DARCARS Toyota of Silver Spring

On August 5th, 2007 my wife and I drove to Darcars Toyota in Silver Spring to purchase 2 new vehicles, a Corolla for me and a Sienna for her. We were trading in my Camry which was paid off and our 4Runner which we still owed money on. After talking with the salesman for a few minutes, (who was very outgoing and friendly and is the only person there that I do trust) the sales manager came over named Ali. He said he noticed we were with our children and he did not want to keep us waiting. He stated that he was going to give us the lowest price that he can sell the cars for so we wouldn't have to wait, just to pick out the cars. Once we got to finance the payment's were higher than what we were expecting because of our credit. They stated that our credit would only be pulled once and that it would not affect our credit scores. Our credit was pulled 14 times and lowered our credit scores by 28 points. After agreeing on a rate of 14.9% and the payment that we felt comfortable with we signed the papers. On 8/18/07 I received a call from Chris, the finance man, after I had made attempts to reach someone to find out what was going on. He informed me that he did not obtain the financing at the 14.9% but we would have to come in to resign papers and the interest rate will be 17.99%. I told him to have the cars we traded in ready, that we will be picking them up on 8/20. On top of all this they never paid off the 4Runner and I never received the money I am due from my Camry, which is $6,000. I will post an update after we go back to get our trade-ins. Andy

Bought a Scion TC. Salesperson knew nothing about the car. Was told the Scions do not come to the lots with the stereos factory installed and if they have the part in stock it would take them 20 minutes to install. Of course, after I signed the paperwork to purchase the car, I'm told the part is not in stock which I'm sure was a load of crap. They told me it would take 3 days to come in and they would call. I called Darcars 3 days later. No stereo. The part is on backorder and would be in the following week. These guys play games. Since I won't be billed for the labor, they don't want to install the damn stereo.

DARCARS tried their hardest to rip off my sister and mother as they went in to buy a Scion TC. One cost was quoted for them with taxes and tags, then after 3.5 grueling hours of waiting to purchase the car, the cost suddenly jumped up $650 for some unknown reason. The explanation that was given was "a miscalculation in taxes and tags." When my sister and mother went into another Toyota dealership in Rockville, MD the final cost that they were given was the original final cost that DARCARS quoted. DARCARS tried their hardest to rip them off. I am convinced that DARCARS tried to rip them off because that they were women. DO NOT BUY FROM DARCARS, especially if you are a woman. Do yourself a favor and go to another Toyota dearlership.

At the DarCars VW in College Park, MD, I was shocked by how poorly they treated me and how poorly they did their work. My car was brought there by DarCars Collision Center when they couldn't start it. DarCars VW did no component testing and just swapped in anew starter and tried to deliver the car back with the door electric system no longer working. They refused to fix it, refused to work with the DarCars collision center. I was stunned. Actually, I still do not have my car back after two months for a minor crash. I am actually not even sure how to get my car back from them.

They are, simply put, evil people. My visit there was one of the worst shopping experiences of my life. Before I went in I identified several cars from their online inventory that I was interested in. I called to confirm that they were available and their internet sales representative said they were in stock. When I got there they claimed not to be able to find any of the 15 vehicles that were advertised online. Although I said explicitly that I was interested in a pre-owned Toyota the spokesman that was assigned to me tried to show me Subarus, Nissans, Fords and dozens of other cars that I said I didn't want. He got angry at me for daring to ask that I be shown the cars that they had advertised on line and told me that I needed to be patient. Finally the salesperson located some, but not all of the advertised vehicles. He then refused to give me the price that was advertised on-line. At this point I walked away. I realized that I just couldn't trust them. The people at Darcars were some of the most dishonest and duplicitous people that I have ever met. They are, for the most part, semi-literate morons who have no idea how to treat customers with respect. Part of this is probably management's fault. Like other car dealerships they doubtless train their sales people to try to "control" the customers. But the salesman there was the worst I have ever encountered. There is no way that I would give one cent of my money to these crooks. You would have to be crazy to buy a car from them.

I just bought my first new car from DARCARS, and the experience couldn't have been better! I did EXTENSIVE research, and knew that I wanted a Corolla, and exactly what options I wanted with it. DARCARS was the only dealer who had one in stock; I discussed price on the phone, as Silver Spring is an hour from where I live. The MSRP on the car was $18,010 - I got it for $14, 912 - the deal I cut on the phone. Everyone there was extremely helpful, honest, and accomodating. They didn't try to sell me ANY extras (something I had been highly warned about), we closed the deal, and I drove home in my brand new car. I don't think it could have been a better experience - I reccomend them highly - ask to work with Owen in sales, and German (pronounced Herman) in financing.

