AutoNation FIAT South Bay

My husband and I went there tonight to buy a BMW X5. We negotiated an all cash deal. We were told we would be next after the two guys in front of us. Two hours later still no finance manager. David told us to wait 15 more minutes as the finance manager was closing a deal at the Nissan dealership. We decided to leave, and I am glad we did because when we drove by the Nissan dealership it was completely dark with no customers in the lot. We drove 55 miles for ridiculously poor service.

Second time there and communication is as bad as first time. Hour and 15 minutes quoted appointment time took 2 ½ hours. With out prior estimate or approval they did a fix probably took 5 – 10 minutes and charged me $ 33.00. So much for s free oil change! I think I just paid for it!
Car wash took over an hour! It’s not any cleaner than one I do in 7 minutes!
I’ll not go back!
I have tried to use the number you provided to call and I got to listen to your message no less than 10 times telling me how important my call is to you!
But no human ever picked up. Your communication tools are a bad joke!

Why would all mechanic and service writes take lunch with no one on duty??? Autonation Fiat South Bay thinks this is good business.
I hope they have to visit the emergency room when the doctor and nurses are on their lunch break… maybe they’ll get the point of service.
Maybe they give great deals on cars, but getting service is another story.

Very disappointed. I scheduled my appointment online and choose package A, oil change and tire rotation for $ 39.99. Upon arrival I was told it would cost $ 79.99. Then i was told I needed to have brake fluid drained and replaced, new spark plugs, 2 new air filters at a cost of $ 500. What happened to Mike Garcia? Steve Reilly is clearly out to make money for the dealership at the cost of customer service.

A HORRIFIC experience!!! IF YOU WANT GOOD CUSTOMER SERVICE GO ELSEWHERE! Rated 1 star because its the lowest i can rate it. Came in originally and leased a fiat about 3 years ago (let me warn you they use/​used Ally and they also have horrible customer service)! Within the time i had it, i ended up loosing 3 hub caps and throughout the next year and a half i called 3 times and they promised to give me a call as soon as they came in because i was told that they were covered by the tire insurance i had purchased along with the lease. Well, I NEVER EVER got a call back in regards to the covers, i called several times inquiring about them but i was told that not all came in and that it would be another week before they received another shipment. She promised to call me back, SHE nor did anyone EVER call me back. I also had issues with oil changes though i got them free for the period of the lease. On labor day i called in advanced to see if i can bring my car but their machine kept going in circles and no one answered, i drove in and they told me that service was closed, next time around i came in for another oil change i was told it would be 1 hour so i left and came back exactly 1 hour later and i was told that the oil change had NOT been done yet because they were understaffed and if i also wanted the car washed, i said yes (but dont dealers offer complimentary car washes either way?). It took them an additional hour to do the oil change and «wash» the car. i waited 2 hours for 2 simple services and in addition to that they forgot to turn off the oil service light on the dash. They also promised a full tank of gas and it was not given. Flash forward 3 years later and my lease is up, I drive into the dealer and i am told that i had to contact Ally for an inspection before i dropped it off (How does a car get inspected before turning it in???) plus isn’t that the dealerships job to have it inspected either way by companies THEY use? Another issues that really angered me was when i asked to get the hub caps replaced one last time, the day i turned it in. So FINALLY there were enough caps for my tires after 2 years of asking for them, i tell the guy who was getting them to put them on and when the service manager comes to me he tells me, «…well the hub caps aren’t covered within the tire insurance, they are only covered for 1 year under warranty.» first i am told they are covered they i am told they are not covered? In the end he noticed i was really angry and to alleviate my anger and the horrible customer service he ended up not charging me for them. This place really needs to figure out what they offer and what they don’t and learn how to work the answering machine.
Additionally i was blamed for a manufactures defect that exist on Fiats, in the front bumper above the Fiat logo. The bumper began to bubble or lift up between the crack of the hood and bumper, and i was asked if i hit something. If i hit something the whole bumper would have needed a replacement.
I will NEVER come back here again for anything!

