Gabriel Stitt | Page 3

A Shelter in the Current New-Car-Purchase-Frenzy “Storm“ After some arduous encounters with dealers in Northern California, encounters that would cause many to abandon a new car purchase (given t “Storm“ After some arduous encounters with dealers in Northern California, encounters that would cause many to abandon a new car purchase (given the unfavorable impacts from the “chip shortage,” manufacturing closures, unscrupulous sales staff attempting to leverage these crises for their own financial benefit), I walked away today with my 60th birthday present and current dream-car, a Toyota RAV4 Prime PHEV. I have no complaints whatsoever. Mr. Gabrielle Stitt and his finance team managed the nexus between consumer expectations and the current market, and delivered a hard-to-find, rare, and special vehicle. There may be very few “deals” in today’s new car market—especially for all-wheel drive SUVs with EXTREMELY USEFUL electric range AND 300+ HP. Manhattan Beach Toyota seems to be aware that consumers are, therefor, sensitive to “soft” aspects of “the deal;” dignity, respect, honesty. Where other dealers lured, baited, switched, promised and unpromised, Mr. Stitt was consistently frank, poised, honest, realistic, and pragmatic. No over-promising or exaggerations or weaselly sales lingo to impress me. All substance. The finance team was equally impressive, and identified financing options that surpassed the options my “consumer oriented” credit union secured. I have NEVER purchased the “services” that dealers push at the close of a vehicle purchase. However, today, after a candid conversation about the changes we have all encountered during the past two years, I became acutely aware of the collective efforts that I, (and many others) have done to preserve the consumer services we value. I thought about the over-tipping I have done for the past two years to do ‘my part’ to support restaurant staff at risk of losing their livelihoods. I felt compelled to use that same attitude in my approach to my automobile purchase. I actually purchased the ‘ding and dent’ protection— the finance officer found favorable financing that is better than my own credit union found for me (thus saving me money I expected to spend). So, I purchased a product that would earn him a commission (I hope). It felt good. And when I told my wife, she squealed with approval because she is not a fan of those little dents that I tend to ignore and overlook…voilá … win-win…who knew? So, I did not walk away from this new car purchase with a screaming deal. I walked away with a great car, a darn good deal, ding and dent coverage, dignity intact, zero anger, self respect and a chance to let others know that if they feel like they are at the end of the rope in their auto purchase effort, try Manhattan Toyota…maybe they will have the same experience that I did. More

Report | Print

Friendly Staff, Terrible Process, No Accountability. The system used by the service department to book appointments apparently does not actually work, besides blocking a time slot with the department. Ad The system used by the service department to book appointments apparently does not actually work, besides blocking a time slot with the department. Add any notes or details about additional service, maintenance, or other issues you'd like to be looked at, and the service team doesn't receive it. Says their system has always been broken and they never see the details of a booked appointment. Lots of wasted time, lots of confusion and lack of answers. This is just one of many bad experiences here. When I submitted a fair and detailed review via the Toyota service survey, I got a call back from a service rep who said he was going to be fired because of my poor review, and I needed to send a note to his boss to save his job. When I've asked if there's someone in management that I can speak with about my experience, even pointing out that it has nothing to do with the individual service reps, everyone gets terrified and says they don't know how I'd go about doing that. I made no comment about any individual's poor service, but rather poor process and accountability, and it seems to fall on deaf ears and become the fault of the individual employees. Management seems to not care, despite multiple calls to discuss my experience. More

Report | Print