westdrive.co.uk Reviews 25

Collection of a motability, half an hour still sat waiting for it to be brought down from compound, said would chase it up, nobody been back to say how long?

Worst car buying experience in 40 years of motoring. Bought a 23 plate £25k Kia a year ago & it’s been in for repairs for 5 months of that time. Dealership showed zero interest in a car that has a dangerous major fault. Currently in for repairs again.

We Had a Kia Stonic serviced over £550 please do not use this dealership for service work they are a complete rip off. We are now looking at selling the car and never to use Kia again.

Would give this company zero stars if could. Brought a car with them had multiple faults and been in accident. Engine management light was on when received it. Sales avoided our calls, tried to fob us off. My car was traded in, which they've sold at auction but I've received no money for it. Gave £100 deposit never returned.
I would not recommend this dealership steer clear.

Extremely poor pre-delivery inspection, faults not taken seriously. I brought a nearly new Skoda from Braintree Westdrive, the salesperson did not know the vehicle and service technician couldn’t reset the service trip on the vehicle. On my way home I took the vehicle to a Skoda dealership to reset the service interval. If you are buying another brand than Kia or Mazda do not go through Westdrive.

Last year, we purchased our vehicle from this garage. One of the primary reasons we chose a Kia was the 7-year warranty, with the option to extend for additional year. This warranty was a key factor in our decision and gave us confidence in both the vehicle and your dealership.

Unfortunately, our experience since the purchase has been unacceptable.

Upon receiving the service book, we discovered that no service information had been completed. When we contacted the garage, we were provided only with a small screenshot as evidence of service history. This is clearly insufficient and falls far below the professional standard we would expect from an authorised dealer.

This year, during the MOT, several serious issues were identified. We were advised that the repairs could potentially be covered under warranty. However, we are currently unable to proceed with the warranty claim because we have not been provided with the correct and complete documentation required.

After repeated attempts to resolve the matter, the After Sales Manager eventually sent copies of service invoices. Regrettably, these documents do not meet the warranty requirements. The garage prepared to carry out the repairs has confirmed that the paperwork provided is not acceptable for processing the claim.

Communication throughout this process has been extremely poor. We have had to chase the After Sales Manager for updates. If we do not initiate contact, no communication is provided. We have been promised that the required documents would be sent “by the end of the day,” only for nothing to be received. When we follow up, we are told that information is still being awaited. This pattern has repeated several times.

The lack of organisation, accountability, and proactive communication is deeply concerning — especially given the seriousness of the repairs required and the fact that this relates directly to a warranty that influenced our purchase decision.

Make sure you carefully check all documentation before agreeing to the deal, as the dealer is not trustworthy.

Avoid this dealership at all costs. I recently purchased a car and part-exchanged my old one, with a clear agreement that I would receive £500 upon providing the spare key. I made it absolutely clear that I was going on holiday for two weeks — and at NO point did anyone mention a deadline, time restriction, or condition of any kind. There is no contract, no written clause, no verbal agreement stating I had 14 days. Nothing.
When I returned from holiday, I handed over the spare key exactly as agreed. The dealership then refused to pay the £500, hiding behind a made-up time limit they cannot evidence in any way. It is dishonest, unprofessional, and frankly feels like a deliberate attempt to withhold money they owe.
Their aftercare is non-existent. Colin (Salesman) only interested in getting his commission!! Emails ignored, calls avoided, zero willingness to resolve the issue. Once they’ve taken your money and waved you off the forecourt, you’re on your own.
I feel completely misled and cheated, and their behaviour shows a total lack of integrity. If this is how they treat customers, I strongly recommend steering well clear of this place.
(Obvious Cowboys at play here as they had made a significant profit on obtaining a spare key)

Just bought a lovely Mazda CX 30 and very pleased with my car and the helpful and friendly service I received. Very good PX price on my 'old' car - Joe T in sales was great - had a minor issue on collection - very professional in the service dept - issue quickly sorted without any fuss

Avoid avoid avoid. Customer service appalling, staff rude- Colin with a couldn't care less attitude. Car was in a worse state when going to collect when first viewed after work carried out on it. I have never experienced and made to be felt so belittled . Managing Director has not even acknowledged my complaint . Financially out of pocket and no car to show for it ..Disgusting!

