Startline Motor Finance: most-reported complaints
Automated analysis of 566 public Trustpilot reviews published 2026-03-10 to 2026-09-23. TrustScore 4.7 from 13,932 total reviews — see the Trustpilot page. Quick answer: is Startline Motor Finance legit? Issues below reflect what reviewers reported, not findings of wrongdoing.
Reviewers most often report that support is unhelpful, with 48 out of 96 identified complaints citing this issue. Other frequent concerns include faulty products and support being unreachable, each accounting for 15 and 14 reports respectively. A smaller number of complaints, totaling 15, fall under other categories. Trends indicate that reports of faulty products are rising, while issues regarding other complaints and unreachable support are falling.
How to reach Startline Motor Finance
These are the contact details Startline Motor Finance publishes on its Trustpilot profile, as of our last check on 2026-09-23 — phone 0141 406 6622, email [email protected].
The company claimed its Trustpilot profile on 2017-07-18, uses Trustpilot’s paid features, and last replied to a negative review on 2026-09-22. Trustpilot ranks it 49 of 63 in Car Finance and Loan Company. We last checked this profile on 2026-09-23 and found 28 new reviews. These are facts Trustpilot publishes about the profile, as of our last harvest.
Official complaint record
FCA (2025-H2): 40,155 consumer-credit complaints received. source
Financial Ombudsman (H2-2025): 31.4% of resolved cases upheld against the firm. source
Official figures reported by the regulator/ombudsman named; independent of our review analysis.
Companies House: STARTLINE MOTOR FINANCE LIMITED (no. 08302453), active, incorporated 2012 (13.8 years); next accounts due 2027-09-30, last accounts filed 2026-08-28, 5 registered charges. 6 current officers (9 on record historically); 7 filings in the last 12 months (96 filings on record). official record — public register facts, not an indicator of wrongdoing; officer changes are routine in many company structures. Live Companies House status as of 2026-09-23.
Authorised firm reference 741747 — check the FCA Register.
Forum footprint: 5 MoneySavingExpert forum discussions mention this company (browse). Roughly 0 of the top, relevance-sorted search results were posted in the last 90 days — an approximate figure by construction, not a true recency count. Recent thread titles: “DCA Found”, “Creditplus broker DC probe”, “Further information on DCA Car Fiance”.
Elsewhere: 3.9★ on Google (0 reviews)
TrustScore over time
4.7 → 4.7 across 14 census measurements since 2026-08-12. Our own record, independent of Trustpilot’s display.
Reply behaviour over time
Solid: % of negative reviews replied to. Dashed: typical days to reply. Both as reported on this company’s Trustpilot profile, recorded whenever our census re-checked it and a figure had changed — the gaps between points are not equal: 2026-08-15 (100%, 0.4d) · 2026-08-18 (100%, 0.4d) · 2026-08-21 (100%, 0.4d) · 2026-08-24 (100%, 0.4d) · 2026-08-27 (99%, 0.4d) · 2026-09-01 (100%, 0.4d) · 2026-09-04 (100%, 0.4d) · 2026-09-07 (100%, 0.4d) · 2026-09-11 (100%, 0.4d) · 2026-09-14 (98%, 0.4d) · 2026-09-17 (97%, 0.4d) · 2026-09-20 (99%, 0.4d) · 2026-09-23 (100%, 0.4d).
Severity: 53% of this company’s 96 graded complaints were classified as severe (money lost, an essential service cut off, or a problem unresolved for months). See the harm index.
1★ share of negative reviews over time
Share of 1–3★ Trustpilot reviews that were 1★
In October 2024, 70% of 10 one-to-three-star reviews were 1★; in September 2026, 71% of 17.
Counted from October 2024 onward — the period for which our capture of 1★, 2★ and 3★ reviews is complete for all three. Months with fewer than 10 such reviews are omitted.
Reviewers here waited a median of 6.4 days between the experience and publishing their negative review (377 reviews record both dates).
Ombudsman outcomes
The Financial Ombudsman Service has published 244 decisions naming this firm, of which 45.9% were upheld in the customer’s favour (103 upheld, 9 partly upheld, 132 not upheld).
