‘Highly recommended' car dealership with nearly perfect review scores suddenly shuts
A HIGHLY recommended car dealership with excellent reviews has closed suddenly.
The Evans Halshaw location ceased trading quietly earlier this month with no warning given.
One of the firms 'direct hubs' the small location in Stoke on Trent ceased trading without a word.
It boasted glowing reviews from happy customers and an impressive 4.7 stars on Google.
The little site in the carpark of a Morrisons could be used by locals to sell or part exchange their motors.
Evans Halshaw has wound down operations in the UK with several dealerships and locations closing across the country.
The move comes after the firm's parent company, Pendragon, was taken over by US-based Lithia Motors last year.
With the takeover restructuring was implemented and it was reported in February that several dealerships would close.
The Evans Halshaw Renault and Dacia site in Doncaster and its Vauxhall sites in Portsmouth and Wolverhampton were earmarked for closure.
The firms Edinburgh Vauxhall dealership was sold off to Arnold Clark as part of the restructuring.
Several of its direct hub sites were also slated to cease trading with the Stoke location shutting up shop this month.
Lithia reportedly cut 250 jobs last year when the US business killed off the 'CarShop' used car supermarket brand.
The Stoke Evans Halshaw Direct Pod was closed without warning and still shows as open online.
Why are so many car dealerships closing down?
By Summer Raemason
According to Business Rescue Expert there are multiple reasons why car dealerships are folding across the UK.
The first major factor is rising online car sales which are beating in-person sales at dealerships.
With an extensive range of comparison and second-hand sites to chose from, may car buyers don't even step foot into a dealership anymore.
Secondly, the actual cost to physically run the sites has soared.
Rent, wages and energy bills have all been increasing for roughly the past five years, putting many out of pocket.
Car manufacturing across the globe was also hit by a semiconductor chip shortage in 2022 which made it difficult to produce new motors.
The high demand with limited supply created a backlog, which although has eased, is still having an impact on the industry.
A third reason for recent closures is the shift to electric cars.
They are becoming more popular, given the Government initiative to be Net Zero in 2050.
The industry is also affected when companies merge or are bought by rivals.
This may lead to some independent names falling victim to the ongoing spate of closures.
The only indication of the impending closure was a small line of text buried away on the Evans Halshaw site.
It read: "The following dealerships ceased trading in May 2025: Evans Halshaw Direct Pod Stoke."
The Sun contacted Evans Halshaw for comment, with the company saying: "The Direct pod at Stoke has now closed for business."
The direct pod in Stoke boasted glowing online reviews with dozens of customers offering four or five stars.
An employee, James, was frequently mentioned and applauded for his good communication.
The site also offered a "very good price" to customers looking to sell their cars according to the reviews.
Customer David Pratt said: "Many thanks to James at Car Store Direct who made the whole experience of selling my car as easy and trouble free as possible, even providing a better price for my car than a number of competitors.
"A very fair and professional service I would have no hesitation in recommending my friend's and relatives to Car Store Direct and James in particular."
Stephen Wood, another former customer added: "Highly recommend James and the service we received.
"Quick efficient and easy, money arrived in our account earlier than expected, well done."
Craig Kennedy said: "Sold my car today and I must say the overall experience via carstore has been fantastic.
"James was a pleasure to deal with. I would definitely deal with James and the company again if needed."
Jayne Taylor said: "James was very helpful we turned up with a flat battery he helped to restart the car he was very polite and any queries were dealt with really promptly a very easy selling of my car."
All four customers offered five star reviews to the Evans Halshaw location.
Evans Halshaw confirmed that eight dealerships ceased trading earlier this year.
Dacia Doncaster, Dacia Sheffield, Renault Doncaster, Vauxhall Portsmouth, Vauxhall Wolverhampton, Evans Halshaw Direct Pod St Albans, Evans Halshaw Direct Pod Hanworth and Evans Halshaw Direct Pod Orpington all shut shop in January.
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