Star Automotive

Just had some come by and leave review for Star. I was in the market for a newer BMW to upgrade from my 2004. I found a e92 at Star Automotive with only 64K, well priced, and looked like it was in excellent shape.
I did see a lot of the bad reviews which made me weary about driving 2 hours to just check it out. I did my due diligence, browsed online about common problems with the E92 model, and looked for them when I went to see the car.
You are buying a used car, and these used car dealerships buy them from the auction just like we buy from them, they clean them up, check basic inspections and then sell for a higher price. You need to do some work yourself and protect your next auto loan and make sure the car is good.
I went there and Chris and William were easy to work with, and went above and beyond to get me approved. I did mention that I saw the car for a lower price a week earlier, and William simply asked where I saw it, and to print out that ad and he would honor the price, which he did when i went there to purchase it.
The car itself was really clean inside and out, engine bay was also clean. Checked all the systems on the car to make sure they were working, did find that the left tail lamp was out ($ 5 fix at Autozone) which was not a big deal. Chris was not pushy about selling, just said to take it for a test ride, and tell him what I thought when I got back.
Bought it on the spot, and drove it back to Los Angeles without a blemish! Ran great. Took it in to my buddy at European Motors in Silverlake, where they told me that everything looked great mechanically, and just to keep up with the maintenance, and preventative stuff moving forward. Also found out that the turbos on the car are covered for up to 8 years /​82,000 miles.
I was so excited I forgot to mention that the floormats weren’t put back after the detail. LOL
I would recommend these guys to anyone, but remember to do your homework when buying a used car.

I hate myself for purchasing a vehicle from William and Walid at Star Automotive. They essentially sold me a lemon and refuse to acknowledge several attempts from the BBB to rectify my issue. I strongly urge anyone on the hunt for a car of any sort to bypass Star, I can’t stress this enough. It will save you thousands of dollars in headaches!!! Ive taken every measure to get my voice heard and hope that Star is shut down for their shady dealings!!!

I would avoid Star Automotive at all costs. I contacted the dealer about a Suzuki Kizashi they have in stock and boy was that a mistake. I should have taken the time to read the description on their site to give me an idea of how terrible they are at running a dealership. Just read the below line, which is directly off their site talking about the Suzuki Kizashi:
.This Suzuki has 80Kmiles only… V4 2.4 Liter. UPTO 30 MPG.!! …All Safety Maintenance/​Reconditioning & Inspection has been completed! All Services Up To Date including New Brakes. IF YOU HAVE NEVER DRIVEN the new Milan, YOU ARE MISSING OUT
Yeah if you know anything about cars the first thing that will stick out is the V4, the Kizashi has an Inline 4 engine, they don’t even know anything about the cars they are selling. On top of that they just cut and paste this from a write up for a Milan. Attention to detail or just about anything is lacking.
When I did call the sales person on the other end of the line was not interested in talking to me about the car. He went right for the hard sale. Wanted my phone, email and address before he could talk about the car. Woo there, answer my questions and I will exchange my phone number, but don’t go strait for the «When will you come see it?» line. Really unprofessional over the phone, if I have a couple questions answer them and then we can talk business. If you hard sell on the phone withing the first 15 seconds you lose people, it makes the dealer sound desperate and that is a red flag.

Horrible, stay away from this place! they are nothing but crooks!!!
I bought a 2009 Audi A4 quattro Premium Plus back in October 2014. The car was fine for about a week, then the check engine came on. Took it back to them and all they did was reset it. They said it was normal for Audi’s… how can this be normal. 3 days later the car gives me an error in the dash that said «alternator malfunction» the car dies on me on the I-​805 South just past the stadium, nearly caused a major accident since I was in the middle lane trying to get to the shoulder. I call them to advise them of the issue and they tell me that «those are the risks of buying a used car». I got that issue resolved with my mechanic, it needed a whole new alternator. Well over $ 1k, two weeks later the water pump assembly goes out… another $ 1,500. finally the car was ok until January. The car all of the sudden was having issues starting up. ended up taking the vehicle to San Diego Audi in Mira Mesa spent about $ 3k more and they cant even figure out what the problem is!!!
Unfortunately I’m about to have the vehicle reposed by my bank since I cant continue to throw money at it. It has been the WORST EXPERIENCE OF MY LIFE!!! they sell bad cars and then take zero responsibility for them. I really wish there was a way to act legally since clearly they are selling lemons.
STAY AWAY FROM THIS PLACE!!!

ery helpful and not to pushy like other dealers.

Great people and great cars. A great family run business.

STAR AUTO SUCKS!!! They sold my husband a truck he loves BUT… There was no key for the Tonnahue cover they told him to take it to their locksmith so we did and the guy never showed up, the horn does not work and after 2days of driving the truck the check engine light went on now the truck starts rough called them back and they said they will call the warranty company that we paid for which was very pricey and they said they would let us know well we ended up calling star and finding out that they had talked to the company and they said the company said we are 99% sure we will cover the truck We called the company and they told us we will not cover the truck. So if you are looking for a car go to a REAL dealership. They will treat you like family.

