One full month & still no plates/title to my 4Runner from this shitty Toyota dlrship

[Anonymous4Runner]

One full month & still no plates/title to my 4Runner from this shitty Toyota dlrship

How can I go on about filing an official complaint with Toyota Corporate regarding one of the dealerships here in the U.S.?

I know majority of you in here will tell me the first mistake I made was buying a 4Runner through a dealership but lets not worry about that today eace:

Long story short: purchased a beautiful Sport 4Runner on 8/9/2016 - issued 20 days temp tags out-of-state resident saying it would be here within 2 weeks (they offered to do the paperwork on my behalf which was a huge mistake)

two weeks goes by, i contact them again and they say it's already been submitted for processing by VA dmv and just taking a little bit longer than usual. I say okay, I will wait one more week before contacting you guys again. A week goes by and still nothing in the mail. Furious, I called them and got ahold of a guy who is supposedly "2nd in command" within the dealership. He again said the same thing and promised me he would personally look to it my paperwork was being processed accordingly. Annoyed but I reluctantly give him the benefit of doubt and said okay.

4 days later I get pulled over by a cop who runs my truck. He confirmed the paperwork was never submitted and could not find anything about my truck. Thankfully I was smart enough to bring bill of sale and all other pertinent documents after my tags expired in case i got pulled over. He also contacted the dealership on my behalf and yelled @ them multiple times because he was hung up the first two times he called them. The cop ended up letting me leave the truck in a nearby parking lot overnight and did not give me a citation for expired tags, probably out of pity realizing i got screwed over hard. i had to drive it back home the next day early afternoon while knowing my truck could be impounded by the next cop that pulled me over for expired tags.

Thankfully I still have my old '04 V8 4Runner so I'm driving that while my new truck stays idle in the parking lot....so annoying :sobbing:


Anyhoo, can anyone help shed a light into what I can do to file a complaint against this dealership? I have already done the following;

-left multiple scathing reviews on their Yelp page (including updated reviews where I called them out as liars)
-contacted 2nd guy in command and left messages for him multiple times letting him have a piece of my mind. he never bothered to call me back nor escalate me to the top guy in command when I requested to speak with him a while ago.
-Failure to escalate me to the top guy in command forced me to file a complaint with NJ's BBB so now I'm awaiting response from the business. Thankfully it appears the top guy in command handles BBB complaints as his name is mentioned on each complaint (he responds to them) so I'm hoping something will pan out once we talk on the phone, assuming he contacts me after reviewing BBB complaint.


I sincerely hope BBB goes after them hard though because BBB site shows some previous complaints that were lodged against this dealership that are also similar to my situation. It is evident someone within the dealership is ****ing up paperwork every time a sale is made. I sincerely hope this is the last straw for these douchebags where they locate the culprit and fire the individual.

 

[Utopia]

Lawyer up.

 

[97BlackAckCL]

Molotov Cocktail through the showroom window...

 

[Anonymous4Runner]

Fellas,

if the Purge was legal in regard to property damage, I would personally drive to the dealership first and wreck havoc. They truly do not deserve the Toyota-certified dealership title, it is shameful and pathetic.

I just submitted a report with Toyota U.S. Corporate - I also linked them to the Yelp page as well as copy&pasting my complaint details from BBB via email.

I hope this dealership realizes they screwed with the wrong customer. I'm hell bent on making them pay for their errors no matter what happens.

 

[Victor_inox]

By the law (at least in Colorado) dealer must provide title in 60 days after sell.
or take vehicle back.

 

[Anonymous4Runner]

By the law (at least in Colorado) dealer must provide title in 60 days after sell.
or take vehicle back.

As a out-of-state resident currently residing in VA, does the law apply in VA or the state where the vehicle was purchased from? In this case, I purchased the vehicle from NJ.

 

[-dustin]

By the law (at least in Colorado) dealer must provide title in 60 days after sell.
or take vehicle back.

Texas, too. took my dealer every bit of those 60 days.

 

[gbouton]

There's really nothing the BBB can do other then note that your complaint has not been resolved...but BBB membership is paid for by the dealership (assuming they are a BBB member), so they will give them plenty of opportunities to resolve the issue, as it's not in the best interest of the BBB to make a business look bad.

My guess is the dealership might be having issues getting clear title from whatever company they use to finance their floor plan. Maybe there was an old lien on the title, or maybe they are having cash flow issues...could be lots of things. Whatever the hold-up is, they should however be upfront with you and let you know what's going on. If nothing else, they should have sent you new temp tags to use until they get you the title. Good luck!

 

[techno]

What's the name and location of this dealership?

 

[Anonymous4Runner]

What's the name and location of this dealership?

Toyota of Runnemede NJ Toyota Dealer Serving Turnersville, Cherry Hill and Philadelphia

Located in NJ

 

[RonJR]

Don't know how it is in NJ or VA, but in Colorado you can go to the DMV and ask for an extension on the temporary tags. I had a similar thing happen when I bought my '06 in December 2015. The dealer failed to file the paper work with the DMV. When I was about one week from expiration (CO gives 60 days) I called the DMV and asked what to do. They checked and said the paperwork had not been filed, and without hesitation offered a one month extension of the temp tags while I got it straightened out with the dealer. In this case the dealer was very apologetic and immediately took care of it.

