We purchased a car here and after a couple of years of not using said car, we decided to sell it back to the dealership as it didn't make sense financially to keep it any longer as we don't live in Hilo full time. Jovee handled everything for us superbly. We are glad and grateful for the team and Jovee especially to help us out and making this transaction a painless one. Thank you read more

Love the service dept on Hilo side. Lemuel is who I mainly worked with. He gave a perfect estimate of how long the work would take (I drive 2 hours to get to Hilo so this is very important) and he's a great communicator. Our best friends also have a Hyundai and have been doing service on Kona side with much disappointment. Hilo side is the way to go, good vibe there, competent, working their butts off with aloha. read more

No No No. Once the money is in the bank account you are yesterday's news. The service Department is clueless and lack competent people to cover their work. Sit in the rain in their plush Customer Lounge and Snack area. EPIC. Ask about the Used Vehicles they sell that are afflicted with problems you discover on your own. DECEIVING. No Aloha served here. Wait days or weeks for a return phone call. Treat yourself to a Dealer in Oahu or and pay to have it shipped . Take advantage of incentives and special Financing not offered on The Big Island. Speak with anyone and you'll get all the lip service you can handle. NAUSEATING read more

I had to exit to get away from the high pressure sales of 3 gentlemen who although explained well logical good reasons to buy the junky used car they were doing their best to convince me to buy. I felt very wrong. I felt sorry for the newer young sales guy who they were priming for a future. I wanted to tell him to run as fast as he could because it felt very trapped into something that clearly was not a very good deal telling me I could not do better on the island and I had better grab it at the over price they wanted. I escaped and found a much nicer car and a way better deal at an independent smaller lot without all the big dealer fluff. read more

Hilo Big Island Motors Suburu Service Center has provided exceptional service. Every time I've gone in, check in has been pleasant and prompt. My car has been returned within the expected time frame and in very good condition. I especially want to thank Mikala who has gone well beyond typical good customer care. Today he carefully navigated a noise problem and had it taken care of immediately. I am very thankful for his professional, kind and comprehensive service! read more

Our experience started off great found what we wanted( 2025 cross trek) in February of this year. Received the plates for the car but only 1 set of keys. Somehow they went misssing between Hilo and Kona. After emailing and leaving voice mails our sales person finally got back to us. Management is blaming her and the cost of another key is being taken out of her paycheck. It seems management focus is to fix blame and not on customer service. Its April and we still don't have the key! read more

My experience working with big Island motors was absolutely wonderful, friendly efficient staff with tons of knowledge in regard to my vehicle would definitely recommend! read more

The salesman was great. We love our (3) purchases through the years. When we came back through the years for small repairs they were attentive and professional. read more

Make sure you shop around a LOT before coming here. The best advice I can give is that BIM is a place where you should go if you really can't find anything you like anywhere else, and you're no longer picky. I had purchased a used here a short while back, and the car began to have problems within a few weeks. Of course, once you drive the car off the lot here, and it's not a certified vehicle, you're outta luck. After contacting them and asking a few general questions (as I should have ahead of time), it seems they are more willing to communicate with prospective buyers than people who already purchased one of their jalopies. My guess is that they take in used trades and try to fix them a bit but then pass them off as they don't know anything about used cars. I am giving a 3/5 instead of a 4/5, because I've come to realize why they push the almost $4000 warranty so hard once you've signed the paperwork and committed to buy. The purchase price is just a come-on. While I admit, it seems that's the way some dealers are, but they really focus hard on giving you a "too good to be true" deal, only to set you up for needing to pay thousands more for that vehicle to actually be reliable. In my best conscience, I could not recommend Big Island Motors, unless you're extremely savvy about what you want, and you bring a fully equipped mechanic along with you to check out the vehicle. read more

Great dealership with extremely helpful, friendly staff! The team at Big Island Motors always does a great job with my forrester and I would recommend them to anyone! Mahalo! read more

