Good / Bad Dealer Experiences

Jeff Wyler's Greentree Toyota - Clarksville, IN...two thumbs up!! Great to deal with and awesome service department as well!! Definitely the best dealership in the Louisville area.

Stay away from Toyota of Louisville and Oxmoor Toyota...they prey on ignorant buyers and are both crook stealerships!!

 

Back when I was in the Navy, I bought 2 tacos from Charles Barker Toyota in Va. Beach. The staff was awesome and didnt mind coming down $5500 + really good financing (4.3%). If I werent in Kansas, Id hit em up again.

 

the two dealers i've dealed with in New Hampshire are Grappone in Concord and Toyota of Nashua. both have good and bad sides to them.

Grappone: Awesome sales, easy to deal with and friendly. I still say hi to the saleswoman everytime i go in there and i got my mom to buy from her. They have a tire loyalty program where if you get your new vehicle serviced there, when you need tires they give you a new set for free! (of course they're stock A/S)

service is decent. sometimes they took forever and other times it was pretty fast. I had them try to fix a sinking dash TSB on my tundra but they didn't see it when it was obvious. warranty ran up so i didn't bother to get into it with them.


Toyota of Nashua: Great sales. gave me an awesome trade in for my tundra and i got them to throw in $1200 worth in accessories on the new truck.

So far my only complaint is a couple typos on my paperwork that i didn't pick up on until a month after i bought the truck. (zip code and VIN# on the old truck i traded in). oh and they screwed up the shipping address on some floor mats that were back ordered so it took over three weeks to get them.

 

Guelph toyota, They very great service and nice people. They did take care of my truck great!

 

Servco Leeward waipahu, gave me a loaner without asking, listened to my diagnosis but checked (its not like i'm wrong often when I go in for warranty work) Kept me informed like someone that could understand what was going on. When I said "oil from bell housing" dude dropped to the ground in his clean pressed clothes and scooted under to look. WHen they found the problem, they immediately called toyota for a fix and weren't embarrassed about it. Short blocked the truck in exactly the time they said i would take with shipping and install.

Servco Honolulu is just as great.

 

The Good: Purchased my 2011 DC from Kay Jennings/Springfield Toyota. No hassle, best price. Very friendly. Excellent salesman.

The Worst: Miller Toyota, Manassas. Had previously purchased two trucks from them. They ran a special with a coupon in the mail---offering 125 percent of trade in value. The sales manager offered $3000 BELOW WHOLESALE value for my 2007 DC with only 32K miles. It was in excellent condition---I am meticulous about my vehicles. I complained to the managing owner, he said he agreed with his sales manager (big surprise there!). Not only were they insulting, they obviously don't give a damn about valued repeat customers.

 

my 01 Xcab was in for the frame check, and I was surprised as hell that it failed as I undercoat all 3 of my trucks myself every fall with a mix of ATF and hydraulic oil.

Turns out that the frames on these were rusting from the inside, in spite of being oiled in and outside every year.

I was very skeptical, since my first thought was how they were going to get the front end geometry to ever be as good as factory build. And I also thought they'd be pulling drive train to do the frame install

Turns out (which I'm sure techs all know) they did this all from underneath, never pulled drive train.

I also got new springs, some brake lines, fasteners, and a whole lotta other stuff done, and a great job too. The bill was over $12,000 for the job, but free to me. Also got a new Corolla for 5 days with no charge while the frame swap happened.

In general, these guys run a tight shop, and I've gotten lots of parts and main tenance stuff from them for really good prices, better than Autozone, Advance, etc.

Shop work here isn't all that cheap, but well done. The frame replacment was done incredibly well, by a special team of top techs. Would definitely recommend.

 

Purchased my Tacoma in March 2009, usual 2 year free oil changes, etc. Sales was a pleasant experience, no heartburn at all.

My problem started in the service department; they will not touch my truck again. Two consecutive oil changes the tech spilled 1/2 to 1 qt. of oil in the engine bay and frame/skid plate. We all know the drill when it comes to draining the filter on the V6's, you just need a small water bottle under the drain nipple. Anyway, the first incident they washed/cleaned up the mess. No big deal, I make messes too just like everyone, the second time, they brought my truck around with oil dripping from the engine bay...unacceptable. Also during this visit I asked the service manager to check out the coolant overflow bottle for contamination. There was a lot of black/brown residue accumulating in it and I just wanted to make sure I didn't have anything catastrophic like a head gasket or adjacent oil/coolant gasket leaking. I know the preservative releases from all the rubber hoses and ends up in the bottle but not in the quantity I had.

Well, here was the explanation - I, repeat, I had filled the overflow bottle with orange coolant - DexCool, it was gelled, the shroud/bottle assembly would have to be changed because they couldn't clean it, they would have to flush the cooling system as well...cost, approx. $300 out the door. Yep, I'm swallowing that line of crap. No coolant sample taken, no nothing.

I will admit that people out there pour anything and everything as far as fluids in their vehicles, but not me. Only myself and the dealer service have been under the hood.

I spoke privately with the service manager, I tolds him my background was I am an active FAA Repairman, that's A&P cardholder, FAA Certified Quality Inspector, 20 year flight line mechanic experience, 10 year auto and motorcycle mech prior to that. Not driveway or shadetree, dealerships. I told him I had never owned a vehicle that used DexCool and did not appreciate being treated like a fool that was going to just hand over $300 bucks because they gave me some rectal library diagnosis with no evidence to back it up, yes I said it just like that.

I kept my purchase local to help the local economy, I told the Sales Dept. that I would not purchase nor recommend anyone else to purchase their vehicle at this dealership based on my experience. This was my experience, I'm not that hard to please or get along with either...I hate being treated like a fool.

