[challbod]

Having dealt with this dealership whilst leasing a new car I can only say they are the worst bunch of liars / thieves I have ever dealt with.

1; neogotiated AND agreed price of vehicle , ran credit check, given lease cost.
2: took pregnant wife back (joint lease), ran her credit ,finance arranged,
finance officer (Alan Latifzada))
"would you like FREE upgrades?", (lo jack, DVD, paint warranty ? , extended warranty, "electrics fail quite early on this model",
asked if these were really free, "yes absolutely, no charge at all"
eventually took a couple of "FREE" options
Got home and re-read contract, all FREE options had been charged on top of agreed vehicle price to bump up purchase cost.

= turns out her credit was even better than mine, getting a lower % finance charge, but instead of giving adjusted lease payments (ie lower) tried to bump up price of vehicle + "extras" to reach higher payments.

Called dealer got some BS for 10 minutes before I threatened to drive car back and call police.

Got re -written contract, FREE extras taken off, original cost of car financed.
The dealership tried to buy me off with free servicing for ownership of car which I didnt take.

Reported to DMV , Police Fraud dept, Office of Fair Trading.
2 months later wifes identity stolen and used.
First question by police was "have you purchased a car recently???"
coincidence?
Stay away from MARINA DEL REY TOYOTA, every person I dealt with there was either incompetent or a liar.

[seeseegee]

wife and i got our '06 4R from MallofGA. we were actually going to drive to Charlotte, where we would have gotten an employee discount of sorts but they ended up giving us a good enough deal for us not to make the drive.

the one they had in stock didn't have leather but all the other options so they gave us a loaner 4runner until ours had the leather installed.

the sales guy was new so he kind of bumbled around while we dealt with a manager of sorts. after some walks to and from the little manager desk, he finally agreed on our price.

[marjnap]

Great site to avoid dealer scams:
Car buying tips

I also used Fighting Chance to get the best deal.

I like both of these sites, really opened my eyes to the BS they pull and to prepare for their crap.

[ProMed]

This is a long, but very interesting article from Edmunds: Confessions of a Car Salesman

[alirawk]

I don't find these guys to be any more swarmy than most other dealers. I was looking for 2016 TRD 4runner -- they didn't have any, but brought me in on the promise of something better, sort of. Went and saw the Trail Premium. Went over the differences, and not much jumped out other than suspension and some aesthetic badges I don't care about anyway. The biggest difference was that the Premium comes with a moon roof and that's not available on TRD. I was sold, especially knowing that I was going to be replacing the suspension, bumpers, skid plates. I got a fine deal from them. Were they any better or kinder than another dealer, no -- just close.

It was more the blue whale painted on the side of the building that keeps me curious about them. Maybe that's why I bought it.

However, I called a lot of other dealers and they all were adding several thousand dollars to the MSRP for TRD's and Premiums. MDR toyota was not. That was a big perk.

[socalmatthew]

Good to know, thanks for sharing