Toyota Of Santa Monica Reviews

the service department is very different then that we are used to in New Mexico. It only takes an hours here and we had to wait 4 hours but the shuttle took us where we wanted.

They gave me a good deal!!! It was fast and excellent service. Only bad they are offering 25$ GC for test drive and they didn't gave me he car i still waiting for the card. Thank you ricky

Knowing little about the functioning of my Prius, I must trust that the service was needed and well done. Cesar Torres gave me that confidence. He took the time to explain what had already been completed on my cars and what should now be done. He also took the time to make personal contact, which was much appreciated. Such an attitude makes taking my cars in for service a pleasant rather than an onerous job. Margaret Frane

I want to thank and highly recommend Hamid Zabehi for his excellent assistance in helping me with the purchase of my new Prius. I did not have a good experience with my last Toyota dealership and dreaded having to go through the process again. Hamid was great from start to finish as was Toyota Santa Monica in shopping for a new car. Thank You!

I am always a bit nervous dealing with Auto Service as I don't know much about cars and don't want to be ripped off. Joanna Tsymbaliuk, my rep at Toyota SM, is both friendly and reassuring. She tells me honestly what needs to be done, what can wait and what is not really necessary. I trust her advice and efficiency.

Joe, Mark, and Ben did a great job throughout the process! Thank you

Wow! What a great experience, the people there are very knowledgeable about their product and brand. Thomas the service representative that helped me out was very friendly and courteous, working along side Thomas there is Jay and he made sure that my time at there dealership was one to remember. He checked up on me and really made me feel welcome. i would definitely be coming back here. great people and great service

Guillermo Galicia is always super helpful and attentive! Very pleased with the service every time! Thanks again, Guillermo!

Sam Mull was friendly, efficient, and helpful. All around great customer service experience.

Eddie made everything seamless and easy, and was a pleasure to work with.

Great service from Phi Thai at SM Toyota! He researched my vehicle's maintenance history & caught some items that needed to be addressed, plus helped me maximize my discount coupons.Thank you!

Michael Briseno went out of his way to be sure I was notified of the progress of the service. He is very friendly and follows through on what he says.

My husband and I bought our first new car in 16 years, and our first Toyota ever, this past Saturday. TONY DOYLE, our salesman, was incredibly knowledgeable about the Prius models we were considering and took the time to allow us lengthy test-drives while providing us all manner of information about the cars. Even after we told him that we're Luddites and didn't really care about the GPS and Bluetooth capabilities that are standard equipment on all the cars, Tony insisted on showing us what they could do in case we ever decided to give them a try. Most salespeople would have happily blown off the tech lessons since we said we weren't interested in them --- it would have saved time and effort --- but Tony wanted to demonstrate all the capabilities in the hope that we might eventually find some of them useful.. Again, this was standard equipment, so he wasn't going to be able to jack up the price of the car by convincing us we needed them, he just did it because he genuinely cared about helping us see the possibilities. After we selected the Prius we wanted, we were handed over to ERIC HOWARD, who handled the loan application process for us. Eric was wonderful. Calm, kind and thoughtful, he guided us through all the steps and then walked us over to the account manager so that we could complete the final paperwork. The dealership was busy and we had to wait for 20 or 30 minutes for the manager to see us, but Eric kept us company and we enjoyed such an interesting conversation with him that the time passed quickly. TONY GARCIA, the account manager who handled the final paperwork, was warm and funny and didn't try to hard-sell us on any of the extended warranty/service options that Toyota offers. From start to finish, we had a fantastic experience at Toyota Santa Monica. THANK YOU Tony Doyle, Eric Howard and Tony Garcia --- you guys ROCK!!!

PS --- If you belong to AAA, we recommend using their "hassle free" car-buying program, which has already pre-negotiated the price of the car at a significant discount with selected dealerships. Maybe you could negotiate an even deeper discount if you do it yourself, but it really was nice not to have to haggle for hours at the dealership --- it really makes the car-buying experience much more enjoyable.

I visited Toyota Santa Monica for my car maintenance. Although it seemed to be a busy day, everything was fairly quick and well-organized. Aaron Wimberley was very helpful and friendly at Toyota Santa Monica. Thank you, Aaron!
Just as a comment, it would be great if you also give the customers a quick explanation of what was done during maintenance beside the papers.

