The Autobarn Volkswagen of Evanston

These guys are terrific. I found a gorgeous low mileage Audi A8 on Internet. Only problem is I live in Atlanta and they’re in Chicago and was out of the country when I found the car. I must have called or emailed 8 or 10 times with questions and checking on the Audi. They had no idea if I was the real deal or not, but were polite and thorough and answered every question promptly. If my contact guy wasn’t there I got handed to another manager who was knowledgeable of my case. Zero pressure at any point. Just helpful people. Yesterday I flew in, picked up the car and drove to Atlanta. The manager Ben even stepped out in the street and stopped traffic for me to pull out of the parking lot.

I had really hoped to mend the nearly devastated professional relationship I had with The Autobarn VW of Evanston by reaching out to them when I had received a buy-​back offer for my vehicle. I understand that these are pre-​generated, but I still treated it as an olive branch to promote the rebuilding our relationship — which I had genuinely wanted to do. I sincerely believe in giving people (and businesses) second chances.
At first, the general manager was very friendly, responsive, and apologized for my prior experience (summed up in my first review). However, when it came time for negotiations, that is when everything fell apart — yet again.
As mentioned in my prior review, I had the wool pulled over my eyes and was victim to a bait and switch scheme, not to mention being lied to and completely deceived by their finance department. Needless to say, I had learned my lesson and used that experience to help negotiate for a potential new car and fair trade-​in value.
This is when all communication STOPPED. I had spelled out the terms that I was willing to work with the dealership on, of which, I was informed by the dealership that several of these terms would be accepted. When I had asked for the dealership to please provide to me, in writing, the terms they were willing to accept it was as if they dropped off the face of the earth. After numerous follow ups with the general manager, I had received absolutely no response, not even a «sorry, we are unable to accommodate you at this time». It makes me wonder what kind of shady business they are peddling, especially after providing supporting evidence in my reasoning behind the terms I provided.
Needless to say, our professional relationship has come to its final end.
Here are a few helpful hints to any potential customers of The Autobarn, based on my experiences…
1. Do your research. Read reviews posted on Unilocal,Google, Yahoo, etc. After reading the Unilocal reviews on this dealership, they do ring true to the experience I had.
2. Make sure to research the value of your trade-​in through Kelly Blue Book (KBB) or any other certified appraisal institution. Remember to bring all supporting documentation with you. I was totally screwed by them with my trade in two years ago.
3. Print the advertised price of the vehicle you are interested in and make sure the date is clearly visible as to when you printed the price. Do not let them walk over you and say «that price was only good for XYZ amount of time». No, if the price is still posted the day you both print the advertisement and go to the dealership, that IS the price the MUST work with you on. If they try to bait/​switch you, as they did with me, that can be viewed as misleading and/​or false advertising, which is illegal.
4. Think long and hard about the «extended warranty» they offer you. Make sure to read through the paperwork with a fine-​tooth comb and know/​understand what it is you are getting. This is where I was lied to by the finance department. They had promised me a certain perk to the warranty, which is the ONLY reason I agreed, but later I came to find they had totally lied about said perk. A great example of pressured, deceptive sales tactics.
5. Read through your finance contract with a fine-​tooth comb as well. I noticed too late after the fact that there were numerous inconsistencies on my contract. Another example of how their finance department works.
6. Again, I am going to reiterate this… do your research. Look at numerous dealerships in the Chicagoland area, don’t settle, and above all do not be bullied or pressured. You have the right to get up and leave at any time you feel they are mistreating or being unfair to you.
7. Make sure you document your entire experience. Who you talked to, what department they are in, what they said to you, their contact information, what piece of information/​documentation you provide to them, who their supervisor is, etc.
When I purchased my vehicle two years ago, I was assessed a title fee. They had claimed I had never turned my title in, when in fact, I personally handed the title over to a member of their finance department (who I will not name for privacy). After jumping through some hoops and providing them with the necessary documentation, I was refunded — but yet another example of why you want to cover all your bases.
8. Lastly, make sure they respect both you and your time. It took me ALL DAY to buy a car at The VW Autobarn through many unnecessary long meetings between the salesperson and his manager. You are the customer, it is YOUR time that they must respect — not the other way around.
Happy Car Shopping! The right dealership will make this experience amazing.

