Dakota Motor Co

Reviews

Reviews are sorted by relevance, with the most helpful and insightful feedback listed first for easy reference.

  Andre Leaf
2 weeks ago
This was my first time at Dakota Motors. I went in looking for Subaru Forester with several in mind that I had seen online. Within a few minutes of arriving to the dealership, they had several choices of vehicles pulled up for me to look at and test drive. After viewing several vehicles, I found one that met mine and my families needs. Throughout the visit, I ended up work with three different employees. All three were kind, informative, and helpful without being pushy. My needs and concerns about the vehicle were addressed honestly and fairly and I left with the vehicle of my choice. This seems like a great place to find a used vehicle at a fair price. As with all used vehicles, do your research, ask questions, and do a thorough inspection prior to purchasing and I m confident you ll leave a satisfied customer too.

  Nate
3 weeks ago
Please do your due diligence and bring a mechanic before purchasing. Purchased a car and had thousands of dollars in underlying issues needing to be replaced immediately. The worst part, they did NOT disclose the car was in a serious previous accident. I am at a complete loss as the car is worth merely 1/3 of the price I paid Dakota Motors. I get the, we buy wholesale and it s as in condition is on the buyers negligence but should be able to trust a dealership. I contacted immediately and was told the same response, 30 day 1000 mile pitch. I am over for 2 hours away, don t have time to deal with issues that should have been solved prior to listing for sale.

  Josh Johnson
3 weeks ago
Should have listened to the comments and followed my gut. Pay attention to all the comments on vehicles lasting just long enough to get past the 1 month 1,000 mile warranty. They only care about the vehicles lasting past that. Had a bad feeling during most of the process. But was naive and didn t want to waste the time and effort I had put in already and purchased a 2015 Subaru forester with 136,000 miles. Noticed a problem where my suv seemed to be slipping gears and brought it up to have it looked at here at Dakota motor company while it was still under warranty. Couldn t find a shop around that would be able to fit me in before the warranty was up. I was told they didn t notice anything wrong with it and sent me back home. Now less than 7 months after buying it the transmission is broke and needs replacing. Was told they won t do anything for me since it was outside of the warranty time given even though they had looked at it within the 1 month warranty for issues involving the transmission.Also Bart, the man selling me the vehicle seemed to be annoyed whenever I brought up issues I had noticed with other vehicles I test drove.Side note, my Subaru Needs a CVT transmission and none of the shops near me will repair or rebuild them. They send them to the Subaru dealership and the delearship only puts new ones in for $8800, do the research on that as well.

  Naafey Sardar
7 months ago
Kudos to Bart and co. for ensuring I had the best car buying experience ever. I bought a 2015 Subaru Forester from them. The pricing is competitive, and all the vehicles on their lot are in pristine condition. I'll definitely be coming back to Dakota Motor Company if I need to buy another car in the future.

  Jamie Vanoosbree
a month ago
I've purchased several used cars in my life from dealerships, and I've never had to worry about checking small things because the dealership checks everything over or tells me something needs work - until now. I purchased a 2014 Hyundai Elantra in December from Dakota Motors. Because it was winter and my Subaru was still running, I didn't drive the Elantra until 2 weeks ago. I knew one of the tires on the Elantra needed to be replaced, and the salesman gave me a reduction in price for a new tire. Turns out, I had to replace all 4 tires because they were deemed "unsafe" by the tire company (dry rot, gash in tire, one of the tires was made in 2013, cords were showing on the inside edge of a tire). The alignment was off, too, so I had to pay for that when I replaced the tires. I also had to replace both headlights, and my windshield washer sprayers don't work. The steering wheel buttons for cruise and radio volume don't work half the time, and there's also a mildew smell to the car that's noticable now that it's warming up outside. If you're okay with having to check every little thing when you buy a car, feel free. But I will never go back to this dealership.

  cece
a year ago
how to edit my review because my experience has totally changed with this dealership. there ended up being a few issues with the car after I purchased it but Ryan and his team honored their word and took the car back to fix it with no issues. i am a few days out from picking it up from the dealership after it was worked on and so far all is well. I m super thankful for that and although it was such a huge hassle, Ryan and Jacob were extremely nice and friendly every time I came out there. they went above and beyond to loan me a car so I wasn t without a vehicle while they took my car for a few days. one of the mechanics is extremely rude and acts as if he s better than fixing cars, but the rest of the mechanics team, and the sales team were amazing!I was a little wary about coming here due to the negative reviews, but I had such a good experience with Bart and Ryan. They went out of their way to make sure I was comfortable and confident in my purchase, and were extremely affordable/reasonable with their pricing. They stayed late with no hesitation to help me and answer all of my questions, and walk me through the purchase and the cars details many times. I would recommend this place to anybody I know. Bart, Ryan, and the mechanics they have are extremely knowledgeable and friendly people !

