Maguire Automotive

I know that many say bad things about Maguire, but I had a great experience! I have been working with both Matt in Trumansburg and Richie in Ithaca for awhile in hopes of trading my 2013 Corvette in on a new Z06. I was able to work on a deal and Richie made sure I received all incentives possible to make the best deal possible. I would decently recommend anyone looking for a new car or truck to stop in and talk to either of these gentlemen.

Beware of bait & switch tactics. They have a 3-​day return period on their vehicles during which their website will NOT list them as sold. You’ll come up to the lot and they’ll tell you it’s gone, but look at these other cars instead! Be cautious.
I’m further lowering my score to 1 star due to incompetent service. I had the help of two employees NEITHER of which managed to find either of the two vehicles I pointed out to them on the internet. I don’t understand why it’s so difficult. If anything, they need to fire their database manager, s/​he seems to be screwing things up completely.

This was the first time I ever thought about buying a car through the internet. I used
and the only dealership that kept coming up with excellent deals was Maguire family of dealerships. I wanted a Toyota camry with low mileage and not over two years old since I am a sales agent and put over 30k miles on a vehicle each year. I have been very impressed with the sales agent, internet contact and the follow up almost monthly via emails, etc. This has far exceeded my expectations since I did only buy a used car. In a few years my wife will be in the market for a Toyota suv and my son will be given this car. I’ll then be in the market for another camry or an avalon. You better believe that my search will begin with Maguire.

This review is for the Hyundai/​Subaru service center only – I cannot comment on the buying experience here because we purchased our Hyundai in Arizona.
Very good service experience. I took the car in for 60k service and to investigate a possible warranty issue. They were very professional, fast, and they provide a free shuttle that drops you off and picks you up when the car is done. They did everything as expected, and within the price range quoted, plus fixed the warranty issue free of charge. I wouldn’t hesitate to go back down there for any service needs.
Nothing happened in my experience, but I did get the impression that they would be quick to solve any issues that might have occurred. They are on their game!

Yesterday my boyfriend and I went to two Maguire dealerships to look a specific cars he was interested in. At the first dealership, the salesperson knew absolutely nothing about the model he was interested in, except that the one they had in stock was red.
The salesperson at the second dealership was more knowledgable but completely ignored me, to the point of asking for our names, getting my boyfriend’s name and turning away. He then asked what we do for a living, found out what my partner does then kept talking without waiting for my answer. He also slammed the passenger seat back into my knees when he switched from the driver’s seat to the passenger’s. I guess I just wasn’t really there.
Same salesperson also refused to talk about anything to do with the cost of the car. Apparently they don’t talk to women and don’t talk money. Just what I’m looking for in a dealership. When we decide to buy, we’ll be buying from another dealer.

A few years back, my Prius had an electrical system shutdown. I had always used Kent-​Brown for service, having purchased the car there. Since I live in Ithaca, I opted to call Maguire.
They accused me of creating the problem by leaving an interior light on (not true). They took 3 days to fix the problem, which required they work under the hatch deck. They pulled everything — rug, deck cover, tool kit, and battery cover — and tossed it alll into the back seat. When I called to complain after retrieving the Prius, the service manager thought it was funny. They overcharge and provide no customer service, and get away with it, since they are a monopoly in Ithaca. Bill Cook Toyota was the same; Maguire merely bought his dealership and changed the sign. Try Williams (formerly Kent-​Brown) in Horseheads, or Fox in Auburn.

I took in my VW for its 30 000 mile service. I had a 1:30 appointment and didn’t get my car back for over four hours. Customer after customer who came in after me got their cars back before me. I waited at least 20 mins when I saw my car finally get pulled out and parked. I assumed someone would notify me it was finished. I finally went to the counter and said I notice my car is done can I have my keys? The guy who waited on me was beyond unprofessional and had an extremely flippant attitude when I asked why the issues weren’t resolved. There is cold air blowing in from outside into the glove box. It isn’t from the vent you can open, like the guy claimed. It comes through the back. Still does. Shocker. The ipod cuts out sometimes and the car has to be turned off and on to restart it. He claimed nothing was wrong with it. The driver side door handle area rattles with bass from the speaker but none of the other 3 doors do. This was also denied and not addressed. Tires are supposed to be rotated and they weren’t. Air pressure was low in one tire and all 4 had different pressures when I checked afterwards. I have no incentive to create lies about the car. A dealer does however have incentive to deny the problems exist. I was laughed at by the guy at the counter and told that these problems don’t exist. i simply shook my head and signed the paper so I could get my keys from him. What a professional establishment. Don’t take your car here. If anything, the bbb and attorney general should be the ones receiving this review and not Unilocal.Unreal.