This is not the worst car dealership in the area. I will say that I thought I was treated fairly and with respect as a potential customer.
However, I can’t shake the fact that I was *willing and able* to pay their asking price for the car but they still wouldn’t sell it to me.
They wouldn’t budge on marking up the price $ 1,400 for unnecessary services they had already performed on the car. The first being a ‘bio clean’ service (dusting out the AC, removing mold and dander) for $ 900 and etching the VIN on all windows (you can get a $ 25 kit for this) for $ 400. This is an almost brand new CPO car and it doesn’t have any mold or mildew in the AC to clean in the first place. After an hour of negotiation, I walked away because I’m not willing to pay for unnecessary services that were marked up 500%.
This is Autobarn VW Evanston’s strategy for selling Certified Pre-​Owned Cars:
1. Set the online asking price a few thousand below KBB value to entice customers
2. Find out whether the customer is willing to finance or pay in cash
2A. If the customer is financing, negotiate for a while and then take off the bio clean and VIN fees because they know they can make a profit on financing
2B. If the customer is paying in cash, don’t budge on the bio clean and VIN fees to make more profit
3. Either they sell the car to you, or they sell it to someone else in a week
I can’t fault them for wanting to make a profit. Really, I understand. But I’m pretty sure that if I had paid their asking price, they still would have made a profit from marking up the price of the vehicle in the first place or they would have received a holdback fee from VW for selling the car (or both!). They just didn’t want to sell it to me because they knew someone else would come in who is willing to pay for unnecessary additions.
Buy from them if you really want the car, but be aware.

Gigi — where are you? Last time I was here, Gigi provided the best service ever. Now Gigi is gone, and so is the service. Starts with the waiting room. As I entered, no one said hello or asked to help. The service rep did finally step up and messed up my name. While wasting for him to check my car, another employee saw two men chatting about a car and a female mechanic checking the engine. He turned to me and asked: «do you out — believe that? The woman is the mechanic!». Service rep never did call me to tell me whether r my car was set (I called and he said — oh yeah, it’s ready). He never explained the costs. Another employee gave me a ride to the el. While in the car he said: you won’t be mad right? You have beautiful eyes.”. Mad — no. Creeped out — yeah (I’m in a locked car with you). When I came to pick up the car, another service rep asked me how service was and I noted that I was never called. He then proceeded to tell me that the person I spoke to was no good — berated him non-​stop. Dear me!

Spoke to Bogdan one of the Managers about Used 2015 Vw Beetle. Agreed to pay FULL Asking price + all applicable fees. Refuse to sell to out of state buyer. What a Joke !!!
Update 05÷20÷16
Manager Vic Said Car was sold. Car is listed online price Went Up by $ 1000 from original listing.

Great experience working with Matt Solotaire to purchase my 2015 Beetle Convertible R-​Line. It started with a
search where I could narrow down my possible choices and Matt was very responsive in working with me to work out the deal on a Monday and I picked up the car the next day. Great service and responsiveness when my local VW dealer was not working out. Thanks again Matt

Two words: Matt Solotaire. What an awesome sales guy! I went in looking for a used beetle, and walked out with keys in hand and feeling like I got a great deal!
To start, I walked in right when they opened and Matt was quick to greet me. We talked about my needs and he quickly got me into a bright red () 2013 Beetle. I have been car shopping for a while so I had the perfect one in my mind. We went for a quick test ride and Matt went through all the options the car had. I was really impressed because he was very knowledgable about the car.
Once we got back to the offices we started the negotiations. He was definitely on my team and was trying his best to negotiate the price with the finance manager. It took a while to get approvals because I lived out of state and they had to submit extra information, Matt say with me and kept me company while I waited.
I left a very very happy customer and if I ever need another car I’m going right back to Matt.
Thank you for a great experience!

