The Motor Company (Taunton) Reviews 

Disappointing experience — car not fit for purpose

I bought a car from this garage expecting it to be of satisfactory quality and fit for purpose. Unfortunately, that has not been my experience.

The vehicle developed significant issues which, given their nature, appear to have been present or developing at the time of sale. Despite raising these concerns with the garage, they have refused to accept responsibility or provide a satisfactory resolution.

What has been particularly disappointing is the contrast between the garage’s family-friendly image and the way customers are treated when something goes wrong. The friendly appearance may give you confidence when purchasing a vehicle, but in my experience that attitude changed completely once I raised legitimate concerns about the car.

I would also urge potential customers to check the garage’s claims carefully. Their website states that they are members of the Motor Ombudsman, but I have been unable to establish that this is actually the case. This is something I feel prospective customers should be aware of before making a purchase.

Overall, my experience has been extremely disappointing. I would strongly recommend doing thorough checks, obtaining an independent inspection and verifying any claims made by the garage before buying a vehicle from them. In my experience, when problems arose, the garage was not interested in taking responsibility.

As a returning customer, I am extremely disappointed with how my recent visit was handled.

I booked my vehicle in to investigate specific faults that I had reported in advance. However, when I arrived, despite having a morning booking, I was told the garage was fully booked and that my vehicle would not be looked at until much later. This caused unnecessary inconvenience and stress.

My main concern was the complete lack of communication regarding costs. At no point before the inspection was I clearly informed that I would be personally responsible for diagnostic or inspection charges. I only became aware of the cost after signing the job sheet and after the inspection had been carried out. Had these charges been explained beforehand, I would have made an informed decision about whether to proceed.

The inspection largely confirmed an issue I had already reported and was already aware of, but the original concerns I booked the vehicle in for were not resolved to my satisfaction.

When I questioned the invoice, I felt the situation was handled very poorly. Instead of attempting to resolve my concerns as a customer, the communication quickly became focused on payment and references to legal action. As someone who explained they were under significant personal pressure at the time, I found this approach unnecessarily aggressive and unprofessional.

I have since paid the invoice to bring the matter to a close, but that should not be taken as an indication that I was satisfied with the service I received.

My advice to anyone considering this garage is to ensure every single cost is clearly explained and agreed in writing before any work is carried out, and to request an itemised breakdown of any diagnostic charges before authorising work.

Unfortunately, based on my experience, I cannot recommend this garage and will not be returning.

Having purchased my vehicle from tge dreadful Weston Carbase I have used Taunton Motor Company on a number of occassions to perform a variety of work completed under the terms of my warranty.
Each time I have found thier staff friendly, helpful and the work carried to a high standard. I would recommend this company and would definitely use them again.
Neil

I bought a second hand Plugin Hybrid BMW which had a battery fault. They promptly lent me a car while they investigated and when the cost of repair proved to be greater than the warranty would cover, they immediately offerred to buy the car back.
We negotiated the purchase of a Mitsubishi PHEV Outlander that was more suitable for my needs and that I am totally satisfied with.
At all times both David and Karl acted with integrity and kindness, which, in my view, went way beyond their obligations to ensure my total satisfaction.
How can I not give them 5 stars!

Very professional and pleasant staff no job was to much took my Vauxhall zafira here for a mot which failed they did all the repairs and it pass it's mot the job was done quicker than expected highly recommended to other car users thank you Taunton motor company will definitely bring back here in the future great work keep it up

Today I picked up my new car from Dan. I absolutely 💯 trust him, I've known him for 20 years. I'm really happy with the quick turn around from viewing the car last Monday, to picking it up a week later. Was in immaculate condition. Even if I didn't know Dan personally, he makes you feel at ease, he's friendly, no pressure to buy, explained the process throughly, throughout my purchase. I'd definitely recommend The Motor Company. Thanks for the great service.