We’ve had our 2015 Fiat 500e for five months now, and this car was with the dealership the last 24 days doing who knows what to figure out why it’s having trouble charging. They said they let it trickle down and then they tried charging it with the cord they gave me and with a 240v charger and it worked fine.
So, I’m optimistic and take the car home. It charges through the first night without showing those horrible goal post red lights, but alas, night two the car won’t charge properly… goal post reds appear, and an icon saying «service electric vehicle system».
I didn’t have enough battery charge to make it to work tomorrow, so I drove the car to a public 240v charger and plug it in. It worked for 10 minutes before the red goal posts showed up again.
I ended up driving to another 240v station and finally the car has been charging for 30 minutes straight. Why? I don’t know, nor does Fiat, which is why I take the time to once again update my review.

FYI: Mechanics don’t come in till 8:30. Their website says they’re open from 7a and that is literal 7a.

Apparently the 5 star review I left in May of 2014 was an aberration. I do stand by my opinion of the actual mechanic/​service staff — he is very nice and does good work.
The Sales staff has always been super friendly.
The Service Manager, Mike, is actually pretty horrible — and the reason I’ve tried everything under the sun to find a new Fiat service place. He is rude, sarcastic, condescending, and generally unprofessional. When confronted about why he doesn’t respond to emails, he shifts to blaming all of his colleagues for various reasons. Everyone’s fault but his.
I’m quite desperate to find a place for our Fiat for general things like oil changes, brakes, etc. — someone have a recommendation? :-/

Dreadful experience. I hardly ever give one star reviews and I take my Unilocaling very serious so I feel I need to warn you as a potential customer. This place does not value you as a customer, so unless you like 0% service I recommend you take your business elsewhere.
We leased a fiat here 3 years ago. The buying experience was not great. Felt pushy and unorganized it took over 3 hours. The car ended up needing new parts in the third year. And the endless emails/​calls about filling in surveys and asking for new business over the years left a bad taste. Of course as a result we decided not to release with Fiat.
However nothing beats the experience we got today when we returned the lease car. We had made an appointment, which is not easy, it took quite a few calls. We showed up on time and were ‘helped’ by floor manager Adel Massef. He walked over and said he couldn’t accept our car back because there had been vandals slicing tires and he couldn’t run the risk of another car damaged. We were stunned, not only is it an odd reason we had an apt. And with all the calls and emails there was so much opportunity for them to tell us. As I looked over their parking lot with literally over 50 fiats I could not understand why ours could not be part of them.
Mr Massef was very dismissive and unfriendly. He told us to drive to Santa Monica and return the car there. We asked him to call the Santa Monica location to ensure the return. After a few minutes of back and forth he said he would call. We waited for 5 minutes and I noticed that he didn’t go to his desk but started to chat with some colleagues. There were no others customers in the store. So I walked over and asked him if he could make the call so we could save our previous weekend time. His response was the rudest most disrespectful response I ever received. He told me he didn’t care about our customer experience. And that the Santa Monica office was not affiliated with them so we should just go.
Clearly this manager cared more about not having another car in his lot than treating paying customers with any dignity. We were stunned and walked out to their fiat filled lot and drove our lemon fiat home with heavy hearts…

– September /​21/​15– UPDATE. Spent all morning trying to reach them because a week ago they took my car to inspect it after I took it to my local dealership and they found problems. Its 2pm and I literally spent all day calling them. Apparently they don’t pick up and when they do they transfer you and hang up on you as often as they possibly can. It’s been 6 days and they haven’t done anything. No calls no work done on my car. And when they gave me a loaner car they gave me a tiny Nissan Sentra. Not comparable to my 7 seater… They are HORRIBLE!
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Worst dealership I’ve ever had the pleasure of dealing with. They basically sold us a lemon. They won’t return phone calls or emails. They sold us a car with pre existing problems that were never disclosed or checked for. They never inspected the car! We tried to cancel insurance with them because we switched company and they have yet to give us our refund.
The list could go on and on.
Worst customer service ever! And it’s not like we’ve been jerks when trying to reach them. They just never get back to us or they say they will send the info etc. but have not.
This has been a very frustrating experience.
Unfortunately we’re gonna have to drive there all the way from Temecula just to get them to notice us and hopefully finally HELP their customers!
Oh and they keep replying to people and sending information so you can call them and talk to a manager but that’s just for show. They never get back to you.

Mike is the BEST! I took my car in for regular maintenance yesterday and am blown away by how easy an experience Mike makes it. AND he always delivers above and beyond my expectations. I couldn’t possibly take my car anywhere else.

2^nd time back for service was not so bad. Recalls went well, all complete and paperwork received. Total time spent was 2 hrs even though I was told an hour or so… Still a bit unorganized, but much improved form before!

