Toyota Santa Monica

The salesman did not honor the price advertised on Cars.com and offered a price that was $5,000 more than advertised explaining that what is advertised is MSRP and not the actual sales price. The sales man also tried to bring in confusing arguments that have nothing to do with the purchase price. It feels like they are breaking some regulations by not honoring their advertised price.

Great experience buying our new car here at Santa Monica Toyota! Lou is amazing and highly recommend working with him if you ever find yourself looking for a Toyota.

I was interested in buying a used car. I talked to the sales rep and asked if the car was available. He said yes. I said I would be there at 1:30pm. He said OK. I drove 40 miles. When I got there they were in the process of selling the car to someone else. I was told they don’t hold used cars. You don’t treat customers like that. No apology, no we’re really sorry. Terrible experience.

I have bought and leased more than ten cars over the years for me and my family. I have never seen unprofessional staff like the ones at this dealership. They try to be very nice when you are trying to buy but the minute you sign and leave it's a whole different staff. I bought two cars for my kids going to college. One car had only one set of keys. They promised me to order the second set and would be coming within a month. It has been one and a half years, and I am still waiting. I called them so many times and every time I call to inquire, they always promise to investigate it and get back to me. Never happened, No one ever took the time to give me an answer. No manager ever took the time to follow up. I had to call Toyota Corporate office to try to get a solution. Hopefully, Toyota will get this done right. Don't make this mistake and get fooled with them being nice when you go to buy. I would go to any other dealership.

Horrible dealership. They are nothing more than scammers. Bought a car from them that when I first saw, didn’t have floor mats or a second key. Before I signed the paperwork, they assured me the car had both and they would give it to me. After I paid for the car, they said they wouldn’t give me either. Stay far away. These guys will scam you and lie to get you to overpay for their cars.

Basically a criminal enterprise. I took my care in because they kept messaging me saying I was "due for my scheduled PREPAID maintenance." I expected and received the call that says there are more things, beyond the 'prepaid' that would need fixing, and was sent a video that summarized what they would be. The video cut off after listing a few nominal services that my car needed, air filter, battery cleaning, tire rotation. I said yes to what the video had outlined assuming that it would be no more than $500. When I went to pick up my car, I paid thinking that the card-reader said $452, and ecen commenting that it was cheaper than I had expected. Then I got a receipt text saying 'thank you for your payment of $2452!!! I'm a teacher. That's a month of salary. I never would have agreed to having that much work done even if it needed it. Apparently there was more on the video that I had not received because it had gotten cut off. That was their reasoning. I had watched it with my wife and neither of us saw an itemized list or any evidence that the video was longer than what we had received. They said they could take my car and undo all the work they did. When I complained they gave me no other options, basically holding my car hostage. When I took it to the managers etc I was met with the same indifference, with no solutions offered. This after I've bought 3 cars from them and been their client for more than 12 years. I will never ever give them my patronage again, and I recommend you find somewhere else to do your business. In retrospect, this was not the first time they tried to shaft me (and succeeded). A few years ago they sent asked to buy my car back saying they could give me a certain amount and that my new lease would be a certain amount. Once I had gone through with the process my lease went from $315 a month to $525 a month. The salesman, a sleazy stereotype of a used-car salesman said "you should consider yourself lucky. Some people are losing their homes right now." I was with my 4 year old son so I restrained myself, but that was way beyond the pale. You guys are the worst!

There are no TSB on Mirai fuel door. Why make up issues and cause hardship for your customers for a few dollars. Toyota Santa Monica GM does not follow up on customer complaints. I have called the dealership and left voicemail for the general manager but Craig does not seem to care much about why his service advisor would strand a customer 75 miles from home. I made several calls and no response and provided my customer number for him to check, so far nothing. I will have to find out who the owners are and escalate. Craig W. you have my contact information reach out if you care.

I got in touch with a salesman a week before the memorial weekend in May 2023. He assured me that the car was in pristine condition and didn't have the front license plate mounted, wanted me to place a deposit, go through the credit check, and visit on the weekend to make the purchase. A night or two before picking up the vehicle I was informed that the front license plate had been mounted. I was irate over this as I'd already placed a deposit and they ran my credit. I asked if the mount was installed cleanly and the salesman assured me that it was. When I arrived at the dealership I asked if they can remove the mount but they stated their service team wasn't available beacuse of the holiday. I simply had to trust the salesman and the integrity of their business. Four and a half months later on 10/10/2023 at 7:48 PM, I removed the front license plate mount to place bumper plugins and discovered they made multiple attempts to install the mount. You can tell from the vertical scratches they were struggling to align the mount. You can also tell from the sloppy drill holes they were struggling to install the mount. This is likely why the car was sitting on the lot for weeks, figured it won't sell in that state, covered it up, then sold it to me after getting a deposit and running a credit check. This is an incredibly dirty practice and shows that Toyota Santa Monica doesn't care about the customer experience as long as they land a sale. Furthermore they sold my trade-in car prior to updating the registration and license plate, allowing the buyer to run through several express/toll lanes. I have called five times to resolve this and they have made no attempts in sending me the release of liability. I am this close to sending them the bills with the piled on late charges if not disputing this in court and charging them attorney fees. I expect Toyota Santa Monica to contact me within the week to resolve these issues. Send me the release of liability and get your manager/parts team involved to resolve the bumper issue. You sold me the xxxx vehicle, you have my phone number.

Very unresponsive early in the sales process. Didn't respond to emails or texts. Chat was like talking to a robot. Could not get a straight answer to simple questions. It's as if they don't want to engage the customer or even try to sell a car. I bought a car from a competitor in North Hills that was very responsive, friendly, and negotiated in good faith. Stay away from SM Toyota.

Buying my car from Santa Monica Toyota was my best experience with car buying. Everyone was very nice and the process was so easy. I feel like I got exactly what I wanted at a great price.