Braceysmotors Avis 

Sold me a car that needed loads of work after a matter of months. Lied about completed work. Buyers beware.

I am writing this to warn anyone considering buying a car from Braceys Motors. My experience has been an absolute nightmare.

I bought a car from them, and within the first month, a serious issue appeared. I took it back, and they simply told me to "go through the warranty." I did, and the warranty company performed a repair. However, the problem was never actually fixed properly.

The exact same issue has been recurring repeatedly ever since. Every time I go back to Braces, they wash their hands of the responsibility and point me back to the warranty company, who also fails to provide a permanent solution. It's a never-ending loop of finger-pointing and incompetence, and I'm stuck with a faulty car that they refuse to stand behind.

There is absolutely no point in dealing with their warranty provider, as they clearly don't do the job right the first time. To make matters worse, Braceys Motors has refused to exchange the vehicle or offer any real help. They have my money, and they clearly don't care about the fact they sold me a lemon.

If you value your time and your money, do not buy from Bracey's Motors. They will not support you when things go wrong.

Scam- Don’t fall into the trap!!
These guys sell faulty cars, their customer service is abysmal and all they do is lie. The cars look good but mechanically they’re trash. Terrible experience with this dealership.

Save yourself and look elsewhere.

I really wanted to like these guys, but for me a review of any business should include the start, middle and end. Three weeks after purchasing a car, quite frankly I’m sick of the bull and lies. If I could give 2.5 starts I would - it’s a high two but low three star review.

I shared my questions and my proposed (generally positive) review with Braceys a week post purchase after previously highlighting a couple of issues on the phone. Every contact is super positive leaving you feeling confident of resolution.

£6.5K 2019 Peugeot 208. Not mega bucks but not bottom of the barrel either. To quote Braceys “it’s a lot of money”.

On the 80 mile drive home the tyre pressure warning light came on, which being cold I reset and dismissed. It’s come on a further two times after all pressures have been checked. That’s two new near side tyres - £250 I won’t be seeing again.

My car had no spare tyre or emergency inflation kit - this was promised to be ordered and posted to me several times. That’s £30 I won’t see again.

The steering wheel is offset indicating a poorly configured tracking. The car drives okay but a ‘lowlight’ of their quality control.

The start/stop engine does not function with the suspected cause to be a battery on its last legs. The warranty raise it through the warranty..
The warranty company wants a quote for any proposed work before authorising it. Which company in their right mind will waste valuable time quoting for work they may never get when there’s a queue of customers with paid work?

Overall I would say beware. Absolutely negotiate because every MOT advisory and service check will not be completed, you will certainly have no evidence of full history as advertised.
There’s no card payment option here (new site apparently) therefore bank transfers is how you pay, how common this is I’m unsure but it’d certainly make getting any deposit back interesting.

Disappointingly the private used car market remains a scary and potentially expensive minefield.

I remain open to Braceys actually paying for the extra expense I’ve endured and forwarding all service history paperwork. Should this happen I will absolutely share this widely with an updated review. I want to support small local businesses but customer service comes before, during and after sale, it doesn’t stop as soon as you have your money if you want a long term growing business.

I wish I had read these reviews before I bought my car.

They act as nice as pie beforehand but it’s quite clear all they are trying to do is the bare minimum to get the car out of the door and then nothing when you need them.

4 faults within minutes of leaving the dealership. I asked to cancel the deal based on this and the aggressive response I got was horrible.

They just don’t care and I’m actually quite scared to per-sue this based on the owners behaviour.

DO NOT GO ANYWHERE NEWR THEM!

Absolutely the worse experience from this garage, they are lying cowboys!!!
Bought a £18K car which had a serious fault on it 10 days in, granted they recovered the car for me and repaired it, but they lied about everything to do with the repair, they said they were using a genuine Jaguar part they didn't, they lied about the guarantee it came with, they said they would return the car to us they didn't, even though we had just experienced a close family bereavement, we had to travel the 5 hours to get it back, just no care or empathy, I told them about other faults on the car that I also wanted repaired and a service was promised, they LIED to my face saying it had all been done, I have NEVER experienced such bad customer care. AVOID AT ALL COSTS!!!!!!

Based on a purchase in 2024. This company are complete frauds. They deceive customers into buying faulty vehicles and carry out bogus inspections to cover up serious issues. When problems arise, they refuse to take any responsibility. They mislead, lie, and cheat their way through sales. They are thieves and should not be allowed to trade. Avoid at all costs.

