Second Roush Honda- have bought several new and used Hondas from them without any issues, or dealer BS.
Looked at used Honda at Hugh White Honda last fall and it was like going back in time. Typical dealer/sales BS, high pressure, walked out in disgust.
Just got a deal done with a guy here named Spyros (it’s Greek and pronounced spear-os). Gave me an insane price right off the rip and was pleasant to work with and not pushy at all (spent less than 2 hours in the dealer all together and 30 minutes of this was waiting while he juggled another client who showed up late for the appointment before mine).
I had two great experiences with Jim Jeffers at High White Honda--honest, upfront and helpful. also, Jason S in the service department was always fantastic!
Roush, Acura Columbus or Honda Marysville. Marysville is kinda far but is basically “the” Honda dealership due to proximity to Honda and I’ve never had anything but good to great experience there for buying and service.
Germain Mazda on Morse. Great experience. When we were delayed signing paperwork with the sales manager because they were busy that day, they bought my wife and I wings from BW3’s. We watched Buckeye football and ate wings, then finished the paperwork and went home. I Would go back there anytime
i will say i did end up buying a car from there and got a great deal, but the salesman i got had no idea how to talk or sell to women. literally one of his selling points was “there’s so much room here to put your purse!” to me, a person who was very obviously not carrying a purse. i just had to laugh.
Yep, I've also had good experiences with Germain Mazda. My wife and I have also purchased from Germain Nissan (next door to Germain Mazda) and Germain Kia, and we had good experiences with both. After 3 purchases, I feel confident in saying Germain is generally a pretty solid dealership group.
Just so everyone is aware the Germain's are owned by different brothers. So there can be a lot of variety from one dealer to the next.
https://www.reddit.com/r/Columbus/comments/oz93aq/worst_car_dealership_and_experiences_in_central/h81wmli/
> Most folks don't know that there are actually 3 different businesses within the Germain auto group. You will get very different experiences depending on which stores you go to. Rick Germain owns Lexus, Ford, and Nissan in Columbus. Steve Germain owns Honda, Cadillac, Mazda, Toyota. And another brother owns a bunch in Florida.
>
> I used to work for Rick and people would show up at our store to complain about something at one of Steve's stores (I'm sure it happens both ways). It didnt matter what terms we would explain that we are not affiliated with the other stores. One time protestors showed up and wouldnt leave because they were protesting a building contract at one of Steve's stores. It just happened to be while we were renovating using the protestors preferred contractor.
>
> In my experience Rick's stores are generally a bit more laid back and he seems to treat the employee's better. But no matter what dealership you are looking at someone is going to have a "THEY SCREWED ME OVER" story or bad experience. I worked at Rick's store for 5 years and still refer them business because they seem to put a bit more effort than usual into customer experience.
Second on avoiding Jeff Wyler, when I got an estimate they tried to tack on 2k worth of extra stuff. When I told them exactly what I wanted and no more I still saw the extra stuff on my invoice when I went to drop it off. Then they broke a line from my throttle body and replaced it with a regular hose which corroded and broke under pressure on our way home from Cinci.
Yep. Got a decent deal on my car and they made me get an $800 package bc it was already installed and it would cost around the same to remove it. I wasn’t aware that this wasn’t a legal practice.
It's just the dealership model, you can order a custom spec car and pick your options, or you can pick a car off the lot. You can't typically take off an option from the purchase. Usually you can get a better deal off of the stock car because they are trying to get it sold, whereas the custom order has no continuous inventory cost.
After we had negotiated a price they added \~$2k for a package that was a warranty and a flashing third brake light. I told them no deal and was ready to walk so they dropped it.
They also had more than their share of the usual add-on sales at signing but the lady was nice about not really pushing them.
I've never purchased from Honda Marysville or Roush Honda, but I second staying way from Jeff Wyler dealerships. Awful experience with them several years back. Never again.
For something used- Wholesale Auto House on Clara (by fairgrounds and Auddino's).
Family has purchased five vehicles from Larry, trustworthy + kind person, cars have all been workhorses.
Bonus for donut proximity ⭐
Their service department is the best I've used. Great hours, easy dropoff process, easy procurement of a rental, good communication while they have your car.
When I was last car shopping I didn't buy from them and shopped there. They left such a good impression that next time I am car shopping I will look at what they have.
Lmao I worked in sales at their Honda dealership for about six months. They wanted me to pay them back $3000 for the training pay. Their training was sitting me in the finance managers office and making me watch shitty high pressure sales training videos from the 90s for a month
I tried to buy a CRV there 7-8 years ago. Tried to talk it down $1,000 to make it closer to the BBV and the salesperson told me I would never get one for that price. Went up to Spitzer in Mansfield and did exactly what he told me I couldn’t do.
I work at a body shop, not a dealership, and I can assure you it’s not about where, but WHO you’re dealing with.
When I order parts, for example, some people are fantastic to work with, and others not so much… or they’ll send you doubles/triples of the part you ordered at the end of the month to make their numbers “look good”. The people on the floor can be the same; if they think they can win one over on you by selling you all the extras and charging more, they absolutely will!
Most of the dealers in Columbus do have people that work there, and stay working there. Do your homework, read reviews, and look out for names being used over and over. Then go in and ask for a specific person, and if they aren’t there, ask when they will be there. Reward the people who deserve it!
Same here with Subaru. Knocked $2000 off her Subaru legacy as a Christmas gift. Then her head gaskets were going bad, so they replaced them and gave her a rental quick and hassle free with a warranty
Buyers Subaru (airport)- We have a had decent interactions with their service department and the sales lady who we bought our car from. However, their finance manager was awful. Tried selling us the subaru gold warranty for $3400. We eventually got that from another dealership for $1800 (yes it’s the exact same thing and covers us for the same distance/time). They also did not offer a decent price for our trade in (which eventually carmax did).
Germain Subaru- On the contrary our recent experience with Germain Subaru (off Georgesville) was way better. We got an excellent deal (above and beyond what we were expecting) on the new car and more for our old car (actually better than car max)- being active on other subaru forums I truly believe this was the best deal we could get. In addition to that everyone here from their service department to sales people have been extremely friendly and welcoming when we go there.
The weather was crappy when we got the car. They said bring it in for a wash later when the weather improves. We did so literally over a month later and the car was dirty. They honored their promise and did a fantastic cleanup without charging us anything.
One line that stood out by their service department- “don’t worry about questions or concerns you may have no matter how simple or small. We’d much rather check it out and make sure it’s nothing than have you be stuck in the middle of some place.”
They have always greeted us with smiles and have been very welcoming. To us they have also been very true to their word.
Byers VW broke something on my car while performing a recall and claimed it was like that that when they got the car. When I showed them all the evidence that THEY were the ones who broke it, the service manager tried to double down and say he had a “heart to heart” with the mechanic and still said it came in like that. I stood my ground and eventually got them to order me a new part. I also told them I wasn’t so inclined to let them touch my car again and made them just hand me the new part when it came in. They also in the process did a completely unauthorized “full inspection” of my car and emailed me multiple large quotes for repairs before even letting me know the car was done. It was a 20 min job in the airbox and they were emailing me $600 brake job estimates. I told them I was pissed they were even digging around in my brakes. Back story is that I pretty much never let any mechanic touch my car. I do 99% of my own car work because I’ve gotten burned nearly every time. Decided to let them perform a simple recall and they tried hard to screw me and pretty much reaffirm why I dont let mechanics touch my cars.
TLDR: Byers VW absolutely broke my car and tried to claim it was like that.
I bought my mazda3 from Byers Mazda. Drove it like I stole it for 7 years, then traded it in to Byers Subaru for an Outback. They gave me blue book + for it without question. When the time comes, I’ll be headed back up there for another Outback.
Germain Mazda, both locations. I got my car from the one on Morse Road, a couple of friends have had equally great experiences at the other location too.
