Bought a vw golf with 100k, advertised as having a brand new clutch and timing belt, of which I still have screen captures. As soon as I drove it down the road there was a huge bang and the car went limp. Managed to get it back to David james, where the 'mechanic' joked about how he'd forgotten to tighten something properly when working on it. I should have seen the warning signs then. Skip to a six months later and the timing belt broke and I had to pay to get the car towed to a nearby garage that I trust. The mechanic contacted me to ask who had fitted the belt because they had done a terrible job and the tentioner was such a cheap piece of rubbish it wasn't fit for purpose. The tentioner had broken like it was made of foil causing the belt to come loose. He said he couldn't imagine a half decent garage even imagining using such a cheap part . He said it was a one in a million chance of luck that I hadn't damaged my engine head which would've resulted in needing a new engine. He said one piston was very slightly bent but seemed to still be within its operating parameter, after changing the belt and performing compression tests he said i was incredibly lucky that it was OK. Luckily it had happened on a 30mph road and I had stopped the car straight away. This cost me £330 for a new timing belt and the garage where honest enough for it not to cost me £2k for a new engine, only six months and only 6k miles after the cheap new one David james 'fitted' . In reality I should have contacted them right then but I couldn't be bothered with the hassle and i wouldn't want their 'mechanics' touching it anyway. Further to this, when looking at the history they gave me for the car, the paperwork relates to a complety different vehicle. If you are wanting to buy a second hand German vehicle, and are about to part with a substantial amount of money, there are many more trustworthy and competent places to spend your money than these cheap cowboys. The sign outside the showroom saying 'we buy any cars' should also be a red flag. I've waited until after my mot to report this online because I wanted to see if anything else got highlighted as seriously wrong with the car. I will post this in as many places as I can online, simply as a warning to anyone thinking of buying from this dealer.

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Bought a 54k corsa vxr described as good condition paid top book price just had checked riddled in faults dealer wont acknowledge. Vehicle windows covered in scratches gearbox fault shocks damaged steering major fault aircon pipes split.Please don't be fooled by these people!!!!!. Pending further action.

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Great service from David James Ltd Newcastle. 1 major electrical fault which i let them know about and they were straight on top of and had fixed for me. No problems since with my Volvo, its still running smoothly. Would go again no problem

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