Vertu Motors - Volkswagen Harrogate Reviews 

I had my car serviced with these guys. Overall, great customer service and the work carried out in a timely manner.

Holly in customer service was really friendly & offered me a payment plan for the work needed after the service - which was fabulous as I’m on maternity.

Definitely, will be returning to have my vehicle serviced with them in the future.

My car had a MOT, service and A/C system service, refresh and re-gas in February. The Vehicle Health Check (VHC) showed no cause for concern and all categories were green. The work undertaken on my car was completed and my car returned within two hours.

On the first occasion I used the air conditioning six weeks later, I noticed a noise that had not been present before the work. When I returned to Vertu on the 22nd April, which was the earliest appointment offered, the health check and video confirms a noise on the A/C, but it was working effectively. The notes on the sales invoice state ‘suspect compressor for A/C causing noise – Requires new compressor £1355.60’. The air conditioning system was working perfectly without any unusual noise before it was worked on. I was also advised that the checks on the NSF and OSF suspension had resulted in urgent/red advisory for both sides.

As there were no advisories eight weeks earlier, it was surprising to be informed it required urgent work, which I had undertaken at a cost of £405.86 due to the fact it was categorised as urgent and I had a 25-mile journey home.

I enquired why the A/C and the suspension problems weren’t picked up on my recent visit. I had only driven a few hundred miles in the interim, the service assistant’s response was ‘it was more like 300-400 miles’ & she stated technicians opinion varied from one person to another. It is unreasonable to expect anyone to accept that wear and tear in eight weeks accounts for it to go from green to a red advisory, which the service manager and sales/general manager agreed. It is my strong suspicion that the short time taken to MOT and service my car resulted in the suspension problem being missed and incorrect re-gassing/work on the A/C resulting in the compressor problem.

The Consumer Rights Act 2015 states that reasonable care and skill must be used while working on a vehicle. In my opinion, their technician did not use reasonable care and skill when they carried out the service on my car.

It is a month since I raised a formal written complaint and they have failed to respond in writing, albeit I did receive one telephone call from the service manager on 25th April. During this conversation he asked ‘how can they make things right’. This statement in itself is an acceptance that things went wrong, but he only accepted they had missed the problem with the car’s suspension and not that their technician damaged the air conditioning. He had viewed both the videos of my car and stated there were inconsistencies between their technicians videos of the VHC ‘as different as night and day’. He seemed more concerned that the technician hadn’t followed the process he had created.

The restitution the service manager offered was to have my car re-valued, as I was intending to sell my car and buy a new one from Vertu. I requested as a minimum they refund the cost of the air conditioning service etc, which he readily agreed to, but I had to chase the refund. The message I left was not returned so I called again. The refund was made two weeks after it was agreed.

Having taken my car back to Harrogate (this was now my third visit, a total of 150 miles, 5 hours travelling and circa 7 hours spent in their showroom) for a valuation, it was clear this offer was disingenuous. My car was classed as average with a derisory valuation, which was probably because I had made them aware I would not buy from Vertu again. I declined and walked away. Both the service manager and sales/general manager were aware of my visit and were visible in the background, but neither approached me and there has been no follow up. Management had every opportunity to acknowledge and engage with me directly, but the customer service was lacking.

As an aside, the disabled bays were taken up by Vertu vehicles instead of being available for customers with disabilities, which resulted in having to park further away.

During my second visit I observed customer service deny a disgruntled customer a loan car when he believed he had booked. They stated he hadn’t requested a car and they didn’t have one for him. This was an underhand tactic as an earlier customer had openly stated he did not require the loan car he had booked and to allow it to go to another customer.

My own experience and the almost 3000 bad reviews from other Vertu customers is sufficient to inform my decision to never trust this company again. I have reported my concerns to NY Trading Standards via CAB, as I feel my concerns and complaint have been brushed aside.

Very efficient and easy to deal with. Great support. Thank you.

My first time buying a car and Richard from the sales team was the guy who helped me. He made the experience easy and very enjoyable with a little bit of humour in there as well. I can highly recommend both Richard and VW Harrogate if you are looking for a new car.

A very big thank you to Gabi from the Sales team.
Gabi provided an excellent customer service, talking through all my new car's features and answered questions confidently, thoroughly and professionally.
My customer service experience was definitely 100% and professional. Thank you Gabi.
O'Neil

Without a doubt, it was John Cheyne. He was so helpful, professional and trustworthy. I told him what I was looking for, as you had no T-Cross’s in. Within the week he got back to me. The car is beautiful and we are very pleased with it.
Would definitely recommend your garage and most certainly John.

Hannah in the service dept provided excellent customer service. She was courteous and friendly, and informative regarding the service and health check done on my car, as well as providing useful information regarding the VW service plan.

Hannah on service reception gave excellent service - thank you

Thank you so much for the excellent service and customer care from Stuart Porter making the work carried out on my car seemless from the car in for repair to drop off and collection

Stephen was very patient and kind throughout my search for a new VW. Was never pushy and very understanding of what I required, which means a lot for a busy, working mum

I’ve rated my overall experience as neutral to negative.