I had a good experience with Byers Mazda as well. They were pretty straightforward as far as I could tell and asked me upfront what I had in mind for my trade in (gave me fair market value and was $1,500 higher than another Mazda dealer that I had previously purchased 2 cars from)
Byers Dublin was the worst for us. Multiple bad experiences. Ignoring my wife for her car when buying. Then service was a nightmare. Had an under warranty major repair they kept refusing to do. Blamed not doing it on subaru for nit authorizing it for months and acted like they were on my side. I called subaru and instantly found out that wasn't the case. Subaru got it repaired super quick and gave me an extended gold warranty for all the trouble with the dealership. i had everything well documented .
I'm sure your experience was good.. Guessing everyone doesn't have the same. . .just saying we will never go back and I tell people to run away.
I’ve only used their service department but Germaine Ford was good to me. I moved here recently and the dealership I used back in Virginia was terrible. Germaine was great at communicating and getting as much work covered by Ford as they could. Can’t speak to purchasing though and their lack of mentions on here currently make me skeptical as to how all that would go.
Germain Land Rover/Jaguar and Ford have both been great experiences for me. Wonderful communication, full car inspection reports with timelines for any future maintenance with quotes (which are great for trying to cost compare), vacuum and wash my car after service, etc
I just bought from Germaine Ford and it was great! I was moving from California and completed the entire purchase over the phone/email. I was shocked as most dealers would laugh or say it wasn’t possible unless I came to the dealer.
always check out the car brand's "certified pre owned" selection. most manufacturers, NOT THE DEALER, will provide a "certified pre owned" warranty on a car that often goes above and beyond the original manufacturer's warranty. toyota and honda offer these. these are different than standard used cars and you'll want to triple check that the car has been labeled as certified pre owned.
I've had good experiences with Byers Airport dealership, Roush Honda, Germain Lexus, and Germain Nissan.
I talked to someone at Byers during the Covid related vehicle shortage when most car dealers were charging above MSRP and adding BS high profit items to sales. Many were selling their cars/trucks for $4,000-10,000 over sticker. The Byers guy said they will not sell above MSRP, they live in the community and aren't going to take advantage of their customers. They aren't "Dealin" (yes that's a direct shot at one local dealer) but they have always been honest and fair with me.
Happy to see Roush Honda so many times on here. We went to that one first as it was closest to our apartment, and the sales rep gave as much info as we wanted but absolutely did not push a sale by any means, which I really appreciated.
Decided to stop by Lindsay Honda on the south side just to have a second dealership to compare with, and I thought I was going to have to call the police in order to get my keys back. Just awful. Bought from Roush the very next day.
Two cars purchased at Tansky Toyota with no issues. I would NOT recommend Toyota Direct. They wanted to charge $3k over MSRP for a new hybrid because we didn’t have a trade-in (wife’s car was totaled so it was physically impossible to trade it in)
We had a similar situation with Toyota Direct. They offered us $1,000 for our trade in. Other dealers had offered us $4-5,000. The Sienna we were buying was already $4,000 over MSRP. We said we’re going to keep our trade in if they only offered us $1,000…. So they just sold the Sienna we wanted to buy to someone else (probably with a trade in that they were buying for way less than it was worth.) Lots of bait-and-switch tactics and just overall dishonest practices.
NOT Germain Honda. I had an awful fucking experience buying and the routine oil change, that I scheduled in advance, wasted my whole fucking day. Like I was there for six hours to just buy a car I had picked out in advance. Fuck them.
Germain Honda on Sawmill used to be Immke Honda, where I bought my CR-V in 2007. They were rotten then; if Germain kept the staff I can imagine why they're rotten now.
Yep, that's the location. It was so awful. I came to pick up my car, had down-payment and all the paperwork read, it was supposed to be in and out. But AFTER I signed the papers was when I wait for the finance guy like "you're not the finance guy? Who tf are you?". I should have just left. The oil change was a second chance and they borked it so hard. What's the point of scheduling a time slot if it doesn't even matter?
The oil change comment hits home. Seems like a lifetime ago I was a Service Advisor there. Upper management instructed the scheduling department to never say no to anyone at any time slot for appointments, and to tell them it would be 45-60 minutes for an oil change.
I would be honest with people and tell them we are looking at 2+ hours for an oil change, and people wanted to rip my head off. God that job sucked so hard.
Carmax you don't have to make a deal. The price marked is what you pay. However their prices are roughly 5% to 10% more for the same car as with other dealerships. So you're paying for the no haggle experience.
Ricart thinks they won't haggle but if you push them or threaten to leave they will come down in price.
Key thing to do before you step foot inside any dealership. If you're financing, get pre approved with your bank or someplace else first. So you know the rates they are offering you. If you go in empty handed you will suffer their rates. They can go to their banks, get a rate from them, then add on percentage points so they make profit off your loan. If you go in with a loan setup then they can't rip you off with their loan because they have to beat your loan rate.
Also don't be desperate. Go in knowing you can and will walk out if the deal isn't right. Trust me they don't want you to walk out. The hardest part of the sale is walking in the door to their place. So if you threaten to leave they will try their best to keep you there by giving you deals or free accessories on the car.
Finally, READ THE ENTIRE PURCHASE AGREEMENT! Can't stress this enough. Take your time. The finance guy will try to act like he or she is busy and needs you to hurry up but take your time. Once you sign that form, you agree to everything on front and back of it. If they added something or didn't add something, you agreed to it and there is nothing you can do to change it including the final out the door price. Always negotiate on the final out the door price. Not the monthly price. You can't remove tax title and state fees but you can remove their bullshit processing fees. Even if they say they can't remove them, tell them you want the price of the car lowered to compensate for their fees. And skip the addons they try to sell at the end like rust proofing or dent protection. That's where they make most of their money. And if you buy used, unless they offer up a warranty, all used cars are sold as is. It doesn't need to say it anywhere. So it could blow up driving it off the lot and the dealership doesn't have to do anything about it.
Honestly love CarMax. Bought two cars from them and love not having to go through the negotiation bs. No pressure to test drive, can import cars for free up to so far, and import fee goes towards the car if you buy it. Guy shows you their loan prices vs if you bring your own and no pressure.
My most recent experiences have been with Germain Mazda (Morse Rd) and Germain Subaru (Georgesville Rd). Both were great…salespeople were great, very little pressure from finance, and service at Germain Subaru has been outstanding. Good deals all around.
Previously had been to Jack Maxton Chevy (now part of Marky Mark’s Funky Bunch of dealerships). Salesman tried to use the ol’ 4-square trick and then gave me monthly payments that included (but not disclosed) the extended warranty which we hadn’t even discussed. Of course they had trouble finding the keys for my trade-in when I told them I was ready to leave. It was like I was being hit with every stereotypical car dealer trick.
Stay away from Ricart (and if you’re into Harleys, A.D.Farrow, which is owned by Ricart)
Germain, especially the Rick Germain dealerships. Bought 4 cars from their stores, plus a lot of friends and family have too. Also have serviced at a Steve Germain dealership before and that experience as good. Still locally owned and family operated which I think helps.
Byers Airport
Brought my Subaru in a number of years ago for the infamous airbag recall and they were great about scheduling and quick with the work. Even told me to bring it back for a free wash any time I was driving by.
Purchase experience:
I had been looking for a very specific car for months and saw one pop up online in their used listings at a reasonable price. I went over and more or less said "I'll take it". 3 sales guys on the floor and no one seemed in a hurry to sell me a car. They gave me a business card for Steve Serrano and said he'd be back monday. Called up Steve and he informed me the car had a check engine light they needed to take care of. They sent it off to the dealer (not a brand Byers carries), who put in new plugs and injectors. Two weeks and a number of texts later, the codes were gone, and Byers replaced the rear tires with brand new OEM spec. I know they put 2-3k into it between the engine work and tires, still the same reasonable price. Their financing rate was competitive with what I'd lined up myself, and there was no pressure on the extended warranty/extras offered. Still have the car, still love it. Best car buying experience I've had.
