So we went into this place to look at a vehicle parents and wife. We had a pre approval from our bank prior, but our bank only accepts certain years so this vehicle at this location did not qualify. So we wanted to know what their financing was like so we asked for help..Dan/Don ended up helping us but it took sometime for him to acknowledge us. Once he did I got this wierd vibe from him. As if he wanted to assit others except us when we spoke to him. I figured it's just a sales guy thing or this heat! Anyways the more we talked to get some answers he could give 0 about helping us so I acted like I gave 0 about his sales attitude... when we were ready to sign he say to us ... this was after the test drive and us filling the credit app and home telling us we wouldn't last and he could not hold it for us!!! The couple I had seen erlier where Caucasian/white we are Mexican. I felt discriminated against.. due to this man not telling us he already was selling this vehicle prior to our credit app. Test driving it and giving us an apt and approval..i my hard earned money not good enough!!! I will never go to that place ever again. Para toda my toda la RAZA!!! Discriminan en este lugar.. NO VALLAN! read more

Who cares about friendly people if they do not step-up and do their job. I bought a 2004 Nissan Murano in August 2011. I bought the car "as-is", with a check list of things that all checked OK (a check list that seemed to be coming from a Mechanic), but the engine light was on. The dash board computer showed that I had to do an oil change, so I thought that was the reason for the engine light. When I did an oil change and the engine light stayed on I discovered a "Cam sensor position error". The dealer tried to have someone work on it (an in house mechanic) but did not resolve the issue. He took it to a Nissan Dealer without repairing the issue. He told me that Nissan "Could not resolve the issue", but at the same time offered to sell me a warranty and back date it!!! Wait a minute ... if Nissan cannot fix it, why is he offering me a warranty? I went to Nissan and they said they could fix and they even gave me a quote!!!! I guess I got screwed - So be careful when you deal with Baldwin Auto Sales even if they advertise that they are a family business for so many years and care about people bla bla bla bla ..... read more

I thought a lot about this feedback and realized it is an important responsibility to leave it and be 100% truthful. We were lied to by This Dealership and the manager Don Baldwin. My Wife and I are looking for a nice pre-owned truck. we found a 2008 Red Silverado chevrolet for around $14,799. online at this dealership that looked clean in the pics. Located at Baldwin auto sales 8327 Hercules St.La Mesa, CA 91942. My Wife and I did not want any dents, tiny dents or damage. So I wanted to be as careful as possible before we drove 80 miles round trip to look at it. The cost of gas is no joke these days. I called and spoke to Don Baldwin the sales manager and asked him to carefully check the car for dings or dents. He said it did not have any dings and it was a super clean truck as you can see in the pics. We actually called again 3 more times over 3 days to show our concern about this before we drive down. Again over and over we were told the truck has no dings, dents, and is super clean. We were lied to. This truck has 2 big dents: 1 on right front corner, 1 on right rear fender, large ding on right rear fender (front portion), 3 tiny dings on right front door, poor bodo repaint and grinding marks on left rear door. and there is too much more to list here. wow, this is a really low class mentality dealership. sad, so I say beware. read more

We bought an 04 Mazda 6 from Jeff the end of June, paid more than I would have liked (about dealer cost, even after he cut it down) because there are some issues with it (expect a new clutch before too long, wicked touched up scratch on the passenger door, stuff like that, but being 8 years old that's to be expected... I just wish the price had been a little better but oh well.) It was missing the "oh crap" handle on the passenger side, which they had ordered and were waiting for (it came in and I installed it no problem) and a few very minor issues with the car like missing parts or parts needing replaced they took care of without complaint. He let me test drive it, and then stayed late so my wife could test drive it as well, ended up being there hours after closing to complete the transaction. My only complaint is that he said the car was spot on when it obviously wasn't, but I chalk that up to not going over the car like he was thinking of buying it himself - most of the issues were hard to spot, and the ones that were more noticeable were fixed or in process at the time of the sale. Overall, if I buy a used car ever again, this will be the first place I look. Nice guys, and good atmosphere from what I saw of it. *edit* After about two months and having it all checked over recently and being told the everything was fine, I found out the hard way that if you run this engine low on oil it will skip timing and you'll have to have it rebuilt. If someone tells you that everything is good, that should include the oil level, and yet within days of being given a green light on the car, the oil level was essentially zero. I told these guys about it and they said "that's a shame" and then told me it was my fault even though they had checked the car over just days before and clearly hadn't. Lesson learned, you got your money and you'll never sell me another car. Shame that seemingly nice people don't stand behind their products and don't actually do the things they say they do. read more

