How reliable are Hilton Garage’s Checks?
Hilton Garage has been trading used cars for 45 years from their base in Derby. Offering home delivery and a click and collect service, the company has embraced online to compete with other car supermarkets.
Hilton Garage has been trading used cars for 45 years from their base in Derby. Offering home delivery and a click and collect service, the company has embraced online to compete with other car supermarkets. For a £100 deposit, you can reserve your chosen vehicle with the option to have it delivered or collected from their only dealership in Derby. Unfortunately, we couldn’t establish their charges for home delivery, so if you don’t reside close to their Derby showroom, we recommend making enquiries before falling in love with your dream vehicle.
All Hilton Garage’s cars are checked and prepared before delivery or collection, including valeting the vehicle. For peace of mind, the company provides a 14-day money-back guarantee with each of their cars, a free month’s warranty that’s upgradable and a minimum of six months MOT. Finance options are also available, and the company accepts vehicles in part exchange, with a separate sell your vehicle service, but only through their Derby location.
Hilton Garage is a little sketchy on checks and inspections compared to some other car supermarkets, which are more transparent with their information. The company simply advises that a fresh MOT is carried out on any vehicle where it’s due to expire within six months. Consequently, we highly recommend asking questions about what inspections and safety checks have been made, including if the car has been serviced.
We couldn’t find any information on their website relating to HPI checks or car history checks. Therefore, we strongly recommend obtaining a full car history report before committing to a purchase.
The lack of online transparency makes it impossible to determine what Hilton Garage’s car history check includes, and that’s if they do perform these crucial checks. Any sensible used car sales business would at least check the basics, such as insurance write-offs and whether vehicles have outstanding finance. However, as the company fails to relay this information clearly to potential buyers, we strongly advise conducting your own research and obtaining a full independent report before committing to buy. In addition, a full car history check will look at other vital aspects such as car scrappage and mileage discrepancies.
Hilton Garage doesn’t provide online information on the subject of service history. It’s likely that service history will be provided if that information is available. However, just bear in mind that it may be limited as it’s expected that some vehicles may be missing service history records entirely or the official stamps confirming completion weren’t recorded. Similarly, most newer vehicles now have a digital service history available online. Consequently, if you’re interested in one of their cars and a full-service history is essential to you, it’s best to ask the question before purchasing.
It would be very unusual for an established dealership like Hilton Garage not to carry out a basic check to make sure they’re not selling insurance write-offs. Consequently, only by carrying out your own full car history check can you get complete peace of mind and reassurance.
We found Hilton Garage’s general lack of transparency frustrating. We couldn’t even find an FAQ page. So, based on the complete lack of information available, we strongly recommend conducting your own research if you’re considering a car through Hilton Garage to avoid buying a lemon. Investing in a complete history check through Motorscan, you’ll receive our 80+ data points on a vehicle that’ll provide complete peace of mind and covers:
For a fully comprehensive car history, Motorscan checks vehicles against multiple databases. In addition, these extensive checks allow us to quickly deliver the complete history of any car, obtaining crucial data from the DVLA Vehicle checking service, MIAFTR insurance database, the PNC and Experian in just seconds. By carrying out this type of full car history check, you can be confident you’ve done your homework.
With Motorscan, you can obtain basic information about a vehicle for free. This can be super helpful if all you need is to check very basic car information. However, our premium paid options bring you vital facts about a car, allowing you to double-check Hilton Garage’s findings against a more comprehensive report. And our 5-vehicle check option works out at just £5.99 per vehicle; that’s ultimately a very insignificant price to pay for peace of mind!
