Big Motoring World - Wimbledon Reviews 

Firstly, the reception in Wimbledon has no manner. He began serving a customer that arrive after us, and then once I stepped in to say I was next, his response was "it doesn't matter". He needs more training, or a new job.

Secondly, I bought a DS3 Crossback 2019, which looked brilliant on paper, with their 200 point inspection, full service history, and MOT passed every year with no issues or advisories. However, I noticed a noise in the gearbox when shifting and a lot of vibration on the selector during driving. I took it to one of their RAC approved garages, and the lady mentioned there was a gearbox leak that had been present for a while (I'd had the car ten days at this point). They also said, there may be swarf (debris, metal shavings etc) in the oil and a gearbox replacement could be necessary. This could cost thousands. Warranty refused to pay for the initial diagnostic, and also refused to pay for the additional in depth gearbox inspection.

I've now called to reject the vehicle and receive a refund as they've sold me a faulty car, however, the process is horrible. You call or email, they put a note on your file and you wait until "their rejections team" decide to give you a call to arrange the return of the faulty vehicle. Now how long must I wait with this car before I get my money back??

As big a company as Big Motoring World is, I'd of thought their technicians/engineers would've been able to find a gearbox leak before sale. The independent garaged agreed this isn't a fault they should've been able to overlook.

TL;DR - Warranty didn't come through at all, they sold a faulty car and refund process is a waiting game.

Save yourself the trouble and go elsewhere

One thing I will say, the salesmen and the gentleman who work in the collections department were very helpful during the day. Had the car not been faulty, I'd have been happy with the experience overall (with the exception of the reception).

DO NOT purchase from Big Motoring World.

I’m not a regular reviewer - I have the innately British flaw of hating conflict and saying ‘that’s great!’ even when it is distinctly not.

However, in this case it is more upset that leads me to hope that people see this and aren’t put in the same position that we now are. We purchased a family vehicle from Big Motoring World (Wimbledon) last summer, when we found out that I was pregnant. A relative had died and we were very kindly left just enough to buy a second hand car. The sales associate was kind and helpful, but encouraged us to get a warranty with our purchase which we added on with our own money, thinking that this was very sensible parent behaviour. Stupidly, we thought we’d be covered and safe when baby arrived and never be without a car - we have no family nearby, so the car gets me and baby to my mum when needed and is quite a lifeline.

Firstly, the clutch went when I was on the dual carriageway - I was staying with my mum at the time and thankfully, unusually, my daughter wasn’t in the car.

Secondly, when we went to claim on our warranty that we had paid for fully for 2 years, we were told we didn’t have a warranty. They had taken the money but never given us our cover. We managed to provide proof from our end that we did buy it so they begrudgingly activated it.

Thirdly, despite only driving 2000 miles in the time we have had the car (10 months) and the garage discovering that the clutch had been poorly replaced once before and this led to the fault, the warranty company have denied our claim. We are left baffled as to what could possibly be covered in the warranty at all if not a faulty part fitted prior to our ownership?

We are now scraping together what little we have while I’m on maternity pay to get the car back out of our own pocket, as we have no way of getting to family and being based in London we live in a postage stamp sized flat so have no support without travelling a few hours to family.

We sincerely wish we had never ever bought it and instead sought a more reputable, stable, transparent company for what was a huge purchase for us in our current circumstances. We will be fine, thankfully, but I know there are people who would not be able to manage in this situation, so if you’re able to look elsewhere and put your money somewhere better then definitely do!

Excellent sales advisor Mela?
We achieved what we wanted on the day

The sales man (Mohammed) was respectful and polite all through.

Had great experience with Stevo, a sales manager. He explained every details that I was not thinking of and the car was a perfect condition as advertised in the website. Great experience absolutely no complain about it.

Waited a long time to be seen by a salesman and the interior of the car wasn’t up to standard

Definitely one of the easiest car purchases I have experienced. No pressure, clear answers and options, Raphael was great! I would highly recommend them.

