Star Toyota Service

Conflicted writing this review because, while there are a few genuinely good service specialists here and the office is run efficiently, there are also others who I can’t trust to give me straight answers.
I’ve been coming here for regular maintenance over the years, more out of convenience than anything else. Depending on which specialist or representative sees you, he will try to make you pay for additional services that are not necessary or required at the particular time. On my most recent trip, I was advised to pay approximately $ 500 for additional services that I later discovered were not all necessary – some were and some weren’t – but they almost make it sound as if my juvenile car will break down, poison me with toxins, or otherwise kill me if I absolutely don’t schedule all the services they recommend.
I’m female, I look young, I don’t know much about horses and cylinders and the cooler that makes your AC run, whatever – maybe I seem like someone who’ll eat up everything a mechanic says. But guess what? The ONLY thing in the world I’ll eat up no questions asked is a plate full of bacon. Now, I see a lot of older customers coming through this dealership for service, and the best advice that I can give to you in order not to get fleeced is to DO YOUR RESEARCH. I don’t think it’s malicious on their end, but some of the reps here seem to play more on the side of having their customers pay for additional services as an extra precaution – which is fine, but many of us are not made of money, and we deserve an honest answer about which ones are necessary for well-​being!
So do your research. Based on the age and condition of your car, check manufacturer’s maintenance guidelines and your driver’s manual to determine what services you need or don’t require. Also call other Toyota dealerships to ask them their opinion; I spoke to two or three different Toyota specialists for multiple opinions, and this is how I found out I don’t need to shell out $ 500 for additional services and replacements – through their bemusement and disagreement on how Star Toyota of Bayside treats its customers.
From another Toyota specialist: «Why would he tell you to pay for that? We don’t even mention it to our customers here.»

This parts department is as busy as a one legged man in a butt kicking contest. I don’t think I have ever seen so many men picking up parts in all my life.
I did wait a few minutes to be served, but after that it was smooth sailing.
Alas, I was able to get the new horn for the car. A gentleman there handed me his card and said, call me if you want someone to install that horn for you. Oh good gosh, seriously. It’s a horn, not a transmission.
I took my $ 69.00 horn, ouchy on the pricy, outside to the parking lot and proceeded to install my horn. Even the guys across the street at the rental company were watching me pop the hood. Do guys really think women have no clue how to do things on a car? Anyway, back to the changing… one bolt removed (yes I brought my tools), snap put the plug from the bad horn, snap in the new plug and horn, put horn back in place with the bolt. Close hood and go honk the horn to confirm it was the horn and not the wiring. Beep beep all done.
Happy honking!

Great service for my Toyota Highlander. In and out in about an hour or so.
But they need to quarantine some of those people coughing in the waiting room.

Update: everything that I wrote last year stands, but I would strongly advise against purchasing tires here. I had a blowout a few weeks ago and went to Star Toyota for a replacement and installation — it cost me $ 300. Today, I had another blowout but went to Mavis Discount Tire in Great Neck and got the SAME EXACT TIRE for $ 227, installed. This is madness.
Additionally: the waiting room now has so much water damage and mold! It’s disgusting! The building is quite literally falling apart! The chairs are all stained by a possible leak in the ceiling and they look like they have not been replaced since 1990. Ugh.

This is THE MOST DISHONEST RIP-​OFF establishment I have ever encountered. They do NOT know what they are doing or talking about. I’ve given this place numerous chances, and each time they do not disappoint. Four years ago, I brought my Sienna in for an oil change and it’s complimentary 20 point inspection, where they wanted to charge me about $ 300 to change 2 filters. Three years ago, I brought it in for the same reason, the mechanic I spoke with put me down for their packaged inspection, for almost $ 100! Two years ago, I brought it in and they wanted me to get a new tire because I got a nail in it. I took it to another mechanic, and from one touch on that nail, it fell right off. They didn’t even touch it!?! They saw a nail and wanted to replace the entire tire. Just this past weekend, I took my Sienna to renew my registration, as well as to take care of any recalls. They do not have the parts to do the recall and failed the inspection because the rack & pinion was leaking. Quoted to replace this part for $ 1350!!! Again, I took my minivan to my trusted mechanic and quoted to replace the part for less than $ 900. After he took a closer look, it turned out the rack & pinion was not damaged, but the axle was leaking fluid. So Star Toyota Service failed my state inspection for the wrong reason. How can they do this? How can they keep on doing this? I WILL NEVER COME BACK TO THIS PLACE. DON’T THINK ABOUT COMING HERE unless you want to get ripped off, lied to, fix and replace parts you do not need.

I have been going to toyota dealership for service in hempstead for four years but on a whim went to this one and boy did I get a BAD surprise. Dropped off car at 7:30am. Giovanni promised me that my car would be ready by latest noon. Here is the rude awakening… I called and found out it wouldnt be ready until earliest 3pm! What happened?! Glad I called… one star is for the shuttle service… even that was late by 45 minutes… had to call twice. THIS STAR toyota is in a galaxy far far FAR Away… lost in space where time is warped.

Excellent service and I was accommodated without any appointment. Service advisor was very knowledgeable and professional. Very long wait but hey, I didn’t have any appointment.

I always hate going to dealership, since they always charge higher for service (since it’s a dealership), but i can’t stand the wait here.

