Calibre Car Sales Ltd (Colchester)  Reviews 

Extremely helpful, I came here with my son to look at getting my first car after passing test , so helpful I passed in a manual but wanted a automatic, but had no clue how to drive one , they took their time to show me how it all works and answered all my questions, I didn’t feel rushed or a bother, 100% recommend

If you buy a car from here Make sure you take the car to a mechanic to check it over.... sold me a car with a 15 year old battery that's just for starters.....

After a terrible car accident, and the insurance dealing quickly with it, I only had access to a courtesy car for a short time. I suffered a fractured sternum, which made it a struggle to sit in the car for anything over a short journey. I live in Derbyshire but my hunt to chalk up a list online, had one of my options in Colchester.

Luckily I have a friend in Colchester who could view and test the car for me (and would in the end drive it over after I chose to purchase it) and the team were excellent in dealing with me through my friend, it was a 2017 fiat punto, as I wanted similar to my last car, knowing there would be some interpretation getting back on the road again. The car had a couple of things advertised that it didn't have, and the price was lowered to reflect this. The salesmen were great for my friend to deal with, and also with me over the phone. There were no issues with the transaction, payment or paperwork. And the company also did me a fresh M.O.T for my peace of mind, as they appreciated that the distance and my situation made it difficult for me to take advantage of the warranty.

Literally the only negative I have with the car was an initial smell of damp, due to there being leaves under the bonnet, in every hinge of boot, or door... They were everywhere.

I have left it a while before leaving a review, and I have now had the car for a full 6 months. In that time, I had had to replace 2 bulbs that have gone in a natural wear and tear way. No repairs, no noises or grumbles, not one issue from my date of purchase in July. That is all that you can hope for when buying a used car.

Absolutely perfect and no hesitation to recommend these guys. Looking for a car is stressful and then trusting it's OK can be a worry, and I'm pleased to say that it has been plain sailing from first contact to present day.

I have bought a car twice now from Calibre cars. The first time the car had an electrical fault which they tried to fix for me but couldn't. They handled it very well though and I returned the car.
I have recently bought another car from them, with exceptional service once again. Bill is very trustworthy and honest about the cars, and will give you honest advice which is what I needed as someone who doesn't know a lot about cars! I would 100% buy a car from them again if I had to.

Bill was so amazing, he went the extra mile by taking the time to sit down and talk with us and to go over our options, his knowledge and expertise was invaluable and we are very grateful for this. Bill you are one in a million!! Thank you Dean & Donna x

Bought an older car and haven't had any problems yet. Will update if things change.

Very pleased with this garage, we had a minor problem after a few months that was fixed promptly. Offered a courtesy car but only had it for a day so not needed.
Would happily use again.
Thanks, Mel.

No problems, bought a car on finance and got an extended 12 month warranty in the price.
Needed a puncture repair kit replaced as was out of date, but all sorted now.

I have had a very similar experience to other reviews, do not buy a car from these guys

I bought a Fiat 500 and advised when I test drove there was a slight squeak on the clutch and the passenger door did not work (common fault on fiats )

I was assured this work was done , lo and behold not even a week later the door handle broke and the squeak on the clutch is back

3 garages viewed the vehicle and confirmed it would need a new clutch, according to Craig they are just after my money and the car does not need a new clutch ....

The reason this dealership has in house warrenty is so that they can perform shoddy repairs

I was even told by Craig that older cars tend to have a squeak on the clutch , what a load of BS, I will be talking to the AA , as this establishment are aledgeidly an approved dealer, how, I have no idea , avoid at all costs

Similar to the previous review, apparantly they are moving sites ??!! ,... And I should call them in Monday , what a bunch of cowboys

Bought a used 2012 white Corsa in late April from Craig at Calibre Cars. The car was £3000 which was at the top end of the market value at the time, so we were expecting an excellent car with minimal issues.

However, we should have headed the early warning signs. When we put down the deposit, we were told it was bank transfer only over the phone. Given it was a small non-refundable deposit, we obliged making it clear we would only like to pay for the full cost on a credit or debit card. However, when we came to pay the card machine “had no signal” (despite their computers and phones working perfectly fine) and we were pressured into paying by bank transfer for the remaining £2800. Given our urgent need for a car and the COVID situation, again, we reluctantly obliged, reassured by the “no price limit” in-house 3 month warranty.

Upon arriving home I checked the service history in the booklet we given on purchase only to find that the “complete service history” we were sold was missing any services from after 2017.

All was fine for about 2.5 months until we went on our road trip honeymoon around the U.K.
After a couple of hours of driving we noticed the water coolant tank was bone dry. We filled it up and drove 15 minutes and yet again it was bone dry. We had it checked by a mechanic in person and two other over the phone to get a second opinion and all 3 were certain our head gasket was at fault - an expensive and time consuming problem to diagnose and then fix.

Still within warranty, we were determined to make it back down to Kent from the Lake District and not ruin our honeymoon so we carefully managed the water coolant level and got the car back to Calibre Cars to have a look at.

When we arrived the showroom had vanished. I frantically phoned Craig to find that they had moved (and changed their website too - it’s as if the previous incarnation never existed!) but the mechanic was still at the old show ground.

Before even looking under the bonnet, the in-house mechanic told us it couldn’t possibly be a head gasket problem, despite the assurances we had from 3 other mechanics. We asked him to check anyway and left him to it. On our return he continued to insist it couldn’t be the gasket and instead had changed the thermostat. We asked him to talk to our own mechanic to give us reassurance that his fix was legit and despite agreeing he never picked up the phone.

We have been assured by several mechanics that his “fix” was an impossible way to solve our problem and we have been left with a car that likely has sealant on the engine and a head gasket that could blow anytime, making it a ticking time bomb.

We have tried to get back in contact with Calibre but received no response. We also asked for receipts for the work done before we bought the car (it failed its MOT) and for the new thermostat that was fitted to “fix” our problem. We haven’t received any of these receipts.

In summary, I wouldn’t trust these guys to not lie about the car they’re trying to sell. I also wouldn’t trust their in house warranty as it seems like they’re only trying to keep costs to a minimum despite what it says on their website, and any expensive/time consuming fix they’ll just try to dodge fixing. Terrible service, terrible communction, terrible car.