We purchased a new Hyundai Tucson a month ago. My wife was driving on the highway last Saturday when the lane departures system suddenly swerved the car across the dividing line. My wife had to react swiftly as she was about to have head on collision with another car. This resulted in her hitting a rock on side of road as there was a very little shoulder. Car was towed to Big Island Motors and Daturday and we had to call and email several times just to get someone to call us. Finally on Wednesday we talked to someone. They want us to get it towed to body shop!!!when we googled lane departure system for Hyundai we find there has been many complaints about this system. read more

Takes month to get an appointment. We in to see about getting an odometer LED reader fixed or replaced for 2005 Subaru Baja. The gentleman was going to look into and get to me. 2 weeks later no response. Poor service. read more

Sold my car with Chuck and couldn't be happier with the process. He was incredibly helpful, patient, knowledgeable and kind throughout the entire process. It wasn't easy but Chuck was there through the whole thing and really showed compassion and care for me and my family. If I ever need to buy or sell a car on Big Island, I'm starting with Chuck at Big Island Motors read more

If you need warranty work on your new Subaru don't take it here. They've had my car for several weeks and won't return my calls.

Dean at the Big island motors in Hilo is the best! He went above and beyond in helping us find the best, dream fit. He was very kind and knowledgeable. Anything he didn't know, he was quick with finding the answer. He is definitely someone you want helping you through the stressful process of finding a car. Thank you so much Dean! read more

I had called Big Island Motors with a question about a possible trade. Spencer called and was all gung-ho, a typical sales person. Friendly, upbeat thinking he was going to make another sale...which he WAS. When I told him the kind of car I am looking for and asked him about a trade, his demeanor changed completely. I told him my car needs some work since it is a 1993 model, and his response was "I don't waste my time with broken cars". He then repeatedly talked about how his time was being wasted. I thanked him and immediately hung up. He could have politely said, "I apologize, but we only trade cars in perfect condition, but I would be happy to still go over our inventory to see if we can help you find what you're looking for". Bottomline, I would walk, bike or take the bus before I would EVER do business with Big Island Motors in the future. read more

Unscrupulous dealer. I would avoid taking your vehicle here to get serviced except for warranty work. They keep wanting to change the oil and filter on my elderly widowed Mom's vehicle even though she told them that the oil was just changed and they charge over $100 each time. My Mom knows nothing about cars and is originally from Japan and not a native English speaker so she doesn't know any better. read more

This review is for the service department I've never actually been to. My first attempt to get service in Hilo was in May 2023 just as my warranty was about to run out. No can.....appointments are a month or more out. They found me an available appointment in Kona for July 4. On a holiday?? They failed to think about that. So, I got a call from them a couple days in advance. No can....closed that day. Yesterday just out of nowhere my car console started lighting up with errors. check engine, Eye Sight camera not working. Subaru Starlink alerted me to contact the a Subaru dealer as soon as possible. Big Island Motors response was no appointments available for a month. Warning lights no big deal. Call us if it starts smoking or I have trouble on the road. You've got to be kidding me. I love my Subaru but I will probably never purchase another as the dealership is zero help once you've driven it off the lot. read more

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Please see my earlier review for prior unhappy experiences, but this is an important update: At present, booking a service appointment on their website does NOT work -- but it doesn't tell you this! It lets you think you've scheduled something when their system HASN'T recorded an appointment. I spoke to 2 people there and did manage to schedule an appointment the old-fashioned way, but they seemed rather lackadaisical about the website malfunction. Unbelievable. read more

Big Island Motors was terrific from start to finish! We were helped by Kovee Rivera and he was so helpful, responsive, quick, and informative. If you're ever going to purchase a car, I recommend Big Island Motors! They were quick to answer our questions and made the whole purchasing experience seamless. Visit Kovee at Big Island Motors for your next car purchase! read more