 

[GzTEP]

As stated . Go talk with the DMV

 

[GzTEP]

I think dealership is just dragging their feet. Some sell sell collect collect. Then pay and file paperwork.

 

[nicheel8]

Anon - did you get this squared away? If not call the local news channel. They love this stuff.

My daughter purchased a used 09 Honda Civic and after 32 days the AC went out. 30 day warranty expired and stealership wanted $800 to fix it. She walked right in to the service directors office and called the local TV station. He walked right out grabbed the service advisor and told him to fix it. She sat there 4 hours until it was fixed. I was blown away.

 

[Anonymous4Runner]

Anon - did you get this squared away? If not call the local news channel. They love this stuff.

My daughter purchased a used 09 Honda Civic and after 32 days the AC went out. 30 day warranty expired and stealership wanted $800 to fix it. She walked right in to the service directors office and called the local TV station. He walked right out grabbed the service advisor and told him to fix it. She sat there 4 hours until it was fixed. I was blown away.

I contacted DMV and they confirmed it was finally titled as of few days ago. They told me it was most likely mailed around the same time I was pulled over by the cop so chances are they got their shit in order after being contacted by the officer several times. Nonetheless I am relieved this nightmare has come to an end.

I also tried to get ahold of the G.M at that dealership via email, he ignored me and instead had his 2nd man in command who I had been talking throughout the process contact me. He told me he received the plates at the office and would overnight ship it.

Seriously folks, avoid this dealership at all costs. Peasant customer service, peasant management and barely mediocre sales department. I feel bad for the bodyshop technicians and janitor(s) that works at the dealership. It's a bad ship to work on


Now I can finally start getting shit done with the truck once I get them in...

detail, tint, correct GPS issue and install rear backup cam


NOTE TO SELF: IF BUYING A VEHICLE OUT OF STATE, ALWAYS TAKE THE TITLE WITH YOU BACK HOME SAME DAY AND REGISTER THE VEHICLE YOURSELF! DON'T TRUST OTHERS TO PROCESS PAPERWORK FOR YOU UNLESS IT'S WARRANTY PAPERWORK! :biggrin1:

 

[Anonymous4Runner]

Don't know how it is in NJ or VA, but in Colorado you can go to the DMV and ask for an extension on the temporary tags. I had a similar thing happen when I bought my '06 in December 2015. The dealer failed to file the paper work with the DMV. When I was about one week from expiration (CO gives 60 days) I called the DMV and asked what to do. They checked and said the paperwork had not been filed, and without hesitation offered a one month extension of the temp tags while I got it straightened out with the dealer. In this case the dealer was very apologetic and immediately took care of it.

I tried pursuing all possible options with VA DMV but they could not do anything with expired temp tags (i also had temp vehicle reg). I did try get extended tags from the dealership and they declined saying it's not possible. I should have checked with NJ DMV while I was at it, haha. I was already fed up at this point contacting idiots left & right trying to figure out what was going on

 

[wadle5]

Had the same thing happened. Threatened with Better Business Bureau, and also talked about returning the car for full cash refund, and that really got their butt in gear...through phone calls AND email(to properly document and track) the conversation.

Good Luck man

 

[gbouton]

NOTE TO SELF: IF BUYING A VEHICLE OUT OF STATE, ALWAYS TAKE THE TITLE WITH YOU BACK HOME SAME DAY AND REGISTER THE VEHICLE YOURSELF! DON'T TRUST OTHERS TO PROCESS PAPERWORK FOR YOU UNLESS IT'S WARRANTY PAPERWORK! :biggrin1:

Good to hear you were able to finally get this sorted out. Regarding the advice about having possession of the title, it's good advice, but is often impossible to follow if you're buying a vehicle from a dealer or a private party who has a lien on the vehicle. In both cases, a bank is holding the title (including most dealers who finance their vehicle inventory), so leaving with a promise to have the title sent to you is the best you can do under those circumstances. Although if buying something *in-state*, at least most states allow dealers to provide permanent tags when you take the vehicle home.

 

[Anonymous4Runner]

Good to hear you were able to finally get this sorted out. Regarding the advice about having possession of the title, it's good advice, but is often impossible to follow if you're buying a vehicle from a dealer or a private party who has a lien on the vehicle. In both cases, a bank is holding the title (including most dealers who finance their vehicle inventory), so leaving with a promise to have the title sent to you is the best you can do under those circumstances. Although if buying something *in-state*, at least most states allow dealers to provide permanent tags when you take the vehicle home.

Speaking of liens, I forgot to mention but I actually bought a 07 Sport edition back sometime in May that had a lien on it before it was totaled a month later in June. This was via private party seller and this guy had all the appropriate documents in regard to showing lien's been satisfied and whatnot. I met with the seller two times and was in-and-out within 3 hours 2nd day after inspection was done. The transaction went so smooth, I was very happy with the purchase. Shame I can't say the same for this transaction that took place at this particular dealership. Oh well.

All I can do now at this point is pray I don't total my 4Runner a month from now or something. :boxer: