Napleton’s Auto Park Urbana

The way my questions got answered and the care that was taken on my car and the way Drew Curtis helped with calling customer service for me when we found there was more damage than first thought.

Saturday service available, service personnel knowledgeable and Customer Service driven.

I went to Obriens just to look and see what they had. My car has been PAST retirement age and I could not, procrastinate any longer.
I was really dreading the whole «dealership/​salesman shtick» but, it had to be done.
As soon as I pulled up I was greeted by a salesman, Shane Miles. He was not your typical car salesman. He went to great lengths to help ME, find the car that I was looking for and the car that suited ME best. He was very patient with me even though he was extremely busy that day. He was very knowledgeable about his cars and believe it or not, was very honest when I asked him about certain makes and models. I knew I wanted a Honda, Toyota, or Nissan. (Okay, I really wanted a Nissan Altima.) Obriens had a nice white Altima and I test drove it and loved it and almost bought it.
But, it was just a little more money than I wanted to spend and I told Shane that. He then mentioned that they had just gotten in an 07 Toyota Corolla with 62,000 miles & had had only 1 owner BUT, the car was in the shop getting detailed. I asked him if I could look at it anyway and when he took me to see it, I knew that it was THE ONE.
I drove home in my new car with a GREAT BIG smile.
I couldn’t be more pleased with my new car and the salesman, Shane Miles, @ Obriens.

I had a great experience with O’Briens. Ask for Bob if you are looking for a car, he is attentive, polite and a real joy to work with…

I went to O’Brien’s old location 13+ years ago and had to threaten them with calling the police to give me my car back. It was basically being held hostage while they tried to sell me a car and after four hours I had had enough.
Fast forward to this past weekend, I went again thinking they couldn’t possibly still be terrible. Well, not bringing my own car with me helped keep that from being held hostage, so that’s a good point. However, the salesman in the Hyundai area basically treated me like I was just a tag along even after the BF said no less than twice that I was the one looking for a new car while his car was getting some Toyota care in the Toyota area. We also got some weird song and dance from the sales manager about it being busy, blah blah blah. We were the only people there who didn’t work for the dealership and then the «sales manager» was driving their golf cart around like a maniac and fake running over other employees, complete with tire squealing as he came to an abrupt halt.
The only person worth a darn on the sales side of things was Abraham in the Toyota area who was like «as you can see, I have absolutely nothing to do so I will answer every single question I can.» I now know more about Toyota Priuses than I ever did and was actually talked to like the person buying the car. Abraham would do well at any dealership and should give O’Brien the heave-​ho.

This is the second car we have purchased from OBriens. Our experience has not been pleasant. We agreed on a price with the monthly payments within the range that was comfortable for us. We were taken into another office where an slick salesman told us about undercoating, protection for wax, free ding removal etc. had us sign on the dotted lines and we were out of there with the car. Upon receiving payment book from their finance company, our amount of payments increased 11 months more. Never was this ever mentioned at any time as we wouldn’t have chosen this way to go. Wow what a slick way to make more money. We called manager and he was to call new owner with our complaint, but, of course, we haven’t heard from him. We could see that these things would be extra but 11 months is crazy. We are not dumb people but feel very taken advantage of.

I bought a brand new car in late 2011 and opted for heated leather seats. This required them to drive my car to Indy to install. Unfortunately, I had significant wear on the seats within 2 months. Seeing as I paid a heck of a lot of money for them, I took it back to O’Briens complaining about the quality. The 3 times I replaced them, the seats would wear quickly and cost me all the mileage from CU to Indy to replace them. Finally they suddenly decided that they weren’t going to replace the leather anymore because it was ‘normal’ wear & tear. Now, I’ve had leather seats, bucket style, for the past decade of my car-​owning life. All those other times, the leather didn’t show wear until 4 – 5 years YEARS of use. Instead these show noticeable and quite unsightly wear in just a matter of months. And O’Briens won’t take ownership of the obvious lack of quality anymore.
Fast forward to my most recent service appointment at O’Briens: I’ve now had my car (with the crappy leather getting worse) for 3.5 years. I went in for an oil change and was informed I didn’t have a cabin air filter (like, there wasn’t one in there… apparently Toyota doesn’t provide them in their cars anymore. this was told to me for the first time in 3.5 years of taking my car to O’Briens). Then, they said my brakes needed servicing; a $ 450+ estimate. They said I had 3 – 4 mm of pad left so I needed these brakes done now or very soon. Me, being a tight-​fisted person, decided I would replace the pads myself (not a tough job on a FF car). I pulled the front drivers-​side wheel/​pads off and sure enough, I wasn’t even halfway through the pad life. The rotors look smooth as can be (minus a small lip around the outer portion but that’s perfectly normal).
So, they suck at providing quality products and quality service and will gladly rip you off on unnecessary maintenance and repair. The absolute definition of poor business practices. Drive to another dealership as fast as you can!