Big Island Motors - Our new Hyundai Kona 2022 - Auto Repair Near Me - Hilo, Hawaii

Trying to sell a car that smells like a wet dog died. No time was spent preparing the car to show me, Dealing with this is why you have lost costumers and me for sure. Don't waste your time stay in Kona. read more

I've been coming here for the past 3 years for servicing and the recalls on my Subaru Crosstrek. Not once had I had any problems which was amazing! It's located behind the airport on Kalanianaole Ave. The street has been renovating for a long time (prob for the past 2 years lol) but navigation from the back road isn't too difficult as they post up signs! The auto shop customer service was also really nice and speedy with their appointments. Calling in for a regular service and recall appointments are also equally quick. Park my car, walk into the shop, drop off my key, wait for either ride a shuttle or wait for a friend, and then wait for the call. As easy as that! The price isn't too bad either (less than $100) for oil change, tire rotation, tire fill, etc. Another great service from here is that I always get reminders through text when my next service was due which helped! Definitely recommend getting your Subaru or Mazda serviced here. The price isn't too bad and never had a problem with the auto shop service. read more

The car buying experiece was very good, but their service is essentially non-existent. The first visit, with a reservation, I had to wait four hours for an oil change. The second time I was two and half hours into my wait when they messaged my phone that the car was finished and I needed to pay my bill, even though the car never moved from where it was parked, fifteen feet from where I sitting waiting. Needless to say I recovered my key, left and had the oil changed elsewhere. I will never, willingly go back there. The car is great, but the dealer service stinks! I hope it never needs warranty service. read more

Aloha all. Initially our experience was good, we had a wonderful sales associate (Ronnie) and got what we thought was a good deal on our used Nissan Frontier (which is why I'm leaving the 2 stars instead of a 1) unfortunately it seems like the truck we purchased was a dud that has already cost us hundreds of dollars of repairs and still it sits dead on my property. It started having issues 1-2 days after taking it home, it seems the person that owed the truck prior was not taking care of it at all and now we are stuck with paying all the fixes as we waived the insurance (which I do understand was on us) considering the truck should have been in good enough shape to sell and should have lasted us many years before we had to do any work to it. It's very disappointing that nobody followed through with us after I spoke to many people and was told they would prefer at least be able to perform a free check on everything considering what happened. It seems like they just took in a hunk of junk and sold it to us but then again maybe we were just unlucky here, regardless the lack of follow up and quality of the purchase was far less then desirable. I would love to receive a phone call and for them to at least attempt to make this right. read more

I bought a 2014 Honda civic in November. I called the dealership a week later because the key was giving me a hard time to get into the vehicle. The guy said he would give me a call back. 4 months later no call about the key would of been nice to know there wasn't a key... then today I finished work at 5:30am went to my car to unlock the door and the key goes in but does move to open the door. My coworker even tired didn't work, then I finally got it. Went back to the dealership they said they can't do anything about it. But next time I look for a car I will make sure to try the key multiple time and make sure I get two keys. And I don't think you should have to struggle to unlock a car door of a car you bought for $13,000 read more

Big Island Motors - This is the key they gave me - Auto Repair Near Me - Hilo, Hawaii

The worst experience of my life, and it is still ongoing. Big Island Motors in Hilo took our car in for oil change and normal maintenance on Dec.28th, 2023. Their technician then cracked the housing on the differential while checking for oil levels. He then tried to cover it up by applying a type of glue. The car was returned to Big Island motors, they paid for the transport, and it has been there ever since (6 months+). After constant calling and harassing the service manager I still have not gotten my car back. I have had 2 loaners but still waiting for my 2014 Subaru Crosstrek. Subaru Dealer, Big Island Motors, definitely has some organizational issues? 6 months to repair a car that they broke? Unacceptable!!!!!!! Pete Basabe PS-I have filed a complaint with DCCA read more

Great service by the teAm Hyundai team. A group of people there focused on customer service

