Volkswagen Reviews 

I purchased a 3 year old VW T Cross from Johnsons Volkswagen in Liverpool in July 2023 with 5137 miles on the clock. I received 2 years free warranty with a free service in 2024. All went very smoothly.
Yesterday 2nd June 2025, I tried to book a service and more importantly a MOT test online but a dialogue box kept appearing telling me to ring them. After 10 minutes in a queue, no problem, my call was answered and the normal information was given, reg no model name address etc. I asked for an oil change and general check and the MOT which expires 23rd July 2025.

I was told very offensively that the earliest date was 27th AUGUST. I had hoped for 17th - 19th July. There was no explanation for the near 3 month wait and when I mentioned the MOT expired 23rd July I was told to get it done at another MOT station and leave the service until 27th August.

I cannot believe that I would have to wait that long. In 2024 I booked the same service and MOT with 1 month notice and got the date I wanted. In conclusion I have no idea why this happened. I have a theory that it maybe be to do with not signing up to a maintenance contract. I think Johnsons Volkswagen Liverpool have let me down and I would think twice before purchasing another vehicle from them. To get a slot around the time I wanted I would have needed to book it before Easter. What is annoying is that the person I spoke to on the central booking line gave no explanation or was even bothered.
I have booked the MOT and Service with Halfords at the time and date I preferred and I will be keeping away from the VW garage. Imagine if the car needed a repair and was not driveable, how long a wait would that be.

Absolutely horrendous and stressful experience with Volkswagen. So disappointed.
We booked the car in March for it's service, a repair on the door under warranty (we have only had it 3 years) and wiper change, the car was due MOT in May. They said it would be needed all day and I said will it be ready as we have a new baby. Yep, done by 3pm... After a lot of back and forth finally get the car back at 6pm... NOTHING was done except an investigation which they charged £150 for.
We were told to come back another time. I called to complain and was greeted by a snotty receptionist who was very rude.No call back. We then called customer service, went through all the formalities and she booked us in with a different dealership and stated everything would be complimentary unless they find anything else extra.
Did not relay that message to retailer (who were actually professional and reasonable). 3 hours of arguing later and dragging out proof etc they give us a voucher but all the work is still not done.
Now have had to pay for 3 investigations at three dealerships (apparently can't pass on information) a broken door that should have been in warranty but ran out by the time it got to the last place AND it was late for MOT. Customer service said they can only help if we go back to original dealership (8 hours drive away as my husband works away) and drive illegally without MOT.
Absolutely crap. They then just called to update me on my enquiry (complaint) and told me my security question is wrong which it isn't and can't tell me what they called for .. honestly .. get lost!! Will never buy one of these cars again. Quality has gone down hill and they might as well use cats on the customer service.

Bought a VW Polo Gti 3 years ago next month. It’s been back 6 times since I bought it with electrical problems, one I had to have it towed there as I broke down. As it’s out of warranty next month I contacted VW and enquired if they would be able to offer me a reduced price on an extended warranty and service package because of the obvious problems I’ve had
There was no good will on their part and they just referred me to the VW website.
Just like to say that I love the car but I never thought I would have had the problems I’ve encountered. Looks like they don’t give a toss about their reputation or customers.

0 stars for Volkswagen Chester because the manager tells pure lies and 0 after care! He is in full contact when he wants the sale but as soon as you’ve paid then you CANNOT get hold of him ESPECIALLY to tell him he sold you a broken car! So I went back to see him only to be told (by the MANAGER of Volkswagen) that ALL Volkswagen cars are made with vaults!!!!! He sold a car saying it’s 100% perfect then the next day it broke and when plugged into a vault finder it had 21 faults YES 21 faults and his only answer was……..not my department!!!! Absolutely shocking behaviour from a “manager”! I have loads off other complaints but haven’t the room to write them all out!!!!! If you want a fully working and reliable car then AVOID VOLKSWAGEN CHESTER AT ALL COST!!!!! According to the manager every model off Volkswagen cars are made and sold with FAULTS!!!!!!!!!!!

I booked a service for my VW T-ROC yesterday via VW website. Price quoted £116 and free air conditioning service.
Only to receive an email today stating that the price will be over £400.
I spoke to member of staff Emily at Blackburn branch ( who i have to say was quite curt bordering on rude) to be told that the prices online are not correct and that is the problem with booking online.
Why, I ask myself, do you have an online booking system if your prices are not accurate?
I have cancelled the booking as the price is just ridiculous.
Poor service from Volkswagen, no wonder I am counting the months until I can change my car.
Poor customer service from Blackburn Lookers too.