I have no knowledge of cars whatsoever so I’m very happy I found this place. I always come here for oil change (they send you coupon books and you can get oil change for $ 35 total with tax). They have a very comfortable waiting are with TV and an über cool coffee/​tea/​hot chocolate machine. If you come early enough, they have donuts too! They take appointment as well as walk ins!
They provide shuttle service to drop you off/​pick you up wherever you need. The service also comes with a carwash. Overall it’s a good deal!
I know many service department suggested a bunch of service to rip you off, but that’s not the case with OBrien. Aaron (my service person) suggested an cabin filter change for me due to mileage. I agreed, but when they inspected my car the filter is not that dirty and they said I could just wait a couple more months. I’m super happy they didn’t try to make me pay for something I don’t need. Aaron also explained really well about the recommended services I needed — what they do and why it is important to do the services.
Some of the service are a little bit overpriced compared to other places (e.g battery change) but I’m super happy with the service I got. I’ve been going here for almost 4 years now and I’m not planning to go anywhere else!

Very bad service. The dealer pushes me to buy a car at the first time. He is very rude too. He also lies to me a lot, made some stupid stories and keeps saying he is an honorable man, which makes me feel more disgusting. The new car has ran more than 100 miles, but he told me the car went to Chicago and came back. One way to Chicago is more than 100miles. So, do not trust whatever they say. Go to kbb and edmunds first before you meet the dealers in Obrain so that you know whether they tell the truth about car and the price. Some of the dealers there do not deserve your respect.

Decided that they are very overpriced and always tell me the same thing is wrong for my cars. Why do both a 2007 And a year car have water pump cracks. Oh cause they want you to spend money. When looking to trade up I, it was like pulling teeth to get the attention of a salesman. In the end I traded for a Jeep. They actually cared to get my business. And oil changes are ½ what Toyota was! After 13 years of toyotas I am no longer a fan of the car due to crappy service at O’Brien.

This dealership is FANTASTIC! I’ve never shopped for a car before and they were very helpful and patient, giving me information but not making me choose one way or another. I had Steve and he was excellent. I wilk definitely be coming back and sending famiky & friends here from now on. Thanks Steve & Eric! (:

My fiancé and I were car shopping and this was by far the shadiest dealer we encountered. They had a VW we had our eye on, but when we ran the NADA numbers on it, we found out that they had it priced $ 4000 over what it was actually worth. They wouldn’t negotiate the car down to where we felt we weren’t being cheated.
On top of that, I felt like they were often talking down to me since I’m a female. Even though I definitely don’t know much about cars, treat me as your equal!

While I have no specific issue with the sales department other than being typical pushy salespeople, I would urge everyone to avoid O’Brien because of their service department. If you do buy a car there make sure you get it serviced elsewhere.
I honestly don’t know why I kept taking our Hyundai Santa Fe back for the last 7 years. Nearly every time they’ve rotated the tires the alignment has been way off after, and while they’ve happily realigned it each time it’s still a waste of time. They also botched a tire repair so badly that they ended up just giving me a new tire. Most of the work they’ve done has either had to be re-​done right away or shortly thereafter.
They’ve always ended up making right, but not without a lot of fight on my part. I’ve been treated rudely by the staff when asking questions. They’ve also tried multiple to charge me for work that should be covered under our extended warrenty. I’m not sure if this behavior is two-​faced or the result of simply not having properly trained staff, but either way there are better places in Central Illinois to get your car serviced.