I've been a loyal customer for 3 years, purchasing the vehicle new at Toyota of Santa Monica. My Prius just went off warranty, and I was due for my next service. I booked my appointment, after receiving a reminder from Toyota, complete with a list of procedures to be done at this service, prices for the services, and coupons for them. On the day of the appointment, I arrived on time, and the service associate told me that the list was wrong, and that I needed a much longer, much more extensive list of services, that were much more extensive and extremely expensive - about $1100, instead of the $300-400 that I was expecting. I refused and took the estimate and the car to another dealership that stated that the mailed reminder from Toyota was correct (you can look it up online, and it's printed in the owner's manual), and the list from SMT was unnecessary and the prices were way too high. I'm really hurt that you would try to hustle a loyal customer of several years, that has sent many clients your direction. I will not be returning, and am sorry that I was ever a patron of yours.

Worst car buying experience of my life. Chuck is a lier and will tell you anything to get more money out of you. He is anything but straight up and he laughs at you when you expect him to honor the price he tells you.

Mark Ashtini continues to make my experiance of buying and leasing cars a pleasurable experiance. He is thorough and very sensitive to my and my families needs. For that matter the entire team at Santa Monica Toyota is without question the best sales department in Santa Monica!

Unfortunately I had a lousy experience here. The service people are nice but not very capable with customer service. They don't pick up their messages and tried to raise the price on my basic service above what they quoted. Not going back.

I recently purchased a used Rav4 from Toyota Santa Monica and couldn't be more pleased with my experience namely, working with Carlos Rolon, who showed the utmost patience and professionalism in dealing with me. I'm not an easy customer to please, and after looking for a used Rav4 for nearly 6 months and trying to work with lots of other dealers, it was Carlos who won my business. Thanks, Carlos (and Toyota Santa Monica)!

What an extraordinary car the Mirai is! And, what a treat it was to have such grand service. Thank you Mayer Kohan for making me feel so welcomed and for answering my 1,000 questions. You made me feel like a welcomed friend rather than a customer. After some rather negative experiences with sales people at other places, you gave me a renewed hope and confidence that people like you are so dedicated to proving help and service. Everyone asks me about my new car, and I sing its praises. But, equally so, I would sing the praises of the team at Toyota of Santa Monica. Thank you!

Thank you, too, to Erica in the Service Department for making my first visit so easy. I don't know how you managed to get my car in and out in half the time, but it was much appreciated!!

Chris Rinker is the best Service Manager at Toyota of Santa Monica. I end up
usually bringing my 'car troubles' to him, at the last minute, without any warning
or explanation, yet he is always warm, personable and accommodating. He takes
the time to inspect the car thoroughly, explains to me why I need a certain part
or procedure, and, as much as I 'beg' him, and ask if we can wait until the "next
time", he patiently tells me that the "next time", OTHER parts and procedures may
be necessary, and he wants me to be safe and satisfied, now.
I've had my car for four years, and drive it, at least 116 miles per day. It runs just as
smooth today, as the day I bought it, and I 'credit' that to both Chris Rinker and
Toyota of Santa Monica. They're both great!

Joanna was my service writer this time, and as with every service since I bought the RAV4 in 2017, she was great! I'll be back in November or before. You are taking very good care of my car. Thanks.

Had a great experience getting my highlander serviced this past Friday! Joanna was so good to me!

Christopher was great. Very informative and responsive. 5 stars!

It was the first 5000 miles checkup time for my new Corolla.
I had the best car servicing experience ever.
Saul Castro provided me with a great customer service and was super friendly.
Also I would like to mention car wash service they provided completely free.
Thank you Toyota Santa Monica for hiring great people to work for dealership.
Thanks again Saul.

I had a great experience working with Aaron Wimberley at the Santa Monica location this past weekend. Extremely knowledgeable and friendly. A great overall service experience! I'll definitely be back for service with Aaron in the future.

Mayer Kohan & Amir were very professional and helpful. They assisted me to purchase my Toyota Tundra 2017. I recommend this dealer to any one who wants to have a kind a respectful treatment without being pressured and harassed as in other dealers.

THOMAS SOVEG is a very professional person
Who always does a good job. Excellent service.

