Drive Motor Retail Reviews 

Visited Stockton-on-tees site recently for a service and MOT. Excellent branch, very friendly and helpful staff. Thank you all.

I visited the Scarborough site on Saturday and was met by Matthew Kilby. He was extremely polite and welcoming and could not do enough to help. he organised a test drive and once safely back in the showroom we sat and discussed the car. I am sure I tried his patience at times but he never let it show. I was on a fixed budget and unfortunately we could not reach a deal. He even enlisted the help of his Manager, I think his name was Shaun (but not sure) who also came along to try and help me. If we had managed a deal I would have rated this 5 star. I left the showroom disappointed but with a pleasant feeling of finding somewhere with excellent customer service who tried to help but with no pressure. Well done Drive Motor Retail and 5 Stars to Matthew, I am sure he will go far in his career. Steve Stanton

Jose Hidalgo from Drive Vauxhall Ipswich, is an excellent salesman, efficient, organised friendly, goes above and beyond to help he's a real gentleman. Wouldn’t go to anyone else after meeting him. 10/10.

Excellent, friendly and efficient service provided by Kristy.
I walked into Vauxhall Drive Stockton and within 2 hours drove out with a new car!
Kristy was very knowledgeable and tried her utmost best to get the best deal for me. As a female customer in a mainly male environment, I didn’t feel intimidated at all.
The car is perfect! From a very very happy customer, thank you Kristy! 😊

Our experience throughout the booking process and the day set aside for the car service has been excellent.
Booking the service was quickly carried out in a polite and considerate manner with confirmation of our booking by return messaging and voice mail.
On the day of the service at Bury St Edmunds were made to feel welcome; timescales and the work to be carried out were confirmed and we had phone calls and a video of the work progress throughout the day keeping us fully updated!
On collection of our car, we were again talked through everything that had been done with time being given to answer our questions. And our car was washed and vacuumed before being returned to us!
Amazing and thank you

Jose Hidalgo,
He's a good salesman. Very attentive and helpful.
Thank you, Jose

I’m extremely disappointed with my experience.

I’ve only had this car less than 6 months, and it has already been back twice for issues, one of those instances being told that "nothing was wrong" for an issue they then found the second time. The repairs was put through my warranty without permission or even doing the courtesy of telling me first, despite it being a fault that should have been addressed by the dealer themselves, which has significantly reduced my confidence in both the car and the aftercare, especially when I was told that a major electronic fault was like "light bulbs in a house" and I'd have to pay 3 months in to prove it was there at the time of sale.

I have since raised further concerns and have been ignored, despite chasing for responses. The lack of communication and accountability is unacceptable, especially given how early I am into ownership.

At this point, the issue isn’t just the car, it’s the poor customer service, deflection of responsibility, and failure to engage. I expected far better support when buying from a dealer, particularly within the first year.

I would not recommend based on my experience.

Update on smelly car. The Manager came up with a good deal. Brand new car, money back and a years free tax. They registering today and we picking it up Wednesday. Good result. Happy with that.

I received an electric Vauxhall through the Motability scheme from Drive Vauxhall Leicester in December and the experience has been extremely concerning. To the extent that, based on my experience, I would not currently recommend exploring electric vehicles with this dealership.

Within days of collection the car began showing multiple fault warnings and had to be returned. After the initial inspection I was told the car was fine, yet just days later, on 28th December 2025, it completely failed and became totally immobile on my driveway. The RAC attended but could not diagnose the fault and had to recover the vehicle using a robotic mover as it could not be driven at all.

Since 29th December the car has remained at Drive Vauxhall Leicester. Despite being a brand-new vehicle with around 20 miles on the clock, it has now been off the road longer than I was able to use it. What has made the situation far worse is the lack of communication. I have repeatedly phoned and emailed for updates, but calls are not returned and no one has been able to clearly explain what is wrong with the vehicle or when it will be fixed. I am repeatedly promised return calls that simply do not happen.

I was also told on 2nd January that the car was “in the workshop”, and the same statement was later given to the leasing and finance team on 19th January, which raises serious concerns about the accuracy and transparency of the information being provided.

The overall approach has felt unprofessional and deeply worrying - particularly when it comes to the reliability of a brand-new electric vehicle and the level of after-sales support when something goes wrong so quickly.

Reliability and clear communication are essential, especially for Motability customers. Unfortunately, my experience with Drive Vauxhall Leicester has fallen far short of that standard. I have recorded every interaction and I would strongly advise anyone considering this dealership to seek independent advice and proceed with caution.

