Hartwell plc Reviews 354

I made an appointment to test drive a brand new Omoda 5 petrol all booked and confirmed. Called just to make sure the appointment was still ok only to be told the 1 and only car they had was out on loan. The sales advisor didn't seem to care that I had taken the day off especially for the test drive. I won't be using Hartwell's Abingdon even though it's closer to me than other branches.

I had a fantastic experience buying a used car from Hartwell Abingdon! Krzysztof was friendly, honest, and incredibly helpful throughout the whole process. He gave me plenty of time to inspect the car, explained everything clearly, and never made me feel pressured.
The car was exactly as advertised—clean, well‑maintained, and in excellent condition. The test drive went smoothly, and I appreciated the full service history Krzysztof provided so I knew exactly what I was getting. I feel I got great value for money and genuine peace of mind.
Overall, a smooth, stress‑free experience. I’d highly recommend Hartwell Abingdon and a big thank you to Krzysztof for making the whole process so easy!

Fantastic service from BYD at Scunthorpe (Hartwell). From start to finish, everything was easy and stress-free. Booking the service was straightforward, the team were friendly and professional, and nothing was too much trouble. Communication was clear throughout and the whole experience was smooth and efficient. I absolutely love my BYD, and the great service just reinforces that I made the right choice. Would definitely recommend and will happily return for future services.

I purchased a Ford Transit from Dunstable . It was sold to me with a warranty provided by a Third Party called AutoTrust.
The salesman Vinny was brilliant I part exchanged my Vauxhall Vivaro which had courier livery on. The Finance agreement with Santander was agreed,my occupation as a COURIER!!
Hartwell Ford claimed on this Policy with AutoTrust successfully. When I went to claim on it I was told by AutoTrust that they don’t cover couriers!!!
The response I got from Simon at Dunstable HF was “ what’s your problem,you had previous repairs done”!!
I wouldn’t buy a sack barrow from this set of Clowns!!!

Brought a truck 4 days ago from Abingdon and it’s already broken down twice. You have rights to hand it back within 30 days so I did. They have my old truck and they are 1.5 hours away. If I want this back I have to collect it. I have gone through ombudsman. I have to keep receipts of costs of my journey back to them and i can claim compensation if it means im out of work. Make sure you log emails to them

I took my BYD Atto 3 to Hartwell BYD Kidlington for a battery range issue and collected it with swirl marks that were not present before, alongside a very poor customer experience.
As a professional detailer, I know this car had a 2-stage machine polish and ceramic coating. Despite this, the dealership carried out an unauthorised “service wash” using a brush and alkaline chemicals. I was told the products were pH neutral, but product data shows Typhoon Plus is pH 10. Further inspection is needed to determine the full condition of the paintwork.
Key issues:
Dishonesty: I was told only the wheels had been cleaned, but photos from my wife showed the entire car had been washed.
Lack of Consent / Liability Confusion: Hartwell said BYD “requires” cars to be washed unless customers request otherwise, and any issues fall on the owner. BYD themselves appeared confused by this claim. I never consented to a full wash.
Poor Communication: My wife collected the car without being told what had been done, even though I later received a video update by email.
Management Avoidance: Michael (Service Manager) and Jon (Area Manager) were copied into correspondence but never responded.
Valeting Concerns: When I purchased the car, I saw valeters dropping microfibre towels on the tarmac and jet-washing them. I flagged this, warning my car should not be cleaned in those conditions.
I’ve raised a formal complaint with BYD UK. If you care about your car’s paintwork, do not let Hartwell BYD Kidlington wash it. Their processes lack transparency, communication is poor, and responsibility is deflected when things go wrong.

Richard Brewer from Hartwells in Oxford is the best! He is so honest, reliable, funny and professional person! I always go to the Oxford branch(even thoughit is out of my way and takes 2 hours to get there) ! The best bunch of people you can come across. Lee and Emily are so friendly and make you feel so welcome when you walk in!

Bought a car from this lot in January 2025. Was off the road for 4 months whilst waiting on them and their recommended warranty partner sorting out a new engine.
To save money, they moved it mid way through to a cheaper, less established garage causing further delays. I had it for a couple of weeks and already back in the garage for further repair so still not fixed. Whole thing started on 6th August 2025.
Was told my costs for renting a car would be covered which hasn't happened. Partial payment and I'm still around £1500 out of pocket.
Also no response to my complaint at all.

