Auto Republic Fullerton

I am writing to formally file a complaint regarding one of the worst car purchasing experiences of my life, which occurred at your dealership. I was pre-approved for financing through Capital One and contacted the dealership in advance to submit my information. I informed the salesperson, Chris, that I would be traveling from another city and wanted to complete the majority of the paperwork beforehand to expedite the process upon arrival. During my phone call with Chris, I was rushed off the line before I could fully discuss my Capital One pre-approval. He told me someone else would follow up, but instead, I received an alert that my credit was submitted to a different bank—without my consent. Claudio later contacted me and scheduled a 2:00 PM appointment for the following day, stating that everything was ready for me. I arrived promptly at 2:00 PM and waited over two hours in the back lobby before I was even allowed to test drive the vehicle. While approaching the vehicle, I noticed all doors were open and later learned this was due to adhesive being sprayed on the dashboard—a fact that should have been disclosed upfront. After the test drive, Chris presented me with a financing offer from Ally Bank, not Capital One, and the interest rate and monthly payment were significantly higher. I asked why Capital One wasn’t used, and Claudio, wearing an Ally Bank shirt, admitted that he never submitted my application to them. My Godmother, who is a former finance manager, expressed concerns that this was a deceptive practice likely done to secure a higher kickback from Ally. When I went to inspect the car again, I noticed the leather on the dashboard was lifting. Chris dismissed the concern until I insisted it was a dealbreaker. After going back and forth, Claudio said their shop manager would not be available until Monday to evaluate the issue. To add insult to injury, I was told the deal was only valid for that day, and Capital One would not honor it if I left—information that was clearly false, as I confirmed with Capital One directly via speakerphone in front of Chris. Eventually, we came to an agreement in the office, but when I reviewed my contract at home, the interest rate was higher than what we agreed upon. On Monday, I returned the vehicle and Chris told me they wouldn't fix the dashboard, claiming the repair would be "half decent" at best. I was already sick from the fumes of the previous adhesive they applied. Eleven days later, I received a letter stating I needed to return the vehicle. When I called, Chris said it was an error. However, I later discovered the dealership had been submitting my credit application repeatedly—*without my consent*. When I addressed the incorrect interest rate, Chris told me it was “not a big deal” and asked why I was so concerned. He then asked if I had received a repair estimate for the dashboard—again deflecting responsibility after they had already misled me. To date, I am still waiting for a follow-up call from Claudio that was promised days ago. The lack of transparency, unauthorized credit submissions, and overall disregard for ethical conduct throughout this process are unacceptable. This review reflects a deeply disappointing and unethical experience at this dealership. I hope it helps future customers make more informed decisions and encourages the business to take accountability for its actions

Watch out! Stay away! They try their best to rip you off. 2k for this, 1k for that, 1.5k for other and ... never ending list of unreasonable fees on top of their listing price. [[[[[Actual OTD Price = Announced sales Price + 5k]]]]]

This place should be called Auto RipOff. You have to purchase $2,000 worth of LoJack and other security crap if you want to buy a vehicle. There was a customer ranting and raving when we were in there and we just kind of ignored him. Apparently, he drove 5 hours for a certain vehicle and didn't want to pay the garbage fees. So now we are sitting with the salesman, and the final numbers get put on the desk. What? This is $2,000 more than quoted. Let's remove the $2,000 of crap we don't want or need. We aren't from the L.A. area. Our vehicle is parked in a garage and doesn't spend a lot of time unsupervised. We don't want or need LoJack or the other things. Just remove those fees and we'll pay the asking price because they wouldn't budge one dime on the price. No can do according to the salesman. We drove 3 hours for this specific Jeep. Nope! We didn't rant or rave. I asked 2 or 3 more times. Nope! So, we left... And we saw Premier Jeep (Dodge, Chrysler and Ram, too) on the way to the freeway. We ended up with a MUCH better Jeep at a MUCH better deal. If you plan on getting any kind of fair deal, stop at Premier first.

Decided to look into a Ford Fusion Energi. The salesman I spoke to said they could not find the key fob and would need time to find it or get a new one. Ok fine. I checked with him once the following day. He said they needed more time. Ok fine. Checked back with him again the day after and no response. The lack of effort to help a customer is frustrating.

Rude sales guys until they see you have money"Beware"extremely overpriced vehicles..save your money go elsewhere

Auto republic team so helpful in helping my friend find a vehicle. Professional and courteous service. Highly recommend.

Cars.com helped me find the car I wanted and it was there at Auto Republic. I went in just to look, but I ended up driving home in my dream car. The experience was great and David was very helpful. Thank you too Cisco !!!!

Too many fees and upgrades added without you wanting them... Don't go to Auto Republic

They run the bait and switch. The price you see online is NOT the price you’ll be paying. Once they sit you down, they will add THOUSANDS in “optional” add-ons (I see here that their grift of choice is the lo-jack). If you decline the add-ons, they won’t sell you the car BeCaUsE tHe Lo-JaCk iS aLrEaDy InStALLeD. Classless, trash dealership. STAY AWAY.

My husband and I unfortunately had a nightmare experience here and I would never write a negative review until speaking directly with a manager first but not one person reached out to us after our clutch exploded 24 hours after purchasing our vehicle from here. We were sold a manual Jeep Wrangler that had an open recall on the clutch for overheating and exploding as well as a STOP SALE issued by the FCA but were still sold this car. My two kids and husband had the clutch explode on the freeway the second time we drove this car. After having it towed back to Auto Republic less than 48 hours after, we were met with blame and a service center claiming it was user error. Not one manager called us to ask if we were physically ok or willing to take responsibility for this issue that was directly a result on the open recall. We could have died, the car could have imploded. This car was purchased 08/12/23 and almost 2 months later, we still have not had anyone reach out to us from here.