Have dealt with Karl and his team for nearly ten years now always a friendly and polite greeting just had full service on our Mitsubishi Eclipse cross always gives us a complimentary lift into town while vehicle is being serviced and picks us up when ready Karl always takes time to explain what’s been done or needs doing and we leave feeling confident and satisfied
Liz&Dave

This garage told me upon drop off of my Shogun (with engine fault light illuminated for their further diagnosis) they were able to go much deeper than the RAC's diagnostics (which I shared with them) to find the source of the problem. They failed to do so, wiped the fault, agreed to a reduced cost of 180 pounds (having led us to believe they could find the problem and then admitted failure) and returned the vehicle saying she was 'running like a dream'. In short order the vehicle again had the same fault. Again it was returned to the garage with the same error code. On this occasion the garage instead said they had found a separate physical fault with a hose system (nothing to do with the error codes) and were pleased to have identified something related to the problem they could not previously solve. They requested to order parts to fix this problem which we approved. They kept the car for several weeks then charged us 470 additional pounds and waved my wife off without any mention of there being any ongoing fault, claiming by telephone that they had fixed the problem. On an A road home the fault immediately came back, surprising my wife who lost all power at 60 mph. This is not exercising due care and attention. In two phone calls the following day they refused completely to either a) negotiate to refund us in whole or in part b) accept any responsibility at all c) to take the car back and further investigate the fault, instead claiming they never knew how to fix the fault and refusing to listen to any further "abuse" or "drivel" despite no voice raising in the discussion. I am not sure if this is still an official Mitsubishi dealer / customer service outlet or not but I would recommend to all to take due note of my experience - we went to the Mitsubishi specialist instead of our trusted local garage for good reason and instead experienced the worst customer service of our lives in the autotrade over 20+ years of owning vehicles. I asked them at the end of our conversation if they would again consider refunding us in whole or part, or taking the car back for further review, to which they said we should call Mitsubishi customer service and that it was not their fault they could not find the fault with my vehicle. Failure to take any responsibility or engage with us further nor refund us even in part is just shocking and against my understanding of our consumer rights. We will be pursuing them via every available angle, including with the National Conciliation Service, Mitsubishi, The Retail Motor Federation / Independent Garage Associate of which they are a member, Trading Standards, and the ADR. October 2023.

Just bought my first car from Taunton motor company and wow what can I say. From the minute I walked through the door the costumer service from Dan was outstanding. Made me feel so comfortable never put me under any pressure to buy, gave me all the information and support I needed as I changed to a completely different car to what I would norm go for. When the time for me to collect the car I was blown away with how the car was handed over to meet it really was a moment and made me feel so special
Well done Dan and team I will definitely be back 🥰

Dan is a good communicator, knowledgeable and fully valenced
the car ready for collection with new mats. I would highly recommend this company as they kindly did an MOT. Dan also send all documents to me via email ready for work records prior collection. Professional service and cars reasonably priced.

Fantastic service, great value for money. This is a young guy building his business. I highly recommend. He helped us out when my friend's car broke down and we were just about to go on holiday. Honest and reliable.

I recently purchased a jaguar from Dan at the motor company who was very helpful, it was a really friendly and inviting atmosphere no pressure what so ever to purchase, I felt like I had plenty of time to look at the car and the test drive was a good length, when I got there they had informed me of an issue with one of the tyres which was replaced very quickly while we sorted the paperwork, overall I am very happy with my experience at the motor company in Taunton

Excellent service from start to finish. Dan was exemplary and always on the end of the phone, if we needed an answer or update. Buying a car from The Motor Company in Taunton could not have been easier.

And just to add….. my car is fabulous. Thank you

This company were responsive to my needs, friendly and easy to deal with. No pressurised selling- just great service and good quality cars. If you want the fun without the hassle this is the company for you.
Sarah (CPL).

Dan was pleasant and helpful. He worked with me to put a deal together to ensure a good customer experience and outcome.
The whole process was seamless. 10 out of 10.
Very happy with the car.
Richard in Gloucester.

Started great with not being harassed. Talked with Dan Rawlings made me feel at ease bought the car it was well prepared and presented. Totally hassle free definitely look here again in the future . A garage to trust with confidence and good old fashioned manners that seems to be lacking these days

Dan made buying my new car really easy from start to finish. Great customer service, very friendly, knowledgeable about the car and made me feel comfortable when test driving the new car. Would definitely use this company again when buying a new car.

From start to finish a first class friendly service, no pressure just old fashioned family run honest business.I would always try to use this service to change my car in future even though we live in Cornwall.Thanks Dan and Team and thanks for feedback on the sale of our previous VW. Lynn and Nigel.

It was a very easy and straightforward transaction. Dan was very professional and there was no pressure to buy. The car, a Volvo V40, is just what we wanted, so we are very happy customers. The only down side was that Dan wouldn't budge on the price!

The Motor Company provided us with excellent service from the first time I made the phone call to arrange a viewing to collecting my new car. Professional, friendly and ensured the car was right for us.
Many thanks to Dan - he was fantastic.