SJH Used Cars

I bought a Mercedes 2014 A180 in October 2024. I had persistent issues with it since purchase - many of which SJH looked at for me and said they fixed or paid my mechanic to fix.  On 5 December last year I dropped the car off with them and sent the attached list of issues (see screenshot of text message sent) with the assurance it would be sorted. I subsequently picked it up on 16 December. By 20 April the car had started smoking from the engine when driven.  Since then car has been undrivable due to an oil leak. My mechanic has been booked up so its been awaiting diagnostic. This took place today, and its been discovered that the said oil leak that was detailed on 5 December had not been investigated or fixed.  My mechanic, spoke on the phone to the salesman on 27 November (see screenshot) and detailed all the issues that needed resolving and investigating prior to the car being dropped off on 5 December. He is the same mechanic who has completed the diagnostic today and he has stated the leak he can see now is the same leak that was present back then.  As per the message I sent to follow up the call on 5 Decmeber, the oil leak was supposed to have been investigated. However it now appears that the leak was never investigated, only the engine cleaned.  During the diagnostic, it transpires the oil leak is from the turbo which has now failed completely and needs a full replacement.  I have contacted SJH and they have refused to sort this issue! Despite the consumer act stating it should be covered. AVOID THIS COMPANY LIKE THE PLAGUE!!!

Avoid this place like the plague. February last year I financed a 2010 Blue Vauxhall Meriva from SJH Used Cars and from day one there have been problems. I've meant to make this review for a while based on my poor experience but I've had an exetremly busy year and thought I would hold off until I am able to get the car serviced and for it's MOT. I took the car in today for it's MOT and it has cost me £520. This is more than I have ever had to spend on servicing a vehicle in the first year of owning it. Obviously when buying a used car I expected the car to not be 100% perfect but what I was sold was shocking. Once we had signed the agreement we noticed that the rear car light was damaged and that the handle for the left interior door was broken (still is to this day), I was assured by the man who sold me the car that they would send parts out to me. These problems were not followed up until I chased up the company. But as the next few weeks went on we noticed more things for example a recliner handle for one of the back seats was broken off and left in one of the glove boxes, none of the back interior lights in the car worked and the further you would look the more issues you would find and so many lazy fixes too. Some of these issues were fixed but some of them completely dismissed. More problems have arisen since like the back windshield wiper breaking, door alarms constantly going off randomly whilst driving, and check engine lights and other error messages coming on. One of the reasons the car failed the MOT was because of a pipe on the windshield washers on the drivers side not working, this had been broken since day one. Obviously I am unhappy with the car I have financed, but I am even more unhappy with how I have been spoken to and treated by Shaun, the owner of the company. To my knowledge there was a 3 month period after purchasing the car that if there were any problems I could return this back to the dealership to repair. I do not live local to the area and the company made no effort to try and accommodate to my needs like allowing me to take the car to a local garage and invoice the dealership, etc. if anything I felt like I had to work around them, I would take the car there and Shaun would tell me I didn't list things or that he didn't see a problem and be rude to me over text. I would also like to add that I never met this man as he was always either not working that day or he was on holiday. This period where the Dealership is responsible for fixing any problems was basically written off due to me not being able to get to the dealership due to the distance and work, Shaun & co not fixing the problems they said they would or not being able to contact anyone as the main contact on google at the time was Shaun and as I mentioned he was on holiday multiple times. Another example of his rudeness was when I had been traveling all day so I sent a text late at night for him to see when he gets up in the morning to remind him I'd be dropping the car off. When I dropped the car off to the dealership to one of his other workers I sent him a text just to let him know and He responded saying "Sorry I wasn't awake at 1:40am, I get in at 9am when I can although I do have kids so they are normally priority in the morning". I'm sorry but I didn't warrant that response, We had previously agreed on a call that I would be dropping the car off on this date as I was on my way to bristol airport to go on holiday, and suddenly his attitude had changed. This is no way to speak to a customer. When I contacted the finance company about the issues I had been having with the car they contacted Shaun and he told them that he would accept the car back if I paid £500. When I chased him up about this he avoided the question multiple times, made me wait two weeks when he was on holiday. I contacted him when he told me he would be back and he told me it was the next day. I called him the next day and it sounded as if I had just woken him up and he was very dismissive. This was the companies main point of contact on google. He then messages me saying that they won't accept the car as I had damaged the back. This is an understandable response, However he made me wait two weeks and made me have to keep pestering him for a response and was not direct. The last interaction I had with shaun was in May last year, he said he would send out a new speaker for the car as it was faulty. I'm still waiting on that speaker. Some of the reviews for this place are good but there are multiple reviews of people who have had similar experiences to mine, especially on the site Regit. My overall experience has been very unprofessional and very disapointing. I have added screenshots of our full chat log for reference if You would like to read them. I've bought cars from different dealerships in the past and I would advise everyone to shop elsewhere from a genuine dealership that actually care about their customers and providing a good service.