I posted a review after my first experience. This is an updated review after my second experience.
My Second Experience:
Vic, a manager, helped me this time. I only went back because of the price of the car, and the fact that it had slightly lower miles, and lower cost than the other one I was approved for. The salesman Vic put me in touch with was Mario, I believe. Vic completely saved the day and helped me have a completely better experience. I highly recommend you see Vic when you go in. He is friendly. He actually gets customer service. He treats his customers well. He offers much less BS than a typical car salesman. I respect the guy.
Let me tell you what to look out for now. Yes, even with Vic.
They will list the car at a certain price, but that isn’t actually what they will sell it to you as. The sales person will try to sell you on some services. One is a 2 year thing that includes things like towing up to $ 100, tire repair, and a list of things. It was offered to me for $ 1800 or $ 1,900 or something, and then later lowered when I declined it. Then the sales person offered me some bio/​chem thing that they do to the car for $ 399 or $ 499. Lastly they offered some VIN etching security stuff for $ 199. **Here is the kicker. While it was offered to me, and I declined, the last two things were already done to the car, so Vic expected me to pay for it. I told him that he should have listed the price of the car low, without including those add ons, if they were expecting customers to pay for it. He showed me the verbiage on his website as why I had to pay it. «*Pricing of vehicles on this web site does not include options that may have been installed at the Dealership.» So all I have to say to that is, post the price for what you add if you want people to pay it. Please and thank you. I didn’t need the bio/​chem crap. I didn’t ask for it. I didn’t want to pay for it. I didn’t ask for the etching on the windows, but they already did that as well. The salesperson offered to me as options. Vic came in and told me it was already done. So I should pay for it. Long story short, after some back and forth, Vic took lowered the bio chem cost drastically, and I still didn’t want it. So, he took it off. The etching I wasn’t going to argue that much on, so he lowered it to $ 79. He said that was his cost. So, that is the ONLY thing I say watch out for. We shouldn’t have to go in expecting one price and then have to pay for their add ons. That’s a shady business practice. Other than that, I had a GREAT experience. I would go back to Vic.
After a day of having the car and not driving it much, the hubcap was missing. I park it in a secure garage, so it was not stolen. I called Vic back and asked him if that’s a common thing for them to come off right out of the lot. He said it wasn’t and he would replace it for me at no cost. That’s customer service. That is a guy I can recommend others to go see.
They have called back and checked in. They have told me if I need anything to go see Vic. I’m a happy customer. I had the best possible experience for working with a dealer and used car salesmen. :D Thanks to Vic and Mario! I’m a loyal customer now.

Incompetent customer service «advisers» and SLOW as molasses no matter how many vehicles appear to be being repaired.
I’ve been here four times and currently am writing this during my final visit. Today, all I needed was a new battery and I’ve been sitting here for almost FIVE HOURS. The service «adviser» has quoted me two different wait times and they both have been grossly longer than he said. This has happened every single time I’ve been here and I’ll never come back again.

If you do business here make sure you by some credit insurance. This dealer is constantly leaking personal information to other parties. In the past they have refused to fix the issue when confronted. Credit card information is at risk.

For anyone following my saga of car ownership, you will note that this is my third review or so of Autobarn VW of Evanston. You’ll notice that I bumped up the review from 4 stars to 5. I traded in my 2009 VW Jetta 2.5 S for a 2015 Jetta 1.8 TSi because their prices were so low and my other car had just run through it’s warranty. This most recent interaction really pushed my experience with them up to five gleaming stars.
Patrick in sales and Danny Bronny (if you are following the saga, he was the salesmen that sold me my previous car) really pulled off an awesome, pleasant, and overall positive process for the purchase. Patrick was patient and understanding of even my tiniest needs, such as getting a car with 4 matching tires and wanting a car with even 2k miles less. He even lent me money to buy dinner for me and my gf so I wouldn’t have to run to the ATM. Danny is genuine, friendly, and was really happy to help me with the financing of my upgrade.
My advice is that if you are not satisfied, take a deep breath, and communicate with them. I contacted Patrick about a non-​functioning power port and possible fuse being blown along with hail damage being spotted after my first wash on my new car. He responded quickly and had his manager, Narcis, involved. Narcis took care of all my issues at no cost to me! He wanted to make sure I was satisfied with my purchase and hail damage is usually caught by their inspection. So I dropped off my car and they even set me up with a loaner. They had the hail damage out in a day and I was back in my ride before I knew it! Narcis and Patrick made sure I was satisfied from start to finish and even looked over the car with me before I drove it off.
I will highly recommend Autobarn VW of Evanston to all my friends and colleagues. In fact, a co-​worker complimented me on my new car and asked about it, and of course told them all about Patrick and Danny and my positive experience with Autobarn.

Customer service was pretty good, but the only complaint I have is when I got my car back I just realized there were a few scratches on the rear number which not there when I took my car in for service.

Took my car in for service today. I am very happy with my visit, I was approached by someone as soon as I drove in. Elaina took care of me, gave me an estimated wait time and called back 10 minutes earlier than I was expecting. Overall great customer service and I will definitely come back!