Sam Mull is the best service customer representative in Toyota Santa Monica. I serviced my car with him and his associates at Toyota for last 6 years. I am really happy he advanced into Toyota Service Manager.
Marry Christmas and Happy holidays to all Toyota Santa Monica workers and helpers!

DO NOT come here if you are a first time car buyer. If I could rate them less than a star I would. I have never had such a horrible experience anywhere else. They have been so unprofessional & so unhelpful. They failed to register my car under my name and when I would call to ask to speak to some one about it they would say they would call me back & they would never call me back or they would just say that they sent an email to finance. Horrible experience. I had to figure things out on my own because they wouldn t give me a straight answer & my temporary registration expired!! Wish I would have gone somewhere else.

Mr. Marlon Cartillo is my repair and service specialist. He always exhibits good manner, courteous and konwledgible to his job. My 2002 Toyota Highlander has been running smoothly and I am very happly on all the jobs done under him.

With assistance from Internet Sale Rep "Edwin Fuentes", purchasing a new 2015 Toyota Sienna LE at this dealership was a breeze. Not only Edwin matched the quoted price we received from a local dealer, he managed to find our favorite color with the exacted option that we wanted. We drove off a brand new Sienna within 2 hrs after we signed the check - All features of the new van were meticulously explained and demonstrated to ensure that we are familiar with the feature sets for use immediately. If I could, I would add another star for Edwin and his management for following up the purchase, making sure that we are completely satisfied and happy with the professional service at Toyota Santa Monica. Glad that we switched from Honda Odyssey to Toyota Sienna.

Terrible, Unknowledgable, unprofessional, very unhelpful, plus rude, equals i will never be coming back and suggest the same for anyone else unless in an emergency...(UPDATE) used them in an emergency situation for an immediate oil change, shouldn't be surprised to find out when I took it in for that "oil change" that they only put one quart of oil back into my car.when confronted and asked why the service rep didnt check my car when it came out," Steve "(supervisor) said "why didnt you check it"(aggressively and with attitude) .I'm done here for good. They wont fix the problem or give it oil, they blamed me and told me to leave. Do yourself a favor if you must bring it. CHECK THE WORK .

Great experience. Super helpful. No words can really describe it.

It was really a good experience. Krystal was the sales person and she was really helpful and pleasing. Had to wait couple of hours on the delivery day. But except that it was wonderful.

My family and I see SAM MULL to have our Toyotas serviced. He keeps you abreast of what is happening with the car and tends to have things done in a timely manner. I like dealing with someone who communicates well. I highly recommend and trust him!

I visited Santa Monica Toyota a month ago just to check the Prius's colors. I was a customer of Longo Toyota for so many years and I meant to get my next car from them after I checked the colors here. However, Lina Martin was so professional and helpful that I ended up to get my car right there!! Anyone who knew me could not believe I changed the dealership, including myself!! I hope my future experience with Santa Monica Toyota to be as good as the one with Longo Toyota.

Quick service and nice staff, Aaron was super polite and made everything a breeze. Yay.

Great service....Phone system or operation of the system needs to be reviewed. Tried to contact by Service Advisor and was disconnected 3 times while waiting.

Truly great service. Got helped right away. Nelson Figueroa listened to everything I brought up, paying close attention to detail, which I really appreciated. They were done faster than expected with the vehicle. Nelson cared to explain in person, when I picked it back up, what was done about the issue I brought up and make sure I didn t have any more questions.

I'm so glad I went to Toyota Santa Monica. Francesco, Jake, and Hector were all so friendly and helpful! They made the process of buying my new Prius c quick and easy!

Not sure how they get so many good reviews--one can't help wonder if they are friends/family of the staff--but this place is notoriously (heck, LEGENDARILY) bad. Of course they overcharge for everything, that's what dealerships do. But they also can't be bothered to answer phone calls OR to return messages. Worst of all, they are incredibly sleazy. I took my Toyota in for a repair that only a dealership can do. They made the fix, charged an arm and a leg, and casually noted that my brakes were "shot" and asked if I'd like them to do those, too, while I was there. I declined, and got out of there as fast as I could.

You see, my brakes were brand new. I had them done at BrakeMasters two days earlier.

My advice: Go to a non-Toyota mechanic if at all possible, or to Culver Toyota if you absolutely have to have specialized repairs.

Lina Martin made the experience absolutely wonderful. She makes me believe that one can be a good salesperson without compromising one's integrity.

