Star Toyota

I was told during a routine oil change that I needed $1,800 worth of repairs to my 10-year-old Toyota Camry. Supposedly, the front brakes were shot, the timing belt needed replacing, and there was a water leak. I took the car to another repair shop and was told the following: the brakes were fine, there was no water leak, and the 2002 Toyota Camry does not have a timing belt. These people are thieves, pure and simple.

My 2009 Sienna went on fire in my driveway. Toyota Corp. sent an inspector and he determined it was from the alarm the dealer installed. I called the dealer and they wanted to take my car without giving me anything in writing, which I was not doing. Geico, my insurance company, took it to one of their shops and turns out the car was totaled out, damage under the hood and behind the dashboard. I owed $26,000 and it was totaled for $21,800. Now I should owe the difference? They did nothing to help me.

I bought a used 2001 BMW X5 car from Star Toyota Dealer in Bayside, New York on November 30, 2010. When I picked up the car, the check engine light was on. I confronted about it and they told me to bring the car in the weekend. They also said they knew about it but they did not feel it was important to inform me. I brought the car to them to get it fixed on the weekend as they stated. They called me on Tuesday to pick up the car and the check engine light was still on. Again they didn't do anything in the car nor told me that they didn't fix it. The manager told me to bring it back on the weekend. They called me again to pick up the car and the check engine light was still on. In the meantime, the temporary registration was expired and they wanted me to drive it with an expired registration.

Sometime in January the insurance company sent me a letter stating the car is not registered. So I called them to get proof of the registration. They told me they sent it already; I should get it in two weeks. After 3 weeks from the date they told me they mailed the document to DMV, according to DMV the car was not registered. It is still not registered as of March 30, 2011.

On January 12, 2011 I brought the car back to them to fix it. Everyday I call them they tell me something different. Ray,the manager, told me he sent my car to the BMW car service dealership in Manhattan and they couldn't fix it. After they told me they couldn't fix the car so on Monday, March 28, 2011, I called them and told them I want to take the car to a shop so they can fix it and Ray the manager agreed to pay all the fees. The dealership drove the car to the shop that I gave them on March 28, 2011. The shop where I took the car said they can fix the problem and it is going to cost $1,000 to get the car fixed. I called Ray and told him how much they're going to fix the car, he told me there is nothing they are going to do about it.

It's been 4 months since I financed the car, and the dealership never submitted the registration papers to DMV. I do not have the title of the car. If you have have any questions or think that you could assist me in resolving this problem, please feel free to call me at **. Thank you

I purchased car on May 5, 2010. Advanced tracking defect and tire pressure faulty. Warning lights are on. I took the car to service shop three times. Finally told to take car (Lincoln navigator) to Lincoln dealer to be fixed. Star Toyota can not. Do not know if the car is being damaged by driving with warnings. Shouldn't Star Toyota pay for any repair?

My '03 Avalon started billowing white smoke at start-up. It would continue for another 2-3 minutes as I drove. There was no noticeable mileage decrease or any excessive engine noise. No engine warning light or low oil light told me of any pending issue. It did begin to consume lots of oil, requiring added quarts of 5w-30 or 10w-30, whichever I was able to get as I drove. I have been changing oil every 3,000 to 4,500 miles religiously. At 7 am, I brought the car to my dealer's service center and was told that to examine my vehicle a charge of $300.00 will be required. They will apply this fee if I choose to have work done.

By 3 pm, I was called and told that I must have not done any oil changes because there was sludge in my engine and that was the only way it could have gotten there. Oh yes, the estimate according to Mike the service rep will be about $6,000.00. This because, he continued, it's very labor intensive. He could not guarantee that this is my only problem and that the vehicle will be back to its normal state. They (Mike A.) has more than implied that I must be an idiot for not either changing oil or for not keeping an eye on the various shop mechanics who may or may not have changed the oil and charging me. What options do I have?

i went back again on 05/07/2008 and Mel Mahmood was not there and i had to speak to Dimetree who told me that there is no way i can cancel the deal or the extended service agreement. the only thing they did was give me back $1000.00 out of the $3500.00 and i was promised to get the rest at a later time. the $3500.00 was given to Dimetree< the sales person, and as i said he only gave back $1000.00. Dimetree was also very unprofessional in terms of the way he delt with me.

