The Donalds Group Avis 

Recently purchased a nearly new Approved Kia Nero EV from Donalds of Ipswich.
Everything was handled very well by Jamie, no problems

I feel completely misled by Donald’s Mazda Ipswich and would strongly advise others to think twice before buying from them.

Before purchasing, I was told outright by the salesperson (Rhys) that the car had a full Jaguar main dealer service history. That turned out to be completely false. This wasn’t a misunderstanding – it was a clear statement used to sell the car.

He also lost the cars book and any service history it had as he left it on his desk then sent it by unrecorded post….after 23 days from when he sent it he still told me to expect it in the post even though the standard delivery time was 2-3 days.

He said the car would be valeted but this was also a lie. I did not raise the issue at the time because I was yet to find out the hell I had got myself into but after raising it once all the issues had come to light he blamed me for the car not being valeted saying I did not give them a reasonable amount of time even though he said it would be and raised no issues except pushing back our appointment to ‘make sure it was valeted properly’

I also made it crystal clear that I would only go ahead if the warranty work could be done locally, as I live hours away. I was reassured multiple times that this would be no issue. Now that there’s a problem, I’m being told I have to bring the car all the way back to Ipswich. That is not what was promised.

When I raised this with the dealership, their response was dismissive and unhelpful. The offer they made does not address the fact that I was mis-sold the vehicle under false information. I’ve asked for two very reasonable solutions: either arrange the warranty repair locally, or take the car back and refund me fully. So far, they’ve refused to do either.

This kind of behaviour is why people don’t trust car dealers. Based on my experience, I wouldn’t recommend this place to anyone. Ask for everything in writing—clearly verbal promises mean nothing here.

Avoid this place as it is dishonest and has no after care service, it’s like dealing with the father in Matilda.

We showed interest in purchasing a Mazda 2, we did a test drive on 15th May 2025 and were told that the car we were interested in would held for 48 hours if we paid £99 to reserve it, whilst we decided what we would do. It was explained that this would be refunded if we did not purchase the car or would count towards the cost if we went ahead with the purchase.
We found a car with another provider the next day and informed Donalds that we would like our holding deposit returned. We were asked for Bank details for the refund and informed that the £99 would be refunded within 14 days.
Despite many phone calls and emails between myself and Rhys Jeffs, we have not received this money, day 39 and counting.
I would definitely advise any other potential customers, to not place a deposit with this organisation.
Should Donalds respond to this review, we only want to hear from you if it is to inform us that you have managed to pay the money back into our account.

VERY VERY POOR customer service at Bury St Edmunds. Got my car serviced there and the woman at the service desk was simply awful and needs some extensive training on how to deal with customers. No manners, poor attitude, very unprofessional and tried to charge over the previously agreed price when booked over the phone. Was also reluctant to fill in the service book , the point of a service is to also have a record of it ! then she omitted to write the mileage on the service book !!!! made her write it down which meant she had to get up and check it ! then left the book in the car, came back in , left the car keys on the desk and no word! asked her where was the book , answered rudely in the car with no goodbye or a thank you. Also looked online on Kia website and saw that this branch over charged me compared to the price on booking online. Needless to say won't return! KIA SERVICING in Bury St Edmunds is to be avoided, KIA Group this is a very bad image of your brand, your staff is simply not customer focused and very very unprofessional !

Was sold a faulty car and it is impossible to get Kia Ipswich to respond or fulfil their legal obligations. The manager David is unresponsive meaning I am wasting time chasing up waiting weeks for responses to emails. Kia UK are equally useless saying the branch is a franchise so sort it out amongst yourselves! Shocking service from Kia!! AVOID!!

Great service. Booked in for a specific slot (in my case 2pm ) and was able to collect a couple hours later.
(as opposed to some garages which ask you to bring the car in early and they'll let you know when it's ready at some indeterminate time).
Friendly and helpful staff.

My car (2023 Niro HEV) is an ex demo which I bought at 12 months old. It's been 100% reliable, as opposed to my last car (from a well known European manufacturer) which was plagued with software problems.
Would definitely buy another Kia. The EV3 if my wife would let me!

Not only the fact the car was serviced and pristinely clean. The staff are always super helpful and friendly. Great Dealer and great cars.

Booked in some work to be completed between 8am-1pm, arrived at 8am like planned and was laughed at by Fiona on the front desk that the work wouldn’t be completed until the afternoon as the car was hot because I drove it in. (Next time I’ll try to push it there).
The team then left the car for three hours to cool down before starting any work, not giving any updates or indication on when it would be completed. After 1pm I asked for an update which they told me would be 1 hour, when it got to 3pm I asked for another update and it was still being worked on and I didn’t actually get away until gone 4:30pm. Adam decided to give this update loudly to Fiona, rather than telling me himself like we were playing some odd game of Chinese Whispers.
Adam on the front desk was also pretty rude during my time waiting on the most uncomfortable chairs known to man, attempting to work on a table that belongs in a dolls house. Adam had a phone call with an elderly gentleman who was having trouble with his key on his push to start vehicle and once he finished poorly repeating the same instruction shouted “I can’t be arsed to explain it any other way”. Understandable he’d forgotten there was a customer in the dealership as no one tried to speak to me once in my 8 and a half hours of waiting. I did get to see a salesman electrocute himself trying to jump start a Sportage though, so at least I got some entertainment. At the end of the day, I spoke to the sales manager to voice my unhappiness who then told me it should have been booked in for an all day job, rather than the morning job they’d quoted. They just decided to wait until 4:30pm to let me know.
My experience with Donald’s in both Ipswich and Bury has been awful, and I definitely won’t be buying another Kia.

We found all the people at Donald’s delightful and very helpful. Real service!

I’ve been a customer of Donald’s for 6 years and have always found them to be a first rate dealership. From my initial purchase to the ongoing services I have never had reason to fault them

My car is serviced every year with Donald's, they collect and return cleaned, first class as always.

Easy visit. Knowledgeable, friendly staff

Dave N made upgrading our car extremely easy, due to needing something bigger for the family.
He was able to get the car we wanted into our price range and ensured we were happy to proceed without pushing at all.
I would recommend him to anyone looking to get a car from Donalds!

Excellent service and price. Tom on the service reception was very polite and helpful. I would definitely use Donald's again.

We have always found the team at Donald's Group at Peterborough have given an excellent service, Regards Barry and Joyce Clark

Excellent service waited for my first service nice clean car after too

Went to Donalds Mazda Norwich to buy a new CX-5. After 10 minutes of looking at the model in the showroom, but with no attention from anyone, I left. At no time were any other staff, of which I could see 7 in the dealership, attempting to ask if I needed assistance. Well, business must be good if they can't be bothered to get of their backsides and sell!

My Moterbility car was due it's MOT and a service.Rather than going backwards and towards ,I decided to wait for it .It only took 2 hours .The Manager Richard offered me a cup of tea whitch was so kind of him . All the staff are so polite and friendly .I have ordered my new MG ZS Hybrid I'm really looking forward to it arriving soon . So It's always a pleasure to visit Donald Garage .

Thoughtful, knowledgeable and considerate an excellent experience whilst considering a car purchase and having a test drive.