Richardhardie Recensioni 

Possibly the worst franchised main dealer I've dealt with in 35 years of car buying, must be a real embarrassment to Fiat. Paid top price for a Abarth 595 last September just for the confidence of buying from a franchised dealer. When talking to another dealer several months later I find that it does not have a full service history as advertised. Contacted the dealership to challenge and get sent a sketchy email with a print out suggesting all servicing requirements are up to date. When I challenge the email and look for further evidence all communication from silverlink dealership stops. One for trading standards to deal with now

I'd give no stars if I could! SILVERLINK FRANCHISE.

I brought my car in on 31st July as I had a problem with the aircon. I explained that it was not working and when the fan was on full it was making an awful noise. I was advised that the aircon would need to be re-gassed. I reiterated the problem with the noise and that this is my fourth Fiat 500 and I have never had to re-gas the aircon in the past, and that the car is only about 18 months old.

The aircon was re-gassed and I paid £99 as it was explained that this was not covered by Fiat’s warranty.

I booked the car back into the garage on Tuesday 6th August as the aircon was again not working and making the same noise. When I was dropping the keys off the mechanic who had worked on the car originally asked about the noise. I confirmed that this was still an issue, and he advised that he was aware of the noise and unsure what the problem was!

I phoned the office around 5.00 pm Tuesday as I had not heard anything. The receptionist advised that there was a problem with a pipe and that she would order the part but had missed the deadline for ordering. She confirmed that the part would be received first thing Thursday morning and that my car would be fixed first job of the day. I agreed to just leave the car.

By Thursday evening I had heard nothing so called again. I was informed that the part had arrived late, and my car would not be repaired that day.

The car was eventually ready for collection on Friday and the work was covered by warranty.

I asked that the manager call me as I felt the original fault was incorrectly diagnosed and that I therefore should receive a full refund for the original payment.

No callback was received. I collected the car and was told he was in Ashington and would call me back on his return.

By Tuesday, no callback, so I again rang the office. I was told he was out and would return my call.

Friday 16th still no callback so emailed David Coffey, Manager.

Friday 23rd - still no response! Further email sent!

All in all, an awful customer experience! AVOID!

Husband had an email from fiat about the new Arbarth to test drive
Rung up Sunderland to arrange
Apparently not possible to test drive an Arbarth
Doesn't know where that's possible
Told us find a second hand one to test drive???

Ashington branch - Horrendous customer service; read the reviews and avoid buying a car from this dealership. They offer faulty cars, take your deposit, and make no effort to prepare the vehicle up to standard for collection. The staff and manager are very irresponsible, rude and arrogant. Their service department is also in complete shambles. Their so-called 119-point pre-delivery inspection is a complete LIE; cars are not checked or serviced after the deposit is taken. Don't trust their MOT and service claims. Complete waste of time, money and effort. AVOID.

Avoid like the plague constant issue from day 1 refused to rectify worst experience I have ever had hopefully trading standards look into this shambolic company and close them down

I wish i had read the reviews before buying from this disgraceful dealership bought a ford kuga in oct 23 which had just arrived at the silverlink branch it was supposed to get a 119 point check before collection while driving home i noticed no heating then steam began pour from the bonnet i called the branch and returned the car i was ignored by the salesman but eventually the service desk arranged a courtesy car .i collected the car again 4 days later repaired but it developed another fault the following morning egr cooler dumped the coolant on the road i again called the branch but recieved no help so i returned the called and stated i wanted to return the car i was told by the manager i would get no assistance in doing that and he was true to his word the finance company are at best incompetent and offer no assistance i have had to use the ombudsman service to obtain a refund 7 months later a disaster from start to finish the rating doesnt lie and 1 star is being generous for this awful company