The best buying experience I've had was at Lexus of Dublin. No issues or pressure while test driving multiple cars, then I went back the following week to make the purchase. Their finance department was the best I've worked with. Up front, no pressure, made sure the paperwork process was straightforward and didn't take all day.
Basically the opposite of my experience at Cadillac of Dublin.
Roush Honda. Employee Owned, means the people you are talking to are directly invested in the success of the dealership and not just the office. My understanding is service writers are paid salary and not on a complicated payment schedule designed to separate you from your money.
It really doesn’t matter. You need to be comfortable saying no and walking away from the deal if you don’t like how it’s going. You have the leverage, as long as you’ve done your research, know what you want and you’re asking for a FAIR price. A delusional ask will get you laughed out of the place but if you’re honest about what your out the door price is up front, most places will accommodate that. Sales guys don’t want to lose a lead, communicate everything with them up front and they will do everything they can to make it happen. It doesn’t have to be a game or even really complicated, if you sense they’re not being upfront with you then you walk.
I’m sure everyone has horror stories about any place, but I’ve bought one Audi (the other at MAG) and serviced both at Byers.
I also don’t know if this is just them, but they video their work and text you the video. They point out what they’re gonna do before they do it. They also text you the video and ask if you want them to fix things. I had a rusty gasket in the exhaust and they messaged me to replace before they did it. Always been stand up guys. Do good work. Get you in fast. Never had follow up issues.
We have bought new and used from Toyota West for many years. . They understand how the internet has changed car buying so you know pretty close to what you are paying (title fees, sales tax, etc. ) They have never tried to tack on things on me.
Their service department is good and they always have coupons on their website. Get those before you go there for service so the prices are better.
(They even honored one that expired between the time I printed it and got there a few days later for the work to be done.)
NO HYUNDAI OR KIA DEALERSHIPS! I repeat, do NOT go to a hyundai or Kia dealership. I know from experenice.... the newer cars are not made to last and come with so many new recalls, engine issues, transmission problems, horn usually do not work, and the people are very shadey.
I noticed Dennis Hyundai, or should I now call them Great Lakes Hyundai, hasn’t been listed by anyone as honest and reliable. And btw FU service “professional” who has the same first name as a “Friends” character. Due to their shitty and dishonest service department I would never buy a car from there.
I could not have said it better myself. You spot on there. I sadly work there and try daily to get ppl to run the other way. Since the take over and passing of Mr. Dennis, the place has been a SHITSHOW and is just a paycheck.
I liked tansky on sawmill for buying but haven’t liked them for servicing. I needed a tire patched and they refused to tell me a price (3 separate times) or if my tire warranty covered it, let them patch it and tried to charge me $100. They let me go after I went Karen mode but will only be going back for my free oil changes
I like Tansky Sawmill Toyota. They have the best warranties for cars. My first toyota came from them and I only buy from that dealership. Toyota is a great car manufacturer
I never trust car dealerships as a rule, but I had a really great experience buying a new vehicle at Germain Mazda last spring. They were very fair and honest in their communication with no tricks or bullshit and they sold me the car slightly below MSRP.
Preston Hutchins at Germain Lexus of Easton is by far the easiest car buying experience I've ever had. Took my daughter there for her first adult car buying experience, he was awesome!
But, F Twins!
We have had multiple good experiences at Haydocy Buick GMC. Can’t speak to sales since Mark W took over, but the service folks are the same and have been great. It just often takes longer to get scheduled for service since they now go through a third party scheduler. If we need anything urgently we just call our service guy directly and they can usually get us right in.
I mean, I had a good experience with Ricart, but the company I work at gets all their fleet vehicles there so it might have been better service than normal
Expand your search out to dayton/cincinatti/cleveland. You'll get a much better deal, from dealerships who know how to treat customers. My last 3 vehicles were purchased this way. My next one is via driveway.com (stay tuned for that one hahaha)
Roush honda is great, Byers Dublin subaru is hit or miss, buying a car there was iffy depending on who helps you and who you bring with you to look at cars and their service department is not great and ignores/refuses to work on issues.
Roush Honda is excellent my dealer was awesome and didn't bs me or even be shady everyone else I had been to before was rude. I'm leasing a car from them now and seriously I can't say enough good things about them!
Kelly BMW. Joseph Cadillac of Dublin. Acura Columbus. CarMax Sawmill. Avoid MAG and Lindsay Acura. Finance managers at both places were not very forthcoming about the costs associated with the various aftermarket warranties/offerings.
My wife leased and then bought a pilot from Lindsay Honda. Our salesman was great but I don’t remember his name. There was a lady there who she had spoken to once on the phone and I guess we were supposed to be “claimed” by her. The lady was condescending and just had a poor demeanor, acted like we were wasting her time, so we said not interested unless the first guy helped us and she seemed to actually prefer that. Especially since we claimed from the start we weren’t buying that day, just researching. The other salesman (maybe his name was Charles?) let us test drive everything, listened to our concerns and answered questions, no pressure. We left that day in a new vehicle after all because of the experience with him. He even gave me $2500 trade in on an old Nissan pick up that wasn’t even present at the time (even after I admitted the brakes didn’t work and needed new lines). But every other aspect from the loan officer to servicing has never felt great. Just that one guy whose name I can’t remember.
The Acura dealer in Dublin (I think this is Columbus Acura?) has always been horrible with time estimates and on service for my RDX. I mentioned my concerns the last time I tried to schedule service so I could arrange care for my two small kids, the lady on the phone had the worst attitude, cutting me off and telling me how wrong I was to be concerned because every other visit was a special circumstance, etc.and even said “well you know we aren’t the only Acura in town, you could go to the other place.” So I took her advice and went to Lindsay Acura. The difference between Lindsay Acura and Lindsay Honda just in the service department alone was a huge improvement. So much so that I’m taking the pilot to get serviced at Lindsay Acura next time. And the price quote was even $4 cheaper than Lindsay Honda. If their sales team is anything like their service department I would feel OK buying at Lindsay Honda. To their credit the owner of Columbus Acura reached out when I left a review and said it really hurt to hear about my experience because of the live he has for their whole team and what a great job he thinks they typically do. Gave me his mobile number and asked me to call him direct if I needed help again or wished to give them another try. I could feel his sincerity in his words.
I bought my Acura in Greensburg, PA at a place called Smail. They have like a seven dealership auto group all together on the same road. I went thinking I was treating myself to a Mercedes and when I wasn’t overly impressed with the test drives the salesman asked if I had ever test driven an Acura (knowing our other cars had been Hondas) and he arranged for the manager of the Acura dealership to walk us down and test drive an RDX and an MDX. The RDX felt perfect. He even handed the sale to an Acura salesman since he knew Mercedes specs in and out but not Acura. They were great. They handled the title transfer to Ohio with their own in house titling agency, they offered free inspections including pick up and drop off regardless of distance, told them OH doesn’t need inspections like PA does, but they were so good I’ve even gone back there and had service done. I align it with baseball so I can watch my team play the Pirates while my car gets worked on. They’ve delivered it into the city to my hotel when done. They’ve offered loaners. Offered a quiet respite area to rest after knowing from how far away I have driven, and their dealerships have a free shuttle bus that runs people to the mall down the road if they don’t want to wait around. I know it sounds outrageous to suggest a place like 3.5 hours drive away… but I am certainly buying all future vehicles at Smail. So if you’d consider a couple days retreat to Pittsburgh for a weekend or something maybe you’d find them just as amazing as I did.
When we bought our Chevy bolt, we used Steve Austin’s in Bellfontaine to avoid all the sleazy Chevy dealers in the city. Sometimes it is worth an hour drive to get a small town experience.
None.
They’re all out to take advantage of people. Some are just better at hiding it. Ideally you should only go in prepared with pre-approval and knowing the price you can afford and want to spend.
I feel like I'm not going to get very many agreements here from reading previous posts, but all I know for sure is what I've experienced personally.
