Reason for Visit: Sales (New)
I recommend this dealer: No
My Review of Toyota Universe:
OK...its long...but bear with me....might save you too.
Saw new 2010 Tacoma online, MSRP $27k+, Internet price $25k+. Steal right? Wrong. Calls within seconds of submitting an email to dealer from website. Robbie (Internet Sales *Fanager) [I only say "Fanager" b/c he's not really a manager....just wants to be one....like how everyone wanted to be like Mike. And FYI - there is no "Mike" at this dealer]. Moving on.
Robbie proceeds to tell me "come down, we'll take a test drive, yada yada yada". Ok. Stupid me drives 45 minutes to dealer, walk in, ask for "Robbie"......MIA. Ok, thats fine, things come up, he had to run out, whatever no biggy. I tell front desk "just send someone that wants to sell a truck today". Now you would think that the dealership would turn into the Rice Bar at a Sumo competition at this point with Salesmen diving for the chance to actually sell a vehicle. Nope. Nothing. Actually, the secretary (who is the only person that i would remotely converse with after this debacle b/c she was very sweet and polite) starts to curse out the other people on the end of the line telling them that there is a customer waiting for help and he's been here for over 20 minutes. Yup. 20 minutes. Not a single salesman said "hello" or "hi can i help you". Nothing. Ok, no problem, i'll just go out and look at the truck i came to see.
(Now mind you it is lightly raining out and i would prefer NOT to go outside, but after seeing the most stereotypical dealership and salesman at this place, with their oversized Car salesmen suites that look like they borrowed it from a Dallas Cowboys linebacker, I decided that if I am going to get wet, they are.)
So I walk outside (from side door of Toyota Universe Prison, no really...its prison like with all the gates and security offices.) and I have to go and find the truck myself on the lot (remember, 30 minutes and counting --> still no salesman) Finally, 10 minute after that (40 minutes), Robinson (Salesman) walks out and we proceed to talk truck. I tell him up front that I do not qualify for the $1000 College Grad discount, nor do I qualify for the Military discount. Ok, so no discounts, thats fine, as long as the Salesmen knows upfront, so when we get to the price, there are no issues.
Take a test drive, which went well. Its a Toyota tacoma.....how could it not? During this time, the Salesmen goes on to tell me that he's only worked there for 2 months, this is his first time selling cars, etc etc. Whatever. Don't care if your a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle in a Salesmen costume, just talk truck. Thank you.
Anyway, test drive done, love truck, lets talk numbers. Now mind you, if i knew what i was getting into, i would have shoved my own own foot up my arse and kicked myself out the front door. Stupid me. I sat down.
4 box pricing paper comes out, and these salesmen LOVE it. I was told by the Saleman to "ignore what i'm writing down here, this is just to tell my manager that i talked to you about all of these prices, and then you showed me the lower internet price afterwards"......Ok, no problem, but WHY would they want to hide the internet price from people that didn't bring in their little print out? Odd in my eyes, but I played along. Scribbled a line on the makeshift "contract" that he presented me which was actually just the backside of the 4 box sheet. Salesman dissappears, has to talk to the Sales Manager. Ok, no prob.
Comes back, and i won't even begin to tell you what came out of his mouth b/c after he said "ok...." i lost track. Numbers were flying everywhere, pen marks everywhere, its like he's convincing HIMESELF that his numbers are correct, in which I have only 1 choice but to agree with b/c I want to see where this leads to. Nowhere. Thats where.
So, I put my offer on the table and tell them that I know I can afford this truck at this price, with this loan term and interest rate. I did my homework, so I was OK right? Wrong. (now I forgot to mention in the beginning of this story that I also had a trade-in vehicle in which I would either not trade, or take the trade depending on what they would give me.) So I proceed to discuss the trade. They asked what I "wanted" for it. I told them $2000 over the price that I owed on it, b/c in reality, thats what I WANT, but def. not what i'm expected to get. Bye bye Salesman, back to Sales Mangers office (which always seems to be so far away that you can't see them either). They come back, say sorry, can't give you what you owe for trade, yada yada yada, "I gotta feed my family" BS line comes out, the usual. Whatever, no trade, i'm OK with that. Not end of world.
So now comes TAZ. TAZ will be the individual that presents himself as the "Sales Manager" and looks nothing short of the next CEO of any other business....except for the fact that the instant he opens his mouth, you'll realize that your talking to nothing more than another sneaky Salesman. Still, I'm ok with that. I consider myself a pretty hard nosed fella, so I stick with it and try to haggle. No go. I take a minute to look at numbers, and even though they alrady "took" $2000 off the sticker price, its still not making sense. (again, did my homework and I know exactly what I can afford, and all they want to do is talk about "getting me to my monthly paymen".) I tell the saleman that I need a night to think about it (after repeatedly telling them that I can't buy the vehicle today b/c I need to talk to my significant other about the purchase before I buy. Understandable, at least for me anyway.) They didn't like that, but said they would hold the deal until the next day and I could come back. Ok, no pressure anymore, I can go home and feel good that I might be getting a V6 Tacoma at a steal of a price, well, from what it LOOKED like anyway.
