Do NOT take your vehicle to Merle Stone for mechanical work! My husband took his Chevrolet Silverado truck in for repair on what should have been a 2 or 3 day job. The truck was there for 2 months! The mechanic seems to not have much experience in working on a Chevrolet truck. He does not ever return our calls or make curtesy calls. He makes promises he never kept. He tries to repair all the wrong things. He drags his feet. Promise it will be ready tomorrow then calls in sick that day with no curtesy call to us from Stones! Then next day he is gone to a funeral, again No curtesy call from Stones! Remember this truck has now been there almost 2 months! Husband has to rent a vehicle for first month, and then finally borrow a vehicle because you can only rent for so many days! Stones have no care of this issue! Must be normal to them for incompetence of their mechanics! All the good ones are gone because these Stones don't treat their employees very well! On top of all of this they finally order the correct part then they say oh now we don't have the tool available to fix it so we have to wait for that to come in! Seriously? Then it's still not the right part. This goes on and on. They Never call us, we have to call them to find out what's going on! Every time! Then after 2 months they finally get it right and order the right part. Finally get the truck back just to find out that the cruise control no longer works! $3000+ dollars!!!! We asked for a discount due to all their mistakes and dragging their feet and mechanics incompetence, and Stones tell the front counter, no discount! DO NOT EVER take your repairs to these people! And it was through Christmas time to top it off! read more

I use to buy my vehicles at Merle Stone in Porterville and used to service all my vehicles there. No longer... Merle Stone will not take appointments for servicing vehicles. They want you to bring your car in the morning and leave it there all day, hoping they will get to it before the end of the day. What happened to appointments and customer service Merle Stone? You are not service your community. I'm sitting here at Delano Chevrolet with an appointment and I'll be out of here in an hour. You might wanna rethink your policy. Just saying, I'm not the only one that feels this way in Porterville. read more

It's always a pleasure doing business with Mearl Stone Chevrolet in Porterville. I have purchased three cars from this dealership. It's always a pleasure. I always drop in and say hello to Dave so it was a pleasure seeing him been doing business with him for over 30 years. read more

Service writer josh told me to reseal my oil pan it would be almost 500 dollars what a ridiculous amount tried to sell me a oil pan gasket when from the factory it doesn't even come with a oil pan gasket the factory uses rtv silicone only service writers really should know what they are talking about read more

Please save yourself and don't bother going to this shady dealership. I have very good credit and they did not want approve me, said I needed a co-signer Dave was no help but to waste my Saturday hearing him talk for hours about his life. I went to Selma auto mall got approved right away. Dave sucks!! Should retire. Merle stone suck overall. read more

Merle Stone Chevrolet - They will just waste an enquiry on running your credit. - Auto Repair Near Me - Porterville, California

These repair people are ripping off older people my grandmother took her Cadillac to get repaired I was out of town otherwise I would have been here to assist her and the person was requesting cash and when she went to pick up the Cadillac after confirming one price the person by the name Randy said it would be double and that she paid by cash and of course she did it was very upsetting to find out that the prices that were being given to her word almost double after comparing prices to other Cadillac places they also said that she was being a sucker to this I would never take my grandmother's Cadillac there ever again I will make it known that these people are ripoff read more

These guys are a complete joke. GM should take away their ability to sell or work on GM products. Horrible customer service, dishonest and incompetent. The worst experience I have had with any business in the city of Porterville. They are a nightmare to deal with. Sales or service these guys SUCK! read more

I was told I needed some repairs on my gmc and they kept it 3 weeks! they gave me the run around and excuses that only that made sense to them. After paying a hefty bill I noticed my truck makes a funny noise and they swear it couldn't have been them to cause it but I could leave it so that they can run another diagnostic. Nome of the guys are helpful and it's shady service. read more

I had to get a new key for my vehicle and my car was towed to the dealership and I spoke with Omar and since I was out of town and I needed to get home they put a rush on getting the new key programmed for my vehicle and had me on the road with in about 2 hours. Needless to say my keys were located right after I received my new set of keys that's life! Thank you Omar for providing outstanding customer service and helping me in my hour of need! Patricia Galloway read more