VW Golf 8.5 R Line UK, new car, leased. 1 star is far too much for the car and the company. The car arrived 9th August ‘24 with the wrong rear light casings which the tailgate struts contacted, causing loud creaking/knocking. The light casings were replaced so with that creaking/knocking gone, it allowed me to hear the less loud creaks and rattles. The front driver door fits poorly at the top, with the edges sitting 5-8mm proud. From new the car felt loose and old. The next problem - lots and lots of software issues, ranging from features missing to the engine cutting out when approaching a junction at low speed and trying to drive off, and this leaves me in the middle of the road with the engine off. This can get me killed if unexpected oncoming traffic suddenly appears on blind junctions etc. The most recent problem is at only 6,855 miles from new, an engine oil warning appeared saying I need to add 1/4 gallon of oil! When calling my local dealer about this, the service reception operator appeared to read from a standard script and I was offered no technical advice when asking for it. On researching, most of these appear to be common issues. These are not bargain cars and even less expensive cars these days are built well and are reliable. More people need to hear what low quality these cars are and how bad the VW customer service is. All this on top of the emissions lies VW was caught out on. Avoid, Avoid, Avoid

Well it begins with a polished car and then taking your money but once you need the car checking under the warranty what do they tell you? You are liable for charges if it can not be diagnosed yet the warranty is all about them providing you with a fully functioning vehicle with problems rectified. The check is being requested because I’m unhappy with a fault or many. They also tell you things like the speaker is okay it just depends on the music you listen to. it’s fine if it’s distorted and sounds damaged that’s how it should be.Really? All checks need to be assessed once a report is being sent off by another department and then sent back with a decision to cover the work costs and approve it. So Why are people qualified for this work if they have to wait on a decision from elsewhere ?So it can be rejected and you get told no be won’t cover the cost of repairs if it’s something under warranty. They should be selling cars which are fit and healthy for use and giving good customer not draining money from customers at every chance possible with errors and then ignoring it. Customers should not be held liable for any charges at all if it’s a warranty check/ Diagnostic checks and that work needs carrying out, that’s why we are overcharged on monthly instalments to cover any requests. Vw are a company who should pay their staff not charge paying customers extra and say it’s to cover staff time or any discussion about claims being accepted and rejected. It’s an absolute joke of a company and people should boycott VW whether used approved or brand new. You are charged for a hire car again which they aren’t short of and incurred charges like fuel and insurance. This never happens elsewhere. They didn’t clean the car based on asking you and charging a small free it was just done regardless. I never had this issue with Mercedes, BMW or Nissan. Avoid any extras which are they can charge you for they are overly priced and over rated. Dont even offer software and map updates without charging which again another let down. Don’t bother anymore with Vw. Any car company who operates needs to quit being greedy and actually offer a customer good service. Vw isn’t it no matter where they operate from. Don’t get done over anymore by these lot they aren’t in it for customer satisfaction only for extorting money out of clients.

Bunch of lying, sneaky and irresponsible idiots!

I saw a car that was advertised at a certain price and booked a viewing.

Before the viewing, I went back on the advert and they increased the price by £2000!

I called the dealership and the sales person told me that he would call back. There was no call after two days, despite three follow up from me.

I eventually managed to get hold of him and he admitted that the advertised price was incorrect. I asked them to honour what was advertised but they said no!

If they can’t honour commitments made like this, I highly doubt the commitments made under there warranty and other areas!

Avoid this manufacturer and go to a more reliable one!!

Bought a 3 month old ID 4 EV 6 months ago. Have had various problems with charging pretty much from day 1. Have tried the dealership i purchased the vehicle from, VW support in Germany, my local dealership,... all of them hopeless I'm afraid. On the back of my experience I would advise anyone not to buy VW. If you happen to read this VW its small wonder that you are having to close factories when you treat your customers like this.

Brought a new golf from group 1 absolutely love the car no issues at all, however the car came with the wrong colour badge on the boot the reason for one star customer after care is absolutely shocking literally got you money move on to the next car sale

If I could give VW no stars I would. I bought a brand new Tiguan in December and have had nothing but problems both with the car and level of servicing. Awful car and even worse company, Avoid at all costs !!!!!!

