Cathie Badger | Page 15

I found Toyota Marin through a listing on autotrader.com, I found a vehicle at a price and mileage I literally could not believe. I thought it was too good to be true, but I figured I had nothing to lose by I found a vehicle at a price and mileage I literally could not believe. I thought it was too good to be true, but I figured I had nothing to lose by going over and checking it out. Enter, Victor Duru. On first meeting Mr. Duru I was greeted with a friendly smile and a handshake, he took me over to the car, answered all my questions, let me inspect the vehicle at my leisure and accompanied me on a test drive. Mr. Duru was my first point of contact in person, with this dealership and I remember thinking to myself. "If everyone here is as open, honest and just plain cool as Victor. This is going to be alright." And it was. My entire experience was pleasant, informative and NO PRESSURE WHATSOEVER. I literally felt like I was dealing with a group a friends that had my best interest in mind. Victor started my experience off on the right foot, and everyone else I met along the way that day lived up to the high standard Mr. Duru set. After I had pretty much decided on buying the vehicle I came to see, I was asked if I wanted to trade in my current car. I was, but I didn't think I'd get much value out of it so I had left it at home. So, I went back home, picked my old car up and took it back to the dealership to see what they would offer me. Enter Lana Abukweik I spoke to Lana on the phone prior to driving up to Toyota Marin initially. She was just like Victor. Friendly, informative, fun and a NO PRESSURE approach. After returning with my trade in vehicle, Victor was helping another customer that had arrived while I went to get my car, so his partner Lana was there to help me with the rest of the process. She talked me through everything I had to do to buy the new vehicle and trade in my old one. She answered every question I had and directed me over to a consultant named Matt Shone. Mr. Shone is an awesome guy. If you are looking to trade or sell a car, regardless of whether you purchase from Toyota Marin, you want to see Matt Shone. He followed up on some of the questions Ms. Abukweik asked me about my trade in vehicle, and then we went on a test drive so Mr. Shone could get an idea of the running condition of my trade in vehicle. I told Matt about my history with the car, some of my concerns, why I was trading it in etc. At the conclusion of the short drive, I fully expected to be offered very little for the vehicle. Mr. Shone offered me three times what I thought I would get for that car. The incredible thing about that, aside from the obvious, is that I spoke openly with Victor and Matt about what I expected for the car. I was looking for a new car for a reason, and after hearing ALL of that, they STILL exceeded my expectation when it came to the trade in value of my old car. Think about that. They, for all intents and purposes KNEW what I would accept, and what I expected for my old car. And instead of doing what we'd ALL expect a dealership to do, and offer that bare minimum. They offered me what THEY thought was fair. That in itself, it incredible. They didn't give me a great deal because they thought it would seal the deal on the car I was buying, because frankly, the car I bought was NOT going to bring any real profit to that dealership, it was someone elses trade in. It's not like I went in there and purchased a 20,000 car with a huge built in profit or anything like that. They gave me what THEY thought was fair, and what THEY thought was fair was three times what they knew I would accept it for. If you are looking for integrity and honesty...you WILL NOT find any dealership more qualified to meet that criteria than Toyota Marin. After I had my trade in value for my old car, I shook Mr. Shone's hand and I followed Lana to the finance department where Cathie Badger helped me complete the deal. Ms. Badger was a pleasure to work with, in what is probably the "least" pleasant part of buying a car (the paying part) she helped make this happen for me. I won't go into details, but Ms. Badger MADE SURE that I left that dealership with that car. She didn't HAVE to do what she did, but she made it happen. Victor Duru, Lana Abukweik, Matt Shone and Cathie Badger Those were the people that I met when I bought my car 2 days ago, and I could not have asked for more competent, fair and friendly people. Thank you. When I was looking over the car I eventually purchased, I mentioned to Victor that I was planning on buying a new Toyota Yaris in a couple of years, and that this was the vehicle I would use in the mean time while I saved up enough money to buy the Yaris outright. At the time I said that, I had no idea WHERE I'd go to buy that Yaris, I just knew it would be "someday." Now I KNOW...when that day comes, and I have enough money to get that NEW car. I'll go back to Toyota Marin in San Rafael, I'll ask for Victor and I'll see what that Yaris is all about. I hope this review helps someone else like me, that went into this all on the spur of the moment and based almost solely on the reviews I read online about Toyota Marin. Take care everyone! Cheers -CM More

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