Almost bought a 4Runner..epic dealer fail

Quick back story. Our lease was up on our Camry, and my wife was looking for a 4Runner. Did not find one locally but we knew a salesman/friend at our local Chevy dealer who could get us "doctored" up. This friend (I will use that term loosely) has been begging us to come in and he would find any vehicle we wanted even if not a Chevy. Keep in mind the same dealer has a Toyota lot about an hour away. My wife spent Friday with him finding the pictured 4Runner (out of state) while I was at work. 2 Lessons there. 1 never let your wife go to a car dealer alone. 2 don't try to think about buying a car when you are busy at work. I go after work (Lesson #3). I sign paperwork but my wife does not sign as she has to be at work. In other words the deal is not finalized. Well reality hits me later when my brain starts working again. We are paying too much for this vehicle. Back Saturday we go, (keep in mind they have our Camry), to cancel the deal. Obviously, they weren't happy, but I offered to buy another car from the Toyota lot they owned. They were not having it. After talking to 4 different people there we got our Camry back after paying a $1000. Our "friend"/salesman said no hard feelings blah blah blah dealership was only going to make $1000 off the vehicle etc etc. Well being the geek I am, I found the 4Runner they were getting for us. Matched up the vin# and what do you know. The dealer was only going to mark it up $5000. Now I understand they are in business to make money but I am smart enough to know they got the vehicle for less than in the picture. At the end of the day that $28,000 vehicle was going to be a little over $36,000 out the door. Pretty sure there is more than a $1000 profit in there. My math isn't that good but what do I know, I only have a minor in mathematics. Needless to say in the end we went done the street and purchased a New vehicle elsewhere.

Here is the pic of the 4Runner they were going to get us.

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I am fairly upset for the fact the salesman was someone my wife considered a friend. Had they not jerked us around she would of had the vehicle she wanted...thankfully she is thrilled with her new car.

Thankfully I paid the $1000 with a credit card. I am disputing the charge through the credit card company. Also, I contacted the KY Attorney General as well. Wanted to see if any of my fellow/ crafty Tacoma World friends had any other suggestions.

UPDATE 11/6/13
I just spoke with the credit card company and they ruled in my favor. CC company mailed resolution letter out on November 1st. Glad to know I have that grand coming back. Lesson learned.

 

What did you get instead, another Runner?

 

You never took delivery of the 4 runner right?

 

Why did you pay any money?

 

+1

 

So how much was the vehical you ended up buying marked up?

 

I'd shove an umbrella up your friend's arse, then open it.

 

x2

 

I would not have paid anything but quite frankly was worn down after talking with 4 different people and obviously not thinking straight. If thinking straight I would have called the cops and said told them they were keeping our vehicle and would not return it.

We bought a Honda Accord Sport for $22,900 before tax, title, etc. Sticker price was around $24,900. Not sure of the mark up but it has to be less than what the dealer with 4Runner was doing. You know good and well they weren't buying the 4Runner for $28K plus they were going to take the Camry as well and pay it off. They claimed equity in the Camry but I am not buying. 4Runner price out the door with warranty, TTL was over $36K, which is ridiculous keep in mind this is SR5, not a limited as the pic shows. Had 4Runner priced at $33K plus all the extra crap.

I never took delivery of vehicle as it was still in Oklahoma City Saturday night...I know cause I called. Second, we never finished the paper work, there fore deal was not complete. I am going to turn it over to credit card company and attorney general. Me going back to dealership would only escalate the problem at this point....especially when I have a few umbrellas in my hands.

Unfortunately, we went about the whole car buying process wrong this time. I tried to get my wife to understand to deal on final number not monthly payment. She didn't understand but does now. We learned a few things during the sham.

 

I was escorted out of a Honda dealership like this once. I was looking for a car for my wife and the dealership just got in a mint used Accord low miles. I asked the salesman if he could hold it so my wife could take a look at it, he said we'll need a holding deposit of $500. I asked him that if my wife did not want the car would I got my $500 back.....he said no. I was standing next to a aluminum hub display when I informed him that if I gave him $500 to hold it and my wife didn't like the car and I didn't get my money back every car in the showroom would have one of those wheels thrown through the windshield. Somebody overheard my comment and a couple of managers came out and asked me to leave and kindly walked with me to my truck.

 

x2, Lesson 4, once money changes hands, it becomes exponentially harder to get back vs. getting them to drop the bogus charge in the first place. If the deal was never finalized, there's no reason you should have had to lose any money in the deal.

 

Cool story, bro. I don't see anything worth bragging about there.

 

when i bought my 07 Taco sport with towing and JBL i was dealing with three dealers online. i let them do the bidding for my business. i asked for the out the door price(including tax title and tags)when i finally got the numbers as low as i could(three weeks later). I visited the local dealer and tried to price the tacoma i was lokking for. When he said let me talk to my manager, i handed him a copy of the email from another dealer salesman and told him to beat the price and not match it. Beat the price. the salesman came back with $900 cheaper than the email price from another dealer. i felt good about it because it was below the sticker(MSRP) price and asked where to sign the paper. I did the same trick for my wife's car last Nov for 13 ACCORD and it still worked. this technique would work and get the price you want if; you're not in the rush and get to the dealer last day of the month and towards the end of the year, Oct,Nov or Dec.

 

Correct. Thank goodness I paid with credit card.

 

Don't thank anyone or anything until you get the $1,000 back (or the charge is dropped). Depending on what you signed, you might be screwed.

 

I didn't sign anything. Like I said before the financial paperwork was never completed. I never agreed to anything with regards to transportation of the vehicle.

 

And people wonder why most of us hate car dealers.....

 

If most hate.. who is left to wonder..

 

You said you did sign the paperwork... If you didn't sign anything, then why would you give them $1,000?? You must have signed something a second time when you agreed to the credit card slip for $1,000.

 

I am not arguing with you but when you have dealt with 4 jackasses there and spend a good part of your morning there you honestly don't give a shit and ready to leave. I don't feel I have to justify anything to you.