Tomorrow comes, I wake up early like a little boy on Christmas morning, 8:00am. (I usually sleep till about 11:30am on Saturdays regardless of any interruptions, heavy sleeper, what can i say). Excited as hell to drive my truck.
Show up at Dealer...where's the Salesman? Aparently they all have a early morning pep-rally upstairs to talk about how they will financially rape that days customers. Ok no problem, I was early anyway. I did however bring some firing power with me. Best bud, used to Sell cars for over 10 years. Ford. Knows his stuff. Thought I would be able to have him just verify the numbers and tell me that yes, they are NOT ripping you off. We'll see.
I take my buddy out, we look at the truck, he likes it. Doesn't really care much about it as he has not been looking at this truck and only did a minutes worth of research that morning. But he knows the game, and thats all i needed.
Salesman comes out, again, I make him get that suit wet hoping that someday it will soon cause it to shrink. No go.
We sit down again. This time with Buddy. Buddy proceeds to talk to Salesman, and he lets the Salesman do his thing and "explain" what he is showing me. And let me tell you was this entertainment. The Salesman did the explanation, Buddy ask some questions, they continue to talk, blah blah blah, lots of terms and numbers I don't understand anyway. Then it gets to the point where Buddy just asks to see the invoice of the truck. We've talked numbers long enough, and we just wanted to see where we were at as far as what type of deal we were getting. And mind you, ANY, and I repeat ANY reputable dealer will show you invoice price of the car if you ask. If they don't, walk away.
Salesman refuses to show invoice price even though he has it on the table, only hiding the price with another sheet of paper. He asks "well if we're going to look at Invoice price, let me pull up the invoice price on your car". I told him no problem, but it would make no difference. He basically did not want to show us HOW MUCH they were still ripping me off. So we quit the "show me the invoice" speech b/c it wasn't going to happen. This is when it gets interesting.
Salesman back to Sales Manager office. They both come back. Salesman is now sitting in a chair directly behing myself and Buddy. Sales manager at the throne. First thing, "We can't give you what you want for your Trade.....actually, we can't even give you what you owe" (which mind you, its only $3600 for payoff and I was asking 5800 privately knowing that I will never get it.) He then continues to the deal breaker questions.
"Are you a college graduate within the past 2 years?"
NO.
Are you active in the military?"
NO.
Here's comes pen to paper, and the addition of about $1350 on the total price of truck. Wait....I thought the truck was only $25k+ and that if I didn't qualify for these items, which the salesman alrady knew, then we should have gotten this out of the way from step 1. Nope. Salesman, who now I am pointing directly at like bird dog hot on a trail, and procee to tell him that I told him from the start and that he should have told his manager that. He, who is now looking like a puppy who just piddled on the floor and saw the better half of a backhand, claims he was "unaware" of that information. BS.
This is the moment when me and Buddy stand up and proceed to give TAZ the better parts of our thoughts on what he's just tried to pull. Now in the heat of the moment, I am pissed. Obviously. But the minute I start my own truck and drive away through the prison gates of Toyota Universe, I begin to smile, knowing that they were NOT able to dupe someone else into their tricks. I wholeheartedly hope that no one ever has to go through this with this dealership or any other dealers.
Yes....there IS a cherry on top.
I got a call from the Toyota Universe phone number on Monday (couple days after I was at dealer) and as usual, I don't pick up b/c I'm at work. Listen to the voice message that was left. Aparently....this dealer has done this quite a few times and for whatever reason they've had quite a few bad reviews/surveys from customers. Go figure. NO WAY! Would never have guessed. Anyway, guy on the phone states he works for "Hotdealers.com" and was hired by Toyota to fix problems and hacks at dealerships across the country. Now you would think I would just ignore and move on, but I really like this truck. So I call him back, let him do his thing, blah blah blah, which is actually a bit interesting as his story on what he does make a bit of sense. Anyway, he told me he will be talking to the GM of the dealership about the problems, the 2 individuals that I worked with, and there will be some "changes" at the dealer within the next few weeks. Good right? Finally someone to get the baddies out and the goodies in. She I am currently in the process of working with this gentleman and he said that he will see if he can make the deal happen with the vehicle i want and no games or gimmicks. Told him where I wanted to be, told him whats too much, and if he can't do it, just tell me.
That was yesterday (11/17/09) around 5:30pm ET. It is now 12:35pm on 11/18/09 and I just received a call from this "gentleman".
I'll keep you posted....but ya...stay away from this dealer. They stinky.
Sincerly,
Truckless Shopper
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