They helped me find the car I needed and took care of all the paperwork necessary. After one or two weeks I had a problem with the car and called them. They were helpful and took care of taking it to a mechanic and fixing whatever was wrong and test drive it after. Recommended! read more

I searched through Carfax that listed a vehicle that I wanted and was available at Baldwin Auto Sales. We went there, test driven 2 vehicles and went back the next day to purchase one of the vehicle. Don gave very detailed information on the buying process and documentations. Dealership's warranty was 30 days or 1K miles (provided by Edmunds). Registration card came in the mail within 2 weeks and the titles came in about a month. Have been driving the car for 2 months and everything was as presented. Everyone was friendly and I have confident in recommending my friends to buy from there. read more

12/22/2014 530pm worst salesman not sure his name but said he was the owner wow no way this guy was the owner he was so stupid, lazy, insulting, liar, just wanted to go home and hated his job. Gets the car keys for me and my son just to open the door doesn't even start the car. Then starts questioning me about if I can afford the car, and if I would buy tonight for the sales price of the car. This is all before I could even start the car let alone take it for test drive., Really come on lazy sales person. At least do your job and tell me about the car and start it and go over all the bells and whistles. Also let me test drive Right? So I tell him I think the price is over booked compared to others of its kind. He didn't like that so he says o you cant afford it, and starts insulting me. so I tell him I have been in car business and know whats up, also I have done my research. He says well why would you have come here if it was over priced. I say lets test drive the car and see why you have it priced like this, his response you can afford this car. I tell him if I am going to buy this car it wouldn't be from him I would have to talk with the owner of Baldwin Auto sales because I don't like his attitude, Hi response I am the owner. LOL really come on a owner doesn't talk to the customers like this, his next response to me was you need to leave, I said now I really want to talk to the owner, he says Its time for you to leave get off my property or I will call the cops. I laugh and tell him call them. Really lol this guy needs to be fired and if he really is the owner I will find out too. Then run from this place they are over priced and I did bring my flash light and saw a lot of the cars had oil leaks so buyer beware. Run from Baldwin auto Sales this is how I was treated before we could even start the car which we never did wow. Horrible stay away serious. read more

All I can say is we should have paid more attention to the negative reviews that were already left for this place. We saw a car they were selling on Craigslist and my husband called and arranged for us to go and see it. When we arrived, Don said hello curtly, opened the car for us and then walked away. When he came back we explained we were extremely interested and were ready to buy that day. Don could not have shown less interest if he tried. My husband tried to discuss numbers with him and he acted as if no one has ever negotiated with him before. When my husband explained that there were a few very minor cosmetic things bothering him (the door handle was broken and the car badges were in bad shape) during the negotiations, Don balked at this suggestion and responded "oh my god, ok then, if you really need me to then Ill take $5 off for the badges" In an extremely condescending tone. Don gave the impression throughout our discussions with him of being stuck up and pompous. He rarely looked at us, was extremely unfriendly and less than personable. As soon as we walked into the parking lot and met him I felt he was slimy and stuck up and he proved us right. After the negotiations my husband had decided that the price was good (we actually were going to buy it regardless and were just trying to get a good deal for ourselves like everyone who buys a used car!) and we wanted to buy but not from this pretentious man who seemed to think he was God's grace rather than a used car salesman. He explained he would rather look elsewhere as he felt we had not been treated well, Don got himself extremely worked up and said he was insulted and demanded we leave immediately lol. "Just leave, now. I cant belive what I am hearing, how DARE you" lol. We thought it was funny in the end......but we really wanted that car!!! Please if you are going to buy/sell a car here, make sure its not with Don. He clearly hates his job and refutes the fact that he has to work for Daddy. OH and when we asked if they do Military Discount Don laughed and patronisingly said "we dont DO military discounts". I wish we had been able to deal with someone else, maybe the customer service would have been better. read more

The salesman couldn't seem to care less about selling me the car that I was interested in and didn't know anything about it. But, that wasn't the part that caused me to give one star. Baldwin will NOT let you take their vehicles to a mechanic other than the one across the street that they have a relationship with. NOT only that, I asked if they had a relationship with this mechanic and they said no. Called the mechanic and they said yes, of course they did. If you know anything about buying used cars, you know that an inspection by an independent mechanic is vital to a good purchase. I could forgive an indifferent salesman, but not being able to confirm the condition of the car for myself is unacceptable. read more