This review is strictly for Sam from parts. The man went above and beyond by doing everything he could to get me what was needed.
The man stands out from the rest. When there is a fellow in need, he’s always ready to lace up the jetpack and cape to save the day.
5 Stars, to his jetpack, and to his kindness.

Needed a state inspection. Dropped off my car. Upon inspection, they found 1 broken engine mount. They told me I should replace all 4 mounts, and quoted me some silly large amount of several hundred dollars. So I asked if it was possible to replace the 1 broken mount. They wavered but said yes, and thus I spent ¼th the amount of money to fix it. Seems very shady to conveniently omit the fact that I could have saved myself hundreds of dollars on something they kept insisting I «needed», which was not the case.

Set an appointment for an inspection upon arrival was told that the entire state inspection system was down… lies lies lies only they had an out of order machine went to my Gas station and got my inspection pissed off I could have gotten a ticket listening to these fools.

Terrible place. Tried to rip me off to fix the AC system in my 2008 Sienna. My AC system was blowing not so cold air so I took it in for them to review. After dropping it off in the morning with a counter guy named David, he calls me back mid-​morning saying there is a defective part. The cost to repair would be couple hundred dollars, but he wanted the car a bit longer to «check for leaks», In mid-​afternoon he calls me back first accusing me of having taken the car somewhere else that introduced the leak detection dye (inferring that they also damaged the system). I had not taken the car elsewhere and vehemently denied this accusation. He back down and told me that there was a leak in the evaporator and it would cost $ 3000 to repair!
I refused the repair. Paid the $ 120+ evaluation feed. Took the car somewhere else and they told me that the AC system had no leak and was simply low on refrigerant. They added refrigerant and AC system works like new. I have suspicions that Star Toyota discharged refrigerant when I took the car in for oil change during the winter time.
Stay away from Star Toyota Service.

Came in for a car inspection. The inspection went fine, but I asked the repairman to replace my windshield wiper with one that I purchased already (rain-​x cost me approximately $ 20) only to find out when I returned home that the repairman replaced it with a different cheaper windshield wiper. I will be more observant next time. Come on a windshield wiper? How sad is that?

I have been bringing my 2008 Prius here ever since I’ve gotten it; I usually work with an excellent mechanic named Angel Fernandez, an extremely professional and bright individual; the service and care for their customers is evident; they’ll call you to confirm if you’d like some additional work done; they took care of my recall with a copacetic professionalism; I could really trust my vehicle to Angel and the Star Toyota Team.
Needless to say, Star Toyota will continue to be my #1 choice for service throughout the entire life of my vehicle.

Mr. Liu is great, this place is great. Most toyota service places in the city are awful. Star Toyota restored my faith in repair shops.

It was my first time getting any check up with my car (first car too). I was told by many people that the process will be pretty long and I would have to do a lot of waiting just to get serviced. I was very happy when I was able to get an appointment the next day after I called (the appointment was on a Tuesday morning at 8am so that might have helped too). The staff was very friendly, professional and helpful. The assistant service manager, Nelson, was very informative and actually called me twice to update me on the status of my car. From pulling into the garage to filling out the paperwork and walking out the door was no more than 15 minutes. So overall, it was a great first time experience!

I found this place because of Unilocal reviews, called first thing on a Monday morning and was told to come in as a walk in, even though it was a busy day.
Every person I encountered, especially my rep, Shiv, was very professional and courteous. I was in and out in 2.5 hours and in the time period promised to me. At no point was I left in the dark, unsure of the process or waiting excessively. I don’t think I overpaid, either, though I’m not entirely sure about that.
My only beef is that I wish they had free wifi for customers.

Luckily when I came to Star Toyota I didn’t need anything major done and my car was still under warranty so everything done was free ($ 106 if I had to pay). The problem I had with my car was that my AUX was not working at all and I need to be able to listen to my IPod since there’s only so much of the radio I can take. The guy told me I had a short circuit and that he had to order a part which would come within a few days. I explained to the guy that I needed my car for Monday because of school so he told me he would try to get the part as soon as possible. The next day I got a phone call at 8am saying I could bring the car in because they got the part. I was really happy that I could get this done quickly but I wish it could have been done within a day.
Everyone there was really pleasant to deal with. The secretary Eva, Shiv, the girl who gave me my receipt and the guy who ordered the part for me had no attitudes and treated me great.
The only complaint I have is probably the wait but at least you can make yourself complimentary coffee or get something from the vending machine. They also told me it would take 5 mins to put the part in which I knew wouldn’t happen since the waiting room was full. It was more like an hr. Otherwise I would recommend this place.

Took the car to another mechanic and found out one of the cells in the battery is bad. They are replacing it for much less than the dealer was going to charge. No idea how Star Toyota missed this.

had another pleasant experience at Star Toyota today to get some routine maintenance done on my SUV. within an hour, I was in and out, no hassle, no fuss!
I didn’t get to talk to Total Recall dude this time, but John, the dude I dealt with, was friendly and helpful.
however, what I am really writing this review about is that this one woman had an issue that one of the managers said would take a day or two to fix, potentially. so he called up a car rental company for her and told her all expenses for it would be covered by Star Toyota. now that’s awesome!
for those who don’t know — yeah, I drive an SUV… do you hippies want to fight about it? to quote Optimus Prime, I’LL TAKE YOU ALL ON!