Had a great customer experience with Emma and her colleagues at the Hyundai Drive,Scarborough dealership just recently, the staff are a credit to the company and made me feel very welcome and looked after my car repair in a professional manner.

Jose Hidalgo, is a very helpful , pleasant person

My car is a vauxhall corsa 14000 miles on the clock with gold warranty. Ive had the car a year and a half from the vauxhall dealership. Jan 6th i heard a knocking from the engine so I booked the car in and earliest they could get me in was the 13th. I started the car the day before but it went into limp mode. I rang the garage and was told to drive it in, one person said drive it until it breaks then use my breakdown cover to get towed. Instead I managed to get a family member tow me there and afte a diagnosis they said its the crankshaft seal that's gone and it will be £1400 as its not covered in the warranty. I rang the warranty place and they have told me they decide what's covered not the garage. Ive been waiting for the car to be stripped down since the 13th jan 26 to be accessed for what's covered but im still waiting and its the 20th today. The crankshaft seal should be covered as it broke due to a defective part and not wear and tear as these seals are supposed to last for upto 80,000 to 120,000 miles. I will be getting the ombudsman involved as I think I am right and every mechanic ive spoken to has said they should last more that 14,000 miles.

23rd of January they have rang me today saying they have the flywheel part but the warranty says just to strip down and photograph whats wrong and send the pictures to them so they can say what is covered by the warranty. I was also told it would be costing £3,400 for a flywheel, clutch and crankshaft seal replacement. The price is extortionate and I have now spoken to consumer rights and according to them under the consumer rights act of 2015 this is the problem of the finance company as i was sold a car of a not satisfactory quality and the car should be repaired and costs covered by the finance company. The complaint was made on the 13th of January and I have been told if its not sorted in 8 weeks we can then inform the financial ombudsman and take it from there.

Jan 26 2026 the warranty company have agreed to pay £280 towards the £3,400 bill of a defective crankshaft seal so my experience has taught me don't waste money on gold warranty for Drive Vauxhall WSG warranty that you get offered when buy a car on finance.

24th February 2026 the car was supposedly fixed but they took it for a test drive and now theres noise coming from the accelerator and vibration in 1st gear and reverse gear. Been told it needs a new engine as theres movement in the crank. It will cost 10,000 for a new engine. Ive recently got scotia engineer inspection booked in to look at the vehicle and to see if the fault was there at purchase or if its been damaged after being fixed. I will take the report to the ombudsman as soon as I have information on what's happened.

Thank you to Danny who helped me purchase my first ever car! Danny was very professional and made the whole experience very easygoing and exciting!😊

Drive Hyundai York were great, Kevin was professional and very helpful, made the process really easy. I was happy with the whole experience and would go back.

Purchased a Leapmotor to3 from the Bury st Edmond’s branch about 3 months ago. The process from the start to picking up the car was marvellous. Caroline the sales person, was at all times very helpful and polite. She kept us informed and updated the progress at all times. Had several follow up messages to make sure everything was ok as well.
Can’t praise her enough, many thanks

PS, my wife loves the car as well.

Gone are the days when customers mattered. This company has become too big in taking over local dealerships. Customers are an inconvenience to them and their booking systems.
Complain about appalling service and letting customers down and you will get put through to a teenage girl hundreds of miles away in a call centre, who will tell you she is really sorry, but in effect couldn't care less. Their convenience is what is important. Unhappy customers are easily replaceable when you get this big.
Having bought my last three cars there, I will not be returning. I will give my business in future to a smaller company where the customer matters.

Ipswich branch. Danny was fabulous. Super friendly and our conversations flowed easily. Between him and Lee, they managed to sort out something great for my new car experience. I shall definitely be seeking Danny out again when I am next due a new car!

Really disappointed with our experience with the Drive team in Leicester. Our car was recovered there after an issue with it charging. It took five months of back and forth before the issue was resolved. Communication wasn’t great throughout, but came to a head when I was told I could pick up the car only to be told it had pretty much been stripped down when I arrived. Issue was fixed under warranty, but only after a wrong diagnosis resulted in us paying for an earlier repair. Biggest frustration those has been the complaints process. Despite some early engagement, it’s now been two months with nothing back and follow-ups ignored. Very disappointing.

Bought a new Corsa just before Christmas from the Aldershot branch, was sensible took out a service plan and even got 0% finance and the car is in stock. Top marks guys and thank you for your help

The salesman's advice (Richard Biddle) was invaluable