San Diego Auto Connection

Reviews 3

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Ryan Copp

First off, let me say Buyer beware! Do not buy a car from this horrible establishment. The salesman are about as sleazy as they come. So heres the experience Ive endured after purchasing my 2006 VW Passat on 8/27/2012... Came in twice, ended up getting closed at KBB with a horrible interest rate. LUCKILY I bought an extended warranty. All sales employees were EXTREMELY pushy and seemed super shady about the car... Yet I still bought the car as I liked the car and needed a new one. Purchased the car on a Monday night and the second day it started leaking an unusual amount of fluid. Took the car back in the next day to let them know. They took a look at it for a few hours then gave me the car back telling me "it had too much fluid in it" and they took the excess fluid out. Drove the car for another day, still leaking fluid. So I took it back in as I was planning a road trip to Havasu 800 miles roundtrip. They inspected the car again, said everything was fine. I again confirmed with them saying "Im going on a long road trip, the car is fine to drive?" They assured me they wouldnt let me drive off the lot if it wasnt. So off to Havasu I went on Friday (owning the car for 5 days now), car drove fine on the way out there. Then on the way back, about 100 miles into the desert, the engine starts whining making a horrible noise, power cuts out, it was barely operating at 2500 RPMs. I figured might as well try to make it back to San Diego, made it to Corona and the car completely shut down, brakes locked up and I couldnt stop. Luckily I hit a green light, rolled the car up a hill and pulled it into a gas station. When I got it towed to the VW, the catalytic converter blew, the brake line had a nickel sized whole in it, needed new CV boots, needed a new battery, needed an oil change (tons of sludge in the engine). I was stuck in Corona for a day as it was Labor day weekend and dealing with SD Auto Connection was a nightmare. Worst customer service Ive ever received. They kept pushing everything on warranty company and told me to deal with them as it wasnt there problem. Every time I called in (which was about 5 times a day for a week) everytime I spoke with Max the manager, he NEVER remembered who I was or cared to address the issues at hand. He told me to take a train home from Corona... Thats why I bought a car from you Max, so I can take a train! They never called me back, ducked my calls and were about as helpful as a midget on your basketball team. So $2,500 later on the warranty company these issues were fixed. Drove the car another week, the thermometer went out. $250 out of my pocket. 2 weeks later, the oil light comes on when Im getting off the fwy exit by my house and I pulled over to the mechanic right by my house. To summarize the damage from the sludged up engine, it needed a new engine block and other parts which totaled $5,500, which luckily the warranty covered. I was out of a car for FOUR WEEKS, I had only owned the car Monday 2 months and was only able to drive it half the time. Not why I bought a new car. A total of $8,000 in repairs the warranty company had to shell out. The time, stress and just overall headache was not worth it. Ive got all the work orders with the costs incurred, just glad it didnt come out of my pocket. This company obviously didnt do checks on the car. That is way too many problems to be overlooked and coincidental. Theres so much more horror to this story but I just wanted to display the fact that if youre looking to buy a car, but it from anyone but these jokers. Do yourself a favor, dont buy a car from SD Auto Connection.

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Lynn Sperry

I would NOT go back to this place even if someone paid me. Before you even walk in, you can see them huddled inside eyeing you up like a hungry pack of dogs. (Doesnt help that I am a mid-20s female.) And then when you walk in they scurry and pretend like they werent just all staring at you through a glass wall. A GLASS WALL fellas. I can see you. It was laughable. So not only do they start off by making you feel really uncomfortable and skeeved out, they only make things worse when they try to sell you a car. I was buying a $6000 car whose KBB value was $5000. The manager himself refused to negotiate, putting on a sad face and blaming it on how they need to reach their quota and they cant AFFORD to lower the price. Really?? I was in a tight spot and this was the 5th used car dealership I had been to on the Mile of Cars, so I ended up getting them down to $5500 and just conceding. I absolutely would have walked out way sooner if it hadnt been for the gentleman who serviced me. His name is Chris Barnes and he definitely stood out from the rest by being polite, patient, and not pushy at all. Also by not being in the drooly group of hounds that greeted me. Thank you, Chris! (This one star is all for you!) When I chose Chris over the first guy that spoke to me when I walked in, there was (Im not even kidding you) DRAMA. Let me clarify that I intentionally turned down help from the first guy because he was pushy, obnoxious, and blatantly rude. The guy ended up throwing a fit, making a scene, and Chris had to apologize to me up and down for his behavior. My personal impression was that Chris seemed very unhappy and embarrassed to be working there (he actually eluded to this in conversation...). NOT a good sign for the dealership. Even after I was already working with Chris, I was still getting an absurd amount of phone calls and voice-mails from the first guy blabbing on about whether I was sure about my decision or not. And then when I returned to close the deal, he saw me and completely ignored me. As if those daily voice-mails never even happened. Other than Chris, my experience was one that reflected a largely misogynistic group that is way to eager to take advantage of its customers while creeping out the female crowd the whole time. By the way, they sold me a LEMON of a 2001 Corolla. I needed the struts replaced right away and now my timing belt needs replaced. Both repairs I cant afford because of the intense amount of labor they require. I bought this car December 2013. Ill be saying goodbye pretty soon here and investing in a car from a new car dealership. Im not going through what I went through at SD Auto Connection ever again.

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Jesse Hernandez

Everything was fine the day I purchased my car at one of their Used Car Tent Sales at Qualcomm stadium. Somehow they entered my address wrong, I noticed it on my paperwork and called them to correct it and they said they did. Two months later Im getting a phone call from Capital One wondering why I havent made any payments and I had to explain to them that I havent received any info from them because my address was wrong. I wasnt charged any late fees so I guess its not too big of a deal but what IS a big deal is that Ive called their headquarters every day of the week at different times to never have anyone answer the phone with the exception of my first time calling to tell them my address was wrong. Ive been calling them still to let them know my registration still hasnt arrived or my plates. The last three times Ive called Ive left voicemail and their system clearly states that they will call back in one business day, good luck getting that to happen. Even when Ive taken time out of my day to go speak to someone, it seems that there is never anyone there who knows what they are talking about to help me, Ive been there 3 times. Great cars on their lot but customer service is very poor beyond making a deal. Pretty ridiculous how I cant get a hold of anyone.