Kearny Mesa Toyota Scion
reviews and complaints

I was approved to lease a car through Ubers Xchange leasing, I was given 3 car lots to choose from in San Diego and Kearny Mesa was one of them. I wanted a used Prius and they had several available in my price range. I called first and talked to someone who tried to convince me they only sold new cars to Uber people but in doing my research I knew this was not true the dealers want us to buy new cars because the only ones they have available are at the very top of our price point which is $20, 000. We have the option to get a used vehicle but it has to be under $18, 000 used. I told the guy that I was told we can lease used vehicles and so he transferred me to Bill Bright who he said was an "Uber manager". Bill again tried to talk me into a new car but I plead my case letting him know I would not be able to make a $190 a week payment I would really like to be somewhere around $120 a week and that I found several cars on the website that would work and be up to Ubers standards and also qualify under the xchange program. He looked at the cars still trying to talk me out of them. . Saying they wouldn't work even though clearly they would. He then found a car he wanted to sell me used that was very similar and so I said yes he said he would send it to uber and see what they said. 2 days later he called and said yes the car will work! Come sign the papers. I live far so I agreed to come a day or so later. In the meantime I needed insurance so I found some, called him back and started to head down. I was about halfway and he called back and says "listen don't cone down just yet, there's a problem uber just sent over a memo and I don't think this car is going to be approved. . So just wait I'll call u back in a few hours". From there every phone call he just kept giving me a run around. . Telling me he was still waiting. Right after the first call I emailed xchange leasing with the link for the car asking if there was some reason the car would not be approved? They immediately responded saying the car was totally fine. . No reason the car wouldn't be. I called Bill back and he got angry with me saying I'm talking to different people than him! And he's still waiting. So at this point there was nothing I could do but wait. Might I add this was a vehicle I was supposed to be working in. . So while I waited I was not working. The wait turned into 3 weeks. ..I kept calling Bill and emailing Xchange. .Xchange said they sent the contract over to him twice on the day he called me to tell me they did. ... but he kept telling me for 3 weeks that he was waiting and kept bashing the program saying it's really hard to lease a car for Uber because of thier guidelines. But yet I had several emails from the leasing company apologizing for the dealership and clueless as to why he wouldn't lease me the vehicle. Today I went online and the vehicle is now sold. I called Bill and he giggled and said yeah. .. it's really hard to lease a vehicle for Uber..I said well that's funny they said they sent the contract over 2 times 3 weeks ago. ... then I hung up. I just can't understand why my 14 thousand dollars was not good enough for this dealership? Why are they giving Uber drivers such a run around? There are 5 dealerships up in LA that sell used cars for Uber everyday! But these people would rather set u up for failure with a new vehicle. . Then they can repo the car and re-sell to another unsuspecting uber driver. Seems like a total scam.

My 2000 Toyota Corolla was pulling to the side a little bit, so I decided to take it to Kearny Mesa Toyota for a four wheel alignment. Prior to taking it in I had marked front and rear alignment marks (toe adjustment only, as this vehicle does not have camber/caster adjustments according to the Kearny Mesa Toyota service department) with white paint- just in case.
After explaining that my car pulled to the side and I would like to have it aligned (I am not a mechanic, but this is what I always thought was needed when your car pulled to one side and you did not have bent or worn suspension parts and the tires had even tread wear, as was the case with my car), the service advisor wrote a work order for a four wheel alignment.
I watched my car the entire time the alignment mechanic had it. Prior to starting work, he did not test drive the car to confirm that there was a pull to one side and once on the lift he did not perform any check for bent or worn suspension parts. I watched him attach all four alignment machine heads, and then he pushed some buttons on the alignment computer and then removed the alignment heads from all four wheels. After that he opened the driver’s door and made sure that the front wheels were straight by turning the steering wheel. He then printed a print-out from the alignment machine and then took the car for a test drive.
The service writer that originally wrote my ticket informed me that my car was done. I paid, after which the service writer handed me the invoice (TOCS473423) and the alignment printout showing the before and after alignment readings. The printout showed that prior to the alignment, front toe (left and right side) was out of specification and that after the alignment they were within specifications. According to the printout I assumed that the alignment had been done and it was now within specifications on all readings.
On the drive home I noticed that the car had the same pull to the side as it had when I brought it in for alignment. After arriving home I checked the marks that I previously had made with the white paint and they were in exactly the same place as I had marked them. That is very powerful evidence, along with the car still pulling to the same side as before the alignment, that the alignment I paid for was not done. Nothing was mentioned, either verbally or on any of the paperwork, that the car did not need an alignment or that the tires needed to be rotated due to tire pull. I was told this information when I returned the next day.
I realize that Toyota service department charges the same fee for the time a mechanic spends with the car, regardless of whether the vehicle needs an alignment or not. I am OK with that. But I was not told that my car didn’t need an alignment at the time I picked it up, but the printout indicates that the alignment was done! How is this possible?
The next day I drove back to the same dealership, spoke with the same service advisor that originally wrote the work order for the alignment and asked why my car was not aligned, yet the printout states that it was. She suggested that I speak with the service manager, Scott. I told the whole story as I have just stated above to him and then asked him how the toe reading could be out of specification before the alignment and then be in specification after the alignment, when absolutely nothing was adjusted on the car? He could not answer that question, so he called in the alignment mechanic (Mike). Mike explained that the reason he did not adjust anything is because my car was within specifications and did not need an alignment. I then asked why, if NOTHING WAS ADJUSTED, did the printout show an out of specification reading before, then a within specification reading after? It should have read virtually the SAME BOTH BEFORE AND AFTER. He kept talking about everything except what I was asking him, and I knew why! He cheated on the printout reading to make it look like he had done the work to justify what I paid.
Now the mechanic tells me that my front tires were bad and needed to be swapped. He did not say anything about this the previous day when I picked up my car thinking it was fixed. I asked him why I was not told about this at the time of the alignment, and why weren’t the tires swapped if that was all that was needed to fix the pull to the side? He had no answer to those questions.
They eventually did swap the tires and it did fix the pull to the side issue, but they would not admit that anything improper was done or that I had been misled (either intentionally or unintentionally). The way I think the alignment mechanic cheated on my printout is instead of adjusting anything he just turned the front wheels to the side using the steering wheel instead of using the adjustment and let the computer read straight front wheels and then he printed out the whole thing. This have not have been a big deal if the mechanic admitted to me that the print out was false along with the service manager agreeing with him or not understanding the whole thing. I was presented with a false document and I am wondering how many false alignment printouts in the past has this alignment mechanic ( mike ) printed at Kearny Mesa Toyota service department. I am not sure if the service manager ( Scot ) does not understand this problem or he does understand and thinks it is only a print out - it is not a big deal. When a customer spends money any false document presentation ( no small or big ) puts doubt in that dealership. Basically I was lied to and withheld the information from about my car do to negligence at Kearny Mesa Toyota service department.