Hello world I'm writing this review because I purchased a car from Baldwin Auto and I really feel like I have been taken for a ride. I purchased a 2008 Cadillac CTS 3.6 l Di. The salesman's name I think was John and he drove a jaguar and I would have to say that he was a cool guy. Even though he could not answer any questions I had about the car. I was looking for this particular model for quite some time and the only other person who had this model at the time was all the way in San Francisco. So, I purchased the overpriced car not knowing that Baldwin up the price by $1,300. After 2 weeks of driving the car I experienced my first problems with the car. Baldwin's mechanic use some type of power tool to screw in the oil filter cap. I had to go to a mechanic that had an air gun just to remove the cap off the oil filter. The spark plugs quit so I had to purchase new spark plugs and install them. The very next week I lost all of the power steering. Two weeks after that 2 TPMS sensors died. 4 months later the fuel lines quit and started leaking fuel from the gas tank. Sometime after that all the locks stopped working or worked some of the times. The car was sold with the promise that there was Bluetooth when there was not. They also told me that there was a lifetime subscription to the XM Radio. The XM radio quit on me 3 weeks after I purchase the car. Further inspection after removing the front bumper I found damage behind the bumper which makes me believe that the car was involved in some type of serious accident. No accidents were on the Carfax report and I'm starting to also believe that Carfax reports are scams. I'm going to show you a breakdown of how much money I have spent on car repairs and I have only owned the car for about one year. Power steering complete system 1400.00 Fuel pump 200.00 Fuel lines 170.00 Motor mount 110.00 Drop gas tank service 690.00 Spark plugs 323.00 Door locks 69$ each 2708.00$ total in repairs so far Now I know when you purchase a used car sometimes you'll have to do maintenance on the car to keep it running like spark plugs. I don't hold the Baldwin car dealership at fault for the spark plugs because you can't see that in an inspection but these other things would have been found in their so-called 21-point inspection or whatever you call it. If there was a simple diagnostic done on the car. Baldwin Would have knew about these problems but I don't think they care about the problems their cars have. So this is how I think Baldwin Auto operates. They buy the cheapest cars they can find from auction not caring what is wrong with them. Fix them to the point to where they look good and drive for a little bit. Than slap a 2000 mile warranty on the car because most problems will happen after that. Then they just sell the car. I seriously believe that Baldwin sold me a car that was involved in a serious accident and left me holding the bag to repair everything. Buyer beware if you plan on buying a car that you want to work on every month and spend a lot of money at the car repair shop while making payments, Baldwin is the place for you. read more

I saw a couple of Camrys at Baldwin's on kbb.com. The one I was interested was priced at $12999 on kbb.com, and was ready to buy this car barring any mishaps. When I arrived to look at the car it was priced at $16000, and I asked one of the younger slick haired guys if I could see the car, as in get the keys, look at the engine, normal car buying stuff. Well this guy acted like he was doing me a favor just to open the car for me. When I looked under the hood, he quickly shut it and asked how I would be paying for it? I said cash, but could I see the carfax, as it looked like the front bumped had been damaged. Well, this was almost too much for him to bother with, and he tried to lead me toward another car. I then asked what he would be able to do on this car, price-wise. He said they dont negotiate, their cars are priced to sell. Then I said this car is advertised online for $3,000 less. His reply was dismissive, "yes sometimes we have sales..." I said, "You guys don't really like to sell cars here do you?," turned around and walked away... Only then did he even show any interest or emotion, and shouted something back like "yea, real nice buddy!" Don't ever try and buy a car from these pretentious family of fools. read more

My daughter & I recently bought a VW Jetta here, and we love it! They have a small place, and felt like we got a great deal. No pressure or hype. We test drove the car and paid cash. 2 weeks later we had the registration and the clean title arrived shortly thereafter. I would recommend Baldwin's if you are on a budget, and like personal, friendly treatment! Happy Trails. read more

I called and spoke to Don. I think he's one of the owners or the owner's son. He must be an actuary or accountant by trade because he is not a salesman. I was looking at a Jeep Grand Cherokee and it didn't look like the pictures but I was willing to give it a test drive. As I get in, the inside door panel is falling apart. I bring it to Don's attention. He remarks, "nothing a few clips can't fix." It was comical because it was falling apart. Then I said I wasn't interested and he said, "ok if you want to throw the baby out with the bath water." I asked to see a second Jeep but he was so aloof, or maybe that was condescending, that it was a total turn off. Unless you're getting a smoking deal here, look elsewhere. ...or don't deal with Don. It was a bummer of a long drive home. read more

