AA Approved Garage Network  Reviews 

19,851
•
TrustScore 4 out of 5

4.0

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Review summary

Created with AI, based on recent reviews

Considering 6,855 reviews, reviewers had a great experience with this company. Reviewers consistently praise the team for being extremely polite, knowledgeable, and delivering fast maintenance work that gets vehicles back on the road quickly. Consumers especially love the convenient collection and drop-off options, noting that these services make arranging car appointments completely stress-free during busy workdays. However, some people mentioned that managing booking schedules and dealing with communication issues through customer service can occasionally cause frustration. Though some reviewers were not happy with unexpected repair costs or lengthy delays when getting their vehicles fixed, many still found overall value in the service provided.

What people talk about most

Service

People report positive experiences with service, highlighting the simple booking process, efficient timing,... See more

Staff

Reviewers highlight positive aspects of staff, frequently describing team members as friendly, knowledgeable,... See more

Booking process

Customers consistently note ambiguous experiences with booking process, as many reviewers highlight that... See more

Price

Clients share ambiguous opinions on price, as some consumers highlight very reasonable quotes and competitive... See more

Customer service

Consumers experience mixed satisfaction regarding customer service, with some reviewers praising prompt... See more

Reviews shaping this summary

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

The booking process is simple and fast, there are a few options of service garages. I had requested that my car be collected which is very convenient as it is less disruptive to my work day. On th... See more

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

I would have liked to have a report on the service that was done. AA Smart Care didn't contact me at all to let me know what time to pick my car on the day, which was 07/10/2026. I however strang... See more

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

Work carried out in a timely and efficient manner as promised. Only issue was an extra charge for more work, yet when queried was removed

Company replied

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

The AA mechanic was great. He came on time and did the job well and the car is now working good. Only a minor issue happened that AA sent text messages asking me to drop the car at a garage despite it... See more


Company details

  1. Car Inspection Station
  2. also in
  3. Auto Parts Store
  4. Car Service
  5. Mechanic
  6. Towing Service
  7. Vehicle Inspection

About AA Approved Garage Network

Written by the company

MOTs, services and repairs brought to you through the convenience of our local AA approved garage network.

AA approved local garages

  • Every one of the garages in our network is audited to ensure it meets our highest quality, service and training standards
  • The garage technicians are expertly trained in petrol, diesel and electric vehicles

Fixed & transparent pricing

  • You’ll know exactly what you’re going to pay, with no hidden extras
  • We’ll chat to the garage to make sure that any additional work needed is accurate, and give you a quote to approve before it’s carried out.

Guaranteed quality of work and repairs

  • We’re so confident in the work, we guarantee all parts and labour for 12 months
  • The garages in our network always fit quality parts, made to the same standard as the original manufacturer equipment
  • All prices, including labour, are checked to make sure they’re accurate

Easy online booking

  • You can book online at a garage local to you, on a date of your choice
  • Book up to 90 days in advance
  • You have access to a UK wide network of local garages.

 


Contact info

4.0

Great

TrustScore 4 out of 5

20K reviews

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4.0

All reviews

(19,851)

6,708 reviews in the last 12 months

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Rated 5 out of 5 stars

The actual garage were bang on

The actual garage were bang on, the lads kept me updated throughout and dealt with a Warranty Claim brilliantly, the only slight delay was on the AA Smart Care Team and having to provide the Warranty Policy number to 2 different members of staff (Please Note: The only negative is with the AA Smart Care Team and not the garage who were bang on) 👍🏻

20 October 2026
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

I was booked in the garage for MOT

I was booked in to the garage for a 9:30 appointment for my MOT
I arrived at 9.15am
I had to sit and wait for two and a half hours for my car to be done and receive feedback.
I paid for Smart Care for one year in advance. In that year I have had two cars towed away for scrap. I have had no contribution or assistance from Smart Care. I will not be renewing.

