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A-1 Toyota
New Haven, CT
1,142 Reviews
In the early 60’s, the owners of a local garage received a postcard announcing the production of a new four-wheel drive vehicle. At the time, the automotive industry was producing only one other vehicle in this category, so the owners thought this might be a good opportunity to introduce a new four-wheel drive vehicle that they would be able to sell as well as service. The postcard was answered and the response was the founding of the first Toyota dealership in New England and the beginning of what has become a very successful endeavor for Dominic Galardi, Anthony Buglione and A-1 Toyota.
The history of A-1 Service began before this. In January of 1951, Dom joined his father-in-law, Tony Buglione in a partnership that included a gas station and used cars. The station was located on the corner of Olive Street and St. John in New Haven.
In the late 1950’s, a new highway system was breaking through the neighborhood, people started moving to the suburbs, and with the limited space they had already outgrown, A-1 looked for a new location.
The new site they chose was in East Haven. The partnership grew to include Dominic’s brother, Andrew.
Their new location, occupying a city block on Main Street and the sign reading A-1 Auto Service, Inc., became a landmark for many.
In 1963, A-1 completed the building of the first Toyota showroom on the East Coast. In 1966, just three years after opening their dealership, A-1 became the second largest Toyota dealership in the country. Toyota’s line-up featured only two vehicles at the time, the four-wheel drive Land Cruiser and one of the first economy cars, the Tiara.
Over the years, A-1 Toyota continued to grow and in 1980 moved to their current location on Amity Road in New Haven adding the Dodge franchise that dueled with Toyota until 1990.
A-1 Toyota’s line-up looks far different than it did in 1963, but the basis for a successful business has continued. The business is still owned by the same family, and Domin
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Trade-in Experience
Purchase Time
Finance Experience
Workmanship
Service Time
Hours
Sales/Showroom
Monday 9:00 AM - 8:30 PM
Tuesday 9:00 AM - 8:30 PM
Wednesday 9:00 AM - 8:30 PM
Thursday 9:00 AM - 8:30 PM
Friday 9:00 AM - 7:30 PM
Saturday 9:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Sunday Closed
Service
Monday 7:30 AM - 7:00 PM
Tuesday 7:30 AM - 7:00 PM
Wednesday 7:30 AM - 7:00 PM
Thursday 7:30 AM - 7:00 PM
Friday 7:30 AM - 7:00 PM
Saturday 7:30 AM - 5:00 PM
Sunday Closed
Parts
Monday 7:30 AM - 7:00 PM
Tuesday 7:30 AM - 7:00 PM
Wednesday 7:30 AM - 7:00 PM
Thursday 7:30 AM - 7:00 PM
Friday 7:30 AM - 7:00 PM
Saturday 7:30 AM - 5:00 PM
Sunday Closed
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Showing 1,142 reviews
October 28, 2009
Brought our car in for 15K service. Spoke to Tom "asst. svc. mgr.", who went over all the detais of the service to be performed. He then gave me an approx. price of the service and time vehicle would be re svc. mgr.", who went over all the detais of the service to be performed. He then gave me an approx. price of the service and time vehicle would be ready. Later I received a call at home from Tom notifying me car was ready. At the dealership, Tom went over all that was done and said they even noticed a minor issue with the sunroof and repaired it for me. Our car was even washed for us! The price was very close to what I was quoted. Throught the process, Tom was courteous, polite and very knowledgable. My wife and I are very pleased with this dealership from the car buying process with our favorite salesman,"Quincy", to all the others we have dealt with since we purchased the vehicle. I would highly recommend this dealership to anyone who is looking to purchase a vehicle or to get good service! More
by toyoboy
Employees Worked With
Tom O.
December 01, 2005
One day I'm driving home and it loses all it's strength and the check engine light comes on. I brought it to my mechanic (who I trust and was very close to where this happened) and he found the cylinders w and the check engine light comes on. I brought it to my mechanic (who I trust and was very close to where this happened) and he found the cylinders were misfiring because the ignition coils were burnt. He replaced the ignition coils, and gave it a full tuneup, and the car still had no power. He found the muffler was clogged up, so disconnected it and the car got all it's power back. He explained to me that the catalytic converter melted, clogged up the muffler, and the backfire from the exhaust caused the coils to burn out. So I made an appointment at the local dealership (A-1 Toyota , New Haven Connecticut) and I spent 4 hours this morning waiting for them to diagnose the issue. They handed me an estimate for $3475.00 (+tax) to replace the exhaust system (including sensors, etc from the manifold back). The service guy said it isn't covered under the warranty because "something" caused the fuel to run too rich and melt the cat, and that's classified as an external force. I called Toyota Customer Care and told them the story, but they rely on the dealership to diagnose the issue and cause, so that doesn't help at all. I've asked my mechanic to speak with the dealership and try to reason with them the logic of the situation. If the dealership will admit that the catalytic converter was the root cause of this, then Toyota Customer Care says they will honor the warranty and replace what needs replacing. I called the Service Manager at A-1 Toyota. He explained his theory that the fuel/air ratio was too high, and that cause the catalytic converter to meltdown. He stated plainly that he will not budge and will not cover the work under warranty. So that's that. I was able to find someone with a used exhaust for $250 that I can use until I save up enough cash for a better one. I just needed the O2 sensors, the car needs three of them. Toyota quoted my mechanic something over $300 for just one of them. I was able to find all three aftermarket sensors for $300 total... nice. So this may end up costing about $1000 to repair instead of $3500 that I was quoted originally. Still not a great deal considering the part that failed is supposed to be covered by my warranty. More
by jevaka
Employees Worked With
Mike Querfeld
