CALSTAR MOTORS

What a Nightmare! To put is simply, the sales department sold us a lemon, and the service department pretended they didn’t know what a lemon was. Everyone at Calstar m To put is simply, the sales department sold us a lemon, and the service department pretended they didn’t know what a lemon was. Everyone at Calstar motors seems to work with their heads in the sand. They appear polite and sympathetic, but take no responsibility and refuse to acknowledge problems. The chances that you’ll get a lemon are small. But if it happens, know that Calstar Motors will NOT be on your side. They will play every trick in the book to avoid seeing you. They’ll reject your calls. They’ll claim they did not receive emails. They’ll pretend there is no problem. Ultimately we had to hire a lawyer. The case has not yet been resolved. What a nightmare! Keep reading for the details … We leased a new 2017 GLA 250 from Calstar. Sixteen days later, the Check Engine light came on, and the vehicle failed to start. After three days at the dealership, the service department claimed to have fixed the problem. Six days later, the same exact problem occurred again. It is incredibly frustrating when a brand new car – a Mercedes Benz – breaks down twice in the first month of ownership. Most people would call it a “lemon.” Unfortunately no one in the service department was willing to acknowledge that fact. Greg Kassarjian – service manager – simply passed the responsibility onto the sales department. Carla Cabrera – sales manager – was simply clueless in handling this type of situation, and failed to follow up with our complaint. No one at Calstar was willing to take responsibility for selling a brand new car that was obviously defective from the start. To make matters worse, no one in the service department acknowledged that they had misdiagnosed the problem the first time. In fact, no one at Calstar was even slightly surprised that a brand new Mercedes Benz had malfunctioned two times within 30 days of being sold. It seems that poor quality is becoming the Mercedes Benz standard. And poor service is the standard at Calstar Motors. More

WARNING!!! PETTY THIEVES WORK AT THIS DEALERSHIP! i took my car in for a service A, then because it had already had two service A visits in 12 months ( i have very low mileage each year) It had 54,00 i took my car in for a service A, then because it had already had two service A visits in 12 months ( i have very low mileage each year) It had 54,00 miles at time of visit. I was advised to do a service B. Alright what harm can that do right? I have little evidence service B was performed and the car still notices me that a B is needed...but I digress... Someone possibly in the service department conveniently lifted and stole a case containing about 100 CDs some pre-recorded and valuable because 1960s music and collectible, others were custom mixes, from the very back of my trunk where I though I had carefully hidden them underneath a stack of re-useable grocery store bags. Also stolen from the trunk in the same location was a small leather change wallet containing quarters for meters. When I called to complain I was told there is a sign warning to remove all valuables which was followed up by a questionnaire asking to rate the service! Yikes! remove everything before leaving your vehicle More

SERVICE TECHS TAKE CARS HOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I drive a CLA45 AMG which is known by driving enthusiasts as a beast because of it's power, speed and performance. When I had an issue (computer) wit I drive a CLA45 AMG which is known by driving enthusiasts as a beast because of it's power, speed and performance. When I had an issue (computer) with the car over the weekend, I called and scheduled service. At the time I dropped off the car I specified that if they needed to do a road test I would authorize only 2 miles (after all it was a computer glitch). The service tech agreed. Later that day he called stating the car would need to be left overnight. I reiterated my request. When the tech called following day saying my car was ready for pickup I asked him how many miles had been put on the car. HE COULDN'T REMEMBER! Didn't he have the paperwork in front of him? When I picked up the car I asked him about the mileage and he hemmed and hawed finally owning up to the fact that 30 miles had been put on the car - WITH NO AUTHORIZATION. I was speechless and demanded to know why I hadn't been contacted to give authorization. His only reply was "THE SHOP FOREMAN TOOK THE CAR HOME OVER NIGHT"!!!!!!! Unbelievable. So my AMG was taken for a joyride and no one thought it a good idea to call the owner to get permission? NEVER GOING BACK TO CAL STAR GLENDALE. More

BUNCH OF LIARS AND CHEATS - ruined Mercedes Benz brand . 3rd time coming back. Turning and GL450 for a 2014 S Class. We made a deal but then they start playing games with financing after we were already appr 3rd time coming back. Turning and GL450 for a 2014 S Class. We made a deal but then they start playing games with financing after we were already approved!!!! They start removing features and services. Completely nickel and diming. The finance manager cracked a stupid joke after the deal was signed that we can expect things to change and they may need more money. This is after the deal was signed!! I told him if he does that then expect to contract cancelled and to hear from my attorney. My previous deals at Calstar were not at all like this. They were still a headache but never have seen this with any dealership and I have purchased many cars. Roll forward a month after I have car and guess what? They hit me with a large bill for the car I turned in prior for overage on miles. The miles were not that many and we made the deal upfront that they forgive those miles. I have it in writing. I call Tim and his said not to worry that he would get it all sorted out. It has been over 3 weeks did not hear from him. Meanwhile I am getting harassing calls from Mercedes in Texas asking to pay the extortion on the miles that we agreed was going to be waived. I just not called Tim and he texts me a one liner saying I am not there anymore and talk with the sales manager. WOW! Are you freaking kidding me? The S class is a nice car but all this is definitely not worth it. Has completely soiled Mercedes Benz brand as far as I am concerned. I would of been better of going to the used car lot over with Cadillac man. I know he is a cheese bag but at least he is upfront about it. Avoid Calstar like the plague. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED! More

