$#*! My Dealer Says

"Don't worry if it doesn't have a sunroof. I can have one cut in cheaply. They have come along way and it shouldn't leak"

Note this was Nissan not Toyota. My Toyota guy was great even if I knew more about the T4R than he did.
 
"Gold happens to be the most popular color."
-Says the sales guy when I went with my buddy and his wife who were looking for a used Rav4. She said she didn't like gold but they had 4 used Rav4's... 3 Gold and 1 White.

I asked him then why are there 3 Gold ones still sitting on your lot and no "un-popular" colors like Blue, Red, Gray or Black like she was interested in...

He couldn't answer.
 
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Okki said:
I inquired about some plastic parts (TE rocker panels to put on my Limited) at my local dealer and this is the response I got from their Customer Service Manager:

"Didn't you buy the truck elsewhere? because our parts department can't find you in our system. If you bought your truck in Cincinnati, you should buy your parts there. Our parts department has no interest."

This was from Butler Toyota on the North side of Indianapolis. Unfortunately they are the only dealer here on the north side so I'll be dealing with them for the 2 years of free maintenance that came with the truck, but I hope their service department manager has a better attitude towards service.

Okki
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I looked at a 3rd gen there and was not impressed by their staff at all. They would not come down off the price even though it had a dent and was missing the hitch. Needless to say, I didn't buy anything from them.
 
Will733 said:
"Gold happens to be the most popular color."
-Says the sales guy when I went with my buddy and his wife who were looking for a used Rav4. She said she didn't like gold but they had 4 used Rav4's... 3 Gold and 1 White.

I asked him then why are there 3 Gold ones still sitting on your lot and no "un-popular" colors like Blue, Red, Gray or Black like she was interested in...

He couldn't answer.
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My uncle owns a small car dealership and refers to brown-ish cars as "stickaround brown"
 
Stopped in at new, very large, Toyota dealer. Not one 4Runner on the lot. Maybe one Tundra. Dozens of Highlanders.

Walked inside, straight to office that said manager.

Got any 4Runners? I asked.

Manager looks at me like a US customs officer would a bald-faced liar.

"No."

How come?

"We don't sell many."

Well, I ventured, maybe if you had some on your lot, you might sell some?

The same look. Like I was a freak.

Thanks anyway, I said, and left. You'd think the response, even if they didn't have one, would be: Ah, man those are hot, huh? What colour do you want? Sit down, and let's find you one.

Nope.
 
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I bought my 4Runner in February. The salesman told me next month Toyota is coming out with a Trail Edition and I should check it out.

I didn't buy from them.

Another dealership showed one with the options I wanted on their online inventory. I called the Internet Sales Dept and asked if it was still there. The lady told me it was without hesitation. I explained to her I had already been quoted a price from another dealer, but they were having problems locating a vehicle. I told her I would come down that night if she could match the deal. She said she could. When I got there, she went looking for the truck then came back and said it was sold a couple of days ago. While I didn't like the fact that she lied to me, I was ok with it and my wife and I started walking out the door. Before we could leave, the manager stopped us and wanted just 5 minutes of our time. He walked us down the hall sat us down in his office and proceeded to ask me if I worked for the military? I said no. What about the police department? No. Fire Department? No. Then he asked what I did. After I told him I was in sales, he said "Close enough. I can give you our special pricing". He then gave us $500 off the MSRP. I shook his hand and said thanks, but no thanks and we got up. He wanted to keep negotiating, but we had had enough and walked out.

The dealer we had originally made a deal with, eventually found the 4Runner we had requested and was very helpful from start to finish. My only complaint from that dealer was when the Finance Manager called me frugal because I wasn't going to pay $3000 for an extended warranty. I asked if he would match a price I got on the extended warranty. He gave us this Oh Sh#% look and asked what it was. I gave him the pricing I found from this site. He paused for a moment and asked "how could that be? That is below my cost". He then lowered his price to $1895. Again I said no. He said he didn't care whether we bought it or not then proceeded to sell us on the Lo Jack of which we declined.

In the end, I found the whole shopping experience quite funny. Like someone else stated above, I couldn't imagine treating customers this way.
 
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TTown said:
I bought my 4Runner in February. The salesman told me next month Toyota is coming out with a Trail Edition and I should check it out.

I didn't buy from them.