Bought my 2018 Cruze here yesterday. Javier was nothing short of awesome. He did his absolute best to provide the best service and followed up with any questions we had very quickly. Very friendly, with fair prices. Would recommend everyone to see Javier. read more

Merle Stone Chevrolet - Auto Repair Near Me - Porterville, California

They cannot perform a simple oil change in a timely manner. And they do not make appointments. "Drop it off, it should be done in a few hours" read more

Guess I should balance a bad review out with a good (just left a rather scathing bad review for Paradise Chevy in Temecula)! Called Merle Stone's Sales Department and got Brian on the phone, I explained I was interested in leasing a Bolt; rather than giving me the spiel about how there are no BOLTs available ANYWHERE in California he started by asking some leading questions like my time frame for leasing, what I know about the BOLT, what features I was interested in, etc. Turned out to be a very pleasant 4 minute conversation, during which I felt listened to and valued. Thought I'm not sure I'll actually lease through Merle Stone (time will tell), they are most definitely a dealership I will keep on my contact list as I travel along this Bolt Lease Journey :) read more

I wouldn't recommend this place at all... Bad at returning phone calls. Was charged almost a thousand dollars to fix my car just so it can mess up again. When i took my car back the guy working on my car referred to my car like a child. Claiming that he had no problems with the car when he looked at it. "You know when your kid is sick and you take them out they seem fine but when you take them home they seem sick again" that's exactly what the guy told me. Ended up getting it fixed elsewhere. read more

Horrible. Do not buy a car here. They will ruin your vehicle. I took mine in so many times for issues and I swear to you that every time I picked up my car.... the same codes went off, as if it was never fixed. Also, they want to charge you a lot and don't bother looking to see if you have warranty. Luckily for me, I bought extra warranty so most things I didn't have to pay for but I still expect them to take care of my vehicle considering it gets me around places and I have kids. Big safety risk if you get a car from them.... they have horrible service and they don't have certified mechanics or properly trained ones doing the job. My car was there for two weeks and came back with rodent damage to my wires when I got it. I do not live in a high rodent area and my car stays in the garage. I also have other vehicles that I had looked at and none had rodent damage so that confirmed it was when it was under their care. Also the rental they gave me had the check engine light going off which made me uncomfortable. If I could give no stars, I would. Don't waste your time, take a drive to Tulare or Visalia to a different dealership and get a car. This place is sketchy and they do not know what they are doing. read more

I brought my GMC truck in bc of the check engine light. Brought it in on a Friday morning to get work on that turned in to Wednesday then they wanted to keep it longer bc they couldn't get to it. Needless to say one of the repairs did not get done. I advised them I was coming to pick my vehicle up and Josh (the tech I was working with) said he would have my paperwork ready to go when I got here. I waited :30+mins. For that. Then they try to charge for something I did not okay (air filter) The service department is a joke at this place. Also, just an fyi if you are planning to bring your vehicle for warranty work, don't, they put those vehicles off bc they don't make money. I over heard one of the service guys taking. read more

Bought a brand new Chevy Cruz. Turned out to be a lemon. Horrible customer service. I would not recommend this dealership.

Worst experience ever with this dealership. They are shady and I don't trust them or their service department or work. We had our vehicle in for brake issues and paid for a brake inspection at this time to make sure everything was functioning properly. They got approval to replace the brake booster pump through warranty and supposedly did a brake inspection at our request. 3 weeks later the vehicle brakes were completely locked up even when in drive. We had the vehicle towed back to the dealership At which time they advised us that the brake system was somehow contaminated and therefore not covered under vehicle warranty. Mind you that in the last 3 weeks they were the only ones to touch this vehicle and the brake system. After going back-and-forth with them I found out they had not even submitted the repairs to the warranty for approval but were just advising us that they were not covered. They also claimed that although we paid for a brake inspection and the service Tech should have inspected the brake fluid he did not therefore they were not the ones who contaminated the brake system. I reported them to the Better Business Bureau and miraculously the next day supposedly the warranty had been contacted and we had approval for repairs under warranty. The vehicle husband driven from their shop to my home and will be inspected by another mechanic to make sure they did all necessary repairs before we even start driving it this is held little I trust them. read more