  Dan Rigdon
a month ago
Bought a vehicle from them last month, it was definately not inspected. And comes bare pretty much. ( no owners manual, no floor mats, one key fob, dirty air filter, dirty cabin air filter, no cabin air filter cover!?!, blinker out, bad lower control arms, blinker out, door unlock issue, bad wiper blades.) They did agree to change the lower control arms after making me drive there for inspection. They are not oem of course. There profit margin is the only thing they care about. I asked about these issues a few times but any concerns you have are swiftly pushed aside. I'll never go again and regret ever doing so.

  Curtis Sorenson
3 months ago
Made my first and last wholesale purchase with Dakota Motor Co. Was told vehicle was inspected had no issues. After purchase found issues. Brought these issues to the owner's attention. He was extremely rude and disrespectful and did not care one bit. This was after his sales person pitched me on how they sell to a lot of dealers on repeat business and they would like to get my repeat business. What a joke whether you're a retailer looking to buy wholesale or a customer steer very very clear of Dakota Motors.

  Ashley Foreman
a month ago
They were very helpful. We found a vehicle better priced and lower miles than any others we looked at. There was no pressure to buy and they answered all the questions we had. Highly recommend!

  joshua Metzig
3 months ago
Before leaving this review I want to stress that I am of full understanding of the risks involved with buying a used vehicle.A couple of months ago I went to them in search of AWD vehicle and they had a few Subarus available. I decided on a 09 legacy. The night i drove the car off the lot a series of lights came on the dash including the check engine light. I brought to a shop to have the codes read, and it came back with a code regarding the catalytic converter.My vehicle came with a thirty day warranty which included that repair. I called Dakota motors told them my findings and they told me they would order the part and let me know when it arrives.Now things get weird. After 10 days of hearing nothing back I called them and they said the part was still on its way. After almost three weeks since buying and having the issues I called again, and they said oh yea the parts here bring it in. I bring it in wait two more days and then pick it up. So let s do some math a one month warranty, I reached out by my cars issues a day into getting it and waited three weeks for a part and then 2 days for the repair. Then a day later every single light on dash comes back on. And I now have a day left in warranty. With no time to get it back before it expires.I finally had some time this weekend and brought my car to another shop. The check engine code is the exact same as before. The mechanic said it looks like someone was dinking around in here and just stopped . The catalytic converter was loosened and had scratches on it, and in no way showed signs of it being removed and replaced with a different used or newer part. Now something that should ve been no cost to me is more than I d like to spend on a car that paid for straight up.The conclusion I ve drawn from these findings is they never intended on honoring their own warranty, just hoped the error codes would stay off long enough for the warranty to expire. That s a gross practice and something they should be ashamed of. If that s not the case then the mechanics are robbing them of their time and money. Both are legitimate reasons to avoid them at all costs. DO NOT GO.

  Evedna Pullis
4 months ago
We recently purchased a vehicle from Dakota Motor Co. We would definitely recommend them to others. They were great about answering our questions & allowing us to test drive as we desired. After we purchased, we had some concerns about the vehicle. When we called them, they immediately offered to look it over & address our concerns. They did just that. We feel they did right by us, and would shop here again if the need arises. Thank you for a great, no pressure shopping experience!

  Taylor Shay
2 months ago
Owner/general manager was rude as could be told me my vehicle wasn t what the badging and vin matched up as. Accused me of swapping parts to try and pull a fast one. Also told me they would swap parts from another similar vehicle to fix issues on current vehicle I was looking at buying.Edited:Location was in Farmington, MNWent to buy a Subaru crosstrek and when I brought my Silverado in older gentleman told me I didn t have an LTZ because the B pillar didn t match like on a Tahoe. When I told the guy trucks only have the badges on the tailgate he quickly got hostile and was rude. Called me a liar and didn t even bother to look up the vin before becoming hotheaded.Upon further investigation looks like they are a shady business and have tons of claims with the BBB of being unprofessionalCrooked people stay away. -100/10

