Flag Vans — Local services in Bristol

We bought a Volkswagen Transporter 2.0 BiTDI T32 Highline Kombi 4dr Diesel from here through Auto Trader (still being advertised – please be aware of the following!!!).

We traveled a long way to collect it. On arrival, the van on the surface was very clean. On inspection, the sliding rear window fell out when I opened it as the catch was broken, and the front side indicator was falling out after a test drive. The tailgate latch on the inside did not work, meaning you could get stuck in the boot as there is a bulkhead. They appeared somewhat frustrated by our checking of the vehicle and stated, “Well, it is an 11-year-old van.” They agreed to order replacement parts for the indicator and gave us £50 off for the window latch.

On the drive home, after 1 hour on the motorway, the engine overheated and we had an engine warning light appear at 130°. We pulled over and filled the coolant up, which was very low. From there, we took the journey very slowly and had to stop to top up the coolant further – possible leak. We also noticed on the journey that the rear windscreen wiper had broken and was only going halfway.

At home, we took the van to our mechanic. He queried if it might be a head gasket problem amongst other potential issues but did not fully diagnose it as this would have been at much further expense to us. He also noted that all four brakes needed replacing as they were almost completely worn – this would cost £1,000. This was concerning as the MOT had passed with no advisories in August and this was early September. Query questionable MOT.

On this information, we decided that it was too risky to keep this van and requested to return it.

Flag agreed for us to return the vehicle and said they would give a full refund if it was returned in the same state. I spoke to another garage who said if that was their van, they would collect it as it was obviously a big risk making the journey back. If it didn’t make it then we would be in a tricky position. I emailed Flag in regard to this and they said to take the journey slowly and top up with coolant if needed. They offered no reassurance as to what would happen if it did break down on the journey. We decided to take the risk as we were already well out of pocket and couldn’t afford to get it towed there. Thankfully, the van made it back as I took it very slowly with regular stops – (also note that the fuel economy was awful, averaging 30mpg on the motorway driving at 55mph).

On arrival, I said, “Thankfully I made it,” to which I received the response, “I never doubted you would!” I had provided videos to them of the problems we had encountered on our way home, so they absolutely knew that there were major problems with their van.

The return went fine, no apology received, but the money was fully returned and our part exchange car returned back to us.

I am really concerned that the van remains advertised at the same price with all these known issues. I wouldn’t trust this company.

2 stars rather than 1 because they did return the full amount we paid along with our...

BE WARY. I purchased a Vivaro from this company, which claimed to had just been serviced etc. On the day I travel to go and pick it up, they were literally doing the “service” in front of me and had a scanner plugged in to the van. I thought nothing of it as they waffled and said sometimes after a service it needs more oil (no, me neither) ? This was after I had mentioned the service light was still on (see picture 1) - then I drive the van away and it lasts about 120 miles before it’s parked up in a service station where it stayed over night (see picture 2). This van was VERY faulty and the mechanic Flag Vans advised me to take it to, said he can tell they had just cleared the codes on a faulty van and then when it inevitably breaks down, they get to ‘save the day’ with the shoddy warranty they give you so the van is fixed at no cost to them. The van was reg FP62 UTK. Not only does it have a major costly turbo fault, it’s advertised as having air con and electric mirrors, both of which don’t work. Luckily I had taken finance out for this van and was within my rights to reject this van within the first 14 days but the whole ordeal cost me around £500 in expenses. Wouldn’t even recommend Flag Vans...

Bought a 2011 Ford Transit in March 2023. Purchase experience was good and can't fault the customer service. However less than 6 months in van started leaking oil. We've had to replace the Turbo (£1200) and 6 weeks after that the Engine has now been condemned (looking at an additional £4500). Mileage is on par with 10,000 a year and vehicle had a strong service history but we've spent more than we paid for the vehicle in less than 7.5 months. We understand there are risk associated with buying used vehicle but this has really been a nightmare. Nonetheless, we've had a good experience with the customer service. Unfortunate that there isn't anything they can help with as 3 month...