Update: Richard was very kind to contact me about my previously poor experience in April 2014. However, I’m sorry to say that my negative impression of this business has only increased. When we purchased our vehicle the salesperson told us that updates to our GPS were included in the purchase/​service contract. We were surprised to hear that because it sounded too good to be true; so we asked again, and he reiterated that they would be updated as necessary during any regularly scheduled maintenance. A year later we get a mailing saying there is an update we need and it will cost $ 150. We were surprised to hear that, albeit not surprised that we were ultimately misled by this dealership, and further confirming that we will never consider this establishment for any future business.

From the moment i walked in I knew something is going to be wrong ftom the way the salesperson aproached me to the end of the deal I looked at few cars and. I ended settling for a car 2014 vw toureg and asked for the carfax, salesperson asured me that the car is clean and not to worrie, and I signed all the paperwork and now 2 months later I find out that this car has been involved in a accident and the airbag is been deployed. SCAM ARTISTS BE AWARE !!! THE MANAGER TOLD ME THAT I SIGNED THE CARFAX AND AS FAR AS HIS CONCERN I’M SOL. and hung up the phone laughing sarcastically.

The sales experience was pleasant. Danny Bronny is good at his job and is the only reason I can give Autobarn more than one star. If this review was limited to sales, it would probably be a 4 star review. Unfortunately, service is a real problem.
I had three negative experiences with service. No positive experiences. 3 strikes, you’re out. I thought there was potential for the last experience to be better after meeting the service manager, Aidan, but his lack of follow through and refusal to speak to me while I was at the dealership (he was supposedly «on the phone») sort of ruined the experience.
This was after the service writer, working on absolutely zero facts, let me know he was doing me a favor by not charging me to diagnose the check engine light on my 2013 Jetta that is under warranty. Did I mention the check engine light came on 12 miles after I left their shop after my scheduled 30,000 mile service? The reason I would normally be charged for this diagnosis? «It could be related to the accident you had in the vehicle», I was told.
«The fender bender that happened two years ago caused my check engine light to come on 12 miles after your technicians completed my 30,000 mile service? Makes sense. Please give me my keys.»
And that was the last time I ever did business with Autobarn Evanston or any of its other dealerships. I did try and call the general manager of the dealership but he didn’t call me back. He told the service manager (that I had the problem with) to call me back. Makes sense.
If you’re looking for an alternative, Fletcher Jones is a completely different experience. Call Adam in service and tell him you’re another victim of Autobarn and I guarantee the extra time it takes to drive to Clark and Maple will be made up by the time you save by not having to wade through the BS that Autobarn’s Service Department is peddling.

Purchased a car from Fiat across the street. Salesman told me that I can get a free oil change and service there.
I booked an appointment at 11am, now is 12.20 my car haven’t moved from the spot I left yet, 12.30 they told me that they dont have filter for my car and it’ll take 30 min to get it + 45 min for oil change. What’s the point of appointment then if you still have to wait so long… and they don’t have parts.

We are very happy with the 2012 Jetta that we recently purchased. The Autobarn of Evanston has a great inventory of VW’s and one can really find the right car there.
We did have some snags along the way, including an unusual situation with the car that we got which was not anyone’s fault, but everything was resolved promptly by the staff of the Autobarn. Disa, Katy and Anthony took really good care of us and did not get frustrated by the situation at hand — even when we did. They made sure we understood the car buying process (first time for me) and worked hard to ensure that at the end of the day, we are satisfied with our purchase. When our vehicle was getting some minor body work done, we had a really nice car to drive, while ours was being fixed perfectly — it looked brand new even though it was a used vehicle.
Car buying can be a difficult and confusing process. Take your time, find the right vehicle, and you will be a happy customer, just like we are! The staff at the Autobarn will take good care of you.

We had come here after a mishap with some original payment not reaching the financed bank for a friend’s car. We were told we can trade-​in old car for a new one but when we reached there, that was not on the table as planned. really poor service. I do not want to come to this particular place for another car.

I had a great experience at the Autobarn Volkswagen of Evanston. I traded my 2012 Jetta GLI for the 2014 Jetta GLI Autobahn. The experience was quick, easy and professional. I’m a Volkswagen fan — so I bought with confidence.
My sales rep was Jeff Westney — who was friendly, not pushy and made the process easy. This was my first purchase from The Autobarn — and I can say it exceeded my expectations.
Wouldn’t have a problem coming back in the future.