Balfourcarcompany Reviews 

I travelled from Essex to Derby on 29 June
to view a car at this dealership. After
inspecting it, I agreed to buy it despite the
fact it had no MOT, no tax, no recent
service, and the cambelt hadn't been
replaced. We agreed that the dealer
would carry out a clean MOT, replace the
cambelt and water pump, and fully service
the car, with collection planned for 4-5
July. I paid a ￡1,200 deposit.
While waiting, I checked the vehicle status
myself. The car was MOT'd, taxed, 02/07/2026 - all done
without my involvement, which already
felt suspicious because I was never asked
to tax it and was told everything would be
done for my collection date.
Then I was told the car wouldn't be ready
because parts arrived late. I received a
video showing the cambelt removed and
was told the car would be ready on 6 July.
When I contacted the dealer to arrange
travel, I was suddenly told the car had
developed an engine light and limp mode
after the cambelt job. I was given two
options: wait for repairs or get my deposit
back. I chose the refund, which arrived
two hours later.
Because the whole situation didn't sit
right, I checked the vehicle history again.
It was clear the car had already been
MOT'd, taxed, and financed just days after
I paid the deposit on the 02.07.2026and well before I was
told about any "bad news!" When
confronted, the dealer claimed the car
was still with them
That the finance "didn't go through," but the records show
otherwise.
It's obvious the car was sold to someone
else through finance on 2nd .likely because they
would make more money than from my
cash purchase. The fact that after I made deposit and car been sold on finance this alone worth 0star .yes car might be still with them and the finance didn't go through because the car could be not right .but even if it was right car would of gone to the people who finance it .The lack of honesty, the
contradictions, and the way the situation
was handled make this dealership one to
avoid completely.all experience cast me time and more that 100 pound .
On top of that calling me back telling me my review is not fair . Telling me will find my business and will leave bad review for talks about karma and told me he will send proof that the car still with them so I could remove my review.its been a week how someone enjoys the car I left deposit for .bunch of cowboys

Very poor experience from start to finish.

The car was clearly not properly prepared before collection. It had not been valeted, cleaned, or thoroughly inspected. The seats were dirty, the centre console was sticky, the left sun visor mirror was cracked, and the SD card for the sat nav was missing.

What concerns me most is that these issues should have been identified and resolved before the vehicle was handed over. The lack of attention to detail suggests the car was not properly checked at all.

The after-sales service was equally disappointing, leaving me with little confidence that any issues would be dealt with promptly. As a result, I now expect to spend additional money and time rectifying problems that should have been addressed by the dealer.

My advice to prospective buyers is to inspect any vehicle extremely carefully and budget for potential remedial work. Based on my experience, I would negotiate at least £1,000 off the asking price to cover the likely costs of fixing issues that may have been overlooked.

Really good communication, car was as discussed and matched the photos. Car was delivered to me so I relied on them to be accurate with there description. Very friendly and polite staff. If they miss your call thay will call you back.

I accompanied my nephew to go purchase a 2016 Mercedes c250 convertible which he found on auto trader, when he phoned the dealer to talk about the car before traveling to see/potentially purchase it they decsribed the car as in very good condition and conviced my nephew to pay a £250 deposit to reserve it even though auto trader onlyask for £99 to reserve a vehicle. We arranged flights from north Scotland to Manchester and a 2hr train journey to Derby where the dealer is located, the dealer advised that they could only meet us after 2:30pm due to Ramadan/Eid prayers. When we arrived we walked past a row of old very tired and dirty looking cars which we can only assume was part of their stock, the car we came to see/purchase was at the end of their yard parked outside a small wooden portacabin and we proceeded to have a closer inspection in addition to the pictures they posted on auto trader. We were very dissapointed to discover the following issues and damages to the vehicle which was in stark contrast to how they had described it:- car had obviously been in a front end collision of some sort due to the front bumper having been resprayed (not very well) with some paint visibly flaking from it, the bumper had two large indentations either side of the grill with scratches on the bumper and cracked and scratched paint on the bonnet where it meets the bumper, every panel around the car had large dents and various scratches, the brake discs were all very worn & rusty, all 4 tires were different makes, when we pooped the bonnet to look at the engine bay the top of the engine cover was very hot and had obviously been run for a while before we arrived so we were unable to check for smoke or any other issues regarding a cold start, there were obvious signs that the front end had been damaged in the past as the panel gaps were not good where the bonnet meets the bumper and the headlight ID stickers had two different dates of manufacture 2 years apart, when we opened the boot it was filthy with some junk in it along with some body trim parts form the car, the interior was also quite dirty with many tears, dents and scratches to the trim on the seats and door cards, we also noticed a 6inch piece of black duct tape covering a ripped piece of the fabric convetrible hood on the inside of the cabin, when we put the hood down we noticed one of the mechanism cords had come undone and was dangling down during operation of the electric hood and to finish off this poor and very dissapointing experience the check engine light illuminated and stayed on when we started up the car. Needless to say we did not purchase the vehicle and managed to get the dealer to refund my nephew's £2500 deposit. I DO NOT RECCOMEND BUYING A VEHICLE FROM THIS DEALER DUE TO INNACURATE DECRIPTION AND SUB STANDARD CONDITION OF A CAR WE WERE SUPPOSED TO BE BUYING AND DRIVING AWAY ON THE DAY OF OUR PREARRANGED VISIT.

Really friendly, genuine, honest guys. Bought my daughter’s car there about 3 months ago. It’s been perfect. Would definitely recommend.