Formula One Autocentres - Cambridge (Barnwell Road)

Turned up without an appointment with a slow puncture. I was helped immediately and efficiently by the team. They inspected the vehicle and fitted a new tyre within the hour. I was presented a range of options and prices to choose which best suited me. NB. No upsell of other services or pressure to replace additional tyres (which I'd asked to be checked) which was refreshing compared to other services I've used previously. Sean and his son (also Sean) were the members of the team that helped me - they were both courteous, honest and very knowledgable.

Avoid this garage. This is a rip-off. I wanted to do my MOT here. They gave me a call within a few hours with a whole list of repairs which according to them I needed for my MOT with a total price of almost 1400 pounds: wheel alignment, breaks, tyres, etc. etc. … what wasn’t there? After I told them I intend to ask for a second opinion they said the best they could do for me is 900 pounds. Almost 500 pounds drop in price? This sounded very fishy. On top of that they indicated that the price of 900 included the air conditioner fluid replacement, which they themselves then admitted is not really required for the MOT.

I brought my car to another garage. The MOT was easily passed with a price of about 200 pound with a few very minor replacements (like a new tyre, etc). Compare 200 to the initially asked 1400 by this garage. In other words this garage is a rip-off. Avoid this garage, save yourself a day and money.

Thank you so much to Barnwell Road F1 tyres for helping us with our car which was making an awful noise! It turned out to be a stone stuck somewhere near the brakes but we just turned up and they sorted the problem for us straight away and insisted it was free of charge. So kind and saved us a lot of hassle, thank you so much!

I recently attended for brake light change and had the most wonderful experience!
The staff checked all of my lights to ensure all were working correctly and replaced the bulb for free!
So kind and professional. Thank you so much. I will certainly be back for any other work that needs doing.

Please listen to the negative reviews, this place is shambolic.

I phoned on Saturday asking if they could look at my car as the horn is no longer working. The man on the phone said I could bring it in first thing Monday morning and they'd have it sorted and turned round "within a couple of hours". I thought that sounded fantastic but as it turned out it was too good to be true.

I arrived at 8:35 AM on Monday, there was one other car in the car park. I explained to the man at the desk that I had looked at the fuse and the relays and they appeared to be fine. I then left the car there and walked home.

After hearing nothing for hours, I phoned at 3:25 PM and asked for an update. I was told they "hadn't got round to it yet" and that they'd "have a look now and get back to you".

I heard nothing more so I phoned again at 5:10 PM and was bluntly told on this phone call that there was nothing they could do about the problem. They weren't able to tell me what the issue was, simply that they couldn't do anything and that I needed to take it to a Ford dealership.

I wouldn't be so frustrated if they told me that in the morning, but it is very annoying that they took so long to look at my car and even then they couldn't tell me what was wrong with it. I picked up my car in the evening with no more information than I already knew before leaving it with them, a whole day wasted and the problem remains.

These guys are unprofessional and slow. I would avoid them.

Scam garage. Cow boys I went in for Two new tyres and was told that the brakes had 1000 to 2000 miles left on my sons car and should be done asap, Well having done 2000 miles on it I thought I should order the discs and pads from Euro car Parts,( £70 total )and do the work myself,(used to be an engineer many years ago, I did this on their word with out visually checking myself .FOOL) when I came to change them the pads I was shocked to see are 1/4 worn at the most and the discs hardly any wear. Changed them anyway as I was going to show him how to do the pads and disks anyway.

After reading previous reviews I was very hesitant to book my car in here for its MOT however ended up being tempted by the discounted price. Took my defender in and the staff were really helpful and took the time to go through my advisories and explain how to keep an eye on them and how to fix. A really good experience, thanks guys!

Booked through Asda which was nice and simple and I rang F1 to confirm what time I was to come in as thought they may be busy. The guy (who I believe was the manager) said come right in as they could get me in so went in earlier than my allotted time. All seemed very friendly but after waiting 45 minutes and seeing people seemingly without an appointment arriving and being serviced right away I asked what was happening and it was over an hour before my car went in. It sat there again for ages and was eventually seen to. Again after about 30 minutes I asked what was happening and it was then moved to a ramp where they put on wheel alignment instruments (which I didn't ask for) and I was asked to come and look at the output. The guy tried to explain why I needed the wheels realigning especially as my car was rear-wheel drive and when I mentioned it was front his story fell apart and when I declined he tried to do 'a deal' for just the front to which I declined again. The car then sat on the ramp again for another 10 minutes before I went into the office and asked for my invoice which they said they didn't do and it would come from ASDA. Not sure if this is true or not but again I had to ask if I could have the car and the guy suggested I then drive it off the ramp myself, which I did. Again not sure for H&S reasons I should have been asked to do that. It wasn't as if they were even that busy.

So all-in-all it took nearly 2 hours to get it all done and I even had to redo all the tyre pressures when I got home as they were all incorrect and inconsistent. I really cannot recommend it.