We just purchased a 2015 Sienna from the folks at Maguire and we could not be any more impressed with how well it went. Our salesperson Deavon was great. She was very knowledgeable, accommodating, honest and worked fast to get the deal done (we had our three kids with us). The offered us bottles water and coffee often. There was a great playroom for the kids in the service area for times that we had to wait for processing. I’ve dealt with other dealers in Ithaca and I must say, my experience here was night and day. We definitely feel like our purchase was fair and we are totally satisfied! Thank you!

The folks at Maguire made the impossible, possible! I live in Virginia, but my hometown is Ithaca, NY. I found a great deal on a Jeep Cherokee and wanted to lease the vehicle. Leasing a vehicle in Virginia is tricky enough as it is with all the laws and tax requirements and leasing from out of state is even trickier. Other places flat out refused to help me, but Maguire took care of all the paperwork involved making it super easy. Thanks! Big kudos to Kyle, Richie, and Pat for all your efforts!

I wrote this review and posted it under Maguire Ford Jeep Nissan (Or whatever the other Maguire Unilocal listing is), but since I was the first to review there, I figured no one would see what I had to say. So, I’m posting this listing here as well because I do think they need to work on their customer service. I’m also updating this review since I’ve received some more info regarding this almost-​transaction, and I feel it adds to the overall experience.
My husband and I recently went to Maguire to check out a vehicle I saw online. It was listed for a GREAT price, and I was quite excited because I really liked the looks of it. That was the end of our good experience with this dealership.
When we asked about the car I saw online, we were told that the vehicle we saw was already sold (I’m not sure it was ever available in the first place), and of course, they had nothing else in that price range. They did have a few of the same year, make and model, but they were about 3−4k higher in price. I asked the salesman why those particular vehicles were higher, and they said they’d discounted the one I saw online since it had sat there awhile. I asked if there was anything they could do on the price of a comparable vehicle, and he said no. They could not change the price on those cars until they’d sat on the lot for 90 days.
So, we test-​drove one of the more expensive cars and did like it, but when he went to crunch the numbers, even though he KNEW my budget beforehand, the salesman brought back prices that were significantly higher than what we wanted. Like $ 200-​more-​per-​month higher.
We haggled and he argued with us when I said I didn’t want a warranty because it cost too much, and it really felt like I had to force him to give me numbers without adding the warranty in. Then he brought back a set of different numbers that was closer to my budget, but still quite a bit higher. I felt very pressured to agree to those terms even though it was over my max budget, so I said yes and THEN he went to the banks to try to get us what he forced us into agreeing to. Sound kind of backwards to you?
During our (very long) wait to see what the banks said, we were forced to listen to another salesman sing a long Broadway showtune for his customers, who had just purchased a vehicle from him. Yes, I’m serious. He climbed right up the stairs to a landing about 8 feet above our heads, and belted out some long, rather depressing showtune. He had a great voice, but methinks it was neither the time nor the place for such a performance. It was weird, and made us very uncomfortable.
After the LONG wait, the Maguire salesman stated the banks wouldn’t loan us money, so we left without a vehicle after 2 hours of waiting and another 2 hours of dickering with him when we first got there. I truly felt a bit embarrassed by their attitudes, like we weren’t ‘good-​enough’ to shop there. They even told me that «one bank had made a counter-​offer, but the terms were so bad that it might as well have been a No.» They kept pushing us to put money down and when I finally agreed and said I could put a little down there, they sort of turned up their noses at it, stating such a ‘small’ amount wouldn’t matter. It was really sort of rude. Do you want money down or don’t you? Why ask for it then turn up your nose?
I was sure there was something out there for us that would work for our situation, so out of curiosity, The VERY NEXT DAY, I pulled up Maguire’s website, and lo and behold, the VERY SAME VEHICLE WE WERE BEING BULLIED INTO BUYING WAS NOW BEING SOLD FOR $ 1,000 LESS!!!
It became very clear to me that these people didn’t WANT to sell us a car. Had they wanted to, they would have discounted the price then and there. They wouldn’t have made us feel like the scum on the bottom of their shoes. Seeing that vehicle advertised for $ 1,000 less the very next day felt like a slap in the face. And since this whole debacle about a month ago, I’ve received letters from the banks who «declined us» and it was never about our credit. It was just due to the negative equity in our trade
So, I went to a different dealership (Simmons Rockwell) the following week, bought the same year, make and model as the one I looked at at Maguire, and not only did I get more for my trade-​in, I also got a great interest rate, no downpayment AND an awesome warranty, all for over $ 150 less per month than Maguire wanted to charge me for just the car without a warranty.
At Simmons Rockwell, I didn’t get the rather rude comments about the banks’ willingness to approve me. The salesman at Maguire made it sound like we had NO chance of getting approved, and my Simmons Rockwell salesman worked hard for us and gave us an awesome interest rate without making us feel embarrassed about us financial situation. In fact, it was the best rate we’ve ever gotten while car-​shopping.
Bottom line: I will NEVER shop at Maguire again. I’d much rather go where I’m wanted.