Poor service from start to finish. I arranged to travel a long distance to visit a car and initially was given very limited information on the car, and particularly whether it would be ready to collect if I decided to purchase.

After arriving to a scheduled appointment we waited for half an hour (not a big concern) before a sales representative showed us the vehicle.

The car was dirty and the staff at first couldn't locate a key despite the appointment being booked for a week and having the car on site for 18 days.

Only the spare key was available on the vehicle and we were initially told that they would cover the cost of a replacement, this gesture was later rescinded when they informed me a replacement was £600. I managed to get one arranged today for £330 from a verified Volvo garage, they advised me that the increase of cost from £200-£250 up to the £600 was the reason they could not offer the key but still refused to reduce their price by the previously promised reduction of £200.

The biggest grievance I have had however is the after sales support. It has now been 4 days since my purchase and I am still yet to receive the invoice I need to allow me to process the asset finance through my company. I have called 7 times today and cannot get anyone to directly arrange this.

Head office tells me the branch have not uploaded the invoice (unsure why after 4 days), and because of this they cannot directly provide this to me. When I ask them to speak with the branch to arrange this it seems like they are a completely separate company and as powerless as me to get them to complete the 30 second task that should have been done immediately upon purchase.

The finance department of the Wimbledon branch did send an email of a document I already had stating it was the invoice, that was titled Sales Order Form and underneath said 'this is not a VAT invoice'. If this was my finance department I would be extremely concerned.

I've never received such poor communication regarding financial documents and considering this was such a sizeable purchase, you would expect some level of acceptable service but this has become an absolute joke.

Stevo, what a legend! Really nice team and a much nicer experience overall than other big dealers I've dealt with.

Great experience! Defo would recommend family/friends to shop for cars with u guys

Excellent service from Stevo, he is a friendly, professional lovely guy, thanks Stevo, I am very happy.

Worst experience I wasn’t expecting from the Wimbledon Branch. On my test drive for a car just over 3 years old which should have a Hyundai company warranty of 5 years the sales member didn’t bother to tell me this cars warranty won’t be obliged by Hyundai. There is something shady about this team not willing to share the car battery state of health visit too. I was made to wait more than 1 hour despite of check in on time.

Mr Adeel and Mr Zia help us a lot on our purchase day they were so welcoming .

Had to have the car MOT'd for compliance reasons within two weeks of sale. Tread readings were drastically worse than the "200 point inspection" between putting a deposit down and paying the outstanding balance the charger changed to a defunct one with a spoiled fuse insert. I was only told at the last hour that there was only one key too. Too much deception in my opinion. The granny charger was changed when I pointed it out.

Car was great. However the push to sell extra warranties etc was over the top even after repeatedly saying no.

Always a pleasure going to big motors in Wimbledon, the staff are amazing and this is our 4th car from here, service was 100%

NOT the cheapest option; don’t let them bully you into buying

Because my car got hit whilst parked and declared a write off, I was searching for a replacement SEAT Arona, and thought the prices at Big Motoring World looked really good. In fact, I found one I liked online, and got it moved from Norwich to near me, in Wimbledon, for £129. Although a little pricey, I thought fair game, it costs to move cars.

I turned up at the branch, music blaring so loudly and obnoxiously that even staff commented on it. I actually felt for them here. I was seen promptly on a weekday, but I had a booked appointment so expected this. I was assigned a salesperson who was friendly enough at first, but had all the usual spiel of a hardline sales rep.

I test drove the car, and something didn’t feel right. It was an Arona that had done 26,000 miles. My written off Arona had done 53,000 miles, yet drove much smoother. This one had noticeable wear. Something just didn’t feel right. Ex hire car maybe? Or an issue not picked up in their “200 point inspection” that clearly isn’t independently checked. Alarm bells rang. I wasn’t going to part with £14,000 if it didn’t feel right.

I also asked what the test drive excess was before getting behind the wheel, and the salesman refused to give a straight answer. I pushed several times and still got nothing. That’s basic information you should be told upfront. Instead, I felt pressured into driving without knowing what I’d be liable for, which isn’t acceptable.

