Merced Toyota — Local services in Merced

BEWARE!!! MUST READ! Before you drop off your car for service.

I bought a 2022 Toyota Corolla SE from Merced Toyota. I took it in to be serviced at Merced Toyota for a transmission pan replacement. While my car was with Merced Toyota for 7 days. I get a phone call that tells me that my car has been in an accident with another Toyota customers truck.

When I arrive my brand new cars, front driver side was trashed and Merced Toyota tells me THEY ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE! They said due to customer versus customer. I was in shock!!! Because I left my car with them and this happened. I asked for their policy or something in writing that says they’re not responsible and they try to only provide me with a paper that said they weren’t responsible if my car got stolen on fire or vandalism. I advise them that this doesn’t classify what happened to my vehicle in their possession (collision). When I pointed this out everyone agreed that I was right, but still said they’re not responsible.

I called Merced Toyota’s insurance and talk to a broker, they said that Toyota will take care of my vehicle in the auto-body shop and put me in a Rent-A-Car. Even Merced Toyota called me and said they were taking care of my vehicle and that their insurance is going after the other guys insurance that hit my car.

14 days later the GM from Merced told me their insurance said they’re not going to take care of my vehicle now, and that I owe almost $500 for the Rent-A-Car. I took the Rent-A-Car back to Merced Toyota, and I asked for the main bosses number. 10 minutes later the GM zeroed out the Rent-A-Car price due to me complaining. About how are you going to say you’ll take care of me (the customer), and 14 days later change your mind, then tell me I owe almost $500 for a Rent-A-Car.

Below you will see a response from Merced Toyota’s GM. Admitting that my vehicle got damaged on their property. While my car was being service by them. My vehicle was not in the public parking area in the front. Their workers parked it were they stage vehicle to be service towards the back side of their building.

They said due to them not having available staff to go retrieve the other customers truck. The other customer got his own truck and wrecked into my vehicle.

My final thoughts is that it’s sad that you can’t take your vehicle to a place that is supposed to be professional and take care of the customer and they don’t. I attached a picture of my vehicle, when it was being serviced at Merced Toyota, and they wanted me to come pick it up.

This review is to let everyone know my experience with Merced Toyota. Listen Carefully to the response the GM says below. Saying I needed to go through My insurance, and go after the other party that hit my car. I ask you (the customers) if this happens to you, how would this...

I had an extremely disappointing experience at Merced Toyota. I scheduled an 8:00 AM appointment for a diagnostic on my car, expecting timely service and professional communication. However, throughout the day, my calls for updates were met with the same vague response: "It still hasn't been looked at."

By 3:30 PM, I called again and firmly stated that if my car wasn't seen by 4:00 PM, I would come to pick it up. JR responded abruptly, claiming that the car was "just now being checked" and asked me to come to the shop because they "didn't see or hear anything wrong."

When I arrived at 4:00 PM, I was informed that the car had supposedly been thoroughly checked and even taken for a test drive. However, based on my understanding, half an hour is insufficient to comprehensively inspect brakes, tire pressure, tire tread, the engine, air filters, and other critical components. This claim seemed dubious and unconvincing.

While waiting, I witnessed another customer inquire about the status of their vehicle, which had also been brought in early in the morning. The staff remained silent in response to his frustration. Shockingly, after the customer walked away, the employees laughed and mocked him—a highly unprofessional and disrespectful display of behavior. What was even more concerning is that this occurred openly, with no intervention from the management present, suggesting a culture of disregard for customer respect and professionalism.

Moreover, JR's attitude and tone throughout the interaction were unacceptable. Communication with customers should be courteous and helpful, not dismissive or abrasive. Despite being told my car had been "diagnosed," the technician only speculated that the issue might be the brakes but provided no definitive answer.

I took my car to another shop, where they identified the actual problem as the motor mounts—a straightforward fix that resolved all issues. Since then, my car has performed perfectly.

I strongly advise against wasting your time or money at Merced Toyota. Their staff seems disinterested in providing quality service, and their unprofessional conduct leaves much to be desired. Take your business to a shop that values its customers and provides reliable diagnostics...

Purchased a new truck about 3 months ago using the Costco auto buying program. Overall the experience was “alright”. Gilbert did great a great job getting me though the door over the phone. Very helpful and informative however I didn’t deal with him we I showed up. My salesman nick was nice and was a good salesman. Everything was great up until we shook hands on the deal. Immediately he left and had us wait for the finance guy, which would only be a few minutes. Unfortunately that turned into nearly an hour of sitting by ourselves at the desk. Another issue that I found out later, was even though we already had our own financing they still had us fill out a credit application. I was told it wasn’t a hard check on my credit and they did that standard with everyone. Well turns out that is a hard credit check, which to be honest isn’t a big deal but I’m mad that he blatantly lied when he said it wouldn’t. Also, make sure if buying a white vehicle to check for rail dust (iron deposits) I really noticed it a few days after buying thinking it was just dirt, It’s not and it’s a pain to remove. I should have caught that when I was walking around but being caught up with buying a new vehicle it passed by. They sent me an email asking how my process was, typed up pretty much the same thing as in this review and never got a response back. They said that the service department would call a week after to discuss setting up the maintenance plan and they never did. I ended calling with a question about my truck and they said a mechanic would call me, he never did. Talked to my salesman about buying an additional warranty and he never called me back. I mean overall they did a great job getting me there but I feel that after I made the deal they couldn’t care less. If it wasn’t for Costco I would have bought it from Modesto which I should have done in the first place just because Modesto is...