I am extremely frustrated and disappointed in this Merle Stone Chevrolet for performing my services. I came in for an oil change and a transmission fluid exchange for my vehicle. Although it was completed in a timely manner, I noticed that my car was making terrible sounds the following day. Even though I came to this dealership for my transmission fluid, my vehicle was making sounds as if there was no transmission fluid in it at all. Sounds like metal scraping against metal. My car also produces a new issue where minimal acceleration causes it to jerk back. All signs point to a transmission issue. How is it that I brought my car in with no issues at all, they suggested I need new transmission fluid, and then the transmission now sounds faulty? I paid over $300 for them to service my vehicle and all they did was create new problems that shouldn't be occurring. I checked for leaks so it was unlikely that my transmission or oil was leaking. I take excellent care of my vehicle to ensure that it stays in mint condition. I should have no problems with my car, seeing as how I keep up to date with all my required services at the time in which they are due. I brought my vehicle back to the dealership the next day and they failed to let me know that the transmission mechanic was out until the next business day (which was 3 days away). They set up an appointment with me prior to informing me that I wouldn't even have been able to receive help for this issue they most likely created because their mechanic wasn't working the day they told me to come in (which was an absolute waste of time). Once I left the dealership, I decided to check my oil. Seeing as how that was one of the services I had the chevrolet team complete, I was really hoping they had at least done that part correctly. What I discovered was that my oil was completely dark. In 2 days time in which this entire situation occurred, it is impossible that my oil would be that color had they done it correctly. Oil doesn't change that drastically overnight. One of the employee's reasoning was, "Oh, well we have multiple people that change the oil." Doesn't that mean they should be doing it correctly? Shouldn't the best of service be coming from a chevrolet mechanic, especially at the work of an entire team? Apparently not. These "professional" chevy mechanics must have just topped my oil off without performing an actual oil change. This only makes me wonder if they had even performed adequate service on my vehicle all of those times I went to them in the last 2 years... This is incredibly unprofessional and I am never going to purchase another vehicle from Chevrolet with this experience, nonetheless get any services done with them in the future. Now, my vehicle is messed up at the hands of the dealership. I never would have expected such laziness and carelessness, especially from a dealership. Dealerships are supposed to be the number one place you can always trust and count on. I am completely disgusted with the behavior that they have portrayed. I advise everybody to get your vehicle services done elsewhere. Absolutely ridiculous. read more

Merle Stone Chevrolet - The tissue on the left is a vehicle that had an oil change 2 weeks ago. The right is my car that got an oil change 2 DAYS ago from chevy. - Auto Repair Near Me - Porterville, California

What a disappointment this service was. Sent my truck in to have the stabilitract looked at as it was not driving correctly. After some time they found a plugged valve and had to order. Ok no problem. The part comes in and I call to set up an appointment. They say just bring it in and they will get right on it. Should be ready by 2:30. Called at 2:30 and they still never got to it. Should be ready by 4pm. Called at 4 and they still never got to it. Called at 8:30 the next morning and still did not get to it. I told them I was going to pick it up due to a trip I was leaving at 11. Asked them to transfer the information and part to Visalia so they could install when I got back. They said no and we're closing the claim and I would have to start the warranty and inspection all over with the other dealership. What a shit show. This is no way to treat customers. Being how I have a business in Porterville, all my trucks will now go to Visalia. Zero stars. read more

if i would give 0 stars i would. They rotate your tires as part of oil change se own ervice and break your lug nuts. When confront Richard May in service dept about or he says there just worn out and fall of on there own. DO NOT GO THERE FOR SERVICE THEY ARE NO GOOD AND DONT CARE ABOUT PEOPLE. read more

I do not recommend this dealership one bit. They will just screw your credit score over... Salesmen David Gonzales helped me find a car from Merle Stone Chevrolet Porterville that I was going to purchase. I had been working with him for a few weeks, so he knew I was set on this exact car. My co-signer submitted the online application to get pre-approved the same day I went in to look at the car. Meaning my co-signer's credit had been ran by a few different banks already. Since it was about 1-2 hrs til closing, he said he would work on it *first thing in the morning* and give me an update right away. (If a salesmen wanted to make a sale, they would stay as late as it takes to close the deal). He did not call me until later in the afternoon for an update. He calls again that a customer went in later after me *the same night that I had submitted my application* and purchased the vehicle. He did not secure the vehicle that we were working on, and on top of that, my co-signer's credit score was lowered by almost 50 points. I do not know if it was a miscommunication between salesmen, but I 0/10 recommend... I ended up going to Hanford Hyundai *the same day they said they got rid of my car* where they stayed 2 hrs after closing to make sure I drove away with the car I wanted. 10/10 recommend going to Hanford Hyundai! read more

