Darwin Motor Group - Winnellie

"The service was impeccable, Joe, SJ and Clarizza were absolutely fantastic and supportive throughout the process, very efficient, provided all the information I needed and options, followed up to offer support! I highly recommend , the ambiance in the offices and lounge area were also excellent!….. run there if you are looking to purchase a car!"

"Lack of communication and to many broken promises! It takes so long to get my vehicle back and no one listens to the customer, it falls on deaf ears. It is frustrating and stressful trying to deal with this company. The prices are heavily expensive not to mention my car was in perfect condition until you guys touched it. Now 1 yr on its an electrical problem. Not even 5yrs old and the motor blows up and had to wait 6months for a new one!! Thank God it was still under warranty but it still took you guys 2-3 months to get me a loan car... not happy so disappointing to say the least I DO NOT RECOMMEND DMG to anyone sorry."

"This would have to be the worst service we have ever encountered anywhere. Not only do they not return calls or update you on your car, they have absolutely no idea how to fix cars either. After 4 weeks it took us to provide them with the information provided to us by another service department in order for them to be able to fix 2 very simple problems that should have only taken a couple of hours in total. Very poor service and would suggest to take your car anywhere else but here if you have the option."

"We bought a brand new MG ZS electric less than 6 months ago and it had an electrical fault that stopped it working last week. This was on last week of May 2023. DMG's Customer service has been atrocious throughout the ordeal, very unapologetic, unhelpful and not taking into consideration the amount of time off work this is costing us. This issue could have been easily mitigated by offering a loan car or another alternative early on, but they didn't. The car was towed in to DMG on that day and returned to us 'fixed'. The next day it was lucky I had switched cars so my wife had the kids in my car while I was driving the MG. Suddenly it lost all power and I had no acceleration, no power steering, not even enough energy to put the hazard lights on! Likely the break lights weren't working either because the car behind nearly rear ended me. I couldn't put the window down to wave them through, and I had to muscle the car onto a side road. Because it was Friday, the car had to be towed to a safe locked car park and then delivered to DMG on Monday 5/06/23. That left us without a car for the whole weekend. DMG explained that because they couldn't 'see' the car, they couldn't give us a loan car, even though it was the same fault they had allegedly repaired that same week. I asked them to please ensure us the car would be safe to drive. It was returned to us after changing the small battery and running some tests - whatever these were. The next day the car failed again while my wife was driving down McMillans in another perilous situation where the car had to be manoeuvred to a safe spot. It was towed again back to DMG on 6/6/23. DMG's customer service has given us lots of excuses, and little responsibility or apologies for putting us in danger twice as their crash test dummies to find out that their 'repairs' didn't work. No admission that they clearly didn't know what they are doing or how to fix it, considering that after two attempts they still returned the car with the same problem, saying that it was 'safe' to drive. Clearly it wasn't. We have been asking for a loan car to use in the meantime but none has been made available. Since this is their issue, I proposed to get us a hire car but they can't even organise that. My wife had to cancel all her meetings because she could not get to them without a car. Customer service has been appallingly unhelpful, shifting the blame on us when they run out of ideas on how to fix this faulty brand new car. Yesterday they said they would (finally) organise a loan car for us, and then confirmed this when I called at 4pm. Alas, they never got in touch with me and we still have no car to drive around. If I could give zero stars I would have. Edit 13/06/2023 Attn to K. M from DMG Directly after I gave a 1-star rating I received a message asking for details. I immediately provided the information requested by the customer service manager K. M. And? There has been no further comments. This unfortunately shows the level of care from DMG. After a week, I was expecting as a minimum an apology for the inconveniences. Alas, there has been no attempt to do so."

"We have had nothing but unpleasant experiences with Darwin Motor Group (DMG), as well as their previous business Barramundi Group. In 2015, my partner and I bought a Kia Cerato automatic hatchback. We were advised by our sales person at the time that he could "guarantee" that we would receive $2,000 of trade-in value for my partner's former car. We signed the paperwork, then upon commencing trade-in, the dealership refused the $2,000 and claimed that they would only give us $100. We were also advised by the same salesperson that when we bring our Kia in for a service, the car dealership would provide us with a loan car, no additional charges. The dealership later advised us that we can rent a car from them, but they stated it would be cheaper for us to hire a car elsewhere, such as Hertz. We believe the salesperson deliberately lied to us for the purpose of a commissions-based sale. This year (2023) shortly after our Kia's warranty was gone (seven years), our Kia began to experience issues. We took it in for scheduled service, but we were advised that we would not only need to pay for the service, but would need to pay an inspection fee for their mechanic(s) to investigate the issue(s). The service was $617.79 and the inspection fee was $159.09, resulting in a cost of $776.88 (excluding GST, $77.69, grand total of $854.47). I advised the DMG consultant over the phone that even though my partner is the primary driver, to not call her, as her work does not allow her to pick up her phone during work hours, and to call me instead. They contacted me, explaining that they tried to call my partner first, but she didn't pick up "for some reason". When the DMG consultant e-mailed me the PDF quotes for the payments, they failed to send me the entire invoice, because "the printer only scanned on one side". This is just incompetence. The issue was that the Kia's crankshaft sensor needed to be replaced. DMG advised us that we would need to pay for the part ($238.19 - excluding $23.82 GST, $261.01 total) and that the part would take two weeks to arrive. We would then need to pay for the labour to have the part installed. The estimated labour was approximately $262.50, but as the job did not take as long, the cost was actually a bit lower. Overall, the total cost was over $1,200. Upon picking up the car two weeks later, I noticed that it was quite bumpy. I wasn't sure if it was the roads and/or the car itself, given that I rarely drive our Kia. When my partner drove it to go to work two days later, she came home immediately, telling me something was wrong, the car was 'bumpy' and she did not feel safe. We contacted DMG, and they advised us that we would need to pay another inspection fee for their mechanic(s) to look at the car. I was outraged - the Kia was not like this before, it was then under DMG's care for two weeks - while also being serviced, and now the Kia is doing this? It was incredibly suspicious. The consultant with DMG reluctantly claimed that they would speak to their manager, to try and provide us with a discount. The car was inspected again, finding that both the front and rear suspension had seized, and needed to be replaced. They advised us that new front and rear suspension would cost $900, excluding labour, as labour would put the cost over $1,100. Despite this new fault, the invoice for the service two weeks prior stated 'Inspect Front & Rear Suspension'. We believe that either the mechanic(s) did not properly investigate the vehicle during its service and/or that the mechanic(s) involved did something to damage our car's suspension. DMG refused to take accountability and responsibility, despite the car being under their care for two weeks. How does this happen in two weeks? We paid the second inspection fee, but have taken our business elsewhere. When my partner picked up the Kia, the consultant we had been liaising with was visibly attempting to hide from my partner. We'll never be going back to DMG. They are dishonest, incompetent, unprofessional, lack transparency and are incredibly expensive."