Manhattan Beach Toyota

by bren_lvn on 08/08/2013

Test drive went great, we liked the Camry SE but needed a day to think it over. The head of sales sat with us and made their best & final offer, which we reluctantly turned down to allow ourselves the cooling off period. They were absolutely fine with that, and I very much appreciated the low-key sales pitch and their graciousness in allowing us to think it over -- which we did for exactly twelve hours, returning to close the deal and drive away with the SE the next day. Major props to manager Noel, our phenomenally-well-informed salesman Dana, low-pressure John and finance-guy Nate. This was my first new car purchase, and these folks seem really clear on the importance of building goodwill over the long term. (We were VERY happy with the numbers, ymmv.) Here's what we didn't get: Bait and switch, pressure to buy above our means, someone crowding our space while we wandered the lot, deceptions and hidden costs at signing, smarminess of any kind; Free popcorn and a pet adoption event (?) were as rough as it got. Two years of free maintenance, seven years of car washes, business cards with cell numbers that actually answer in the off-hours. I've always been against buying new, but we came to Toyota after three years of repair hell with a Saab. A new Camry puts the maintenance question out of mind for the next decade -- I like that! And the ride is great.

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by rs2mil13 on 07/29/2013

Manhattan Beach Toyota, internet sales team go the extra mile; purchase experience was stress free thanks to Gabe. This is our third family Toyota purchase, two purchased at MB Toyota, within last decade. I decided to visit two other dealerships and experiences were terrible. 1st dealership was not to happy that i had my own financing...left me on sales floor alone. 2nd dealership did not have Camry and pushed to purchase Nissan Altima. Due to my busy schedule, Initial MB contact was via internet and was given prompt attention. Pressure was never an issue, and always received quick responses, via text and email. Within several months, I finally was able to decide and contacted sales team. The sales rep was not avail, however; a team member Mr. L. advised he would assist in absence. Detailed desc.l of vehicle needed was given and he worked with me to check inventory. Online link was sent as well with Camry specs. I advised i would review and contact when ready to purchase. At that time Mr. L. advised Gabe would contact me to proceed, when ready. I contacted Gabe and discussed necessary docs and process. After speaking with Gabe, My visit to MB Toyota was very comfortable, Floor sales associate approached and paged Gabe, to meet with me. Gabe was very patient and did not turn away any of my suggestions and or questions. He was able to provide suggestions and options to help me decide and stay with in my Budget. Next was Finance, Miss Sarah was thorough and was able to work with me to update my contract due to insurance coverage. I am excited to see if Service is just as great as sales, to rate MB toyota the best So. Bay. dealer!

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by 310losangeles on 06/14/2013

Don't buy from here at all. We were given a price for a car, when we got to the finance department, we were told that our payment was higher because of where we live. The sales person knew exactly where we lived and told us that the price quote was it. I was also told that my insurance company wouldn't cover GAP insurance and I was convinced to buy it. I later called my insurance and they said they do cover and that dealers know that. I was advised to return to the dealer and ask for a refund, Manhattan Beach Toyota refused me that. I told him that he lied to me about GAP insurance and he said"I don't remember". They are very dishonest and crooked at that dealer. Save yourself the pain and shop elsewhere. Bad Customer Service.

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by cardreamer3 on 01/15/2013

Hello, i have delt with mb toyota since 2009 and i stoppped donign so recently, the internet dept and the mgr there are sneak bad car guys, bait and switch etc, they give you an internet price and then when you get there it all changes, i reported them to the bbb and they are investigating next month, Brad i think is the mgr or something there, hes like a 15 year old that doesnt know what hes doing, and i ahd two sales reps, both were stuck up, dont go to mb toyota internet dept if you want a good deal!!! go to dch gardena where i bought and there great! thanks mt

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by brown30 on 12/21/2012

We had a terrible experience with this dealer. We told them that we had a trade in and wanted to purchase a new car. They asked us to come down to inspect the used car for the estimate. They gave us a figure for the used car and the new car. A couple of days later we came to finalize the deal. They changed their minds about the used car's value (offering much less than prior number) claiming they had not fully inspected the used car the first time. Head of sales was arrogant and frankly insulting.

