Toyota Chula Vista

Hello to everyone, glad you can read this. I wanted to share my experience I just had on Monday visiting Chula Vista Toyota (CVT) Service Center for the very first time. A little background, I purchased a CPO 2012 Camry SE, my dream car basically and the sales staff was absolutely wonderful and that was the very first time I had a great car buying experience and that was back in February. Anyways, I took my car in to their Service Center for oil change. Now I did not have an appointment and the young lady on the phone said if I wanted to be a walk-​in, there were only two cars ahead of me. Well I went ahead and took my car for servicing which was just an oil change and I knew it would take a couple hours.
After awhile, I saw my car in line and then finally my car was next to be serviced. It took maybe just a little over 15 minutes for the oil change and all the other little minor inspection stuff. I was somewhat impressed that it did not take very long. For those that are familliar with CVT, the Service Center is like right there to the left of the main showroom area and you can watch them work on your car.
But here is where it got ugly. I watched them pull my car out of the bay and park it in a parking space next to the Service Center. I went inside to wait for someone to call my name or come get me… no one did. After 35 minutes, I went to the counter to ask the young lady when will my car be ready, a test of course to see if she knew. She stated that the car wasnt ready and that the paperwork wasn’t ready. I told her that my car was finished and that I saw them drive it out of the bay…35 minutes ago. She then said «You need to go find Eddie and let him know». Now I am losing my patience. I go looking for the Eddie guy and found out he had stepped out for awhile. I now go looking for the Service Manager and it took me another 15 minutes on top of the 10 minutes it took someone to tell me Eddie wasnt there. I find Manny and asked if I could make a complaint and he gladly said yes. Manny had asked me earlier if he could help me and I let him know that my car was in the bay being serviced.
At this time now, that I was just about to make a complaint to Manny, my phone goes off and it was the dealership calling me to tell me that my car was ready for pick up. I was really pissed now. I stated to Manny that my car has been done with servicing, now going on just over an hour and my car is sitting right there and pointed to my car. We went inside and he took car of the billing right away, but here is where he failed. He did offer an apology, but he could of made my servicing bill a lot less then what I paid. My car sat there over an hour after it was done serviced and he did not offer me any kind of compensation just for that. Manny only offered his business card and said come back again soon and maybe we can work something out to try and compensate for the inconvenience. I got my keys and left. Manny, if you would of offered a free oil change right there just for the inconvenience, this would be a five star rating. That was my first and last time I will take my car there.

I’ve been taking my car to this location for oil changes for a few years now because it’s the nearest to my home. It’s true that even with an appointment I wait over an 1.5 hrs. each time. Sometimes they wash my car. The last time I took it in for service my tire pressure was low they said they would check my tires out so they filled it up and sent me on my way. The next day my tire pressure light came on again so I took it to Costco, where I purchased my tires and immediately they found a nail in it and fixed it within 30 minutes so they didn’t really inspect it obviously. come on you guys are Toyota! But that is the not the worst thing. When my car had the extended warranty they replaced the timing belt, but it kept making a loud noise, took it back they adjusted the belt and it seems okay. However, another time that I had taken it in for service I noticed that the air bag light was on when it wasn’t supposed to, I took it back for inspection they told me that the air bag cord looked like it had been cut from under the seat of the passenger side, I said how can that possibly happen? I only vacuum my car myself and I don’t put anything sharp under the seats. They said they didn’t know. Did they tamper with it? I mean it’s the only conclusion and makes sense. The cord is thick it would take a pair of wire cutters or something like that for it to be split in half like that. It is a costly repair. It’s so unfortunate. It’s a mystery.

I have to say we have been researching to get our new family car for 2 months and that is when we first met Jose, he made an impression on us right then and there. As a family this is our 5^th car in 11 years so we have dealt with all kinds of dealers but we can honestly say that Jose and the team here were amazing. I always told myself I would never buy a Toyota after dealing with an arrogant sales man in Florida but here was a completely different and satisfying experience. Great deal, customer service and patience. I would recommend anyone to come here and get the Toyota experience.

