Southern Car Sales

Horrendous experience with this company. Purchased a 2009 Hyundai i30 in April. Got the car home & noted both front tyres were bald. Vehicle had MOT not 3 days prior to collection I contacted the garage immediately and in this instance they did agree to replace the tyres but made me question the validity of the MOT - the salesman had told me the garage used for the MOT was somewhere just down the road and that they used all the time. Over the coming weeks I discovered numerous issues - heater does not function, CD player inoperable as are USB/iPod connections, passenger electric window switch faulty, the passenger door handle faulty, knocking sound on rear passenger side. when I first viewed the car i noted the storage compartment on the front console was missing (albeit the salesman had no clue what was missing or why!) agreed that this would be replaced. I later discovered that the replacement was never installed properly. When I went to open it, it simply fell out in my hand.
they couldn't be bothered to secure it into the car properly. Became clear very quickly that this car was a lemon, the runt of the litter for this dealership. It was sold as immaculate but as time went on a number of frustrating issues appeared with the vehicle, all of which were reported to the garage with very little help or assistance forthcoming. In an effort to draw a conclusion to the stess and upset being caused by ongoing faults, I demanded (in hindsight foolishly accepted) a partial refund of £300 to allow me to resolve the heater/CD player issues. The car was assessed by my local garage, it transpired that there was £1,000 worth of work required to get this vehicle up to the specification to which it had been sold to me. This culminated in a dangerous incident on 31st July where the handbrake failed after I had exited the car - the vehicle rolled down a road and into a flint wall. It was a miracle that no one was hurt. Again reported this to Southern Car Sales who advised their Warranty Manager would need to review the matter. With various chasers & demands for a full refund, issue was referred to the Company Director who was the only person capable of agreeing a refund. Director was on holiday at the time, so again I had to wait for a reasonable response, but not without 2 further chasers. In the interim, I had parked the car outside my local Co-Op store and witnessed, with my own eyes, the handbrake "popping" out of its parked position as I was exiting the vehicle. All information was passed to Southern Car Sales. It was finally agreed that the car would be collected from my workplace, the faults investigated (being clear that all reported faults required investigation alongside the handbrake) and the car returned to me. I was already of the opinion that this process was a formality for them to tell me they felt there was no fault. This is exactly what occurred. I had stressed the issue with the handbrake was intermittent but has been evident to both myself and my husband on a number of occasions. When their driver returned the car to my workplace he was witnessed colliding with the metal entrance gate of the car park but instead of reporting this to me, the legal owner of the car, he neglected to mention it when handing the key back to me. Thank god for eye witnesses and cctv - this is now with Sussex Police. On top of which, I subsequently discovered their driver had left rubbish inside the car and an additional new knocking sound was now evident on the front passenger side. Interestingly their driver has made sure to leave the car in gear when parked - why would you do that if there were no concerns about the handbrake? The lprocess has been an absolute emotional and financial nightmare. My car is imperative to me being able to do my job and this vehicle took almost all of my savings to purchase. I've now been left with a heap of a car which is effectively worthless. Wouldn't touch this company with a barge pole

I part exchanged my car with Southern Car Sales and I am extremely happy with my new car !
The trade in was hassle free and they gave me a good deal on my old car. Would definitely recommend this company as there were no pushy salesmen as there were in previous places I had visited.
Top marks guys !

Would highly recommend Southern Car Sales. There is a great selection of cars from high end to reasonably priced smaller cars. I purchased a Ford fiesta which was competively priced and I haven't stopped smiling. The staff are wonderful and helpful and don't push you in to buying anything

I purchased a lovely Mercedes CLA in September 2022. Sale was straight forward, I was left to view the car alone, no pushy sales tactics. Gave me a reasonable price for my part exchange and settled my existing finance. Wheels refurbed including change of colour included in the price. They even provide the option of taking a good extended warranty. Thanks guys, will be back for my next one, Paul.

The best car buying experience I’ve ever had. Not at all pushy, wonderful communication, good with my kids and didn’t make me feel at all uncomfortable (I’m not sure if it’s just me or because I’m a woman but I’ve had several negative experiences buying cars so tend to dread it, but faith has been restored!) We did a part exchange and it was seamless. Very happy and would aim to buy again from them in the future.

From start to finish these guys made the process of getting my new car so much easier than my previous experiences! I couldn't be happier with it. Thanks so much to Tim for helping with all of my questions and tailoring my finance to what I needed!! Fantastic service!

Great experience buying from Southern Car Sales. Bought a car today 19/12/22. Good system in place, if you like the look of a vehicle on line. You can place a 100.00 completely refundable deposit and the car will be reserved so you can get down and check it out within a few days, good idea.
Turned up as arranged and Tim showed us the Vehicle, gave us the keys and said take as long as you want to check it out and let me know if you need any assistance, he went to the office and left us to it, absolutely no pressure at all.
Wanted a test drive. Did that, came back had another chat, then had another test drive, returned and purchased the car.
Excellent experience and drove the car away. Can’t beat this really. No high pressure salesman breathing down your neck.
Well done . Would definitely buy from here again.
Thank you
Arthur Drew

Southern Car Sales have a good selection of very well presented cars. Tim the salesman there was really very helpful, sending loads of extra pictures and videos and answering my many questions before I travelled a fair distance to view a car they had. The car was as described, very tidy and fairly priced. Overall great customer service.