Don Jacobs Imports
reviews and complaints

I bought a 2013 VW Passat from Don Jacobs a while back. Lately, I had a problem with coolant leaking. They said I needed a new water pump. I think they charged me too much compared to other places. They charged me $1,390.00 for labor, which is over $800. They also added a miscellaneous charge of $36.00. On top of that, they charged me $40 for coolant, just for the line in the reservoir tank. The parts alone cost me over $400. I really think they overcharged me. I didn't have much choice but to get it fixed after leaving my car there, but I definitely feel like I got ripped off.

We brung our 2015 Honda CRV to Don Jacobs Imports, Inc. 'cause it had a problem with the battery dyin' overnight. The service manager said it ain't no problem at all! But lemme tell ya, that's when the problem started. He called the next day and said the door lock switch was busted. We got the go-ahead from our warranty company, so they changed the switch, or at least that's what they said. Then they called again and said the switch wasn't the problem after all. They said it was somethin' called a MICU and it would cost us 900 bucks to replace it. And even then, they weren't sure if it would fix the problem. We decided to take the car back home, but now the door locks don't work at all. They left grease all over the windows, and to make matters worse, there was grease all over the back leather seats. They tried to cover it up with my hoodie so it wouldn't be noticed right away. This dealership should be illegal for makin' false statements. The service manager had the nerve to tell us it's our fault for not reportin' it to him earlier. He said sorry, but your locks don't work now 'cause we replaced the latch assembly. He knew the locks were workin' when we brought the car in, but he used fancy talk to get out of the mess he caused!

The service guy sent me through a tiny opening that my car couldn't fit in, and he ended up scratching my right side mirror. He didn't even offer to fix it. When I made an appointment for some body work, the person I talked to said they would use my free car wash certificate, even though it wasn't their job. On the day of the body work, the receptionist made me start the estimate process all over again. After a lot of back and forth, I finally made them understand that I already had an estimate, the part was there, and I had a pre-scheduled appointment. I mentioned that the previous employee agreed to wash my car, but the receptionist just rolled her eyes and said it wasn't their job. I got fed up and told her not to bother. The repairs only took an hour. When the receptionist checked me out, she proudly told me that they had washed my car. The estimate said it would take 1.7 labor hours, and they charged me for that, even though it only took an hour. They should have only charged me for the actual time it took.

Service date - 06/07. I got an oil change, tire rotation, and air filter. They did some services without telling me first, which they should have. And those services shouldn't have been necessary at only 16,000 miles. I talked to the person in charge of handling disputes and concerns. He was supposed to send me a document giving a $166 credit for this dispute. But I haven't received anything yet. I would prefer to get the credit as a refund. I don't want to deal with them anymore. This isn't the only problem I've had with them. I've had issues since the day I bought the vehicle. My Customer #XXXXXX for this service date. I want them to do what they said they would and refund the money.

On July 31, I bought a 2011 BMW from Don Jacobs. I know used cars usually don't have warranties. But, I spent more than $11,000 in cash for the car. I only drove it for less than 500 miles and Less than 60 days later, on September 28, the car died in traffic and wouldn't start again. I had it towed to a trusted mechanic who said the engine couldn't be fixed and needed to be replaced. The cost? Around $6 - 7,000. It ain't good business to sell a car that the dealership should've known was in this condition. And to make matters worse, they promised to call me back with a solution or at least some kind of response. But I haven't gotten that call back, even after leaving lots of messages.

2-3 years ago, I got my 2013 Nissan Altima serviced at Dona Jacobs Honda service department. Before leaving my car, the service advisor gave me a list of services and prices. One of the services was a transmission fluid flush. While they were working on my car, they called and said they discovered that my transmission was locked, which meant it had fluid that lasted forever and didn't need flushing. I trusted them, even though my Nissan manual said otherwise. I never questioned it again. Today, I went to another company for an oil change, and they suggested a transmission fluid flush. I told them what *** had said, but the other company said that was wrong. They couldn't open the dipstick, so they removed the transmission cover to get a better look. Turns out, *** broke my dipstick cap and then glued it back on!

I spent $725 at Don Jacobs' service department and they couldn't fix my 2007 Honda Element problem. A Honda expert mechanic in Ohio fixed it in just 1 hour. They didn't need all the expensive Honda parts that DJ recommended, which could have cost me another $1000. The mechanic said most dealerships don't take the time to let the computer learn the new parts. A DJ service advisor slipped up and told me they want people to come back often to make more money. I also asked the service manager about the excessive play in my drive train, and he said it was normal. But when the CV joints were recently replaced, the issue disappeared. Don Jacobs is aware of the $725 invoices in their system from April 10th to July 17th. I spoke to the designated problem resolution woman, and she was defensive and offered a credit. I declined; I want my money back. I will never trust these thieves with my car.

