The Car Shop Northampton Car Supermarket

I agree with other reviews, they are really pushy almost as soon as you turn up. At least that was my experience, but they can also get plain nasty when they think you've wasted their time.

I saw a couple of likely cars on the Car Shop Northampton website and took a drive down there to have a look. I was approached by a salesman almost immediately and I made it clear that I wasn't going to sign a deal on a car that day. He stuck with me anyway!

One of the cars was already sold when I got there but I was offered a test drive of the other one. Didn't much like the high mileage or the price but the salesman said they would do a service, MOT and tax it for six months if I was interested in taking it today. I reminded him that I wasn't going to sign any deals today and he said okay. If they really did all that then the price wouldn't seem so bad but to be honest I had doubts that a proper service would be done on it. I told him I didn't like the price and if they could bring it down as well as doing the MOT, tax, etc, I'd definitely consider it. He toddled off to who knows where and came back with a 'deal on the table' as he put it! Said they could either do the MOT, service and tax the car or reduce the price by £150. I told him (with a straight face) that wasn't acceptable but, as I liked the car, I'd go home and sleep on it and, if the car was still there the next day I'd come back for another test drive and I'd bring a mechanic with me to look over the car .

Obviously he tried to persuade me that I'd be letting a really good deal go if I walked away now, and he couldn't guarantee the car would be there the next day - I expected him to say that, so fair enough. But when I still didn't play ball he practically accused me of wasting his whole day. Judging by his reaction you'd have thought I'd asked him to show me every car in the place. He also said allowing a third party mechanic to go over the car isn't what they do anyway and the 'special deal' wouldn't be available any more if I walked away. Wanted to tell him where to stick it, but I didn't.

I realise these people probably don't get a great basic wage which is why I didn't react, but the guy didn't spend that long with me (we only drove the car to the next roundabout and back) and if he'd been more helpful and genuine I probably would have gone back next day and looked at something else, if the car really had been sold.

However, I did give them a call next day and spoke to someone else, who was equally rude when I asked if I could bring a mechanic to take a look over a car. I've since seen the reviews on here and reviewcentre.com and I'm really glad I didn't buy a car from this outfit.