Can’t say enough about Mike Garcia’s customer service. It’s great! Always helpful and with such an Amazing attitude. It’s even fun to just have a nice conversation while waiting for My car to be serviced. Def recommend coming here and working with him. You’ll be well taken care of.

I try to make sure to point out excellent customer service. My husband and I picked out a very nice used car and Mr. Bishop and Mr. Reyes made the process painless and quick. We were treated respectfully at all times. I will be sure to check back in after a few months of driving the car to deliver a more thorough report.
I mentioned I would come back. Well, I think it is time to change my review. Bought a car with an issue with the motor in the drivers seat. Took the car in… told they needed to order a part. Weeks later and multiple calls that werent returned and I was finally able to get ahold of someone. The part will be ready for install on Tuesday, July 10^th. Note the original date of my review was months ago. The service guys sound very nice, but their follow through is an issue.

I purchased a vehicle from here after SDCCU listed them as a finance dealer for them. Here’s the synopsis of my visit.
I go the first time and check the vehicle out, it’s filthy. Hair all over, grime on the controls, etc. I leave of course and say no thanks. I also heard a weird delay when the vehicle started and I mentioned it immediately.
I get a phone call from the salesman. I tell him the only chance I’d consider it is if they dropped the price $ 1500 so I can get it cleaned up and replace missing air ducts and things. He agrees, so we go back.
He sales me the car and tells me it’s been inspected with their 50 or some odd inspection service. The very next day, the battery dies. They reimburse me for it after I complain several times. I also notice an oil leak on my garage floor. I take it into the dealer and LUCKILY I purchased the extended warranty, HOWEVER, they told me it was inspected. They flat out LIED about it being inspected. The oil leak was repaired after the entire engine was dropped out of the vehicle to replace every single gasket.
OK, so I’ve got a vehicle that actually runs OK now that cost me a lot of money. The driver’s side front tire has a slow leak, I fill it once a week until I have the time to get it patched.
Now, back to the finance department when purchasing.
They lied. There is no way around it. SDCCU said they finance through this dealer, but they refused to provide a quote from SDCCU. I do all of the financing in my family so that my wife’s credit can stay perfect to bump mine up. I know what I’m doing. My credit still isn’t bad though, it was «good» at the time of purchase. They refused to allow her to be on the loan because «oh, well you know, she is financed on another car and that’s not good to have her on this one» It was garbage. I knew it. They gave me USBank with a 7% or so loan, expensive Gap coverage ($ 600) and the extended warranty (about $ 2400 if I remember right).
The very next day, I called SDCCU. No problem. Here is a 1.99% loan with ¹⁄₃ the price on the gap ($ 199). Fiat lied. Again and again they lied. I strongly do not recommend using them if you want an honest purchase who won’t give you a shady loan or fail to inspect a vehicle and tell you they did.
Update: 7÷1÷15
I received a message from Fiat’s Unilocal page saying they are just so sorry to hear about my experience, please call the general manager he would like to speak to me. Great, I’d like to speak to him too. Not to get anything for free, and not to complain, but to see what he could do to turn a very disappointed customer who experienced the worst car buying experience ever at FIAT South Bay. Guess what? He didn’t answer, he also never called me back. Another lie. I have not yelled at anyone, I’ve been more than patient with everyone in this business and they continue to act extremely unprofessionally.
I’ve now called the financing person, Giovanni, 4 times to cancel my GAP insurance that I purchased for $ 600 through them. I’ve faxed him the paperwork to cancel the insurance, and he refuses to cancel it. He will ignore the phone calls or say he is going to do it, but he never actually does it. I also called the finance manager, Jeff, who manages several dealers in the area and left him a message, he did not return my either. I called him again today, 7÷1÷15 at 10:25 am and kindly explained that I only wanted to have my GAP insurance cancelled. He told me I had no option but to drive 2 hours to sign a piece of paper to have it cancelled, I told him that I already signed and faxed the paperwork to Giovanni and he interrupted me with «OK, let me just transfer you to Giovanni.» then transferred me before I could say anything to him. Giovanni did answer the phone, I explained to him that I just wanted to cancel my GAP insurance once again, he put me on hold for 15 minutes, then came back and said the cancellation has never been processed and he dropped the ball. Human error. I’m fine with that. I’d rather not be dealing with this problem in the first place, but it happens. He said he’d have it faxed over to me by 1pm and I should have it processed in 2 weeks once I return the document. GREAT, I hope it’s true. Although Giovanni didn’t cancel the insurance the first time, I understand mistakes and he sounded like he was sorry for the mistake. I don’t need an apology, I just want the insurance cancelled. That’s it.
And so far that’s been my experience with Fiat South Bay. Again, I do not recommend using them if you want a good car buying experience.
Update: 8÷18÷15
After emailing Giovanni several times about this GAP coverage, he delays in answering any emails and will not confirm that he cancelled the coverage. It’s now 1.5 months since we talked, I’ve still not received my cancellation for the coverage. When he sold it to me, he told me all I have to do is call and cancel it if I decide I don’t need it. Well, he’s a liar. Everyone at this business is a liar. Time to go above them. Worst dealer!

