind the sleek looking showroom and well-dressed personnel, I encountered grossly uninformed mechanics and substandard workmanship. Unfortunately, the recall service resulted in significant and costly damages. My car was in perfect working order when I brought it in for the recall, which involved removing the gearbox and updating an internal pump before this pump self-disintegrates (a global recall campaign affecting certain production year DSG gearboxes in VW and Audi). They assured me they had the expertise to perform the work to the highest Audi standards. However, they repeatedly made errors, transforming a one-day repair into a 50-day ordeal that involved removing the gearbox three times. After each return, new issues arose. Notably, the second gearbox removal resulted in a large oil leak from it, which I discovered only after it created mess in my parking spot. Despite numerous attempts to have the dealership address these problems, I encountered delays and a complete lack of accountability. I believe they were negligent in their workmanship and subsequently attempted to cover it up with the runaround and by obstructing any concrete resolution. I strongly advise against bringing vehicles here for major work involving engines, gearboxes, or complex systems. If you have no other option, meticulously document every interaction (request updates via email and when the faff happens don't leave without a paper invoice/full report accurately documenting your drop off concerns) and be prepared for potential issues. I escalated my complaint internally with their after-service managers and requested to speak with the head of business, but was met with excuses involving sickness and other evasions. I want to specifically mention Manager Simon Boats, who was extremely uninterested in assisting and condescending. I've reported their mistakes to Audi UK, but they appear adept at manipulating the system and covering up their errors. I suspect the team responding to negative reviews with the same boilerplate answer will do it on this review too. However, I want to emphasize that I expected Southampton Audi to conduct its business with integrity and honesty. While errors are inevitable, the manner in which they are addressed is what truly defines a company's character. I strongly object to the victim-blaming stance your affiliate has adopted upon my escalation to Audi UK and The Motor Ombudsman.
It is with disappointment that I write this review, as the Motor Ombudsman's report, just received recently, reveals significant discrepancies and misrepresentations in the business's version of events.

Very thorough repair, excellent support with the hire car & the text updates sent whilst the car was with Harwoods

Aidan from Southampton Audi has been absolutely brilliant. From start to finish, he’s made this such a great experience for me. He’s very efficient, helpful and professional. Very happy with my new purchase!

I drove my A4 to Harwoods Crawley Audi, to make an appointment to have light shunt damage to the rear bumper repaired.

Instead Zeb took the car straight away and did the most amazing job of polishing out the damage in just 15 minutes - it looks better than when it was new just three months ago,, and I could get on with my work day (at the driving range!)

Will definitely trust them to take care of all future services and source my next car with them (BTW: super friendly reception staff too)

I took delivery of a Range Rover Sport in September 2024. Aside from the issues I have had with it, each time I make contact with Harwoods, its like pulling teeth getting anyone to respond to me. They were lovely and attentive when the car was being ordered but afterwards, a shocking lack of interest in aftercare. I will not be getting another LR and if i did, i certainly wouldn't buy from here.

I was considering buying a car from Harwoods Assured in Chichester. The sales guy Danny was extremely helpful and accomodating. I told him that his car was one of two that were serious contenders. He wasn't pushy at all and allowed us access to the car for a long time followed by a test drive. Unfortunately age and colour of the car made us choose the other vehicle.

Danny was knowledgeable and a great help and a credit to Harwoods.

Oh wow, bravo! Standing ovation for the sheer brilliance of your coordination skills Harwoods! I was absolutely thrilled to receive a lovely little service and MOT reminder from your Crawley branch, because, of course, who cares about the minor detail that I actually live in Basingstoke and have serviced my Jaguar there? Honestly, top-tier personalisation from Harwoods. Clearly, your data management is worthy of a GDPR award!
Like any logical human being, I called your Basingstoke branch on the 24th Feb for a quote, left a message, and silly me I actually expected someone from Basingstoke to call me back. I know, I know… rookie mistake! Instead, in a truly inspired plot twist, Harwoods Crawley rings me two days later, enthusiastically trying to book me in there instead. Amazing!!
After a thrilling round of explaining, I was assured that Basingstoke’s service department would definitely definitely call me back. And yet… here I am. Still waiting. wallet open and trousers down, ready to part with an amount of money for an MOT, oil change and vehicle health check, equal to the newly revised increase in defence spending! Sadly the senior management at Harwoods won’t hear about any of the above.

Recently, I took my Discovery Sport to Harwoods Basingstoke for a service. The engine had a faint rev noise when it reached 2000 RPM or more, though it was barely noticeable. Even though a service wasn’t due, I opted for a voluntary check-up and asked them to inspect the noise. They diagnosed it as a DPF heat shield rattle and quoted £200 to fix it—on top of the already expensive service.
However, the noise persisted after the repair. They then suggested a timing chain stress test, which cost even more. After conducting the test, they reported that it had failed and also found play in the turbo, estimating the total repair cost at nearly £5,000. At this point, I was completely frustrated and decided to take my car elsewhere for repairs.
When I went to collect the car, it immediately made an unusual revving noise upon ignition—something that hadn’t happened before. I probably shouldn’t have driven it, as the issue worsened after the service, but I did. Within just 50 miles, the engine seized. I had the car towed back to Harwoods, only to be handed a staggering repair bill of £16,500 to fix the engine. Overwhelmed with frustration, I towed it to LC Auto Garage instead.

Luke at LC Auto Garage was incredibly helpful and gave me the best advice. While he provided a genuine quote of £8,500 to repair the engine, I ultimately decided to sell the car as-is. I highly recommend LC Auto Garage for all JLR owners in the Basingstoke area.

I went to audi portsmouth today to look at cars. There were probably 8 staff and half of them were with customers. There were 2 woman staff having a chat and 2 men just sat on their computers after leaving the chat with the woman. Not once did they acknowledge me and my husband or ask us if we needed information. It was like we were invisible. We decided to leave as we were not important enough to even welcome or say hello to. So rude and unprofessional, won't be spending my money there

The process of buying an excellent new BYD SEAL U DM-I. from Harwoods Coulsdon I compare to checking in to a 5-star hotel, with the Salesperson “Kaz” making my stay a delightful experience throughout. Yes, I would highly recommend BYD Coulsdon, and the “SEAL U DM-I” which you should definitely take a test drive

Lube up because you’re about to get shafted. The worst after sales experience I’ve ever known. After purchasing a car from them they refused to acknowledge there were any problems so I had to take it to an independent garage at my own expense even though it was under warranty.

Good team and were supportive in the process the salesperson Donna coordinated very well from Harwoods Audi Portsmouth

Very satisfied with my new car and the service and information supplied by sales executive, Dashty Azez.