TOYOTA DEALERSHIPS ARE SOOOO BLOODY UNETHICAL!!!

[Taverner]

OK...So it took me 3 days to even find a dealership which would special order a Prius. You see, the way Toyota Dealerships sell Priuses is they are allotted so many cars - and when they get them (do to the demand) they load them up. So a $20K car is now selling for $30K. Since they are only allotted so many to sell, they will not accomodate the special request of a car not loaded down. It's not as if I want a base Prius, I just don't want the FUCKING SEALANT, ALLOY WHEELS AND GOLD (PUKE) TOYOTA EMBLEM!!!!

So I order the Prius, and then they call back a month later and say they have my car but when I arrive, it's, well, loaded down. "We thought you wanted the gold emblem?" they say, lying through their fucking teeth. I know damn well I told them all I wanted and they calculated what it would cost...and of course they can't change anything, noooooo....

:grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr:

:nuke: :nuke: :nuke: :nuke: :nuke: :nuke: :nuke:

[King Of Paperboys]

1. Know why they do it?

Because they CAN.

[Taverner]

2. Exactly!

:grr:

[pagerbear]

3. So refuse delivery of the stupid car

[Taverner]

4. I did...I walked out

And I assume they found someone else to sell to...there's a high demand here.

At least I have the same car on order from other dealerships.

[billbuckhead]

5. That's how monopolistic capitalism works. It's not them, it's us

In the long run, that additional profit will encourage a high resale value and more competitors coming into the market. Don't think that FordGM-GermansMINI-NissanRenault-Koreans-etc dealers aren't whining to the their reps about why they don't don't have a hybrid.

You might look at the new Volkswagen diesels. In your area, you might be able to buy biodiesel.

[Taverner]

6. I have an aversion to biodiesel

The processing involved can be more harmful than petrol processing - and and the number of stations that sell biodiesel is scant, even here in CA.

Honestly, I'd rather have an EV...and install solar panels on my roof. Be nice to NEVER have to pay anyone for power again!

[tandot]

7. I bought my Toyota Corolla 4 years ago (used, a 1998 model)

I was trying to get the price lower. The sales person went back to "talk" to the owner of the dealership. He came back that he couldn't do anything. So, I bought the car, since it was a decent price and the car was in good shape. I bought the blue book ahead of time to inform myself about the price.

The next day (Saturday) I opened my newspaper and the car sales ads. The photo of MY car (I checked the number) was offered for $2000 cheaper than I paid for it the day before. I went back that Saturday, with the ad, saying that they screwed me big time. They gave me a check for the $2000 Dollar, the amount they would have received less if I wouldn't have bought the car the before day. So, if I wouldn't have raised hell, I would have paid $2000 more.

I am extremely careful with car salesman. You can't trust them!

[Kat45]

8. Some of them are, but not all of them.

The Toyota dealership in the town where I live IS unethical. I had terrible dealings with them on two different occasions, 15 years apart! Needless to say, I did not buy from them. Then I went to a Toyota dealership in a town about 15 miles away, and they were wonderful. Got a good deal on a good car.

[GCP]

19. Which was the bad one?

Was it Lexington Toyota who Barnicle's always shilling for on 96.9?

[Kat45]

23. It was the one in Watertown.

The good one was in Woburn.

[SarahB]

9. Sorry about that.

It's good you moved on. :thumbsup: The more people who take a stand and do not let themselves get screwed by dealerships, the more they will have to realize that in order to make more sales, they'll actually have to be a bit more ethical in the whole process.

[jobycom]

10. I got mine on Ebay

Had to watch for a couple of weeks. There are a lot of dealers who put a Prius up to see how high over sticker people will bid. But there are a few sellers dumping them for one reason or another. I bought mine from a guy in Connecticut who sold it because it was white, and he wanted one in grey to match his Mercedes and his Porsche. So when his special-ordered one showed up, he sold his on Ebay. It had 1300 miles on it.

If you see one, use the buy it now option, unless that's jacked up too high. If the person is trying to sell it, the Buy option will be reasonable. If it's set high, avoid the car, the seller is probably just fishing for a ridiculous price. I've watched dealers, especially, yank the car an hour before the close of the auction, then relist it a week later, hoping for some moron to bid higher.

[eyesroll]

11. The Chrysler dealerships were doing that with the PT Cruiser a few years

ago...they'd even up the price by $5000 under the guise of a "dealer fee" (which is perfectly legal, since it was right there on the sticker -- the MSRP is not legally binding), and then the salesguy pretended he was doing us a favor by knocking it down a grand. I guess, on one hand, it's business -- if people are willing to pay $5K over the MSRP, then so be it.

But -- they ordered one for you with stuff you didn't ask for? (I've never ordered a car before -- do they take orders in writing, or is it just a "when we get more, we'll call" order?)

We didn't buy a PT Cruiser.

[ForrestGump]

12. Toyotas are the cars for me, but as excellent as they are, most of their

dealerships seem to tend to be very off-putting. Especially true of the bigger ones. I seem to recall that Toyota has a particularly bad reputation for that, at least in the US. I've run into some absolute scum among Toyota salesmen.