Absolutely horrible!!! It literally cost me over $ 3,000 just to make the car they sold me safe to drive. The control arm bushings were bad causing the car to lurch when stopping $ 253. There was a major engine oil leak $ 850, a transmission leak $ 450, the passenger airbag was faulty $ 850, one of the rear tires was so badly worn on the inside (where I couldn’t see it) that after only a week of owning the tire blew out. After taking it to Discount tires I was informed that the other rear tire was an oddball tire and not a run-​flat like the others. That cost me $ 1000 to replace the two rear tires (BMW). To top it off, the oil was way past due! They didn’t even bother to change the oil before they sold it. I am still dealing with the warranty company that only covers one of the items. Star Automotive sold me a car that was unsafe to drive and should have had major repairs before being offered for sale. They actually wanted me to take my car and leave it with them for a week so their mechanic can look at it to validate my repairs. I said heck NO! I don’t trust you and have no confidence that he will perform quality work to repair these major items!!! I will see them in court with my attorney!!!

Had an amazing time! My husband and I were looking for a minivan as we are planning on starting a family in a few months. After months of searching and dealing with dealers that were rude and didn’t care for their customers we found Star automotive. The staff is amazing, they greeted us and were very welcoming. We test drove the minivan and my husband love it! They worked with us and any issue that the minivan had was put on the table. We bought the minivan and they replaced the battery at no cost! It was truly an amazing experience. I love this place. If I ever need another car this is the place to go. Thanks Star Automotive!

Please don’t buy from here! My boyfriend bought a 2005 Mustang from Star Automotive July of 2011 and has had it in the shop 5 times now. We let them take it to the mechanic they recommended to us right down the street three times to have the spark plugs changed because it was misfiring. After the third time going there for the same problem we decided to take it to my mechanic where we found out that it wasn’t the spark plugs that needed to be changed (obviously 3 times wouldn’t be necessary) but that it was misfiring on the fourth cylinder and that the head gasket needed to be replaced. In order for the repairs to be covered by warranty we had to track down all of the previous work on the car. So we called the original mechanic that Star kept taking his car to, they were very helpful but let us know that they no longer do business with Star Automotive and that every time Star brought the mustange to the shop that they were buying the spark plugs and telling the mechanic to replace them with NEVER actually looking into the problem. Very shady business, which probably deserves a review of its own but this is for Star Automotive only…
Granted my boyfriend should have done a little more researching himself and maybe gotten a carfax or something but do yourself a favor: DO THE RESEARCH and try to avoid buying from here even if it seems to be a good deal. Everyone wants a quality car, right?

I was looking for a grand caravan in San Diego for a couple months. I had called quite a few dealerships that had some and tried to trade in my 2001 Kia Sportage which had a salvage title. Most turned me down and one said they would give me 500 for it and most dropped my calls after I asked a few technical questions so I decided to keep looking. I came across Star Automotive in craigslist because they had a caravan that was less expensive than all the others I had been looking at. The ad said call or text with any questions. I thought that was awesome that I could text them and they responded quickly and knew all about the van. Me and my wife went and test drove the van that day and it was a dream. Loved it from the beginning. Star Auto is a small family owned company and you get to talk directly to them and not some salesperson that is working on a commission. They gave me a great deal on the van, better than blue book value, worked an extra hour to get me the best possible rate (had 3 finance banks working at the same time to see which would give the best rate), took my Kia as a trade in with a great offer, gave me a discount on an extra 100,000 mile warranty, detailed the car, also buffed out a few small scratches that I noticed. Then two days after I got the car I noticed the low battery light went on so I called them just to see if that was under their warranty. They said to bring it by on Monday and they would be more than happy to replace it with no extra charge. They even bought me and my wife two snapples to drink while we waited for the financing to go through. I am more than pleased with Star Auto and would recommend going down to their lot if you are on the market for a certified used car. Thanks Star Automotive.

AVOID THIS PLACE UNLESS YOU ENJOY THE INFAMOUS BAIT-​N-​SWITCH!!!
I’ve been car shopping for the past 2 months and recently came across a new deal that I found on Autotrader. Because I really wanted to get a jump on it before anyone else, I called them about this vehicle. They replied that it was listed on Autotrader without any pics because they barely got it and it was still getting detailed. They told me it should be ready on their lot in a couple days.
I showed up on their lot when they said and it still wasn’t there. They offered me the same excuse of it still being detailed and told me to come back in a couple days. We did this little game about 2 more times; once they even told me that they had to change out a fuse.
Last I checked IT DOESN’T TAKE A WEEK to wash/​vacuum a car and change a fuse!
They finally called over a week later saying that it was ready. In the middle of my test drive, the guy — his name was Justin — tells me that they were selling it for $ 11,900. Given that price listed on Autotrader was $ 9,990, I asked Justin about the difference in pricing. He said that they sold that car MONTHS AGO!
WTF!
They refused to sell me the car for the price listed. Instead, the owner Walid was willing to meet me halfway because I was a «good guy.»
THEY WOULDN’T KNOW WHAT A GOOD GUY WAS EVEN IF THEY WOKE UP ONE MORNING AND FOUND HIM GIVING THEM A RUSTY TROMBONE!