Gates Automotive Reviews 

I would like to extend a huge thanks to Kam whilst helping me purchase my new car. He was knowledgeable, attentive and extremely helpful ( even answering queries I had at 11pm at night!!) in what was quite an emotional time for me, he dealt with the transition in a very kind and caring manner. Kam is a huge credit to the St.Albans branch, would wholeheartedly recommend paying him a visit!!

Dealt with Kam on the purchase and trade in on 2 cars.

Good service and nice promt deal.

I’m not often driven to write reviews however I felt compelled to recommend Anthony McGrath, he was brilliant from start to finish. On point knowledge, not pushy and just the right amount of contact to make the buying process a pleasurable and rewarding one. Top man. Thanks and well done, always a pleasure to deal with someone at the top of their game.

I bought a used car from Gates Wlatham Cross, dealing with Chelsea. She was very helpful, putting forward our options with no pressure and explaining everything clearly. She arranged for a vehicle to be delivered to the showroom so I could test drive it, and then once I had decided to buy it she arranged for some minor blemishes to be machined our prior to pick up. A very positive experience.

Booked in for a basic service and left feeling completely taken advantage of.

Paid around £300 for what should have been straightforward, then hit with a “recommendation list” of 13 extra items all labelled as urgent. When I got it home and went through it properly with my husband (who knows cars), none of it checked out as urgent at all. It felt like a pressure list designed to push unnecessary work rather than anything genuinely needed.

At the desk it was constant upselling – wipers, tyres, brake discs, washer jets, the lot. I went from a basic service to being told I “needed” nearly £1,900 + VAT of additional work.

It honestly felt like a sales operation more than a service centre. I won’t be returning, and I’d strongly advise anyone who does go to double-check every “recommendation” independently and keep everything documented before agreeing to anything.

I dealt with Chelsea from Gates/Geely and the service was excellent. She was professional, attentive, and always prompt in returning my calls and emails. She went above and beyond to make sure I got the car I wanted at the best possible price. I would highly recommend Gates/Geely.

We want thank Lewis for his excellent customer service skills. He is the most helpful,friendly and honest salesman who is an asset to GATES and has made the whole experience really easy even addressing and issues once we brought the car home . From Len Hoy

We found our salesman, "TAZ" friendly, informative and a pleasure to deal with. He didnt employ the pressure selling tactics of many salespeople but left us to make the decision. Buying our new Jaecoo 7 from him was remarkably easy.

I was in the process of purchasing a vehicle waiting on a video and p/x price when suddenly Amy Bucknell of Gates in Harlow stopped replying to me. The car was taken off Autotrader so I called asking for her and was told she was at lunch (obviously avoiding me) and was then informed it had been sold. So do not deal with these people if you expect to be kept up to date. She did not have the decency to let me know it had been sold, just moved on and ignored me.I do not deal with amateurs.

I've never had a new car before so was a bit anxious in what I needed to do or say, having Lewis guide me was like the whole thing was on autopilot, it was surprisingly easy and every step of the process was explained to me but also having had the bulk of everything done before I arrived each time made it quick, easy and straight to the point. I was quietly observing Lewis on a call to a future customer I could only guess, and he was explaining that he couldnt do a last minute booking due to already being booked out, but also because he likes to give each potential client his full attention and for them not to feel rushed, which I thought was a nice touch and could agree on having that treatment.

Once everything was finalised and we was handed the keys, poppy took enough time to explain and show us how how to navigate the car which was a great help as I was transitioning from a manual to an automatic which I had never driven before.

I know this may come across a bit cheesy but I would be lying if i said it was any other way. So in all, when I left, I felt comfortable and safe knowing I was show everything I could have been before leaving. They even gave me a free air freshener! But I put that down to me being lovely! So you need to be lovely too if you want one!

In all seriousness, top team!

Avoid Ford Chigwell if you actually care about your wallet or your car.

Booked a service online at one price, turned up and the “manager” immediately said it would cost more. No proper explanation, just classic bait pricing.

Then came the upsell circus. A long list of “urgent” extras, most of them completely unnecessary. They clearly care more about hitting quotas and bonuses than doing honest work. They will push to replace parts that do not need replacing, including perfectly good tyres.

Left with serious doubts they even did the basic service properly. Zero trust, zero transparency.

Feels like the whole place is built to squeeze money out of you, not to look after your car. Go somewhere else. PS Anyone thinking of buying a diesel from Ford Iurge you to just google the Ford DPF Scandal

We bought an Omoda E5 Noble Trim from Omoda Gates of St. Albans. The car was picked up towards the end of October 2025.

The car was being driven in normal conditions, and it suddenly and without warning lost power. The was it lost power creates an immediate safety hazard as it refused to roll to safety of the roadside. It just stopped in the middle of the road. I was stranded at the roadside for 8 hours. The car has been at the dealership since 28 March 2026.

To date I have not been given a courtesy car. They book rolling hire cars from various rental companies, and I have had to return and pick up cars, causing inconvenience and added expense.

They dont seem to fully understand the cars they are supposed to work with.

Stay away and go to established brands. Cars can develop faults, but the way I have been treated after the issue is not acceptable.

Exceptional service . Lewis and poppy and the branch director all played a part in ensuring exceptional customer experience . Purchase and after care was first class.
Dealership as a whole was on point, nothing an issue and I will now be a loyal customer for future new car purchases.

