TheCarBarns Avis 

ONE STAR — A SHOCKINGLY UNPROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

My experience with The Car Barns Group Ltd and Tim Boler has been absolutely dreadful.

They successfully bid for my Fiat 500E through Motorway and won the vehicle. From that point onwards, what should have been a straightforward transaction descended into weeks of wasted time, failed arrangements and astonishingly poor communication.

Having won the bid, they initially failed even to contact me within the expected timeframe. I had to chase Motorway, who then had to chase the dealer.

It got worse.

I made it absolutely clear that I was shortly leaving the country and that the vehicle therefore needed to be collected promptly. Despite that, collection arrangements dragged on and I wasted an entire day waiting for a collection that simply did not happen.

Eventually a transport company was instructed on behalf of The Car Barns Group Ltd to collect the Fiat from Bristol and deliver it to them in Stratford-upon-Avon. I received confirmation that they were arranging a driver, so naturally I believed that after all the previous messing around the transaction was finally going to be completed.

Wrong.

After nearly THREE WEEKS since the supposed sale, I have now been informed that the collection has been CANCELLED.

I find this behaviour quite extraordinary.

This wasn’t somebody casually enquiring about a car and then changing their mind. This was a motor dealer bidding for my vehicle through Motorway, successfully winning that bid, agreeing to purchase it, allowing the process to drag on for weeks, failing to collect it as arranged and ultimately cancelling the collection.

Meanwhile, I am the person left with the car, the inconvenience and the wasted time.

If a professional motor dealer isn’t prepared to complete a purchase, in my view they simply shouldn’t bid for the vehicle in the first place.

I have bought and sold plenty of vehicles over the years and I struggle to remember a transaction handled as badly as this one.

Based on my personal experience, I found the whole episode unreliable, disrespectful of my time and thoroughly unprofessional.

Potential customers and sellers can draw their own conclusions from that.

I certainly know mine.

I would never deal with The Car Barns Group Ltd again.

Tim was great in helping getting everything sorted quickly. Great communication throughout. Very Happy!

Fab customer service from initial enquiry through to collection of my car

Tim was great to start off with, excellent initial service and even dropped the car off for me to be adapted. Things went bad after.

The day after delivery, the car had constant engine management light issues, ad blue warnings and unreliable AC. Tim was informed of this issue as soon as it had occurred and initially said we could bring it in to be repaired. Ever since then, he has ignored every phone call and text I’ve made to resolve this issue. This happened for two months straight.

Extremely disappointed and will cost me because of his lack of post sale service for customers.

Fantastic experience from start to finish!

I honestly couldn’t be happier with my experience purchasing my car from The Car Barns. From the very first contact, the whole process was incredibly easy, relaxed and professional.

A special mention has to go to Lachlan, who was fantastic when he showed us the car on Saturday. He was extremely helpful, knowledgeable and friendly, and made the whole experience enjoyable without ever feeling pressured. The car itself was presented absolutely beautifully — it was clear that a huge amount of care had gone into preparing it, and it looked genuinely immaculate.

The purchase process was just as smooth. Tim made the transaction, sale and handover the next day on a Sunday completely straightforward and stress-free. Everything was explained clearly, communication was excellent, and the level of service throughout was exceptional.

It’s not often you come away from buying a car feeling that the whole experience has been genuinely enjoyable, but that’s exactly how I felt. The car is fantastic, but the service from The Car Barns made the purchase even better.

A massive thank you to Lachlan & Tim at The Car Barns. I wouldn’t hesitate for a second to recommend them to anyone looking for a quality car and, more importantly, a first-class buying experience.

Absolutely outstanding service — thank you!

Strongly advise avoiding this company.

I sold my car via Motorway and accepted the offer from The Car Barns Group.

I was given Tim’s details and contacted him to arrange collection. The motorway courier arrived, inspected the vehicle and Tim signed off. He sent me a WhatsApp image of an error with his banking app and explained that until it was fixed he could not clear the finance on the car.

I bank transferred him the negative equity balance, the courier took the car and I expected the finance to be cleared within a couple of days.

Fast forward 3 weeks, I had been chasing the finance company daily but no sign of the payment being sent, and despite trying to contact Tim daily he is a professional at ignoring calls and messages, so I had no idea where my car was and why they hadn’t paid for it and where now ghosting me.