Con artists. Unbelievable. My car has less than 60 miles on the odometer, all of them miles either driving home from the dealership I bought it at or driving to this one for the serious issue I have, miles on the odometer, all of them miles either driving home from the dealership I bought it at or driving to this one for the serious issue I have, and they tried to charge me for warranty work! You can't make this up. I immediately called corporate offices for Mercedes Benz and all they really did was refer me to another dealership. These guys left me such a voice mail also...I wish I could have saved it as an mp3 and uploaded it here. They actually yelled at each other in a foreign language while leaving me a message about my car being ready. Their service area smelled like cigarettes even though it was enclosed and roofed. I am sure I am forgetting so much but they were such liars about everything and so arrogant. And they gave my lady (who dropped off the car for me) a gas-leaking ford focus as a loaner! and they gave her attitude when 2 minutes later she returned it after noticing it (she ignored how dirty it was inside and out) as if she could have damaged the car. They are the stereotypical crook dealership...unbelievable. More

I wish I could give this dealership a "0" rating because their service is APPALLING. The general manager and all the employees should be embarassed and ashamed to be representing such a high rating because their service is APPALLING. The general manager and all the employees should be embarassed and ashamed to be representing such a high caliber brand as mercedes benz. Clearly they are not in the business of making money because I know for a fact that they are clearly LOSING money. All reviews I have read on internet postings are 100% accurate in saying this dealership is the worst ever and advising others not to waste their time and money with such idiodic people. Suggest this dealership do a complete overhaul and fire everyone and start from scratch. With such a high unemployment rate these days, it makes me sick to think these fools are making even a few pennies when millions of others are more deserving. They should be ashamed of themselves--get additional training, learn how to deal and be polite with others including CUSTOMERS, fix their attitudes and be grateful they have jobs. Hopefully for all of us, for not much longer. More

I went to this dealership on Saturday to buy a GL350, which I did. I signed the contract with the agreed upon terms, and only then did they let me know that I was not going to be leaving the dealership which I did. I signed the contract with the agreed upon terms, and only then did they let me know that I was not going to be leaving the dealership with the car. I had signed the export prohibition agreement, which was no problem since that is what protects the dealership, but there is nothing in that agreement about a delay in delivery (this in addition to the regular contract language which states car is to be delivered on the date the contract is signed). It's Sunday evening and i still don't have the car. They say it will be delivered tomorrow, but frankly I have my doubts. They are already in breach of contract. Stuff happens in life, so I will deal with this (however it turns out), but I wanted to write this review right away to let anyone know who might go to this dealership to buy a car to instead run in the other direction as fast as possible. More

This dealership is rather strange. There's this cultural phenomenon in Southern California, especially between Van Nuys and Pasadena, where employees will just stand around and talk. When you enter their phenomenon in Southern California, especially between Van Nuys and Pasadena, where employees will just stand around and talk. When you enter their business place, they will talk while looking at you. I've been here a few times, once with a friend who placed an order for a SLS. On my more recent trips, Daniel gave me the youthful "hustle" that I expected from the Van Nuys dealership. I told him that I knew what I wanted, and the only issue was price and condition of the car (I wanted very low miles). He gave me the song and dance about 'they come with miles' and I gave up explaining to him that I didnt care and I wasn't in a rush. Nevertheless, eventually while I was walking around, looking to see what color options were available (my initial color choice didn't look good during daylight and offline), we saw many on the higher levels of hte parking structure which were not prepped for sales yet. In other words, he was BSing when he could have told me that a low mileage new car (no test drives) was easily possible. Eventually, I reminded him via phone who I was and he easily remembered me. I stated that I wanted X for the price of Y and I wasn't going to negotiate. I reminded him I had already received a quote elsewhere and I was ready to buy within 48 hours. In person, he stated repeatedly that he would not lose a sale because of price. I told him I was giving him a chance because I was also sparing myself a bit of a drive. On the phone, he started to make explainations about how I was $9k off, ect. I told him thanks, but I wasn't going to haggle. If he can't sell at that price, he cant. He started again with the $9k and the conversation ended. My price for him was actually a bit higher than my price from the other dealership, and I did this because I wanted some favor with this dealership, which is so much closer to my house, rather than the other one, who I would probably never go to for service. Long story short: No sale here. More