Mark is great. For some reason I am always paired up with him whenever I get my car serviced, and I am thankful for that because he is wonderful.

Patrick Quiroz really made my buying experience a good one. Very straight forward, responsive, and helpful - no muss no fuss. I highly recommend Patrick and team at Toyota Santa Monica.

Another great service experience with my Mirai. Thanks Sam!

Service and repairs is usually very good at Santa Monica Toyota. Service people are attentive and I have not had any bad experiences on the service side of the dealer-only very good. Joe Hernandez took good care of me as a customer and everything was done exactly as he explained.

Timothy Collins was outstanding, best I have ever had at any dealer ever!!!

Fast service, thorough, and a comfy well-stocked lounge.

hi Mr. manager of the Santa Monica Toyota service.
i have a complaint about one of your technician.. i was there about 2 weeks a go, for the repair of rattling in my trunk door lock. i made a appointment with very nice gentlemen Karl he gave me for the next day at 1 pm spot. next day i was there at 12.50pm. after i waited 15 minutes. then one gentlemen approached me, he introduce him self as Manny Fernandez or Hernandez i forgot the last name. he ask me what problem i was having, i did explained the issue. he ask me where did i both the car i said Longo Toyota he said why i didn't go there for repair, i said far from where i live. he said i should of gone there. i was totally shock for this mans treatments, instead of assisting and comforting me,taken car of me, he was very hostile towards me, i told him i have full coverage for the car, he said you buy the car from some where else you spend $30/40 thousand with them they should take care of you. this is a franchise store. looking at the problem it will coast you minimum $135. i was completely stun i didn't know what to do i was stress out i want to get one of his business card to complain to managements about the treatment he was giving me. he took all the cards from card holder, and hided from me. i went in side very upset to talk to you, but you ware busy i didn't want to get my self into more trouble with him i went home. by the way i was your store customer 1997 to 2005 when i lived in 1335 9th street just behind your parking lot next to Tuesday morning. dear sir this man is wrong for your business i did only asked hep. this person dos not fit to work great city of Santa Monica. hes GOOD FOR JUNK CAR SALES please call me about this issue . i am ready to confront with him. i am 68 years old men. very unfairly threaded by this person. other wise i am going to talk to city officials unfairly conduct of business one of your employe.
thank you best regards.

Recently had my Highlander serviced with Michael Briseno -- Overall my trip to Santa Monica was a pleasant experience (which is usually not the case with car maintenance!) Michael was very helpful and a pleasure to work with. Will be sure to request his help with future check ups and servicing. Thank you!

It was a great experience. Joanna was extremely professional and helpful.

Ray Ramirez was gracious, helpful, and knowledgeable in guiding us in our purchase of our new Prius V. He went out of his way to be of service on several visits we made to the dealership, before and after the sale. We are so pleased with his assistance and with our car. We have already begun referring our friends to Toyota of Santa Monica and specifically to Ray.

Sam Mull set up my Toyota Care routine service and he provided excellent service! He was very friendly, answered all my questions, and the service was done quickly. I would definitely come back to see Sam for my Toyota Care needs!

The team at Toyota Santa Monica was just superb! Everyone worked together seamlessly to make my car-buying experience as satisfying and efficient as possible. Special thanks to Ulises.

Christopher Rinker took good care of us when we brought in our PriusV for service. He respected our choice to perform small maintenance items such as changing air filters ourselves, and did not try to sell us something we did not need. This is a good step towards rekindling our relationship with Toyota Santa Monica's service department (which definitely had its downs).

I was very pleased with my service at Toyota Santa Monica. My car was due for its 30,000 mile check, so it needed more extensive work than a quick routine service. I had to bring my car in the afternoon while my daughter was in preschool leaving only 3 hours to complete the work. The service dealer, Joanna Morgan did a great job of working with the staff in the tech department to facilitate the time constraint. My car was even finished early! I had time to run a quick errand on my way to pickup my daughter. Thank you Joanna!

Thomas Soveg helped me out with my car troubles in an extremely efficient and professional manner. He kept me updated throughout the process, detailed all the work that needed to be done as well as work he suggested. He even surprised me with a discount. Couldn't have asked for more and will certainly go to Toyota of Santa Monica for my future needs.