  Benjamin Roberts
6 months ago
We came here to get a vehicle for my wife to replace our previous vehicle that we lost due to hail damage. After extensive research (a few dedicated weeks of online searches, test driving vehicles at dealerships and visiting small dealers) I found a few potential vehicles that I'll admit that I was skeptical about but they were enticing enough to want to see.Used car prices are significantly higher right now and that makes finding quality cars harder to discern. The wait times for new vehicles seemed really unreasonable to us (60-120 days) and so that made our decision clear that we were purchasing a used car.When we pulled up, just outside of the cities, I wasn't sure how I'd be perceived being a black man- I'm moreso sharing my vulnerability here, I've had uncomfortable encounters when I've been the person that simply sticks out and is not known in the community that I'm in- the anxiety of being a stranger went away IMMEDIATELY though. I felt right at home with the sense of humor of the staff (Bart was our first contact, Ryan was great, too!) and incredible customer service of everyone at Dakota Motors.They weren't rushing us as we tested like 5 vehicles and took our time to make sure we were making a decision we felt good about. They answered all of our questions, even the ones that felt dumb.I ended up finding a vehicle for me too! It wasn't the plan but they both were reasonably priced- so much so that it didn't make sense to negotiate the prices. We simply talked about the cost, we looked up the prices together and came to a consensus.The place was clean, organized, the customer service was amazing, the selection was quality, the financing was simple (we came in with financing), the prices were fair. I'll actually look here first next time I'm in the market!The things that needed to be fixed were with no problems and the closing was smooth.Great experience!!!!I don't think we'll be in the market for a be vehicle again any time soon, but when we are; this will be the first place we stop.Thank you for the customer service and quality vehicles!

  Rachel Fisher
2 months ago
RUN AWAY FROM THIS DEALERSHIP. DO NOT GIVE THEM YOUR MONEY. There's a reason they have such good deals, their cars are trash, and they don't stand behind their cars. I noticed a slight shake to the car during the test drive, and brought it up to the dealer, who said turbo engines just have a minor shake, because it holds more power and that's a selling point for people. I was wary, but I wasn't familiar with turbo engines so I trusted him. MISTAKE 1. Immediately after taking the car home, there was an oil leak I found. Knew that was a bad omen but I trusted them to fix it quickly. Brought it back, took them 10 days to repair (every day I called and they said "tomorrow it'll be done" and was strung along for 10 days) which gave me one day to drive it around town before I had to drive it across the country, which immediately cut the warranty off. I didn't have the luxury of being able to actually drive the car around for a bit due to their slow work. Once in TX, I had to get an oil change because it said "oil low" - SILLY ME for thinking Dakota would have topped up the oil after the leak. The place I got an oil change also said it had been A WHILE since the oil had been changed, like the oil was almost burnt, it was so dirty. And there was no air filter either?? I was also noticing more shaking with in-town driving, but I couldn't get in to see a mechanic immediately due to work schedule constraints and availability. So now I'm past the 30 day warranty though (and past the 1000 mile warranty) even though I took it in right at about 30 days since I actually had access to the car, after their 10 days with it. The first mechanic had it for a week and couldn't figure it out. I was waiting to see what the problem was before contacting Dakota, because I wasn't going to if it was minor. Now I'm in at an actual Subaru dealership. Turns out there's a cylinder misfire and it's holding almost no compression, so I will be out $5 GRAND for that. I called Dakota and they said they don't care since it's been over 30 days and I didn't buy the extended warranty "they almost always offer" well I was never offered any extended warranty. Never heard a mention of it. They said "they would never sell a car with a bad cylinder" WELL....they sold a car with an A/C that needed to be recharged, an oil leak, no air filter, low oil, and very dirty oil. And Turbo's are never *supposed* to have any shake to them, yet they sold me a car with that, too.Edit, because it s important: the vehicle I was sold ended up needing a complete engine replacement. The total cost was NINE THOUSAND DOLLARS. I hate this dealer and everyone that works there can go rot, they deserve to go out of business.

