German Automotive limited

Regarding the MOT service that was carried out on my vehicle D18 SMT on July 13th 2023.The car was dropped off first thing in the morning. I received a call at 14:56 advising me that the MOT had passed and the service was complete.Around 4pm I arrived and paid the bill of £314.46 of which £54.85 was for the MOT.I thanked the young lady (Danielle I believe) and she took me to my car. I enquired as to where the MOT certificate was which was not on the front seat as it had been on the previous year. She said the mechanic must have forgotten and that she would sort it out and e- mail a copy the next day.I left the premises and got on with my day happily knowing my car was serviced and MOT’d for another year.It was only later when I received my bank statement (July 31st) and saw the German Automative debit that I realised I still hadn’t got my MOT certificateI wasn’t unduly worried and decided to download a copy from the DVLA website, to my horror it informed me that my MOT had expired on July 27th.I immediately rang yourselves and after a return call was asked to bring the vehicle in on Wednesday, the 2nd of August. I enquired why because as far as I was concerned the car had been MOT’d on July 13th. On speaking to Danielle at 16:56pm she informed me that there was a problem(glitch) in the DVLA system on that date, and she would sort it out and contact me the following day. She advised me not to drive my car as it had no valid MOT certificate. Admittedly I may have become angry and agitated during the conversation, but I’d come to realise that I’d been driving around for four days illegally. This leaving me in a position of invalidated insurance, 6– 8 points on my license and up to £1000 fine.I took it upon myself to take the car to yourselves at 7:45 am on Tuesday August 1st. I spoke to the gentleman in the office(I don’t know their names) but one in particular did not seem to to be concerned with my complaint and said that it was the systems fault, and that Danielle was at that moment visiting the DVLA centre to sort out the problem. It didn’t seem to register with him that I had been breaking the law because I had no valid MOT.I then asked for another MOT to be carried out to which he agreed . He took my keys and I didn’t see him again. The new MOT was successfully done and I was given the certificate. I left the premises around 8:50 am. Sadly not once was, I offered an apology from anyone at German automotive the company seeking to put all the blame on the DVLA system.Subsequently, I have been in contact with the driver and vehicle standards agency. (DVSA) and recounted my story to a very helpful lady. She outlined what my options were, but did confirm that as the MOT testing is a ‘live ‘ procedure any MOT carried out on the 13th of July would have been recorded on the system. She confirmed that no such test was taken on vehicle D18SMT on that date. A record of the MOT carried out on August 1st had been logged on the system and she reassured me that the vehicle was now legal to drive.As I have proof that no MOT carried out on my car, I have little confidence that the said service was also done. This may be a small matter put on previous services the remnants of the screen wash were left in the vehicle as a top up. On this occasion there was no excess screen wash and as I had filled the reservoir up the day before my test was no need for it to be done.I have found this whole experience very stressful. The fact that you charged me for an MOT which you didn’t carry out and I subsequently drove around for four days illegally was negligent. Furthermore, I was fortunate to pick up the mistake after a few days when potentially I could’ve carried on for months not knowing I had a valid MOT.The fact that no one from German automotive had the courtesy to contact me and apologise for the situation when you must be fully aware that no MOT was carried out on the 13th of July all adds up to an appalling customer experience.I await your reply on the matter.Yours, Simon

Only tried these due to my service plan ending at BMW..Im glad I did as i found them to be very friendly and very easy to talk to, they listened to what I wanted and did exactly that with no hidden extras/add ons.. the price was very reasonable and i will start using them from now on.. very happy with my experience.... well done and thank you

Professional and reliable. Sorted my car out with minimal hassle. Reasonably priced. Friendly and kind staff. Will use again.

I was recommended to German Automotive through my workplace and so glad I was. Helpful team, swift fix and clear explanation.Many thanks and I’ll be using German Automotive again should the need arise.

Serviced our merc at German Automotive today for the first time. Excellent communications and friendly staff! Highly recommend.

I didn't have a great experience with German Automotive.I've been having issues with my A3 for around 6 months, and when I spoke to the garage over the phone, it was an educated guess that the problem could be an EGR valve cooler/Charge cooler. Having worked in the automotive industry you get to learn about cars and their common faults pretty quickly, so I took it at face value.Initial diagnostic for underlying faults, and pressure testing to confirm for any leaks, proved unsuccessful, showing nothing untoward. But despite not knowing if it was at fault, they still recommended changing the EGR valve cooler, which had been quoted at £1200 approx. If that didn't work, it would be the Charge Cooler too. Two separate jobs of 6 hours each, taking into consideration the position of said valve, and the original Audi part.I had a second hand car warranty, which is something I had to put a claim in for, before authorising any work to be carried out, which was £90+ diagnostic fee to me, and I asked that I get a copy of the parts and labour cost, as well as a description of what was found. Three lines were what was described with suspected" EGR valve

Excellent place. Been coming for servicing/MOT and general repairs the best part of 10 years now with various cars throughout that time. The team are professional and friendly, never pushy and very knowledgable with the job at hand. Clear and transparent prices and advice, never had any surprises or issues using the team here. I live in Burton now but will happily drive over to use them as I know they can be trusted.

I had a problem with my Audi A5 convertible roof, through word of mouth heard about a guy called Jack who works for German autos who was a wizard with Audi’s and BM’s. Popped in on the off chance to see him and within a day my car was back on the road with a working roof. Can’t praise them enough for the quick and extremely professional and friendly service and no where near dealership prices. Extremely great value for money and will recommend whenever I can.

Amazing service. Very friendly and knowledgable staff. I would highly recommend using these guys for your car care needs!