Do not use Hartwell Banbury if you want your sanity intact. Angel is extremely rude and shouts at customers outside the building. She has lied and lied. We took our car back several times and they have never fixed the fault. We will NOT recommend them to anyone. In the area most people who have experienced this garage do not recommend them at all

Lewis Baker .
Really nice lad made it very easy to purchase my v used van . It’s only one day since the purchase so I couldn’t give a review on the vehicles usability at the secondhand but comes in the good condition and is very clean. I appreciate that. Thanks for what you’ve done so far.

I bought a Ford Puma in 2023 from Grimsby and my experience was very good. Unfortunately this was the highlight. I signed up to the Ford Advantage scheme which offers 2 years free serving. When my first service was due they denied all knowledge she said they had no record of the scheme. It took numerous phone calls and emails to resolve. Despite asking for something in writing I was left frustrated and faced the same situation again 12 months later. Again, the issue was resolved but only after numerous phone calls and emails. This was aggravated by the service manager remembering my previous experience but for some reason I had to chase to get a resolution.

Hartwell called me in after 18 months as they said it was a good time to change my car. I booked an appointment but when I arrived no sales person was available and I was left waiting for 45 minutes. When I finally spoke to someone they said it wasn't worth me changing the car and they don't know why they called me in!

I contacted sales in August 2025 to ask about my options when my PCP expired, I was told someone would call me back, I'm still waiting.

Despite my previous issues, in October 2025 I saw a car I liked and phoned for more details. I spoke to the business manager who took details and said someone would call back. I never heard anything so phoned them back and was again told someone would call me. Still nothing, I've now given up and will take my business elsewhere.

Hartwell are good at selling you a car but a terrible company to deal with afterwards and their after sales are atrocious.

Picked up my wifes new (to her) Abarth from here yesterday and got to say our experience from initial enquiry to collection was brilliant.

I dealt with Chris Clarke and he was more than helpful with everything. Initially we were to pick the car up last Saturday but he realised the car was due a Cam Belt so offered either a discount to allow us to still collect that day or to collect at a later date once the work was done. We opted to collect the following week and he managed to get the work done to suit

our next day off.

We travelled 4hrs by train to collect the car and Chris even met us from the station to bring us to the dealership. Car was just as described/pictured and ready to go with a full tank too.

I booked a BYD Seal test drive at Hartwell Kidlington this Sunday. Unfortunately, the saleswoman I interacted with was very unfriendly and displayed a poor attitude throughout the experience. It was a disappointing visit. I would recommend being cautious when dealing with her if you visit the BYD Kidlington location.

If you want to keep your sanity don’t go here!! I went to the Scunthorpe branch in 2023 and made the worst mistake. It’s had about 7 repairs under the warranty but from the date the issue is reported it’s usually about 2 months to actually fix the issue. Ive had to make 4 trips each time for a diagnostic and then repair. Only once got a courtesy car. I’ve spend countless hours on the phone, writing emails, using petrol and time off work. The service I’ve received is shocking. The latest repair was reported in August and diagnosed in September and I then had to wait until the end of October for a repair. The guy then ordered the wrong parts so my car had to stay in the garage for 3 weeks. When I came to collect it all they said was ‘we’ve cleaned it for you’ I’ve decided to sell it and when asking for the service history I was told they couldn’t provide this due to gdpr and later told they don’t have this information & to call Ford. Later that day they emailed me the service history. I’ve emailed the ceo & had no response. Just absolutely shocking I’ve had 2 years worth of stress. Never ever again

I have similary same problems. I purchased a car through Milly with 3 years warranty and all other extras but shocked to find out thay its now run out and on the invoice says 12month. When i have clearly paid for 3 years. Trying to get them to resolve this os a nightmare and would not recommend this comapny at all. My car even came with a different number plate and an extra 2k miles clocked up. I will be writing a formal letter of complaint now ask for full £900 back plus loss of time trying to resolve the issue. Double chec all your paperwork with this company

This is the review I'm writing after driving my Mazda 3 automatic, which I bought from them (Abingdon store) about one month ago, so I can give an honest review.

I went there to check the car, meaning to drive it home that day, but they said the car needed some servicing before being sold to a customer. I then inspected the car and pointed out some faults that they promised to fix. I paid a deposit, and then went back home. A week later, they called me saying the car was ready. I went there, the faults I pointed out were fixed, I paid the rest of the money, and then drove it home. Overall, I am happy with the car they sold to me.

