Peninsula Infiniti

Reason for Visit: Service

I recommend this dealer: No

My Review of Peninsula Infiniti:
I've had two separate experiences with this dealership--one as a new car sale and warranty work.

First off, the new car sale. This occurred about 2yrs ago. I had been referred to this dealership from Costco's car program and was specifically looking for the 'official' Costco salesperson. When I walked in, apparently that person was not available, but another salesperson said he could take care of it. I insisted to speak to the right representative, but he said he could get me the same deal. The sale was being poached. I think in the end I would have liked to see the actual 'in writing' quote, but the price was OK. I suppose sales people get hungry at end of month and end of promotion for sales. We got the M35 without a hitch.

Secondly was more recently with warranty work. I had taken my car in early on, but didn't like the way I was treated. I figured since I bought my car at their dealership, I would have gotten better treatment (I even left their sticker on the windshield); I guess NOT.

This time the service manager's name is Benny Gomez. Looking on Yelp later (something I should have done before I started), there were a ton of bad reviews on this particular SM. The main thing I took the car in was a bad radio, but had smaller issues that needed to be done, part of warranty. When we were going through the issues, he asked me if I needed to get other service done. No, just warranty this time (hoping he could prove himself and get my business back with better service). After a nearly week of keeping my car, every time *I* called back (I had to call HIM to get an update), I would just get the runaround and different answers not pertaining to the main issue at hand. I felt I was being treated as someone trying to buy something from him--he kept telling me he did more service on my car (like he hooked me up) for things I didn't ask for.

After an entire week of having my car and me calling every day asking the status (I still don't know why *I* had to call to get a status since all service managers I've ever dealt with have called me right away), he told me to come pick up the car because they couldn't get the part until the following week.

Here's the kicker. I brought in my car the following week and got the loaner car. He said "per new policy" he would have to charge me a fuel surcharge for the loaner. WTF. I was there last week and nothing was ever mentioned. I naturally gave him hell about this, but he wouldn't budge, not until when I picked up my car he said he hooked me up again and waived the fuel surcharge.

Ever felt like you were being swindled? Bad taste in my mouth the entire time there.

TERRIBLE service and company representatives.

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Reason for Visit: Service

I recommend this dealer: No

My Review of Peninsula Infiniti:
The service department here used to be awesome. Smart, friendly, reliable -- and very honest about the most cost-effective way to get your car fixed. They did most of the jobs themselves; if there was a cheaper, high-quality way to get it done elsewhere (i.e. tires or leather repair) they told you so.

Then something changed in early 2006. Some of the savvy customer-service reps are gone. A new breed has taken over. Now they come at you with lots of smiles and flattery. They never suggest any alternatives, because "we'll take care of you." Oh, yes, they do. They've become very aggressive in padding the labor bill. And the parts prices now are double what identical parts cost on the Web.

It's still high-quality work. But they're trying to squeeze maximum profit out of every customer encounter. The worst example: I needed a replacement fob for the keyless entry system. They wanted to charge me $150 for the device and $90 to program it. I balked, saying: "There's got to be a cheaper way to do this." Not a flicker of recognition from them. It turned out that fobs are for sale on eBay for $18 -- and the programming instructions are so simple that a child can do them in five minutes. So I went that route -- and asked them about it later. No apologies. Just a shrug.

As I said, they do good work, and they provide you with a nice loaner car and a good cup of coffee while you wait. If that's worth an extra 40% or more on your bill -- then you're Peninsula's kind of customer.

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