The AA Cars Avis 

I’ve requested a refund from a dealership as there are faults with the car purchased however they’re trying everything to not provide this. Contacted AA mediation for support but not given much, case isn’t overseen by one person and I’m not provided with any updates. It’s a shame as you assume the AA would be more reputable. Seems like I’ll have to take the dealership to court.

My Aston Martin DB9 wouldn’t start today, I tried everything I could think of then called out the AA. Liam Phelan and his mate (sorry didn’t get his name) came out.
After a bit of fault finding Liam found an Aston Martin bulletin that said a bolt on the starter motor corrodes so he slackened that bolt (which is buried deep in the engine bay) and the car started first time.
I was obviously thinking this was going to cost me a small fortune but now i know I just need to access the starter motor and clean up them terminals.
Cheers lads 👍🏻

Was having trouble receiving a refund with a trade I got my car from, contacted the AA as I know the dealership was under their standards scheme, was introduced to Stefanie Spalding who was assigned my case, she was very supportive and understanding and kept me updated and was easy to contact, helped me get back my money and end the dispute with both parties leaving happy

We are getting no where with even a month with AA mediation service( case worker Ellis) and the car is in a unsuable state.
We found the service very slow and unhelpful uptil now.
The only reason we bought a used card from an independent dealer was because it was a AA certified garage.
Unfortunately we were sold a car with multiple innate problems that the dealer tried fo cover and currently we are left with an engine failure worth more than half of the car price. Its been over a month and counting for this dispute to be resolved by AA mediation service.

This has make us loose the trust to buy ever again with AA certified garage.

Update 25/8/26

I am looking forward for the mediation service to help me eventually as part of the AA promise rather than giving up on me. We also trusted the AA promise but it looks like the AA certified garage do not value these promises. We expected better from AA thats all we can say.

Sophie Williams was great at getting the dealer to do the right thing. Thank you Sophie.

The customer service team came back to me quickly on my questions and pointed me in the correct direction to proceed.

Try to teach granny to suck eggs

They are one sided mediators who use tool boxes to give them lnowledge of the law. They are simply that not trained in law with a degree only mediators and any one can do that work with a tool box

Met up with Taylor who was really informative and helpful. Very thorough, informative and helpful. Full marks to Taylor

AA cars provides excellent service in all departments. They are polite, efficient and reliable. I also used their mediation service and found that they made every effort to solve my problem. They tried hard to contact the busy dealer and give me feedback every week. After a long battle with the dealership, they helped me find the solution. I am grateful to the AA cars staff.

As a dealer, we have been working and advertising with AA cars over the last 2 years, and have found it to be one of the most effective platforms that we’ve tried. It has certainly paid for itself with the amount of leads and sales generated, and the point of sale material and AA brand has also helped to reassure customers they are buying from a dealership that they can trust. We have already recommended them to our friends with dealerships and will continue to do so.

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Sally was excellent to explain in details about the product.

If you want to buy a car from any aa approved dealer they don't take any responsibility for the car , the chance you'll get a result is far from fictional, pinch of salt comes to mind and there Phone 📱 line gives you 3 options none off. Them give what you want

I’ve never left a negative review, but my experience with AA Driving School from start to finish was genuinely appalling. The issue was how the situation was handled by AA's customer service team.

The day before my driving test, my instructor's vehicle became undrivable. Communication was extremely poor. I received vague WhatsApp messages with almost no explanation of what had happened, what the fault was, or what AA were doing to resolve it. As this happened over 24 hours before my test, on a Monday afternoon, I reasonably assumed urgent repairs or a replacement vehicle would be arranged.

Instead, I was told the vehicle couldn't be repaired because "all the garages were closed" - at around 1pm on a Monday. No explanation was ever given as to why repairs weren't possible, when the fault had been reported, or what contingency plans existed. I spent the entire evening and following morning wondering whether I'd even have a car for one of the most important tests I'd spent months preparing for.

On the day of my test, we arrived at the test centre in a vehicle that was still unroadworthy, with the clutch not operating and error messages blocking the speed of the vehicle. My instructor didn't even come into the test centre to explain the situation, but sat in the car on his phone, leaving me to deal with it alone.

Ironically, an instructor from another driving school suggested he take the vehicle into the garage directly opposite the test centre. After I'd been told for over 24 hours that it couldn't be fixed, it was repaired within minutes, less than 20 minutes before my test.

