Wilsons of Rathkenny Reviews 

Many thanks to Gabby in the Vauxhall Service Department for helping me out from start to finish when my car broke down. It was not a nice experience made so much easier buy this helpful lady. Thankyou so much A++++

This posting refers to the Agricultural Section of Wilson’s of Rathkenny, Cushendall Road, Ballymena.

Hanna in the Agri section deserves an extra mention. Her communication and interaction with customers goes beyond what you would normally expect, (non returned phone calls, few updates, slow service common to most large firms). Hanna deserves internal recognition for her consistency and commitment to customer services and her friendly and concern in handing any problems or questions posed. Excellent service.

I originally visited the dealership with a maximum budget of £10,000 and intended to purchase a Nissan Juke. During my visit, Dominic encouraged me to test drive a Mercedes that was approximately £1,500 over my budget. He assured me that although the vehicle was around 10 years old, it “drove like brand new.” Based on his recommendation and reassurance, I agreed to purchase the vehicle despite it exceeding my budget.

Prior to purchasing the vehicle, I pointed out several cosmetic marks. Dominic assured me that he would do his best to remove these before collection. However, when I collected the vehicle several weeks later, the marks were still present and the vehicle had not even been cleaned. In fact, my stepfather commented to Dominic that the least the dealership could have done was wash the car before handing it over.

Unfortunately, this was only the beginning of an extremely disappointing and stressful ownership experience.

On the very same day I collected the vehicle, I had to return it because the washer jets were not working. Although Dominic initially claimed they were functioning correctly, I subsequently had to return the vehicle on two separate occasions for repairs to the washer jets.

The vehicle then had to be returned a further two times to have a faulty wheel bearing repaired. On one occasion, I was contacted during the afternoon and told the vehicle was ready for collection. I drove from Bangor to Ballymena only to be informed, just 30 minutes before the agreed collection time, that the vehicle was not actually ready. This resulted in a completely wasted journey and further inconvenience.

Approximately four weeks after purchasing the vehicle, I also had to replace a tyre after discovering that the alloy wheel was cracked.

The most alarming incident occurred when the rear driver’s side door opened while I was driving on the motorway. At the same time, the ABS warning light illuminated. This represented a serious safety concern for both myself and other road users.

Once again, I drove the vehicle to your dealership only to be informed that it would not be repaired that day, requiring yet another unnecessary return journey to Bangor.

Overall, I have had to take five days off work due to repeated visits to your dealership, in addition to the significant fuel costs incurred travelling back and forth.

When I finally collected the vehicle after the ABS repair, the warning light reappeared after driving only two miles. I immediately returned to the dealership and was told the issue was caused by me fitting a tyre of a different size. This explanation was simply incorrect, as this model of Mercedes is designed to have different tyre sizes on the front and rear axles.

To make matters worse, I had an MOT booked that evening and was advised by your staff to “just put it through and let it fail.” I then drove from Ballymena to Newtownards at no more than 30mph because I had no confidence in the vehicle’s safety. Thankfully, the vehicle passed its MOT, but on the journey home the ABS warning light returned once again.

I reported this to Esther on 18 June, and despite the seriousness of the ongoing fault, I am still awaiting any meaningful response.

At this point, I had completely lost confidence in both the vehicle and the level of customer service I had received from Wilson’s of Rathkenny. Due to the ongoing safety concerns, repeated faults, lack of effective repairs, poor communication, and the financial and personal impact this situation has had on me, I made the difficult decision to sell the vehicle.

Because I was forced to sell the vehicle with the ABS warning light still present, I suffered a financial loss of approximately £6,000.

I am extremely disappointed by the standard of customer care I have received and by the way my concerns have been handled.

This is the second car I have bought from Wilsons of Rathkenny, I have to say they are extremely efficient thorough and helpful (Paul Gilmore) was attentive and kept me informed during the whole process they also carried out work on the car that wasn’t due just yet, I cannot recommend their services highly enough.

Another good deal done with Paul Gilmore @ Wilsons of Rathkenny, 3rd car bought here and always a pleasure closing the deal with Paul. This time we bought a 25 Vauxhall Mokka Griffen and look forward to many more happy miles.

We have now bought our second car in the space of six months and could not be happier with the service we received. Paul’s professionalism, knowledge, and helpful nature made the whole process smooth and stress-free once again. Nothing was too much trouble, and he went above and beyond to make sure we were looked after. Excellent service from start to finish – highly recommended

Left my mokka in for a warranty repair to replace wet timing belt, left car on 02/06/25 took them 16 days to the 18/06/25 to do at max a 2day repair, all parts had been previously ordered prior to my car going in, despite numerous telephone calls, I was told some story about a locking tool they had to order, finally on the 16th day I got a call my car was ready, whilst there to pick it up, I requested some form of paper work to detail the work carried out on my car, was told there was none, after protest they agreed to email it to me, next day when I moved my car found it to be leaking engine oil, thankfully prior to the repair taking place I had removed the cover under the engine bay and took photos of the engine with no leaks, contacted Wilsons 19/06/25 to report the oil leak, spoke with Katherine and was told I would have to leave the car with them, giving the amount of messing about with the repair, I decided to have an independent local garage inspect the car and they found the engine sump to be leaking oil due to being incorrectly sealed and have photos of this also, to avoid being messed about by Wilsons a second time I had the sump resealed by the independent garage and at my expense. after further contacting Katherine on the Vauxhall service desk several more time in regard to the paper work still nothing, last contact in regard to this was 9am 27/06/25 were Katherine was just going to email it to me there and then, guess what? still nothing! I personally I would not recommend Wilsons of Rathkenny to undertake any form of repair for me in the future, after searching for an email address for them I came across this site and thought why not leave them an honest and complete review, as they have no problem ignoring me as customer and by all accounts their actions and sub standard workmanship does not appear to bother them.