When I learned that my Volt had an issue with the shifter that was covered under the Voltec warranty, I called Merle Stone service to ask what I should do. Josh warned me that with the shortage of new cars, their service department was swamped and it would be a few days before they could get to my car. I dropped it off that day (Wednesday), anyway, as I didn't want the problem to escalate, and though they weren't able to get to it until Monday, Josh kept me updated. He hadn't found the warranty coverage, but hoped to find it after the parts were ordered. On Wednesday, Josh let me know that the parts had been ordered, but they still hadn't found the warranty coverage; I assured him he would find it. On Thursday he let me know he found the necessary warranty and that all of the work was covered. Friday morning he called to let me know the mechanic had worked late and the car was ready for pickup. Yes, they had my car for a long time (I am lucky to have a backup car and work from home), but Josh called regularly, updating me on the progress, letting me know they were doing all they could do, and eventually making the repair for free. We have to be a little patient during these times, recognize when people are working hard, and support their efforts. read more

I had a great experience purchase was easy and smooth process was explained very well Jorge in sales did a magnificent job demonstrating the vehicle and Brian did what it took to get me approved. Alex in finance explained all the documents and answered all questions! Thank you Merle Stone we'll be back for our traverse next year! read more

Bought a corvette,car developed a vibration still under factory warranty. Took it to Merle Stone in Porterville 100 dollars to balance 4 tires. Had a free oil change coming and got a recall notice in the mail. Thought I would kill two birds with one stone and get them both done at the same time. Ended up taking a day and a half to complete my recall. Do you think they offered me a car to drive while recall was done, ah No! Picked up car they charged me 65 dollars for oil change, and said that the free oil change that came with the new car purchase expired last month. Don't you think they would let you know before performing service that you expected to be free, ah No! read more

We needed a second vehicle, and not sure what we wanted...our range was mini van to sports car since we already had a family vehicle, and sales representative Javier was great! He was able to help us figure out what we didn't want, and found our perfect fit. He was friendly, professional, and the follow up was great! The price was right, the features in the vehicle are awesome with Chevy Link, and with 31 mpg in city/41 on free way with $20 buck fill up, we're more than happy! There is a million more things I could say, about how great the service department was, quick finance, outstanding price and rates, certified vehicles with warranty, etc....but the bottom line is we purchased a vehicle here a couple years ago, then thought to see if grass is greener elsewhere, only to turn back to Merle Stone because no one else compared to the level of quality and service...next time we're ready for another vehicle, this will be our only stop, and Javier will be our guy! read more

Merle Stone Chevrolet - Auto Repair Near Me - Porterville, California

Amazingly helpful and friendly staff. Had an emergency with my vehicle and was greeted and treated like a friend. Appreciate the helpfulness from the owner Dave Stone, and Richard May from service department. Both wonderful guys! Thanks so much! read more

Merle Stone Chevrolet - Auto Repair Near Me - Porterville, California

See all

Ask for mechanic, Valentin, he's amazing!!! He can fix basically anything, won't try to rip you off, and has years of experience!

Bought a 2011 Chevy from Tulare Merle Stone only because the Porterville location did not have what I was looking for and the drive to Tulare isn't bad. Had an amazing sales experience. Much better than the Toyota sales experience I had back in March 2011. I'm a 22 year old that looks much younger so I got nickled and dimed at the Toyota in Claremont. I was expecting the same at Merle Stone. However, they were great. My one complaint was with the service department. There were a few things that were supposed to fixed much quicker than they were. I was on a time crunch as I had to be back to Orange County and I needed those things fixed. They first ordered the wrong part. Then, again when we got the "right" part (I had them transfer the part to the Porterville location for me because I was tired of driving back and forth at that point) but Porterville Merle Stone said the part they ordered was not needing because it was a different problem. I am happy now though. My beautiful car is all taken care of. I'm extremely happy with the financing they got me (even better than my educational credit union! shocker, right?), and I have an awesome car. Sales department + financing = 5+ stars. And for that reason, I will not be too upset about the service department! read more

Louie Martinez was my salesman. He found what I was looking for and got me a price better than the one offered by the Bakersfield dealership. I was able to get a LTZ Z-71 for what Bakersfield said was the best price on a LT. read more

Drove all the way from San Jose to pick up a car. Real nice team.

