Downtown Toyota-Subaru of Oakland

TLDR they lied to me to get me to their showroom, then tried to mark up the price on a $50,000 car by an extra $10,000. Most predatory and ridiculous experience I've had in a long time. Expressed interest in a 2026 Rav4 online, clicked through to get the price and saw that they were marking it up $5,000, which was an obvious non-starter. Got a text from the dealership to follow up on my online inquiry, so I asked whether they'd honor the original price, without the markup. They kept trying to schedule me for an appointment to come in, and didn't respond to my questions on the price. A week passes, and they reach back out, saying that they'd honor the SRP, without the markup, but only for the next 48 hours. I drive my family 45 minutes to the dealership, take a look at the car in the showroom, but for some reason they want to talk numbers before they'll let me test drive it. That's when they tell me that not only was the person who told me they'd honor the SRP "not authorized to do that," and that they were going to charge the extra $5,000, but that because of the package on the car (which price is already baked into the SRP), they were going to charge an EXTRA $5,000 on top of that. Showed the salesman the texts where I was promised SRP, and he basically told me to pound sand. Wasted 2.5 hours of my life. Dishonest, shady, and no way to do business. Avoid like the plague.

The overall experience here was fine, I got the car I wanted. However, Patrick is a scammer, do not buy from him. He used his own computer program titled “701 credit score” to print out a fictitious credit report and provide it to me, claiming “701” was my credit score. The only reason he used this fictitious program/application was to make me believe my credit score was MUCH LOWER than it actually was/is, effecting the interest rate on my loan for the worst. Of course, I found this out after I signed and received my vehicle. Do not buy a car from him

Car owners beware of dishonest "upselling." I asked Zayra for 90,000 mile scheduled maintenance on a 2015 Prius, original estimate of $275. Then I was told more work was needed, so I okayed it. Final bill was $1200. What I thought was needed repairs turned out to be "preferred maintenance", mostly a bunch of unnecessary stuff. When I saw the bill I asked for an explanation. She stonewalled and acted like I asked for preferred maintenance. I paid the bill with strong reservations and said I would review it and call her. At home I reviewed the scheduled maintenance and called, leaving Zayra numerous messages. She did not return any calls. I was busy and too trusting. I can only conclude that this is a dishonest service department and will stay away.

This was my first 6000-mile interval service, and Mr. Roman Rios was my advisor and trusted guide through it all. Thank you, Roman, for making a memorable and lasting impression. You were kind, thoughtful, candid, resourceful, and generous with your knowledge and expertise. See you all at my next 6000-mile service appointment.

Had a really awful experience trying to get an out-the-door quote via phone / email. I get that they want to get people in the door, but the people on the phone repeatedly lied, telling me that they would be sending a quote shortly via email, only never to do so. It would be totally acceptable to say "we don't conduct business over the phone, please come in to get a quote", but they repeatedly strung me along by promising a quote in my inbox each time I called, only to never send one. In one instance, a representative on the phone said that the prices on the website were final, out-the-door prices, inclusive of taxes and fees, which is also a huge lie. Even though this dealership was offering lower prices, I was so put off by this experience that I paid more for the same car at a different dealership.

Terrible. Never again! Confusing and non-direct. Don't do it! One and done! Not worth it!

As always Fernando was great. I will follow him almost anywhere he goes. My guy!!!

