Website: https://www.wilsons.co.uk
Phone: 01372 736 000
Address: Nonsuch Business Park, Kiln Lane, Epsom, United Kingdom, KT17 1DH
About company:
We are the largest family run new and used car supermarket covering Surrey, London and the South of England that has been selling cars for over 110 years offering our customers extensive choice, unbeatable value and a service they can trust in one location. We’re proud to represent elevent new car brands — Abarth, Alfa Romeo, Dacia, Fiat, Hyundai, Jeep, MG, Nissan, Nismo, Peugeot, and Renault — as well as stocking over 1,000 nearly new and used cars on site that you can browse online today.
We are always open to taking on new talent and are proud to offer jobs in Epsom to local residents. Interested in joining our team? Have a look at our careers page here
So, how did it all begin?
In 1904, Wilsons opened as one of the first driving schools in the UK. Florence Wilson and Howard Wilson saw an opportunity when a friend was fascinated by the new ‘»horseless carriage» he was driving, and they began offering driving lessons and later on started to sell cars.
Florence Wilson was one of the first female driving instructors in the country.
In the 1920’s, during the First World War, the Wilsons taught Australians and New Zealenders to drive army trucks in London in an effort to beat the enemy!
By 1930s, the second world war had ended and the number of car owners was increasing. Wilsons expanded and move on to a bigger site in Epsom
In 1946, Wilsons became the dealership with the largest self-drive car fleet in the UK. Most of the Wilsons children were taught to drive from as young as 5! In the 1950’s, Tony Wilson even taught CHILDREN to drive at school as part of a road safety campaign!
In 1953, Wilsons became a franchise dealer for Renault, and are the oldest Renault dealership still in business.
In 1958, Wilsons started the FIRST global motorhome sales centre and through the 1960s and 1970s, Wilsons was the largest global motorhome dealership, trading as Wilsons Motor Caravan Centre. They were selling over 2,000 motorhomes a year! We even supplied motorhomes to celebrities like Steve Mcqueen!
In 1981, Wilsons opened a stand alone Van Centre at 101 East Street in Epsom.
In the 1990s, Wilsons became a franchise dealership for Nissan and Peugeot, and in the 2000s we added Fiat, Vauxhall and Citroen to the Wilsons family.
In 2002, Van Sales purchased a larger site and moved to the London Road in North Cheam, where they remain today. Loads of Vans are family owned and run by the Wilsons and are committed to supply the best new and used vans on the market.
In September 2003, there was a fire in the Renault Showroom which caused damage to the Sales and Service departments.
However, not being the type to backdown to a challenge, as early as April 2004, just 7 months after the fire, Wilsons were back up and running and just over a year later Wilsons was back to full capacity. Despite such a traffic event, the business survived and continued to function in a show of strength and adversity.
In 2015 Wilsons added Dacia to the growing list of franchises, and in 2016 added Abarth, growing the FCA franchises.
In 2018, the business expanded again adding Nismo to the Nissan franchise.
In February 2020, the main showroom was completely refurbished and Alfa Romeo, Jeep and Hyundai were added to the franchise family.
In January 2021, Wilsons launched a new website, with a buy online option where customers can transact completely online, buying cars using cash or applying for finance completely online, and having it delivered to their homes when convenient for them, driving the business forward digitally.
In July 2021, despite the challenges from Covid-19, Wilsons added MG to the franchises.
Now, Wilsons have 11 New Car Franchises, over 1,000 used vehicles in stock, a stand alone Vans centre and are leading the switch to electric vehicles in Surrey. The business continues to go from strength to strength and is a market leader for car dealerships, who knows what the next few years will have in store!
Choice, Value, Trust. Wilsons. Since 1904.
Bought a second hand Fiat 500 from this company a few years back. Sent it for a service to fit a rear brake light and the wrong side got fitted. Next time we put it in for a service the Automatic gearbox had an issue with jumping into neutral whilst going along in 4th or 5th gear which was pretty dangerous. Their service team took the car in and found nothing wrong and gave us back the car. The fault persisted and a local garage plugged the electronic fault reader in and said the fluid for the auto gearbox needed topping up. This was what the car system said. The fault persists despite the top up so it has been suggested we have to change the Management system for the gearbox. The car was in for mid December at Wilson’s and we were told the part would be ready by 3rd January. No one called to say it wasn’t in and I tried several times to find out what was happening. I was told the Fiat parts’ warehouse had moved so there were delays. Roll on to 25th January there has been no contact and I’m having to call up again to find out what is going on. Shocking customer service . Car has been off the road now for six weeks plus. The Sales side of Wilson’s was pretty slick but experience of the Service side awful.
We purchased a Peugeot e208 at the asking price during lockdown. Given it was only 9 months old, had the dealership as the first owner, and the Covid restrictions, we opted for an online purchase after seeing a video. The car arrived with a completely worn, unsafe no-name replacement tyre (not Michelin as all the others), 1200 more mileage on the clock than supposed to, a service due shortly, and scratches on the middle console. The guy who delivered it only shrugged it off. Wilsons didn’t reply to my complaint that followed for two weeks, allowing the time to return it to pass. Upon numerous calls and emailing yet another department they offered to pay for the tyre replacement and the service. This was the absolute minimum, no compensation for the excess mileage. This reflects bad practices, terrible customer service, and a poor purchase experience to say the least. They do as little as they can or less.
I bought a Dacia from them last year and after driving it for less that a 1000 miles decided that although the car was nice to drive and excellent on diesel consumption it just wasn’t me. I asked about a buy back and although I had taken a knock on the price, was happy with the end result. One being walked back to my car, I found a little gem and the following week had traded in my Dacia and drove out with my new vehicle. So far, not had any problems. I found the staff very friendly
Had a great experience very happy with my new car and great part exchange valuation. Also low APR rates compared to other dealers. Thank you.