Had a very good experience here. My girlfriend wanted me to come with her to look at some Mitsubishis and met a very knowledgable and honest salesman that took us through the pros and cons — no pressure to buy at all.
She ended up falling in love with the Hyundai and a few hours later drove it off the lot with getting a great deal on her trade-​in and a great deal on the SUV. She got everything she wanted, all of it… from the price that fit her exact budget and the value for her trade-​in.
It helps she is very meticulous with her credit, banking and car maintenance as all of these factors made her into the perfect customer. That said, before any of that stuff was known, the salesman was excellent at helping her out and answered all of her questions truthfully.
The experience I had earlier with Illini Nissan is like night and day… those other guys were total amateurs.
UPDATE 5÷9÷13: I just went back to O’Brien because of the experience with my girlfriend. I traded in two cars to lease a VW TDi.
Just took a 1,200 mile round trip in the VW and it performed even better than expected. Getting 45+ mpg in Texas where the speed limits reach 80mph is unbelievable. But this review is about O’Brien.
This experience is slightly different because my girlfriend bought a Hyundai and I got a VW. It’s clear that as a result, the domain of knowledge and packages available are going to differ a great deal.
That said, my dealer did an excellent job of working with my constraints, which as a nerd working in the tech sector and a long-​time car/​Jeep/​truck enthusiast and hobbyist mechanic, I tend to have a very long list of constraints. He did try to offer me some cheaper versions to fit my budget, but I really wanted a diesel engine so he worked with me.
Because I had two cars to trade in, we took the car I was looking at for a drive to my house and picked up the other old car so it could be brought to the dealership.
We negotiated on terms, all the while I felt comfortable that the dealers were being straight forward and not dishonest. I actually spoke with two folks at once, dealer and manager. Super nice guys, clearly car junkies and definite VW enthusiasts. Even got invited to an international VW gathering at the end of the month.
I pushed back on the trade-​in value of my beloved old Jeep. Really, really going to miss that Jeep. The dealers gave me another $ 500 on it, and offered another $ 100 above what I thought the Saab was worth.
My dealer was strictly professional, polite, friendly, and knowledgeable. I walked into the dealership at 6pm, and they stayed after the 8pm closing to work the details. After everyone was happy, we shook hands and left. I came back the next morning to sign the paperwork and pickup the car.
Basically, after what my girlfriend went through, there was a reason for coming back, and I’m very glad that I did.
When I have a good experience, I like to share it, so I will continue repeating to others that I had a great experience at O’Brien.

I don’t know anything about cars, so I often go to the dealership for service because I feel that while they might rip me off, at least they are likely to do things correctly.
Guess again. I took my car into the O’Brien Mazda service center here and they could not diagnose a rhythmic noise I heard while driving. I took the car in three times for this problem. I spent money on the diagnostic fee and then I spent money (labor) on «bending something» that they said was rubbing against something else but they could not tell me what these things were.
I admit I was suspicious at this point. You can’t tell me what is rubbing? They said, «Well it is something in there rubbing against something else.» I think the invoice said something like «adjustment.» This did nothing. I also had my brakes done including rotors because they said this was due.
Then I moved to another town and took my car into my new local Mazda dealership to see if they had any ideas about the mysterious rhythmic noise. They took one look at the car and said, uh… your tires are worn. Sure enough. They also told me my brakes needed to be replaced because my last mechanic had used NON-​STANDARD INFERIOR PARTS on the brake job, installed the brakes wrong, and the result was not safe (it was also very squeaky).
So they did my brakes wrong (putting my life at risk?) and they cannot diagnose worn tires. Keep away from this place.

I can’t speak for all of O’Brien Auto Park as only ever dealt with O’Brien Volkswagen, but I’ve always had an excellent experience in both sales and service.
My Jetta went in for annual maintenance last week and with year after year of great service, I decided it was time to write a review. I’ve never had to deal with being offered unnecessary services or experienced any problems what so ever following a service.
Two experiences to support my rating–
A few years ago, I was living out of town and had a warranty covered problem arise. Taking my Jetta to the closest dealership (Green VW in Springfield, IL), I soon realizing my mistake. The service personnel were no where near as professional and the workmanship (the issue was paint related) was abysmal. Ultimately, it was through several email exchanges with Drew at O’Brien VW that helped to resolve my issue. Drew went above and beyond to help me out, even though it was at a different dealership!
And though it’s approaching five years ago, I can also share a positive experience with the VW sales department. I knew the exact color and options configuration I wanted — one that was absolutely unavailable for immediate delivery. Brooks (my salesman) and Derrick (sales manager) were both extremely friendly in submitting an order for my configuration. And when Hurricane Ike hit the Port of Houston just as my car was arriving stateside, they went to great effort to track down it’s location, if it was damaged or needed reorder, and ensured it was out of the port as soon as possible following re-​open.
I can do nothing but recommend O’Brien if shopping for or servicing a Volkswagen in downstate Illinois.

The most incompetent, up charging, frustrating mechanics in town. I took my Mazda, which I bought there, and my vw there for routine service and they charged me a ton and never fixed most of my problems. Go ANYWHERE but here. I recommend Peter b. I used to take my Saab there and they were great and honest. Since moving I’ve taken my cars to dealerships in Ann Arbor and they are appalled at the low quality of the work I paid tons of money for in Urbana. My cars now drive better than they have in years. I have faithfully had my cars serviced at obrien because they were the only dealers in town. I feel like I was totally cheated by them for YEARS.