I took my car for its first service to Toyota of Santa Monica. The technician I met with Nelson Figueroa was extremely helpful, knowledgeable, efficient and professional. I would highly recommend this dealership and this technician to my family and friends.

Toyota of Santa Monica is the BEST!!! I love your service department ...and also the sales people at the internet dept of Scion SM really did me well:) Bring your cars here!!!

You guys had a "coupon" for oil change which is all I wanted, plus tire rotation for $169.00.. I reluctantly accepted. I never saw this "coupon" it was blurted out as an upsell. I got my car back shaky and unbalanced. I thought for sure that with paying for a tire rotation.. at a Toyota dealership... they would also balance my tires for the labor that I'm paying for.
Nope!
I get it back shaky, I have to come back the next morning after my graveyard shift and am told that the wheels would get balanced free of charge..
Nope!
The foreman says that's an extra charge, and I suppose the fine print says this on the audible coupon. So I get 2 options, either I pay that extra charge for balancing your tires or we put your tires back in the same rotation you originally had them in and your car should be fine... oh and they keep the money for labor and the tire rotation even though its the same as when you drove in here.
Joanna was nice, but nice didn't get me good service here, will update with the small business auto repair shop when I find it

Really impressed with my experience yesterday (July 2015). I had stopped coming to Toyota Santa Monica a couple years ago because they were always trying to upsell me or force me into services I didn't actually need. I even had one experience where they went ahead and did an extra service without asking me/quoting me a price. Needless to say, I was not happy. BUT I was short on time as I'm prepping for a move and decided to come back. I don't know if they're under new ownership or if they finally listened to the customer complaints, because I was thoroughly blown away by my experience! Chris was excellent. He went through everything I needed done, made sure I wasn't going to have to spend any more than necessary, communicated with me throughout the day to let me know what my options were, etc. It's unfortunate I'm moving, or I would have definitely returned to Toyota Santa Monica. Chris is awesome--make sure to ask for him!

My scheduled 6-monthly service on my 2012 Prius was a breeze. I was helped by Mark Lewis who made it a an extremely pleasurable, fast & efficient experience. A big thanks.

I have been taking my Prius to Toyota Santa Monica since i drove it out to California from Maine nearly a decade ago & they always do a top notch job, whether it's routine maintenance or engine lights that come on two years in a row & they have to intensely investigate at a corporate engineer level to find precisely which one in a million fluke combination of a scenario kept creating the code. Both Joanna Tsymbaliuk & Sam Mull have been my Service Representatives at Toyota Santa Monica over the years & they are both wonderful, professional, friendly, kind, honest & helpful. My (now elderly & almost 100k miled) Prius has been hit by other cars & had some engine hiccups & the amazing folks at Toyota Santa Monica have kept my little green monster kicking along all these years. I'm very grateful & appreciative. I only trust Toyota with my car & anyone else should feel confident & comfortable doing the same. Thanks so much guys, keep being awesome.

I got a Service on Feb. 1. It was great and all staffs were really kind.

As always, efficient, professional and very nice people always willing to help. Thanks!

On Wed., June, 11, I had my car serviced. Sam Mull always explains what and why things are being done. He has been extremely helpful. Thank you, Barbara Levin

I have a unique fix that is needed for my 2011 Toyota Tacoma. Gary Benson, the Service Manager made sure I was taken care of. Any future service needs I have for my Tacoma, I will definitely come back to see this dealership.

I will recommend Toyota Santa Monica to any of my friends.

-Bruce Guthrie

So impressed with this Service Department. Just went in for my 10,000 mile checkup and oil change. Eddie Sandoval was the best!

My sales rep Henry is truly amazing... he was able to work through all of the concerns I brought to the table with no hassle! Provided excellent support when I needed it the most..Service team members were superb as well!

This is a great place to buy your car! They have a friendly and knowledgeable sales staff. If you don't see what you want, they can get it for you. Just a few minutes away is where they keep a huge inventory, and the car can be delivered to the lot. They work really hard to make sure you are happy with your purchase and purchase price. They have a great service center.

Great experience!
Worked with me on price. Delivered all that I expected and more.
Joanna Tsymbaliuk is such a great person to work with!
Thank you!

