Formula One Autocentres - Poole Reviews 

As I have always found with this particular garage in Poole the manager is always extremely polite and extremely helpful I cannot fault there efficiency and helpfulness. Mr S Bardsley

If I could give zero stars that would be too many. Absolutely no customer services skills, technicians damaged my car alloys and saying its kerb damage. Do not use this company.

I have just had the best experience EVER at an auto centre!!!! I’m an on call lift engineer and just got a puncture during Storm Burt. The lads at Formula one ‘squared me away’ in just 20 mins and I was back on the road. Huge thanks to Jonny the manager. These guys have my highest recommendation!!! I will certainly be bringing all our vehicles here in the future…..5 stars!!!

I needed my trye pressure sensors replaced. Called Poole F1 Centre. Johnny provided a quote and emailed this. No problem getting booked in at a time to suit me. The team were all super friendly, due to bad weather I decided to wait in the waiting room. I could hear the team singing and working together throughout my waiting time. It was uplifting to hear such a good team. When the work was complete the quote was accurate and again the service was friendly. Everyone smiled at me. All seemed really happy to be working there. A real contrast to another local garage in Poole where the mechanic spent 10 minutes dressing me down and treating me like an idiot about my car
Its so good to find a centre where I am made welcome and treated with respect and the work is done efficiently and well.
I will certainly be using them again.
Thank you Poole. You cheered me up on a snowy and difficult day

Friendly service and great tyre price. I called in to ask to bring forward my booked appointment and they were very accommodating. I’ll definitely use again.

Arrived at the Poole branch yesterday due to having a flat Tyre. Johnny and the team where amazing, got me in, got me sorted and back on the road in 15 minutes even though they were stacked and had customers waiting.
Thanks again chaps for your efforts it was much appreciated.

I take my car to fix it they do full service and I mentioned a specific work and the the end of the day they told we done all the thing that i want but when i drive my car it was the same as it was before i brought back my car 2,3 time to fix but they didn’t then they say you have to change the wheel i change my wheel and still doing the same thing so i lost around 900 pounds just because of these guys
Don’t go there
Thanks

Very disappointed! Cancelling payment as this place just scams you! 500pounds later and car still has a clicking they said they fixed! I phone and phone as I work with my car and need it to make money! They say he will phone you back and never does.

Awful company as with most in this trade these days, pay peanuts and get monkeys. Not sure I'd trust them with the peanuts let alone a car or a spanner to be honest.

Edit: trust pilot want more information, so I called Tuesday to ask for a appointment as that is what the online portal said. The monkey on the phone said he could book me in for 1.30 but I would have to buy the tyres first online. So I did this and the only time that came up I could select was Friday 1.45. so I called monkey back, he said someone just took the space, asked for a refund. Monkey found a magic space for 2.30 so booked. Called the monkey house to confirm 2.30 appointment a hour beforehand. Monkey didn't have me in, so said I can do Thursday 9.30. my wife goes to the appointment, monkey said it's for Friday at 1.45 and that's all they could do. Asked for a refund and monkey managed to book in again. So now we are some what getting there. Monkey forgets to call and wife calls, tyres are in come after 1.30 desk monkey isn't happy when wife turns up and just said "key"2 hours after cars in for the tyres. Yay you'd think, nope, we're on to spanner monkeys turn now. Anyway spanner monkey forgets to put valve covers on two wheels, under inflates all the tyres, on a car that has a option to check pressure. Then used a air gun on the locking wheel nuts so the keys absolutely shot to bits (I have to spend £40 on a new one) and to top it off said to my wife the breaks need doing, that's fine, but said they could do it. Now that's the punchline, you can't even fit tyres correctly and fill them let alone play with breaks. So that's the updated version that Customer service wanted to validate the review. I went to this garage as it's supposed to be a family run company, we'll never again. It's ok they'll match a quote for the breaks, I'm ok thanks

I have been using the Poole garage for over a decade and never had an issue with them, until recently.