  Kristen Martinez
5 months ago
We recently purchased a Toyota Sienna from Dakota Motor. It was priced very competitively. Bart and Jacob were both friendly and helpful. We put down a downpayment and they held the van for us until we were able to sell our car, which was kind of them. I was reading previous reviews about cars needing maintenance right after purchase. I took the van to another mechanic a few days after buying it because I wanted to ensure it was issue free. The car came with a 30-day warranty after purchase. The mechanic found an oil leak and that the back brakes were definitely needing replacement. So - what the other reviews say is true - they do little to no maintenance on the cars they purchase secondhand. Definitely get a second opinion on a car if you re going to buy. I m grateful because I brought the van back right away and they honored the warranty - they replaced the brakes and they said addressed the leak, which I found out later they did not.Two weeks later my car started having more issues thankfully within the warranty time. Funnily enough - the exact issue they said they couldn t find. It honestly made me so frustrated because they told me they couldn t find an issue the first time. They obviously never looked.So I brought it back to them and they deconstructed the engine. Turns out the engine was in such bad shape it wasn t salvageable. They ended up ordering an entirely different engine from another van and installing it. It had 10k less miles than the original so that s nice, and they did eat the cost of it, which was a huge blessing. (Grateful they had integrity there.)DM had the car for a month fixing it. They did give us a loaner but the alarm kept going off on it and the license plate fell off and my husband got pulled over and given a ticket.The thing that got me though was they acted like they were doing me a favor the whole time, which was annoying. It s like hmm maybe should ve done your due diligence BEFORE you sold the car. Anyways The guys do not communicate internally at all. When we went to pick up the van the guy who acquired the engine wasn t there so we had to come back a second time to pick up the paperwork for the engine. Also literally no one called us ever. Over the month they had it fixing it we got ZERO phone calls. I had to call them and ask for updates 1-2 times per week.Anyways - after my story buy here at your own risk.

  Nancy Houlihan
6 months ago
If you are looking to purchase a used car, I highly recommend going to Dakota Motor Company in Farmington!! Because of their large inventory I do suggest you look through the vehicles on their website before you go so you have an idea of what you're interested in, I found it very easy to navigate through. Their prices are fair, the cars are in good condition and the staff is very helpful and friendly. We were lucky to have Bart, who is the Manager, assist us in the purchase of our vehicle and the process was fast and easy. I will definitely come back the next time I am in the market for another vehicle.

  Flips XD
4 months ago
This place will not help after your purchase I purchased a Jeep from here and found out my head head gasket bolts were loose. They did not help. They must not inspect the vehicle would not recommend buying from here.

  Adam Stachowiak
9 months ago
My wife and I just bought our new car from here. They made things as easy as they could have been. Let me take it to my mechanic with no problems and let us test drive. Was one of the least painful things we have ever done. Would definitely buy from them again.

  Justin G
3 months ago
Mediocre cars with "no room for negotiating" they claim, like every other dealership, that they have the best prices. They don't. Their cars aren't great. Wouldn't go back to even look at a vehicle.

  Doug Stephan
a week ago
Great place to buy used cars. I've bought 2 used cars there and have had great experiences.

  Taliah Danzinger
8 months ago
We worked with Jacob and had the absolute best shopping experience. He was incredibly knowledgeable and helped us find vehicles that matched our price point and needs. He was super enthusiastic even when showing us numerous vehicles and was never pushy. Probably the best experience we have had at a dealer! Highly recommend!

  Courtney Thomas
7 months ago
So I bought 2013 Lexus es350 here. I came across this vehicle on another site and thought the deal was too good to be true.Fast forward I called, they had this vehicle still available and my fiance and I took a tripWhen we got there the place is clean, I spoke with Ryan, because I already knew what vehicle I came for, I wasn't interested in looking around on the lot. Ryan was nice and got the keys right away for me to test drive. Fell in love with the car instant both inside and outside. The process was extremely smooth, Ryan didn't rush anything. He Just let you be and when you're ready, you just let them know.I was able to put holden fee o towards the purchase because I wanted to take it on my mechanic first.Fast forward, I took it to my mechanic which was all day thing because I don't live the in or near Farmington.My mechanic approved it. I got the checks ready and that was all she wrote. Side bar Jacob was amazing throughout the process of this. He was very friendly, patient, and kind. I didn't read the reviews here til after I put the Holden fee down towards the purchase, so I was little worried and nervous.i didn't know what to expect and the fee isn't refundable. Nevertheless, I got bless because the 2nd half of the process I was dealing with Jacob. I had no problems with any of the salesman s there. Everything was smooth sailing.I highly recommend but like anything else do your research and ask questions.Happy customer

  Brent Lageson
8 months ago
STOP!! Something seems off and you know it. The price is too low and when you call it doesn t leave you feeling like you want to deal with this salesperson.First ask them for the carfax before driving in. It was clear they knew it was in an accident even though they pretend they were looking it up for the first time.There was not transparency on the amount of damage on the vehicle, and a sassy attitude to wanting to negotiate over undisclosed issues. They made it very clear they are not commissioned, are rolling in money, and don t care if they get your business.We asked for a phone call if they drop the price further and the answer was No, you can call me I m the type of person to accept bad customer service if it saves me money, but ultimately we didn t leave because we didn t think the vehicle was worth the price, we left because of Bart and will not be returning.