Zero stars……..
Bought a used car from the Southwick, Sunderland branch and have had no end of trouble since. Was told the car had been serviced and would be cleaned before pick up. When we collected the car, it had obviously only been given a cursory jet wash but the light was fading so didn’t really check. Our son is a mechanic and checked over the car the following day. He found two things that would fail an MOT and the engine coolant was empty and there was nothing in the screen wash, so it had obviously not been serviced. The car hadn’t been properly cleaned and there was even blood splatters on the inside ceiling of the car. We took the car back to the dealer where we were told, ‘no problem we’ll book it in to have the work done’. We did that but they couldn’t do it for a couple of weeks. When we turned up to have the work done, the dealership had changed hands and was no longer Richard Hardie but Arnold Clarke and was told they had nothing to do with us anymore as a customer and would need to contact either the Ashington or Wallsend branch of Richard Hardie, both either over a 50 or 25 mile round trip. Not one phone call to tell us there was a change over happening and all this within 2 weeks of purchasing. Contacting either of these branches was nigh on impossible due to the phone lines being down and then constantly ringing out. When we did get through they said it would be 4 weeks which we had to agree to. They took the details of what needed doing as agreed per the Southwick branch and said it would be an all day job so offered us a courtesy car. We did this only to get a phone call at midday on the day it was booked in for, to say it was ready to be collected because they didn’t have the parts (even after booking the car in for these specific jobs) and would be another 4 weeks before they could book us in again, due to the demand for a courtesy car. Considering it was a 25 mile round trip this was needed. When eventually we did get around to having the work done, they damaged the wheel bolt and said it would be the next day for the car being ready. However, my husband was in hospital the next day so needed the car that night. They agreed the car was safe to drive and when we asked if the (small) part could be sent to the house for us to fix ourselves, they agreed. One week later, no part, no phone call. Telephoned them again and got no answer numerous times from the service dept. Next day the same but eventually answered to be told they had no way of posting the part out and it would need collecting!! Really, no postal system? The car yet again didn’t get the deep clean it needed for which we have had to arrange at a cost of £60. We are astounded by the sheer audacity of a dealer selling a car and giving the customer service after care that Richard Hardie has. Every member of staff have been unhelpful, with an attitude to match their poor service and we will NEVER buy from or recommend this dealer again. BUYER BEWARE.

Purchased a Jeep Renegade (2015) from Richard Hardie Sunderland on 6th Sept 2023.
Upon collection and driving the vehicle home, there were numerous concerning noises. I contacted the dealership immediately and the vehicle went back in for repair. Six days later (no courtesy vehicle issued throughout this time), the vehicle was collected, however, needed returning to the dealership for further repairs.

I then returned the vehicle one week later to the dealership and heard nothing for twenty three days (again, no courtesy car issued). I was then contacted to collect the vehicle - whilst driving, the noises were still apparent and engine sounded as though it was overheating.

Vehicle was returned to Richard Hardie (no courtesy car issued). Five days later, I requested a courtesy car as finding other transport was causing huge financial strains on myself and my family. Courtesy car finally issued - no update on Jeep progress.

After fourty one days, I was contacted to collect Jeep, no updates or communication had been provided throughout this time.

Noises still occurring, vehicle still not repaired. Requested advice on changing vehicle due to ongoing issues, informed that due to being in contract over thirty days, this would not be possible.

Jeep returned to Richard Hardie for further repairs to be completed, 9th January 2024 - Now the date is 18th April 2024 and I am still without the vehicle, nor have I received any updates on progress during this time.

I have made contact with the finance company which I am awaiting a response from (following a ten week period). Hopefully, will have more success with Financial Ombudsman!

AVOID!

Cannot give zero
STAY WELL AWAY.
Bought brand new car from these cowboys.
Firstly to give us an older reg car than we ordered.
Advised long delays with colour we requested.
Then one was in the showroom on next visit to pick up correct car.
Now front screen wash not working, they wanted me to make a 20+mile round trip to book it in.
This was after having to call back twice to get a response
Then advised to call Fiat breakdown.
Never use again, and will certainly be wary of Fiat if this is the type of dealer they use.
Pathetic

And please please read reviews before you go to any dealership!

Purchased a car (the situation was not ideal so I just needed something asap) within a week - check engine popped up, oiled needed top up, the car was making lots of noises. Phoned the dealership, salesman had no clue about warranty, service people were absolutely rude persistently telling me the car was checked, service was done everything was fine.

Photos below are pictures of what they define as “fine”: the oil was like water and had metal bits in it (probably ruining the engine), the underneath cover was ruined by the oil leaking and clearly having issues before as unoriginal screws in different places were installed, the filters were never changed. The car is in absolute state! Because of the oil leakage the gearbox may need fixing too, so more money!

Whoever part exchanged this car clearly knew and just wanted to get rid of it and Richard Hardie decided to sell it to whoever will take it without doing anything about it and unfortunately it was me!

STAY AWAY FROM THEM!

Wish I would have read these reviews before I purchased my brand new mg!

The car needed its 1st service booked it in and asked for all the updates in the car to be done including the new infotainment update that MG had available

Also reiterated this on drop off

Got the car back nothing had been done it wasn’t even hoovered as stipulated on the print out which said it had been cleaned and hoovered as part of the service

I complained and was told in an email by Kyla that due to silver link not being an MG dealership anymore they couldn’t help me! No acknowledgement of my complaint with the issues on service! Just one sentence ….. zero customer service!
Not even about the techs that couldn’t be bothered to clean the car!

Contacted ashington and my husband was told the upgrades would be available and they would book us in and this would be covered under warranty.