I initially found a used, approved Polo GTI on their website, which seemed to be in great condition. I reached out with an enquiry and was assisted by Darren, who was excellent—extremely helpful and thorough over the phone. He accurately described the car, and I decided to drive about an hour to see it in person. Upon arrival, I was greeted by Steve, another member of their sales team, who was equally accommodating. He showed me the car, and the test drive went well. During the test drive, I noticed a small paint scuff on the front bumper, which Darren assured me would be sorted out if I decided to purchase the car. Overall, I loved the car, so I went ahead with the purchase. Upon collection, the bumper scuff had been addressed, and everything went smoothly. The sales experience was great, with Darren and Steve both earning top marks for their customer service.

Unfortunately, things took a turn for the worse after that. About a day into ownership, I noticed a metallic tapping noise coming from the engine bay at idle. I contacted Darren, explained my concerns, and he asked me to bring the car back. Upon inspection, a technician listened to the noise and claimed it was normal, describing it as the sound of the injectors firing. However, having a technical background myself, I immediately recognized this as more of a metallic bearing-like sound—not the usual injector noise.

Despite disagreeing with the technician’s assessment, I took the car back home. Over the next week, the noise seemed to get louder, and the car began to feel jumpy, particularly at low speeds, almost as if there was an issue with the gearbox or drive. Coincidentally, my neighbour had a very similar Polo GTI, so I asked if I could test drive his to compare. The difference was night and day—his car was smooth and silent. I then took my car to two local VAG specialists, both of whom quickly identified the noise as coming from the DSG gearbox, likely a DMF (dual mass flywheel) or clutch pack issue, which they confirmed was not normal. Given I had paid £18k for the car, I was understandably frustrated.

I booked the car in with VW Harrogate for a full diagnostic. By Thursday afternoon, Steve called to inform me that they had completed the diagnostics, and no fault codes had appeared, claiming the car was "spot on." At that point, I decided I would request a refund, as I wasn’t satisfied with the outcome. I was really disappointed—especially given that the car came with a 12-month VW warranty, and I expected Vertu to prioritise customer satisfaction and resolve the issue. Ultimately, I had paid for the car outright, and I wasn’t willing to accept a rattling sound from what seemed to be a significant component.

I returned the vehicle, and while I did eventually receive a refund, it took almost a week to process, which was frustrating as I needed those funds to find another car.

It’s unfortunate that my experience was soured by this issue, but I’m moving forward.

First class service again, thank you Holly Logan for being so professional, helpful, informative and kind. I have been taking my cars to Vertu Harrogate for many years and have always received amazing service from everyone and would recommend 100%.

I purchased a used Passat from another Volkswagen dealer and within a few hours I had some warning lights come on. Volkswagen Harrogate had a look and took the car in for a diagnostic whilst providing a loan car. It turned out to be a software issue which is now resolved.
It is fair to say I was not a happy customer when my 10 month old car went wrong so quickly however my faith in Volkswagen has been restored completely thanks to the Service Manager and Service advisor Holly Logan who was fantastic. Holly arranged everything and kept me informed all the time when there was a delay in getting a particular tool. I will stay with VW Harrogate for servicing and recommend them for a very professional approach.

My car was giving error messages and codes relating to the HV battery i.e. not every garage could work on it. Phoned Vertu and specifically asked to be booked into a garage that could work on HV batteries. They booked me into Harrogate. Took car there. First I got a phone call regarding their 'health check' i.e. trying to upsell me a load of stuff that I did not need (e.g. pollen filter marked as 'urgent'....). Then they called saying that they performed their diagnostic scan (£170). They said they found codes relating to the HV battery control module, same codes I told them it had. BUT they could not do anything further as they were not a HV centre!! They said I should book it into Leeds Vertu, to perform another scan (another £170). Went collect the car: they now say they have performed a software update. I asked 1) can I have a report of the scan - no. 2) can you give me details of the software update - no, but it relates to the battery apparently 3) can you phone Leeds Vertu for their opinion of the error codes detected - no 4) can you at least confirm that the codes you detected were the same as the ones I can detect with my scanner - no. I have never been in a garage that was so deliberately unhelpful and so uninterested in actually fixing my car. Really poor.

Dear Darren,

Thank you for your very quick response to my one star review and for the additional information regarding which code Vertu rectified.
At the point of booking in I specified that I would need to go to a workshop capable of working on HV batteries - not just for the practical aspects of working on HV batteries but also for the expertise that is found there. Vertu did not do this.
Clearing codes, updating software and seeing what happens next is not something I have a problem with.
Indeed, this is what I had been doing, as was detailed in a document which I left in the car which included the specific codes relating to the HV cell balancing circuit.
However what happens next in this case is, apparently, booking into a different Vertu garage and incurring another £170 diagnostic fee.