Good service

This review is for service department at Toyota. Overall great job. Nice covered drop-​off area for the car. Spacious front desk area. Waiting room has comfy chairs and a TV. There is also Wi-​Fi and a separate business area with computers and space for a laptop. Oh, and a kids area that is closed off, but has windows. The free shuttle service runs frequently enough and will drop off and pick up.
My only complaint is that, while the free ice cream is a nice touch, charging $ 1 for a can of soda to wash it down seems odd. Rather they have free soda, but that would be less novel and more expensive (fewer people want ice cream than soda).
Other areas for improvement are service times, which are highly variable (as with most auto places) often being done earlier or later than expected. But the car wash is a nice touch.
Finally, they need a better system for phone calls. Numerous times I’ve gotten stuck in a cycle of holding, waiting, person picks up and asks how they can help (it’s the general front desk), they transfer me, I wait, front desk picks up again, etc. It’s pretty annoying.

This is a review of the VW service team. Great customer service. Friendly staff. Prompt check in. They checked back multiple times to make sure they understood my service needs and to provide a status update. The roomy lounge provides free wifi, making it easy to work remotely while waiting for service to be completed.
My only criticism is that the noise in the waiting room is a bit overstimulating. They have both the TV and radio playing (not to mention the sound of chatter of employees working in the background). The music ranged from hard rock to country. Perhaps muting either the TV or the radio would provide a more relaxing environment.

I strolled into to Maguire Toyota on the off-​chance that I could return my current lease a few months early and get into a new car before leaving town for the summer. Ryan Salino was the first to meet me at the door, and he patiently waited for my lengthy explanation about why I was there (let’s just say that my case was complicated after over a year out of the country and an unhappy DMV), before calmly letting me know that he could help right away. Long story short, the defensiveness that I normally have when speaking to car dealers was soon completely gone. I returned later that day and Ryan was completely up-​front about my options, listened to my needs, explained that he was not under any incentive to sell me a particular car, option, or after-​market service. He stayed 2 hours after closing (much to the dismay of the others who were helping him), and even though the purchase was still incomplete, allowed my us to take the new car home so that we would cap-​off a busy day with a rewarding experience. The next day we wrapped-​up the sale (which included Maguire fighting to get me the best financing package despite a few hits to my credit). My last car (Toyota Camry) purchase was at Maguire as well, and the person who served me then (Rue – now working the imports) was as honest and helpful as Ryan. They even credited me with the outstanding balance on my Toyota lease so that I could apply it to my new Kia lease. I’m starting to be less afraid of the whole process thanks to these guys. Never thought I’d get this far. I would recommend them to anyone. I’m sure there may be some stray characters at the dealership who aren’t as great as Ryan or Rue, but I’ve yet to meet one.

I recently bought a new VW at Maguire Volkswagen, and my experience was very positive. Alvin Fernandez was polite, friendly, and clearly a car enthusiast in addition to being a salesman. He was honest about the good and bad aspects of the car I was buying (a 2014 Sportwagen), and seemed to care more about getting me the car I would be happy with than the most loaded out model possible.
The dealership in general is clean, well air conditioned, and well maintained. On site insurance office is a huge plus for me moving in from out of state. I also hate haggling for prices, so the «Maguire Family Price» policy was actually a big plus for me too. Finally, I was able to take my dad for lunch while they prepared the paperwork, then just come back and sign things straight through and drive off.
If you want a new VW (or Audi, Volvo, etc.) in Ithaca, definitely pop down to Maguire and find Alvin, he’ll get you what you need and make sure you’ll be happy with it.

I appreciated Chelsea’s comment, but I tried to call twice and she was unavailable both times. I verified her email with the person that answered and sent an email offering to schedule a call or meeting, but I never received a reply. So, I stand by my previous comments. Customer service is really an afterthought.