20 October 2026
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Reply from AA Approved Garage Network

Hi Patricia, sorry to hear this. Please give us a call on 0330 018 3446 so we can look into your concerns further and help get this sorted.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Let down

Please reply to email

19 October 2026
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Reply from AA Approved Garage Network

Hi Nicola, we've chased up your email and have asked the team to pick this up asap.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

I paid for service and the windscreen…

I paid for a car service through the AA and the windscreen washers were empty on my cars return. I tried to chase this up with the AA and didn't get anywhere. I have arthritis in my hands so find doing things like opening the bonnet and changing fluid difficult so after paying a lot of money (£200) to the AA for a service I will now have to pay again to someone else for the work to be done which is not right. It makes me wonder whether the service actually happened and I have paid for a scam. The AA have not helped at all in this matter

20 October 2026
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Reply from AA Approved Garage Network

Hi Nicola, we're sorry to hear about your experience and have passed your details over to the right team and asked them to look into this. They'll contact you directly if they need any further info.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

Friendly if rather casual staff.

Friendly if rather casual staff.

Close to my home so very convenient.
My appointment was on October 14 but I later received several Smartcare emails referring to my “forthcoming appointment on October 20” Why???

No mention of the Service on the invoice, just the MoT pass. I will check online that it was serviced. I am used to a more detailed printed report on both aspects of the appointment but if all is correct I will use this place again.

14 October 2026
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Reply from AA Approved Garage Network

Hi Elizabeth, if you have a service record book, we hope it was left in the car so it could be stamped. If not, don't worry, as your receipt can be used as proof that the service was carried out.

You'll also be able to find receipts for any work booked through us in your online account.

It's great to hear everything went smoothly and that it was convenient for you. 😊

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Great mechanic

Great mechanic. Friendly and hard working.

20 October 2026
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Reply from AA Approved Garage Network

Thanks for tour feedback, glad to hear everything went smoothly.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

AA Smart Care communications are slow.

The garage sent communications and I never received them until the next day.
I picked up the car having gone to the garage for not having received any updates. The garage informed me that they are not allowed to contact the customer and all communications are done through AA Smart Care.
The car was ready on the Monday and I took it.
On Tuesday at 16:00, I received a text saying my car was ready to collect.

20 October 2026
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Reply from AA Approved Garage Network

Hi Angus, we're sorry to hear about the delays and lack of updates. We understand how frustrating it must have been to receive a collection notification after you'd already collected your car. We'll pass your feedback to the relevant team to review what happened and help improve our service. They may contact you directly if they need any further information.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Booked a home AA Smart Care Service.

Booked a home, service, with AA Smart Care for a week later, 1/2 hour before due got a phone call saying they can’t get the oil for a Peugeot 2008 2023. So cancelled but can rebook for the following Thursday. I then got a e-mail saying the mechanic found some defaults while doing the Service!!(which they Cancelled)Which they would be happy to repair, ( a week later), I noticed that the payment I made was put on pending by the AA, then 3 days before Service due I got an e-mail saying Service cancelled. A wasted 2wks waiting for a Service I never got !!

16 October 2026
Unprompted review
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Reply from AA Approved Garage Network

Hi Daniel, we're sorry to hear about the booking issues, and would like to make sure this is looked into further and fed back to the right team. Please email a copy of your review, booking ref and reg to TheAA.ReviewTeam@TheAA.com

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Use AA approved garages and services at your peril

