Volkswagen Santa Monica

12/07/11

Criminal Scum Bag Con Artists

by stuartscolnik at Citysearch

criminal, fraudulent, plain old evil scum of the earth.

The service department tried to rob us, but luckily we escaped. Here is our story;

New EOS had traction light / button stuck to off, car started to pull left.

Wife brought car to dealership.

They fixed the traction button / light.

But they continued; they said the car had "severe" damage to steering linkage, that alignment was 4 degrees off, that the one wheel was 2 inches back (camber) from the other.

Service manager Andrew said it would be a 'very expensive repair' and that I should "call my insurance company"

They said they would have to disassemble all steering linkage to find damaged part. OY!

I asked if they saw any impact, rim damage, etc. They saw none.

I had my mechanic call and pose as a relative. Mechanic said "the service manager doesn't know what toe in, camber, or anything else about alignment.

Immediately retrieved car, took to my mechanic.

Guess what? There was no damage to my car. Didn't even need alignment. Have the report. Nothing wrong with car. Never was.

So, it appears that VW of SM wasn't happy with the warranty money they got, they had eyes on the big bucks. No wonder, they work on commission.

I was warned about dealerships, so I was lucky, lost a day's work, cab fares, couple hundred bucks. I feel lucky.

Now it's payback time.

Look for me in front of the dealership, walking with a big nasty sign, warning others of this scum.

Good luck,

Stuart

08/29/11

TOTAL CROOKS!

by megfreels333 at Citysearch

DO NOT BUY A USED OR CERTIFIED PRE OWNED CAR FROM THIS DEALERSHIP!!!

My husband and I bought a newish used car from this dealership that was not a VW. 2 weeks after buying the car there were problems. Not only would they first not even look at the car even though we just bought it. They were rude about it.

Finally after calling a few times they agreed to get the car serviced since it was so soon after purchase. I don't know what they actually fixed because they did not give a receipt with the service report.

2 months later the same problem started happening and the car would not start. After getting the car towed to the dealership they then claimed that we put diesel fuel in the car. LIKE WHAT!!?? They then tried to charge us $400 dollars to fix the car because it was us who put diesel in the car. It was the craziest experience. My husband and I were not allowed to take the car home until we paid forcing us to take the bus home. Not to mention I am 7 months pregnant dealing with all of this.

Finally they gave in and said we did not have to pay if we agreed to never come back there. Way to go Santa Monica VW. Sell a young family a lemon and then don't take responsibility. Maybe you should check your cars out before selling first if you don't want to fix any early problems. They were soooooooo rude. Do not go there!

04/13/10

Great deal on a great car

by walcom23 at Citysearch

Bought a new VW last month from VW Santa Monica.

I came in to buy a car with 4 weeks of research, 4-5 quotes, and pages of numbers and data I easily found online. If you're feeling ripped off after buying a car, it's probably your own fault. I knew what a good deal was on my VW, and I knew what a great deal was. In the end, I got the great deal and it worked out for me and the dealership.

Vante was my salesman, and he was great. Straightforward, helpful. He drove me to the detail shop to check out my car, hook up my bluetooth and hang out with me for a bit after I had paid for it.

Unfortunately, this is a positive review on what could have been an extremely negative experience. I had problems with my car soon after taking delivery of it. Looking back it was a minor issue that appeared serious. VW Santa Monica managers and staff took it very seriously. Even going so far as to offer to unwind the deal or give me a different car. In the end, it was an easy fix and I kept the car. Haven't had an issue with it since. I'm sure it was an embarrassing situation for them, but they fixed it, and the fact that they offered several resolutions made me comfortable with them and the car.

Would recommend them easily.

• Pros: comfortable experience, good salesman, great deal
• Cons: bad reviews

02/26/10

Truth Be Told

by transparentone at Citysearch

We have bought three cars from this dealer. Don't ask.

Maybe we were lazy because we live close to it and we like the concept of VW cars. Let me advise you to save your money and time. The cars have problems are are much to expensive to take care of for an economy car.

The finance guy here will tell you a story about how is going to retire in a few months or some soft story to make him seem like he doesn't like to push things on you and he will sneak things into the contract if you don't pay attention. I laughed because the guy was still there when we came back to buy other cars, slimy guy, good at being slimy, that is why the owner of the dearlership keeps him in that position. The sales people and manager on the floor is dishonest. I know 2 people who worked there in the past (after the fact that I no longer go there or will buy another VW) and they are smart guys who just needed a job when they came out to LA. They told me about how they scam customers and how the shop always is pressured to keep up the average dollar charge on each car that comes in for service. They will charge you more then you should pay, find things to fix that don't need fixing at that moment and will take a long time servicing your car for the most part. The place is very bad because they have been in business for a long time doing this to consumers, that is sad. So I want you the reader to know that you should avoid this place. Save your money, unless it is covered under warranty 100 percent, take the car to a good local mechanic that works on nice cars for many years in a nice area, housing community. They are the one's who can't afford to be dishonest, they will shut down. Here however, it is a VW dealership, they get a constant flow of wet behind the ears customers or people like ourselves who went because it was convenient to where we lived and worked. Not wise. BUT, there is a hospital across the street in case you need to check yourself in after your experience with VW of Santa Monica. I hear through the grapevine the two worse in CA are the worse ones in Irvine and Santa Monica.

• Pros: Hospital across the street to check yourself in after VW
• Cons: List is long and distinguished

09/20/09

SWINDLED IN SANTA MONICA

by lisawrites at Citysearch

I bought a 2005 Jetta a year ago and this experience has been an I.V. drip of aggravation since I drove off the lot. There is a 100% disconnect between the Sales Dept. & the Service Dept. The Service Dept is a nightmare. In 2008 the guy was incompetent & rude. The 2009 guy (last week) was incompetent. & confused. If you crave getting ripped-off and annoyed - go to SM VW. And go to CARFAX to find out the history of a used car BEFORE you buy it. I wish I had.

• Cons: Used Car Dealer Cliches for Sale