I have had two experiences with Maguire at their Volvo Service department.
The first was when I came in to have a headlight on my Volvo XC90 replaced. Retrospectively this was foolish, as it is very easy to replace the headlight yourself. However, I had recently bought the car (an ’07, used) and when reading the manual thought I needed a special tool to remove the headlight casing (in fact you just slide two bars up to release it). I got charged $ 25ish for the bulb, and $ 30ish for the service. This seemed reasonable and was — I got my car washed and sat in the nice lounge. I wish retrospectively that I had known that for $ 14 I could have bought a replacement bulb at Napa auto parts and spent 10 minutes to replace it, but Maguire did a fine job.
The second time I came was for a 72.5k mile inspection. Two things aggravated me about my visit. First, on the evening drop box paper work I indicated that my rear license plate bulb was missing, as I had bought a replacement bulb but forgotten to install it. The next day I get a phone call saying that without the bulb I cannot pass NYS Safety Inspection. I said I would take it in a couple days later to do the test once I install the light. Of course, I still got charged for the inspection even though they knew I’d fail.
Second, I indicated I had been unhappy with braking/​tire performance, and asked them to take a look at both of them. I wrote that they felt «funny» or something to that extent. They reported that the breaks were fine, and that the tires had plenty of tread, although the front left was worn more than the others.
Fast forward a few months, and at another service department (Capital Volvo in Albany) I confirmed that the car HAD BEEN driving funny. The reason was that my DEM sensor was not functioning, deactivating the AWD system and turning my car into FWD. This was compounded by the fact that my front left tire rod was broken. As a result, by this December the remaining tread on my front left tire would not have passed the NYS safety exam.
Given that the Maguire report indicated my front left tire was more worn then the others in July, and I had only put an additional 2,000 miles on it between July and December, I am confident that both of these problems were in place when I had my car serviced by Maguire. As a result, I had to buy brand new set of tires. I also had been in several situations where I did not feel in control of my car in light snow, including during Thanksgiving 2013 when I witnessed three cars go off the road as well as numerous accidents along 81 and 80. Even something as simple as pulling out of my driveway had been a challenge. If Maguire had found these problems (the DEM sensor was detectable using a computer scan) in July, I would have avoided these problems.
I am sure that Maguire could argue that these faults on the car are not things they check on during routine maintenance visits, and that I would have needed to say «I think my AWD might not work» like I did at Capital Volvo. However, I’d rather go to a place that goes above and beyond, rather than the bare minimum. Needless to say, I will avoid Maguire Volvo at all costs.

The girlfriend took her VW here for a much-​needed alignment. The shady Audi/​VW service writer with the slicked-​back hair informed us that the camber was way off on both front wheels and the right rear, and because the camber is not adjustable, the next step would be to replace both front and rear passenger side struts for $ 800 and see if that fixes the problem, but there was no assurance that it would fix the problem. First, this car doesn’t have struts in the rear. Second, the camber was off in opposite directions in the front, which implied a shifted subframe. We went to another shop that correctly diagnosed a shifted subframe, loosened the bolts, shoved the subframe over, and dialed everything in to the very center of the factory specs. Looking online, this is a common issue with these Audi/​VW cars. How the dealer could not figure this out is beyond me.
I’ve added a star because the parts guys have been very helpful, both for routine stuff like oil filters but also for obscure clips, electrical pin contacts, and even a major brake component. When you have the car apart and find you forgot to order something online, it’s good to have a solid parts department nearby to get you out of the bind.

I brought my Volvo here for service for several years, but the customer service was mediocre– although the van dropoff service was nice– and I felt that overcharging and overselling was common. For example, during an oil change visit, they quoted about $ 35, but when the bill came, it was $ 55– they had added a bunch of small things and just inflated the price of a simple oil change.
I had a small dent in one of the front bumpers and they quoted $ 1500 for the repair. They wouldn’t consider a «good-​enough» repair to improve the cosmetic appearance, which should have cost much less.
This was the pattern with them. I’ve settled on Ithaca Foreign Auto Service, (which only handles Volvos) and my experience has been much better.

I have very mixed feelings about Maguire (Nissan) — the managers here are great and considerate of your problems, but I’ve had quite a few issues since purchasing my car here a few years ago.
In terms of their SALES department, I am an educated young female and found the rep I was working with unprofessional and extremely pushy; entirely lacking in «customer service». I asked to work with another rep, which they said they would grant, but in the end didn’t. In addition, when I picked up my car there were no floor mats. Their justification, «it’s not listed on the sticker that it come with them. My argument, «it’s not listed that it doesn’t. What brand new car doesn’t come with floor mats?» For the price I paid, I think they could have thrown in (the less than $ 80) floor mats and not left such a bad taste in my mouth!
In terms of their SERVICE department: I was very appreciative that they corrected a billing issue for me by providing a free oil change of equal value. Only problem? I dislike coming here because it takes AN HOUR and they really prefer for you to leave the car there. I find it unreal when I can go to a dozen other places and be out in 15-​to-​30 minutes tops! I never saw free ice cream, but there is coffee.
BOTTOME LINE: be cautious and weary. Maguire has the market and completely misuses it.