Sparshatts Botley

[BarryG]

Just bought a Fabia from them, got an amazingly good deal. They paid my finance on my Ibiza in full, and have the car on sale at less than what they paid! Still got a hefty discount too on the Fabia and they threw in a spare wheel without me asking. Kept informed throughout, salesman was Ricky Lopes who was superb. Car delivered on time and they were great when I changed pick up time the day before. So for sales, yes I'd recommend them.

[Gonzini]

Hi All

Sparshatts have pulled out of the Skoda franchise, which is a shame. No more free MOT's for the Fabia....

Anyway some outfit called Richmonds have taken over the Botley and Fareham sites.

Time will tell how it all pans out. Not sure if its the same staff there, I'm sure there will be some departures.

[BarryG]

I've bought a Citigo from Richmond....car was delivered with a dent in the roof, fallout all over the car which took some removing and no air pump in the tyre repair kit. Yes, they fixed the dent and got someone to hand deliver the pump. But, not a great start for the new owners. This was a brand new car and I just feel that the management don't care. Sales staff as before are superb. Think I'll be going elsewhere for servicing!

[Gonzini]

Hi Barry

Oh dear, dosen't sound too great.

In a moment of madness I've gone against my usual advice and buying a new mk3 Fabia 1L 110ps SE L from them. Might be the only new car I'll ever buy, usually a few years old S/H when i do get around to changing. I struggle with the thought of the depreciation when buying new, but I've never experienced a new car.

It seems there's a lot of the old staff still there and some new ones.

Experience so far has been OK, but saying that i had a call about signing some paperwork for the registration on Wednesday. I called by there Thursday and i ended up walking out after 40 mins as i was just sitting there. Nobody came over after my initial hello and explanation of why i was there, all it needed was someone to give me a heads up with what was going on. Person i spoke to on the phone day before said he could sort it out so said I'd swing by next day. I mentioned it to the sales guy today as he had been off and was still insistent that i came in to sign today.

Managed to put it off until tomorrow as have the pre delivery meeting in the morning.

Have to see how it goes, I'm sure it will be fine.

I will be checking the car all over then now since your experience with the bodywork, seems next Tuesday is hand over day.

[JGrindel]

My partner purchased a used 2017 Fabia 1.2tsi 90ps SE (42k miles) from Richmond Skoda Botley last July (2020). 

 

The sales staff where friendly and willing to let us test drive the 2 Fabia's we where looking at (1 x 1.0tsi and 1 x 1.2tsi) 

 

After we test drove the cars my partner decided to go for the 1.2. I noticed a few issues on the paint of the car, small chips on the rear O/S door which was rusting slightly (only surface) and a small mark on the front bumper. Front bumper and door where re sprayed before collection and at no extra cost. They also gave us the left over paint as touch up. 

 

The car was delivered with Auto Glym life shine free of charge (Full kit in the boot), a discount on the APR and 2 x services for £79 and new floor mats all round. 

 

Collection was smooth and effortless. The car was presented with a large bow on the bonnet which dwarfed the one I got off amazon for my partner as a surprise but the staff where happy to make it and put it on for me (I dropped it off a week earlier) 

 

Overall we where very happy with the service. BUT they did say they would check in on us before the 14 day cool off period. No call was made. But this is minor. 

 

We noticed after a while we had a humming from the rear N/S wheel. On its MOT which was done at a local garage they mentioned that the rear tyre was out of shape and that was what was causing the humming, before we got the tyre changed it went in for its service and as the car had a years used warranty the garage offered to check the humming out as a warranty check as I wanted to make sure it wasn't a wheel bearing. It wasn't luckily. 

 

They did say that the car would benefit from a 4 wheel alignment but I questioned this as the Fabia has a fixed rear axle and I had read that it couldn't be adjusted. The mechanic was adamant that it could be aligned.  

 

Overall a good garage, dealt with the sale nicely, sorted out the issues we highlighted and where accommodating when it came to collection.