The service dept has been very good. Even though I didn't buy it from them, they have been very helpful and programed my vehicle for free.
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Programming my vehicle for free is about the only thing the service dept. I have been dealing with has done right. It might have had something to do with the fact that they had no idea that things could be customized and sent me to the guy that installs remote starters and such (not a service tech). He was like OK, I think I can do do it, but they shouldn't have sent you over to me. He actually drove my truck over to the other side of the building and grabbed one of their computers and fumbled his way trough it while I sat next to him telling him what I wanted...
 
my salesman was very knowledgeable..i even complimented him on that...i had done lots of research, and i had questions...i think he knew the answer to every question....

he told me they are set to training for each vehicle...which makes sense.

my issue...was first attempt at delivery..i had to refuse..there was dent in the door :(...i wondered if they just tried to sneak it past me...or if they really missed it?

dealer was over 1 hour drive..so going back a second time..i was very unhappy..they did NOTHING to compensate me...i even gave them a 'hint' to do something.

needless to say...i blasted them badly...on all the surveys...etc.

i took delivery after the dent was repaired...two days later...i understand they hire an outside "dent guy" for stuff like this...did a perfect job.
 
j22pa said:
my salesman was very knowledgeable..i even complimented him on that...
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It's funny you complimented him for doing his job, but we have been conditioned to get lousy service when it comes to dealerships. I respect someone who takes the time and takes pride in what they do.

One big problem is the turnover of salespeople in the auto business. Most of the time when I ask how long they have worked for the dealership, they reply a couple of months. If the dealerships created a work environment and pay plans that keep their sales staff, then people will stay around longer. When your people stay the customers benefit. The staff is friendly, knowledgeable and call customers by their first name.

Some dealerships have managed to keep their staff and as a result probably sell more cars to more satisfied customers.
 
I have some doozies to share, various dealers

- "Look it has dual exhaust' as race car driver sales guy points to the one muffler with 2 exhaust pipes. (Honda Prelude)

- "You would have been stuck with both cars", Acura business manager when they messed up some paperwork and *I* caught the mistake, not them.

- "They are just finishing up" 5pm as they just drive my GM crapfire into the service bay for the first time and I see them doing that. 90 minutes later they get me a rental for the night.

- "Well you know something could happen to your car like a fire" GM dealer sales manager suggesting I commit insurance fraud because I'm unhappy with my crapfire.

- "The Canadian cars don't use the same parts" - Acura service manager

This is just the tip of the iceberg. I've seen and experienced so much shadyness when dealing with dealerships.

Rob
 
TTown said:
One big problem is the turnover of salespeople in the auto business. Most of the time when I ask how long they have worked for the dealership, they reply a couple of months. If the dealerships created a work environment and pay plans that keep their sales staff, then people will stay around longer. When your people stay the customers benefit. The staff is friendly, knowledgeable and call customers by their first name.
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In a small town I find they go more with personable people who tended to be slightly popular in high school.

One thing about my town is that the manager at the Toyota dealership did things right, and has his team whipped into great shape--they are like good manners automatons. The other dealerships--lazy and smug.
 
A number of years ago I test drove a Ford Ranger with a fairly attractive saleswoman. It was a slow evening at the dealer and our test drive was over an hour, and we spent some time talking after we got back. I think there might have been some flirting back and forth too. A few days later I got a courtesy letter in the mail with a hand written note on the bottom saying "I would do ANYTHING (in big letters and underlined several times) to sell you a new truck". I always wondered what exactly she meant by that.
 
"You can't get leather with the SR5, but we can add it aftermarket" (SR5 with factory leather was sitting two 4runners over)

Me "How does the multi-terrain select work? Is it air suspension like my GX470?" Him - "No, it's kinetics dynamics, KDSS..." ends conversation. Me "Ok?" (KDSS was not installed on the TE we were driving)
 
vando45 said:
A number of years ago I test drove a Ford Ranger with a fairly attractive saleswoman. It was a slow evening at the dealer and our test drive was over an hour, and we spent some time talking after we got back. I think there might have been some flirting back and forth too. A few days later I got a courtesy letter in the mail with a hand written note on the bottom saying "I would do ANYTHING (in big letters and underlined several times) to sell you a new truck". I always wondered what exactly she meant by that.
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Sounds like a full service dealer :cheers:
 
"The mat you inquired about has been discontinued, but there are other companies that make them" - about the NEW rear rubber cargo mat Toyota JUST released for the new 10'/11' 4R!

It's funny because I e-mail my dealership (late night), after I saw it on Toyota's accessory page, told them it is for the new 10'/11' 4R, sent them the direct link, asked for pricing and availability. It took them a couple days to respond back to me.

What makes it better is that I had called the morning after I sent th e-mail because I had free time (did not think I would, reason I had send the email the night before). The people were helpful, looked it up, called me back in 5 and said it had not been released yet, but would be soon, according to the main people in Cali.

It goes to show you that you can have 2 very difference experiences at a dealership depending on who you deal with! Seriously though, discontinued for a NEW car, what was that guy thinking. I just laughed and him and asked him why they would discontinue a product they just released and explained my conversations with his co-workers the day before about it. Oh well, what can you do!
 
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