Vw golf my favourite on the road purchased one from a garage recently one month in faults appeared on the dash long story short we had a diagnostic at our local Vw garage £2500 Bill and updates needed we are fighting for the garage to pay for this problem now but it’s looking unlikely they will pay but how poor is it to have a problem like this in a vehicle under four years old and with the VW badge last time purchasing disappointed

Three weeks ago we purchased a VW UP that is not quite 3 Years old.
OK, so the service history, warranty info and service plan details are all now digital, I can simply access this information via the portal or the app like my Audi - not needing any paper!
WRONG, NO!
There have been many phone calls and emails about this, but nobody knows how to overcome the error message
Something isn't working properly.
There is a link to click for help.. Ok, so search for this error message - NOTHING!
Oh well, click on CALL CUSTOMER CARE.
Oops, VW does not even know it's own customer care number - the number called by the app is invalid!
What is the point of an app that does not work, does not give meaning or helpful error messages, does not offer any help on an error message and does not connect you by phone for assistance.
Who wrote this rubbish and did anybody bother to test it?
As of now, I am STILL waiting for confirmation as to how, other than by going to the dealer, the customer can see the up to date records associated with their vehicle.
In the absence of any access to the data / records about our car, we have already have out a non-VW warranty and we will probably take out a non-VW service plan.
... And, next time, we will probably buy a non-VW car - making sure that we can access essential information that should be readily available to a bona fide owner!
VW seems to consider itself a premium brand, charging near premium brand money, but they clearly lack confidence in the quality of their vehicles by only offering warranties of 3 years compared to the 7 years of some competitors.
Reading through the reviews here, which clearly we should have done before even thinking of buying our first real VW - i.e. not a Seat or Audi, VW are clearly arrogant and complacent. I suspect that many will vote with their feet and, understandably, will purchase other brands.
The error message
Something isn't working properly.
Is clearly not just true of VW IT systems, it is also obviously true of VW Digital Services!

And it keeps getting better!!
Firstly, though, VW Customer Services have continued to be BRILLIANT and are clearly doing all that they can.
BUT
At the suggestion of VW Customer Services, I telephoned Digital Services.
After giving the person my case number, he then started asking me questions that, if he had read the case, he would have seen that I have already answered.
When I said this to him, he then said...
So what can I do for you??
I suggested that he read my emails, with the supporting evidence, and get the problem resolved.
When he then replied "that it was in hand", I suggested that an acknowledgement of my email would have been useful!
I then added that the systems that they have must be even worse than I thought if it takes this long for a verified customer to be able to access their digital vehicle records - which is now the only way that you can do it...

After this, I then sent another email to VW Customer Services, also giving them the Digital Services case number.

So, now you know why VW's and their services are expensive.
It is because of all of the problems and manual interventions required to prop up their digital services.

Oh, and by the way, even though the dealer enters the service data when a car is serviced, it takes an additional 3 working days for your record to be updated. I blame the pigeons!!!

No chance to understand anything about id3. So hard to compare or do anything on the website. I went to the show room and they had none of the new id3 only polo’s. What a waste of time..

Zero Customer Service

I ordered a new VW T-Cross through my leasing agent in May of 2024, for delivery 5 months later in October 2024 to Vertu VW Leeds.

In October the car did not turn up.

Having heard nothing and with no apology or explanation I chased it up and was told my car had a build date of week 50 - in December.

2025 arrived. No car. No delivery date. No explanation. No apology.
End of January ditto.
End of February ditto.

Having waited this long I accepted a new delivery date of 1st March, with a new 25 plate. March arrived. Still no car.

The number of times I tried to contact VW and Vertu Leeds must have been into dozens. On the rare occasions I did get through I was promised a call back. Never happened. When I actually did get through - on only three occasions - as I was explaining my query I was cut off. Every time.

I was not being rude. I was not angry. I was just asking when I could expect my car.

I have now been told by my agent that the car will be ready on Friday 7th March.

Watch this space!

Recently bought a used VW Tiguan from Group 1 VW Garage Norwich. Outstanding service from salesman Tom who made the whole process stress free. Not only did he find me an excellent used, approved car within my budget but also steered me expertly through the different model
options, helped me to select and test dive several cars and provided comprehensive advice to help me set up servicing and aftercare which was invaluable. He also arranged for a car to be delivered from a different VW garage which was my final choice. Highly professional service throughout.

