Perhaps Matthew Hoffman, owner of Hoffman Lexus, should change their motto to "Driven by Deception" which is a much more accurate description of their business philosophy.
Matthew Hoffman's personal secretary, Tara, and his General Manager, Sebastian Chodulski can't be trusted. They both displayed deceitful, dishonest, and treacherous business practices, which are detailed below. Let's focus on the major Deceptive practice, although there were and still are unresolved issues.
Here are the timelines and topics of conversation:
Oct. 17, 2026: Saturday: Purchased and paid in full a LEXUS RX350 with the agreement the damaged windshield will be replaced with OEM LEXUS glass.
Oct. 18, 2026: Sunday: Return Lexus for brake and rotor repairs that were incorrectly done the previous week.
Oct. 22, 2026: Thursday 2-2:30pm: Conversation with Matthew's personal secretary, Tara. She understood to replace the windshield with OEM LEXUS glass. I confided in her that I did not trust Sebastian would follow thru as promised (install OEM LEXUS) because of his unprofessional behavior and comments regarding a different Lexus I considered the previous week. I specifically expressed concern that he instead might install an after-market windshield, which is lower cost and a lower quality alternative. Tara stated she will put my Lexus on "Pause", immediately, meaning no work will be done until she investigates my concerns and would provide me with an update before any work was performed. I also requested not to deal with Sebastian going forward. She never called me back and ignored my request regarding Sebastian.
Oct. 23,2026: Friday morning 10:24am: Sebastian, the General Manager, calls to inform me the OEM LEXUS windshield will be installed, but is nationally back-ordered. It will take 4-6 weeks to arrive. In the meantime, the car is safe to drive.
Oct. 23, 2026: Friday afternoon 3:53pm: Sebastian calls me stating an after-market windshield was installed, come get your car.I requested he transfer the call to Tara and his response was "she doesn't want to talk to you". I then asked to be transferred to Matthew Hoffman's line and his response was the same. I requested a full refund and Hoffman keep the car. Total refusal.. He stated its registered in your name, come get your car. I then called Tara, left a voicemail requesting a return call which never happened.
Oct. 24, 2026 Saturday: Upon arrival, I went to the Service Dept. who informed me the Sales Dept. directly scheduled the windshield replacement: meaning Tara and Sebastian had to coordinate the selection, decision, and installation of the cheaper glass.
Although they did not replace my windshield as agreed, they did give me 2 unexpected "gifts" when I picked up my car... An extended wait because they couldn't locate my key and a nice deep scratch along the door and rear quarter panel.
I acknowledge and read how community oriented Hoffman Auto appears to be, however, the paradox of Hoffman Lexus seems to be the creation of a false goodwill persona based upon dishonest business practices.
The company's claims of goodwill conflict with the deceptive practices
described herein and by other customers, raising the question,
"Can goodwill be genuine if it accomplished through deception and dishonesty? "
This pattern becomes clear in numerous customer accounts, which repeatedly describe misleading communication, broken promises, and dishonest treatment by Hoffman Lexus.
This is my unfortunate experience and my observations regarding Hoffman Lexus of East Hartford. It will be revealing if Matthew Hoffman will correct these wrongdoings or continue the same path.
Either way, Trust and Integrity are becoming rare qualities, and it is forums like this to help keep everyone informed so they can make smarter buying decisions. read more