I bought a car from Don Jacobs on October 9 and they totally ripped me off with the taxes and registration fees. I got a 2021 Honda Pilot and they were supposed to collect the right amount of tax and fees for registering it in Arkansas. But guess what? They messed up big time and charged me way more than they should have. Let me break it down for you:

First, there's the Arkansas state sales tax. The actual amount should have been $1649.77, but those guys at DJ decided to charge me $2986.62. That's an overcharge of $1336.85! Can you believe it?

Then there's the county sales tax. The correct amount should have been $9.38, but DJ thought it would be fun to charge me $37.50. That's an overcharge of $28.12.

And get this, they even charged me city tax when there's no city tax in the first place. They slapped me with a $37.50 charge for nothing. Talk about unfair!

Thankfully, the registration and title fees were correct at $25.00 and $10.00 respectively. But then they messed up again with the state validation decal fee. It should have been $2.50, but they charged me $5.00. That's an overcharge of $2.50.

To top it all off, they charged me $45 for postage when the state only charges $0.39. I mean, seriously? $45 for postage? That's just ridiculous.

And as if that wasn't enough, they had the audacity to charge me an ATC fee of $85 for their so-called registration and tax service. But guess what? They didn't even complete the process within the required 30 days. I had to make multiple calls to the DMV and go there twice just to get it done. Their flawed calculations and slow service made everything more complicated than it should have been. And they had the nerve to charge me for it.

I have all the supporting documents to prove their mistakes. Don Jacobs really needs to get their act together and stop taking advantage of their customers. It's just not right.

I co-signed my son a car on May 25, 2022. After getting home, he noticed the windshield washer motor wasn't working. We contacted Don Jacobs, and they asked us to bring the car to their service department on a specific date and time. My son took the car, and they quickly looked at it and told him to bring it back the next week (apparently, the person I spoke to didn't schedule an appointment for him). He took it back the following week, and they informed him that they don't work on Toyotas and advised him to take it to a Toyota dealer. They did inspect the car and found that the windshield washer motor wasn't receiving power. They also mentioned checking the fuse box. My son then took the car to Greens Toyota in Lexington and discovered that a fuse was missing. That appointment cost us $100 and caused a lot of frustration and wasted time. I spoke to a manager at Don Jacobs, and he assured me that I would be reimbursed the $100 (this conversation happened on June 28). However, I still haven't received the check. My son's temporary tag expired on 6/25/22. I informed two managers and my salesman on separate occasions. One manager and my salesman said they would look into it, but I haven't heard back from either of them. The other sales manager I spoke to mentioned a lien issue that took them a while to handle and promised to overnight me a new temporary tag (this was on July 7). However, I still haven't received it. This whole experience has been terrible for both me and my son. The communication has been extremely poor.

I went in on Friday 6/24/2022 to get help with an oil change on my 2019 Jetta. I tried to do it myself in the morning, but I couldn't remove the drain plug. It just kept spinning without loosening or tightening. So, I thought the bolt's threads were stripped and I didn't have the right tools. I went to one business and explained the situation, and they said the oil drain pan was stripped and needed to be replaced. I decided to get a second opinion from another business. They told me the same thing and said I should take it to the dealer where I had the last oil change. I didn't go there first because they were booked until July 5th, but I went anyway because it was a serious problem. When I got to the dealer, the service advisor, ***, told us they couldn't determine the issue but would try to do the oil change. Later, he came back and said the same thing the other two businesses and I had experienced earlier - the drain plug couldn't be removed and the oil pan was stripped. Even though the service advisor confirmed they did the last oil change and their records and the OEM drain plug and filter could prove it, they wouldn't take responsibility. I know the oil pan can only be stripped if it's over-tightened, and they were the last ones to tighten it. They wouldn't try to get it covered under warranty because of "outside influence" from one of the previous businesses who tried to loosen the plug because of some cosmetic scratches. I agreed to pay $400 before tax, but after thinking about it more, I strongly believe it's the dealer's responsibility to fix their mistake.