What I can I say apart from how disappointed I am in Kia westdrive Braintree.
My husband brought a nice Nissan Qashqui from the dealer as it was perfect for my family and had 360 cameras on which made it easier for me to drive/park. Since owning the car it’s been back 3 times for the air conditioning and 3 times for the stereo. The car has been with them now for 8 weeks and I’ve only had car about 14 weeks so they have had car longer than I have. I wanted car to take kids out during summer holidays mainly but it’s been with them this time for nearly 6 weeks and I have a estate car which is big and no front cameras or sensors so scared to use on my own. The stereo has been away twice for repair but has come back both times and still not working correctly. I just want my car back and enjoy it. My husband asked for some sort of compensation for all the hassle we have had and all they offered was 6 months extra warranty but I feel like this isn’t right as he’s been paying finance for 2 months and we don’t have car we brought. Yes they have gave us a loan car but it’s not my car.
He emails and doesn’t get replies and all we want is for me to get my car back.
I would stay away if you’re thinking of buying a used car from these people as they don’t seem to care about the customer.
We are now considering legal action as feel like the car is not fit for purpose and feel like it’ll be unreliable.

I am so disappointed with the purchase of my used Nissan Qashqui from Kia. It all started from the minute I viewed the car. I noticed a coupe of things needed to be sorted one being some nasty scratches on side of car and from parking sensors corroded the sales man told me he would get a smart repair on side of car and get sensors sorted. I emailed twice before collecting car to see if these had been done and never got a reply! on collecting car the sensors where not done and he said they machine polished scratches but I could still see them and now after a month the polish has worn off and they look horrible again.
Next think I drove home and it was hot so put air con on and it didn’t work so I emailed the sales man straight away and surprise never got a reply. I booked in for it to be looked at and they said there was zero gas and they topped up gas and did a pressure test and it seemed fine. Two weeks later air con not working again and my washer jets stopped also so had to book in again. I had to wait over two weeks for loan car as I live out of town. I turned up to leave car for repair and also let them know my CD player isn’t working. They said they will look at this also. They had two loan cars sitting in car park and they give me a tiny little car which really wasn’t big enough for me (6foot 3) my two teenage children and my baby. I couldn’t even get push chair in boot. I got a email next day with breakdown of repairs saying I needed to pay £400 odd pounds. I’ve only had car 5-6 weeks so called them up and they said they would speak to manager and see what they can do. They come back to me saying they would cover repair bill. I popped in next day and car needs parts so told me I had to give loan car back and take mine with no stereo in which is camera for parking etc so my wife wouldn’t feel safe driving it. I was told after a bit of moaning I can keep loan car for couple more days but again I told them it’s not big enough for my family. I’m very disappointed as I brought from main dealer to get a good service but feel like car is going to be unreliable as things keep going wrong and I’m not happy with way I was lied to at start. I will definitely not recommend west drive to anyone I know.

I bought my kia stonic(first car) from kia Braintree, Essex.
They were absolutely amazing with helping me find what I wanted and the service was fantastic.
Had a little issue with the clutch so took the car back to them and they had a look and found an issue and dealt with it.

Car was due mot and service and was having slight issue with clutch again.
Booked mot service and investigation on the clutch issue. We agreed we would leave them the car for the week so they could give it a good drive about to see if they could feel the same issue.

They were absolutely fantastic. When we turned up they gave us a beautiful brand new courtesy car to use, they were brilliant with the communication and they replaced the clutch.

The service I have received from Kia Braintree has been absolutely fantastic and will be returning to them when it's time to get a new car.
Hope this helps other people looking for a good service.

I would give kia westdrive zero stars if I could. We bought a kia sportage from them and within weeks it was apparent it wasn't performing as it should. It was vibrating and juddering between gears. We subsequently took the car in to be repaired and the clutch plates were replaced. Within weeks the same issue was happening again. Westdrive fobbed us off and said the wheels needed to be rotated. This wasn't the case. We had lost complete confidence in westdrive to correctly diagnose and correct the issue at this point. On both occasions they had the car in for repairs we were not offered a courtesy car, and were left inconvenienced. For this reason we initiated rejection of the car as it was within 6 months and we funded an independent inspection with ACE. This ruled in our favour and Westdrive finally accepted our rejection. Prior to this they even had the nerve to attempt to charge us £25 a day to keep the car on their premises which I outright rufesed. The customer service has been appalling throughout. We might be in a different situation if they had acted more reasonably. Ryan on services is actually quite reasonable, James Carrington the finance manager however is obnoxious, arrogant and treats customers with contempt. I took great pleasure in throwing our ACE report in his face. My advice? Do not buy a car from these charlatans. They sold us a dud and tried to skirt their responsibility. We've had no apology and I'm determined to tell everyone I can not to risk buying a car with these cowboys. Spread the word. I've already dettered one person from buying a car with westdrive, and will continue to do so. Check out the number of 1 and 2 star reviews on trust pilot.