We just bought a 05 nissan quest a month back fom here. We love our car for starters. The dealers were actually really nice and patient with our bank getting them their money. They do not finance themselves so you do need to do that yourselfs with a bank or CU. They let us test drive a couple different vans when we were looking. The van we ended up getting was around 6k under top kbb pricing. Our Credit Union that we went took about a week and a half to get all there paperwork ready and Baldwin held the car for us without any problem. They also offered to apply there discount if we ever needed to make a copy of our key. read more

Had a very bad experience here, bought a car " fully inspected" drove off the lot and immediately had issues. Took to their mechanic who found nothing wrong. John assured he would cover 50% which it should be 100 but whatever. After two weeks of not having the car taking it to our own specialist and he only paid 200 of the 650 bill. Cars are not inspected properly there. Will never by a car there again read more

The good - they have a good inventory and are friendly and very responsive. The facility is clean and professional. The bad - I think the advertising I've seen is not above board. We bought a car that had supposedly undergone a thorough inspection - something along the lines of "42 point inspection." Clearly, the dealership was conveying that they were selling a car they had gone through with a fine tooth comb and it had no known problems. After we purchased the car, we discovered several problems, including a non-working heater and seat belts that did not fasten. I would not consider that a thorough inspection. The "pro" side - they took care of the heater. The downside -we discovered the seatbelt problem far too late since we rarely have rear seat passengers. read more

HORRIBLE salesmen there! Do NOT waste your time there are so many better ones around the area who will treat people well. We knew the car we wanted to BUY that day, we asked to sit in it and he wouldn't let us - he wouldn't unlock the car without him there (are we 5 yr. olds)? So he told us he's on the phone and we needed to wait. He also said if we try to open it the alarm would go off. HUH? We waited so long it was silly. We were outta there, turned and left. Then this guy, Dan or Don actually followed us out to our car yelling at us because we didn't want to wait for him while he was on the phone. He's yelling "Do you have a questions ladies?" He follows us repeating this question. I was thinking, Are you dumb? We already told you we wanted to sit in this car?? No I'm sorry about that nothing... We just said "NO, we did want to see the car but no worries". He wouldn't let us walk out even though we were not going to deal with him, we chose to walk away to our car, he comes out of the building clearly upset. He then yells at us, "HAVEN'T YOU EVEN WAITING FOR SOMEONE ON THE PHONE BEFORE?". We were laughing but it was a little scary actually. He ended by yelling at us some more, "THANKS FOR BEING RUDE!" I have never heard anything like this in my life when we wanted to buy a car that day with 12k in our hand. So absurd! We were pretty shocked. His manager should know he needs to go to anger management class. Even if he thought we were rude, you don't yell at women across the parking lot. I have a feeling the owners are his family, that's the only way I could imagine someone dealing with him. STEER CLEAR - spend your money elsewhere! $$ Their loss. read more

I can't believe I'm saying this... but this is an amazing used car lot. The guy we had was a little too chatty for my liking but let's be honest, we're there to get a car AND not get ripped off. I didn't get the feeling of any bad vibes from this place. I was helping my mom find a new car to get after hers was totaled in an accident and we ended up all the way down here! They did have the car in the lot when we went there and we took it for a test drive. The car drove great and my mom has been driving it for about a month now with no problems at all. The service was great there and they seemed to have quite a few quality cars. I got a chance to speak with the owner a little and he genuinely seems like a great and caring man. I felt more than at ease to buy a car from these people. read more

The cars on lot are junk. I purchased a Saab from them in feb and the headlights high beams didn't work and replaced the o2 sensor twice and check engine light still comes on. Check engine light came on the night I purchased the car. Good work with that 35 point inspection.... read more

I do not like car salesman. ....Don Baldwin is an exception to the rule. I went on the internet searching for a used car in La Mesa. Got a few hits decided on Baldwin, found a few cars that interested me so I plugged in my info. Got a call from Don on Saturday night...love that they were closed on Sunday so my husband and I got a chance to look around their lot. So I set up an appointment with Don on some cars.....nothing really got me ..then he showed the best car ever....Landrover .....fell in love with that car...not normal for me...I am practical but this car is sweet...Don Baldwin is an angel.....I have the best car ever and the best car dealer ever....No pressure...looking for what suits you best... read more

