Balboa Dodge - San Diego, CA

Visit Geno's Garage for Truck accessories.

The most recent reports are at the top of the list; the oldest are at the bottom.

Sales=Avoid, Service=Avoid, Parts=Avoid, bought there=No, scv_there=Yes, Buy_DaimlerChrysler_again=No,
Balboa dodge totally blows. I went in to trade in my 99 ram after years of taking it to them for service, and then they do a pre-trade inspection. Well, my 'perfect' ram that I had just had a 60k service done on has over 3k of 'necessary' repairs and is not worth squat to them. This is a flawless vehicle, and the service dept. Does a total runaround on me, killing any hope of getting a new Hemi by lowballing me on my trade-in. Not to mention that I was continually pressured into considering a loaded SLT four door model with 4x4...total bait and switch on a regular cab I wanted with a Hemi...difference in price was over 10k. This dealership should be avoided for service, parts, and sales at all costs!!!
Billy 6958641
Number of dealership visits=1, Last visit date=1/20/04, Date report submitted: Jan 24 19:04:26 EST 2004
Note: this "perfect Ram" and "flawless vehicle" was rated "reliability=Unsafe or Totally Unreliable" by Billy in the survey. Something doesn't make sense here.  DaveF

Sales=Excellent, Service=Poor, bought there=Yes, scv_there=Yes,
No problems when buying my 2002 Ram. However the last few visits resulted in very poor customer relations. I was told that my problem was normal operation and all vehicles had the same problem. It was later learned from Chrysler that this was not true. The rep was very argumentative and threatened us like we didn't know anything (I have work in the automotive repair industry for 12 years).
Number of dealership visits=5, Last visit date=9/2/2003, Date report submitted: 04 Sep 2003 13:31:39

Sales=Don't Know, Service=Avoid, bought there=No, scv_there=Yes,
I recently took my truck into Balboa Dodge to have the look at a problem where on acceleration the air coming into the cab stopped coming out of the A/C vents and switched to coming out the Defroster. When I lifted off the accelerator there was a small "Pop" and the air would return to coming out the vents. They were not able to resolve the problem and stated that it was going to have to get worse before they could fix it. Then I went back several days later just to talk to another service advisor and he stated that they would need to keep it for several days and would probably need to remove the entire dash.
On my own I did some research on the web and found Multiple (+50) sites where this exact problem was listed. Then I actually found a TSB (TSB 24-01-96 Rev. A) which described the problem and the fix. A $7 fix!!!. So I bought the part and did it myself and sure enough the problem is fixed. My complaints here are (1) Rather than just rely on memory it would seem each service advisor should know where to find TSB's. (2) To convey to a customer that it will have to get worse before we can diagnose it and fix it is just about the worst thing that could be said to a customer. I'll avoid this dealership in the future for both repairs and purchases.
Do your research before taking your vehicle to Balboa Dodge. They either won't know how to fix it or will attempt to charge you an arm and a leg to make guesses about what might be going on.
Number of dealership visits=Many, Last visit date=6-15-2003, Date report submitted: 29 Jul 2003 11:37

Sales=Don't Know, Service=Poor, bought there=No, scv_there=Yes,
I had taken my car for service to this dealer for the past 4 years. Prior to this last time, the service had been good which is why I kept returning. However, this last time will be the last. They had my car for a week in order to replace a water pump. Each day I would call to check the status and be put on hold at least 5 minutes before speaking to the service advisor. When I did get to speak to him, it was like I was talking to him for the first time all over again with details such as name, car, when I brought it in, and what was wrong with it. Finally, it would register with him who he was speaking to and then he'd say "I'll go check with the technician and call you back." Well, he would never call back. After waiting several hours, I'd call again to begin the whole process.
Finally, after six days they had my car running. Now I have my car and it's running fine, but they've disconnected the car alarm so I will have to get that fixed....
Tracey Snipas
Number of dealership visits=4, Last visit date=7/22/02, Date report submitted: 24 Jul 2003 21:44

Sales=Excellent, Service=Don't Know,
I have been to every Dodge dealer in San Diego county looking for the best deal on a truck. The best service I have ever gotten was at Balboa Dodge. In particular, salesman Richard Ames was fantastic! Went the extra mile, courteous, knowledgeable, even honest! what a change. I would go there again, in particular, to Richard. He will shield you from the piranhas, and take the hassle out of buying a truck. Too bad they all aren't like him. Balboa Dodge looks good because of him. What is wrong with all these Dodge dealers anyway??? Aren't they concerned about consumer satisfaction? If they keep this up, they're going to drive all us Ram devotees into the car lots of the Rising Sun! Top management---wake up!!!
Date report submitted: 19 May 2002

Sales=Don't Know, Service=Excellent,
I've taken my 98 Ram to this dealership 4 times in the last 3 months for various warranty. Had an appointment and they got to the work right away (not like some dealers that put warranty work in the back of this list of vehicles to do). Each time they had the Ram ready when promised. When they had to replace the radiator (took a day to get), they gave me the option of them putting it back together and me bringing it back the next day, or just leaving it with them. Lots of dealerships wouldn't give you that option. Good job Balboa Dodge!!!

Sales=Don't Know, Service=Good,
I normally have this Dealership service my vehicle. They have up until this point been pretty good. The last time I found grease stains on the door and hood. But what got me to post this is last Friday as I was waiting for my vehicle, a man pulls up in his Ram (He had just left) complaining to the advisor. Apparently he was missing 3 keys that had been attached to his Ram key when he brought it in earlier. Advisor told him that he would have to wait till Monday because the mechanic had already left. The owner then stated that several vacuum hoses had not been reconnected and now his heater only put out air through the defroster. Man!!! Balboa Dodge really screwed up with this customer.

Dealership Rating:
	Good sales department, good service
	Fair sales, fair service
	Conflicting or not enough information
	Poor Service or Poor Sales Department
	Avoid like the plague!!
	Don't Know or No Experience

This page was edited on: February 26, 2007