My son purchased a Honda Civic from David Simpson he was extremely helpful and we are very pleased with the car and the first class service we received from David.

Dominic was excellent from start to finish in buying my new car. Very honest which is rare in car sales! Highly recommend

Would leave 0 star if u could
Bought a car from Paul Gilmore 2 weeks later it broke down RAC restarted Wilsons then claimed to fix it 2 weeks later broke down again. RAC restarted car but Wilsons were to look at it. Third time it broke down RAC provided list of faults. Wilsons did not fix any of these faults just cleared them on computer. My car that I pay for every month has been sitting there for 8 weeks I am waiting on Ombudsman to make a decision.
Customer service was shocking. Vauxhall Repairs shocking . Very stressful situation I just wanted a reliable car that was roadworthy not breaking down every 2 weeks. They also removed my review from their website they kept up the review Paul Gilmore wrote himself on my husbands phone absolute joke giving yourself 5 star reviews and naming yourself constantly.

This day last week I picked up new (used) Nissan Qashqai. After some terrible experiences with second-hand car purchases Dominic looked after me with this happy purchase. I also appreciated his dealing with MOT and warranty arrangements.
Left his showroom with a beautiful car and a confidence.

Thus far no problems.
Seen a vehicle online and was lucky enough to call and get Dominic at other end
The purchase process was fantastic and car was serviced prior to my collecting it .
Luckily I seem to of bought a decent car but I guess like most things you get what you pay for .
Had it checked over by my own mechanic when I arrived home ( 2 hours away from showroom) and seems I'm good to go.
I hope not to have to use the 12 month warranty but if I do I'm sure the process will be as simple as the purchase .

Thanks again

Went for a look around and was greeted by Paul. All questions and queries answered with great knowledge and happily made a purchase a few days later. No issues whatsoever. Great team member.

I have to agree with others and their dealings with Wilson’s of Rathkenny. All I can say is have nothing to do with this business . They are absolutely unprofessional . Everything about them is terrible. My wife bought a mini countryman from them last month and on the second day I found out that the clutch was done. Then it was fixed and leaving the garage the ABS lights came. Then it had to go back to get a ABS pump, then a Bering. After fixing the clutch they didn’t put on the engine cover. It was missing only my mate who is a mechanic noticed it wasn’t on the car. He also noticed that the screws were missing around the wheel arch cover. When driving the car it was flapping about in the wind about to fall off. My wife left the car back again for the third time to get that problem sorted out then again as she was driving the car home to Ballymoney there was another problem. The cars under floor covering wasnt put on right and again it was flapping about only this time it was bouncing of the ground now the car isn’t mobile and they want us to take the car back again to them to get fixed. We can’t drive it so I’m getting my own mechanic to fix it. The wheels were a bit shabby when I looked at the car and the salesman said if that’s what’s keeping you from buying the car I’ll get the wheels painted. I said that’s ok then a couple of days later I paid for the car. When I went to collect the car the wheels looked good from a distance, when I got closer to the car the wheels didn’t seem to be rubbed down properly before they were painted. It looked like they had just been cleaned and then sprayed over. The corrosion was still below the paint. Although Wilson’s gave me a years warranty I have no confidence in their mechanics and their ability to carry out the work on my wife’s car.
I hope this helps as a warning to stay clear.

Called into Wilsons of Rathkenny today, no appointment, just wanted to have a look around. Paul came to assist me and I told him I was considering trading in my 9 year old Toyota Yaris for a nice shiny new car. Paul took my car for a test drive, checked my full service history, and returned to ask me, why I'd want to trade in such a great wee car! I've never had this experience when viewing other cars recently, it's usually the hard sell. How refreshing. Keep being honest Paul, it's a unique selling point for a car salesman.

Absolute shambles both in customer service and attitude. Left a seat arona in for warranty work and it took four weeks to install a sensor. Originally assured job would be done in a day and throughout the four weeks was treated with no regard on how I was going to manage without a car. Was told all courtesy cars were out so I had to arrange a vehicle. I wish there was something positive to write but there isnt.

Very bad parts man Steve was quite abrupt saying I will get my money/credit back when he gets his credit from Vauxhall. When I asked how long it’s going to take he slammed the phone down. This is a franchise dealer so if you take parts back for refund you’ll be treated in the same manner. I’ve waited 20 days since 3/1/23 already since the return on hand brake brake cable for my Vauxhall van £55.54 owing me been told another week from liz in accounts and manager Wilson didn’t return call like he said about this.be aware!! 25/1/23 I have been told today I will get my refund minus 15% surcharge including vat equal £8.44 didn’t show on invoice got!