Motorpoint of Peterborough
Just a few words about Motorpoint.
Their advertising claims they're the "UK's Number 1 Car Supermarket", "You're in great company" and "Car buying evolved".
Well, that's not been my experience of Motorpoint of Peterborough! I recently bought a Renault Grand Scenic from them and have received pretty shoddy service.
I paid for a PDI (pre-delivery inspection) - I'm not sure what's inspected as part of the PDI but the boot light hadn't been connected and the radio/CD won't work because the code hasn't been entered.
The boot light was easy enough to fix but I'm more than a little peeved that I paid for an inspection that obviously hadn't been carried out.
The main issue is the radio code. This should have been sorted before I collected my brand new car. I was told it was in the service book, on the inside cover.
It isn't there. I checked every piece of literature that Motorpoint had provided, but alas no radio code anywhere.
Several phone calls later and I was told to contact Renault for the code! Thanks Motorpoint, you've taken my cash and that's where the "service" ends. Incidentally Renault will provide the code for me, for a fee of £20 + VAT once my V5 arrives - will you pick up the tab?
I'd read a few poor reviews of Motorpoint, but I'd hoped that their new branch in Peterborough might be better. I guess I should have realised that you basically get what you pay for.
So if you're looking for a bargain priced car I'd have a good look around. You might get your new car at a good price, but when you take into account the reduced warranty,
no breakdown cover, near-empty fuel tank and additional costs (radio decoding, etc) your bargain isn't quite the bargain it first appears to be! Add to that the extra servicing costs (I've been informed that the service interval on my car is 6,000 miles rather than 9,000 for a UK car).
And finally, remember that if you buy from Motorpoint you may well be enjoying the sound of silence for a few weeks!!
Malcolm Burlington - January 2007
Update - 22nd January 2007
After waiting almost 4 weeks, today I decided to call the DVLA to see where my logbook had got to. Apparently the car had been registered, but not in my name. Unfortunately they couldn't tell me who it
was registered to but it wasn't me! I got back to Motorpoint who said it was registered in their name, despite
being told categorically by the salesman, Andy Boswell, that I would be the first registered keeper! So, despite paying the first registration fee, I'm not the first registered keeper after all! But it's okay because this won't affect the resale value (according to Motorpoint anyway).
One ray of light though, I finally got the radio code (thanks to Richard Hales for that).
Keywords: Motorpoint, Motorpoint of Peterborough, Car Supermarket, Poor Service
Site of the week: I am Bored