They then called us back a day later to say if we wanted the upgrade we would have to pay and it needed to be booked in all day!…, when my husband questioned this the sales advisor remained quiet on the phone for a good minute without saying anything!

We asked for the complaints email …. The manager didn’t know it but asked us to redirect our complaint to the silverlink ….. who was now head office! ….. remember the silverlink who are not MG anymore! 🤷🏻‍♀️

We were not told on purchase this was the case, Richard Hardy have no after sales customer service at all, they are happy to take your money at point of sale and then not bother ….. they are just rude!

I would have been due to upgrade to an X power but after this they will not get my business!

I’ve honestly never known a company to treat its customers in this way….. I don’t want a red carpet I just want a bit of decency!

Never again ….. be warned!

I had an issue with my car so booked it in with Richard hardy Ashington to look at it. They said it was a fault inside the high voltage battery and needed a level 4 mechanic to fix it but they didn't have one. They give me a number for Vic young in South Shields and said there is nothing else we could do for me and sent me on my way. Booked an appointment with Vic young myself and they said that the issue will probably be outside the battery and will not need a level 4 mechanic as they have been getting a load of work from Richard hardy Ashington and Silverlink telling lies to their customers about work that they could of fixed. They asked Richard hardie for the fault codes to pin point where the issue is and Richard hardy refused to give Vic young the codes and said they have their own diagnostic machine to use (alarm bells started to ring). Went to Vic young for them to look at it. It took them under two hours to find out it was actually the plug of the phev system what was only replaced by Richard hardy not even a year ago. They also said that Richard hardie didn't even put the wires back correctly. It's most definitely not the level of customer service I was thinking I would receive when I first bought the car two years ago. I would highly recommend going else where to buy a car. They sell cars that they can't even fix. Stay well clear of this dealer when buying cars and servicing as they are shocking once they have your money.

BUY AT YOUR OWN RISK!

After 2 days new car had a fault. As it is within the 30 days I was wanting to cancel the credit agreement and return the car as soon as possible with full refund. I did want to do and asked about the process and asked how I would go about doing this but got no help. I have raised this with the sales manager and have been told this would be rejected and that I was being OTT (over the top) and if I wanted to reject the vehicle and get a refund it would be a lengthy time and ultimately be rejected.

I explained that I still wanted to go down the route of rejecting the car and get a full refund. I asked for advice for what I needed. Asked if he could advise me on the process but he said he would not help me/advise me with that. I asked why, he said I would have to research this on the internet.

Initial problem with the car was when leaving work the car had randomly seized in the middle of the road on Monday, 2 days after buying. Thankfully I was not on the motorway. The car did start after but when pressing the accelerator it was making an unusual sound and the engine struggled when pressing full on the accelerator. I called to explain the issue and was told that I couldn't been seen for 10 days and if I needed a courtesy car I would have to wait longer.

Any other time I would accept this but not after having the car a few days and just buying it. I was told to ring MG for advice I was worried it was not safe to drive and there was some issue. They advised road side assistance. They advised that there is some issue but it would need to go back to the dealership for full tests. I had to call back and email the sales department and complain for the car to be seen earlier than expected. Even when actually being able to get a courtesy car it was blocked in the car park. I then had to wait as the car had no petrol meaning I had to wait again and was late to work.

Fault detected "intake pipe was slightly loose which was making you experience the issues with the vehicle"

The car unfortunately seems to have underlying inherited issues. I wanted a refund but they rejected it so had no choice to let them try and fix the car but the problems seem to persist as inherent issues. The car for the second time had cut out . I called again to explain the issue which seemed to be that the intake pipe seems to have broken again, making the same noises as when I press the accelerator and the car struggled when on the motorway. After speaking to MG services and on my way home the engine seized again. When calling, especially after I only had the car a short time to get in to be fixed, it is always over a week/ ten days unless I complain to get seen sooner. I've spent a lot of time calling to get this done earlier than expected only when I originally called to cancel and get my money back.

I appreciate that staff are off ill but I was told everything was sorted in terms of the credit agreement with my previous car which it wasn't. The payment for this car will taken on the 26th of this month meaning I will be struggling financially as I will have paid for 2 cars.

Richard Hardie Sunderland seems to be under-staffed at the moment but this should have been done more promptly and this has caused unnecessary distress on myself and I have spent so much time trying to get things sorted, calling chasing issues when really this is not what I signed up for. I was told that my deposit would be paid back the same week and if it wasn't to call back. This still has not been refunded until 2 weeks after. I was told as part of our agreement of buying the car I would have a free MOT when it is due in September and I would be emailed by the sales manager last week to confirm this which I have not received yet.