I bought a brand new Tiguan hybrid. I had problems from the start. It seems this car has been launched without adequate testing and in my opinion is not safe. The software closed down the car mid drive, leaving me stranded in a live lane. My local Guildford dealership have been great, but the Group 1 VW dealership I purchased the car from have been slow to reply and reluctant to give clear information. VW UK customer service is utterly awful - handled out of SA, the agent I was assigned took a week to return my call, then told me she was ‘too busy’ to deal with my query and would call me next week. This used to be such a good brand, my last 5 cars have been VW. Based purely on my dealings with the UK customer service I probably wouldn’t buy one again…..

Appalling customer service received at VW Leicester, and the Customer Service team, having lodged a formal complaint. The whole experience has been atrocious and frustrating; it has left me feeling stressed, frustrated and completely deflated. Hardly how you expect to feel having bought a new car. The lack of professionalism shown throughout the process has been shocking. You certainly do not expect to be writing a review about being mis-sold and a data breach, of which neither have been taken seriously in the slightest by VW.

Firstly, the sales team, in my experience, are severely untrained which lead to me being mis-sold my vehicle. I was told verbally that my annual tax would be £190, only to find out on collection (post purchase) that it would be £600 annually until 2029. When I raised this with the Customer Service team originally, they were shocked and they themselves admitted I had been mis-sold, only to later change their tune and backtrack. VW Leicester management have supposedly claimed there is no evidence of me being told it would be £190 and have said I was told it would be £600 which is a complete and utter lie. They have insinuated that I have lied yet have failed to provide evidence that I was told it would be £600, double standards. The only ‘solution’ to this they have given is for me to exchange the car for one that truly does have a £190 annual tax. This is a completely unacceptable ‘solution’ for a situation that was brought about through their staff’s lack of training and/or expertise, who are all too quick to push additional stress and unexpected costs onto me.

The collection process was also a shambles. When we arrived to collect the car at the agreed upon time, Muhammad left myself and my husband in the dealership claiming he needed to go and collect the car. He disappeared and left us for 40mins. Two other team members approached us during that time to ask whether we were ok as we had been left unattended for so long. One even commented that it was unacceptable that we had been left with no communication. When he eventually returned, he explained that the car was still in a compound blocked in by 4 cars. This baffled us as we’d confirmed the collection date and time with him numerous times, so you would have expected the car to be ready for us at the agreed time.

With paperwork sorted (along with the tax bombshell), Muhammad took us out to the car and ran through some of the controls. Whilst he was doing this, another member of staff came over and requested some keys from him. He became argumentative with the other member of staff in front of us and it was clear he was being intentionally difficult. In our experience, there seemed to be a distinct lack of professionalism demonstrated in front of customers and a lack of professional courtesy to his colleagues.

On the drive home I realised that Muhammad had not helped me set up the VW app, as I’d seen other team members doing with other customers the day previous. I later found out when speaking to Customer Service that this should be done with all new customers.

As a result of this, the car still had the previous owner’s details in the system. Even today, I am still able to see the name of the previous owner, their partner’s details, their home address and even details of where their children go to school and which soft play they frequent. This is clearly a GDPR breach. If this was my data I would be extremely concerned and it has made me think twice about the lack-lustre approach to data protection VW has. Let alone the potential threat to my own family’s safety, should this data fall into the wrong hands. It doesn’t bear thinking about.

1 month on, Customer Service have failed to advise on how to proceed with this data breach so I am still stuck with data that I do not believe I should have access to. I’ve had no contact from the dealership Manager in an attempt to address the issues and shortcomings and I’ve been left to feel completely neglected post purchase. They have my money and I’m now irrelevant. AVOID VW at all costs!!

Poor customer service at Watford VW showroom. Booked for a test drive only to find the keys were missing and we could only view the vehicle from the outside. Was promised a call on the Monday once the keys were located, no call. Got a call on Tuesday, checked the make and model of the car and booked again to test drive the car at the weekend. Got texts on the day and a call to check we were still going.
On our way to the showroom to then get a call to say the car was no longer at the showroom as it had been moved to another site.
Won’t be spending our money with a company who clearly couldn’t care less.

Do not buy their cars, conned out of £3000 when car returned.
Do not service it.
Do not clean it.
Crapiest customer service.