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by celtub on 03/06/2012

Part Two: Manhatten BeachToyota instructed me to go to the DMV to have the Title changed reflecting our Dissolved Trust. Went to DMV - said transaction could not be processed without the original Title, so the dealership misinformed me. Called immediately after the sale 3 different times to speak to the owner. Was "promised" he would call back. Instead over the next 8 days, I received 2 calls from sales, 1 from "Customer Relations" who very unpleasantly said the owner "was in a meeting" and would call back. Instead, 2 days later a call from ? dept., who said the owner had been "out of town"... Interesting. And this is acceptable Customer Service?

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by julesatedmunds on 02/03/2012

Gabe Romero is the greatest - never once did he adopt a "high pressure sales approach". I can work with high pressure salesmen , but my wife hates the car buying experience! If we had encountered any high pressure we would have left the dealership. Gabe told us about the car we were interested in (a Prius V 5 with AT package). His colleague (Bill Leyva) took us for a test drive later and was also very helpful. We decided to buy after the test drive and told Gabe that we would not have the finances until end of January (we first went into the dealership in mid-December.) We wanted a particular car - Blizzard Pearl with Bisque interior - Gabe said he would track one down and get it for us. He did. He called on Saturday 28th January to let me know he had the car. We went into sign the paperwork on Sunday - here we met Gabe who showed us the car - it was gorgeous and had everything we wanted. Then we met the Finance Manager (Steve Choi) - this proved to be more like the car buying experience of earlier years - some high pressure, but not too much. Steve was an amiable person who explained the various packages that MB Toyota could offer. We declined the paint protection package, the alarm system, Lojack, and Titanium Plus (windshield, wheels, tires). We accepted Platinum Plus Warranty (as the car is so complicated (high tech.) I could not believe that something expensive would not go wrong in 8 years) and Prepaid Maintenance for 5 years as even Toyota's need maintenance! My wife and I have owned six Toyotas, and I worked for Toyota (at Torrance HQ) - so we are biased - we think Toyota makes the best cars for the general public and also that Manhattan Beach Toyota was the best dealership we have bought a new car from. I would recommend our experience to all our friends and family.

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by scooterbug19 on 12/27/2011

Could it be that in a highly competitive market, with a multitude of businesses vying for the customer's attention and dollars, that a car dealership actually has a frontline person who delivers horrible customer service at the onset, ensuring that NO transaction could ever occur??? We got a TrueCar quote from this dealership, followed up on it, and got a Fleet Manager who sounded extremely impatient and condescending on the phone, treating a prospective buyer like an imbecile, and making ZERO effort to try to work around customer queries. Apparently, this salesperson is unfamiliar with Customer Service 101: treat the client with respect, build goodwill and equity into the dealer name. I'll tell all my friends to stay away from this dealership.

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by rockurchin on 12/22/2011

No car, several hours and 1 credit check wasted. After running our credit checks dealer couldn't actually find car I drove a day previously and that he claimed he was taking stickers off when we called to accept the price. Then tried to give us a different color we didn't ask for as that's what the manager had written up for us, apparently by mistake. He then dragged us round a cold dark lot trying to find a car, then claimed he couldn't just go find car and drive it up front as his licence was suspended and he'd cried to his manager to not get fired just before Christmas! He then admitted to driving illegally when called out for previous claims he was picking his family up when we called earlier in the day. Then he tried to make us take a cheaper car we didn't want because he couldn't find our car. Oh, all this after running numbers on different and higher quote than one agreed to, with unwanted alarm thrown in too..but the other dealer did that too so I assume that is part of the Toyota training. After wasting several hours of our time we had to walk away. Shockingly bad service and extremely unprofessional all round. Even if they could eventually find the car at the price agreed I would not give these people my money now.

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by lisaet on 11/06/2011

I took my mother to John Elway Toyota in Manhattan Beach to buy her a new car. My mother is a sweet, tiny, 83 year old widow on a LIMITED budget. We found her car, her color and her price. First, after one hour, they tried to tell us they no longer had her car in the color she wanted. Then, after sitting around for 2 hours, we get to the finance manager and he tells us the deal is not the deal they ORALLY CONTRACTED to with us. They fought my poor senior citizen mother over $500...which was THEIR mistake. The customer is NOT always right at this dealership. Make sure you are ready for the "bait and switch'" if you patronize this dealership. IT WAS OFFENSIVE THAT THE TRIED TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF A WIDOW!!!