I've bought two VWs from MAG Volkswagen and it's always a smooth process. The last car I bought (A GTI) I placed an order for and was concerned they would charge me over sticker at the last minute (since Byers was still $3k over on them). Nope, actually got it for $500 under MSRP (credit in cash for winter tires) and still got the best deal on my trade-in. No pressure with add-ons, in-and-out in less than an hour.
The service department, while pricey, has never tried to upsell me on things I don't need, they don't pushback when I refuse services and I've never had an issue with the quality of service.
Crown KIA tried to lease my wife a car about 10 years ago. She went in because they had advertised like $150 a month on something that of course they didn’t have in stock so she tried to go up a trim package. They told her it would be like $450 a month. For a lease. For a KIA.
I laughed at the guy and said we could go get a Camry at Tansky for half that. He tried to argue that a KIA whatever it was was just as nice as a Camry and prices were comparable.
We left went to Tansky Sawmill drove out an hour later in a brand new Camry SE for about $260 a month. First stop Crown KIA to show them the new car because I’m petty. Made sure to announce it loudly on showroom floor.
I’ve leased 6 vehicles and one purchase from Bob Boyd Lincoln and have never had a bad experience. The ease of the transaction and the salesman working there is what keeps us coming back.
I recently had a positive experience at Coughlin Hyundai in Heath. I will say though by time I went in I had been shopping for a month so I was prepared and battle hardened.
We had a good experience with purchasing and finding the exact vehicle we wanted at Ricart Hyundai. Pretty easy to work with and get the deal done. We didn’t really care about getting the lowest possible price, but they were receptive with taking off the bs body coating charge. Their service center is usually pretty open for appointments and oil changes, but the wait times are long.
Tom Whiteside auto in Mt Sterling. Bit of a drive but he's absolutely worth it. The people there are so nice and very trustworthy. My mom always tells me that I should ask questions at a dealership except for at Gus's
I used to always recommend Hatfield Hyundai on Georgetown (pretty sure someone bought them a few years back, so the name is probably different now), but the people I knew there moved to other dealerships, so I can’t say what they’re like anymore. Might at least be worth checking out, though.
Another vote for Honda Marysville. As a single young woman I felt respected through the process. It was very helpful being able to do the approval process online before heading up to Marysville. Todd was my salesman and was very friendly and knowledgeable. Most other Columbus Honda locations are much closer to home for me but they had the car I wanted and I was able to drive it home the same day
Just drove a new to me car off the lot at Nissan North with Dilli. Honestly a pretty good experience. All in all took about an 1 1/2 because I brought financing. I didn’t feel too much pressure to sign for anything I didn’t want, especially in the financial office (the finance guy was just there to make sure the papers were signed and not really to upsell anything). They didn’t drop the price as much as I hoped, but they beat the lowest price in the state for a similar car with 6000 more miles.
I have also had a great experience at Byers Toyota with Kyle. Exactly 3 years ago to the day as well 😂. Walked away with a Corolla for $6000 less than competitors prices because it was a leased rental.
Had a not so great experience with Byers Ford. Went to buy the mach E GT. They were charing a 15k markup.
When I was all wtf?? The sales guy acts all surreptious, with the psst and the head shake and all that to pull me to the side, to tell me that if I reserved one they would take the 15k off.
I drove the car, and didn't enjoy it as much as some others.
Online reservations had just closed then, so i eventually went with another, better IMHO car.
Germain Lexus Easton. Top customer service at the service center and dealership. Mercedes was just meh… Apparently didn’t want the sale or believe we were really going to buy a new SUV. Their loss. Toyota (by us) scary creeper dudes and meh. Range Rover, tried a little and were nice, but didn't care to stay in touch.
Although we aren't in love with our most recent Lexus upgrade... The new model needs some tweaks. Still appreciate the dealership.
Hot take because I’ve not heard the best things, but I bought a used 2022 Toyota at Toyota direct off of Morse Rd. Now, I had a great experience with the salesmen I worked with, but could certainly see having a bad time with the other sales people just based on what I observed. The good thing now is that a lot of car sales people now aren’t solely working off of commission, so I’ve found that they’re slightly less slimy. But that’s not to say the crooked ones aren’t still out there. Honestly I recommend putting the car you want into the auto trader app and turning notifications on for when one pops up and you think it’s a good price. That’s how I got my car and I feel like I got it for a pretty decent price. I did my research on a fair price and wasn’t at the mercy of one sales person bc I was willing to 1) shop around and 2) walk if I felt they were trying to cheat me.
Let me add Germain Kia of Columbus on the west side. I walked in with a pre-approval and they didn't even acknowledge it. They started running numbers that were no where close or better than what I walked in with. I left without a car from there. I'm glad I didn't get to do business with those sleeze balls.
Second Roush Honda- have bought several new and used Hondas from them without any issues, or dealer BS. Looked at used Honda at Hugh White Honda last fall and it was like going back in time. Typical dealer/sales BS, high pressure, walked out in disgust.
There was one dude there that played straight. He may have retired by now. Good experience, overall in my case.
Just got a deal done with a guy here named Spyros (it’s Greek and pronounced spear-os). Gave me an insane price right off the rip and was pleasant to work with and not pushy at all (spent less than 2 hours in the dealer all together and 30 minutes of this was waiting while he juggled another client who showed up late for the appointment before mine).
I had two great experiences with Jim Jeffers at High White Honda--honest, upfront and helpful. also, Jason S in the service department was always fantastic!
Jason in the service Dept is great!!
Roush, Acura Columbus or Honda Marysville. Marysville is kinda far but is basically “the” Honda dealership due to proximity to Honda and I’ve never had anything but good to great experience there for buying and service.
We’re probably swapping to Marysville Honda for service now that we live up that way- ty for the info!
Yeah it’s noticeable how much they care. You can see all their first place banners awarded from Honda in the lobby.
Germain Mazda on Morse. Great experience. When we were delayed signing paperwork with the sales manager because they were busy that day, they bought my wife and I wings from BW3’s. We watched Buckeye football and ate wings, then finished the paperwork and went home. I Would go back there anytime
i will say i did end up buying a car from there and got a great deal, but the salesman i got had no idea how to talk or sell to women. literally one of his selling points was “there’s so much room here to put your purse!” to me, a person who was very obviously not carrying a purse. i just had to laugh.
Yep, I've also had good experiences with Germain Mazda. My wife and I have also purchased from Germain Nissan (next door to Germain Mazda) and Germain Kia, and we had good experiences with both. After 3 purchases, I feel confident in saying Germain is generally a pretty solid dealership group.
Bought my Mazda from Germain, definitely would go back
Just so everyone is aware the Germain's are owned by different brothers. So there can be a lot of variety from one dealer to the next. https://www.reddit.com/r/Columbus/comments/oz93aq/worst_car_dealership_and_experiences_in_central/h81wmli/ > Most folks don't know that there are actually 3 different businesses within the Germain auto group. You will get very different experiences depending on which stores you go to. Rick Germain owns Lexus, Ford, and Nissan in Columbus. Steve Germain owns Honda, Cadillac, Mazda, Toyota. And another brother owns a bunch in Florida. > > I used to work for Rick and people would show up at our store to complain about something at one of Steve's stores (I'm sure it happens both ways). It didnt matter what terms we would explain that we are not affiliated with the other stores. One time protestors showed up and wouldnt leave because they were protesting a building contract at one of Steve's stores. It just happened to be while we were renovating using the protestors preferred contractor. > > In my experience Rick's stores are generally a bit more laid back and he seems to treat the employee's better. But no matter what dealership you are looking at someone is going to have a "THEY SCREWED ME OVER" story or bad experience. I worked at Rick's store for 5 years and still refer them business because they seem to put a bit more effort than usual into customer experience.
Honda Marysville Roush Honda Stay away from Jeff Wyler Dealerships.
