Ion Cars

I just bought a used Lexus RX from Salem Mansoir at Ion Cars in Jack London Square, Oakland, CA. Excellent, fantastic experience start to finish! I had been looking for a couple of months for a Lexus RX. I found his ad in the morning before he opened, he answered the call anyways, he texted me photos upon arriving to work, and tested the electric trunk with me on the phone. He agreed for me to test drive it that am to my trusted mechanic (Jimmy at Precision Auto in San Leandro). Jimmy said he was impressed with the attention to detail and part choices for upgrades that Salem did to place it on the market. Said it was very clean, safe, reliable, and an excellent purchase choice! Jimmy also said the price was great, and so did Carfax. I immediately went to the bank and bought the vehicle! Salem was super organized and efficient and quick with the paperwork when I brought the cashier's check. The vehicle is for a nonprofit and Salem knew how to do all of the DMV paperwork appropriately!

The first few days of owning the vehicle, I drove it over 1k miles, even off roaded it, and there were zero issues.

I highly recommend Salem's super clean vehicles and excellent customer service!

Salem is really accommodating and frank. He's flexible and makes purchasing a car an enjoyable tailored experience

another update: had to replace my entire AC compressor for $1800, then a month later my transmission line went out while driving. it's in the shop now with another pricey fix. only had the car since May and already put in thousands of repairs. still have yet to recieve proof that they had done the timing belt/water pump work even though he just gave me a random belt at signing stating it was the old belt. he could've just plucked a belt from any old car as he has a few getting work done actually in his dealership/shop.

just beware and maybe bring the car to a mechanic for a full inspection before buying. save yourself the hassle.

Salem and crew at Ion were so wonderful. They made it fun and easy for us to purchase a car, and were very clear during the paperwork process. Thanks!

"Would you buy a used car from this man?" Absolutely! My partner and I were in the market for a used Mini Cooper and found one for sale at Ion. Salem, the owner, spent a great deal of time with us showing a car he had on offer. He was knowledgable, down to earth, honest and a lot of fun. He gave us good deal on the car and put absolutely no pressure on us to buy it. In fact, he was quite patient in answering all of our questions and dealing with our indecisiveness. After a several months, a couple of problems showed up on the car and I mentioned them to Salem after a repair shop wanted to charge us a lot of money to tend to them. Salem and his mechanic fixed them for free! My experience at Ion makes me want to buy more cars from Salem. In this climate where we one has to be so weary of being ripped off in so many ways, it was so refreshing to find a trustworthy business, one where you feel better for having patronized it.

"Buy it in Sac"
"Have your Dad on speaker phone when you settle on a car"
"Just bring a guy with you."

... this was some of the advice I was given when I set out to buy a car after 7 years of the transit/carshare hustle. But being the stubborn engineer that I am, I was determined to buy this car by myself. But visiting a dealership after dealership was an exhausting and demeaning experience.

Ion had a car I was interested in, accessible by transit, and 5 stars in Yelp!? As soon as I met Salem, I knew why. He impressed me with his customer service and treated me with respect. No tomfoolery.

He answered my many questions, was amiable to getting the car looked over by a dealership mechanic of my choice before I purchased. He even got me better financing than my credit union.

and now this 2013 Honda Civic Coupe EX aka "Mochi" is mine!

I waited 6 months to post this review, truly made this car buying experience a great. I reccemend anyone looking for a car to check Ion out. Even if they don't have what you're looking for that day, keep checking because the experience is worth it.

I had the best experience buying a car from ion cars.
High quality cars, honest pricing.
Bought a car from them 4 years ago, best purchase ever.
Highly recommended

Couldn't be a better experience in buying a car in the Bay Area than at Ion Cars. I got the best deal on a used Hyundai Accent. Salem has lots of option in terms of make and model of cars and I felt assured that I was getting the best deal.

This is not your usual car dealership. There are no sales guys trying to pressurize you into something substandard and rip you off on the interest.

Salem was very upfront about the issues with the car I was interested and did not hide anything and it made the decision making easier. Once I decided to buy the car, the paperwork went very smoothly and I was out with a fine car on the same day. I was proud of supporting a local business.

Next time I need a car, I am DEFINITELY going back to Ion Cars.

Thank you Salem for the following:
-Never did you pressure me into buying anything
-Your first impression was just what I needed; calm, cool, collected and quirky
-You were matter of fact, and let me have time to 'think things over'
-There was no 'shtick'
-The paperwork to actually buy the car, took no time at all (who has time!)

After visiting a handful of 'dealerships' that had jerked me through pages of paperwork, pulled me through meeting multiple people, waiting and more waiting, and answering hundreds of questions, all this just to get one answer, I was over it. We came into Ion Cars and had the exact opposite experience. THANK YOU.
As we were talking things over, multiple people from the neighborhood would walk past and its as though you knew everyone's name. This was important to me because it shows that you are part of the community, not just 'in town to make a dime.'

Salem is exceptional and his cars are outstanding.....friendly, honest, professional and knows his business inside out.
Extremely helpful navigating the bank politics applying for a loan....its so refreshing to find and deal with someone who is completely upfront and honest!