As you probably are already aware, Calstar has a very poor reputation among Southern California Mercedes Benz dealers. It's a historically underperforming dealership with very poor consumer ratings on pu poor reputation among Southern California Mercedes Benz dealers. It's a historically underperforming dealership with very poor consumer ratings on public forums like Google Reviews and Yelp, and competing dealers have very few positive things to say about it. I know a number of dealers who previously worked at Calstar and they unanimously look at the dealership unfavorably. Nonetheless, I chose to purchase a vehicle from Calstar in spite of these red flags. Overall, I wish I had listened to my instincts to stay away. There were three notable things in my sales experience which I would call subpar, and not befitting of the Mercedes Benz brand. Firstly, during the sales process the salesman, Ken, became frustrated with my intractability (I negotiate contracts all day-I'm not an easy sale). He attempted to use a cheap, high-pressure sales tactic to close the deal: insisting on a signature on a piece of scratch paper with a loan quotation. I know this gesture is non-binding, an empty gesture used to pressure the consumer into feeling obligated to accept an offer before the terms are fully disclosed. I would expect that sort of immature sales tactic at a Karplus dealership, not at a premier brand, and I was quietly disgusted by it. It insults my intelligence and tarnishes the Mercedes Benz brand to see a salesman resort to these sort of pedestrian sales tactics. In spite of this, I continued working with the salesman to reach an agreement. When we finally reached an agreement, we moved on to work with Loran, the finance manager. I noticed a discrepancy on the contract in my favor - the lease mileage limit was higher than we had discussed. I pointed out the discrepancy to Loran, said "that's more mileage than I was expecting" (those were my exact words), and even went so far as to have Loran calculate the mileage himself to triple-check that Calstar understood what they were offering. Loran assured me that it was correct, and I signed the deal. Four days later, they called me and asked me to come in to rewrite the contract, "to correct a technical error". I reminded Loran how I repeatedly asked him to check that term for accuracy, and he did so, and I would not agree to rewrite the contract in their favor. I offered them two choices: honor the contract or void it. Loran lost his temper on the phone in a very, very unprofessional manner, raised his voice and resorted to name-calling. Again, this is a very immature way to deal with your customer, especially when the error is entirely the fault of the dealer, and the customer is standing in pure integrity, having had the finance manger repeatedly verify the contract in question. Shame on you, Calstar Motors. After Loran the Finance Manager hung up on me, I called the Sales Manager on duty and discussed the matter with him. I told him that I'd be happy to allow them to void the contract, as I had only put a few miles on the car and if they felt they could make more money on it I invited them to do so. He said he'd have the General Manager, Susan Wong, contact me "in 10 or 15 minutes". I received no call from Susan Wong, and the next day tried to reach her myself. As it was nearly the end of the fiscal quarter, I wanted to give them the opportunity to get a bad deal off their books in a prompt manner. I left a message on Susan's voicemail, then called back and had the receptionist deliver a message to her personal assistant. To date, I still have never spoken with Susan Wong. I finally went into the dealership with the contract and keys in hand and spoke to the sales manager on dusty at the time, stating "if you want the car back, take it". When confronted in person, they weren't desperate to get a bad deal off their books at all. In fact, the general manager casually said "we'll eat the cost", indicating that it wasn't such a disastrous deal after all (in fact, I got a competing offer for an identical vehicle from another dealership with a better reputation and much higher sales volume, which was $3000 better for me). They just wanted to squeeze more money out of their consumer. This type of behavior is bad for the Mercedes Benz brand - Calstar is much more interested in the quick buck than building a long-term relationship with a consumer. I own three Mercedes Benzes, have an 850 credit score, and am a prime candidate for a long-term financial relationship. In short, I'm a dream consumer. If Calstar can so callously blow an opportunity to establish a relationship with a consumer like me, imagine how they would treat you. UPDATE: Within hours of publishing this review, Ken ermailed me expressing his disappointment in my sales experience. The tone of his email was neither hostile, nor combative, but genuinely concerned with my dissatisfaction. Ken has proven to be the strongest link in a very weak chain, as the only person named above that actually expressed concern for his customer's experience. More

YOU BETTER BELIEVE THIS! This dealership is very YOU BETTER BELIEVE THIS! This dealership is very upscale from outside, very impressive, but as you start learning people who works there the pictur YOU BETTER BELIEVE THIS! This dealership is very upscale from outside, very impressive, but as you start learning people who works there the picture will slowly be reversed and you will be DISGUSTED with ALL they do- service, price, the way they treat their customers etc. I went with my wife to purchase a car and stopped by at CalStar. They gave me the price of 4k down and around 750/mo for a basic E 350 model which costs around 53K. At first I did not realize what just has happened. In addition they convinced me that I could buy my car under my wife's name who does not work at my company and write off the taxes as a corporation car. They said ask your accountant and he will do it. When I did next day I was told that it may be considered as fraud and I came back to them in 3 days as it was over the weekend and told them that they have to take the car back. They were very rude and said that the deal is a deal and you can not give it back. Finally, when I threatened them that they will be all over the internet they agreed to do that. Apparently they reported to my wife's credit to the agency as a serious delinquency! Her credit score came down from 760 to 690 currently! The main guy, the manager, I was dealing with I believe his name was Andy or Andrew, and the financial manager was no better! If you have NO CHOICE other than go to that BLOODY, MONEY THIRSTY place in Glendale, CA on Brand, consider it AGAIN and AGAIN many times. Take car specialists with you and be current on pricing as once you sign a paper with them you are DONE. NEVER expect mercy or any human treatment. Do not be deceived by their "friendly" smiles.... Good luck. More