Moved to California and purchased a car here two days later. They don't budge much on the price and they do want serious buyers before allowing a test drive but the whole transaction was pretty easy/straightforward. They ordered me a 2nd key because the sticker said there was one when there was not. Owner can be blunt but he sold me a really good car! read more

Beware!!! My other post was filtered to try to hide from the general public and perspective customers considering to purchase a car from Baldwin. My car broke down again and I just simply cannot drive it any considerable distances. Spoke with John and he was suprised of my attack on him and his integrity. He fell into how long hed been in business and family owned. Do not fall for it. They are out to get their profit at customers expense. Surely, a family member would not put a mom and children knowingly out on the road with bad ,insufficient brake job! Never did take it on a road trip- had to use my daughter car. Read my review!! Its in the filtered section! I posted nothing but the truth. This company is crooked and should be shut down. I believe he thinks he can just get away with these crooked business tactics and victimized customers will just walk away and eventually forget about it. Buyers, beware. My guess is the 4 star review customers just got lucky. Baldwin will try to make a deal with a good car and a bad car. Just as long as he gets his profit in his hands and hide thereafter behind the "as-is" statement. read more

I financed my 1st car back on 12/19/11 with these fellas, and it was a great experience, they walked me through with the paperwork, explained everything in detail and my car is still going strong. They are reliable, and when it's time for me to purchase another car, Baldwin will be the first place I look at. read more

Great place to get a good deal! Straight up and realistic family people! Over the past 20 year my family has purchased 6 cars from the Baldwins! Always great service and if anything goes wrong new or used they have been quick to resolve it! read more

After car shopping at several dealerships I must say that the customer service at Baldwin Auto was the best. My sales rep, Jeff, went above and beyond my expectations in getting me a quality car at an affordable price. All the staff that I met were very helpful. I would highly recommend purchasing a vehicle from Baldwin Auto :) read more

After buying my 2001 Volvo xc70 from this place. I was on my way home to show it off, the check engine light came on with a code saying no oil pressure stop engine. I called John ( the Owner ) immediately and he did say he would fix the problem. The problem was never fixed, This problem cost 850.00 dollars. After 1 weeks the Transfer case went out 1,200 dollars and the problems have never stopped since then! I asked john when the transfer case went out if he would take the car back or do a trade with me for another car on his lot of equal value. He told me yes at a cost minus the repairs! So in less then a week I would have spent 2,000 to drive the car he sold me knowing there was problems with the car....Truly the worst ever! I would love to see justice. DON'T BUY A CAR FROM BALDWIN AUTO!!!!!!! read more

I bought a VW Passat Wagon here in October of 2012 but thought I would wait to give them a review until I saw how the car panned out and I have been pleasantly surprised. I've only had a couple of minor parts that needed replacing about a month after I bought the car that weren't covered on the warranty and they were nice enough to order the parts for me at the wholesale price. I knew what I was looking for and came down there to check out a specific vehicle and was not disappointed and felt the add was accurate. I was primarily helped by Jeff, although I also interacted with the owner who was my point of contact for ordering those parts, both were friendly, straight-forward, and didn't try to pressure me into anything, and even gave me a week to decide if I wanted to get a Powertrain warranty or not. I love the car, I feel I got my money's worth, and I would recommend them to anyone. read more

I just bought my son his first car and the two brothers here help me out. The car was exactly the one my son wanted and came with a 30 day warranty. They had the carfax with the cars history. I would of left 5 stars, but the only thing that was negative was they wouldn't let me test drive the car untill he showed me the whole price. That was a first for me. Other than that it was easy as 1,2,3 and we were on our way. Thank you Baldwin auto. read more

Update...after waiting most of the week for a valid response from Mr. Baldwin, he wants me to glue my convertible top back together!! I now believe that he glued it before he sold it to me. And..........my rear windows went down for the first time today and they are now stuck down!!! Also, when I went to put the top down for the first time, it would only go down 2/3rds of the way! Thank the Good Lord it went back up! read more

I recently purchased a 2001 SAAB 9-5SE from this dealer, and was totally fooled by the apperanace and car selection. On the outside, it looks like a quality dealership, however (in my opinion) is more akin to a wolf in sheep's clothing! The car is older and per the pics very nice, however the image this dealer creates is a safe/reliable car. Per the ad and I quote, "Carfax certified & guaranteed. Has just gone through a pre-sale inspection, smog, safety and certification." Really! That is why a turn signal was burned out, the oil was below minimum, it had leaking transmission lines, missing a lugnut, dirty air & cabin filters, was nearing the timing belt replacement (per SAAB)???? I have poured in over $2800 to this point. I would steer very clear of these people. How they have stayed in business 30 years is a great mystery to me. read more

