Formula One Autocentres - Newbury Anmeldelser 

Top guys, had my aircon done didnt work at first so they said take it back and they ran through it again. Got it working. Brilliant friendly guys will defo go back again.many thanks. Ek10 sharon.

And the award for the worst customer service in the industry goes to ........... Formula 1 Newbury.

I called to book a service for my vehicle and requested a breakdown of what was covered under the service, this was duly mailed across to me on Wednesday afternoon 27/05/2026.

Having reviewed the details I called on Thursday afternoon 28/05/2026 to book my car in for a service. Having origionally been told the day before the first available service date was 01/06/2026 I was delighted to be offered an appointment for either Friday 29/05 or Saturday 30/05 @ 8:30am. I jumped at the Saturday appointment as this was better for me work wise.

I duly arrived on the Saturday 30/05 at 8:30am as instructed only to find the doors closed, there were other customers and a staff member also waiting outside. A lady eventually arrived some time after 8:30 am and I went in to check my car in only to be told there were no mechanics working that day to service my car and could we rebook for Monday 01/06 @ 8:30am, this was most frustrating but agreed the new date.

Not having given my office prior notice to the service being booked in and that I would be late as I start at 8:30am I went into work at 7:30 to get a head start and arrange to get a lift from the workshop back to work after dropping my car off.

My colleague literally walked through the door at 8,30am and we left to drop my car off. On arriving I stated I was there to drop my car off for a service, only to be told they can't book my car in as I'm 15 minutes late. I honestly thought he was joking and was expecting him to tell me as much given the gross incompetance of a simple booking appointment that was not possible on Saturday, but alas no jokes he was quite serious as he asked if I'd booked online as it states various terms. I advised I had not booked online as the appointment had been made in person on Saturday when I arrived at 8:30am as I was told to and sat waiting outside for the keyholder to arrive and open up. (Seems it's ok for staff to be late and keep customers waiting but not the other way around.) I was then told that they actually open at 9am on Saturdays not 8:30am which is odd as the trading hours sign outside the front door clearly states 8:30am - 5pm on Saturday's I have a photo. I was also told it wasn't his fault that someone booked an appointment for Saturday that couldn't go ahead and it wasn't him that booked it. Not once did I say he had booked it or was his fault only that an appointment had been booked and was rebooted for today.

You would think given the already diabolical service I'd received that in the best interest of customer care the staff would have been s a little more accommodating than turn me away twice in 2 days. But clearly a case of no customer care /don't care.

Feeling beyond exasperated I turned to walked out as I honestly could not believe the situation and the poor excuse and total lack of customer service. The absolute cherry on top was as I was leaving the staff member behind the counter says in a rather sarcastic tone, 'Have a good day!' You honestly can't make it up!!!

One has to wonder how this business actually stays trading with so much competition around and nothing better to offer.

If this is the level of service, or lack thereof, before actually doing the actual service I think I dodge a bomb here let alone a bullet and would suggest management take a closer look at the business model competency of staff and serious additional training if they are customer facing as this business is a great example of not having a clue!!!

More a case of FU to customers than F1!!!

My wife picked up a nail in one her rear tyres, where other companies couldn't help me out this morning, Lee and his team at the Newbury branch were able to plug it for me. Thank you Lee and team, fantastic friendly service. Lance

A complete shambles. 4 trips to the same F1 autocentre due to a combination of: 1) them ordering the wrong replacement tyres; 2) no person capable of replacing tyres on a Tesla present; 3) MOT person sick; 4) MOT person not available at all for a period of more than a month. They never warned that they couldn't provide the service ordered in advance - you have to turn up to be told.

1 star feels generous...would avoid at all cost.

Had tyres fitted in the past with aftermarket wheels on car. Got told they could touch the wheels due to rim protectors. Have since removed and now after booking 2 more tyres, got told they cant fit due to having aftermarket wheels. Not sure if its store policy or company policy as its come from their area manager. Either way, show the incompetence of staff that F1 Autocentre employ.

Now have to wait until Monday as booked online and they cant even process a refund on an online order and their customer service department dont work weekends for a nation wide company.