[lojasmo]

13. You can run your VW TDI on SVO (straight veggie oil)

If it's filtered. $400 conversion. You can get a used TDI for 10k, and convert it, and run it for 300k no problems. Bank on it.

[henslee]

26. what is a TDI?

[TreasonousBastard]

14. They're car dealers...

so what do you expect? Hot selling cars always have ADP added to the sticker. If you really want to have fun, try to find a plain Legacy wagon, not the Outback, at a Subaru dealership.

Me, I'd go out and buy a '99 Escort for three grand cash and get 35mpg overall, saving a hell of a lot of money over what I'd save with any hybrid. And, there are at least a dozen new cars under 15 grand, and even more under 20, that give a realistic 30+ mpg. For around 25 or so you can even get the baby Mercedes with a six-speed that gives acceptable mileage, albeit on premium.

Back when the Miata came out and Mazda limited production, people paid a couple of grand over sticker and resold them a week later at a profit. They screamed bloody murder year or two later when Mazda upped production and anybody could get one at a decent dealer price.

No doubt the same will happen with hybrids.

[Scottie72]

15. The toyota dealership I got my new vehicle from

dragged their feet in sending in the courtesy pay-off for my previous lease.

I gave them the 30 days the said they were entitled. Once that expired I went back in to find out why it wasn't paid. I was in constant contact with my old lease company and toyota. By the time 2.5 months came I got so frustrated I contacted a consumer rights lawyer.

She IMMEDIATELY gave me the number to the financial manager number.. (a number which I asked for but never got the right person from toyota) gave me her name, told me to call them and tell them that she said to get it fixed today. I did and things finally got rolling. Now during this time between the agreement and their payoff I was still paying for my old lease along with my new vehicle.

Once it was all paid off I got a call from the customer service rep, that I already knew very well, she wanted to offer my a $75 dollar credit for service. I told her no, that I was not interested in taking my car there for service. I ended up taking my new car for service to the dealership around the corner from me (the same one that I took my old car to) I did get my new car there because the selection was just very poor. They do however have a very good service center.

[dbt]

16. Taverner, be GLAD you didn't buy a 98 Sienna van or Camry!

The V-6 engines in these vehicles had a design flaw that resulted in oil turning into Jell-O. The vehicled with this defect smoked like a bar full of Claremen on Cup Day. This happened to my van at 52,000 miles!

Toyota would not honor its own fucking warranty regarding these vehicles. Toyota tried to tell me it was MY FAULT that the engine failed; that I had not changed the oil--or that Jiffy Lube lied about changing my oil.

I was forced to shell out five thousand dollars for a rebuilt engine. Meanwhile, about 3,000 other customers were in the same position: engines failing at 40,000-50,000 miles as the oil turned into Dapper Dan Hair Pomade. And somehow it was all the fault of the Customer!

Toyota stonewalled and denied me for a SOLID YEAR over this crap. Then, the company announced a Goodwill Gesture. They would reimburse customers for replacement of engines WITHOUT ANY ADMISSION OF FAULT ON THE PART OF TOYOTA.

Too little, too late. I will NEVER buy another Toyota product of any sort. That company would not stand behind the piece of SHIT it sold me. They will never see another dollar of mine.

:grr:
dbt

[gpandas]

18. now,now, don't knock the perfect jap cars. n/t

[GOPisEvil]

20. now, now, please don't use terms like "Jap".

Those of us who happen to have a parent from Japan might not like it.

[gpandas]

21. did not think it was offensive...

just a brief way to type. should i be offended if someone calls me a yank?

[Kickin_Donkey]

28. Here we go again ...

The term "Jap" is a racial slur on par with "nigger." Go that?

It's not the same as "yank" or "brit" or "aussie" or whatever shortened form of a nationality you can think up. Those examples are not offensive because they are not slurs.

"Jap" is a racial slur of the worst kind. I know. Don't try to defend something that you obviously know nothing about.

[Deja Q]

17. Corporate america, this is not atypical behavior... is it cost effective?

And are those cars cost effective considering cost and theoretical lifespan?

[Renew Deal]

22. All car companies do stuff like that.

Refuse the car. It's not what you asked for.

[lanparty]

24. They're car salesman ...

What did you expect ?????

[LynneSin]

25. This is NOT a Toyota only thing

When I use to sell Dodges, they did the same thing for the first year or so of the Dodge Viper. And folks would pay for them because they really wanted them.

It isn't Toyota, it's the fact that you're buying a car that the dealership knows they'll make money off of it

[RoadRunner]

27. Something doesn't compute here.

First, you ordered a Prius and it arrived one month later? My brother order his in November and it still hasn't arrived. I ordered mine in January and am still waiting. But yours got there in one month?

Second, Toyota dealers take a deposit when you order a Prius. I paid a $1,000 deposit, as did my brother. But you walked away from the deal and had orders with other dealers? What happened to your deposits?

Third, Toyota dealers give you a receipt when you order a Prius. The receipt shows exactly the equipment that will be on the car as well as the exact price you will pay. It's a contract: they sign it, you sign it. Don't you have one?

Something doesn't compute here.