A few weeks ago I took my wife's car in for a service and MOT, which led it to it needing its rear brake pads and discs replacing. Move forward a couple of weeks later, my wife was driving the car to work and heard a loud noise at the rear of the car, then lost almost all ability to brake. Luckily, she was very near her place of work at the time so was able to park it without crashing into anyone. I then arranged for a tow truck to take the car back to Formula One for them to check it. When we asked what went wrong they said the brake pad had 'snapped off' and it was a 'manufacturing fault'. I found this response to be very dubious as, according to the tow truck driver, the whole brake pad had fallen off! So how they could determine it was a manufacturing fault without inspecting the brake pad?? Moreover, the person I spoke to when collecting the car seemed very disinterested and reluctant to discuss the issue.

Even today the car still seems to have issues with the brakes, but I won't risk taking it back to this Formula One branch again. Such a shame as they used to offer a very friendly and reliable service.

UPDATE (11/06/2024): I just had a call from the area manager who was very apologetic. He told me that the member of staff I spoke to was new to the role and should've explained that the issue with my car was probably caused by the incorrect fitting of the brake pad and not a manufacturing fault. At the end of the call he offered me a free service and MOT as compensation, which I accepted.

On Sunday, 12th May 2024, I had an appointment for an interim service at 10 am, confirmed by an email reminder from your centre. Upon arrival, I discovered the garage was closed. Despite waiting until midday, when the garage finally opened, I was informed by a mechanic that no service could be performed as the manager was not present.
Subsequently, I was rebooked for Saturday, 18th May 2024, at 10 am. I dropped off my car as scheduled, but at 12 pm, I received a call informing me of a 'small problem.' Upon inspection, I found significant damage to the door, interior door upholstery, and front wing of my vehicle, caused during the reverse maneuver from the car lift.The damage is substantial, requiring at least door and wing replacement with possible structural damage, and cannot be considered minor. I am left without a vehicle until at least Monday afternoon, causing me significant inconvenience

Easy to book online. Friendly and helpful staff. Excellent service competitive prices.

Took my car in for its regular MOT and service that I have been doing for years with Formula One. They told me that I needed to get my brake discs changed as an advisory on my MOT, but the way they called me and said 'so we can get these replaced for you today' and wanted to charge me well over £400. I told them to leave it, as I couldn't afford it right now, and then they tried to offer me a payment plan as they really thought they should be done.

Roll on over a month later, and I booked it in elsewhere for the brakes to be checked. They looked at them and told me the pads still have at least 50% wear on them, and the discs only have a few scratches! Appalling that F1 think it is acceptable to try and rip me off to make more money. Oh, and they also wanted to charge me a hell of a lot more than this new garage would have!

You have lost a loyal customer due to your greed, and appalling customer service which is such a shame after years of using you guys.

Went for our yearly MOT , we have been using F1 at Waterloo for over twelve years. We had done 2000 ISH miles from the last MOT so we knew the car was in good order , as my husband (ex mechanic) regularly checks the car anyway. We have an advisory for new tyres which will be done but not by Formula 1 now. The car was failed for a missing offside steering rack gaiter. Surprised my husband said Oh I'll just have a look, no no said the manager it's completely gone, stupidly I stopped my husband getting on the ground and having a look. I was ready to go home as I had open heart surgery only 6 weeks ago and he's no spring chicken either. After a quote for replacing the gaiter of £212.10 my husband said he'll do the work himself. No problem however this time there would be a retest fee. On checking the car at home, the gaiter was there and clipped with the ties that my husband had put on 3 years ago. Evidence sent to the office, and an arrangement to bring the car in on Monday for a recheck. Monday arrives , we wait for a ramp to be available. See the car driven in but because we have lost all faith in the honesty of the garage at this point , went to stand outside on the curb opposite the car on the ramp. At this point we were just observing and then the chap who was doing the check, shouted across that the clip had been changed, well my husband didn't need to as the original was still on there and the clip was the original that my husband had put on. The gaiter was there the old one, that was supposed to be missing strange that. Well said MOT chap insinuated that my husband was lying and was getting a bit het up. So we crossed into the garage and said what he was saying was untrue. He said stop calling him a liar, my husband said you are calling me a liar. I said all we want is to get our MOT and go. He was obviously shaken as he was shaking and in his temper eventually told us to f.... off and continued by calling us C you next Tuesdays. At this point the manager came out and discussed things with my husband and we eventually went away, never to return with our new MOT that should have been issued on Friday.

