Carsa - Towcester Avis 

We booked a test drive of a Kia Sportage. Read some negative reviews online about Carsa but our experience was excellent. Radu at Towcester was helpful, knowledgeable and professional and met and greeted us punctually despite being very busy. After a test drive we decided not to buy because the service book was not stamped. This will have been the fault of a Kia dealership somewhere up in northern England as Carsa had it transported for us with no problems at all. We were impressed with the cleanliness of the car and were allowed to test drive the car on our own which is always nice because you can have a really good look around it. The price was the best we could find. If only the service history had been in order it would have 100% been purchased.

Very disappointing experience – vehicle not as advertised

Unfortunately, my experience with Carsa has been very disappointing.

I recently purchased a Jaguar I-PACE from Carsa, registration LD22 DMZ. The vehicle was specifically advertised as having a Head-Up Display (HUD), including the wording “HUD & Adapt Cruise & Carplay” in the advert. This was therefore a feature I reasonably expected the vehicle to have when I purchased it.

After collecting the car, I discovered that it does not have the HUD hardware fitted and there is no HUD option within the vehicle settings.

I contacted the branch and raised the issue with the store manager, Rosie. Unfortunately, despite providing evidence that HUD was specifically advertised on the vehicle, her position was that Carsa would neither retrofit the HUD nor offer any compensation. The argument was that the vehicle had been viewed before purchase and that Carsa’s terms state specifications can vary.

I find this extremely frustrating. I understand that mistakes can happen with vehicle advertisements, but if a specific feature is advertised on a car and the customer purchases the car based on that specification, I believe the reasonable thing to do is acknowledge the mistake and find a fair solution.

I was particularly disappointed that the responsibility was effectively put back on me for not identifying the missing HUD during the viewing, despite it being Carsa who specifically advertised the vehicle as having the feature.

There were also issues with the handover, including the vehicle being supplied without floor mats, although I have decided not to pursue that issue further.

To be fair to Rosie, the showroom was extremely busy and understaffed on the day of collection, and we could see she was doing her best in a difficult situation. We actually gave her a 5-star review at the time because of this. Unfortunately, the way the subsequent HUD complaint has been handled has completely changed my view of the experience.

Rosie has now told me that her position is final and directed me to Carsa Customer Care, so I have escalated the matter to them and will see whether they are willing to resolve the situation reasonably.

I really hope Customer Care can put this right, because I don’t think asking for a vehicle to either be supplied with a feature it was advertised as having, or for a reasonable adjustment where that isn’t possible, is unreasonable.

At this stage, 1 star is unfortunately reflective of my experience. I would be happy to update this review if Carsa Customer Care resolves the matter fairly.

Took way to long to complete the process of buy a car,
They tried to force my father in law into purchasing every additional item.

Only bank transfers which caused a drama and quiet frankly were not the friendliest or most helpful

We traveled from Banbury to Northampton to reach Carsa for our car. The reception staff was friendly, offered us water and candies, was ready to answer questions and quick to admit when the questions were not properly addressed. We spent more than 4 hrs before we could drive off to our home. It was a good experience even though we spent a lot of time.

I bought a car from Carsa and within a week problems started appearing. They told me it had been checked by their internal team and everything was fine. I kept fixing things myself thinking each one would be the last, but the issues just kept coming. Now I’m wasting money and time going back and forth to garages, and sitting without a car for long stretches while it’s being worked on.

What’s really annoying is Carsa won’t take my calls. Every time I ring, an automated machine just tells me to email them and then hangs up. I hav already sent two emails and got zero reply. Wish I’d known all this before. I never would have bought the car from them.

Great service, really friendly and efficient. Would definitely recommend.
Can’t wait to drive my new car home

Jay was fantastic, very helpfull.

The car arrived without any charge and tyres were low. It was charged a little. There were scratches on the car and wheels which I was told it is a second hand car we cannot sort that. Interestingly attempts were made to sell the package to get rid of these marks. This was not offered on sale of the car.

Very helpful amazing service
A special mention to Harvey and Rosie.
So impressed with how efficient and professional everyone was

Very good service by Jordan after waiting over an hour and had to approach 3 staff members before being helped. Car lost charge same night now will not start.

Jordan and Rosie and Ariz all helped make buying my new car a simple pain free process..
Would recommend

Jordan and Emma at towcester should be the president. Great guy. Blown away by a million miles. Will be sipping my champagne tonight after his service.

Went to purchase our new car today in Towcester and couldn’t complain about the process or the salesman Radu, he was very well informed about the car and kind throughout. Although we were there for a while, after it was all completed we were over the moon, my son is next to buy a car and we will definitely try to go through carsa!

Terrible experience with Carsa Motor Trade – very poor customer service

I had an appointment with Carsa Motor Trade at 5pm. Before travelling, we called to let them know that we were going to be around 30 minutes late. I spoke to Douglas, who confirmed that this would be fine.

We travelled all the way from London, only to arrive at reception and receive no proper greeting or welcome. Rosie immediately told us that they “didn’t have time” because they were closing in 30 minutes. We explained that we had travelled from London, had called beforehand and had been told it would be fine.

There were still other customers being dealt with and 30 minutes remained before closing. Eventually, we were simply given the keys to look at the vehicle ourselves. Jay then approached us and said they were closing and that they couldn't do anything for us. We explained that we were genuinely interested in purchasing the vehicle and were ready to proceed. I even asked, “Are you turning down a sale?”

We had already reserved the vehicle and were paying by bank transfer, not finance. The advertised price was reduced to £11,094 for payment in full, but then we were suddenly told there was an additional £100 administration fee.

This led to a dispute because we had screenshots of the advert and believed the advertised price was the price we were agreeing to pay.

Jay spoke to Radu, who then came over. Unfortunately, his approach was extremely unprofessional and confrontational. Rather than calmly explaining the situation, we were made to feel as though we were causing a problem. When we asked why the advert appeared misleading when we had screenshots showing the advertised price, the response was essentially “buy it or leave it.”

Kevin, who we were told was the manager, then became involved. Unfortunately, the attitude remained the same. We were told things along the lines of “I’ve got places to go” and again made to feel that our only options were to buy the car or leave.

We weren't asking for anything unreasonable. We were simply asking for an explanation regarding an additional charge and expected basic customer service, especially as we were paying for the vehicle in full.

Because we had travelled a long way, had reserved the vehicle and wanted the car, we decided not to argue any further and proceeded with the purchase. However, the whole experience left us feeling extremely uncomfortable and rushed. We didn't even get the opportunity to properly inspect the vehicle as we should have.

For a company selling vehicles, I find this level of customer service extremely disappointing. Customers should be treated respectfully, given proper time to inspect a vehicle and provided with clear and transparent pricing.

I will be raising this matter with senior management and looking into whether the advertising and additional administration charge should also be referred to Trading Standards.

The vehicle itself may be fine, but the way we were treated as paying customers was completely unacceptable. I would strongly recommend anyone considering buying from Carsa Motor Trade to carefully check the advertised price, all additional charges and the vehicle thoroughly before proceeding.

Jordan at towcester was great and helped me get the car of my dreams

Great service from Russell at the Towcester branch.
Still love our car 4 months later!

Radu was excellent. Thank you for your care and attention.

Jordan helped us in the whole process of buying. The whole experience was smooth and he ensure the whole process was easy for us.