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by stacyisok on 10/25/2011

I would like to say that this was truly a wonderful buying experience. I needed to purchase a vehicle for my daughter, as she is getting ready to go to school and decided to go to my local Toyota store. I was very pleased with the service and also the professionalism that I was given by Ismail and his Manager Brad Sperber. The two of them made it a wonderful experience and I will defiantly recommend Manhattan Beach Toyota to my friends. Thanks for the great service and keep it up.

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by oxbig on 04/11/2011

Excellent salesmanship! I highly recommend John Elway’s Manhattan Beach Toyota!! I came to the dealership to purchase a new Toyota Prius and was greeted by Dennis Paz. I told him I was just researching and starting my car-buying experience. He told me that was no problem and allowed me to drive the Prius. He answered all of my questions, and was very informative. At the end of the day he introduced me to his Manager, Brad Sperber. Both of them helped me and gave me true and honest numbers for the Prius and my trade. I went home and talked to my wife and we came to the conclusion that the Prius was the vehicle for us. I called Brad who helped me with a couple more questions and then had Dennis get the Prius ready, took some of my info over the phone so all paperwork was ready and waiting for both my wife and I to finish. This was truly and enjoyable car-buying experience and I really appreciate the honesty and integrity that I received from John Elway’s Manhattan Beach Toyota.

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by buyer007 on 01/23/2011

Referred by Edmunds.com to Manhattan Beach Toyota for an internet quote on a new 2011 Camery LE V6. Obtained an internet quote from their Fleet/Internet Director Bill Leyva via email. He quoted me a very very good and hard to belief price, much lower than anyone else. Multiple emails were sent to him to confirm that there were no miscommunications and the quote was indeed for a 2011 Camery LE V6. No response from him via email. When I reached him over the phone, he stated that he had been having computer issues. Over the phone, he confirmed that the quote was correct for a V6. Appointment was scheduled for the car pick up. I requested the VIN from him, informing him I needed that to register the car for insurance. Rec'd the VIN via email and ran it over Google. Turns out the VIN was a 4 cylinder. This is totally unethical behavior from one of your referred dealer. When I confronted Bill Leyva with this fact, he claimed he just made a mistake. It is difficult for me to belief that a Fleet and Internet Director CANNOT tell the difference between a 4 and 6 cylinder!! It is more likely he will attempt a switch once we have arrived for our pick up appointment. I had brought Mercedes S430, S550, C350, and Lexus SUV all via the internet without any issues. They all honored the price they quoted. I am really disappointed that Edmunds referred me to this type of dishonest dealer. I would have rated the dealer no star, but this is not an option.

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by tripplep on 07/13/2008

Sunday 7/13, Toyota of Manhattan Beach dealership posted commercial for Toyota Camry LE $18,995 in LA Times Cars section. Being an attractive deal, we drove down and made our intentions very clear from the beginning and agreed with the dealership that we were interested ONLY if the selling price is as advertised. We test drove two Camrys before we finally agreed to buy one. After filling some paper work we were finally told the 2 car we drove were not part of the deal and there was a 3rd car (the color they knew we did not like). This pissed us off, as we had spent 3 hours test driving and discussing talking before we agreed on the car. There was never a hint of price being other then the one advertised. And to make the matters worse, they told us to LEAVE!! (Point-blank). I've no clue till now why. I was also told that they will not return our paper work that had all my personal information, because we test drove THEIR car. I had to raise my voice and vehemently demand for the paper work before I was finally returned. I was in a state of shock after this entire experience. I was never provided with a reason nor could myself think of one, for the way I got treated. Not that I'm not familiar with car dealers tactics but this was a dis-heartening practice I had witnessed. Was it racially motivated or what? :) no idea. I what to report them but don't know where? People involved were Mario & Don (Unfortunately, I don't others who were involved) There are lots of car-dealers in LA, I would avoid them if possible. They proved to be waste to my time & energy.

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