I wish i could give 2 different reviews. Both would not be 5 stars!
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Let me start with the good. Lulu panguega (service) and Gregg (service) are some of my favorite individuals i have ever had the blessing of being linked up with for ANY customer to customer service relationship ordeal ever! PERIOD. Greggs patience with a manufacturing issue and a miscommunication by his workers and just the utmost respect he held towards me, absolutely noted! He even in helping me out with a rental discount. Man what a great guy. Just a real servant to the customer. (note * i am extremely nice because ive done service jobs too (which also brings an additional layer of respect towards these two))
Next — LULU ! MY GIIRRLLL! She is so remarkable, i could spend days denoting the reasons organizations around the world should follow in her lead. Cheerful AF (+ it was about 7am on a friday) and massively kind and even charming (not sexually, just adorable — which absolutely helps ease a customers pain of a huge impending maintenance) and what best, is i cam in to get new brake pads because they were squeaking. Signed. I was expecting that. She called me and said, hey you dont need new brake pads. You just need a cleaning of the drums. And i was blown away just from that. Regardless of who made that call to not have me spend the extra few hundred right now — exemplifies great care and value in customers… Thank you!
Now the 2^nd review would be a 2 stars maybe one. Like, literally, im probably never getting a toyota again. My car has a manufacturing problem (this toyota stripped everything down to stock and it still unlocks itself) and said that, sorry we cant fix it. And although i was inside my warranty of having a brand new car, since they «did everything they could» i am not stuck with a car that cant be left for a few days without unlocking itself automatically. So the extra alarm system i bought, i had to take out since it goes off when it unlocks. Yet i still pay the same monthly. Anyways. The whole mix within that internal issue (plus the transmission skips or jumps) that have both been with me since mile 10, is too long to care about posting here. Toyota lost a potential life long and family bred toyota base through me since they cant fix a proved defect. However, the customer service here was remarkable :)

Great customer service and Wilson made sure of that! Being there for hours, everyone was nice and accommodating. They had bottled waters, coffee, even pizza if we wanted to snack on. With that being said, I left a happy camper with a brand new 2016 Corolla S. The location is convenient and parking was easy to find as well.

Today I had an appointment at 145pm for a simple oil change. I’ve been a long time customer and NEVER coming back again. This is the 3^rd consecutive time of having poor customer service. Why did I ever choose to go back? I thought, well, I’ll give it a chance, maybe they have improved?
I was informed my vehicle would be ready by 3pm.
Ready at 420pm.
A friend of mine had an appointment at 330pm and he was out of there by 415pm.
How could that be? Good for my buddy, but come on now, 2 hours and 35 min for an oil change? Why did I even bother to make an appointment?
The employees just need to be honest. Why inform me it would be ready at 3pm?
Just really bad. I’m disappointed.

Great staff for service or buying a car. Have been bringing me car here for maintenance since I purchased it.

Such great customer service. Everyone was nice and courteous. Made it a very easy and pleasant buying experience. Alfonso Benitez did a great job. Thanks for everything.

Military families Beware: Summary– Greg the Mngr is a penny pincher and his customer service skills suck. They made me feel like I was there to please them, not the other way around. The Story — We bought our «new» 2013 Tacoma here. It was our first new vehicle purchase and at the time we viewed the «no budge on haggling the price down» as the norm (especially since it was not brand new with blue tape and had already 40 miles in it). Since our service warranty ran out and my husband started to change the oil himself. of course I was going to run into a problem with my husband being out to sea and the truck needing the oil changed. I then received a flyer addressed directly to us from this dealership advertising a synthetic oil change for $ 39.95! So I called and made the appointment. While making the appt with a male rep he pulled up the info and I told him about the coupon. he put me down for 10am. Once I get there I’m doing the check in process and am now told that the truck takes a different oil than what the coupon covers and that will be $ 80. I then take the course to speak to the manager hoping he can honor it or atleast offer a discount for the misunderstanding since I’m already there. I spoke to Manny which said no they have to charge the full price. then I spoke to Greg the head manager of the dealership. I told him that I should’ve been made aware of this restriction while making the appointment that it wouldn’t be covered. after all I could’ve changed it myself if I would have known it would be DOUBLE THE PRICE. He went on to act concerned and asked if «one of the girls in the office made the appointment?» (I took that comment as a bit gender bias. like what does gender have to do with making an appointment correctly?) He ended up having no wavering whatsoever and went on to explain it cost him $ 50 for the synthetic oil and the rest is labor costs. I would have gladly paid a bit more if I was offered a discount/​he owned up to the miscommunication of his employees and just made it right, but he didnt. Therefore I will never give them another cent. I regret that we even bought our truck here. Greg you need better customer service skills and I just wish I wouldn’t have wasted the gas to make the trip all the way out there from Coronado for nothing.