Nick Hardie Director. "regarding your complaint and we see no grounds for accepting a rejection of the vehicle. We are aware that you are back in the car and it is running without issue. Should you want to continue with a rejection I suggest you take legal advice of which we of course will defend robustly."

Some staff have tried where possible to help and it isn't all bad but once they have your money the overall company aren't bothered you, your safety or your rights as a consumer. Make your opinion on whether you buy a car from them. I wish I'd read the other comments on this website before purchasing from them, don't make the same mistake I did!

I attended the Richard Hardie used car sales this morning at 1030 am 25/01/2024 intending to purchase a Honda CRV . On arrival we drove into the designated customer car parking area and as my wife parked the car correctly in the bay and alighted the vehicle only to be told by a male employee to move the car and find another parking space as the manager parks in that spot. There were no markings to indicate a reserved space for anyone not least the manager. If that’s how they treat customers before they even enter a showroom what must the customer service be like after purchasing a car with them ? We duly returned to the vehicle and left the customer car park never to return. So a parking space that we left was worth a sale lost of over £15000. Well done to the employee and I hope the manager was not inconvenienced in parking his car. If I could I would give no stars for this company

I bought an MG from another car dealer on Friday 5th January, the radio had a fault on it so i phoned Richard Hardie Sunderland on Monday 8th January. I spoke to Adam who explained it would probably need an update, he also explained it had a recall that needed doing on the clutch fork. Adam booked me in on the following day, when i arrived i explained there was a droning noise coming from the front of the car. To cut a long story short they sorted my radio , the recall and replaced the front wheel bearing all within 24 hours of me contacting the garage. I would like to say great service and a good set of lads on the service desk

Pleasant staff but communication and customer service is lacking unfortunately. Sales team are very helpful and promise the world to get a sale, unfortunately aftersales are unable to deliver answers and updates quickly. I think the garage is ultimately too busy and not enough staff. Information given between departments isn’t communicated well and unfortunately customers loose out or are left frustrated. I would have liked to have given more stars but unfortunately felt let down.

Baught a used Abarth from them was told it would be cleaned and serviced. Upon arrival at the dealer it was covered in polish marks. There was some scratches on it which are expected on a used car. These scratches polished straight off when I got home. They could've lost a sale to bad valet job. Oil and engine coolant levels are pretty low so it seems they barely touched it before I got it. Not the service I expect when buying an expensive car and not comparable to any dealers I've dealt with previously. Will now have to spend further money on getting a valet I was told I would get. The interior was a biohazard it was such a mess. Wouldn't reccomend and won't be using for future services or purchases.

Pushy sales staff, disappointing warranties, disorganized service and the worst aftersales department I've come across. Go elsewhere for your own sake.

Where do I start?

I’ve had 3 cars over the years from this company - 2 FIATs (1 new, 1 used) and 1 Alfa Romeo.

The new FIAT, a 500 which I bought from Silverlink. was fine. This was a long time ago, and everything went smoothly. This is why I didn’t hesitate to return to them for an Alfa.

The Alfa I bought from used Scotswood road (which became Stoneacre). It developed an engine fault to do with the stop start and the car was in and out of the garage and the mechanics just couldn’t get to the bottom of it. Tried to change me £150 to plug a diagnostic machine in despite having the car less than a year and it being covered by a 4th year warranty option. They also tried to charge me over £100 for a battery (I sourced one and fitted it myself for £40 and it didn’t solve the problem). In the end I got rid because it was clear they were clueless and the engine wasn’t working properly.

Most recently, I bought a FIAT 124 Spider. On test ride there was a warning light for active bonnet. They said it would be sorted as part of the purchase. Car went in several times and they couldn’t sort it. Said they needed to order a wiring loom. That was 8 months ago. No loom. In addition they lost my log book, service book, and owners manual wallet. Took weeks to get it back.

I got a price for a new timing belt and water pump, with a hefty discount for the inconvenience and mistakes. That guy left, and the new woman wouldn’t match it. So I got rid of that car too.

They are hopeless at returning calls, phone regularly rings out, the showroom is scruffy and untidy and looks like a used car dealership in a Eastern European backwater town. Absolute mess.

Avoid. If you must drive an MG (not sure why you’d want to - they gave me one as a courtesy car and it was appalling - I wore sunglasses and a cap so no one would know it was me driving it) then go elsewhere.

We took our vehicle in with gearbox issues, having waited 2 weeks for them even to look at it & at least 20 unanswered phone calls I went in to be told it would be looked at & they would ring back. Scott blamed technicians on the sick. No call back & numerous more unanswered calls resulted in me going back again, sob sob stories so we took the vehicle away - not a way to run a business!!!