Step One Volkswagen Fort Walton Beach

EXTREMELY DECEPTIVE. BUYER BEWARE. November 4, Step One FWB Volkswagen dealer. I had totaled my previous car and needed to buy a new one. I had to buy a car that day or be without. I had chosen a 2023 Taos which I love. The sales guy himself was "ok" but the sales manager Mike, was distracting while the sales guy was going over the numbers with stupid chit chat, trying to distract. Red Flag #1. Then it comes to the paint warranty (permaplate) $544.00 Mike tells us that it isnt optional, they do it as a courtesy as soon as the car arrives at their lot they put it on because of the "hot florida sun" they always had cars come back with fading so this prevents that.(It cost them $29.00.) So of course I reluctantly go forth with this. Then it comes time to go to the finance room with Tristian Jefferson. Red flag's number 2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10, First he starts off with the "We take pride in white glove treatment with our customer, you are our main focus, we want you to be completely comfortable, and trust us, in his soothing and reassuring voice, which obviously should set anyone on high alert. He goes into the mundane numbers part, getting more and more questionable. Then it comes to the warranty upsell........ He stated all the benefits of the key fob warranty, which cost me $1200.00 and cost them $230.00 and how my finance company required me to purchase said warranty. Then he goes into the tire,wheel, alloy warranty my cost $977.00 their cost $$580.00. and how my finance company required me to purchase that warranty also. then the paintless dent/ding repair my cost $739.00 their cost $0, and of course how my finance company required this of me also. I asked the question as did my husband 3 times, "My finance company requires this or I do not get the loan correct?" To which Tristan stated all three times yes, (BUT.. I could call after 45 days and cancel them and get a refund).for a total $3,430.00 in "finance company required warranties". Fine, I knew I was being taken advantage of but I needed a car as I was leaving town for a business meeting and I was already a day behind. I had to have it. Fast forward November 7th. I am back in town from business trip. I first call finance company to inquire about said warranties, to which they replied I am under no obligations whatsoever to purchase any additional warranties in order to get a loan. Shocking I know, I begin the motions of getting a refund on these warranties, come to find out, yes I can get a refund, however had I waited the required 45 days Tristan suggested I would have only gotten a small amount of a refund and had to have paid a fee to get said refund, go figure. So the wheels are set in motion, after 3 months of no answer I started tracking down answers... of course I would get the runaround from Tristan and then he just quit returning my calls, which is not surprising.. I did get in touch with a lady named Ann at Damage Control/Customer services who said she gets these calls all day long and the processing agent is inundated with the amount of claims she's processing. She eventually sends out an email to district managers to deal with me. Mark Morgan calls me by the end of the day. He is the new Manager of FWB Volkswagen Step don't. Super nice guy, I had to explain the whole story to him step by step, to which he said he would look into it and call back, and the next day he did. He apologized that it happened first of all, that he does not run a dealership that way and Tristan would be spoken to. Additionally he reached out to corporate and escalated my return. All of this was on January 27th. He never once dodged my calls or texts. He had informative answers to all of my questions. I finally received the refund on march 6th. I am relieved to be done with this. I am appreciative of Mark's efforts. I am still infuriated with the original situation of being scammed in the first place by Tristan Jefferson and Mike the manager. UNDERSTAND you do not need these warranties unl

Purchasing my car was a great experience; however once you sign on the dotted line, they seem to forget who you are. I had a question concerning a voucher from my bank that was never turned in by the finance department. After numerous emails to the person who sold me my car, there was just no response. To say, I am highly disappointed is an understatement. And to know that I have to deal with them in the future about other matters, I just don't have the confidence in this dealership. Even though, I appreciate the purchasing experience, I don't have any kind words to say about the aftermath. If this is the experience you're looking for, this is the perfect place.

Worst experience ever!!!! Poor communication. I was told a Service advisor would reach to me after I asked for an explanation of service. I never got a call. I called multiple times. I left multiple messages. Still nothing. My son was told $169.99 for programming of new key fob. They didn’t mention one thing about the $37.40 shop supply charge. After discussion with service department about it, I was explained the hourly shop rate was $169.99 for 1 hour of work. An additional 22% was added ($37.40) which included the program for programming the key. What shady dealership. I will definitely advise my friends and family to go else where. Great job for taking advantage of my son!!!

I WAS THERE TWICE AND THEY COULDN'T FIX A SLOW TIRE LEAK and not on time

Had 2 visits to fix a slow leak in a tire Both times they were hours behind the time they said. Service manager Graham Nelson did not give xxxx. Would never go back to these incompleteness people

Had a contract signed and Tier credit approved on a Tiguan sold it out from me to some one else with flimsy excuse. Don’t do business with these guys

The experience was a great one. All the Staff at the Dealer went above and beyond to make my car purchase a smooth and positive experience.

Exemplary service, they found the problem and fixed it the same day. Informative and transparent, just what I needed.

I purchased a 2017 Mustang GT from dealership. Tannerwas my salesman. The mustang was supposed to be checked out in service before sale. I cannot begin to tell you issues with body panel not fitting, under carriage side body panels loose and hanging. Left headlight was hanging inside fixture shining at the moon. I contacted them immediately after delivery to my home. I heard service didn't do their job and made list for service after being instructed to drop back at dealership. They held for many days then shipped off to Ford dealership. They had for 2 weeks to be told it had to go to a body shop. AC just went out with the other issues I now have to do things done by myself, no response to text. This was a very dishonest deal for 41k with financing much less I have to rent a car To go for cancer treatment . They knew my need and took total advantage of it. I would never recommend much less do business again there.

Went to Step One Volkswagen to look at a vehicle they had that had not been through the shop yet. We liked the vehicle and put a $500 deposit on it, and said we would be back in when the vehicle was ready to be picked up. When they called us we went over to sign the paperwork, only to find that another one of their dealerships sold the car to someone else. This was after our deposit. We were pretty PO’d but still purchased a different vehicle. Our trade for the vehicle left them owing us over $18k. When we left the finance office we were told we should have our check within the next week. We called again at the end of the week before thanksgiving. We were told they would have it out to us by Monday. Well we came back home after a week away and surprise still no check for money owed back. I’m thinking I should just hire a lawyer at this point since it seems they don’t like to pay what they owe. I would not recommend this dealership or any of their dealership based on this transaction alone. No decent customer service, no communication. And good luck getting a vehicle serviced after you buy it. A simple check engine light was scheduled for a little over 3 weeks out. The engine light was for a thermostat. DO NOT DO BUSINESS WITH THESE CROOKS.