As an ex car sales manager, motability accredited for 15 yrs..now unfortunately disabled.
Called wanting an update on my Omoda order, im appalled at the lack of customer service that doesnt even answer the phones. I’ve tried service line also which still doesn’t get picked up. Emailed … yep you guessed it, no reply in over 2 weeks. No letters in the mail either. Short of driving over again to find out, Ive no other option.
If I have to do this? I’ll be requesting an appointment with your Dealership manager. Motability have been made aware of this dealership not following their policy & guidelines. TCF should be mandatory to all employees.
NEVER had this problem with Steven Eagell Toyota on my current car.
The motor trade talks… & what im hearing does not fill me with faith. Terrible reputation already

My family have exclusively purchased Ford cars since 2005 and the experience of Gates Ford in St Albans has ended that.

In February 2026 we had damage to our car wheel after swerving to avoid hitting a pedestrian jumping in front of cars as a prank.

As it was wheel damage and not a tyre, we needed a Ford approved garage. We attempted to book into Gates St Albans (our nearest as we live on the outskirts of St Albans). This was a saga in itself as the online booking has to be confirmed and it is almost impossible to find someone to pick up the phone. We added a service and MOT to the booking while we were there.

After a month (yes, a month) we had an appointment booked and took a day off work in order to drive to Gates Ford at 8am for the appointment to replace the wheel.

On turning up, someone had written into our paperwork that due to the age of the car wheels were no longer available for a Ford Fiesta. That the car would fail it's next MOT as it was running on a spare wheel.

They then acted as if they were doing us a favour by cancelling the MOT and service. But no-one had bothered to contact us when they were unable to source a wheel to tell us there was no point coming to the appointment.

For clarity - this complaint is not because the car couldn't be fixed. But because someone was unwilling to competently carry out their job and let us know. And when that hadn't happened, they could have done the decent thing and compensated us for the day of annual leave which can't be recovered from employers.

In the end, we used the rest of the day in order to purchase a new car. But the failure of Gates Ford meant we were not confident to purchase a Ford again as we risked requiring that garage in the event of another issue.

The poor communications means that Ford lost out on a significant amount of money (even second hand cars are not cheap!).

Worst Experience Ever

After waiting 3 months since booking my car, the collection date finally arrived. We called the company to confirm that delivery was scheduled for the next day and that the car would be ready for collection.

To our shock, we were informed by Lewis Baldwin that the car has now been delayed and is not expected until June.

This raises a serious question:
If the delivery was delayed, why were we not informed in advance?

Instead, we only found out on the day we called — and now we are being told to wait an additional 3 months.

This is completely unacceptable and highly unprofessional.
Very disappointing service from an unreliable company.

I would not recommend this to anyone.

I was booked in to have my stereo removed to obtain the pin number to enable it to be reset, & at a cost of £30. After a technician looked at my vehicle, I was told I was unable to have this done simply, as due to the fact it had a sat nav, the whole console would need to be removed, at a cost of an hour's labour of £162, & the technician explained once they had the serial numbers required they would need to contact Ford for the pin number. I did not rebook my vehicle, but called later to ask 'if' I did undertake the work, how long would it take them to get the pin number from Ford, & the receptionist said they did not know, & for me to call them myself to ask them! I therefore called Ford, & I was told this was not something they could not do? Therefore, after being given the runaround, I called back to speak to the service department to explain this, & after yet "again" explaining the situation, the telephone call was cut off!! I called back for the 3rd time, & asked to speak to the Service Manager, as I was now extremely frustrated in getting absolutely nowhere! I eventually was put through to him, & he did not introduce himself, & I had to ask if he was the Service Manager, & his name. I again had to explain the whole scenario, & was told that he would have to fill out a form with several serial numbers from the radio, & this would then have to be sent to Germany to obtain the pin number, & did not know how long that would take. He told me this could not be done until his return on Thursday 9th April, & I asked him if a team member of the service department could not fill out the form in his absence, if I did decide to have the work undertaken? I was told it was not that straightforward, & was he was not helpful in whether he could get it done sooner for me. I found his attitude to be extremely condescending towards me, & quite rude! He then called me "darling", which I find quite astonishing, & is this the calibre of the "Service Manager" at a flagship dealership?! I have previously worked in the motor industry for many years, & he certainly did not come across as a professional 'Service Manager'. All in all, I found the whole situation very stressful, & I was passed from "pillar to post", & found the whole process extremely unprofessional, & I will certainly not be recommending this dealership.

Gates of woodford dealt with Aaron who was easy to talk too very down to earth had a laugh but very professional.
Great experience Aaron was always helpful & always got back to me with any queries I had. I would highly recommend dealing with Aaron his a lovely bloke.
I got the car and the colour I wanted for a great price all thanks to Aaron a true professional and a credit to the dealership.

What a load of rubbish! It’s like buying a car off of TEMU! Jaecoo 5 is poor quality drive and clearly made cheaply. I’ve had nothing but issues since I took the car 4 months ago . The customer service since taking their car, has been nothing but poor. Avoiding dealing with the issues and continuously have to chase them up. The car is dangerous to drive and I’ve shown them proof of this, and yet they can’t seem to find any issues with it. Don’t bother wasting your time!

My experience was great from start to finish. The team was very helpful, and informative.