Just because you live in Champaign/​Urbana, you can purchase your car elsewhere! My husband and I were both in the market for new vehicles and silly me, I thought we would get some sort of deal for buying two brand new cars in one day. No way! I purchased a 2013 Hyundai Elantra and I am still pleased with my purchase after a month. My husband purchased a 2012 Hyundai Veloster and noticed transmission problems when he drove it off the lot at 8:30pm. The A/​C also was not working as it had during the test drive. He called at 8:30am the next morning to service to have the car checked out. The two transmissions in the vehicle both failed. The techs could not figure out how to repair the problem and had to order two new transmissions. I was dumbfounded by the situation considering this was a brand new car. When he asked to trade the vehicle in for a different Veloster, they said no way in hell, this is why you have a warranty. After throwing a fit, we traded in the Veloster with all the issues and purchased a different one.
My first experience talking to finance was a nightmare. I asked why they had included GAP insurance in the price when I never requested it and was told that’s the smart thing to do. I already have GAP insurance through my insurance company and am not paying twice. When I explained this, I was told that their insurance is the best and I would be making a stupid decision by not purchasing it. Rather than speaking in a professional and friendly manner, he got upset that I refused to pay for the insurance. We were pleased with our sales rep until he was caught in a few lies and blamed others for providing misinformation. We were also told that he was instructed to tell us that Velosters are not made in electrolyte or vitamin c. My husband called a dealer in Chicago and found that they had an Electrolyte Veloster, but O’Brien told us they were lying even though it was on their website and we were told by the rep over the phone. My husband was told if he wants a Veloster, he has to buy the one off the lot (the one with all the issues) because they can’t do dealer trades on Velosters. Fun fact: The Veloster we replaced the faulty one with was a dealer trade. Another fun fact: They now have the mythological Electrolyte Veloster that is «not in production» as well as a Vitamin C one. We were told they would never see those again.
Through this ordeal, we were informed on numerous occasions that O’Brien has done nothing but do their best to help us. It never felt that way. We were yelled at by Brian, the sales manager when we made complaints on the faulty Veloster. Not only did he raise his voice, he threw his hands in the air, rolled his eyes, yelling «Oh my God!» when he were discussing trading in the faulty car. We spoke to Jim Turner, the owner, because of Brian’s behavior. He never once apologized for how things were handled and how Brian behaved, but he did tell me that Brian went through so much work to keep us happy and he could understand why Brian would get so bent out of shape. That, to me, is not customer service. Of the 7 new cars I have purchased, this is by far the worst experience I’ve had and refuse to use O’Brien for any future purchases.

I just purchased a new (2012) Toyota Tacoma through O’Brien Auto Park. I contacted their online representative (Matthew Shanks) via Email and got a very good price comparable to the best of other dealers in the state which I had contacted.
Since this was a special order, he was very helpful in getting the paperwork arranged and it was completely without the usual «talk to the manager» and other salesmen’s games — a simple business deal at a good price.
It’s a pity that more dealerships don’t consider this business model — honest, unstressful and building value for both parties. Thumbs up for Matt and O’Brien.

I was in the market for a new car. Originally, I didn’t want to buy anything from O’brien because when my husband tried to purchase his car there 6 years ago, they were very high pressure and he hated the experience.
We went to see the new Highlander and test drive it, totally intending to buy it in Decatur where the other car was purchased. We had emailed O’Brien inquiring about a couple cars and when we went to test drive we met Bruce. He was really patient, just listened to what we wanted and didn’t «pitch» us. He noticed we already had a Highlander and asked where we got it and why we didn’t purchase it with them. My husband was honest and said he didn’t like how they pressured him last time.
Bruce reassured us that they’ve completely changed their sales tactics. They had.
I ended up buying a brand new Highlander. Bruce did not pressure us, he didn’t ask too many questions and we got a really, really, great price.
I got the 2 year complimentary service with the new car (I really think it’s more like 2 years PRE-​PAID maintenance, but I digress). Their service department is really awesome. I walk in and Todd always greets me by name. Last time, I had my 1 year old nephew with me while waiting for an oil change. Bruce, my sales guy came and talked to us and bought him a snack.
Bruce and I share a deep love for the Packers and I got a phone call from him when the Packers won the Superbowl. I really appreciate that he remembered me and that I loved the Packers. It’s a really big dealership, but I think the service is very personal.