This place is a joke. Do not do business with them. I went through a whole process of buying a 2004 Ford F-150. He took all my information over the phone. Filed a loan application, the whole way to pick up the truck today. Bank called me and made the deal and approved me. The owners son called me AFTER getting me approved and said that the truck was promised to a family friend. He pretty much hassled me and sold me this truck then turned around and took it away. Claims that is the way business works, someone came with cash and wants to check it out Saturday. Well today is Thursday, everything was done ready to buy and take home. If it was promised to someone else then take it off the 14 websites it is advertised on. Don't waste my time over the phone, pull a loan out for me, and ding my credit to say sorry I promised it to someone else. I will never ever shop with this dealership. Be more organized. You negatively effecting me because of your mess up. You could have told me that the truck was promised or not for sale one of the 15 times we talked on the phone or when you spoke to the bank to finance me. Your business is nothing but borderline a joke with a sellers license, some cars on a sheet of concrete, and a working phone and website. The location I'm talking about is in Escondido. But hey, the owner and son owns all of them. They will do the same at all their dealerships. Nice work guys! This is in regards to the Escondido location. read more

The worst dealership I've ever been to. After keeping me waiting for 20 minutes the salesperson told me he only would let me test drive the car if I wanted to buy it!!!!!!!!! WHAT ???!!!! So basically he wanted me to buy the car first and then check it out to see if I even like it or not!! Awesome customer service...not . read more

I had a great experience with Baldwin Auto Sale. Don was very attentive as he answered all of my questions and made sure I walked out happy with my purchase. The car is in an excellent condition and I cannot be happier. read more

Short Version: Although I initially liked this place I had a poor experience with one of the owners after speaking with him about my car's leaking head gasket. All of their online vehicle listings advertise a pre-sale inspection but the car I purchased from them proves this wrong. They've lost all credibility to me as an honest business by the way the situation was handled. Long Version: My wife and I purchased a vehicle back in mid-October just a couple of weeks before our wedding. I initially had a good experience albeit it was a spur of the moment purchase. We found our vehicle of choice at this lot due to a decent online selection. Jay offered to walk the lot with us even though it was pouring rain, and the finance manager actually grew up with my wife's family. However my attitude towards this dealer started going down the drain when I met the owner John. Upon inspecting the vehicle's fluids I looked at the coolant tank and noticed that it was bone-dry. Jay flagged down John to inquire about the empty tank and ask if there was any extra coolant. John proceeded to tell us in a very condescending way that the reserve tank is SOLELY an overflow tank for the radiator fluid. He opened the radiator cap to show us that the radiator was filled to the required level. Although the reserve tank does serve as an overflow bin anybody who has done any amount of work on any car will tell you that the reserve tank is called a RESERVE tank for a reason, to remain filled and pour into the radiator in the event of a leak. If it was simply a catch bin for excess coolant why wouldn't every dealer sell their car with an empty tank? I didn't think anything of it partly due to the impulse nature of the buy but after test driving the car I became a more suspicious. After my wife and I got done with the test drive she and I noticed a burning smell coming from the engine bay. It was definitely some fluid leaking onto the exhaust manifold. I initially thought the vehicle was burning old oil but later found this wasn't the case. A couple of weeks after we purchased the car the leak persists and continues to smoke. The check engine light also came on. I plugged in my code scanner to find it coming up with P0420 - Catalyst efficiency below threshold (bank 1). I also noticed the coolant was leaking robustly; I was having to fill up the tank every 4-6 days. After the wedding and holidays settled down, I was finally able to get the car looked at. While getting the oil changed at a local, reputable shop they told me the aforementioned leak was possibly coming from the head gasket. I took it to another shop in Miramar who further inspected the car and identified the leak as possibly coming from the water pump. After they started work on replacing the pump they told me the leak was indeed coming from the head gasket. I then took it to B&B Auto in City Heights to get the timing belt, water pump and head gasket replaced. Here is where Baldwin loses even more credibility. I called to obtain the pre-sale inspection and any additional service records available for the car as well as the Carfax. Don picked up the phone and told me he would be able to email me the Carfax but put John on the phone as I began to explain the issue a bit more. I explained all the details to John and asked him to email me the Carfax and if I could obtain any service records. He said he wouldn't be able to send me the Carfax due to some "business agreement" between him and Carfax, but he offered to fax me a copy. Now why would he be able to fax me a copy but NOT email it to me? John also said all records were available at the dealer for me to look at but I would have to set up an appointment to go in and look at them. I further questioned WHY, IF THE VEHICLE WAS PRE-INSPECTED, WOULD THERE BE A MAJOR ISSUE SUCH AS A LEAKING HEAD GASKET present at the time of the sale? John avoided giving me a straight answer. He tried to phrase his responses as if I was the one who caused the damage, using sentences like "so YOU blew the head gasket?" or "so the head gasket blew while you were driving, huh?" The rest of the dialogue carried on in this way with John passively denying responsibility or liability for the issue even AFTER I told him the leak was present before we even purchased the car. I told John flat out that I wanted him to help cover the cost of the repair, to which he denied. He did offer for us to get the car serviced at his mechanic who would charge us dealer prices for labor and parts, but I had already scheduled to take it for an admittedly good price. Plus why would I trust a mechanic recommended from someone who isn't even honest with me about a simple thing as a Carfax or a coolant tank? Overall I was disappointed with the way this dealership's OWNER communicated with me and my wife. We felt disrespected and belittled when inquiring about the vehicle's condition and further insulted when discussing with him one on one. read more

