Purchased a used a approved AMG from…
Purchased a used a approved AMG from the Nottingham Group 1 via distance selling.
Everything went well until 5 minutes after delivery. Upon first glance, 3 of the 4 wheels that had apparently been 'fully refurbished' all had curb damage. Popped the bonnet to check the engine and to my surprise, the bonnet struts had failed resulting in the the bonnet crashing down on my head. Reported this to the sales advisor immediately who suggested they would send someone to collect the car, driving it back to Nottingham and then back to me, a 200 mile round trip on a car I had only just purchased.
The day after delivery, once the rain had stopped, I wiped the car down to check the paintwork to find laquer peel across the back bumper, this was also reported.
After refusing the car to be driven back to Nottingham, they reluctantly agreed to recover it. This left me without the car I had just purchased for nearly a week and without transport. On return, the bonnet struts had been replaced, however the wheels had been poorly repaired and the paintwork which I expected to be resprayed, had simply been wet sanded and polished, leaving the outline of the peeled laquer still visible. After losing faith and reporting this to the dealer, a good will gesture was offered and accepted.
A week later, upon reviewing the service history, I discovered the differential service had been missed prior to sale and was out by approximately 7300 miles. This was raised as a formal complaint and once they accepted responsibility they once again attempted to send someone to collect the car and drive it back to nottingham. I repeated my comment from the first time this was suggested, especially since a high risk item like a differential certainly shouldnt be driven all the way back. They offered to complete the service at my nearest branch, I opted to have it done at a specialist whilst also having the gearbox service done which was also needed. Group 1 then re-embursed the cost of the service.
Fast forward 2 months and the performance exhaust developed a rattle (a very common problem) bearing in mind I am still within the 6 months Consumer protection period, group 1 inspect the car and suggest that manufacturers guidance is to 'grease' the area. Anyone who knows about these cars knows this is a maintenance approach and not a permanent fix. I refused this point blank and then was ignored for long periods. Bearing in mind, the pre inspection report I received with the car stated the exhaust to be green (perfect working order).
Group 1 have now refused to replace the section of the exhaust which is the only guaranteed fix. To add insult to injury, they offered to buy back the car a at a usage per mile rate of £1.57, the Ombudsman industry standard is 25p to 45p!!!!! I have only covered 1200 miles in 5 months!!!! This is now in the hands of the Ombudsman. No doubt customer services will reply to this review with their copy and paste comment of 'sorry you have experienced this' which is pathetic. I'm half tempted to upload all the email correspondence admitting Liability for all the faults mentioned above. Easily the worst car buying experience of my life and I certainly won't be buying a car by distance selling ever again. Buyers beware!!!
18 November 2025
Unprompted review