Covers decisions dated 2015-10-23 to 2026-07-28, by the acceptance-deadline date the Ombudsman publishes — not the date the complaint was decided.
Official published outcomes from the Financial Ombudsman Service, not our analysis. Uphold rates reflect the cases that reached the ombudsman, not all complaints. source.
Measured reply time: across 495 negative reviews that received a public reply, the median wait was 0.6 days — the company profile reports an average of under a day.
Reply quality: of 495 company replies to negative reviews analysed, 41% engaged with the specific problem and 56% were generic templates.
Review provenance: 476 company-invited reviews in the recent window average 4.75★, while 28 organic (uninvited) reviews average 1.86★. Trustpilot notes this company has collected incentivised reviews.
13% of its 421 recent 5★ reviews came from accounts that had written only that one review when we captured it (the median across companies is about 39%). A high share is a reason to look closer, not evidence of fake reviews.
Sector benchmark: support unhelpful makes up 50% of this company’s complaints vs a 28% median across 169 ranked companies in its sector.
Review velocity: 2,097 of this company’s 13,932 Trustpilot reviews (15%) were written in the last 12 months.
What are the most common complaints about Startline Motor Finance?
Support unhelpful
48 reports · 50% of complaintssteady“A1 then took 2 months to get back to us, only to refuse to cover this under warranty”
The company replied on 2026-07-23: “Mr Cooper, we are sorry to read that you have experienced these issues and our Complaints Resolution team are working to resolve this for you ASAP. If you would like to discuss this in more detail,…”
Our classifier read this reply as a substantive response.
It promised: to escalate.
3 readers marked this review helpful on Trustpilot.
“they had terminated my agreement”
The company replied on 2026-08-06: “We are sorry to read that your recent experience with us has not met the standards that you expect. If you would like to discuss this in more detail, we are available on 0141 483 2260. John H @…”
Our classifier read this reply as a template response.
2 readers marked this review helpful on Trustpilot.
“They have now taken me to court and are completely not willing to come to an agreement with me.”
The company replied on 2026-07-27: “Francesca, we are sorry to read that your recent experience with us has not met the standards that you expect. If you would like to discuss this in more detail, we are available on 0141 483 2260.…”
Our classifier read this reply as a template response.
2 readers marked this review helpful on Trustpilot.
Other
15 reports · 16% of complaintsfalling“only for start line to try and force me to keep it..with threatening letters”
The company replied on 2026-04-20: “Mr Pilley, we are sorry to read that you have experienced issues with your new vehicle and our Complaints Resolution team have concluded their investigation. If you would like to discuss this in more…”
Our classifier read this reply as a substantive response.
It promised: to make contact.
2 readers marked this review helpful on Trustpilot.
“I got car with issues lost lots of money and stress aswell”
The company replied on 2026-07-17: “Mrs Fatima, we are sorry to read that you have experienced issues with your new vehicle and our Complaints Resolution team will investigate this for you. If you would like to discuss this in more…”
Our classifier read this reply as a substantive response.
It promised: to escalate.
1 reader marked this review helpful on Trustpilot.
“Do not waste your time with this outfit - messed about from start to finish - I would avoid at all costs”
The company replied on 2026-07-13: “David, we are sorry your experience with us has not met your expectations and we are keen to investigate this further. However, we have been unable to locate a finance agreement in your name and have…”
Our classifier read this reply as a deflection.
1 reader marked this review helpful on Trustpilot.
Faulty product
15 reports · 16% of complaintsrising since 2026-08“Since purchasing the vehicle, I have experienced repeated problems relating to fault code P0035.”
The company replied on 2026-08-11: “Zoe, we are sorry to read that you have experienced issues with your new vehicle and our Complaints Resolution team are investigating this for you. If you would like to discuss this in more detail,…”
Our classifier read this reply as a substantive response.
It promised: to escalate.
2 readers marked this review helpful on Trustpilot.
“Utterly useless they supported my right of rejection for the vehicle i finance with them from trade center then went back on it”
The company replied on 2026-08-26: “Callum, we are sorry to read that you have experienced issues with your new vehicle. We await the Ombudsman's decision on your case. If you would like to discuss this in more detail, we are available…”
Our classifier read this reply as a substantive response.
