New Forest Car Sales Avis 

Absolute disgrace
Stay away from this company, I am in the process of raking them to court

DO NOT TRUST THIS CAR DEALERSHIP. THEY SOLD ME AN UNSAFE CAR AND THE WARRANTY IS NOT WORTH THE PAPER IT IS WRITTEN ON.
Before I get into my hellish post-purchase experience with New Forest Car Sales, please be wary: while an RAC warranty sounds reassuring, the warranty is actually provided by a company called Assurant — and they are terrible to deal with, with poor ratings across pretty much every review I’ve found.
I bought a Mercedes blind, over the phone (I thought I could trust the dealership, but clearly I was wrong), and took a four-hour train down to Southampton to collect the car. I was assured by Michael that the car was mint and drove perfectly fine with no issues prior to payment.
As soon as all the paperwork was signed and I sat in the car, the engine light came on. I was assured this was most likely due to low coolant that had to be topped up before my arrival. Michael again insisted that since they’d had the car, it had never done that, and it was probably because it had been parked for a while.
Nonetheless, I drove the car home (another four-hour drive) and could tell something wasn’t right. I took it to a mechanic who, within a couple of hours, told me the car had a coolant leak, and the engine light was actually related to the timing chain, which was dangerously stretched — so much so that the car was not safe to drive, as it was close to catastrophic engine failure. I was quoted £1,400 to fix these issues, after spending over £5,000 to buy the car.
A car I was assured was “mint” and had undergone a “thorough test drive.” Michael also claimed the car had been through a pre-purchase inspection at B’s Garage, where the only issue found was a coil pack that needed changing — complete nonsense, if you ask me.
I reached out to the warranty company, who said that because this was a new policy, they wouldn’t pay out — the issue clearly predated the start of the policy (which is fair, as timing chains don’t stretch that much in 200 miles). So, I went back to the dealership.
Long story short, I was fed excuses about them not seeing any coolant on the floor (the car has a large undertray) and that the car “drove smoothly” at the point of delivery. Michael repeated the same story about the pre-purchase inspection — again, nonsense. I was offered to return the car, which in hindsight I probably should have done, but due to my personal circumstances, I couldn’t at the time.
It became a hot potato situation — the warranty company passed the blame to the dealership, and the dealership refused to cover the repairs, offering only to take the car back so they could likely sell it to another unsuspecting buyer.
I got the work done at my own expense, but the nightmare didn’t end there. The logbook took two months to arrive — only showing up after I emailed Michael again asking why I hadn’t received it. Miraculously, it arrived within nine days after that email. He claimed the “paperwork was good on their end,” but it all felt far too convenient. The DVLAconfirmed they had no record of my car being sold before my email to Michael.
The final straw was the fact that the advert clearly stated the car would come with a fresh MOT at the point of sale. To pass an MOT with a check engine light and coolant leak should be impossible. When I questioned Michael about this, he offered me a new MOT and to replace a tyre that was at the legal limit — but only if I drove three hours back to B’s Garage. He called it an “oversight,” blaming how quick the sale was. At that point, I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
It’s clear from my experience that before you pay, this dealership seems amazing. After you pay, they’re about as helpful as a broken compass.
Stay as far away from this dealership as possible. Being “RAC approved” and offering an “RAC warranty” mean absolutely nothing. Don’t fall for Michael’s trick of “you should pay before coming, as it can take up to three hours for payment to clear and I can only release the car once confirmed by the accountant.”
What was supposed to be a dream purchase quickly became a nightmare, leaving me with no trust left for any car dealership. A harsh learning curve for myself…