Bill Jacobs Volkswagen

Reason for Visit: Sales (New)

I recommend this dealer: No

My Review of Bill Jacobs Volkswagen:
Previous to working with Bill Jacobs, I had searched high and low for dealers with a red Jetta TDI. No dealers within a 500 mile radius search had them. Then, by some miracle, I found one at Bill Jacobs. I went to the dealership that day and talked with the salesman, Chris. We got an amazing price on it! (-$900) and my dad and I were all set to go. I signed a price agreement paper and put a $500.00 deposit on the car, and my dad was planning on returning to sign all the papers. This is where things went terribly wrong. The next day, my dad tried to contact the dealer several times to let him know we were getting the correct paperwork in order and that he would be there to pick up the car in a couple days. We could not get a hold of the salesman and he was not calling us back. This is where I should've known something was wrong. When my dad finally got the salesman on the phone, he told us the car was sold!!! We had a signed price agreement and a deposit on the car and they sold it right out from underneath us! I absolutely could not believe it! Unfortunately for them, I work for a lawyer, who gave me some legal advice and told me that was illegal for them to do that. So getting my deposit back will not be the last time they hear from me. My dad had to buy a silver Jetta instead because we could not find another red one. I am so disappointed in VW and extremely upset at Bill Jacobs. I am definitely going to take this to the next level because what they did was illegal. Please do not buy a car from Bill Jacobs. Go somewhere else. They are sneaky and conniving, and you may possible lose your dream car because paperwork and signatures don't mean anything to them. If you can find the car elsewhere, it would be my advice to do so.

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Reason for Visit: Service

I recommend this dealer: No

My Review of Bill Jacobs Volkswagen:
I called to make an appointment for a 15,000 mile oil change for my 2006 Passat. 'Sure we can fit you in at 1:40pm'. You would assume this means they get your car in at 1.40pm and then actually do the work, but after my wife drove to Bill Jacobs they said they would have to shuttle her back home until the car was ready. They said the car also needed a tire rotation and possible alignment.

Now come the problems. I get a call at the end of the day that my car hasn't even had service. They'll need to put me in a rental.
They call me the next day to tell me that in addition to the $250 for an oil change, a tire rotation and alignment, that the indicator light is out, I need new wipers, I need carbon cleaning from my intake and that will cost $350.

To change the indicator lamp they want $35. Yes $35 to change a light bulb. It's not just the cost, when I pulled into Bill Jacobs there was nothing wrong with the lamp. I think they zapped the thing. I mean is it really a coincidence that a turn signal goes out in the time it sits at a dealer for service?

The wipers are absolutely fine -this would have also cost me a rip off amount. As for the carbon thing in my opinion its a well known rip off you can't ever verify.

After my alignment, my steering is actually 5 degrees of center and I'm pulling to the left. Did they just ruin my alignment??

I will NEVER return to this dealer. I am certain that no one should EVER go to this dealer for service. In my opinion they are simply trying to take as much money as possible from your wallet with unnecessary and greatly inflated pricing.

Please shop around for service - JiffyLube, PepBoys, anywhere. These companies actually do checks for free and by the way the Bill Jacobs oil is the same oil as anywhere else... and it goes in the same hole. I believe these other chains will quote you prices for things you need, not try to make every oil change into $600 bill. When is an appointment not an appointment...when it's with Bill Jacobs.

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Reason for Visit: Service

I recommend this dealer: No

My Review of Bill Jacobs Volkswagen:
On March 30 my wife called in to set up an appointment to get the coolant refilled. I went in to drop of the car. I told Nate Gustafson (sales service clerk) that we needed to get the coolant filled in. Nate informed me that he had found the appointment that my wife had scheduled and that my wife had requested an oil change as well.

My wife had not requested an oil change and I did not know that she had. I told Nate that if my wife had requested an oil change then we should get the oil change. Nate informed me that this work could not be done immediately and I should stop by later in the afternoon to pick up the car. I dropped of the car and on the way back called my wife and told asked her if she had ordered the oil change - Apparently she had not. I told her to call the dealership and let them know that they should not proceed with the oil change and that I would stop by personally and confirm that as well.

My wife called back - in all of fifteen minutes from when I had dropped of the car - and lo and behold - the oil change had already been done and could not be cancelled - and that by signing the document I had authorized the oil change - Mr. Gustafson completely forgot to mention that I had authorized the oil change based on his fraudulent misrepresentation that my wife had requested the oil change.

Within 25 minutes from having left my car at the dealership I was back there - and got the same message from Mr. Gustafson that the oil change was already done. I was furious - I was hopping mad - I requested to speak to a manager and Mr. Gustafson found "a manager" Mr. Jose - who would be able to help me.

