Free safety check at a garage costs a grand

The worst garage to go to is:
H.R. Owen BMW Service, 9 School Rd, London NW10 6TD

They use all the ripoff tricks. BEWARE. AVOID.

Just stumbled on this site and thought I'd add my story.

Bought a VW Touran (used) from a VW dealer in Kent, part of the 'used approved scheme'. Very low mileage, very well kept + paid over the odds as 'its from a dealer' for peace of mind. All servicing kept upto date through VW dealers and VW warranty extended for further peace of mind. Fast forward 2 years and rust started to appear on the drivers door, odd as we had no accidents or repairs and do less than 2000 miles a year. VW bodyshop identified accident damage/repair on the door, selling VW dealer denied any repair, VW customer services in MK were useless (said it was a retailer 'issue'). I contacted previous owner from the V5 who confirmed no damage so car was damaged + repaired by the dealer. When confronted by these accusations dealer + VWUK went silent. Had evidence from previous owner, VW bodyshop and independent body repair specialist, all to no avail. VW washed their hands of me, I even wrote to the Managing director + Operations head of VWUK.

Why pay extra for 'used approved scheme'? Just buy independently, save a packet and use some of the savings to get a RAC complete check done + if you can get a 'friendly' bodyshop guy/girl to give the car a once over. When you spend £14000 on a car on these schemes, you expect VW to provide a solid car.

I am just waiting for a big story to break on BBC watchdog or some other consumer program and I will happily send my evidence + written letter from the Head of VWUK and show how they washed their hands of me.

VW's are excellent cars and I will buy again, but I'll buy a car >3yrs old (not from a dealer or 'used approved scheme') maybe purchase an aftermarket warranty, because that's the kind of person I am, minimise risk etc (I know these warranties have their own problems!) and have it maintained through VW independent servicing (which I have done for all my VW's) bar this Touran as it was under warranty.

Its just a shame that a search for feedback/complaints did not immediately return this site - I hope that others considering using Martins of Camberley take heed of the comments on this site.

With the occasional exception, I have found the staff here to be glib, inflexible purveyors of a substandard service - led by a management who are faceless, cynical jobsworths. The ethos indoctinated by management in their inexperienced and ever changing staff is a shame to see - the next generation here are in danger of become the same job-shy unhelpful wing-nuts as their mentors.

Still, at several hundred pounds a time, at least I get my car cleaned (about the only thing that is any good in the service department).

The bill is always rendered to you in a lovely little folder - a bit like getting kissed after being gang-banged in the prison showers (apparently).

Seriously, avoid Martins of Camberley for servicing.

Please avoid VW Citygate group located in Ruislip, they are criminals who break code of practice by creating issues to generate money and take no accountability or put things right. I took my VW Golf to see if a software update was required. I had to pay for a diagnostic charge as that was the stipulation. I was contacted by them that they had found an unknown fault which no technician had ever seen. They had no information about this so called fault. They wanted to do a wiring diagnostic which involved an observation I.e. just look and not touch is the exact statement from the sales agent. They ended up stripping the engine bay and 1/2 of the interior including whole dashboard withoutvmy permission. I was given no explaination and After 10 days I got my car back. It was not road worthy, infact it was disfunctional. They didn't put my vehicle back together safely, correctly resulting in me narrowly avoiding a collision with another vehicle.
The VW citygate ruislip branch refused to accept liability. They eventually after 4 months took my vehicle back only for engine management light to appear after 1.5 miles of driving even when they stated my vehicle is fine. They again refused to be responsible for failures which did not exist before I brought it in. I complained to VW UK who also refused to help claiming it's not the garages fault and wanted me to fork out huge amounts of money. They couldn't get my vehicle working in the operating without faults condition I gave it to them in. After multiple independent inspections from other garages, I've now resolved its faults. The verdict from these independent specialised garages is that VW garages know their cars and purposely remove or disconnect modules, connections creating faults and then refuse to fix unless you pay them hundreds if not thosands only for the fault or new faults to appear. That garage are crooks who rip people off without taking liability. We are the muppets for believing garages like this. After the experience I've had, I'm never buying or owning a VW ever again. They don't care only when you spend money which is exactly what they want from you.

Our company bought two new vans from Abridge VW.(transporter 2.5L) They were sent to be serviced and new cambelts fitted when the mileage was near. Within a week both vehicles broke the belts and destroyed the engines. We complained and was told that we had to specify that new cambelt tensioners should be fitted and the fault was ours. We trust that a main agent could do the work but we did not expect that we should tell them how to do it. They refused to have anything to do with us and we had to wait two months for new engines at around £4000.00 each.
Do not trust ABRIDGE ENGINEERING VW with servicing.

I agree with the comments. I took my Golf into Martins at Hook because that is where I bought it. I told them I was a retired workshop manager and they still came back with a huge list. I said I will take the car as it is. They put a lot of pressure on me including signing a form to say I was taking a dangerous car away against their wishes. I took the Golf into another VW dealer many miles away and they said there was nothing wrong only that the discs might need replacing in 10,000 miles time. The service indicator had been wrongly set(they said) making the service due ear;ier

Im a student and I thought purchasing a VW would save me money in the long run because of their reliability. I had my car for year and it was due a service although I had experienced no problems. So I took it to Martins VW in Camberley and got my car back and that same day warning lights started to pop up. I took it back to them the next day and they wanted me to pay diagnostic fees of £50+. I was then given a reapir bill of £600+ and so I reluctantly paid that thinking that would be it. How I was soo wrong because then another light came on and that cost another £50 to diagnose. This time it was the ABS control unit which needed to be replaced at a cost of £1,200. So from a regular service to almost £2,000 in repair bills what a scam! Dont go anywhere near a VW dealership!!