I've dealt with many auto dealers in my life and I thought I had heard it all... but no, again I am amazed. I have never been asked to "work out numbers" on a cash deal BEFORE a test drive. Does this tactic really work for them? Apparently because they're still in business. read more

I have to update my review. The Chevy Aveo I bought from Baldwin Auto Sales turned out to be a real stinker. Still no bad words for the Sales Staff, unless they personally endorse the mechanic they send their cars to. That mechanic is an idiot and should be fired. Last week, I had to replace the front brake pads, as they were squealing real bad. And, yesterday, the radiator hose burst. Apparently, the rubber was very old and dry. These are things a mechanic checking out a car for resale, should look for. I fear the radiator may be next on the list. I suggest, if you buy from B.A.S., you should get the extended warranty. This car has already cost me an additional $375. read more

oh and let me add some things i left out because i was so mad when i wrote my review! 1. When my car died, larry was the first person i called and not my insurance. He told me "call a tow truck and bring it here". hmm.. i thought, okay.. so i called a tow truck that was the closest to my area.. when i get to the dealership, Jonathan told me Larry is paying for it. At the end? Larry had "his daughter's birthday party" and he left. told the driver to go chase me and ask me to pay as the cost was too expensive!!! IF YOU HAD A TOW TRUCK IN MIND WHY DONT YOU TELL ME TO CALL YOUR TOW TRUCK?! IDIOTIC.. 2. Larry told me he's going to lend me a car if any problem arise. You sure will, Larry.. Truth?! He asked Jonathan to just hurry up and send me to a trolley station without any cash on hand! Heartless much?! 3. Don't you ever dare to f***ing yell at me for maintaining the lemon car you sold me!!! I tried and paid a lot to fix that junk and yet it still failed!!! NOW YOU KNOW THAT IT'S A TOTAL JUNK THAT CANNOT EVEN BE FIXED!!! SHAME ON YOU!!! AND YOU SHOULD CLOSE DOWN! read more

