Toyota Universe

Toyota Universe is the prime example of a deceptive car dealership. I called about a used car posted online. I live over an hour away so I was serious in buying the car if I were to make the trip. I was promised an “out-the-door” price with a breakdown of prep fees, taxes, and registration. When I got to the dealership, I saw the notes that the salesperson, Michelle Klig, had entered with the breakdown and total cost. However, I was told by “Vladimir” that they won’t honor the price. That was a waste of four hours driving back and forth and waiting at the dealership. Shame on Toyota Universe.

I don't even want to give 1 star. Classic Bait and Switch. Was told a price for a used car 2 separate conversations, got to the dealership and when the manager came out he said sorry that is not accurate, ended up being thousands more. Nothing like getting you in the door and then trying to dupe you with all blame on the salesperson. I see a lot of bad reviews about this dealership, buyer be warned, don't go there. Big highway dealership that's only in business because of it's location.

I am sharing this experience so others know exactly what they may be walking into when dealing with Sameer Sawaqed, manager Shawn Tawfik, and the finance manager, Darden at this dealership. My experience was not just disappointing — it was misleading and unprofessional from start to finish. The day before my visit, I confirmed multiple times that the vehicle I wanted was available. When I arrived, I was told it had “just been sold.” That excuse might be believable once — but not after repeated confirmations. Even more concerning, the same vehicle continued to appear listed as available weeks later. That raises serious questions about transparency. Instead of acknowledging the issue, I was quickly redirected to a different vehicle at a higher price point. During negotiations, the numbers discussed with the salesperson did not match what was later presented in the finance office. The final figures were higher than what had been represented. On top of that, the paperwork process felt rushed, creating pressure to sign without being given adequate time to carefully review the documents. That is not how a reputable dealership operates. The entire experience left me feeling misled and pressured. Transparency and consistency should be the bare minimum in any major purchase, and that standard was not met here. Addendum: After posting my initial review, manager Shawn Tawfik contacted me and made a remark implying that I must have had nothing better to do than leave a review. Instead of addressing the concerns raised, the response was dismissive and unprofessional. That interaction only reinforced my concerns about how customer feedback is handled. Additionally, we are still waiting to receive our license plates and tonneau cover that were included in our purchase. These are not optional items — they are part of the transaction — and should have been handled promptly. If you are considering this dealership, I strongly recommend scrutinizing every number, reviewing every document carefully, and not allowing yourself to be rushed or pressured. Transparency and professionalism should not be this difficult to find.

A bunch of uncoordinated people parading as sales men. They just sit around unable to follow up on anything and lack any sort of adherence to agreement/commitments. I wouldn’t recommend anyone to this place!

Some of the rudest receptionists I've ever dealt with anywhere. Couldn't get a particular salesperson on the phone and the car I wanted sold after I had been told it was available.

I’m so excited to say not only did I have a fantastic experience with Amil from this dealership and I absolutely love my new car but I referred my family member who has been burned from other dealerships multiple times and he was so thrilled to have met and worked with Amil and had a wonderful experience! He absolutely loves his new vehicle and I will continue to send people his way moving forward! Thank you for your positive attitude and your extensive knowledge of the inventory! You are a great resource and answered every question he had and made him feel confident in his choice just like you did for me! Thank you Toyota and thank you Amil for everything! Merry Christmas.

The absolute worst experience = This dealer took the money for the extended platinum VSA for 7 years/100K but not honoring to service the contract. It is a long story, but it is worth to read to understand the deceptive sales practices of this dealership. My advise, even if you see a car being sold for $1 in this dealership, you are better off some where else. It is not worth it. I went to this dealership to trade my Rav4 for a gold certified used car of the same model. First day it went relatively smooth - trade in car was checked and test drive done. Then started the marathon back and forth - Your license were taken away and multiple sales managers hashing out the same thing. Finally we came to the agreeable numbers and when I asked for the paper work done before the initial deposit of $1000 in my credit card to hold the car, and I was hesitant to get the deposit done without the paper work. The manager promised me that everything will be same as discussed tomorrow and I can take the car out. Next day, when I showed up - the manager was out and new person Omar showed up. it started as if no discussions were done on the prior day and paper work was not found. I tried to walk out and asking for the refund of the deposit, and after another 2 hour marathon back and forth, we came to the same agreement, but at this time I was fed up and asked for the refund. Then they told I can only take the car if I finance and came up with a ridiculous APR for a person with an excellent credit and I walked out and was told that money will be refunded. But after seeing the refund was not initiated which is a 2 minute effort, I put the hold on the credit card and opened the dispute. Then they called me that this time they can do through the sales with market rate APR. I went back and spending another two hours ( rehashing all the numbers again) and the manager Omar asked to buy the extended platinum VSA to make the deal as they were not making any money on this deal. I made the mistake of paying for the extended platinum coverage VSA for 100K/7 years, as I had for my previous car. My previous experience with other Toyota dealers were so good on the VSA, i was not bothered when they said the VSA will be sent from Toyota in a week time though my request for the agreement copy was not provided. I should have raised the red flag based on the experience so far, but I gave the benefit of doubt to the dealership which was a huge mistake. After taking the car and after talking to Toyota finance, it is clear that VSA agreement paper work was never sent and no clear responses from this dealership on this after repeated calls to the sales person and the Manager Omar. With only the credit card hold as a leverage, visit to the dealership resulted in another marathon sessions. First day Omar showed up and making to wait for hours, and asking the same paper work so many times, he tried to argue that it is warranty activation fee, which is not true as confirmed with the Toyota. Car was advertised as gold certified and no additional cost required to activate it. And he told they cannot release plates and registration which I paid for until this dispute is over which is against the law as well. Finally after making me wait for hours , he asked to come tomorrow and will give the agreement, plates and registration as he confirmed that his big boss agreed. Next day, when I showed up Omar is not there and another manager showed up. He acted as if he does not know anything. Finance manager and his colleague who took care of the original sale, finally agreed to give the VSA agreement but it is 5Y/60K not 7y/100K as I paid for. Right now, I am not removing the credit hold until I can get the confirmation from Toyota finance that agreement is in place and take my options with them. I don't want to deal with this dealership anymore. They are still holding my plates and registration which is against the law.

I had the pleasure of working with Moussa here at Toyota universe! It was a an awesome experience. He was very knowledgeable and patient also the staff was amazing !! Thank you very much

Long story short, the absolute worst experience I have ever had at a car dealership, avoid this place at all costs and I am making sure my friends and family also know to avoid this dealership. I was ready to buy a car from here but thankfully I learned not to before it was too late. My wife and I were looking to test drive a Grand Highlander Platinum. I called this dealership and was very specific that I wanted to test drive this vehicle and this trim level. I was told that they had the car and I scheduled a test drive for the following day. On the morning of the test drive, I called again to confirm that they still had the vehicle and it had not been sold yet. I was told that it just sold yesterday, but they had a fully loaded XLE available to test drive. This was an hour before my scheduled appointment, so I decided to try the XLE at that point. My wife and I arrived to Toyota Universe and after giving my name to the girl at the front desk, she didn't know that I had an appointment and asked if I had ever been here. I had received multiple automated text messages from this dealership the day before and that day reminding me of this appointment, so I found that odd that she didn't know. We were passed off to Jose for our appointment (I believe that was his name based on the voicemail I received from the desk manager Vlad after our visit). Jose made zero effort the entire visit to get to know us a bit or provide any customer service whatsoever, and had no idea why we were there and asked what vehicle we were looking for. I had already had this conversation twice already over the phone with the dealership so it was annoying that nobody seems to know anything here. Jose also did not know that we had an appointment that day. Jose had told us they might have a Platinum to test drive and he would check. We were left unsure by this, Jose left twice from the desk leaving my wife and I just sitting there for about 15 minutes. During none of this time did Jose communicate back to us where he was going, what he was doing, if they had the car or not, etc. We were already off to a terrible start here. Jose returns to take us outside for a test drive. I assumed he had located the Platinum for us to drive, but he said nothing. After walking through the lot, we arrive at a car and I asked if this was a Platinum. He responded that no, it was a regular Grand Highlander and he "thought that is what I wanted". I had been specific multiple times up to this point to what I wanted and I was shocked that none of this information seemed to make it to Jose or the dealership in general, or he just wasn't paying attention. We had driven pretty far to test drive a vehicle and to find out the salesperson they stuck us with didn't understand that was very frustrating from a customer service perspective. I had to test drive a car I didn't want at that point as we already drove far for this appointment, the whole time Jose said nothing to us. As soon as we arrived back to the lot we immediately left without going back inside. A few minutes later as we were driving home, I get a voicemail from Jose. Apparently he butt dialed me and I could overhear his conversation with someone else. This was extremely unprofessional. As of now I have since permanently blocked all calls from this dealership. I have almost a decade's worth of sales experience under my belt and can very confidently say that this was the worst sales experience of my life, for any product or any service. This experience was so bad I would not buy the car for free if they offered it to me here. Do not bring your business here, it will be a waste of your time.

I contacted this dealership several times about a specific car and made it very clear that I was coming from Virginia — over 5 hours and 40 minutes one way — and that I didn’t want to take any risks. I asked them repeatedly to confirm everything before I came. Each time, they told me: “Just come, everything is fine.” I finally drove all the way to New Jersey, only to be told upon arrival that they couldn’t do the deal directly with me, and that it had to go through a third-party company (a separate entity they work with). Nobody had mentioned this before. It was extremely disappointing to find out after such a long drive that nothing was ready or confirmed. This was completely unprofessional and a total waste of my time, effort, and money. I traveled nearly 12 hours round trip based on their word. I hope this review helps other customers avoid going through the same frustrating experience.