Instead of spending the time before my test practising and settling my nerves, I spent the morning sitting in a broken car and watching it be repaired. The stress this caused immediately before my driving test was completely unnecessary.

I contacted AA afterwards expecting them to investigate what had happened. Instead, I was told there was effectively no remedy and no ownership was taken despite the instructor operating under AA. I requested a manager call me back, which took over two weeks despite chasing three times through the online chat.

When I eventually spoke with Pete from customer services, the response was even more disappointing:

• I was told there had been no issue because repairs supposedly take 72 hours. This policy appears nowhere in my contract or terms and conditions. No evidence was provided that the repair had been reported correctly or that any investigation into the timeline had taken place.

• I was told I should pay for the full four-hour lesson, including the time the vehicle was being repaired, because "you would've been waiting anyway." I paid for a driving lesson, not to sit on a pavement while an unusable vehicle was fixed.

• I was initially offered just £8 for the time the vehicle was in the garage. I eventually received £34 (one hour's lesson), but this didn't reflect the disruption, didn't cover the full amount I paid that day, and didn't even include the booking fee.

• Pete repeatedly stated the instructor had gone "above and beyond" without explaining what investigation had been carried out to reach that conclusion. It felt as though the instructor's version of events had simply been accepted without question.

• Most concerningly, I was told I could make a formal complaint but that "nothing would come of it because we don't issue refunds." Hearing that before any investigation had even taken place was astonishing.

Mechanical failures happen. What customers expect is clear communication, accountability and fair customer service when things go wrong.

Instead, I was left incredibly stressed immediately before my driving test, charged for time when the service couldn't properly be delivered, spent weeks chasing a callback, and ultimately felt dismissed throughout the complaints process.

The breakdown wasn't the biggest problem.

AA's handling of it was.

Experience with the driving school.
Rude instructor (Mohemmed Akbar, Glasgow), swore at me on more than one occasion when asked to stop he cancelled all my lessons 4 weeks before test. The AA do nothing to protect customer, 2 complains logged with AA with no response. Clearly don’t give a toss as long as they’re getting money. Do yourself a favour and use your local instructor and don’t give this massive brand any more money. Happy to say I went to a different instructor and passed without having to rebook, so good riddance.

Working with you all the way and at the speed you want it to go

I was at The Adventure Bike Festival this weekend when my 750 AfricaTwin motorcycle started to fire on just one pot. I called to see the lads, who were more than helpful, I think they were happy working on an old bike, anyway they got to the bottom of it and I was able ride the 4hr journey home, well done lads

My partner bought a car from a dealer based in Waltham Abbey, Essex. The dealer Nazeing Autos LTD broke every single point of the promise. We had to go to court, and will have to go all the legal way to get a refund still. We did contact AA but it seems the process is not aime to help as it might take up to 90 days to go through the full escalation. So we just appled to the court after waiting for over a month without any results. Checked if the dealer is still listed with AA. Yes they are still listed with AA . It feels that this promise means nothing I will not trust a dealer with this AA logo more.As AA allows it's logo to be used by unscrupulous dealers aa a bait to take advantage of unsuspecting customers

Had problems with Fame cars LTD sold me a car not fit to drive. would not respond to my calls. Asked AA To look in to my problem did all the work got in touch with the dealer after 3 weeks the AA sorted the problem I would of received nothing with out them I can not thank them enough for there help

fake and liers, dont trust them what they are syaing is not true and in their system japanese import cars does not insure etc etc waste of time and money dont buy

I have had an ongoing problem with an AA approved garage CARME in Waltham Abbey since mid February, i had to involve AA in March because my car had major engine/oil issues within the first 1.5 days, the dealer has been uncontactable by phone and takes around 5 days to respond to emails, i requested a full refund which was declined even though this was my right, now 3 months on and i am no further, i have a car sitting in my drive i am paying for and can't use, AA have sent me many emails but not actually resolved anything between myself and the dealer, the dealer is clearly not following my rights and AA are allowing him to do this, they have requested confirmation of work done / service history and still have presented nothing to me 2 months on, i am now having to fight this myself due to the lack of help that AA are giving even though my rights are very clear and the dealer is clearly breaking the law, he has run circles around them and they are allowing this to happen, i would never recommend going to an AA approved dealer, i thought this was security but quite frankly i have had no help at all, i am now a lot of money down and still having to fight my own corner becuase they are allowing garages like this to use their name and treat customers this way.