Pros:

1. They fixed all the issues I reported, although I later discovered (a few days after driving it home) that the left mirror's auto-fold feature was not working, i have to fold it manually every time, lazy to go back from london to oxford to fix this.

2. They had the car serviced before handing it over to me; this is a thumbs up!

3. They also completed an additional MOT apart from one done in MAY 2025, before handling the vehicle to me, checked the new mot history, changed front brake pads and 1 tire for me.

4. The sales and vehicle handover process was smooth and friendly, no hard push additional service sale.

5. On the day I picked up the vehicle, the car's left rear tire had a big scratch. After I pointed it out, they took care of it and replaced it for me in 30 min, so I could drive from Oxford to London without a problem.

cons:
The only issue is this: I requested the full service history from the salesperson (who was not present on the day I picked up the vehicle). However, it seems he may have left the company, as an email I sent him after returning home was diverted to another person. I have received no response regarding the full service history since then.

Called up 3 days in advance to book in to see a car as I lived over an hour away. I arrived on time, but the sales advisor (Sven) was busy serving someone else. I was happy to wait, and asked to see the car whilst he finished off. After 5 minutes of looking for the car, he established that the car had been moved to a different store for a potential sale that morning. He said it would be back on Monday, but if I wanted to see it today I could drive to the other office (25 minutes away) to see it. I then drove the to Abingdon, only to be told they didn’t have the car and knew nothing about it. Absolute shambles. Their loss to the tune of £25k.

Hartwell Ford at Hemel Hempstead and Dunstable are complete con artists. Advertise a good leasing deal for a Gen E Puma which myself and other members of the family applied for. We all had to pay them deposits to secure the deal and reserve a car which they have held onto for well over 6 weeks. Eventually they came back and apparently none of us have passed the finance check with Experian, which is totally ridiculous considering our Experian scores range from 974 to 999 ( the maximum score possible) we have spoken to Experian and they have no record of any checks being put through. I have never failed a credit check in my life, my score is the max it can be and there is no adverse information held, and there is absolutely no reason to fail a check according to Experian. This is obviously a scam to drum up interest in the electric Puma when the deal actually never existed and it’s now re-appeared at literally double the price! Total scam and none of us in the family will ever touch a Ford again so their little scam has totally backfired as they have lost a family of previously dedicated Ford owners who are now looking elsewhere for their new cars. Even after being told the deal has ended it’s still taken well over a week to get refunds on the deposits we all paid so they’ve literally been earning interest on everyone’s money for all that time! Customer service has been non existent. Extremely difficult to get any response to enquiries. I don’t believe this deal ever existed as apparently we can re-apply at the new price if we wish and were told not to take the finance decline personally as apparently only 1 out of over 60 people passed their finance check ! I actually work in finance myself and there is no way only that percentage of people would pass finance checks! More likely only 1 car at that price existed for each dealer and the whole process has been a marketing scam to drum up interest. The whole process has been a frustrating scam to keep our deposit money for almost 2 months for a deal that never existed ! This company puts Ford to shame and none of us will ever touch Ford with a barge pole again so Bye Bye Ford !

We visited Hartwell’s Kidlington in August to look at an S-Max we were interested in, and from the start, the experience was fantastic. Richard Brewer spotted us and immediately offered his help, suggesting a test drive, encouraging both of us to have a go, and going through the car inside and out. He was honest about minor issues, and reassured us that anything we’d noticed, including minute dents caused by door swings, would be sorted. There was absolutely no pressure to buy, and he even allowed a fully refundable deposit while we took a few days to decide.

When we went ahead and bought the car, everything promised had been completed before collection. A couple of minor issues cropped up afterward, but a quick call to Richard had them booked in and sorted promptly, and the aftercare was excellent.

Richard was friendly, approachable, and completely trustworthy, and all the staff were welcoming and professional. He also explained the warranty and servicing packages, which worked out to be good value and gave us peace of mind.

We’d highly recommend Hartwell’s Kidlington, a smooth, honest, and friendly experience from start to finish.

Brilliant job done by Hartwell on my scirocco rear end after a scaffolding lorry collided into it, absolutely spot on with no signs what so ever of any repairs at all, just like it rolled out the show room, perfect!