Was shopping for a Prius when I found this dealership. Luis the salesmen not only was polite and not too pushy but kept his word on everything he promised. With integrity being at a shortage these days, it was a breath of fresh air. He worked his hardest to get me the best deal (I’m sure at the expense of his own commission) stayed late far beyond closing hours with the great financial staff… and even called me up the next day to check up and offer me a full tank of gas. Talk about above and beyond.
To be clear I’ve never met Lois before so this isn’t friend and family hook ups. I’d recommend this dealership and ask first Lois ;)

I had possibly the best experience at Toyota Chula Vista and really any dealership I have ever been to! I could not have been more pleased and impressed. Not only was our sales consultant Luis thorough and willing to listen to our needs but wanted to make sure we were completely satisfied with every aspect of the purchase. He was very attentive and worked with us every way he possibly could. He stayed until very late because my family had a lot of questions and he gave us a complete and thorough run down of all the special features the car had. If you go here please ask for Luis he is the best and definitely does not make you feel pushed to buy just any car he wants you to be satisfied and pick the right car for you and your family! Thank you Luis for all your amazing and hard work I could not be happier.

I had an appointment at this location. Usually I go to Escondido where I purchased my car but I was going to be in Chula Vista so I thought it would be more convenient. At first I was a little irritated because no one greeted me right away so I kinda stood there for 10 minutes feeling dumb, but that was the only issue. Everything else went smoothly from then on. The Escondido location took 2 – 3 hours to finish my oil change WITH an appointment but Chula Vista did a full check, oil change, tire rotation in 45 minutes. Lulu helped me out and she was super friendly and attentive. Free coffee inside too lol, always love that.

I have been coming to Toyota Sunroad Chula Vista from the moment I was searching for a good Toyota vehicle to purchase. I remember going to a few different Toyota dealers but they didn’t quite meet my expectations and once I tried in Toyota Chula Vista, they helped me find just the perfect vehicle! I ended up purchasing a 2012 Toyota Corolla S with only 20,000 miles.
I continue to visit the dealer for my complimentary oil change services and from the moment I bring my car in to their Express Service area they are super helpful, take my vehicle and in about an hour my car is ready for another 5,000 mile adventure. I’ll be moving to another state and I’ll surely miss the amazing service this place has provided.
Keep up the amazing work!