BRACEYS MOTORS HITCHIN. Bought a car from this company and they are absolute fraudsters. They sell unroadworthy cars, with only days to weeks usage. Documents are fraudulently written and the cars are tested by themselves using fake addresses. Check all your documentation.
1. DO NOT PAY CASH, OTHERWISE YOU HAVE NO PROTECTION.
2. GO WITH A DEALER WHO ARE REGISTERED WITH AN OMBUDSMEN. THEY ARE NOT!!!
3. IF YOU FIND YOURSELF IN THIS SITUATION AND YOU PAID THROUGH FINANCE, THE FINANCE COMPANY ARE LIABLE TO PAY YOU BACK FOR THE CAR. AS BRACEYS MOTORS IGNORE YOU.
4. BASE YOUR DECISION ON TRUST PILOT REVIEWS ONLY. GOOGLE IS NOT REGUALTED.
5. DONT BE FOOLED BY THEIR PROFESSIONALISM AND SWEET TALK.
6. IDEALLY AVOID COMPLETELY BUT GET AN INDEPENDENT MECHANIC, ONE THEY DONT KNOW, TO CHECK THE CAR BEFORE HANDING ANY MONEY OVER!!!
7. BEING AA REGISTERED MEANS NOTHING, DONT BE FOOLED BY THIS.
8. IF YOU UNFORTUNATELY BOUGHT A CAR FROM THEM, DO NOT GET IT FIXED AS IT CAN VOID YOUR RIGHTS AND POSSIBLY THE WARRANTY (NOT THAT IT COVERS MUCH). THIS CAN GO IN THEIR FAVOUR.
9. IF FINANCE COMPANY DOES NOT TAKE LIABILITY, TAKE THEM TO THE FINANCIAL OMBUDSMAN.
10. GET THE CAR INSPECTED ONLY BY AN IAEA REGISTERED ENGINEER (the institute of automotive engineer authority). IF THEY ARE NOT IAEA REGISTERED, YOU CANNOT USE THAT INSPECTION REPORT IN COURT.
11. DO NOT GO WITH ANY RECOMMENDED INSPECTION ENGINEERS FROM THE FINANCE COMPANIES. DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH TO ENSURE THEY ARE IAEA REGISTERED.
12. SOME IAEA REGISTERED ENGINEERS DONT LIKE GETTING INVOLVED IN DISPUTES, IT CAN BE HARD TO FIND A GOOD ONE, DONT GIVE UP.

If you’ve listened and followed the above red flags, I’ve just saved you a lot of money, time and serious stress!!!!!!

DO NOT BUY FROM BRACEY’S MOTORS IN HITCHIN, UK. I bought the car a little over a week ago. They guaranteed the wet belt on my MK4 Ford Focus was in good condition after they “inspected” it. They “inspected” the battery (turns out it’s the original battery from factory, 7 years old) which failed, obviously, as they are supposed to last about 5 years, which corrupted the programming on the ABS module, requiring dealer-level reprogramming. I have already had to get the clutch replaced. After finding out today, after the warranty company that THEY provided, asked for a strip down. I found the wet belt was moments away from SNAPPING. I spoke to Andrew Bracey, the company director, sent him photos of the wet belt, and he is REFUSING TO HELP. Trying to claim a professional mechanic hired to do the work tampered with the timing! This would NOT have affected the wet belt if the car was stationary, even IF it was true! The warranty company will not do anything about wet belts, chains, or programming, and they’re only paying out around half of the clutch cost. Yet Andrew thinks it’s appropriate to tell me “I can go to the warranty company if I wish” because he doesn’t want to pay up. STAY CLEAR. They are refusing to do anything about it and as such are breaking the Consumer Rights Act, and claiming laws that do not exist in order to fob me off. At no point was I told I must contact them first and gain “approval” for a car that I own OUTRIGHT! The warranty company asked for this, but I shouldn’t have to use MY warranty 7 DAYS IN for something that was quite OBVIOUSLY there before I bought the car, and they GUARANTEED was good! DON’T TRUST THEIR “INSPECTIONS”! LOTS OF COSTLY REPAIRS AHEAD. I PAID £9,500 OUTRIGHT FOR THE CAR! I have filed a claim in court to get the £3000 I have spent to get the car roadworthy again. Absolutely not worth the money I paid. Just don’t bother. Walk away. Nice as anything when you are giving them your money but they absolutely do not give a **** afterwards. They even contacted my warranty company without my permission for issues they should have sorted on the car BEFORE it was put on the forecourt! Warranty is limited to the value of the car, it shouldn’t be used for issues present at time of sale. Awful company.

Don’t buy a car from this dealer! Recently bought a ford fiesta from them and had to return the vehicle a week later with the service engine management light coming on. Returned the vehicle and was told that it needed a replacement cam belt sensor. Collected the car for a second time and whilst driving home the light came on again. Cost £2000 to replace the timing belt. Do not believe them when they tell you they have tested the cam belt. Absolutely terrible.