This is a few months coming…
Come to Autonation they said.
Let them know you are a School’s First customer, and you will experience their best service they said.
I’ll give you the whole experience, and then get to the outright lies I was fed.
I found a used car I liked through Autonation’s website and liked the neighborhood of their asking price, so I headed down right away. All my dealings with the dealer were pretty solid. He was attentive and from what I judged pretty straightforward and honest… but, he’s moved on to better things (another dealership).
Test drive went pretty well. Took someone along who had more experience with cars and they agreed. Awesome. I loved it, save for a little cosmetic wear on the hood.
I wiggled them down from their asking price, but it still wasn’t as low as I wanted, so I walked away with the offer in hand. I went to test drive another car that night, and another two days later… and I decided I’d pay a few hundred more dollars to get the car that I really liked.
Made an appt… walked into the dealership later that evening, handed him the offer I received and said, «let’s do it.»
We had a few bumps in the road, and I ended up paying a few hundred more, but whatever. I liked the car enough. Got the paperwork started, and everything went smooth.
I took the car on a little drive the next day and as I’m driving on the freeway, I hear a noise of some sort and think, «What was that?» The freeway was completely clear, so I look in my side mirror and the bumper cover on the driver side is detached and flapping in the wind. Awesome.
I pull off and call dealer, ask if I can come in since I’m not far from the them and he says I have to wait until tomorrow morning since it’s a Sunday and there are no service associates working.
I call in and lose a day of work to get this stupid thing fixed
Before I head to the dealer, I take the car over to my mechanic who I’ve known for a decade, and he tells me everything looks great but for one thing. The transmission needs a flush, badly.
I smelled the fluid myself. It’s totally black and it smells like a smoldering campfire. Car is just past the 100k mark, so yeah, it needs the flush. This is going to be close to $ 300…
I get to the dealership and I end up talking to Henry, the service manager… I believe that’s his name. (I’ll confirm)
I tell him about the bumper cover and he says they’ll fix it right away, no charge. They just had to replace some clips… and I just had to call in.
As they take the car away, I ask him who I need to talk to about knocking some numbers off the price I’m going to pay before my three day 100 mile window closes to return the car if I so decide. He wants to know what the problem is, so I inform him about the transmission.
This is where it all gets ugly. He starts giving a bunch of BS about it not needing a service. He references some bullshit about the «new» WS transmission fluid Toyota uses, and that the factory says this is rated a lifetime fluid, and it should never be changed. haha A service manager who says a transmission fluid should NEVER be changed. I go back and forth with him for a while between calls to the Toyota dealerships in the area that definitely suggest a service at this point in the car’s/fluid’s life. He persists, so I ask to talk to the used car manager, whose name is Dan by the way. Henry heads out to the office to go get Dan for me, but instead comes back a few minutes later with more of the same lies. I catch a glimpse a few minutes later of Henry talking to a gentlemen I hadn’t seen yet, so I walk outside and ask if he’s Dan.
Winner! This is the guy I need to talk to… the guy who used to work at a Toyota dealership for umpteen years… the guy who is through and through a «Toyota guy»… and what do I get? More BS about not changing the fluid… EVER. He tried to sell it so much, that he referenced this Toyota «savant» he knows who swears no way no how do you change that fluid. He just lied and lied, and at one point just suggested, you gonna let a couple hundred bucks be the reason you bring the car back? Still, as I walked away, he gave me his caring advice to be worried about a mechanic who wants to change a lifetime fluid.
Needless to say, I’m on the road, out of town about a thousand miles later… and my check engine light comes on. Hmm? Torque conversion failure… shockingly a transmission issue. It requires a flush immediately.
$ 340 and another whole wasted day later, since I’m nowhere near my personal mechanic and don’t want to grind my tranny down any more… I have no more current worries save for the annoying tire pressure gauge that is also broken and floating around in my rear tire. Cost to fix that would be another several hundred dollars.
Stay away from the unabashed liar that is Dan and his service manager.
Again, stay away,