I brought my car in last month to get my brakes replaced and diagnose a check engine light. One of the parts they needed had to be ordered over the weekend and they put me in a courtesy rental. While driving the rental, a bird struck the front of the vehicle while I was on the highway and it cracked the driver side headlight. I informed the dealership immediately when it happened and was instructed to file a claim with my insurance company. I did and for the past month Downtown Subaru and my insurance (Progressive) have been arguing over how to handle the payment for the repairs for the rental, and the dealership refuses to let my pay for the repairs on my vehicle and collect it. Tell me why they’re now marking up their prices for a headlight assembly from $1100 to $1500 + labor when it says a brand new part is available from OEM direct at about $750 and they haven’t even physically looked at their vehicle since the accident returned? I’m already responsible for the cost of repairs of my own vehicle (just under $3000 for brakes and an Evap filter valve) and they want me to pay an additional $1700 on top of that? Avoid this place like the plague, my service advisor is no longer here and it seems like every day it’s some new confused employee who doesn’t know how to get a hold of their service manager. And god forbid you need financing for their marked up services, the ONLY employee who knows how to set up an account with Sunbit only works in office Monday. 1/5 stars only because I can’t give them 0. 👎🏽

Zuhier the finance was great and gave me so many options and explained every thing ,

Beware of Downtown Toyota of Oakland – My Experience The sales manager, Marlon Brown, didn’t deny that his salesperson Senall lied and manipulated me into buying a car. He leaned back smugly and pointed at the contract: “You signed it.” Once you sign with Downtown Toyota of Oakland, you may be legally trapped because you have to prove that they manipulated and misrepresented. Please don’t sign anything unless you’re okay with: • Paying thousands more than other Bay Area dealerships. • Being misled to believe you're getting a good deal by fake promotions, fake urgency, and sales pressure. • Being forced into add-ons like LoJack at $1,100 over market value. • Being tricked into buying a fake Toyota maintenance plan from a third-party. • Being lied to about cancellation policies and pushed to sign new contracts giving them extra time to process refunds. This happened to me, and similar stories are found on Yelp, Reddit, BBB, and more. Important Advice & Red Flags 1. Read Reddit, Yelp, Better Business Bureau reviews and complaints before stepping foot into this dealership • Many others report the same shady tactics at this dealership. 2. Don’t Pay Over MSRP • I was told all dealers charge markups just to survive. This is false. Just 10 miles away, One Toyota of Oakland and also Toyota of Walnut Creek, sell all vehicles at MSRP, no forced add-ons. I would’ve saved ~$5,000 total. 3. Walk Away from Forced Add-ons • I said no to markups and add-ons. Senall claimed LoJack could not be removed. That’s false—others have had it removed. They pick and choose. 4. LoJack Is a Ripoff • They charged me $1,995 for Lojack, a product worth $895. It’s even on U.S. News’ list of “14 Things You Should Never Buy at a Dealership.” 5. Hybrids Aren’t That Rare • I was told if I didn’t buy immediately, someone else just called who would and there wouldn't be more for months. He said that hybrid car are "scarce". But One Toyota had multiple available the same day, and Downtown Toyota advertised more later within the month. Don’t fall for the scarcity lie. 6. Beware of the “Toyota” Maintenance Plan Scam • I was shown red Toyota pamphlets, told 100% of customers purchase the maintenance plan. I later found out the maintenance plan was from “Portfolio One,” not Toyota. 7. You Can Cancel Without Visiting • In order to cancel the fake Toyota plan, Marlon Brown insisted I drive 1.5 hours back to the dealership, falsely claiming it was required to check mileage. In truth, the Portfolio One contract only requires you to mail or email the cancellation information. • He then said I had to sign a new cancellation agreement giving them 60 days to refund instead of the contract’s 30 days. I refused. • I followed a lawyer’s advice and complained to the DMV. Weeks later, I finally got a refund. In Summary: Downtown Toyota of Oakland preys on uninformed buyers. If you refuse their mark-ups or add on, they'll let you walk away. They’ll just wait for someone more trusting to walk in. I was that person. Don’t be me. Take these steps: • Shop around. Take screenshots. Get deals in writing. • Assume anything they say about anything is false. Check out Yelp, Reddit, or BBB reviews for the real deal. • Don’t pay over MSRP. Ever. • Avoid all add-ons—including LoJack • Don’t sign a new cancellation agreement Please learn from my mistakes. Share your story if something similar happened to you.