Bought used car,from salesman Colin,lovely chat when buying it,rude and abrupt after!they said they would do a few minor repairs wheels and Driver door was a bit squeaky and small dent,was all going to be done! We collected it,forgot to look at the door,dent not been done! Colin said used car not new, basically tough luck,nothing like the pre sale Colin typical car salesman,not to be trusted!Shame on you Colin!Could have been fair Colin, and just done the dent,would have cost you next to nothing,going to cost us a lot more! After paying nearly £14000!

My Kia EV6 during the first 18 months of its life has been into Westdrive Kia three times due to breakdowns caused by the car failing to charge the small 12v battery from the large battery which powers the car. This is a widely known fault on many Kia's which Kia are remedying on some newer models by installing a prominent "12v Battery Reset" button on the dashboard. Kia Westrdrive currently refuse to attend the vehicle when the battery goes flat and state simply that the fault is not present after it has been recharged and taken into them for inspection. I suppose it's not their fault if Kia are refusing to admit the problem. However, I spoke to Kia customer service yesterday and they seem a) fully aware of the problem, b) prepared to admit the problem at long last, c) prepared to admit how dangerous it is for the car to break down in this way, d) unwilling to offer any sensible solution and e) quite prepared to pass the buck back to their dealerships.

Awful company to deal with, took over a month for them to finally take car back and refund
Mis sold, please get everything in writing! Don’t take salespeople at their word!

Shocking treatment of a customer, purchased a BMW X5 which apparently has gone through all the pre checks, on collection there was a host of major issues which they committed to addressing by sending to BMW within 2 weeks to fix all issues and known faults. Misrepresentation of the car claiming a full BMW service record, which is simply incorrect. 3months on, countless emails and calls, being ignored constantly and even escalating via the finance company and now via the ombudsman. Avoid at all costs if you value your time. As bad as it gets in terms of service and customer experience. All this whilst I’m still driving a faulty car 3 months on!!

Don’t buy if you value service, experience and honesty!!

What a brilliant and helpful team at Mazda Westdrive Braintree. I bought a pre-loved car and the staff were amazing from beginning to end. Nothing was too much trouble if I had a query with my purchase, and I can't fault the customer aftercare service. Sincere thanks to Manager Mark, and staff members Joe and John.

Be aware that once West Drive have your payment, it’s extremely difficult to get any after service if you find anything wrong. They were very quick to take the money and very slow to respond to subsequent faults found on the vehicle.
They stated, in writing, that the fault on my vehicle was covered by the Kia guarantee, this turned out not to be true...So I asked them to correct it, they refused...however after several stronger conversations they finally agreed to fix it. This took several trips, at my expense, as they ordered in the wrong parts...!!!
Also worth noting that when I test drove the car it had a complete set of mats, however, when I picked it up these mats were missing, but i was reliably informed that i could buy a replacement set for £190 ...!!! Unbelievable,
It also took 16 days to receive the logbook, and I still haven’t received the promised replacement number plates.
Be careful with your dealings with this family-owned business as they certainly do not have family values.
They seemed to care only about making the sale, with little regard for customer satisfaction or long-term support.
Overall, my experience buying a second-hand car here was riddled with stress, poor communication, and a lack of accountability.

Honestly wish I’d never stepped foot in this place!! I brought a car end of January and have had to take it back twice because of problems with the brakes. They changed the alternator pulley one time the second time they’ve changed the auxiliary belt and cleaned all the brakes. Both times they’ve had my car for a week and with minimal communication. The first time they gave my car back with no fuel and low tyre pressure. This time… my AirPods have gone missing from my car and the last known date was when I dropped my car off and since then they’ve been taken from the case and are no longer traceable on find my iPhone!! (My car was only meant to be with them for a few hours the second time so I left my things in there). The worst part is, the brakes are still squeaking.

They are taking no responsibility for anything! DO NOT GO HERE!!