  Kate E
8 months ago
Don t ignore the 1-Star reviews like I did.I thought customer service didn t matter, as long as the vehicle is right. Well, we got there after speaking with Bart. When we drove the Lincoln MKC we figured out it had, surprise, been in an airbag-deploying accident and had a smoky odor.When I requested (only) $200 off the price that he had quoted me earlier due to a variety of things (including the previously-undisclosed accident), Bart promptly let us know it s no skin off his back if we just leave. He became very dismissive and made it extremely clear he didn t care to have our business. He proceeded with pointed questions when I let him know I d share my experience with others. Said he s frustrated about his reviews. Well, gee, I wonder why.

  Jared Kouri
11 months ago
DO NOT BUY FROM THIS PLACEThey are your typical used car sales man slime ball kind of place. I bought a vehicle from them and it broke down soon after buying it, I brought it back to them twice and I expressed my concern of major problems with vehicle.They assured me if it was a major problem they would let me trade it in even if my warranty had expired. Soon after if expired the engine blew up . They then would not answer my calls or return my messages . Once I finally got ahold of them they said My warranty was up and what did I expect it was a used vehicle.Not a reprrpital place be careful

  Jessica Hughes
a year ago
We are two newlywed students whose only car was totaled in December of 2021. We purchased our vehicle from Dakota Motors in August of 2022. It was a reasonable price (not inexpensive, just fair) and while the service wasn't great, we were pleased with our purchase until the warranty from the dealership expired.At the recommendation of Dakota Motors, we decided not purchase an extra warranty to cover the time between the 30 days from the dealership and the 45 day warranty we purchased. At day 40, our vehicle's dash lights lit up. We needed a MAJOR transmission repair. Since we didn't purchase the extra warranty (at Dakota Motors' recommendation!) this was a major cost for us.This week, we took our vehicle in for some noise and braking issues. We just found out that our muffler is completely rusted out and needs to be replaced, and that the entire braking system needs an overhaul- new pads, new rotors, etc. on front and back. When we purchased 7 months ago, we asked about the brakes and when they were looked at. We were told they were done recently.This is the second major repair we have needed in just under 7 months. After 7 months, we have spent more than the same model would have cost us new. We realize there is a always a risk and general maintenance when purchasing a used vehicle, but Dakota Motors desperately needs to inspect the vehicles they sell more fully, if only to be able to properly inform buyers when the specifically ask about a part.This is the worst used car experience I have ever heard of and it is my own. The staff would likely argue that they make no warranties as to the condition of the vehicle- fair. They cannot be expected to inspect every part on every car that comes onto their lot and used car buyers generally expect there to be some issues and quirks. We were certainly not expecting the type of repairs we have had to make nor the price.Buyer beware or be prepared to spend thousands on repairs in the first year of ownership.

  B S
10 months ago
DO NOT RECOMMEND! They have proven all they care about is MONEY MONEY MONEY. I called the day off when a vehicle was listed. I was told they would send me a video of the body of the vehicle. (They never did this day). They were supposed to call me Monday morning, it was 11 am and I hadn t heard from them, I called them and they said it was still available and that they would send me a video. Never received anything for 4 hours!! This time I emailed them, they claimed they just sold the vehicle. They clearly don t care about their customers and they have proven time and time again, based off these reviews, all they care about is MONEY MONEY MONEY.

  Joseph K
a year ago
Hands down the best car buying experience I ve ever had. No pressure, knowledgeable and professional friendly staff. Process was flawless , thorough, and fast. They took extra time to have a mechanic look at the brakes and were extremely kind about it. I will buy all my future cars from this company.

  TRD Dan
10 months ago
Hope you don t like to have any communication when trying to buy a vehicle from this dealership. I called and sent messages about a vehicle they had listed for the last three day. Didn t hear anything back from them. Nice way to run a dealership. Save yourself time and skip this place!!!

  Augie Nelson
a year ago
I am not someone who often leaves negative reviews, so it took me longer than it should have to decide to write this.I went to buy a car from this dealership. It had the model car that I wanted. I took a test drive, and everything seemed fine. I went inside to buy, and all of the salespeople were cheerful and helpful.However, after I bought the car, only 100 miles into driving it, the brake-pads started screeching. When this dealership has its own shop, they have no excuse to not have seen that the brake-pads were terribly old. You shouldn't need to spend a couple extra hundred fixing a car only a hundred miles after buying.