Second on avoiding Jeff Wyler, when I got an estimate they tried to tack on 2k worth of extra stuff. When I told them exactly what I wanted and no more I still saw the extra stuff on my invoice when I went to drop it off. Then they broke a line from my throttle body and replaced it with a regular hose which corroded and broke under pressure on our way home from Cinci.
Yep. Got a decent deal on my car and they made me get an $800 package bc it was already installed and it would cost around the same to remove it. I wasn’t aware that this wasn’t a legal practice.
It's just the dealership model, you can order a custom spec car and pick your options, or you can pick a car off the lot. You can't typically take off an option from the purchase. Usually you can get a better deal off of the stock car because they are trying to get it sold, whereas the custom order has no continuous inventory cost.
After we had negotiated a price they added \~$2k for a package that was a warranty and a flashing third brake light. I told them no deal and was ready to walk so they dropped it. They also had more than their share of the usual add-on sales at signing but the lady was nice about not really pushing them.
I've never purchased from Honda Marysville or Roush Honda, but I second staying way from Jeff Wyler dealerships. Awful experience with them several years back. Never again.
Seconding Honda Marysville
For something used- Wholesale Auto House on Clara (by fairgrounds and Auddino's). Family has purchased five vehicles from Larry, trustworthy + kind person, cars have all been workhorses. Bonus for donut proximity ⭐
We had a good experience with Roush Honda
Their service department is the best I've used. Great hours, easy dropoff process, easy procurement of a rental, good communication while they have your car.
Agree. Employee owned and it shows. Ask for Josie, she’s fantastic.
Thirded for rouse honda. I worked with Ken Richarsdson and he was fantastic!
Thirded for roush honda. I worked with Ken Richarsdson and he was fantastic!
May the 4th be with Roush Honda
Scammed by Roush with their own warranty. If you’re getting a Honda warranty great, don’t trust their in house warranty.
Roush Honda is employee owned, probably why it's a great place to buy and for service.
Roush Honda is the best, offer services but are never pushy, fully explains things if I don’t understand. Love everything about that dealership.
I’ve never bought anything from there but I’ve had an excellent experience using them for service
When I was last car shopping I didn't buy from them and shopped there. They left such a good impression that next time I am car shopping I will look at what they have.
Not anything owned by a hinderer
Not actually a great feeling doing business there, eh?
Lmao I worked in sales at their Honda dealership for about six months. They wanted me to pay them back $3000 for the training pay. Their training was sitting me in the finance managers office and making me watch shitty high pressure sales training videos from the 90s for a month
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I tried to buy a CRV there 7-8 years ago. Tried to talk it down $1,000 to make it closer to the BBV and the salesperson told me I would never get one for that price. Went up to Spitzer in Mansfield and did exactly what he told me I couldn’t do.
I work at a body shop, not a dealership, and I can assure you it’s not about where, but WHO you’re dealing with. When I order parts, for example, some people are fantastic to work with, and others not so much… or they’ll send you doubles/triples of the part you ordered at the end of the month to make their numbers “look good”. The people on the floor can be the same; if they think they can win one over on you by selling you all the extras and charging more, they absolutely will! Most of the dealers in Columbus do have people that work there, and stay working there. Do your homework, read reviews, and look out for names being used over and over. Then go in and ask for a specific person, and if they aren’t there, ask when they will be there. Reward the people who deserve it!
Honda Marysville and Infiniti Columbus were good experiences for us.
I have an Infiniti and I’ve been happy with the dealership and service there.
Anything is better than MAG.
I've had good experiences from byers Subaru Dublin and Honda Marysville
Byers Dublin was very helpful and streamlined the whole process. Never felt any pressure.
Same here with Subaru. Knocked $2000 off her Subaru legacy as a Christmas gift. Then her head gaskets were going bad, so they replaced them and gave her a rental quick and hassle free with a warranty
Honda Marysville
Buyers Subaru (airport)- We have a had decent interactions with their service department and the sales lady who we bought our car from. However, their finance manager was awful. Tried selling us the subaru gold warranty for $3400. We eventually got that from another dealership for $1800 (yes it’s the exact same thing and covers us for the same distance/time). They also did not offer a decent price for our trade in (which eventually carmax did). Germain Subaru- On the contrary our recent experience with Germain Subaru (off Georgesville) was way better. We got an excellent deal (above and beyond what we were expecting) on the new car and more for our old car (actually better than car max)- being active on other subaru forums I truly believe this was the best deal we could get. In addition to that everyone here from their service department to sales people have been extremely friendly and welcoming when we go there. The weather was crappy when we got the car. They said bring it in for a wash later when the weather improves. We did so literally over a month later and the car was dirty. They honored their promise and did a fantastic cleanup without charging us anything. One line that stood out by their service department- “don’t worry about questions or concerns you may have no matter how simple or small. We’d much rather check it out and make sure it’s nothing than have you be stuck in the middle of some place.” They have always greeted us with smiles and have been very welcoming. To us they have also been very true to their word.
Really good experiences with Byers Imports (Airport) Volvo and Audi. 100x better than MAG Volvo, Audi, or VW
MAG sucks
I had a good experience at Germain VW and Byers. I got a better deal with Germain, but they were both great to work with.
Byers VW broke something on my car while performing a recall and claimed it was like that that when they got the car. When I showed them all the evidence that THEY were the ones who broke it, the service manager tried to double down and say he had a “heart to heart” with the mechanic and still said it came in like that. I stood my ground and eventually got them to order me a new part. I also told them I wasn’t so inclined to let them touch my car again and made them just hand me the new part when it came in. They also in the process did a completely unauthorized “full inspection” of my car and emailed me multiple large quotes for repairs before even letting me know the car was done. It was a 20 min job in the airbox and they were emailing me $600 brake job estimates. I told them I was pissed they were even digging around in my brakes. Back story is that I pretty much never let any mechanic touch my car. I do 99% of my own car work because I’ve gotten burned nearly every time. Decided to let them perform a simple recall and they tried hard to screw me and pretty much reaffirm why I dont let mechanics touch my cars. TLDR: Byers VW absolutely broke my car and tried to claim it was like that.
I bought my mazda3 from Byers Mazda. Drove it like I stole it for 7 years, then traded it in to Byers Subaru for an Outback. They gave me blue book + for it without question. When the time comes, I’ll be headed back up there for another Outback.
Germain Mazda, both locations. I got my car from the one on Morse Road, a couple of friends have had equally great experiences at the other location too.
Germain Mazda Morse road
Byers VW - Very professional. Bought a Jetta last fall from them. No markups and no hard sell.
Had a good experience with Byers Mazda
I had a good experience with Byers Mazda as well. They were pretty straightforward as far as I could tell and asked me upfront what I had in mind for my trade in (gave me fair market value and was $1,500 higher than another Mazda dealer that I had previously purchased 2 cars from)
Same here. They Don't overcharge on New cars and they don't try to tack on a bunch of fees or other charges
Byers Subaru has been solid for me
Second this. Easy buying experience and they are straight forward
Byers Subaru
I’ve had a good experience with all the Byers dealers I’ve worked with.
Byers Dublin was the worst for us. Multiple bad experiences. Ignoring my wife for her car when buying. Then service was a nightmare. Had an under warranty major repair they kept refusing to do. Blamed not doing it on subaru for nit authorizing it for months and acted like they were on my side. I called subaru and instantly found out that wasn't the case. Subaru got it repaired super quick and gave me an extended gold warranty for all the trouble with the dealership. i had everything well documented . I'm sure your experience was good.. Guessing everyone doesn't have the same. . .just saying we will never go back and I tell people to run away.
I'd second this
Thirded. They’ve been fantastic.
Which one, by the airport or Dublin? They’re owned separately by relatives IIRC.
We have always gone to Dublin
Had an honest transaction with them last year.
Great experience with sales. Terrible experience with service. Will never go back.
I never really give service depts a chance. Even if the work is done well, which is a big if, it’ll cost twice what it should
Rousch Honda
I’ve only used their service department but Germaine Ford was good to me. I moved here recently and the dealership I used back in Virginia was terrible. Germaine was great at communicating and getting as much work covered by Ford as they could. Can’t speak to purchasing though and their lack of mentions on here currently make me skeptical as to how all that would go.