I went Into Toyota with an appointment Time of 9:30 Am to have an Oil Change performed on my vichle. After question why my car was not services after 2 hours of waiting...I was told that they were currently working on it. One and half hour later my car was finished and a very rude comment was written on my reciept. The comment was stated as follows; " Customer is Psycho".

On Sunday,2/20/05 my wife and I entered Star Toyota of Bayside looking to purchase a new car and decided on a 2005 Toyota Camry XLE (6 Cylinder) Model. Mr. Dean Reisler was the rep. who helped us.

When discussing the purchase, Mr. Reisler basically told us what our monthly payment would be to finance the car not giving us the purchase price. He did not give us the purchase price; he based his calculations on, until my wife continually questioned him for the amount. Mr. Reisler finally told us the price was $28,000.00. We trusted Mr. Reisler, which would later prove to be a huge mistake.

My wife and I decided to put a $1,000.00 deposit down on the car.

Mr. Reisler prepared the sales invoice and had me sign it in two spots. I signed on pre-printed section, at the bottom of the invoice, marked Buyer. I also signed on a line he drew on the middle of the invoice under which wrote "pace + DELIVER". Mr. Reisler then left to copy our drivers licenses and took the invoice with him. When he returned he gave us our licenses and our copy of the invoice.

Upon returning home, I found better prices on the internet and went to Queensborough Toyota of Jackson Heights Queens the next day. Mr. Steve Mark showed me the dealer invoice and MSRP for the same car. We negotiated a price of $26,000.00 for the same vehicle, $2000.00 less! Mr. Reisler, from Star, never did this when we spoke the prior day. I felt he was trying to scam us with an inflated price and decided to give my business to Queensborough. Mr. Mark and his manager advised me that Star must give me give me a refund, of my deposit, if I changed my mind within the first 72 hours of signing the invoice.

After calling Mr. Reisler, he first told me the refund is non-refundable. After arguing on the phone, he said to come to the dealership (Star) for a refund.

Upon arrival, Mr Reisler and his manager refused to refund my credit card for the deposit stating that the line I signed, in the middle of the invoice, had "Deposit Non-Refundable written above and through parts of my signature. Those words were not there when I signed the invoice and were probably added when copies of our licenses were made.

As I argued, over the refund, with the manager, her subordinates started to surround me. I felt threatened as they were forcing me to leave. I tried to leave but the manager blocked my means of egress and bumped she me as I excused my self and tried to leave.

At that point one of her subordinates then tried to accuse me of assault? I then left the premises and decided to pursue other avenues to get my refund, such as Consumer Affairs.

Star also threatened to take me to collections if I challenged payment of the deposit with the charge card company.

All I want is a refund to my credit card.

Star should have some sort of sanctions placed on them for being dishonest and threatening to their customers. Please help me!!!

Thank you,

Thomas F. Ryan Jr.

On November 23, I went to Star Toyota of Bayside, along with my sister and brother-in-law to buy a brand new 2003 Toyota Camry. The deal went well with the salesman, but when we went back again to pick up the car, thing got changed. We were directed to speak to the financial manager in his office. He told me that because I have bad credit, the only way I can get 1.9% interest rate from the loan, which was advertized at the time, I have to buy a so-called GAP insurance.