I could not tell if Mr. Jose was really a manager there or just part of the whole act. Mr. Jose and Mr. Gustafson wanted to make sure that I did not leave unhappy and wondered what they might be able to do to help me feel better.

I don't like being lied to - and I don't care for $75 - I hate being cheated - It became obvious that all they were looking to do was to offer me a discount - I wasn't looking for a discount.

I recognize that these are tough times for the auto industry as well as all the people employed in the business - But cheating your customers will not make things better for you - You are only killing the goose that can lay the golden egg.

I will never go back to Bill Jacobs VW again. If other people have had similar experiences then I hope the better business bureau can take action against this company.

I hope this money was really important and meaningful and worthwhile for Bill Jacobs and Mr. Gustafson. I was furious and so I had to vent - thanks for reading.

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Reason for Visit: Sales (New)

I recommend this dealer: No

My Review of Bill Jacobs Volkswagen:
We have a 2007 Volkswagen EOS that has a leaky roof which we have been trying to get repaired since October 28, 2006. We have been given the run around by the dealership about having a Regional Volkswagen service person review the situation and told that we would be called back regarding the problem. Due to the fact that we did not give a completed review on the last service call the service response has gotten even worse. I am proceeding with with all of the options that I have to notify everyone in the process that this dealership is not responding and considering possible legal action. The customer service level is lackluster at best and there is no follow-up with this dealership.

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Reason for Visit: Service

I recommend this dealer: No

My Review of Bill Jacobs Volkswagen:
Scheduled maintenance costs $114 just to do the diagnostics (plug into computer to get what's 'scheduled'). I could have read that in the owner's manual! At 50,000 miles, the only work done was a change of the spark plugs; replace brake fluid & an oil/filter change. Everything else (which amounted to over $500) was to CHECK various things. Additionally, they did a "Fuel/induction system cleaning service" which was due to the 'carbon build-up in the intake manifold' ($200). For good measure, they left the full can of carb intake cleaner on the front seat of my car. Huh...I was taught that carbon was the result of combustion which should not take place anywhere NEAR the intake manifold. It's something they try to get me to have done every time I go there. If it's really necessary that often, isn't that a design flaw?

I had a chatter (grinding) on the front end that required a torn CV boot to be relaced (which had been replaced at another service provider a month earlier). $300 later, the chatter remained.

Every time I've brought the car in for one thing, they find 2 or 3 other things that 'need' to be done...for another $500.

If you want to pay them to do over-priced work, go ahead. However, they'll try to get every penny from you that they can.

How do you think they pay for the fancy waiting area?

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Reason for Visit: Sales

I recommend this dealer: No

My Review of Bill Jacobs Volkswagen:
This dealership practices in swith & bait or false advertising. I test drove an Eos on one day, visited the website and priced a Komfort trim level Eos and asked (via email) if the car was still available. It was and I went and picked it up. Once at home, I started reading the manual and going over things only to realize the car I had was NOT a Komfort trim. It turns out they gave me a base Turbo with heated seats and it did not have the six disc in-dash CD changer that they advertised nor any other additional equipment. They said it was a mistake but every Turbo they list in their inventory is listed as a Komfort with the additional equipment! I'm now waiting for them to try and make it right, but they still are trying to screw me over by having me pay extra for the Komfort - although they offered to pay 50%, they are basing it on MSRP which means they pay NOTHING!

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Reason for Visit: Sales

I recommend this dealer: No

My Review of Bill Jacobs Volkswagen:
I bought my 2004 VW R32 from Bill Jacobs in March of 2004 through their internet sales representative. I paid MSRP for a car that was in high demand at the time. So, while I could have done better by waiting, the price was still in the ballpark.

My car now has just over 20,000 miles on it and I have had good experiences with their service department. The work has been done well, and the car is always washed and vacuumed before the keys are handed back. Occasionally it takes a couple of days to get an appointment--I do wonder why they didn't build a service department with more capacity.

Everyone has been very friendly and straightforward at the dealership. I do have one complaint regarding the service department. When I took my car in for its recent 20,000 mile service, the service rep produced a sheet showing "recommended" service items on a sheet that had the VW logo on top. I had reviewed the service booklet before this, and there were a lot--and I mean a lot--of items that were not recommended in the official factory literature. I questioned the service rep on this. He was a little sheepish and indicated that I didn't really need to have everything done.

I felt this approach was kind of dishonest on the dealership's part, so I've knocked down my ratings for "overall experience" and "pricing." I'm sure most people don't check their service manual before taking their cars in for service. I think this is an attempt to take advantage of uninformed customers. This is a shame, because up to that point my experience with both the sales and service departments was very positive.

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