Empire Auto Group

I purchased a Honda S2000 from Empire today and am very pleased with my experience. This is a nice family owned business, and they were great to work with.

I researched many other vehicles and was hesitant to buy a salvage vehicle. Prior to my visit, I wanted to save time by calling and asking questions. I spoke with Jay who was upfront that the vehicle I was interested in was "salvage" so I knew beforehand. The vehicle I bought is in excellent condition and although it was in a prior accident, the vehicle is in awesome condition.

When I asked if I could have the vehicle inspected by my own mechanic, they were very willing to. They took the vehicle from La Mesa to Escondido at my request.

They negotiated a good price and were a pleasure to work with. They also assisted me with a great financing solution with my existing financial institution.

Thank you!

DO NOT buy from this scam artist dealer!!! Jay CANNOT be trusted!!! I came all the was from LA to buy a car thinking I was getting a great deal. Little did I know I was in for a real treat!

First off, right when I got there and looked at the car, every question I had asked before coming he totally ignored. I asked if the car had scratches and if brakes and tires were good. He said there was barley any scratches and everything is good. Got there and the car was quiet scratched up and all 4 tires and brakes nearly bald. The battery had to be jumped so that reset the car's computer. Since I thought I was getting a great deal and came all the way for LA I gave the dealer the benefit of the doubt and bought the car anyways.

I drove the car back to LA and next day went for a smog test and failed the first time around. Also dealer said the car was registered as nonoperational, but when I went to register the car, found out it was not registered as nonoperational and had to pay over $900 in registration and late fees. After I drove about 900 miles the car's check engine light came on for 02 sensors and catalyst converter...It's not a coincidence that the light came on not even a month into purchasing the car. For sure he deleted the codes when the lights first came on because it takes awhile for the light to come back on at which time it's been a little while since I bought the car and too late for me to do anything.

I see that some people got lucky but the ones who got scammed really got scammed. STAY AWAY FROM THIS PLACE IF POSSIBLE!!!

I was looking for a hard to find car, and thought I found one at this dealer with low miles and listed at the KBB value for the specific car and miles, however I just found out the car is a salvage title. Nowhere does it state that the car is salvage on their website, which is why I put 1 star. It should be clearly stated a car is salvaged.

It is also way over priced if salvaged, as they listed it near kbb and true car value for a great condition clean title, not salvaged.

Too good to be true, sorry I wasted my time looking at it online and heading there to check it out I saw other yelp reviews discussing salvaged titles and called to inquire and sure enough it's salvaged.

They say their customer service is good which I can't say I've experienced, but I'm very upset their website shows so many details but leaves out the title status.

I have now bought two cars from this dealership. Have been very satisfied both times. Any problems I have ever had they've taken care of. They are fast. Friendly. Easy to work with. I will come back for all future car needs

Just bought a 2011 Cadillac CTS , due to my financial situation it was a very big Hassle to get rid of my old car and get me in a new one. However, throughout the process jay and his brother stuck it out and crunched numbers until we found a solution that was beneficial to both of us.
I am not sure what the negative review was about but within 5 minutes of looking at the car I went there to see, I was informed that most of the cars on the lot had salvaged titles. I was provided a Carfax and pictures of the car after its accident without even asking. this is exactly what I expect from a used car dealer and I will definitely be back when it's time for another one. Big thanks to Jay and his brother for getting me into the Car that I went there for.

This was the most honest and genuine car business I have ever come across. My husband and I felt immediately comfortable and were relieved that we didn't have to deal with the typical in your face car salesman. Highly recommend going here if you are interested in purchasing a vehicle!

SALVAGE TITLES! LOOK OUT!

Every single car on the website of Empire Auto Group in La Mesa is listed as "very well maintained" and they say there is a free CarFax but they don't give you access to that CarFax. They also make it a little tricky to get the VIN Number.

The pictures look good, and the price seems surprisingly reasonable - why? Because these cars have all been in major accidents and were determined to be non-repairable by the insurance of the owner who totalled it.

These cars are all SALVAGE TITLES which means this used car is a HUGE RISK. But they do not indicate this anywhere on their website. Instead they claim they deal with trust and respect. Really?? A car that was completely totalled and has a Salvage Title is described only as being "very well maintained"??

If you want to gamble on a Salvage Title vehicle I might recommend you not go to Empire Auto Group - their online presence is not at all honest about the fact that they are selling cars with a Salvaged Title, so why take an extra risk with a dishonest used car salesman?

p.s. - at least 3 positive reviews have been removed by Yelp - usually this is because it is suspected they were written by the owner/friend of owner. If you look at the positive reviews make note of the similar writing styles, same things mentioned, and same grammatical errors in every single one. I would suspect that Jay may be the only one who has glowing (fake & dishonest) reviews of this place.

I drove all the way out to La Mesa area from my house which is close to 200 miles to find a car. My '07 Si was totaled three weeks ago and I needed a car STAT but I was not settling for anything less than an Si. I walked in the office and Jay greeted me. I told him I was interested in the 2009 Black Honda Civic Si sedan and he showed me pictures of the car right away and I didn't even ask to see them. Very honest and straight forward about everything. He didn't give me a dirty look cause I was a girl asking for a sports car either like I've received before! But the price was right on the car and I was sold on it. Very happy with the service! Thanks guys!! I would DEFINITELY recommend this place to people!

I came in to Empire auto because they had the car I wanted at a great price, a ford Focus ST. I came in and talked to Jay and told him I was interested but I was still shopping around to see if there was another place with a better price. Nope. I went back a week later ask Jay about the car he was honest and knowledgable about every detail and was able to answer any questions I had. In the end I drove away with my new ST. I couldn't be happier with the car and the experience that I had with Jay and Empire Auto. Thank You.

I referred a friend to these guys because they had the exact make and color of Mercedes CLS AMG my friend was looking for a white on red model. The owner Jay was great he was able to not only sell the car for an excellent price but also threw in extras such as tint, custom trims and also personally delivered the car to the house in Orange County.