Im a student and I thought purchasing a VW would save me money in the long run because of their reliability. I had my car for year and it was due a service although I had experienced no problems. So I took it to Martins VW in Camberley and got my car back and that same day warning lights started to pop up. I took it back to them the next day and they wanted me to pay diagnostic fees of £50+. I was then given a reapir bill of £600+ and so I reluctantly paid that thinking that would be it. How I was soo wrong because then another light came on and that cost another £50 to diagnose. This time it was the ABS control unit which needed to be replaced at a cost of £1,200. So from a regular service to almost £2,000 in repair bills what a scam! Dont go anywhere near a VW dealership!!

Im a student and I thought purchasing a VW would save me money in the long run because of their reliability. I had my car for year and it was due a service although I had experienced no problems. So I took it to Martins VW in Camberley and got my car back and that same day warning lights started to pop up. I took it back to them the next day and they wanted me to pay diagnostic fees of £50+. I was then given a reapir bill of £600+ and so I reluctantly paid that thinking that would be it. How I was soo wrong because then another light came on and that cost another £50 to diagnose. This time it was the ABS control unit which needed to be replaced at a cost of £1,200. So from a regular service to almost £2,000 in repair bills what a scam! Dont go anywhere near a VW dealership!!

the national advert that volkswagen is pushing a service for £119.00 what a rip of all you get is a visual check around the car ... and an oil and filter change
oil cost them less than a pound and an oil filter is around the £2.00 mark the amount they buy
so in essence you are paying £119.00 for an oil and filter change which kwik fit will do im sure for under £30.00 a tidy little profit for volkwagen no wonder they can afford to advertise it nationally what a rip off avoid main dealers for servcing at all costs find an independent garage or a national chain like kwik fit who will service totally for way less than what volkswagen are charging

Well, here's one that will make you smile! My son in law bought a used vw golf from a crap dealer, sorry car dealer in Blackburn. I checked the car over and said it was not worth the money, I didn't need to get underneath to give it a proper inspection, due to me saying don't buy.
The son in law had to buy it as he needed a car for work, and he told me he could resell it if it didn't work out. Well guess what? it used a sump full of engine oil in less than a week, and had a cold start problem. Of course the 3 coil springs needed replacement along with some impact damage which made the car steer to the left by itself. When he decided to sell it I told my son in law to tell the potential customers exactly all the faults and the low asking price would compensate the buyer. The vehicle was sold, I asked said son in law did you tel the new owner of the faults, he said that the new owner said it was great and drove really well. It was a local VW DEALER MECHANIC who bought the car!!!!!!!!

Do not go to any VW garage. We were quoted stupid prices at a VW garage for parts/repairs we didn't really need. Do not go to the VW garage in Colindale, North West London. RIP OFF.

Totally agree with Wingman
Took the VW in to Martins for a free check up
Ended up with estimates for £600 plus
Nothing more than a sales tool to bring in more Revenue to Martins
VW should audit their service centres and stop this
Who do you think is reliable for vw servicing in Camberley?

I had the same experience with my Golf, 6 years ago when the dealership was Whites. I kept getting a screaching sound when I was doing a sharp left turn. Initially they couldnt find anything wrong, then I had a call from them to say that the front disk brakes and pads needing replacing as they were corroded. This would cost me over £500 .The car was only 2 years old with a very low mileage which they said was the reason for the corroding, it hadnt been used enough. When I said why cant it be done under the warranty they said it was wear tear and not covered, which is a contridiction in itself. So I told them not to touch the car and I went round to pick it up. I took it to my usual garage, Vulcan Motors in Sandhurst (briliant garage can highly recommend ) where I used to take my prevoius car. They looked at it, took a wire brush to the corrosion and charged me £50. Nothing wrong with the brakes at all.

I was told last May, following an MOT and service on our 3-year-old Golf at Martins VW Camberley, that the brake pads were worn and the rear lower arm bushes cracking, both as advisory items. I requested that they be repaired, and was told they had been. In October, Martins phoned and asked if I'd had the advisory items done, and I pointed out that they had been done on the day they were diagnosed. Martins confirmed on the phone that this was the case. Today, a year later, I have just had the car MOTed elsewhere, and was given an advisory for worn brake pads; they had clearly not been replaced last year. On returning to Martins, I was told that neither pads nor cracking arms were on the invoice. I agree I should have checked this, but foolishly, in retrospect, took the word of an expensive franchised dealership. They said they'd check the job card, but then returned and said it couldn't ve found. I was quoted £200 for replacing pads and discs (which were apparently 'lipped and worn'). When I suggested a reduction might be in order, bearing in mind I had been driving a car for a year believing that it had new brake pads, a VW man at the neighbouring desk, who had overheard, suggested that in fact the quote should have been for £250, and so I was already being offered a reduction. This web of evasion and varying quotations led me to take the car to a local non-franchised VW specialist garage for a second opinion. I was told that the discs are fine and that it would be extremely rare for them to need replacing after 44000 miles. I was quoted £80 total for replacing the brake pads with original VW parts. I am appalled by the apparent lack of concern by Martins, and very disappointed after so many years of VW ownership.