I was considering reporting the car as stolen at this point. Tim finally paid the finance and now there was just the matter of the negative equity that I had paid him. Because of how long he had taken, more payments went out of my account and I was now in positive equity.

I provided a full breakdown to Tim and requested that they refund the equity, but once again he ignores calls and messages and has essentially pocketed £300 that he owes me.

Motorway have thus far been unable to assist as he also seems to ignore them, how they are allowing conmen like this on their platform I have no idea!

Editing this review on light of Tim’s reply: it is astounding that the only means of contact we seem to have is via TrustPilot reviews? Why do you not reply this promptly directly?

As per the screenshot you sent me via WhatsApp of you attempting to pay the finance and receiving an error from Barclays, your suggestion that motorways payment process contributed to the delay is rejected.

Regarding the £300 refund you owe me, you have been sent an updated settlement each time it expired (due to you taking so long to pay). I know these settlements were received by you because the finance company confirmed that the correct amount as per the latest settlement was eventually paid. Therefor the negative equity I original paid you alongside the first settlement quote no longer exists and needs to be refunded.

I reiterate I have sent you multiple times the facts, breakdown and account details for the refund and you continue to ignore them and keep the money.

Avoid this company.

I would strongly advise others to think twice before dealing with The Car Barn Group. They purchased my Bentley GTC through the Motorway auction, but after the sale they became completely unresponsive.

I have emailed Tim and repeatedly tried calling the company, but the phone appears to be constantly engaged and I have received no meaningful response.

Based on my experience, the business has not demonstrated the level of professionalism or communication I would expect. The whole process has been frustrating and has felt like a complete waste of time.

I felt very comfortable throughout the whole process. No pressure just helpful advice.

UPDATE after writing to the car barns raising my concerns I’ve received no reply. I have today issued legal proceedings for misrepresentation on the vehicle I purchased, avoid at all costs. £43000 on a defender that’s has no service history and a warranty that isn’t worth the paper it’s written on.

Sold my vehicle through the Motorway via this company and they are completely useless.

Did not contact me to arrange collection and it was me who had to keep calling to arrange anything.

Was meant to collect my car on Tuesday, nothing happened and didn’t pick up any calls. Finally spoke to someone on Wednesday to say that they would call me back with an update, never happened. Chased again and was told they would arrange collection on Thursday or Friday, again nothing happened. All the time in between they said they would call me back in 15 minutes with an update. They never did. Must have ignored many of my phone calls as I just wanted an update but they are completely useless.

Decided to go elsewhere as the communication from this company is non existent. Learn from other reviews and stay clear from this place!!

I bought a Bentley Continental from Tim and haven't had any issues. I did get an independant assessment done which highlighted a couple of issues, for which Tim and I came to an agreement on. They also sent me a copy of the final service invoice for my records on request. The car has been fine, and Tim also included the special C-Tek charger adapter for this car as a goodwill gesture. I took several weeks looking at and making up my mind on this car and so far, it's been fine.

Tim helped me compare two cars I was torn between and gave honest advice. Ended up choosing the perfect one.

I had couple of small concerns after new car purchase and they sorted straight away without any fuss.

AVOID AT ALL COSTS.

Harry wormwood doesn’t have a look in with this man. Sells a car and it breaks not even 6 hours after buying and then doesn’t want to fix the issue. Doesn’t answer the phone to his buyers. DO NOT BUY FROM THIS MAN. I wish I listened to all previous reviews.

Thank you to Tim and the team for a great service. I'm thrilled with my new purchased car.

I’ve now bought two cars from the Car Barn. To be fair, both have been good without issue. The first being a Jaguar F type P400 and the second; Aston Martin DB9.
On both occasions, I spent on an extended warranty, Jaguar: 12 months at around£800 and the DB9: 24 months at around £1600/£1700. With both cars, I never received any documentation on the warranties.
I chase Tim many many times, especially for the DB9- phone messages, emails and no response.
I assume he takes your money for a warranty and doesn’t actually activate anything and just pockets your money?!? That’s my personal view… I called and emailed many times, but nothing…

Very pleasant and smiley when you first meet him, but as soon as money exchanges… he is obviously a different character!