This insurance, according to him, is supposed to insure my car when it gets stolen. Right after I bought the car, I checked my credit report, and I was shocked that this man actually lied about my record; the report was clean and good. But I couldn't do anything at that point. I did the next sensible thing: I called up the GAP insurance company number that was listed on the "contract," but there was no record at all that my car was insured under this policy. So I called him, and he of course didn't admit any wrongdoing. Still lying and said that I checked the wrong credit report and that there was nothing he can do to get me off the GAP insurance. I was so furious when I talked to him on the phone.

Still trying to bind me to service my car in his company he told me he will give me $1400 service package when I go to his shop for service. I turned him down, and told him that either I get that amount deducted toward my loan, or that I would just go ahead and complain to his company. And he gave in.

The lesson: never, ever, believe in anything dealer said, always make sure you checked everything necessary to buying a car, rather old or new, before going to the dealer. There are many resources in different websites that deal with car scam, I would advise anyone who seriously consider buying a car to go through those information, before making the wrong move. In my case, I should have checked my credit report or just told them that I would not buy the car.

Right now, I have some minor problems with the car: the door light in the car does not lit now; it didn't function after about 6 months later. And the seat belt warning light on the passenger side tend to go off haphazardly. I didn't go to back to that dealer and complaint about it. Hopefully these are just the small problems that I have with my car. It's unfortunate that an excitement of owning a new car had turned into something awful and stressful.

I am a full time student at Queens College and I work as a Customer Service Supervisor for an insurance company in Long Island and recently I went to Toyota's showroom looking for a car. I was looking to trade in an old car that I have if I was to purchase the new car. When I went to the showroom, I was helped by a sales person by the name of James Garafolo.

I liked a Toyota Camry and signed an agreement for the car. It was determined that I would get $2000 for the car that I was trading in. I was also told repeatedly by the sales person that when I would come back to get the car, because the car was not available on that day, that if I didn't like the car "He would rip up the paper and give me a refund". I put down $100 as a deposit for the car. It took a few days for everything to go through but before I could actually purchase the car, the car that I was trading in broke down.

The transmission on that car is not working and it is not worth getting it repaired. I cannot afford to buy this new car because now I wouldn't get the $2000 that I was getting for the old car. As soon as I found this out, I called my salesperson and left him a message that I wasn't able to go through the deal. I was told that I need to speak to a manager in reference to the refund.

I called various times and everytime I called I was told the manager was unavailable. Besides, they seem to have a differnt manager evertime I called.

Sometimes I was told that Jim is the manager, my Father spoke to Jim on one day and explained everthing and after my dad explained everything, Jim said, he is not the manager. I called back to find out that the manager there is a Richard Provenano. I tried to call several times and every time he was unavailable and one point I was even told that he was on vacation for a week. Then I decided that it is best if I went there in person to get my refund. I went there on 08-02-03 and I was told that the manager is Victor. I tried to explain the situation to Victor but he wouldn't listen to a word I said and, basically told me to leave. I was extermely embarrassed and humiliated and left without a conclusion to my problem.

The copy of the agreement clearly states that if the car that is being traded in has a reduction in credit "If the trade-in credit is reduced and I am not saisfied, I understand that I can cancel this agreement.....". I don't understand if the agreement states so why they are not giving me the refund. I am able to provide you with a copy of the agreement if necessary.

I have made several attempts to resolve the matter with Star Toyata but they are unwilling to listen to anything I say and their service is absolutely unfriendly and unhelpful. Please help me obtain my refund. I see no other way to solve this problem but to contact you.

I signed contract requiring a $1000.00 deposit. After I signed contract, merchant added the following to the contract "DEPOSIT NON-REFUNDABLE, UNLESS CREDIT IS DENIED." Merchant also fabricated employment information on loan application to guarantee financing(TIME OF EMPLOMENT LESS THAN ACTUALLY WORKED.)

I verbally cancelled the contract the next day with the company in person. At that time the company refused to refund my initial $1000.00 deposit. The next day I cancelled the contract with a second notice by faxing a cancellation notice to them. The company still refused to refund my $1000.00 deposit.