Went to have a cataylic check at the being of January as the engine management light was on in my car which I knew was the cataylic
converter has I had a check previously at another garage but F1 said they would do another just to make sure (which was then the manager and elderly gentleman was very polite and helpful as it turned out after their check I needed a new cataylic which I then booked in for the end of January. I then went and had the part changed and it was a new manager he told me everything including gaskets had been replaced then as I drove away and got over 30 on the duel carriageway I heard what what couldn't only be described as something blowing a rasping sound I got home to then ring them and the manager then told me they hadn't changed the gasket leading to the manifold so he said to bring it back the following week which I did then only to be told after 20 minutes that the wrong one had been sent so I had to return the next day. After they replaced the new gasket the car was the same and was told I had a crack in my manifold and it was there before they did any work and was told by the manager that I could purchase one from eBay or have it welded and he said he new someone who does welding and would charge around
£300 pounds ( which in my opinion was a scam to get more money out of me) which was a load of rubbish as then I had my car inspected and the bolts that was holding the new cat to the manifold were the the wrong bolts plus they had drilled holes through my old bolts to get these Allen key type bolts in there and it was poorly fitted I had even had my manifold taken off and inspected and there was nothing wrong with it since then I have had correct bolts fitted and the car works fine all I can say they don't know what they are doing there and bunch of cowboys.

I normally don't write reviews, but I thought that if someone reads this one (especially the F1 centre), it may save someone having an accident. I've used this centre before and was ok. This time, I bought 2 expensive tyres and paid for changing them. 2-3 weeks later, I started to feel vibrations and a banging/rattling sound in the car. It turned out, a wheel nearly came off... it was visibly moving sideways when I stopped, and I could easily remove all wheelnuts with my fingers... thankfully it was on a quiet road ... My car didn't have a wheel wrench, so I had to change plans and return home (it was just a few miles and waiting for AA would have been too long).it was a bit slow and stressful drive, as tightening with a hand tool didn't really work much..

I attended F1 Autocentre, Poole, for a MOT and Service and, as usual, they were friendly and efficient. I required 4 new tyres afterwards and Jimmy, on the desk, was most helpful in guiding me to a place on the Internet with F1 where I could get a good deal. My MOT and Service was on the 6 Feb and the new tyres arrived by the Friday 9 Feb and were then fitted. I call that prompt and efficient service. Thank you.

Needed tyres ASAP, did not know what tyres I needed. Helpful in guiding me and fitted them as soon as they were delivered.

F1 Poole replaced rear break pads and discs which caused handbrake to have excess travel and handbrake would not hold on hills. Called F1 day after brakes were replaced, explained situation, advised handbrake needed adjusting and booked in for following day. Upon arrival, was advised by a staff member that the handbrake adjustment would cost £35. I advised I expected not to pay as they caused the handbrake issue, by failing to adjust after fitting brakes. I was told to wait in the waiting room for the manager. I waited 30 minutes whilst the manager served other customers, and ignored me. Eventually, I went back to the counter as it appeared I had been forgotten about. I then had to repeat the problem in detail to the manager, who gave me a waffling cover story about brakes and calliper problems. At which point I lost all faith in them just adjusting the handbrake for free which was all I expected, so I left. Shame really, I've been a regular customer there for years, but I won't be going back. The handbrake was later adjusted elsewhere, a simple process of unclipping a cover and adjusting a nut, a 5 minute job. So really poor customer service by F1 and a lack of knowledge. Wouldn't recommend this place anymore if you expect a good service.

Incredibly helpful. Went out of their way to remedy a problem which had occurred on my car and did so when I drove in. I had expected to have to leave the car but they immediately got on with it. Superb attitude and unlike service from other repair centres.