It promised: to escalate.
1 reader marked this review helpful on Trustpilot.
“The vehicle has been off the road since April, leaving me without use of the car while still dealing with finance payments”
The company replied on 2026-07-01: “Jade, we are sorry to read that you have experienced issues with your vehicle and our Complaints Resolution team have concluded their investigation. If you would like to discuss this in more detail,…”
Our classifier read this reply as a substantive response.
It promised: to make contact.
1 reader marked this review helpful on Trustpilot.
Support unreachable
14 reports · 15% of complaintsfalling“phone number nobody answers or email John who never replies”
The company replied on 2026-03-26: “We are sorry your experience with us has not met your expectations and we are keen to investigate this further. However, we have been unable to locate a finance agreement in your name and have…”
Our classifier read this reply as a deflection.
2 readers marked this review helpful on Trustpilot.
“Customer service? None existent, and the people you talk over the phone, are extremely incompetent”
The company replied on 2026-07-16: “Daniel, we are sorry to read that you have experienced these issues and our Complaints Resolution team are investigating this for you. If you would like to discuss this in more detail, we are…”
Our classifier read this reply as a substantive response.
It promised: to escalate.
1 reader marked this review helpful on Trustpilot.
“I can't login in to anything will mot let me this not right atall”
The company replied on 2026-04-15: “Kenya, we are sorry to read that your recent experience with us has not met the standards that you expect. If you would like to discuss this in more detail, we are available on 0141 483 2260. John H…”
Our classifier read this reply as a template response.
1 reader marked this review helpful on Trustpilot.
Aggressive collections
12 reports · 12% of complaintsrising since 2026-08“they had terminated my agreement”
The company replied on 2026-08-06: “We are sorry to read that your recent experience with us has not met the standards that you expect. If you would like to discuss this in more detail, we are available on 0141 483 2260. John H @…”
Our classifier read this reply as a template response.
2 readers marked this review helpful on Trustpilot.
“They have now taken me to court and are completely not willing to come to an agreement with me.”
The company replied on 2026-07-27: “Francesca, we are sorry to read that your recent experience with us has not met the standards that you expect. If you would like to discuss this in more detail, we are available on 0141 483 2260.…”
Our classifier read this reply as a template response.
2 readers marked this review helpful on Trustpilot.
“Falsely added missed payments to my credit report after they were reporting information wrong.”
The company replied on 2026-04-15: “Adam, we are sorry to read that you have experienced issues with your vehicle and our Complaints Resolution team have concluded their investigation. You missed two monthly payments which were…”
Our classifier read this reply as a deflection.
2 readers marked this review helpful on Trustpilot.
Overcharging
7 reports · 7% of complaintssteady“2 years of payments simply to pay their ridiculous charges is absolutely wild to me”
The company replied on 2026-07-20: “We are sorry your experience with us has not met your expectations and we are keen to investigate this further. However, we have been unable to locate a finance agreement in your name and have…”
Our classifier read this reply as a template response.
1 reader marked this review helpful on Trustpilot.
“they refused to speak to the customer and said they would only deal with the broker”
The company replied on 2026-05-11: “Anton, we are sorry to read that your recent experience with us has not met the standards that you expect. Thank you for taking the time to speak with me and providing the opportunity for us to look…”
Our classifier read this reply as a template response.
“They asked for £360 adm fee Was not in the contract”
The company replied on 2026-05-11: “Michalis, we are sorry to read that your recent experience with us has not met the standards that you expect. I can confirm that the fee is not part of your finance with us and we were unaware of…”
Our classifier read this reply as a substantive response.
It promised: to make contact.
Compare Startline Motor Finance with…
Method: reviews are classified into a fixed complaint taxonomy by an automated reader; every category shown is backed by at least two verbatim quotes from distinct reviews. Trends are computed from dated review counts only. Negative reviews are deliberately over-sampled for evidence depth; headline percentages use an unbiased recent sample only. Report updated 2026-09-23.