Service Dept has not recovered from COVID. Meaning getting repairs/service is backed up for months. Also noteworthy is that used cars have not been properly assessed for being sold. That being said- we found J.C. a top-rate sales agent. Please be sure to ask for him. read more

I wanted to leave an EXCELLENT review for Spencer and Maya at the Hilo Big Island Motors sales lot. Why? Because Spencer seemed to always be there with a constant flow of information and knowledge that was very helpful in determining which car was best for me. Maya, was caring and thoughtful in a very honest and almost motherly kind of way...you know, your know non-sense Auntie who always has the best advice! My 3rd purchase from Big Island Motors, and would highly recommend you go see either Spencer or Maya...they're the BEST! read more

We bought a brand new Hyundai Kona late 2021. Salesman committed to provide loaner if major repair required several days. November 2023 with only 9,000 miles A/C failed (2 years old), called for service appt, none for 2 weeks. Then sudden dashboard alarm, dropped off car at service dept. on 11/30/23. Forced to rent a car, no loaner provided. No action 12/1, none on 12/4, none on 12/5 (said "thought they brought in a tech on Saturday",12/2), 12/6 "mechanic home sick", 12/7 told me ants invaded fuse block assembly, that Hyundai declined to fix under warranty, and their repair estimate was $7,141, that replacement parts were not available until end of December. Then they suggested we contact our car insurance company. If their diagnosis was true, Hyundai has a serious manufacturing problem and defective wiring system. Big Island's service department failed to take a photo of what they claimed was the problem, as requested by our insurance adjuster due to the magnitude of their repair estimate. Big Island said they were "too busy." The horrible communications & enormous repair estimate prompted me to contact the local Kona independent repair shop that we have used over the years on our previous Buick LaCrosse. We took that manager's advice, towed the Hyundai Kona away from Big Island Motors, and he was able to repair it for $853. instead of Big Island's attempt to charge us over $7,000. Never the courtesy of a return call from the general manager of Big Island Motors. Those are the facts. Buyers beware. read more

If I could give this place negative stars I would. My parents, who are in their 60s and 70s by the way, bought a used Nissan Quest from them. Fast forward to a month down the road and the car has such bad vibrations that its potentially unsafe to drive. They are currently spending thousands trying to diagnose as well as fix an unknown problem. From the multiple auto shops and different mechanic opinions, they all agree on one thing. There was front end damage to the car, potentially frame damage, that was NOT disclosed and that should have been upon purchase. When they called the dealer the only "solution" they offered was a trade back BUT at greatly depreciated value in light of the front end damage (again this was done well before they even purchased the van). Avoid this place. They really live up to the negative stereotype of used car places. Rip off to the max. read more

First of all my experience with the sales department was good, I have purchased three vehicles from them. The problem is that the company is only interested in selling vehicles and not servicing them. After two years my Ionic 5 needed the ICCU unit replaced. This was under warranty and they said the part needed to be ordered from Korea. The rep said they would use expedited shipping and it would take 5-7 days to receive the part. After 10 days I called and found out that they didn't use expedited shipping and it would take 21 days. I was able to pick up my vehicle after 52 days and many excuses (such as not having the proper tool) as to why it was taking so long. They told me they only have one tech who works on cars and a couple of guys who do basic oil changes etc. This is unacceptable for a dealership who sells Hyundais and Subarus to only have one technician to do the warranty repairs. Unfortunately they are the only dealership on the island so if you want those two brands you have to deal with their poor service department. read more

Charles Paulino is a good salesman, individually he would get 4-5 stars. The "supervisor" haggled more than I care for so they get a 1. The finance department didn't pull any tricks and gets a 4. The car was not cleaned before I picked it up so that gets a 2. Overall I give the place a 3. read more