Paid a deposit for a car,the day of collection came and I was informed by WhatsApp that the car was no longer available as it had a stolen marker on it. Tim asked for my bank details to refund the deposit. My WhatsApp messages have not been read, he is not answering my calls and I have no reply to my email. Still no refund. Even more upsetting is that I have since received the log book for the car, despite it not sitting on my driveway! So upsetting and disappointing.

I would support the overwhelming majority of these reviews and strongly advise to stay well away, I certainly wish we had, he caused a great deal of stress and inconvenience following the purchase of a Mercedes E class, we travelled from the south of England for an appointment to see the car, well presented and as others have said Tim appeared on the face of it to be pleasant and professional, all the usual sales pitch as you would expect, that said he undoubtably has zero conscience, the car brought on a warning light and message for add blue within just a few days of ownership, I can honestly say I attempted to reach Tim over 15 times, leaving messages and emails, he didn’t even have manners to reply, it was only when I phoned from a alternative phone that he picked up, during the period of no reply and being advised by Mercedes not to drive the car I phoned the last service agent in the book whereby I was informed by the owner that he was aware of the car and remembered it having addblue issues, he informed me he was told to reset the system but wouldn’t commit to who informed him, only by me informing Tim of my intention and right to reject within the first 30 days did anything begin to improve, eventually the car went into Mercedes and Tim paid over £2,300 to repair the car, this said the car is still in need of a stop start battery at the cost of over £500, he refused to pay despite it being a fundamental requirement of the car, he also promised on request due to the extremely poor experience to extend the warranty to 12 months free of charge, this has never materialised, he simply emailed me saying he would not commit to any further repair, despite it being his responsibility, the fact is in court he wouldn’t have a leg to stand on, can I be bothered to travel over 150 miles to incure more inconvenience - No definitely not! so as many others he gets away with it, why are people like him allowed to exist in business, I hope some day he is treated the same way as he treats so many of the people that put trust in him, perhaps the penny will drop ….

sold my car to the Car Barns absolutely no problems paid the agreed carwow price no hassle at all,very good service

1 star Avoid like the plague. Seriously.
Bought a Range Rover Sport from Tim at The Car Barns. Nearly a month on and I still don’t have the logbook and when I chased it, I was told to “call the DVLA” myself. That’s his job as the seller, not mine.
The problems started on day one. Slow to respond from the very first call. The car was advertised with features it simply doesn’t have Meridian Signature Sound being one of them. Misleading listing, full stop. It also arrived without a charger (eventually sent after chasing), and within the first week it was already at an approved diagnostic centre returning the following confirmed faults:
∙ Near Field Sensing Module failure
∙ Inverter drive motor sensor fault
∙ HV Coolant Heater fault
∙ Driver Assistance Controller fault
∙ Wind noise
∙ Headlight condensation
∙ Previous owner’s InControl account still linked never cleared
These are not minor wear and tear issues. These are serious electrical and hybrid system faults on a premium vehicle. He must have known. You don’t sell a car like this without knowing.
I attempted to reject the vehicle. I was then informed that because the finance is unregulated business finance, rejection wasn’t straightforward something that was conveniently never made clear at point of sale. The warranty was eventually transferred, after chasing, and the car is now booked in with an approved JLR dealer to establish the full extent of the damage.
I bought this car as a gift for my fiancée. Nothing but stress from the moment the deposit cleared. That seems to be the pattern with Tim all smiles until the money lands, then good luck getting a response out of him. The finance broker has also gone quiet.
Every negative review on here is true. I wish I’d read them before buying. Do your due diligence I didn’t and I’m still dealing with the consequences.
Stay well clear of Tim Boler and The Car Barns.

UPDATE: since this review was posted:
Since leaving this honest review, the dealer contacted me via WhatsApp and threatened to leave a retaliatory negative review on my business in direct response to my legitimate review of his. He also made a written accusation that I had attempted to launder money in connection with this purchase.
These WhatsApp exchanges are documented and have been submitted as evidence to the finance broker as a formal complaint. They are also available to any relevant authority upon request.
Prospective customers should draw their own conclusions about a dealer whose response to a legitimate complaint is threats and defamatory accusations rather than resolution.