Toyota Of Pasadena - Service Center

This is really about the car Service portion. I am leaving it here only because the proper place limited my words. So I asked them to allow me to leave an email explaining it all and no one cared I am leaving it here only because the proper place limited my words. So I asked them to allow me to leave an email explaining it all and no one cared enough to contact me back. So I'll paste it here: " I want to be perfectly honest. My wife and I have consistently felt that we don’t get a fair, honest deal when we go to the Toyota dealership. We've both had separate experiences involving overt up charging or attempts to add unnecessary services, which have left us feeling frustrated and disappointed. It makes us wonder if upper management is aware of how their service departments are operating. Time and again, we’ve left Toyota feeling that the priority is maximizing profit, rather than simply providing quality service and a good customer experience. Because of this pattern, anytime an issue arises with our vehicles, we debate whether to go to an independent mechanic—where we’ve consistently experienced honesty and integrity—or risk another unpleasant encounter at Toyota. However, in certain situations, it feels like wisdom to go to the dealership. One such time occurred when my check engine light came on. We figured Toyota would be best equipped with the proper diagnostics and parts, so we reluctantly decided to go back. The night before my appointment, I noticed something unusual—the hood wouldn’t fully open. I pulled the lever inside the car, the hood popped up, but I couldn’t lift it fully because the latch wasn’t releasing. I rarely ever go under the hood, so there was no damage I knew of. I figured maybe I was doing something wrong. When I arrived at the dealership, I asked the first person I saw to show me how to open it, and even he couldn’t get it to release. He told me to mention it to the service advisor, which I did. Later that day, the service advisor called me with the diagnostic results and quoted me a price in the ballpark of $600. He briefly mentioned he’d look into the hood latch, but didn’t list it as a chargeable item. I assumed—reasonably—that they wouldn’t charge me to fix something that malfunctioned on its own and wasn’t the result of misuse or damage. After all, a hood latch isn’t something that should just stop working, and if it does, it likely points to a defect or quality control issue. But when I returned to pick up the vehicle, the service advisor casually let me know the total was now over $700. He said, “I gave you a discount on the hood latch—normally it would be $240, but I only charged you $120.” Let me pause here. This right here is exactly why customers leave the dealership feeling cheated. It’s a perfect example of what creates distrust. Clearly, this charge was added after the initial estimate (from the mechanics)—they didn’t write it up to be charged for initially! It feels as if the advisor felt that he could get an extra charge on this and made it happen. Even worse, it was presented in a way that framed it like I was getting a favor. But how is charging a customer for a malfunction they didn’t cause—without even getting their consent—a favor? When I explained that I never even open my hood and that this was clearly not due to anything I did, the response I got was a dismissive, “That’s why I gave you the discount.” There was no empathy, no understanding, and certainly no sense that the customer’s experience mattered. I didn’t argue. I stayed polite. I paid the charges. And I’m not asking for a refund. Why? Because I’m a man of God. I believe God sees everything, and He takes care of those who walk in integrity. I don't need to fight over a few dollars when I know He handles justice better than I ever could. I simply walked away, as I have in previous experiences with this dealership. Honestly, I wasn’t even planning to leave a review. The dealership sent me a follow-up request through text & email. **It's cutting me off now saying I've reached the limit-(I need more space) can some1 contact me for the full story More

Toyota Pasadena is full of (1) the most unprofessional and under-qualified people that can't do basic math and (2) hate their jobs enough to blame their OWN customers for their mistakes. I have nothing to and under-qualified people that can't do basic math and (2) hate their jobs enough to blame their OWN customers for their mistakes. I have nothing to hide. Incident #1: Chris Ghattas was my service agent one Saturday morning. He finalized a set price below $1000 (which already included taxes) to cover my regular maintenance and brake fluid costs. I had him re-calculate everything at least 4 times (he was using a calculator EACH time) to confirm the total cost. He came up with a different total every time he was punching all the costs together on that calculator WHILE pointing at the screen down the list of maintenance tasks. This is basic addition that we are talking about. After he finalized the total and typed that into the system, I left my car at the dealership for at least 4 hours before I get a text from Chris saying "Can you call me back? I missed something 😞". Lo and behold, he tells me that the total is actually near $1000 instead of the original number we agreed upon. I was upset about the sudden increase. Chris was rude to me over the phone, laughing at my angry reaction, and provoking me with these statements: "Dude, I've been in this game for 23 years. You can't win this argument with me man. Take it or leave it, sweetheart." Since he wanted to call me names and act so tough and so condescending over the phone, I went to the dealership myself so he can try to say everything to my face in front of Rosie and Luis (the Service Manager and Service Director). Rosie helped me out and after hearing my situation, she walked me over to Chris's desk to sort everything out. Chris proceeded to be outright rude to me, "I thought you were cool, I had so many discounts in line for you". Acting as if that phone call had never happened. Trying to cover his scam tactics by saying "I'm a human, I make errors." And? I'm a human, my time is precious, and my money is NOT a joke. So why would it take you 4 hours to realize you were missing something that you forgot to add (WITH a calculator too)? Do you not know how to use one? Complete xx tactic. Makes me question his level of education. Did you xx your way to get the job at this dealership too? The total price I ended up having to pay was lower than what Chris and I discussed originally. They both wanted to add taxes outside the total cost but I was NOT having it. I was sick and tired of their gimmicks. Chris himself was the one who told me there would be no taxes outside the total cost. There is no way I'm letting that slide. You can't play games with me like that. Rosie dropped off the final paperwork I had to sign and the taxes were already included in the total cost. So no hidden tax fees. I was satisfied. After I had ALREADY signed the paperwork for payment, Chris tried to snatch that same packet from me in an effort to change it back to the $1000 total. How unprofessional. You deceive your customers and treat them with utmost hostility after they bring your manager over? Get your rude, disrespectful, and sexist behavior checked. It is concerning. Your degree of intelligence violates what Toyota stands for. You're at the wrong place. Rosie directed me to another service agent to finalize my payment since Chris proceeded to be hostile towards me. Incident #2: Service agent (Miguel Santiago) and a technician (Fern Ramirez) claimed that one of my wheels was aftermarket and not OEM after a freeway incident. I drove all the way back to that repair shop and they confirmed that SAME wheel was OEM (with a verified Part Number). If your own technicians can't distinguish what car parts are OEM vs aftermarket, there is something seriously wrong about how you train/recruit your employees. I have the paperwork to prove this. Your techs clearly don't know what they're doing. Don't lie to me and waste my time. More