My gut said no. I was unsure about the car, and definitely unsure about Big Motoring World. It really is a stack em high, sell em cheap car supermarket. They just want you in, buying, adding extras, and out. There is next to no consideration for what you actually want. They push you into taking the car.

They even brought out a manager, then a “master technician”. I wasn’t a fan of the hard sell or being talked at, and was told made up anecdotes about the previous owner being “a careful old lady”. They also tried to suggest I had got used to my VW hire car over 3 weeks. Nope. I know my cars, and how mine drove for 4 years.

They said they could take a £500 deposit to hold the car. When pushed, I found out this was NON REFUNDABLE. I won’t name names, it won’t change anything, as the company is clearly built this way.

Above all, they push extended warranties, up to 36 months “for peace of mind” because “anything COULD go wrong”. You pay over 48 months for shorter cover. The insurance type add ons, like tyre cover, were even pitched with “you could just slash the tyre and claim”. Not exactly ethical, and unlikely to work anyway.

I went in expecting to pay £160pcm. With all the “necessary” extras, warranty, alloy protection, GardX, it jumped to £265pcm. They are NOT a cheap way to buy a car.

The whole company relies on urgency, pushing you into snap decisions, then suddenly you are locked into expensive payments for years.

Finally, I found a Cupra Formentor, 72 plate, 35,000 miles, same age and mileage as the Arona, with better terms and lower APR, for £235pcm. Not the rip off deal Big Motoring World nearly bullied me into.

Really good experience from start to finish! Wimbledon branch is presented very clean, tidy and professional. Staff very helpful and not pushy in the slightest!
Meer was very helpful and answered all questions asked.
Abs at collections was also very helpful, making the transaction as smooth as possible despite the amount of people waiting to be seen in collections :)
overall 10/10 experience.

Asked if there’s anything we should know about the vehicle and were reassured all cars leaving the premises would be tip top and no need to worry .
When it was delivered by my husband it was covered in chips and scratches .
Dealing with it now . His close vision isn’t too good so he missed them - we are 130miles away . Very disappointed in this company

We booked a test drive for a 22‑plate Mini and arrived at the scheduled time. On arrival, no one appeared to be expecting us. We were eventually allocated to a salesman.
He read through the listing on the website but did not seem to know anything about the car. We then went to view it and took it out for a test drive, which was extremely limited — entirely in a 20mph zone and heavy traffic throughout.
On returning to the compound and switching seats, there was a very pungent smell inside the car. At the time, we assumed it was coming from a large transporter unloading nearby. The salesman proceeded with the usual insurance sales pitch and general sales discussion.
He then went to speak with his manager regarding delivery and deposit and returned insisting that if we paid a £500 deposit that day, the car would have to be collected by the following Tuesday at the latest. We were told the car could not be held any longer — even if paid for in full.
The salesman left again and came back to say that the smell was actually coming from the Mini, not the transporter. He said he had no idea what the issue was but that a mechanic was checking it. He agreed to call us the following day with an update.
No call was received the next day. We contacted the salesman using the mobile number he had given us. He told us he was not working until Wednesday, something he had not mentioned during our visit. He also said our name was logged on the CRM system so the car would not be sold to anyone else.
We received no further contact. When we rang again later in the week, we were told that sales staff should never give out their mobile numbers. Again, no one called us back.
It has now been nine days since our visit. We have called no fewer than eight times, with no return calls. When we called again today, we were told the car had been repaired, but no one could explain what the issue was or how it had been fixed.
We were repeatedly told that the dealership is “very busy” and that someone would try to call us back. This level of service and lack of communication is completely unacceptable. We have never experienced anything like it.
A car is typically one of the most expensive purchases a person will make, so buyers should be cautious. The past nine days have been extremely frustrating. If this is the standard of service during the sales process, it raises serious concerns about after‑sales support. Based on this experience, I would not recommend this company or this branch.