Martel's Foreign Car Center DE 19901

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Camille Funn

MICE IN MY CAR when it was returned to me. I brought it in for an overheating issue they said they would call me with a quote 4 weeks later no quote still so I said I would just come get it. The second I got into the car I was hit with a gnarly smell which come to find out was because it sat in a field for 4 weeks and mice got into it and peed all over everything. They chewed up the carpet. There were droppings everywhere even my child’s car seat. I called to request that they cover the cost of a new car seat since it was $400. This is a reasonable request considering the extent of the damage is way more than $400 in total and I was told no “that’s just nature we can’t prevent that” even though the car was in their care. So unless you want a ruined mice filled car go somewhere else.

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Kathryn J.

I had an absolutely terrible experience with Martel’s Foreign Car Service in Dover, DE. Despite claiming to have over 20 years of experience working on Volkswagens, the owner couldn’t figure out what was wrong with our vehicle. We told him that the clock spring needed to be replaced, he ended up charging us over $500 for a $35 part that was actually under warranty (found this out later). The first time he had our car for nearly a week, and when we finally got it back, it wasn’t fixed at all—in fact, it had new problems! He told us to bring it back so he could correct the issue, and after having it for the entire day, he claimed there was no issue and would continue to “research it”. The moment I drove off the lot, the problem was worse than before with new issues! I took the car to a different, more reliable place, an actual dealership, and they told me that the part was still under warranty (the part had a Volkswagen warranty of 15 years) and all that was needed was a simple sensor switch reset. The fix should have cost nothing! Save yourself the headache and avoid this place at all costs. I would never trust Martel’s Foreign Car Service with my vehicle again. Update: The owner calls 5 months after the second encounter, has not called a single time to offer to fix the issue, but rather he called to see if he can get the VIN and mileage off our vehicle cause he was charged 2x for the part and it was under warranty. When questioned about it the caller stated, "nevermind I didn’t think it was going to turn into all this" and hung up on me. The vehicle was never actually fixed by Martel’s, came out of the shop with more issues than what it went in with, and on top of all of that, we paid over $500 to "replace a clock spring" that was under warranty! AND now, he has the audacity to call me asking for my VIN in mileage so he can get a refund?

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Billy Lewis

Had to wait 2 1/2 weeks to get my car into their shop for valve cover gasket. I told them to replace the valve cover to an aluminum one, cause I know the plastics ones are brittle and warp. After they looked over my car and confirmed it was a bad gasket, they told me they could order the aluminum valve cover and it'll be there in a couple days BUT I'd have to wait another 2 weeks to get it put on. Why would I have to go to the back of the line when my car and the part is there? I couldn't wait another 2 weeks so I told them to just do the gasket. When I picked up the car a couple days later, the guy told me that I should look into getting the metal valve cover cause mine was looking a little warped.... So it was kinda pointless to pay to get this done if I'm going to have the same issue in a few thousand miles. Definitely wouldn't recommend if you need anything urgent done to your car.