Super super dissapointed with these guys. Let me just say that none of this review has to do with my salesman, Jay, nice guy, hes in the wrong place, they dont pay him enough and hes honest, which isnt a trait amongst anyone else who works there or even the owner and his son who work there. There's a ton of cars in their tiny lot and almost no one to help. All the online cars are marked thousands below the on lot window sticker price, thats called BAIT AND SWITCH, red flag. Its a way to get people in the door in hopes that they can prey on a gullible buyer and swindle them. So I get there and I wandered for 10 minutes and no one even came outside to acknowledge so I walked inside. I asked to see a vehicle and their was hesitation and immediate questions of money and intent to purchase, red flag. I finally get a chance to look inside the car and overall it was ok, kinda beat up in a way that the pictures on their website didnt show, very convenient...an HID light had gone out and they replaced it with a cheap halogen to save a buck and said they wouldnt replace it with the HID at the supposed bargain I was getting... I asked to test drive and got an answer of. "Well the owner doesnt really do test drives, you know unless youre going to buy it." WTF?! What kind of reputable dealer doesnt allow test drives??AGAIN red flag... After being forced to fill out a credit app before any test drive I finally drove it and it seemed to be just fine so I came back to seal the deal. Well they came down ever so slightly on the price to almost price match other cars I had seen for cheaper..but just in words...they made up some baloney of how they have to pay a fee to the lender and were just going to be the best guys in the world and absorb that supposed fee for me! RED FLAG. As the deal is being written up I say if you wont replace the headlight properly at least give me a new remote, the current remote is actually broken, the back piece is shattered and the battery is dead it was the least they could do, the owners son finds one and asks me to pay him $5 for it on the spot, I refused and the rude piece of trash goes "ok well I guess were giving you yet another discount!" and slams the window he had handed me the remote through...then to top it off mid way through, the finance manager just says be right back and leaves the dealership completely!! Just found he had more important things to do and leaves me sitting there like an idiot. Jay apologized and after 20 minutes I walked out and said forget it I guess I will be back tomorrow, because I did want the car despite the warning signs...the car actually seemed ok... I thought it over that night and decided I was going to back out of it for another car on their lot that was more practical for me. Same exact price just a better car for my needs. Well I get in the next day and the finance manager throws a big fit about it and starts tearing up the paperwork he had made in my absence that afternoon, even though I had called before he even sauntered in at 11am to notify them of the change. Ya totally my fault right? He reluctantly agreed to sell me the car as if he was doing me a favor...I knew something big and sheisty was about to go down...low and behold im now going to be charged for a supposed fee theyre not actually paying, theyre adding money to the online price and when I refused and said I would only buy the car for the online price they come back with a gee sorry the same lender wont honor the deal for the same exact terms anymore...and I quote "the lending bank doesnt finance that brand of car, sorry!" Same price, same terms but magically they wont finance it now...so just to test my theory of BS I said ok fine how about this pretty car over here, its 3 grand cheaper than either of the other cars and I like it. Que the owner walking up and making up some bs story of oh" gee thats the ONLY car on my lot with a titling issue...I would love to sell it to you but I cant, I couldnt sell it to anyone!" The car is 4th car in from the street, its sitting with all the cars to be sold it can be seen online for sale and its now magically the only car on the whole lot of 100+ cars you CANT sell?!?! LIAR!! I called him a liar to his face and stormed off the lot... DONT even waste your time going to this lot, theyre rude, they lie, they cheat and are attempting to swindle people who dont know any better. I have reported them to the BBB and am warning everyone of their dirty tactics! read more

I wouldn't even give this place 1 star. I had purchased a BMW X5 in February 2016 and I was told that there was nothing wrong with it. I got a oil change done 2 days after purchasing the SUV and I was told that theres was a misdirection of oil within the engine and I took it back to Baldwin Auto Sales and they did absolutely nothing. So much for their 30 days and or 1,000 miles warranty. Also I was sold an extended warranty that is not worth paying for from Cornerstone Auto they find any reason to deny a claim. So from the time I bought the SUV till now I am still having issues to repair it. So in a less than 3 month time the SUV had over $7k worth of work which consisted of: Valve Stem Job $5200, Air Intake Manifold Replacement $350, Window Regulator Replacement, Oil Sensor Replacement, Oil Regulator Replacement, and some hoses replaced. So buyers please beware this place will say anything to get your money with cars that have way to many problems. read more

Worst experience of my life. Typical used car sales men. They are nice and easy to work with , but they don't stand behind their vehicles. I bought a vehicle from them a few months ago. They said it had a full inspection and that everything was good to go. So i brought it home and a few days later brought it to a Ford dealer to get a full check up. They called me back saying that there were multiple issues and that my warranty wouldn't cover any of them. The truck needed thousands of dollars worth of repairs. So i spent $700 to fix a few things right off the bat. I was so mad that i finally called Baldwin because they told me to call them with any issues and that they would get it fixed at cost through there mechanics. They gave me the runaround BS but finally said to bring it down to them. When i gat there they plugged in there diagnostics as if they were mechanics and told me that nothing was wrong. Then they said to go to their mechanics in La Mesa were they would check it out and fix it. I got there and the mechanic looked at my truck and said, "It's a diesel? I don't do diesels, gasoline engines are hard enough." So with that said, i gat back into my truck and left furious. I could not deal with this any more, so i sold my truck for a $5,000 loss. I lost all faith in the truck and in Baldwin Auto Sales. They would not do the right thing and help out a customer that just purchased a truck from them. I only put 500 miles on that truck. These guys were worthless and manipulative. Don't buy anything from them. read more