WARNING: THIS IS GONNA BE A LONG ASS RANT. THE HOOD IN ME WILL COME OUT. EXCUSE MY USE OF LANGUAGE, PLEASE. My email exchange with the Service Department Manager was hopefully a lot more professional and dignified, but I’m just straight up pissed at this point. I’m just using Unilocal as my platform to bitch and whine.
Seriously, EFF the service department.
I came in for an oil change/​break inspection for my truck. My breaks have been screeching and thought that was weird because I was just there for my last service a few months prior and got the pads changed out. I was told to NEVER ignore noisy breaks.
Strike 1: A girl initially scheduled my appointment on SAT ¹⁄₂₃ @345PM, the only appointment available at the time. I get a call that Saturday morning at around 11AM asking if I can come in earlier, the girl who scheduled my appointment didn’t block out enough time since I was getting my brakes checked on top of the oil change and according to her, they needed more time for the technicians to perform tests such as «driving around my vehicle». It was inconvenient to move my schedule around, mainly because that meant having to leave my elderly, disabled mother whom I care for on the weekends without my back up not coming until my original appointment time, but I cooperated.
Strike 2: I park my car on the curb and go inside and wait for a service guy at one of the desks. I was finally acknowledged, dude basically looked annoyed, and rudely told me to go back to my car because someone was supposed to come to me. SHIT, my bad. Didn’t realize that was the protocol. I’ve gone in at least a couple times prior and during those visits, I was NEVER greeted with someone to check me in at my car. I have always just walked in. I never noticed a greeter with a clipboard, otherwise I wouldn’t have been up in his face in the 1^st place.
Strike 3: Shuttle Service is only one way. Ain’t that some useless shit? PLEASE disclose new policy when making the appointment, or at least give us the option to pay for a round trip service!
Strike 4: After being in the waiting room for 2 hours, I go check the status of my car to get an estimate of how much longer it will take because I was debating on über-​ing it home to check on my mom. They couldn’t find the guy who checked me in, so I went back to wait. My car was done in 1.5 hours, but he was out to lunch. I waited longer than needed. WTF?
Strike 5: I checked the mileage on my car just to see how far they drove it when they performed these so-​called tests mentioned when I was called earlier that morning to reschedule. The odometer barely budged, which lead me to believe that they just wanted to get out on time and because they were so swamped, they just did an oil change. MY BRAKES ARE STILL LOUD! Yes, it might be dust or like they mentioned in another review «THEY’RE JUST GETTING BROKEN IN».
Strike 6: I sent an email to Mr. Greg Chalmers with my grievances in a lengthy email just like this review. His reply: «Sorry you feel this way but different types of work use different types of technical ability so that time must be set correctly for your and our time usage.»
Really?! Thats all you got, Greg?!
My reply back: «Thank you for replying Mr. Chalmers, I understand that and that is why obliged in coming in earlier. However, like I explained in my previous email, it doesn’t seem like my brakes were even looked at as I’m still hearing them. I wouldn’t be wasting my time contacting you if I felt like they were even looked at. Yes, your service representatives explained to me that during the vehicle inspection my pads were in good shape. That’s great, I was in a few months ago and had them changed. Im sure one can see that in my service history and brush that under the rug without actually inspecting the vehicle. And per my last email that is what I felt was the case.»
Strike 7: Greg calls me after my reply, and he verbally volunteers himself to come to my house and pick up my car the following Saturday morning at 8AM, so he can drive and inspect my car himself. Did he show up? FUCK NO, HE DIDN’T! I called the dealership an hour after the proposed pick up time and he apologized because they were so busy, somebody called in sick. Because I had an appointment to take another car to get a smogged, I asked if we can try for the following Saturday. He agreed.
Strike 8: Next Saturday comes, this fool stood me up. Again. WTF?!
Have fun responding to this, Marisol, and possibly laughing about this with your coworkers. Don’t trip, customer service is my career, too, so I understand. It’s hard dealing with different personalities. I LOVE helping people & am lucky to be part of a great team under great management & thrive in difficult situations –I take great pride in that. Team work makes the dream work, indeed. From the looks of previous reviews these last few months, your service dept is a straight up shit show. Ya’ll ain’t living that dream.

I had an appointment and when I got there, I was told that I would still have to wait for two to three hours. Since I took my vacation hours from work, I was extremely upset. I left.
I called to complain and spoke with their «customer relations» person. All I got were excuses for the new person that did not know what she was doing.
I told the customer relations person that I was not satisfied with her excuses. In between giggles, she said that she had planned on giving me a free oil change, but because I was not satisfied, she told me to go get an oil change somewhere else!
This came from their so called «customer relations» person! What should customers expect from the rest of their personnel?

This review is for the service department of Toyota Chula Vista. Much like the other reviewers here, the sales department was great, but the Service Department is SO BAD!
My 18 month old RAV4, which had its brakes replaced after the first 9 months due to them making an awful sound, starting making the exact same sound 7 months after being replaced. I called the service department and they told me the brakes are being ‘broken in’ and to give them some more time.
After another month the sound got so bad I was too scared to drive the car with my kids in it. When I brought it in to the service department they kept my car for six days before calling me (I called them every single day, and was told they are still working on the issue). When they finally called me they said the brakes are bad due to normal wear and tear and I would have to pay to replace them!
They told me that one side had 9 mm left and the other has 3 mm! So normal wear and tear on breaks that are supposed to work in conjunction with each other can have a 6 mm difference in just 7 months of use?! AND they told me that the brakes wear and tear is due to the brakes being applied while the car is accelerating?! SO what am I doing, driving with one foot on each peddle??? I’m not btw!
I complained that they were only in only 7 months, and the car is still under warranty and qualifies under the lemon law, and All they did was give me a 1800 number. The 1800 number after reviewing my case told me I had to deal with the dealership that had given me their number to begin with!!!
Bottom line I already filed a BBB report on them, I am considering filing a Lemon Law/​federal and state consumer protection lawsuit against Toyota, and specifically Toyota Chula Vista service department. DO NOT TAKE YOUR CAR HERE!
In response to Marisol’s comments: That is funny, because the 1800 number Your store gave me told me the EXACT opposite, that it was 100% up to the dealership to fix this, all three times I talked to them!