Thank you Randy for taking care of me and my daughter. I can always count on you. David Stone -you have a great service department Randy is Awesome. Tom Wright read more

I loved my experience in buying a car from this dealership. They made every single process of getting a new car as easy as possible in a professional manner. read more

Stay away from this dealership. Its amazing to me they are even in business considering the way they treat people of color. My experience there including shaming me for my credit, questions upon questions about my income was harsh and cruel. I left feeling as if I was trash. Luckily my neighbor has just purchased from another Chevy dealership, so I went there the next day. My treatment there was totally different. I was told my credit was perfectly fine, and that Merle Stone, used my 699 fico and shaming me to try to convince me that only people with good credit get good deals. BTW a 699 FICO is Tier ONE for Chevy. I happily was able to purchase a new car and get 1700 more for my trade in and was not asked for any income documentation. I hope management at Merle Stone reads this and trains its employees especially the pig faced jerk in finance. I have told all of my friends and family about the cruel treatment I received at Merle Stone and told them to stay away from this dealership. I suggest you do the same. read more

Wish I could say Merle Stone Chevrolet was reputable.They fabricated a "dealer invoice" on the spot to substantiate an inflated price. They claimed to have "paid" more for the used car than the KBB retail price! What a scam! Not recommended. Will never purchase a car from them. read more

Horrible dealership!!!!! They will sell you a vehicle sure but if you have problems like I did they will do nothing to help you!! I bought a a brand new truck from them and it turned out to be a lemon. I had GM contact this dealership to do a repurchase of the vehicle and the dealership agreed but they refused to secure a vehicle or provide GM with documents needed to do the repurchase. Jason Martin is the worst, he never did anything to help my situation. I had to call and email him constantly and he never followed thru with anything!!! Worst dealership I've ever dealt with!!!! read more

I took my Chevy C1500 pickup to Merle Stone Chevrolet in Porterville, CA to have the oil pan removed and resealed. 2 years later, it was discovered by an ASE certified mechanic that the oil pan was never removed. Looking at it myself, it's pretty clear that it wasn't. Instead of doing the job properly, Merle Stone service department used silicone or some other substance to seal the leaks externally. I paid $647.47 for globs of silicone around my oil pan. These people are total thieves! I know this for fact because these crooks are the only ones who had ANYTHING to do with my oil pan issue. I will NEVER allow Merle Stone Chevrolet around any of my vehicles and you shouldn't either. Now that I've submitted complaints to BBB and BAR I trust their investigator will see the obvious. This is not the end. I will devote a lot of time sharing my story all over social media. Shame on you Merle Stone Chevrolet and your lack of integrity! You SUCK! I encourage ANYONE who has had any service done on their vehicle recently to go to another ASE certified mechanic and verify that you didn't get ripped off as well. read more

Glad Rodriguez in internet sales at the Tulare location was fantastic. I told him what I could do financially and he made it work for me. Great service. Thanks guys. read more

Ken and Billy were great to work with, everything was taken care of smoothly. Both of them called a few days after just to make sure I was completely satisfied. it was a great experience all the way around. read more

My experience purchasing my car was great, my salesman was awesome and the finance manager was great as well - but that seems to be where the greatness stops. I purchased a 2011 Ford Edge - used obviously - and within 5 days it overheated and literally shut down on the highway in the middle of the night. I had to have it towed to the nearest dealership, which was not Merle Stone. It took about 4 phone calls the next day to get anyone to even return one and even then, I spoke to 3 people who all said I would get a call back.. I'm currently on days 4 not hearing from anyone and day 5 without a vehicle because they won't call me back about supplying me with a rental car. Possibly the worst customer service I've received, which is incredibly disappointing considering how great they all were BEFORE they had my money... read more

Ask for David Gonzalez, such a awesome person to do business with he walks you through step by step and follows up a couple of times throughout the month to make sure all questions are answered read more