Big Motoring World

Author
Discussion

Condi

Original Poster:

17,358 posts

173 months

Sunday 23rd July 2023
quotequote all
Any experience of these guys? Am going to look at one of their cars tomorrow, but online reviews of them seem to be a bit all over the place. Some with good reviews, some with terrible reviews. I guess they're no different to any of the big supermarkets - buy on condition, don't expect much aftersales, will try and sell you finance, gap insurance, paint protection etc?

JuanCarlosFandango

7,851 posts

73 months

Sunday 23rd July 2023
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They've got very annoying adverts.

Someone I work with bought from them and had no problems and said they were good to deal with, but I suppose they sell so many cars and have so many people working there experiences are bound to vary.

SteBrown91

2,412 posts

131 months

Sunday 23rd July 2023
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I think they specialise in a lot of stuff that other dealers pass on, then they tart up and sell.

So high mileage, not perfect history etc etc

Alickadoo

1,782 posts

25 months

Sunday 23rd July 2023
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My BIL bought a MB E Class from them. No problems.

Elroy Blue

8,692 posts

194 months

Sunday 23rd July 2023
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My son sold his car to Big MW through Motorway. Out of curiosity I kept an eye on what it was being sold for. I was more surprised by the their very high 'admin' charge.
Make sure you check, it was hundreds of pounds

Edited by Elroy Blue on Sunday 23 July 19:44

Trevor555

4,466 posts

86 months

Sunday 23rd July 2023
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Condi said:
Any experience of these guys? Am going to look at one of their cars tomorrow, but online reviews of them seem to be a bit all over the place. Some with good reviews, some with terrible reviews. I guess they're no different to any of the big supermarkets - buy on condition, don't expect much aftersales, will try and sell you finance, gap insurance, paint protection etc?
Think you're about right there.

I had a walk around their Peterborough site, some good cars, some not so good.

But then many main dealers fall into the same description.

My worst ever buying experience as a consumer was Bmw

Second worse was my local VW/Audi dealer, multiple times

And more recently my local Ford dealer



Edited by Trevor555 on Sunday 23 July 09:38

CRA1G

6,597 posts

197 months

Sunday 23rd July 2023
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SteBrown91 said:
I think they specialise in a lot of stuff that other dealers pass on, then they tart up and sell.

So high mileage, not perfect history etc etc
They buy from the SAME auctions as the BMW dealers who are budding against each other....! They do buy some higher mileage cars but as there nearly always lease vehicles have Full Service Records and they have a 170,000 sq ft £14 Million Preparation Centre so hardly tart them up...!

Stuart70

3,945 posts

185 months

Sunday 23rd July 2023
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I live along the road from their Wrotham site.

I have been tempted 3 times, but have never got to the end of a deal with them.

I would not recommend them to my worst enemy… or maybe only to my worst enemy?!

Buy the car for the price, expecting no meaningful customer service and assume that they are doing you over in some way - if you are still comfortable, then go for it.

williamp

19,293 posts

275 months

Sunday 23rd July 2023
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There are other threads on them.have a search, have a read...

I wouldnt call them dodgy, of course..

SteBrown91

2,412 posts

131 months

Sunday 23rd July 2023
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CRA1G said:
They buy from the SAME auctions as the BMW dealers who are budding against each other....! They do buy some higher mileage cars but as there nearly always lease vehicles have Full Service Records and they have a 170,000 sq ft £14 Million Preparation Centre so hardly tart them up...!
What % of Big motoring world do you own then? Seem to take it personally.


Vantagemech..

5,731 posts

217 months

Sunday 23rd July 2023
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Looking a few weeks ago at a Honda Civic diesel. Called them as the car was just over an hour away and was willing to drive up to see it.
Got put through to their central calls line, rather than the branch holding the car. I asked if they could put me through to the salesman at the branch to which he replied that they don't take direct calls, they only deal with on site enquiries..He said he could answer some questions on its history etc as it should all be on their computer. After a few minutes the guy replied the service history was not available but that it had 1 key and had been a lease car. Once I put the phone down I then decided to do a bit of due diligence and searched for reviews on the company, the sheer number of negatives told me to stay away. Sounded like a typical high turnover car sales set-up, get them in, clean them, advertise and only attempt to fix (or ignore totally ) faults when the unhappy customer returns. Several stories of EML's coming on as soon as the car leaves the forecourt - all available to find online. Also their pricing isn't so much cheaper to say they are a bargain. The advertised price often excludes the sales fee - which I just find a joke as how else do they sell a car ffs and often is in the £300 - £400 range. Ended up buying a car from a Honda dealer 450 miles away!

Twig62

748 posts

98 months

Sunday 23rd July 2023
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A lot of cars end up there as they can't be sold through the dealer network due to issues such as incomplete servi e history.

Monkeylegend

26,592 posts

233 months

Sunday 23rd July 2023
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Historically their reviews have been far from good, maybe they have improved over the last few years.

One of the BMW forums, can't remember which now, has a big thread about them that is worth reading.

valiant

10,453 posts

162 months

Sunday 23rd July 2023
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Alickadoo said:
My BIL bought a MB E Class from them. No problems.
Bloke at work bought a Merc through them.

Problematic would be an understatement…

Trevor555

4,466 posts

86 months

Sunday 23rd July 2023
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valiant said:
Alickadoo said:
My BIL bought a MB E Class from them. No problems.
Bloke at work bought a Merc through them.

Problematic would be an understatement…
What was the outcome?

Repaired?

Refunded?

Ignored?

yozzer

95 posts

204 months

Sunday 23rd July 2023
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I bought my car (2017 passat sleep )
It had an issue with the water pump so over heated etc
They took it back and fixed it quickly and without issue.

The only annoying thing I found when going to see the car was the fact I had to register my details when I arrived ( Peterborough, Fengate branch) before even seeing the car. Also couldn't use a credit card for the deposit.


Trevor555

4,466 posts

86 months

Sunday 23rd July 2023
quotequote all
yozzer said:
The only annoying thing I found when going to see the car was the fact I had to register my details when I arrived ( Peterborough, Fengate branch) before even seeing the car. Also couldn't use a credit card for the deposit.
A dealer not taking a credit card for a deposit is a massive red flag.

Charlie1986

2,019 posts

137 months

Sunday 23rd July 2023
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Bought there in 2012 and put 120k on a 3 series estate had more issues with the recalls at BMW than I did with them then

Bought last year again from them and yes a hard sell but nothing that has been seen at a main dealer but no problems so far touch wood

Elroy Blue

8,692 posts

194 months

Sunday 23rd July 2023
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My sons car was a fully optioned 435d, with full service history, excellent nick and low miles. He absolutely cared for the car.
So not all their cars are liabilities.
They bid a lot more than others on motorway and didn't knock a penny off on collection.
A great car, but they dropped the price a few times to not much more than they paid for it before it disappeared off the website.

CloudStuff

3,717 posts

106 months

Sunday 23rd July 2023
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Sound like a step-up from the "Unless you are a committed buyer, ready to place a deposit now and buy the car today, there's no test drive" Sascron model.