Came without appointment on a Friday morning because of a car issue that required dealer intervention (all warning lights on and "check hybrid system" message). Was helped by Erick Guevara. He was very professional, courteous, and did an excellent follow up as he had promised. I was very satisfied with the overall experience.

Chris Rinker went out of his way to answer all my questions and kept me informed of the status of my car. Nice job Chris!

As per some of the other reviews on here, I had an extremely disappointing experience trying to lease a vehicle from this dealership. Tuesday, Alejandro offers me a deal. He says he needs to get precise numbers if we want a different model, so I make an appointment to talk to him Wednesday to weigh up the comparisons and process the deal. Wednesday I call in and he is not in the dealership. They can't explain why he missed the meeting, or why I wasn't called in advance to be told he couldn't make it. I'm told his manager can help, but mysteriously his manager doesn't have the exact numbers either. He needs to talk to Alejandro, who isn't there. Thursday, they offer me a "deal" that is $150 more per month than the initial deal, and tell me the only way to get the deal I spoke to him about on Tuesday, is to secure it elsewhere and they will match it. Why on earth would I give them the business if someone else has done all the work and they have tried to mess me around? As if I would have any good will for them after the way they treated me?

We beat even their original deal at multiple other dealerships, and ended up super happy by signing with Toyota Tustin. And overall I noticed pricing was cheaper outside LA/Santa Monica. So definitely try dealerships a little further afield to see if you get a better deal.

Erick Guevara did a great job of clearly communicating what I should expect, and they were right on time. Best car maintenance experience in my memory.

Big thanks to Stephen Harris in the Service department @ Toyota of Santa Monica! We lost our keys and he took care of us. We were done in a couple of hours. Awesome customer service. We will definitely be bringing our car back for any other services.

For eight years, Toyota Santa Monica has been servicing my vehicle. I thoroughly trust the staff. Having my records of service on file comes in handy all the time. One time, my car's maintenance system said I needed service. I made an appointment and brought in my car and the service center records indicated that I didn't need service. This is not an isolated incident. I do not feel like the associates try to up sell me or rip me off. I feel like the associates are looking out for the ongoing performance and safety of my vehicle in the most cost effective way.

Christopher Rinker did an excellent job with my Prius service. I was late for my appointment and there were many customers that day but he got the service done by the time I asked him to. He's very nice and his level of professionalism is outstanding. I feel that he really cared about me and my car. I will definitely go back to him again. Thanks Christopher!

Lina Martin was great throughout the whole process. Very good first experience of buying a car from a dealer.

Got car serviced at Santa Monica Toyota on 11/29.

Chris Rinker helped me out and was very helpful and knowledgeable. Estimated waiting time was right on target.

Overall a great experience.

Everyone was very attentive and friendly and made sure I was taken care of right away. They called to let me know my car was finished in a timely manner and made sure I got my car ASAP when I came to pick it up. Overall great service!

I did an oil change and a tire rotation, and it was quick and friendly.

Gordon Cook was my service rep. I really feel that he cared about providing me with excellent service. He review my past service history and took time to explain what I needed to get done and the things that I didn't need to do. I arrived at 6:30 AM and he was there I didn't have to wait. I explained that I had to wait for the car and had to go to work He said he would have me out of there by 8:30 and he was right on time. I also have to have the transmission service and I liked him so much that I made an appointment with him to come back and get that taken care of. I feel he is honest, knowledgeable, warm and cares about his work and the customers he services. Great experience.

I had an excellent experience at Toyota Santa Monica. My salesperson was Mayer Cohan. Mayer was so incredibly knowledgable about every major and minor aspect of my Prius Hybrid Plugin, and the available incentives in buying the vehicle, that it made the lease very pleasurable. Mayer has also been extremely quick to reply to all my after purchase questions and even helped me in charging my car for the first time. Ask for Mayer when buying a car at Toyota Santa Monica. You'll be happy you did.

Gordon was absolutely first rate in attending to my Prius! Old school values and care! With the addition of Gordon and Aaron to your team, you guys are really picking it up.

Guillermo Galicia is an excellent advisor and person. He helped me a lot, and I am very satisfied with my recent visit to Santa Monica Toyota. It is always a pleasure to have my car serviced under the guidance of Guillermo. I have been knowing him for many years and his high standards go higher and higher with time. Thanks a lot for being there for me, Guillermo!

Leonid G. Fleischman