First off, I want to thank Jesus, Carlos, and their manager Ruben for their excellent service! This trio was fantastic and they really made our visit enjoyable.
After a weekend long ordeal and disappointing visits to two other dealerships in the area, we finally found & purchased our 2016 Toyota Tacoma SR5 from this location. They had a much larger selection of colors and packages compared to the dealerships in Kearny Mesa and San Diego.
We too had a pre-​approved loan just like the previous reviewer and we had a set budget in mind. We weren’t able to come to a reasonable deal at the other dealerships and they lacked in vehicle color & available package options. We practically wasted the majority of our time at the KM location almost signing the paperwork and nearly settled for less. It’s a good thing we listened to our gut and walked out. (Also didn’t help that the entire staff had their eyes glued to the football game & the young sales associate helping us was terrible. He lacked descent knowledge on the Tacoma’s features & TRD package options and he was more preoccupied with hitting on my younger sister and my fiancé’)
We rolled into the Chula Vista location at about 7:30pm Sunday tired, frustrated, and with low expectations. We felt bad for coming in so late (they were closing at 8:00pm) but we really just wanted to see what stock they had available and come back the following weekend. They had 8 double-​cab style tacomas in different colors, each with varying package options. (TRD sport, off-​road suspension package, etc.) There trucks also had pre-​installed add-​ons that really sweetened the deal. (Folding cab cover, side step rails, tow packages, etc.)
To our surprise, Toyota of Chula Vista had the exact color, cab style, and TRD package we had been searching for all weekend! Not to mention, the truck also included the folding bed cover, tow package, and side step rails! This was a HUGE plus for us!
In the end, we stayed within our budget, signed the paperwork and rolled out by 9:00pm, and we came home with a truck that far exceeded our expectations. Jesus, Carlos, & Ruben were huge factors in our final purchase and they really helped us out! They saved us from all the shortcomings we experienced at the previous dealerships and they were very accommodating and helpful! I would definitely recommend this dealership to family and friends and I look forward to purchasing another vehicle from them in the future =)

Alex is a good sales rep. Look him up for a lease. He is bilingual.
The dealership is clean and courteous.

We came in with a pre-​approved loan from our bank and were on the market for a pre-​owned certified RAV4. We walked out of there with a really good deal – we had a set budget and, after being around the county all day the day before, we were ready to drive one home. We were able to stick to our budget, get the car we wanted, and the dealer threw in some mats and a reduced-​priced alarm system.
The paperwork part was relatively easy and painless, which I appreciated. I would definitely recommend this dealership to friends and family

****Service Review*****
I came here to get my vehicle serviced. Why? Because it is honestly the only place I trust with my vehicle. They know the ins and outs of my car and have explained it to me.
I used to think that going to a dealership was EXPENSIVE! I didn’t want to pay unneeded costs. Guess what I learned? You never go cheap when it comes to servicing your vehicle. I thought everyone could do a simple oil change, everyone cannot! I once took my car to a place nearby where they just did oil changes and rotations. The young technician informed me that my vehicle «required only» synthetic oil. False! Luckily I walked away and took it to this dealership.
Some helpful tips:
— Make an appointment. Yes, it’s a drag and you may not be able to speak to someone right away but this is a must do! You can also make an appointment online.
–Ask questions. Make sure you ask what the cost includes and what it doesn’t.
–Take your recommendation just as they are, recommendations! Do your research with purchasing new parts.
–Complete the online survey if you are selected! I really recommend this because this is how the Service Manager receives feedback on how his service bay is working! It is taken very seriously!