Formula One Autocentres - NORTHAMPTON (GAMBREL ROAD) Reviews 

We are an older couple and we had a few issues where we had to take the car back . We received very polite and understanding service . The man on the reception , not sure if he is the manager but he always fits us in and explains everything. Thanks for your patience.

Great service as usual from Stephen and the team at Northampton .
I wouldn't go anywhere else.

Friendly and helpful from the team at Gambrel Road, Northampton.

I found the everyone extremely friendly, the service was great. I will be taking both car and partners cars here in future. Well done.

Was in two minds to write this review as I put the the first experience down to a one off mistake but then my wife also had issues so i relay both instances as follows. 1st complaint involved my car which i took for new tyres, the chap doing the job noticed one tyre had been put on the wrong way round (previously also done at this garage). It even says on the tyres which way round they should go. Anyways it got sorted and i didnt think more of it. 2nd instance was my wifes car went in for an MoT at another garage and they told her the threads on the bolts holding the wheels in place were damaged and could have come off at any time. Apparently they should initially be manually tightened then machined on, but it was suggested this didnt happen and they were machine tightened only subsequently damaged the threads. Again the tyres were changed at this F1 garage. Tbf we cant say for sure the damage was caused this way but there was damage to the bolts making the wheel insecure following tyre changes at F1. We are still awaiting to hear back following a formal complaint but I cannot recommend using this garage after our experiences and in particular my wifes which could have caused an accident as we just dont trust them anymore unfortunately. Invoice / Ref numbers can be provided if required. The date stated relates to my wifes car.

EDIT: in response to the reply to contact customer care, i did, 2 months ago. I am still waiting on a reply.

Took my car here for a slow puncture repair on offside front tyre. I clearly stated which tyre, for them to replace the offside rear. Apparently, they wrote "offside F" on the worksheet, the mechanic read the "f" as an "r". They left the new tyre on, and repaired the front tyre for free to correct their mistake. This i accepted as an honest mistake. HOWEVER since they replaced the offside rear tyre, the tyre pressure monitoring system (TPMS) has been malfunctioning on that tyre only. I didn't think anything of this straight away. I later took my car to them for a service and MOT. They failed my MOT with 4 majors and 4 advisories; one of the majors was the TPMS which i have since been told is a driver assist feature and should never fail an MOT. The other majors were the front and rear suspension arms (the 4th arm was one of the advisories). The garage (at my request) quoted me for all the repairs (including advisories), which totalled nearly £1000 and told me they could not repair the TPMS which would have to go to Ford direct and could not do the rear suspension arms so that would have to be done elsewhere also. After advice that this MOT did not look right, i had it retested at another garage and it passed without even a single advisory. This garage clearly saw me (a woman with a small child) and decided i was an easy target. Had i not questioned their MOT they would have made the best part of £1000 from me plus i would have incurred additional cost elsewhere. Following the retest my car has gone from 4 majors and 4 advisories to not even a single advisory. I now strongly suspect they damaged the TPMS when they wrongly changed my rear tyre, otherwise this is a huge coincidence. Overall, this garage are scammers, and will try and bleed unsuspecting customers for as much as they can. As a woman especially, make sure you know your stuff ! I admit i haven't got a clue, and they took full advantage of this. I did contact their customer care - no reply to date (2 months later), unsurprisingly. Avoid at all costs.

Positives - Polite and friendly staff. Replaced all 4 tyres in a fast time, even had time to set up equipment to test the alignment of front and rear wheels (even though not requested).
Negative - service was 'efficient' but on checking later at home - tyre pressures set on all 4 Tyres, 8lbs lower than required for my car!
Later that day, telephoned and spoke to Steven to understand why. He apologised but offset apology placing their focus on doing the service quick - quick but sadly highly inefficient and potentially dangerous. If I had not checked later and corrected the tyre pressures myself, potentially greater wear to the new tyres, implications for insurance cover if accident had occurred with under inflated tyres.
Also, wheel alignment check suggested front and rear needed adjustment - * subsequent check by a reputable local company indicated minor adjustment required to front wheels only.

Great service at F1 Autocentre Northampton. We had a metal prong through a tyre. Straight to F1 who reacted immediately: diagnosed, liaised with us and fitted a new tyre all in under the hour, at a very reasonable price, topped off with civil and thoughtful service. Thanks.

Booked my car for 3pm. I was there at 2.50pm. 3.30pm and nobody in F1 even knows why I'm there or which car is mine like they had absolutely no respect for someone else's time.
I will never use them again!

I took my car here this morning for an MOT, as it was very highly recommended by a very good friend of mine.
I was delighted with the service I received. The staff were welcoming, friendly, and highly efficient, and they got the MOT test done in less than an hour.
I shall certainly be returning next year.

Even if they ask you to get in touch to customer service, there is no reply. Deeply upseting...

Happy with the service and very reasonable too.