I been takin' my 1990 Honda Accord to Don Jacobs instead of an independent auto repair. I took my car there in August 'cause the battery light kept comin' on. They said it was the alternator and replaced it. 'Bout 3-4 months later the car lost power and stalled. I jumped it and replaced the battery. A month later, the car lost power again and the headlights went out. I brought it in and they told me that the alternator was defective and that although the part is under warranty, I would have to pay for labor costs. Since it was months after, I paid for the additional labor. This did not fix the battery blinkin' light so they charged me again for a battery cable replacement. This still did not fix the problem but it blinked less until I used the a/c. Earlier this month I brought it in and they said it was a bad compressor and said parts would be aftermarket parts and charged me over $1600. When I picked it up, I was happy 'cause the compressor seemed to fix the blinkin' battery problem. A week later the air was hot so I took it back to them and now they are sayin' that the part is defective but since it's under warranty I would only need to pay for labor costs. Isn't labor included in a warranty? I can understand if this happened more than 30 days after but this was a week after the repair. I do not have any confidence in them now and will get my car and take it to an independent mechanic. I intend to sue Don Jacobs in small claims court if they do not provide me with a refund. I will never go to Don Jacobs again. I been told by people who work in that industry that there have been many complaints about Don Jacobs and it's better to go out of town (Richmond) if I insist on goin' to a dealership. It's a shame 'cause I used to trust them with all my Honda vehicles but never again. Their mechanics are no better than a shade tree mechanic but inflate costs as if they are master mechanics. And they buy the cheapest parts they can find.

I took my car in for a check-up in Sept 2021. The Vehicle Health Report showed 3 things that needed attention, and I said okay to 2 of them (steering and brakes). I asked them to check why the battery light on the dashboard flickers sometimes. They said the alternator needed to be replaced for $591. About a month later, the car suddenly lost power and the headlights turned off. I took it back and told them about the burning smell and that I thought the alternator wasn't right because I had a similar problem with my Honda Civic before. They said they didn't see anything wrong, so I picked it up. I didn't drive the car until April 2022. In April, the car stopped and we found out the battery was dead, so I bought a new one. I took it back to Don Jacobs so they could look at it again because I still didn't think the alternator was good and I didn't trust the alternator vendor, ***. They told me the alternator was under warranty with ***, and I had 2 choices. If I didn't want *** to honor the warranty, they would have to get a new one and I would have to pay for it plus labor. Or, they could go back to *** and I would only have to pay for labor. I chose the second option. But the new alternator didn't fix the battery light problem. They said the mechanic thinks there's low voltage from the battery cable, so I agreed to pay $270 for that repair and the labor cost for installing the replacement alternator, which came to a total of $509. But the battery light still didn't go away. After they charged me twice for a fix they did in late June that didn't work either, I complained about their practices. I told them I didn't trust them at all because they were charging me twice. Turns out, the alternator was bad because when I took it to Infiniti, they said it wasn't holding a charge and replaced it with one from Napa.

While swappin out summer tires for all seasons, Don Jacobs Honda messed up my wheel. The dealership won't replace the messed up wheel. To Whom It May Concern: 10/9 I took my new 2020 Honda Civic Type R to Don Jacobs Honda to get the summer tires changed for all seasons in preparation for winter. They told me later that the tire changer thing wasn't working right, so they had to reschedule my service appointment. 10/15 I went back for the service and they swapped the tires. But when I got my car back, I saw that the right rear wheel, which was perfect before, now had two chips in the paint. I circled them in yellow in the picture I attached. I told the Don Jacobs Honda Service Manager, *** about the damage. Unfortunately, the first thing Mr. said after seeing the damage was, "I didn't even wanna do these tires in the first place." He offered to paint the wheel to hide the damage and asked if I was okay with that. I asked them to just replace the wheel, but Mr. said no. He also said, "We'll fix the wheel, but we ain't touchin' these tires again." Funny thing is, they still wanted me to pay the $103 for the labor that messed up the wheel. With this awful Covid-19 mess goin' on, my car has been a source of happiness for me. I spent almost $3,900 to put 3M paint protection film on the whole car. I park it in the far corner of the hospital parking garage and walk to work. I wash the car almost every weekend. I wear a mask and keep my distance at car shows while sharin' my love for this special car with others. When the time comes to sell my beloved Type R, I'm worried that the wheel damage will make it worth less. Rescheduling stuff happens, and from my experience with my previous two Honda cars, I know that no car stays new forever. But I never would've thought that the dealer would be the one to leave the first mark. On the other hand, my salesman, ***, has been a true professional and has gone above and beyond to help me even after I bought the car. Don Jacobs Honda should learn from his good example and take better care of their customers.