I had my car booked in for a service and MOT today.

I arrived at 8:37 and I was refused the MOT by the assistant manager of the Newbury branch who claimed that I had missed their 8:35 deadline for checking in.

I have been using F1 auto for over 12 years and my wife has been using F1 for over 9 years. In that time, we have never ever had a problem with the previous people we have dealt with and have spent a very large amount of money with F1 auto. The customer service is normally great, apart from the single exception with this particular individual. In the past, the managers at both the Newbury and Basingstoke branches have been great.

The way that I was treated by the assistant manager was absolutely appalling. There was no sign of human empathy or compassion from him and he looked as if he simply didn't care, despite my MOT expiring today and being put in the situation of being unable to drive to my workplace on Monday and being unable to take my daughter to school. He decided to make a point, causing a massive amount of inconvenience, upset and cost to a customer for the sake of a couple of minutes for a policy that I was never even aware of in the first place.

When I was forced to agree to the service only, he proceeded to make an outbound call, leaving me waiting half way through the conversation despite already telling him that my wife and daughter were waiting to pick me up and that my daughter was going to miss her swimming lesson. I had to leave the key and tell him that I had to urgently go because I couldn't wait for him to finish his call, which he decided to make while talking to him, which just seemed to be him trying to be intentionally rude in order to cause me further upset.

I think this person who shows such a level of disdain for customers should not be put into this role because his behaviour will potentially lead to the loss of a huge amount of revenue for the company in the future, directly and through word of mouth.

My car failed its MOT at another garage, saying all four tyres were damaged and cut! I ordered 4 new tyres from Formula One AutoCentre at Newbury, as they offered the cheapest price! Amazing!
When I went to have them fitted, I told the manager about the failed MOT, he then looked at the tyres, even crawled under the car and took photos, the said he couldn’t see any problems!
After the new tyres were fitted, my old tyres were thoroughly examined, and the area manager was there too, and that said there was no problem with any of the tyres, and the were in good condition! They then gave me a complete sat of complaints forms for the DVLA, and even said they would keep the old tyres for me, in case the DVLA would want to inspect them!
Just brilliant help from real professionals! And customer service that you wish for but rarely get!
100% recommend Newbury FOA Thank you so much

Formula One Autocentre Newbury are excellent! They have helped me with my car on many occasions. They have an excellent group of mechanics, are extremely sympathetic and supportive and offer real value for money. I would recommend anyone to go there! If you are quoted a price for repairs to your vehicle at another firm in the Newbury area, always get a second opinion and quote from them. They have saved me hundreds of pounds. Steve, Compton, West Berkshire.

My experience with F1 Newbury is very disappointing. I have deliberately waited for a couple of months until writing this review so that I am fair. I took my car into F1 in Newbury for an MOT, dropping the car off, going for a coffee nearby and then returning to collect the car.
The car failed the MOT as there was an issue with a rubber boot and they could not deal with it themselves. There were also two advisory items. I agreed that I would arrange for the item to be rectified and get back to them to arrange a retest.
After arranging for the work to be carried out elsewhere I drove back to F1 to book in the retest and was arranged for a few days later. While I was there I mentioned to the manager an advisory on the refusal notice that said both front tyres showed signs of bulging. He walked out with me to the car and examined the tyres. He did not see anything himself and said he would go and get the guy who carried out the testing. After a while they both came back and the guy looked at one of the front tyres. He placed his finger tips on the side of the tyre and then after a while carefully running his fingers along the side of the tyre said, “there, you can feel the bumps”. He showed me where and I had a look and rubbed my fingers on the side. Not a sign of any bulging to me. I then said that this is very odd because you guys replaced both my front tyres only 5 weeks ago. I had done less that 600 miles in that time. They looked sheepishly at each other and said nothing. After a while the manager said “looks like we might have to replace these under warranty “. We agreed that when I returned for the retest we would discuss what needs to be done regarding the tyres.
When I returned a few days later for the retest, which passed, I asked to speak to the manager but was informed he was not there and I spoke to a guy who said he was the assistant manager. I explained the issue and said about getting the tyres replaced under warranty. He said “best of luck with that, it looks to me as you have driven over a pothole”. I said that it would be difficult to damage both tyres over the same pothole as it would have to have been across the whole width of the road, because your guy says both front tyres have the same bumps on the side.
It was obvious that he was not interested and he said that it was up to me to prove they were faulty tyres. My intention was to call in the following week to see the manager as he appeared more approachable and this guy was not interested in my safety.
It’s obvious to me that there were and still are no bumps on the tyres and F1 were just after selling new tyres. Whether is is a head office instruction, I don’t know but very suspicious to me. The look on their faces when I explained that they had fitted the tyres only 5 weeks or so earlier was priceless.
There were couple of other points which were pointed out to me when I had the work carried out elsewhere but I didn’t even bother mentioning to them as it was obvious that it would get nowhere.
These were 1) there was a stud missing on one of the front wheels. Obviously they did not fit it or fitted it loose when replacing my tyres. 2) there was an issue with another item under the car which would have been a reason for an MOT fail. This was something that they did not pick up.

