Formula One Autocentres - ST Albans Reviews 83

this was an amazing service my vw polo reg de21jwp had to get service and the guys had been extra nice and helped us out and we had got the car back and the car was amaixngly clean thankyou for your time guys

AVOID this garage!!! I initially took my car in while it was still drivable, only to be quoted an outrageous £2500 for repairs. I was then told that my car was no longer road safe — which came as a complete shock considering its condition when I handed it over. They claimed it was leaking fluid (which it absolutely was not before), overheating, and even said it had caught fire, forcing them to abort the MOT.

Concerned, I took the car to another mechanic for a second opinion. It quickly became clear that the issue had been caused by a removed fuse, which meant the radiator wasn’t functioning properly. This raises serious questions about what actually happened while my car was in their care.

To make matters worse, the quote they provided included work related to air conditioning — my car doesn’t even have air con. That alone shows a lack of attention at best, or dishonesty at worst.

I was also extremely uncomfortable to find out that my car had been handed over to another mechanic without my permission. No one contacted me to approve this, which is completely unprofessional and unacceptable.

As a young woman, I can’t help but feel that I was taken advantage of and that they assumed I wouldn’t question what I was being told. The whole experience felt dishonest and exploitative.

I would strongly advise others to be cautious and always seek a second opinion before agreeing to any work here.

My first impression was felt it had unprofessional environment. I was correct as scratched and chipped one of my alloys and dented a wheel nut. Also did not balance my wheels that had new tyres. Still got the old weights on. To me lack of experience or no care given from fitter. Would not recommend

This is regarding the St Albans branch of this Garage chain.
After having problems with a previous mechanic for the last 2 weeks, I booked in advance for a radiator replacement.
Here hoping for the job to be completed quickly.
I dropped my car early & was promised it would be ready before 5.00pm (I had to go out)
After hearing nothing by 4.00pm I tried to ring & find out if completed.
I was put on hold for 15 mins with no reply, tried ringing again & again told to wait with no reply, altogether tried 4 times with same response.
Drove to the garage when my Wife came home & told they had no time to start my car!
I was promised the next day it would be done 100%!
Next day received a call at 3.30 telling me they had ordered wrong part!
Couldn’t be done until following week, if correct part is sent?!
Decided to cancel over weekend not trusting this garage to complete the job or any way of contacting.
(Had 3 days trying to call & cancel & same always put on hold with no hope of anyone intending to speak!)
Then had to try & get refund with 3 visits needed as Boss not present etc

Booked and paid online for a service and MOT. Took car in at 8:30am and picked it up at 5pm. Only then did I find out that they hadn’t even bothered to service it and that it had failed the MOT. Told me to bring the car back in the morning and to pay between £150 and £300 to get the MOT (major defects) fixed. They can’t even give an exact quote for the repairs which I’ve been told are “easy fixes”. Inconvenienced by having to take another day off due to not having a car. Called customer services for help, very unhelpful, 3 to 5 days for regional manager to call you back. I will have to take my car to someone else to have it checked as I have no faith in their ability to do their job properly.

I booked my car in for a MOT (had my car MOT done there previous 2 years). Bit of a mix up with dates but sorted out very quickly by super efficient Aaron! Very happy with service and great staff. Highly recommended.

Unreliable, unprofessional and rude. This is the third time now that I’ve booked (and on this occasion paid for in advance) to be cancelled on the day due to staff members not turning up. The managers attitude was atrocious, I won’t be using the company again and I certainly would not recommend them.

Booked my car in for an MOT. Took it in early, they said they would call me when it was ready. The centre closes at 6 by the time of 5:45 I had to call them for an update on my car. After waiting on hold I finally got through to someone and they had told me that that it had failed due to a tyre. I then asked them how much the tyre would be and he gave me a rough estimate saying that he would call me again in the morning when they open to confirm. They DID NOT CALL ME BACK I had to call them, when on the phone they continued to tell me that they was in the middle of putting a tyre on my car when I hadn’t agreed on a quote of a tyre? I told them what tyre I would like and they then proceeded to tell me I could pick it up at lunch time? I dropped me car off at 4:00 in the afternoon and have to wait 20 hours to collect my car?
Very unprofessional.

Fantastic service, had me in on the same day and changed two tyres in 30 minutes.

My wife took my Mini Countryman to St Albans branch on the 6th of November for the MOT and left our car to their personnel in working condition. After 40 mins, they informed my wife that they can't conduct the MOT because they can't open the bonnet. When I checked my car after coming home, I saw that the bonnet is half open and the bonnet handle inside the car is loose and broken. I brought my car to them on the 9th of November and their branch manager said that it is not their fault, I can file a complaint to their customer service if I would like to. So they return a car that was left to them in working condition in a broken condition but do not admit their fault. I will have to take my car to Mini service now and pay myself the inspection and repair fee. I will start legal process against F1Autocentre and will never take my car there. I advise everyone to use other garages or a qualified service.

Booked in for two tyre changes but only 1 was delivered, Aaron got one delivered and sorted on same day and saved me a lot of hassle, especially with being understaffed, they were fantastic, will definetly use again and recommend to family and friends

Very quick. Goo price Aaron was great!

Friendly and helpful staff. Efficient service & MOT. Would recommend.

Two and a half hours to replace 3 tyres. No offer of a cup of tea or coffee. No updates. Just left waiting in the waiting area wondering what was going on. Still don't know why it took so long. A bit of communication would have been good. Others in waiting area complaining of the same thing. Was last there 3 months ago, and a far more positive experience.

If I could give 0 stars I would have!
Last year I took my car here for MOT. They failed it on my emissions but told me to take it on a long drive up the motorway to clear it & bring it back. I did so & they said it still failed but ‘by mistake’ had given me a pass & weren’t allowed to change it. A couple of weeks later I took it for a full service with my local Kia dealer & asked them to check the emissions. They said they were perfect!
This year I took it back to F1 St Albans garage for MOT & they failed it again on emissions (after moving my appt very close to end of mot date) They told me I had to take it to the Kia garage to get it checked thoroughly as it needed an O2 sensor. Kia garage couldn’t book it in for 2 weeks so the car sat on my drive as it had a failed MOT. I had no car to drive for a fortnight. Took it to Kia garage who tested emissions 3 times & said it was perfect & passed the MOT (which I had to pay for again) I phoned customer service manager to complain & he said he’d look into it. He got back to me & said there was nothing wrong with there equipment & that my car had ‘righted’ itself from me driving it about. I told him coz he’d failed it, it had been sat on my drive for 2 weeks. He said it must’ve been something I’d done to the car!!!! They finally gave me a refund for my MOT but I will NEVER use this company again! Had a look on reviews & there are so many horrific ones especially for St Albans branch. Avoid it like the plague!!!

Quick, efficient and excellent staff in the St Albans branch. Manager is articulate, polite and v helpful. Guy who did the work was v careful and considerate in driving and handing over the car. And the price was good too!

Had the guys re gas my air-conditioning and do the wheel alignment. While doing it the found some issues with my brakes. They showed me exactly what it was and came up with solutions. Nothing was to much trouble for them. At the end my car is running great. Couldn't recommend them enough. I won't even bother phone their competitors in the future.

Fantastic Customer Service from Nick and Aaron. Reasonable and competitive pricing. Prompt completion of work. Gets my recommendation.

Good clean service and advice. 5 stars for the honesty of staff member Aaron when I gave what I thought was £180 was in fact £200. He pointed out my mistake and gave me back the £20 I nearly gave away. Will 100% be coming back here in the future, if not for the good work but the loyal honesty of the staff

Really quick, friendly and helpful