Hilton Car Supermarket Reviews

Genuinely appalling experience. Booked a test drive, spent a teeth-grinding 45mins waiting whilst sales person and technician ran around trying to start the car, which would not start - and had not been prepped at all despite two test drives being booked. We took so long, the next folks were already waiting. WARNING: If you wish to test drive a car (as any potential buyer would) you will be asked to sign a full indemnity waiver. You are fully reliable for *anything* that happens to the car during the test drive. Anything. This is an incredibly shady practice and any reputable dealer will have trade insurance to cover test drives. This is an appalling cost cutting measure by Hilton that places all the risk on you and speaks volumes about the way they do business. The actual open plan sales office space was like walking into Hades. Faint smell of desperation (sales people) and frustration (customers). It was a busy Sunday PM and I would estimate that there were four times the number of customers as sales staff. Literally a dozen plus people sitting waiting in various stages of boredom / irritation. Finally, the margin on used cars is tiny. The sales people are all of course on commission, and I’m not knocking anyone who is grafting to feed their family. But the setup here means they only get full commission if they sell you finance and warranty. I also learned that if they get less than 50% positive reviews they do not get full commission. The management of course are still getting the full value of the sale however. Again, this speaks volumes about their business ethics here. Please read other reviews here from unfortunate buyers, and walk away.

Initially I gave this 5 stars, as I was requested to review my experience before I had completed the whole process. At that point I commented 'Very easy to purchase my next car!' However, after this, the sale became rather shambolic to say the least. I was told I would be able to drive away my selected car that day and as a result paid my tax - as it was the 31st, obviously the tax was backdated to the 1st of May, but I didn't mind as I was going to drive away there and then - except I wasn't. The EV had insufficient range and needed to be charged - offsite! As a result we were asked to come back after lunch - which we did only to learned that the EV had ran out of charge on the way to the offsite charging point and had to be recovered. At this point I was asked if I would accept £50 compensation for the inconvenience and the loss of a month's tax. I agreed and emailed the relevant finance email address I was given when I got home. I was assured that I would receive a call the next day and my car would be charged, cleaned and ready of collection. Next day, having not received an update by 11am (the shop opened at 10am), I called the store and was placed on hold for 20 minutes at which point I gave up and made my way to the store to find my car parked outside - only charged to a range of 50km and not washed. I insisted on getting the keys and driving to a fast charging station for 2 hours and then home where my husband and I set to work washing the vehicle. I was appalled to find two cans of fizzy drinks and their sticky residue on the seat covers. While my husband found a metal bracket and bolts on the front windscreen valance. On closer inspection under the bonnet, he found the battery clamp missing, plus a bolt for a circuit board retainer which was also loose and the battery positive terminal cover in the centre console. Fortunately, he was able to safely fix the brackets to secure the car battery and install the terminal cover - we can only assume that the 12V battery was removed following the breakdown and recovery of the vehicle. So really, you will understand why I have edited my review given the catalogue of avoidable errors and evidence of poor customer service. I still haven't had a response on the £50 compensation email I sent - which further reinforces the lack of respect this company has towards its customers and their vehicles after the sale is complete.