UPDATE. It is now January 24, 2025. Big Island Motors has still not completed the diagnostic on my Hyundai Tuscan, which is covered by the 100,000 mile 10 year trans/engine warranty. "America's Best Warranty", only IF you can wait over 2 months for this dealership to take your car and have a mechanic do a diagnostic testing on it. The few days I've rented a car cost me $156/day due to the high season on the island. I have called and emailed the service department. Last phone call, Aura told me that they have to order a part to do a test on my car but that the tool is in Hilo because this dealership SHARES this tool. I asked her when the tool was requested, and she said I would just have to "learn to be patient". I explained I've been patient...two months patient...and she hung up on me. Then I receive an email with an invoice attached saying that Wayne authorized an engine tear down on my car to expedite things. I have no idea who Wayne is. No one called me for my authorization. The invoice is $6,898.16....$4,422.41 of which are for PARTS! What on earth? What PARTS are they putting into my car - it's a DIAGNOSTIC! I can't go into the Kona dealership without a car and I've lost so much money in work. I'm just appalled at the lack of professionalism and extremely inept ability to communicate or handle a simple diagnostic. Don't buy a Hyundai if you live in Hawaii. You will never be able to get service help on your car. read more

DO NOT USE BIG ISLAND MOTORS KONA SERVICE DEPARTMENT. IT IS A SAFETY HAZARD TO YOU AND YOUR FAMILY. This review will be lengthy but inform yourself of my experience to save yourself a lot of money and most importantly your time. I rarely make public reviews, and I even selected private when I returned Subaru's after service review I received. When I submitted the review, the screen said Subaru will make things right. It has been just over a month now, and I have not received any contact about making things right. This public review is the result. Full disclosure, I purchased my car vehicle from Big Island Motors Kona and have had other services completed there with no issues. I stopped in at Big Island Motors Kona Service Department and made my appointment. The lady at the service counter who sits on your left is great. She is super knowledgeable, helpful and was able to squeeze me in for an appointment much sooner than usual. This was outstanding service. I told her of the specific problem and she annotated it in the notes for the mechanic. I also asked what if they mechanic cannot find the problem, and she said her mechanics are very good and most times they can determine what is going on. My 2021 Subaru Crosstrek's issue was the engine not starting at times or slow to turn over and start other times. When I made the appointment, I also told her my specific make and model had a Safety Recall Notice out for a defective part. Appointment day came and I dropped my car off. I gave my key to the woman in the service department on your right as you walk in. If you ignore anything I say in this review and still decide to use this Subaru service center, absolutely do not do any part of your service transaction with the woman on the right as you walk in. Wait until the woman on the left is there. You have been warned. I handed the woman on the right my key and we reviewed the problem I was having with my vehicle. A few hours lady I got a call my service was complete and my vehicle was ready to pick up. I went in to get my key and the woman on the right said the mechanics didn't find anything wrong but cleared a few codes that may have been interfering with the radio. I told her this was my exact concern when I made the appointment- the mechanic not finding anything wrong. She then proceeded to explain to me that the mechanics scan the vehicle's computer and use a tree diagram to diagnose problems. I asked her if they go beyond using their computer scanner and checked things like the electrical system, fuel filter and spark plugs that could be causing this specific issue. There indeed is a problem, my vehicle either won't start or has trouble starting. She kept referring back to the mechanics using the tree diagram, and this circle just continued on a few more times. She even told me if the mechanic doesn't experience the issue, he/she cannot fix it. I asked if the mechanic can go off of what I am saying the problem is? An intermittent problem is just that, intermittent. I also asked her what happens if I drive down to the stop sign and my engine issue happens again, do I need to make another appointment and be charged to find nothing again? She actually said, yes, you will need to make another appointment. At this point I knew I was not going to get my vehicle repaired and asked if I could pay the charge and depart. I was charged $188.42 to not have my vehicle fixed. Guess what? My engine had a starting issue at the first stop sign when I left the dealership. My vehicle still has the same issue to this day. Fast forward...guess what I just received in the mail? A Subaru Safety Recall. Guess what the Description of the Defect and Safety Risk notes...wait for it.... inability to start the engine. I remind you I notified the woman I made the appointment with there was a recall out for my vehicle. I was notified by the US Department of Transportation NHTA of this notice. Did the service department do anything to address this recall I told them about when I made the appointment? No. If Subaru Kona truly cares about its customers and does internally look into this matter, I expect the employees to deny most of what I said here because they failed to annotate in their service notes, so essentially zero evidence exists. Any boss will always side with their employees. It is human nature to immediately push back, not accept any wrong doing, fault or blame. Nobody wants to look bad in front of the boss, I get it. My intent is not to get any employee in trouble, instead that this company learns from this incident and comes out a better team and organization. When a company messes up, they almost never say "look, we messed up". Instead, they usually blame the system or things outside their control. If Big Island Motors Kona even reads customer reviews, I fully expect to see the obligatory PR reply here thanking me for the opportunity to let them service my vehicle, they are so sorry things did not go as expected. read more