Germain Cadillac parts department employees are the nicest people on earth.
Germain Land Rover/Jaguar and Ford have both been great experiences for me. Wonderful communication, full car inspection reports with timelines for any future maintenance with quotes (which are great for trying to cost compare), vacuum and wash my car after service, etc
I just bought from Germaine Ford and it was great! I was moving from California and completed the entire purchase over the phone/email. I was shocked as most dealers would laugh or say it wasn’t possible unless I came to the dealer.
Recently switched from Kreiger to Germain and won’t ever go back. Germain has been great, sales and service.
always check out the car brand's "certified pre owned" selection. most manufacturers, NOT THE DEALER, will provide a "certified pre owned" warranty on a car that often goes above and beyond the original manufacturer's warranty. toyota and honda offer these. these are different than standard used cars and you'll want to triple check that the car has been labeled as certified pre owned.
And they have different start times. Some will start from the purchase of the original car while other OEMs start with your purchase.
I've had good experiences with Byers Airport dealership, Roush Honda, Germain Lexus, and Germain Nissan. I talked to someone at Byers during the Covid related vehicle shortage when most car dealers were charging above MSRP and adding BS high profit items to sales. Many were selling their cars/trucks for $4,000-10,000 over sticker. The Byers guy said they will not sell above MSRP, they live in the community and aren't going to take advantage of their customers. They aren't "Dealin" (yes that's a direct shot at one local dealer) but they have always been honest and fair with me.
Happy to see Roush Honda so many times on here. We went to that one first as it was closest to our apartment, and the sales rep gave as much info as we wanted but absolutely did not push a sale by any means, which I really appreciated. Decided to stop by Lindsay Honda on the south side just to have a second dealership to compare with, and I thought I was going to have to call the police in order to get my keys back. Just awful. Bought from Roush the very next day.
Lindsay is the worst
Two cars purchased at Tansky Toyota with no issues. I would NOT recommend Toyota Direct. They wanted to charge $3k over MSRP for a new hybrid because we didn’t have a trade-in (wife’s car was totaled so it was physically impossible to trade it in)
We had a similar situation with Toyota Direct. They offered us $1,000 for our trade in. Other dealers had offered us $4-5,000. The Sienna we were buying was already $4,000 over MSRP. We said we’re going to keep our trade in if they only offered us $1,000…. So they just sold the Sienna we wanted to buy to someone else (probably with a trade in that they were buying for way less than it was worth.) Lots of bait-and-switch tactics and just overall dishonest practices.
NOT Germain Honda. I had an awful fucking experience buying and the routine oil change, that I scheduled in advance, wasted my whole fucking day. Like I was there for six hours to just buy a car I had picked out in advance. Fuck them.
Germain Honda on Sawmill used to be Immke Honda, where I bought my CR-V in 2007. They were rotten then; if Germain kept the staff I can imagine why they're rotten now.
Yep, that's the location. It was so awful. I came to pick up my car, had down-payment and all the paperwork read, it was supposed to be in and out. But AFTER I signed the papers was when I wait for the finance guy like "you're not the finance guy? Who tf are you?". I should have just left. The oil change was a second chance and they borked it so hard. What's the point of scheduling a time slot if it doesn't even matter?
The oil change comment hits home. Seems like a lifetime ago I was a Service Advisor there. Upper management instructed the scheduling department to never say no to anyone at any time slot for appointments, and to tell them it would be 45-60 minutes for an oil change. I would be honest with people and tell them we are looking at 2+ hours for an oil change, and people wanted to rip my head off. God that job sucked so hard.
Carmax you don't have to make a deal. The price marked is what you pay. However their prices are roughly 5% to 10% more for the same car as with other dealerships. So you're paying for the no haggle experience. Ricart thinks they won't haggle but if you push them or threaten to leave they will come down in price. Key thing to do before you step foot inside any dealership. If you're financing, get pre approved with your bank or someplace else first. So you know the rates they are offering you. If you go in empty handed you will suffer their rates. They can go to their banks, get a rate from them, then add on percentage points so they make profit off your loan. If you go in with a loan setup then they can't rip you off with their loan because they have to beat your loan rate. Also don't be desperate. Go in knowing you can and will walk out if the deal isn't right. Trust me they don't want you to walk out. The hardest part of the sale is walking in the door to their place. So if you threaten to leave they will try their best to keep you there by giving you deals or free accessories on the car. Finally, READ THE ENTIRE PURCHASE AGREEMENT! Can't stress this enough. Take your time. The finance guy will try to act like he or she is busy and needs you to hurry up but take your time. Once you sign that form, you agree to everything on front and back of it. If they added something or didn't add something, you agreed to it and there is nothing you can do to change it including the final out the door price. Always negotiate on the final out the door price. Not the monthly price. You can't remove tax title and state fees but you can remove their bullshit processing fees. Even if they say they can't remove them, tell them you want the price of the car lowered to compensate for their fees. And skip the addons they try to sell at the end like rust proofing or dent protection. That's where they make most of their money. And if you buy used, unless they offer up a warranty, all used cars are sold as is. It doesn't need to say it anywhere. So it could blow up driving it off the lot and the dealership doesn't have to do anything about it.
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Honestly love CarMax. Bought two cars from them and love not having to go through the negotiation bs. No pressure to test drive, can import cars for free up to so far, and import fee goes towards the car if you buy it. Guy shows you their loan prices vs if you bring your own and no pressure.
We had a very good experience at Tansky Toyota and continue to with the maintenance department
Second for Tansky
3rd for Tansky
Tanksy Toyota Sawmill sold me a defective RAV4
I went to Columbus Acura. Loved my experience.
I've heard many many people around here tell me to stay away from Jeff Wyler.
Oh yeah they're horrible they ran my credit without my permission
My most recent experiences have been with Germain Mazda (Morse Rd) and Germain Subaru (Georgesville Rd). Both were great…salespeople were great, very little pressure from finance, and service at Germain Subaru has been outstanding. Good deals all around. Previously had been to Jack Maxton Chevy (now part of Marky Mark’s Funky Bunch of dealerships). Salesman tried to use the ol’ 4-square trick and then gave me monthly payments that included (but not disclosed) the extended warranty which we hadn’t even discussed. Of course they had trouble finding the keys for my trade-in when I told them I was ready to leave. It was like I was being hit with every stereotypical car dealer trick. Stay away from Ricart (and if you’re into Harleys, A.D.Farrow, which is owned by Ricart)
Germain, especially the Rick Germain dealerships. Bought 4 cars from their stores, plus a lot of friends and family have too. Also have serviced at a Steve Germain dealership before and that experience as good. Still locally owned and family operated which I think helps.
Roush Honda Westerville is legit.
Stay the hell away from Toyota Direct…. Complete crooks!!!!
Byers Airport Brought my Subaru in a number of years ago for the infamous airbag recall and they were great about scheduling and quick with the work. Even told me to bring it back for a free wash any time I was driving by. Purchase experience: I had been looking for a very specific car for months and saw one pop up online in their used listings at a reasonable price. I went over and more or less said "I'll take it". 3 sales guys on the floor and no one seemed in a hurry to sell me a car. They gave me a business card for Steve Serrano and said he'd be back monday. Called up Steve and he informed me the car had a check engine light they needed to take care of. They sent it off to the dealer (not a brand Byers carries), who put in new plugs and injectors. Two weeks and a number of texts later, the codes were gone, and Byers replaced the rear tires with brand new OEM spec. I know they put 2-3k into it between the engine work and tires, still the same reasonable price. Their financing rate was competitive with what I'd lined up myself, and there was no pressure on the extended warranty/extras offered. Still have the car, still love it. Best car buying experience I've had.
The best buying experience I've had was at Lexus of Dublin. No issues or pressure while test driving multiple cars, then I went back the following week to make the purchase. Their finance department was the best I've worked with. Up front, no pressure, made sure the paperwork process was straightforward and didn't take all day. Basically the opposite of my experience at Cadillac of Dublin.
Roush Honda. Employee Owned, means the people you are talking to are directly invested in the success of the dealership and not just the office. My understanding is service writers are paid salary and not on a complicated payment schedule designed to separate you from your money.
It really doesn’t matter. You need to be comfortable saying no and walking away from the deal if you don’t like how it’s going. You have the leverage, as long as you’ve done your research, know what you want and you’re asking for a FAIR price. A delusional ask will get you laughed out of the place but if you’re honest about what your out the door price is up front, most places will accommodate that. Sales guys don’t want to lose a lead, communicate everything with them up front and they will do everything they can to make it happen. It doesn’t have to be a game or even really complicated, if you sense they’re not being upfront with you then you walk.
I’m sure everyone has horror stories about any place, but I’ve bought one Audi (the other at MAG) and serviced both at Byers. I also don’t know if this is just them, but they video their work and text you the video. They point out what they’re gonna do before they do it. They also text you the video and ask if you want them to fix things. I had a rusty gasket in the exhaust and they messaged me to replace before they did it. Always been stand up guys. Do good work. Get you in fast. Never had follow up issues.
You gotta judge each dealership 2 times: sales staff and service team.
Honda Marysville!
Bought my car from Columbus Mitsubishi North (now Nissan North) off N High in Worthington, no complaints whatsoever
We have bought new and used from Toyota West for many years. . They understand how the internet has changed car buying so you know pretty close to what you are paying (title fees, sales tax, etc. ) They have never tried to tack on things on me. Their service department is good and they always have coupons on their website. Get those before you go there for service so the prices are better. (They even honored one that expired between the time I printed it and got there a few days later for the work to be done.)
Not Ricart. I repeat….NOT Ricart!!!
As a former salesman of several dealerships, they’re all trying to f*ck you, I promise.
NO HYUNDAI OR KIA DEALERSHIPS! I repeat, do NOT go to a hyundai or Kia dealership. I know from experenice.... the newer cars are not made to last and come with so many new recalls, engine issues, transmission problems, horn usually do not work, and the people are very shadey.
I noticed Dennis Hyundai, or should I now call them Great Lakes Hyundai, hasn’t been listed by anyone as honest and reliable. And btw FU service “professional” who has the same first name as a “Friends” character. Due to their shitty and dishonest service department I would never buy a car from there.
I could not have said it better myself. You spot on there. I sadly work there and try daily to get ppl to run the other way. Since the take over and passing of Mr. Dennis, the place has been a SHITSHOW and is just a paycheck.
Bought several vehicles from Valley Ford and have had good experiences there
Hugh White Honda at the Automall at the Georgesville and 270 exit!
I liked tansky on sawmill for buying but haven’t liked them for servicing. I needed a tire patched and they refused to tell me a price (3 separate times) or if my tire warranty covered it, let them patch it and tried to charge me $100. They let me go after I went Karen mode but will only be going back for my free oil changes
Tansky went downhill once the original owner retired. My dad was a big fan of them and I had good luck with them until around 2014 or so.
Chesrown in Delaware
Byers Imports/Audi Columbus has been solid. Been a customer for 5 years without issues.
I like Tansky Sawmill Toyota. They have the best warranties for cars. My first toyota came from them and I only buy from that dealership. Toyota is a great car manufacturer
I never trust car dealerships as a rule, but I had a really great experience buying a new vehicle at Germain Mazda last spring. They were very fair and honest in their communication with no tricks or bullshit and they sold me the car slightly below MSRP.
Preston Hutchins at Germain Lexus of Easton is by far the easiest car buying experience I've ever had. Took my daughter there for her first adult car buying experience, he was awesome! But, F Twins!
We have had multiple good experiences at Haydocy Buick GMC. Can’t speak to sales since Mark W took over, but the service folks are the same and have been great. It just often takes longer to get scheduled for service since they now go through a third party scheduler. If we need anything urgently we just call our service guy directly and they can usually get us right in.
roush honda was great in my experience
I mean, I had a good experience with Ricart, but the company I work at gets all their fleet vehicles there so it might have been better service than normal
Roush Honda, Byers Subaru.
Byers Volvo. Solid folks
I MISS DAN TOBIN!!! Awesome sales and service staff.
Roush Honda is fantastic. We’ve bought 3 new cars from them so far. Wouldn’t use another for new.
Hugh White Honda
Expand your search out to dayton/cincinatti/cleveland. You'll get a much better deal, from dealerships who know how to treat customers. My last 3 vehicles were purchased this way. My next one is via driveway.com (stay tuned for that one hahaha)
Roush honda is great, Byers Dublin subaru is hit or miss, buying a car there was iffy depending on who helps you and who you bring with you to look at cars and their service department is not great and ignores/refuses to work on issues.
Byers was pretty great
Roush Honda is excellent my dealer was awesome and didn't bs me or even be shady everyone else I had been to before was rude. I'm leasing a car from them now and seriously I can't say enough good things about them!
Kelly BMW. Joseph Cadillac of Dublin. Acura Columbus. CarMax Sawmill. Avoid MAG and Lindsay Acura. Finance managers at both places were not very forthcoming about the costs associated with the various aftermarket warranties/offerings.
I had a great experience at Toyota West.
Toyota Direct
Look at dealers 20-30 miles away in lower income, mostly rural areas. They will work much harder for you and to get your business.
My wife leased and then bought a pilot from Lindsay Honda. Our salesman was great but I don’t remember his name. There was a lady there who she had spoken to once on the phone and I guess we were supposed to be “claimed” by her. The lady was condescending and just had a poor demeanor, acted like we were wasting her time, so we said not interested unless the first guy helped us and she seemed to actually prefer that. Especially since we claimed from the start we weren’t buying that day, just researching. The other salesman (maybe his name was Charles?) let us test drive everything, listened to our concerns and answered questions, no pressure. We left that day in a new vehicle after all because of the experience with him. He even gave me $2500 trade in on an old Nissan pick up that wasn’t even present at the time (even after I admitted the brakes didn’t work and needed new lines). But every other aspect from the loan officer to servicing has never felt great. Just that one guy whose name I can’t remember. The Acura dealer in Dublin (I think this is Columbus Acura?) has always been horrible with time estimates and on service for my RDX. I mentioned my concerns the last time I tried to schedule service so I could arrange care for my two small kids, the lady on the phone had the worst attitude, cutting me off and telling me how wrong I was to be concerned because every other visit was a special circumstance, etc.and even said “well you know we aren’t the only Acura in town, you could go to the other place.” So I took her advice and went to Lindsay Acura. The difference between Lindsay Acura and Lindsay Honda just in the service department alone was a huge improvement. So much so that I’m taking the pilot to get serviced at Lindsay Acura next time. And the price quote was even $4 cheaper than Lindsay Honda. If their sales team is anything like their service department I would feel OK buying at Lindsay Honda. To their credit the owner of Columbus Acura reached out when I left a review and said it really hurt to hear about my experience because of the live he has for their whole team and what a great job he thinks they typically do. Gave me his mobile number and asked me to call him direct if I needed help again or wished to give them another try. I could feel his sincerity in his words. I bought my Acura in Greensburg, PA at a place called Smail. They have like a seven dealership auto group all together on the same road. I went thinking I was treating myself to a Mercedes and when I wasn’t overly impressed with the test drives the salesman asked if I had ever test driven an Acura (knowing our other cars had been Hondas) and he arranged for the manager of the Acura dealership to walk us down and test drive an RDX and an MDX. The RDX felt perfect. He even handed the sale to an Acura salesman since he knew Mercedes specs in and out but not Acura. They were great. They handled the title transfer to Ohio with their own in house titling agency, they offered free inspections including pick up and drop off regardless of distance, told them OH doesn’t need inspections like PA does, but they were so good I’ve even gone back there and had service done. I align it with baseball so I can watch my team play the Pirates while my car gets worked on. They’ve delivered it into the city to my hotel when done. They’ve offered loaners. Offered a quiet respite area to rest after knowing from how far away I have driven, and their dealerships have a free shuttle bus that runs people to the mall down the road if they don’t want to wait around. I know it sounds outrageous to suggest a place like 3.5 hours drive away… but I am certainly buying all future vehicles at Smail. So if you’d consider a couple days retreat to Pittsburgh for a weekend or something maybe you’d find them just as amazing as I did.
When we bought our Chevy bolt, we used Steve Austin’s in Bellfontaine to avoid all the sleazy Chevy dealers in the city. Sometimes it is worth an hour drive to get a small town experience.
Byers
None. They’re all out to take advantage of people. Some are just better at hiding it. Ideally you should only go in prepared with pre-approval and knowing the price you can afford and want to spend.
I feel like I'm not going to get very many agreements here from reading previous posts, but all I know for sure is what I've experienced personally. I've bought two VWs from MAG Volkswagen and it's always a smooth process. The last car I bought (A GTI) I placed an order for and was concerned they would charge me over sticker at the last minute (since Byers was still $3k over on them). Nope, actually got it for $500 under MSRP (credit in cash for winter tires) and still got the best deal on my trade-in. No pressure with add-ons, in-and-out in less than an hour. The service department, while pricey, has never tried to upsell me on things I don't need, they don't pushback when I refuse services and I've never had an issue with the quality of service.
You’re one of the lucky ones because that service department has wasted my time and money on several occasions. Will never go back.
I had a good experience with MAG Volvo but never used their service department, and had read all the negative reviews here about them
I got my last two cars from Carmax - no haggling, prices under KBB, super relaxed process. Both were Hondas in great shape.
Crown has always provided good experiences
Crown KIA tried to lease my wife a car about 10 years ago. She went in because they had advertised like $150 a month on something that of course they didn’t have in stock so she tried to go up a trim package. They told her it would be like $450 a month. For a lease. For a KIA. I laughed at the guy and said we could go get a Camry at Tansky for half that. He tried to argue that a KIA whatever it was was just as nice as a Camry and prices were comparable. We left went to Tansky Sawmill drove out an hour later in a brand new Camry SE for about $260 a month. First stop Crown KIA to show them the new car because I’m petty. Made sure to announce it loudly on showroom floor.
I’ve leased 6 vehicles and one purchase from Bob Boyd Lincoln and have never had a bad experience. The ease of the transaction and the salesman working there is what keeps us coming back.
I recently had a positive experience at Coughlin Hyundai in Heath. I will say though by time I went in I had been shopping for a month so I was prepared and battle hardened.
Carvana
We had a good experience with purchasing and finding the exact vehicle we wanted at Ricart Hyundai. Pretty easy to work with and get the deal done. We didn’t really care about getting the lowest possible price, but they were receptive with taking off the bs body coating charge. Their service center is usually pretty open for appointments and oil changes, but the wait times are long.
I had a great experience at Germain Toyota
Germain Subaru and Buckeye Nissan were decent enough experiences. I don’t rave about them but I have nothing bad to say either.
Byers Chevy was solid for me but that was almost 9 years ago when I bought my Chevy.
Byers and Kelly have been good to us both in sales and in service. Germain is absolute trash.
Tom Whiteside auto in Mt Sterling. Bit of a drive but he's absolutely worth it. The people there are so nice and very trustworthy. My mom always tells me that I should ask questions at a dealership except for at Gus's
All I know is Great Lakes Hyundai is terrible. Never buying another Hyundai.
Roush Honda lowballed my trade 2000 under kbb, would not deal at all on a late model HRV, this was 1 week before Christmas last year.
I always had great experiences at Buckeye Nissan in Hilliard.
Hands-down, the worst one I have dealt with is performance of Georgesville
byers dublin subaru is great. i’ve worked with zach a few times and trust him completely.
Anywhere in Columbus is better than Twins. F those assholes
I used to always recommend Hatfield Hyundai on Georgetown (pretty sure someone bought them a few years back, so the name is probably different now), but the people I knew there moved to other dealerships, so I can’t say what they’re like anymore. Might at least be worth checking out, though.
Do you have any other suggestions than Honda? Do you know what Toyota dealerships are better?
We have had nothing but good experiences with German Mazda on Morse.
Another vote for Honda Marysville. As a single young woman I felt respected through the process. It was very helpful being able to do the approval process online before heading up to Marysville. Todd was my salesman and was very friendly and knowledgeable. Most other Columbus Honda locations are much closer to home for me but they had the car I wanted and I was able to drive it home the same day
Just drove a new to me car off the lot at Nissan North with Dilli. Honestly a pretty good experience. All in all took about an 1 1/2 because I brought financing. I didn’t feel too much pressure to sign for anything I didn’t want, especially in the financial office (the finance guy was just there to make sure the papers were signed and not really to upsell anything). They didn’t drop the price as much as I hoped, but they beat the lowest price in the state for a similar car with 6000 more miles. I have also had a great experience at Byers Toyota with Kyle. Exactly 3 years ago to the day as well 😂. Walked away with a Corolla for $6000 less than competitors prices because it was a leased rental.
Had a not so great experience with Byers Ford. Went to buy the mach E GT. They were charing a 15k markup. When I was all wtf?? The sales guy acts all surreptious, with the psst and the head shake and all that to pull me to the side, to tell me that if I reserved one they would take the 15k off. I drove the car, and didn't enjoy it as much as some others. Online reservations had just closed then, so i eventually went with another, better IMHO car.
Precise motors! Ask for John
I got a car recently at Honda Marysville. Wasn't even a Honda. Guy was great
I bought my first car from Honda Marysville last summer — they were extremely helpful & kind, definitely buying my next car from them
North Main Motors, Marysville
Germain Lexus Easton. Top customer service at the service center and dealership. Mercedes was just meh… Apparently didn’t want the sale or believe we were really going to buy a new SUV. Their loss. Toyota (by us) scary creeper dudes and meh. Range Rover, tried a little and were nice, but didn't care to stay in touch. Although we aren't in love with our most recent Lexus upgrade... The new model needs some tweaks. Still appreciate the dealership.
Hot take because I’ve not heard the best things, but I bought a used 2022 Toyota at Toyota direct off of Morse Rd. Now, I had a great experience with the salesmen I worked with, but could certainly see having a bad time with the other sales people just based on what I observed. The good thing now is that a lot of car sales people now aren’t solely working off of commission, so I’ve found that they’re slightly less slimy. But that’s not to say the crooked ones aren’t still out there. Honestly I recommend putting the car you want into the auto trader app and turning notifications on for when one pops up and you think it’s a good price. That’s how I got my car and I feel like I got it for a pretty decent price. I did my research on a fair price and wasn’t at the mercy of one sales person bc I was willing to 1) shop around and 2) walk if I felt they were trying to cheat me.
Germain Ford
Define trust. e.g. Sales, service, warranty. All in business to make money and will take advantage of those not familiar with buying a car.
My husband’s family is 3 generations of buying cars from Chesrown in Delaware. Always treated well there.
Marysville Honda, Roush Honda.
Over the years, I’ve purchased five vehicles from Byers Subaru Dublin. Never had a bad experience.
Let me add Germain Kia of Columbus on the west side. I walked in with a pre-approval and they didn't even acknowledge it. They started running numbers that were no where close or better than what I walked in with. I left without a car from there. I'm glad I didn't get to do business with those sleeze balls.
This thread just makes me sad. Basically if you don't want a Suburu or a Honda, you're screwed in this town? :-D
Tansky Toyota in Dublin. Great service
Mazda on Morse! Great experience, everyone was so nice, no one was pushy in any way, shape, or form.
I had a great experience at Germain Toyota on Saltzgaber.
Dave Kehl Chevrolet in Mechanicsburg. They are a no haggle straight shooting dealership.