AVOID - Worst car buying experience
This was the worst experience I have had purchasing (and subsequently returning) a vehicle.
I purchased a 2016 silver Ford Focus 1.0 EcoBoost Titanium from Longton Motors (previously Motor Mall I believe) in Jan 2026 and within the first few times of driving, the car developed serious and recurring engine faults including loss of power, limp mode, shuddering and repeated warnings on the dash. I gave them 2 attempts to repair the vehicle, but the same issues kept coming back almost immediately after being returned to me.
After the first return it was confirmed by the that the wet belt had been put on incorrectly before sale and that this was the first time they had used the garage to do the work. However, even after further attempts to fix the car using other garages, the faults were still not resolved. It became clear that the vehicle had serious pre-existing issue.
Rokan (the owner), although remaining apologetic during the process, repeatedly broke promises around communication and returning the car after repair, with the car repeatedly returned later than agreed which he blamed the other garage for (parts not arriving, wanting to test etc.). It often took me to have to call and message to be provided with updates, which I often got towards the end of each day. I will give credit that on the 2nd repair attempt an alternative car was provided due to the significant inconvenience already experienced and disruption it had caused.
Communication throughout the whole process was extremely frustrating and generally poor. Towards the end of the experience Rokan would ignore my calls from one number, then immediatly answer on another number and claim he was on a test drive and would call me back – which didn’t happen so I had to call and message again.
After exercising my legal right to reject the vehicle and confirmation from Rokan that my refund would be given the day after collection, I still had to repeatedly push for my refund which they repeatedly tried to delay as they couldn’t identify a fault despite being provided with clear time and date-stamped diagnostic evidence showing consistent engine fault codes and being shown a video at the time of collection showing the vehicle repeatedly struggling to start. He even said at the point of collection he could tell the timing was out and that it didn’t sound like that when they got it from the garage.
After finally getting the refund after having to set a clear deadline before potential legal action, the final pain came when a £199 “admin fee” was deducted which I argued and have had confirmed with Trading Standards/Citizens Advice is not legally valid in these circumstances so I will now have to take further steps to recover the rest of my money.
I personally would not recommend this dealer to others in the future.