We were very pleased that our new Subaru buying experience was so easy. Since we had not purchased a vehicle from a dealer in the past 20 years we were somewhat nervous about the purchase. However, the salesperson we worked with, Jonathan Neikirk, was professional and easy to work with and we recommend working with him. Within a couple of hours of arriving at the dealer we had viewed 5 available vehicles and made a selection. Jonathan was so well educated on the vehicles we looked at. He patiently went through training us on all of the features and maintenance of our new vehicle and even helped configure our phones to connect to the vehicle. We received exactly what we wanted and could not be happier. The document signing process with the Finance manager was also quick and easy. read more

People sell their used cars to places like this because their gut instinct tells them its time to get a new car. A used car dealer pays next to nothing to get such a car. They should have SOME responsibility however to check for problems. This dealership doesn't do anything like that. They pay 25% for a car, and sell it at 100% price. I don't recommend buying anything here. read more

If you plan to buy an Hyundai here on big island, DONT DO IT! My car for a simple hose radiator leak it's been in their facility for almost a month. They order the part and took almost 3 weeks, and when the parts arrive, the car is NOT even ready in few days. One of the worst customer service I ever had. I have a Tacoma and it's completely a different thing. With a similar problem it took only 6 days. With a Hyundai and a simple leaking hose, I had to rent a car for almost a month and still not received my car back. So if you plan to buy a Hyundai on the island don't do it! Or be prepared to be stranded at the first little problem. read more

My friend moved back home here from Maui. Mostly had to walk miles or take the bus until she could purchase a car so she could start her job search. The week of 12/19/21 she walked a few miles to the Big Island Motors lot to look at cars. The first car she looked at she was told it overheated and wasn't the car for her. So she was shown another car and did a test drive..All seemed alright since she didn't no about the "issues" she didn't focus on any weird sounds etc. So my friend purchased the car and no sooner did the cash change hands she was told "Oh there's 3 recalls on your car" Now I'm thinking that the saleman should have done the right thing and voided the transaction as he had to have known about the recalls. Oh and she wasn't informed about the faulty radiator which isn't one of the recalls so she'll have to pay the cost of repairs herself. Oh and the tank wasn't even filled as promised. So now she's back to walking or taking the bus until she can get car into shop for recalls. This is extremely stressful for someone who needs to be working and has been walking/taking the bus for interviews. All I can say is SHAME on Big Island Motors for taking advantage of a single lady and not doing the right thing. I have several friends looking for a new car and have told them all to avoid Big Island Motors. read more

We just purchase a Subaru Forester from Big Island Motors in Hilo where we were assisted by Jonathan. Jonathan's patience and attention to our requirements were exemplary and expeditious saving us significant time and trouble. This was very different from our experience with their competitor just up the street. He will be on our first call list were we to purchase another vehicle. Gene & Sally Kamuela, Hawaii read more