Use AA approved garages and AA Smart Care at your peril and do not believe that they are honest just because they are AA approved. They are not. I chose the nearest garage to me from the AA approved Smart Care list for an MOT and service which they arranged. The garage - Hackney Car Centre - told me my car needed "brakes all round" to pass its MOT. It did not. He charged me £450 for new brake pads and claimed I had to pay him direct, unlike the actual service and MOT for which I paid the AA. He refused a receipt which made me suspicious and I found he had not done anything to the brakes. He lied and said he had entered the brake pad replacement "on the Mercedes data base". In the face of my proof he offered to refund, then did not. I submitted proof of the fraud to the AA. What did the AA do? Nothing. It didn't look at my car. It claimed to have launched an investigation which left me hanging for two months. Then it said it was my problem because I had paid the garage direct when the garage should have failed the car on the brakes and informed them and they would have charged me. Instead he did the so-called repair without failing the car. The Motor Ombudsman has backed them. I am a journalist and have proof of what I say, including the car's maintenance history/mileage and photos of the so-called replaced brake pads showing they are not new at all in a written report from an honest garage. I also have the texts between Mehmet and I in which he first claims the car needed brakes, then refuses to give a receipt, then on seeing my proof, offers a full refund which he did not give. And don't bother with the Motor Ombudsman. They turned down my complaint because I had paid the garage not the AA even though the brake work was part of the AA arranged MOT and the AA admits that their garage had not followed its proper procedure. Because Mehmet of Hackney car centre did not inform the AA of the alleged brake failure - they were in fact in good condition - and because he refused a receipt saying the AA would send me one, he has got away with it. What else did this AA approved garage do? Did it check the seat belts, change the oil, change the filters? So be careful, I'm sure most of their garages are honest but in view of my experience, it's best to check the work before you pay because you won't get help from the AA if things go wrong.

29 April 2026
Unprompted review
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Reply from AA Approved Garage Network

Hi Liz, we're sorry to hear about your experience and would like to look into this further. Please email a copy of this review, your booking ref and reg to TheAA.ReviewTeam@TheAA.com

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Had an MOT for my car

Had an MOT for my car. No issues. The garage did the checks quick and professional. Had to wait a little longer than promised, but not excessive.

14 October 2026
Rated 2 out of 5 stars

Service and MOT - communication issues

Service and MOT. The garage itself was fine - they communicated OK and the work done seems to be fine. The issue I have is that every decision had to go through the AA first leading to delays. In the end my car had to be kept overnight which was not expected. Additionally, for one piece of work the garage informed me it was needed, but I had to chase the AA myself to prompt them to send the approval through. When they did, they sent it with a zero price (which I approved to get the work done) and the AA then had to send another one through with the correct price on. Not a great experience.

14 October 2026
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Reply from AA Approved Garage Network

Hi Simon, we're sorry to hear about your experience. We appreciate how frustrating it must have been to deal with delays, chase approvals, and receive incorrect pricing information when you're expecting the work to progress smoothly. This isn't the level of service we aim to provide, and we'll make sure your feedback is passed to the relevant team to review what happened and help improve our processes going forward. They may also contact you directly if they need any further information while looking into this. We're pleased to hear the garage communicated well and that the work carried out met your expectations, but we're sorry the overall experience fell short.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Fantastic garage

Absolutely fabulous experience, professional, polite and super efficient garage. Best service n mot ai have had after 40 yrs of driving. Fast and brilliant garage.

Thank the garage on my behalf.

17 October 2026
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Warning to Hybrid car owners!

Whilst the collect and drop off service was appreciated, there were no status / progress updates throughout the service/mot day.
Despite numerous chases to the AA and the garage, I couldn’t obtain confirmation that relevant hybrid battery checks had been performed - not on the service paperwork and then fobbed off/ignored after. Both garage and AA websites stated that Hybrid checks were included. Extremely disappointing at misleading info and lack of response so wont use again and a warning to all Hybrid car users expecting what should be a standard service check.
AA reply - I have reached out to the garage and AA smart care team with no / unsatisfactory response - another example of lack of proactive customer care.

13 October 2026
Unprompted review
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Reply from AA Approved Garage Network

Hi Paul, we're sorry you've been left feeling this way. If you have any concerns or questions about the work carried out, please get in touch with us or the garage so we can help clear things up. We hope your MOT and service went smoothly and that your car is running well.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

Booking car service was easy

Booking car service was easy, but during service was not. I didn't receive any updates also I was not notified when my car was ready to be picked up.

19 October 2026
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Reply from AA Approved Garage Network

Hi Gail, we're sorry to hear this. As soon as we have any updates for you, a member of our team would reach out directly. We hope any concerns have been raised with us.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

It’s so easy and reliable

It’s so easy and reliable, they come and take your car away , full service and mot and then deliver it back .A1 5*****

19 October 2026
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Reply from AA Approved Garage Network

We're delighted with your feedback for the service, thanks for sharing this.

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