I wish I had read these reviews before I went to Darcars Toyota. My husband and I bought the car we wanted for a good price, but only because we were armed with info from Consumer Reports and a quote from another dealer. Even still it was a miserable experience that left a bad taste in my mouth. We went to Toyota of Bowie on a Saturday night, where we were treated honestly and respectfully. We got a good quote there, but we wanted to shop around. On Sunday we went to Darcars. From the get-go I didn't have a good feeling about the place. The sales manager's behavior went beyond high pressure, it bordered on insulting. But because we had shared the other dealer's offer, they were able to beat it. I even tried to get ahold of the sales manager at the Bowie dealership in the middle of all of this because I would have much rather given them my business if they could match the deal. Unfortunately I couldn't reach him. In retrospect it seems obvious that they would have matched the deal and I should have just walked out. I can't say why I didn't. I even kept hoping that they wouldn't give us the price we were asking so that we would have an excuse to leave. But when they did, we felt stuck. I'm sure it sounds strange that I should have such regrets about getting a good deal, but that just tells you how awful the experience was, especially in comparison to what a good experience we had at Bowie. All I can do now is join the chorus of those saying - DON'T GO TO DARCARS TOYOTA. If you're in the market for a Toyota, I recommend dealing with Don Perontoni at Toyota of Bowie. He was everything you'd want, but never expect, in a car salesman.

This review is from 1999 and my dealings are with a salesman who no longer works there. But the Darcars Silver Spring dealership did hire him, so I do put much of the fault for my experience on them. I received an internet quote for a new (at the time) Camry of "around $17000." This was a good price at the time, but I should have asked for an exact figure. So I went there, talked, test drove the car (ie "invested time"), and was ready to sign. He slid the paper over and the price was over $17900! And I was like "what happened to 'around' $17000?" And he said this was around $17000. So of course, he brought his manager in, who then brought his manager in, and I had to go through the whole bartering process (which is what I was trying to avoid), and had to threaten contacting Toyota directly. After much frustration and time, I got the price of $17500 (which was still good), which I refused to go over on principal, being if it was any higher it would really be "around $18000." Then the trade-in came... I had been to another dealer and Carmax who both said they'd give me $2000 (even though my car Blue-booked at $3k)... Darcars offered me $1000. THAT was how they were gonna get even more of their money. So I bought the car, called a friend to come drive my "trade in" to Carmax (where they stuck with their $2000 and didn't suddenly change it), and vowed never to go back... which now, that I'm in the market for another Toyota... I can guarantee you I won't be going to Darcars of Silver Springs, or ANY Darcars for that matter. And I always make it a point to tell anyone looking for a dealership to stay away from Darcars. I realize people need to make a profit, and I'm not against that. But I also need the best deal I can get, and not be lied to. Darcars has LOST a customer for life... and who knows how many others.

Worst customer service experience of my life. Was sold a demo model with a tire on it that had been repaired with fix a flat without my knowledge. I drove on it extensively for 3 days while moving, it went flat on a sunday late afternoon, and I was offered no help whatsover, called a liar, told to unload my whole packed trunk, put the spare on, and drive it back to the dealer which was 62 miles away--all while trying to move out of state. Am now contacting BBB, County Consumer Affairs, and filing a lawsuit. I used this dealer b/c they seemed more reputable and used less pressure tactics than other local dealers---but they turned out to be unbelievably awful. NEVER purchase a vehicle from DARCARS in the Washington DC metro area!

To anyone who reads this message, DO NOT EVER GO TO DARCARS OF SILVER SPRING. My sales experience was horribly long, as we arrived at the dealership @ 5 pm and didn't leave until 12:45 AM (that's right, AM). We purchased a leftover '04 4Runner because it was the best deal we could find. In hindsight, I don't think the price was worth the hassle. The vehicle had been sitting for so long on the lot that the tires had flat spots and needed to be replaced. Also, someone "keyed" the entire passenger side of the vehicle while it was sitting on their lot. The battery was dead when we finally found the vehicle, so it needed to be jumped. The dealership fixed the scratches, after I brought the vehicle back a week later...but they didn't fix the fact that the tire pressure light was on, even though they put new tires on the suv. They didn't check the battery and they didn't wash it (it still had their "soap pen" writing on it!!). A service technician re-checked the tire pressure and the idiots who put the new tires on didn't fill up the tires to proper pressure. Plus, the battery was checked and it was at 9 volts...so I coerced them into taking a battery from a vehicle on the lot and putting it in my suv. The did wash it, inside and out. Do not ever use A.D. Williams as your sales person and do not ever ask for the blue team for service. If you are going to service your vehicle, ask for Dwight on the Green Team. He seems like the only person there who really gives a damn about the customer. This is the short version of what actually happened to me and my wife...just imagine if I had enough space to tell you the whole story. DO NOT GO TO DARCARS OF SILVER SPRING, EVER!!!!! EVEN IF IT'S THE LAST TOYOTA DEALERSHIP ON THE FACE OF THE EARTH!!!!!