Therefore I will never use a tyre fitting garage for an MOT as they will just attempt to find issues with tyres, clutch, breaks and exhaust. All of the items which they can deal with and increase their profit. The MOT they carry out is just a lost leader to gain further work. I suggest sticking to proper garages

Outstanding Service Received at Formula One Autocentre Newbury what a great bunch of lads Ashley the Centre Manager ( I must say asset to company ) was great helped make our stressful journey less stressful very professional service and will defo be returning to his centre

Avoid.

First get a printed quote. Secondly when you pay your bill and your parts are doubled up on invoice showing previous owner details.

Issue resolved £105 refund.

When you go back as car driving awful after fix and it is driven by garage who then say it's drive shaft.

Go to another garage who asked if they did rear toe which they did. Issue fixed.

Contacted customer services who said nothing to do with f1

Responded to customer services which i do not expect any update

Update.

Customer services did nothing at all.

The aircon done at same time after a month has stopped working. Do not go there. If it all leaked out it is not good for the environment

Seeking advice re claim

AVOID or pay to fix the repair after

Very friendly and helpful. Decent clean waiting room. The technician who dealt with our tyre problem was Mike - a real “customer focused” approach. The whole process was quick and professionally handled. Would recommend.

All the guys are very kind and helpful.
They all are very knowledgeable.
Very good people overall.
Would definitely recommend this place to anyone.

Absolutely fantastic service yesterday by the Newbury team of Chris, Mark, Steve and Mike...I 100% will be going back again.

Thank you so much to the team at newbury. Our car failed it's mot and the guys were able to work on the vehicle the next day to get it up and running. I can't tell you how pleased I was with the service and genuine helpfulness. We will be using you in the future without a doubt.

Asked for price for 4 mid range tyres. Their system issues what seemed somewhat expensive price. Had another quote from competitor for similar tyres at £75 less. They say they would match quoted prices, but by the time you go back, haggle, book an appointment the tyres were already fitted on the car,
Why not give best price at first ask?

Thank you to Chris & Josh. Visiting from up north when we discovered we had a flat. On a Sunday, on way home. Despite being busy, they squeezed is in. Both men were polite and patient as they explained what needed doing and directed us to a lovely nearby cafe. Furthermore they were quick and efficient when they repaired the tyre showing they were experienced. Inspiring trust to drive all the way back home. Finally, the cost was very reasonable. Once again, thank you and I strongly recommend giving them a go for honest, professional service.

Really nice guys, friendly and helpful, reception and waiting room clean and tidy, fixed the tyre quickly and efficiently, will definitely go back to the Newbury centre!!

Awful - Booked online appointment for 13:00 - car just went in at 14:30. They obviously don’t check for online bookings as they were surprised when they saw I had a booking.

Extremely frustrating!!

Sorting out a minor problem that saved me a lot of hassle on a Sunday morning with a totally profesional but friendly attitude.
I can recommend the Newbury branch to anyone.