They will promise you a lot of things before you sign on the dotted line when you buy a car from them. But all bets are off after they got your money. Every car dealer can and will sell you a car, but not all of them has integrity and worth your (returning) business.
At least for me, I bought a car from them but I won’t be going back and won’t be recommending people to go there. Nice job on sell me a car, not so good for keeping a (returning) customer.
If you want to buy a Fiat and the dealer would have nothing to with you, then sure, this one works. But if you want any kind of after service. You’d better look somewhere else. Lesson learned here.

USED CAR BUYERS BEWARE. I had an absolutely TERRIBLE EXPERIENCE with AutoNation FIAT South Bay. I purchased a used Nissan Sentra from them 3 weeks ago. Took the car on a test drive and it seemed fine. Purchased the car for a couple hundred dollars above market price (according to
), but I was kind of in a bind as I needed a car immediately.
Within my first week of owning the car I found out the defroster didn’t work, a light for the gear shifter was out (thankfully they fixed these). More importantly I started noticing shifting problems with the car. It takes too long to shift into the next gear and when it does it jumps into it. I was worried since I thought it was a transmission problem.
Brought it back into get serviced. They keep assuring me nothing is wrong with the car, telling me that it’s just the way the car shifts, but it does not drive smoothly and I’m only worried this is going to lead to a much bigger transmission problem in the future. As an added bonus, while test driving the car with the technician after the service, the check engine light came on. Turns out the swirl valve needs to be replaced, a +$ 200 repair, all at my cost even though at this point I hadn’t even owned the car a week yet. Tried to negotiate their Sales Manager (Dan) if he would at least help out a little with the repair given the fact they sold me a janky car, and he showed absolutely zero attempt to try to meet in the middle. Basically was took the approach of «Sorry, but it’s not our problem anymore.»
Terrible experience with them. Absolutely no idea what customer satisfaction is or how to build a brand. I understand that contractually speaking, there is no obligation to pay for the repairs, but a true business focuses first on customer satisfaction, and profits will follow. Not the right way to do business in my mind. Truly live up to the stereotype of the «car salesman». Would not recommend.

I have to second the other reviews about Mike Garcia, as he is simply awesome! I was a bit worried when I first walked through the door since most of my experiences dealing with car or motorcycle sales & service have been negative. As a woman, they assume they can take advantage of my ignorance and push unnecessary services or parts. Luckily I grew up tinkering on cars & bikes so… they’re often surprised and embarassed when I call them on their BS.
Anyway, Mike was not only honest but such a gentleman. He made sure my Fifi (Fiat 500C) got everything she needed and more, then sent me on my way with renewed faith that honest service managers do exist. Maybe they’re rarer than unicorns, but they do exist! So although I live in Aliso Viejo, I’m planning to make the trek to see Mike anytime my Fifi needs servicing.

Thursday night (while waiting in the drive thru line at In N Out) my FIAT 500L started emitting a horrible smell and smoke was coming out the back. After exiting the drive thru, I pulled over. The malfunction light came on and the car would not drive. Apparently, the transmission needed to cool down.
Friday morning I called AutoNation Fiat. I usually take my car to Santa Monica FIAT, because that’s where I bought my car. However, AutoNation is much closer to my house. I didn’t want to risk a longer drive than necessary given my car’s issues the night before.
I spoke to Mike. He was super nice, told me what he thought it might be and asked me to swing by the service department.
When I arrived, he was able to see me right away. He described in more detail what a dual clutch automatic transmission means and the best way to drive when in bumper to bumper traffic, or say when sitting in a drive thru line for 30 plus minutes.
He had my car looked at, it was fine. He then got in my car with me and showed me a few tips to preserve the life of my dual clutch automatic transmission.
In my estimation, Mike went above and beyond. I’ll definitely be using AutoNation Fiat for service going forward.