Being told that if the codes reoccur (which they have) I would then need to re-book it into Leeds who would charge me another £170 for exactly the same diagnostic scan that Harrogate have already performed is a problem. Being told that Harrogate Vertu could not transfer information or confer with Leeds Vertu is a problem. Being unable/unwilling to specify which codes were at fault or what software update was applied (thank-you for that additional information) is a problem. Had I gone directly to Leeds Vertu the re-occurring faults would be the continuation of an ongoing job and not the start of a new one, that is the problem.
Regarding the "trouble codes" that you are dismissive of, these are industry standard codes which are used to help diagnose faults in cars in each and every garage across the EU (possibly global - I just don't know). I understand that VW has in the past fought very hard to keep this information out of the hands of independent garages (legislation eventually changed that) and it is disheartening, if not unexpected, to learn that VW is continuing to develop codes that can only be read properly on VW supplied equipment.
I note that you do not address my concerns regarding the persistent upselling of unwanted items or services - I assume you feel that a pollen filter replacement in autumn is indeed a matter of "urgent" concern?
I hope this clarifies why your response does not answer my concerns but feel free to call me directly should you wish to discus it further.

Regards
Matt

Where to start? If it were possible to review the Business Manager, the reception team, the technical team etc etc below one star then I would. A three year service at a cost of circa £400 turned into a final bill of more than £1,000 because apparently on a low mileage car, which has always been serviced on time by Vertu in Harrogate all 4 tyres were “cracked” - who knows what that means certainly no one on reception and the service manager just ignored us. We usually get a short video before collecting the car which shows a “tour” of the car by a mechanic in charge of the job. No such thing appeared until after we had picked up the car and returned home and even then only the first few seconds were of our car and the rest of some old D registered car. Phoned Reception at Vertu first thing the following morning and they could not provide a video of our car as they had had some “technical issues” and then asked if there was anything else they could help with (oh the irony). Had asked them (yet again) to look at the dash cam which they installed at new when we bought the car (an on-going issue throughout it’s 3 years as in it had never been fit for purpose) and on collecting the car apparently according to reception they had not had time. VW Customer Services in South Africa took up our complaint and eventually got the Business Manager to call us re the dash cam issue. After a protracted conversation, and whilst not accepting any responsibility, he said that he would make a goodwill payment to us of £100. This all started in May 2024 and that goodwill payment was to have been sent within 2 days of the conversation which took place on 25 June 2024. At the time of writing ie 30 September 2024 we have still not received this goodwill payment promised by the business manager. VW Customer Service seem not to have encouraged the business manager to make good on his offer and we have ourselves e-mailed him more than once but had no response at all. I should also say that we have been VW customers for the best part of 30 years but wouldn’t now touch them with a barge pole purely because of the top down behaviour displayed by the people at Vertu Harrogate. We have gone to Volvo.

3 October 2024 - thanks for your response Keith which is clearly just the standard. As we have still not received the £100 goodwill payment promised to us on the 25 June 2024 by your then and current Business Manager perhaps you should send this review directly to him and copy it to your Finance Department as well at Vertu in Harrogate. Clearly he needs to be reminded of his offer.

4 October 2024 - As requested our details have now been forwarded to the digital experience at Vertu motors team and I await contact from Vertu Harrogate.

10 October 2024 - So it’s now a week since the digital experience team told us that management at Vertu Harrogate wanted to contact us to discuss our complaint. They have all the contact details they need but as at today no action has been taken - so no action and still no “goodwill” payment. We will continue posting here until this matter is resolved.

12 October 2024 - This matter has now been resolved with an e-mail from the business manager at Vertu in Harrogate including an apology for his “oversight” regarding the goodwill payment (which his accountant has now made to us as at yesterday). Our thanks to the digital experience team for pulling this together.

Great service from VW Vertu in Harrogate, Sam Macfarlane in particular was very helpful and kept me informed on timeline and additional work needed on my Passat to get through MOT etc in time for collection by end of same day.

Well done Sam! :)

over the 7 month of owning the car full of faults and been in the garage more times than driving it, then been fobbed off each time i collected it to find the same safety faults where still there, once these were attempted to be fixed it then caused damage to another parts, £77k car.. i would not touch these with a pole, we have had a change from VW and moved to Volvo up the road, which is miles better than the rubbish and untrained staff at Harrogate branch
they are so slack! its untrue.. they all need re-training in the cars they sell and the customer service area
by the way the car was never fixed correctly when given back to me, hence the re-booking back in on a regular basis due to lack of knowledge and the VW customer service been involved with all records on each visit, especially the safety issue that was not fixed !!!! be warned !!!

Recently bought a new VW Polo and was helped all along the way by Fern. This made my experience very easy from purchase to delivery. A clear explanation of the car features was really helpful before driving away too.

Fern was great helped us along with every step of the way very professional

I have dealt with several VW dealerships in the past with very mixed experiences. Having visited VW Vertu Harrogate for the first time the service and attention shown by the sales executive (Freya) was second to none. I would definitely choose this dealership for my next VW.