29th October 2024

For the attention of Mark O’Callaghan.

Dear Mark,

RECTIFIED
TYRE SAFETY ISSUE, 2012 HONDA JAZZ with alloy wheels
Further to my complaint letter of 27th September and your kind response to my safety concerns for my son’s, two months out of guarantee deflating four car tyres, purchased from Asda Tyres and fitted by F1 Autocentres, Sixfields Northampton. We thank you for your request to return the car to check the ‘tyre safety issue’ for free, by your team.
CAR RETURNED FOR EXAMINATION OF THE TYRES and RIMS
The car was returned to your branch on 14th October ’24 and the manager, Gavin, kindly arranged the removal of each tyre and called me over to examine each aluminium wheel rim for signs of powder coat flaking and aluminium corrosion. After removal of the tyres and examination of each wheel rim, the tyres were refitted and sealed.
DEFLATING TYRES ISSUE NOT CAUSED BY F1 AUTOCENTRES
I can confirm the deflating tyre issue is nothing to do with the tyres bought from Asda Tyres, or the fitting of the tyres by F1 Autocentres, but the corrosion of the aluminium rim, evidenced by bubbling under the powder coating, which in turn, causes the tyre wall to gradually push away from the rim and subsequently loose pressure.
OFFER TO PAY
The examination was carried out free of charge, however, after examination it became clear the problem was not caused by F1 Autocentres. Under the circumstances I felt compelled to pay for the work and offered to do so, but Gavin would not hear of it. Since then, the car tyre pressures seem to be holding up, and thanks to F1 Autocentres thorough checking and revealing of the issue, we plan to get the wheel rims refurbished to eliminate further problems in future.
‘THANK YOU’
We are grateful for F1 Autocentres taking our safety concerns both seriously and promptly and thank them for restoring our faith in the products they sell, handle and fit, and for their kind work carried out free of charge.
With kind regards, Christopher Howard

Normal have a fantastic service here, but this time very bad, I ordered like for like tyre's that was on my car run flat, they did not check what was on the car, and just looked on line, and the manager blamed me for no saying run flat. I did wonder what like for like meant.

Excellent service. Very efficient and extremely helpful. Nothing was too much trouble. Staff were so kind.
As a company they just need to keep doing what they're doing couldn't be any more efficient in any way in my opinion.

Bad communication skills and dishonesty!

I was very disappointed by the poor communication skills of this garage. I sent in my car for MOT, service and a coolant leak. This garage didn’t let me know until it was waay too late that they do not fix coolant leaks even though I’d communicated that I’m not from Northampton and I needed the coolant looked at and then fixed ASAP. Wasted my day - I would have just gone to a different garage to get everything sorted if they’d communicated from the start that they do not fix coolants/radiators. I had been told by the manager that my car would be ready to drive by the end of the day which it wasn’t! On top of that I had to be the one constantly calling them to ask for an update for the progress of them fixing my car which I haven’t had to do with past garages 😖.

This meant I had to find another garage to fix this job that they “claim” they don’t do and was told by the new garage that they didn’t do one of the jobs properly so he had to fix that and finally the engine light switched off.

A week after my car was leaking oil cos they drilled the bolt on the oil gasket too much which I had to fix on top.

Northampton F1 near Sainsbury’s
Appointment booked for a week for tyres, turned up for appointment to be told tyres not been delivered, ZERO communication, no phone call to advise of this… what a shower…. Manager just said well I’ve been off work.. clearly only staff member capable of using a telephone!!! AVOID

Had 2 wheels fitted at Northampton Gambrell Road on sunday Excellent staff and very good service explained mechanic what was happening couldnt praise more weel done

Serious brake issues detected on a free comprehensive brake check carried out on a Sunday.
Fully rectified by Monday evening. Staff were friendly and explained everything. Work carried out in a calm professional way in a clean and tidy environment.
F1 have gained a new customer.
My only negative comment is that a drinks vending machine would be a most welcome addition.
Thank you!!

I saw online tyres for a good price but as i wanted the payment assist had to call and order them. I wanted 2 tyres and the man said i can have the finance and would be £107 deposit for the tyres. I arrived and was told 4 were reserved for me but if i wanted finance the £107 quoted was not valid and had to pay shop price which made the bill £80 odd more. I was told 45 mins to a hour and came back just over a hour to see one wheel was just being done. I sat in the waiting room and saw the car be left and the man went off and did work on another car. After he had done that came back to mine. The job took over 2 and half hours. Also they clearly did not care to put my car into jacking mode as the air suspension fault light was on the car was up in the sky. I had to reset it back to driving height. I complained and was fobbed off and then told that the job was done in just over an hour. Clearly these people failed maths at school as 915 to 1130 is not 1 hour. If i was told they would start the work and then leave it half done for a hour then i would have not had to waste my time sitting around. I also find blasting out uncensored rap music with all Fs and The N word in the next to the public waiting room really unprofessional.