Stratstone - Lotus Berkshire Avis 

Second‑hand car salespeople have long carried the cliché of being shifty wheeler‑dealers. While I am sure this is not true of most, regrettably my last two car‑purchase experiences have fallen squarely into that stereotype. What makes this even more disappointing is that I explained this history to the salesperson I dealt with most recently, who sympathised and assured me I would not experience similar mistreatment with them.

I genuinely believed this would be the case - Stratstone Ascot is a McLaren/Lotus dealership, after all - but it appears that even large, prestigious brands are not immune from poor customer service.

I purchased my vehicle in January 2026. Although the car, paperwork, and inspection were all in excellent condition, there was one ‘amber’ item on the checklist which I was promised would be rectified. I was told the parts were not in stock, but to avoid delaying collection I could take the car and would receive a phone call once the parts arrived so it could be brought back in.

After seven weeks with no update, I chased for progress. To cut a long story short, after many further months of chasing, receiving false assurances, waiting, and chasing again, my efforts were eventually ignored altogether.

As you can imagine, I am extremely disappointed to find myself once again fobbed off by a car salesperson after parting with a significant amount of money. This applies both to the salesperson I dealt with, Sam Coventry, and to the dealer principal, Lauren Taylor, to whom my grievance was escalated, but with no resolution whatsoever.

⭐️ 1 STAR – I WOULD BE VERY CAREFUL BUYING A USED VEHICLE FROM STRATSTONE SELECT BRACKNELL

I purchased a £49,990 Porsche Cayenne and reported steering problems within 5 DAYS. I formally rejected the vehicle on DAY 6.

One thing I found particularly concerning: I was told directly by the Dealer Principal that Stratstone Select Bracknell does not carry out its own pre-delivery inspections – these are outsourced to a third party. Having previously worked in car sales and as a service manager, I find it astonishing that a dealership selling vehicles at this level is effectively relying on somebody else’s inspection before handing a car to a customer.

After rejecting the Porsche, I asked Douglas on 12 separate occasions for the vehicle to be collected.

TWELVE requests. It wasn’t collected.

I eventually paid for my own independent Porsche specialist inspection. They reproduced the vehicle pulling left and found low coolant, burning antifreeze, a leaking water pump, coolant entering the vacuum system, associated valve damage and abnormal cooling-fan operation.

The vehicle was eventually collected after the matter escalated to Dealer Principal level.

Most importantly, STRATSTONE’S OWN TECHNICIANS HAVE NOW IDENTIFIED WHEEL-ALIGNMENT CONCERNS AND “EVIDENCE CONSISTENT WITH THE COOLANT LEAK” identified by my independent specialist.

Yet my rejection is STILL under consideration.

I’m now told further assessment requires Porsche-specific equipment/calibration processes not available at their own site.

I’ve also been left without any courtesy/replacement vehicle, despite relying on a car to travel approximately 20 miles each way to run my business. I’ve had to arrange alternative transport myself.

So, in summary:

Problems reported within 5 days.
Rejected on day 6.
12 requests for collection.
Independent specialist identifies significant faults.
Stratstone’s own technicians subsequently identify alignment concerns and evidence consistent with the coolant leak.
No courtesy car.
Still no decision.

Zopa is now involved at senior complaints level.

My issue isn’t simply that a used car developed a problem. It’s how I’ve been treated after reporting significant problems almost immediately after spending nearly £50,000.

I have retained the emails, specialist report, photographs, videos and documentation supporting everything above.

I WOULD BE VERY CAREFUL BEFORE BUYING A USED VEHICLE FROM HERE.