I did the flush/coolant replacement myself along with cleanout of the overflow bottle. Sent in coolant samples for testing...no unusual markers, particulate count was a little high, maybe casting crud. Anyway, all is well 9 months later, still have my $300 less some aluminum compatible flush and Toyota Pink coolant-purchased through a friend at wholesale/discount. Get bent Sullivan Toyota.

 

I purchased my 2012 Taco at Harr Toyota in Worcester MA after comparing deals from 3 other dealers. Harr was my first visit and they had exactly what I was looking for but had started a bottom line pricing program that allowed for no negotiations. Next I logged on to Consumer Reports (CR) and upgraded my account to utilize their car purchase program. Using the program I was able to build the exact truck I wanted including desired options. After building the truck I hit the submit button and immediately received 3 written quotes from participating dealers. All of the quotes were less then the original quote from Harr plus it included a TRD Exhaust that I added on when I built the truck on CR. The only problem was that none of these dealers had one in stock that were an exact match. So, I went back to Harr, with quotes in-hand, and was able to buy the truck with the addition of a TRD Exhaust for less than the best of the 3 quotes. All said and done; I saved approx. $1500 on the purchase taking into account differences in dealer fees. Final purchase was for a V6 Access Cab with Offroad Package, TRD Exhaust, Upgraded Stereo, Offroad Tow Package, Automatic Tranny, All Weather Floor Mates, and Wheel Locks.

FYI I am a repeat customer at Harr and I am very happy with both their costumer service in the sales department and in the shop.

 

Both of these dealerships are located in Central/Northern British Columbia (Canadia)

Bought my 2011 DC Tacoma Sport at Northern Toyota, Prince George B.C. I had gone into the dealership about 8 months prior, looking for a 1 ton pickup suitable for a picker/hiab setup (Browsing used vehicles). The Salesman I dealt with was Gary Barone, he didnt have much for me on the lot, but he promised he would check Toyota's inventory to see if they had something for me. We grabbed some truck off the lot, and we discussed the particulars and what I was looking for, he even bought me lunch! The following year, I was in the market for a new truck. I went straight to Northern Toyota and began dealing with a salesman i had never met before. I forget his name, he wasnt a bad salesman, i just never finished with him. I saw Gary walk by, and said hello. He immediately remembered who I was and started asking about my HIAB truck. I finished the deal with Gary and he was very excited for me. The business manager there, Gina, was also excellent. She explained all the options i had for financing and insuring my loan to a tee, and the ECP packages. She definitely was looking out for me, saved me alot of money and answered every question i had, also pointing out things i hadn't thought of. In the end I am very glad I bought from this dealership and can't say enough good things about their sales/managing/business/parts dept./maintenance mechanics. I have dealt with all these departments and they have blown me away with their courtesy and knowledge. If you want to know more about my experience at this dealership PM me cuz i this post is getting pretty huge haha.

The second dealership I had experience with was Peace Country Toyota in Dawson Creek, B.C. Really the only reason i went into this dealership was because i was working out of town for months at a time and needed a command start/oil change. They told me they have a local custom car outfit install their command starts, and that they dont do it in house. To have it done through them would cost about $800, but if i scheduled it through the custom car company directly it would save me about $100, it just wouldnt be covered under any warranty. Really? Im going to risk my $1700 dollar warranty to save $100 on a command start? Anyway i wound up just getting an oil change, which was free due to the warranty. The reason i wasnt entirely happy with this place was that when I was trying to schedule my appointment for an oil change (I was working nights) they kept forgetting to put me in. My appointment was pushed back 4 times over the period of a week and a half. They never tried contacting me or apologized for wasting my time, and it was a huge pain waking up during the day just to drop my truck off at the dealer and finding out they forgot to schedule it. And then do the same thing 2 days later. Four times. This made me very grumpy and many apprentices were beaten because of this Bottom line i wont be going back there unless I absolutely have to.

 

sup guys well i bought my ride back in NOV last year but I been doing alot of research on buying a truck. so i went to larsons to get a price on the tacoma. i went there was a dealer that came out and greeted me and the wife. i told him that i know that tacomas are made in mexico and what not. he said yup thats correct i told him i wanted a trd sport and took one on a test drive. we went back in for a price and the price of the vehicle was 36K and change and he wouldnt budge at all said we wouldnt be making anything. so he brings his invoice over and tells me by the way this truck came from japan. thats when i stoped him and told him you said this vehicle is from mexico and he said im new here. LOL so i told him you didnt study your shiet when selling these vehicles? and walked out. well went to puyallup toyota which was way better they sold me a SR5 4x4 all loaded for 33400 OTD which in WA is a good deal i think.

 

i know that the dealer told me it came from japan hahaha when i saw the vin number it said 3 and i knew that it came from mexico this dealer was so dumbfounded he started to stutter and was like i assumed it was from japan cause its a toyota LOL guess he wont be selling alot unless he gets some dumb person who falls for it

 

wow that sucks yeah i was a like a bitch on heat when it came to the tacoma heheheheh everywhere i went i was LOOK A TACOMA!!!!!!!!! shoot like having a wet dreams about a tacoma lol.. but yeah any car i like to do research on it and i was doing that for like a years plus and when we did the finalize paper on price we checked online and in WA state we paid way less than anyone in WA paid for on their trucks.

 

Livermore Toyota, Livermore Ca
I had been working with a salesman at Livermore Toyota to order my dream truck just before the 2015 release. That salesman dropped the ball, never asking for a deposit. I then placed my order with his sales manager. The Vin number was on my deposit receipt, but somehow, he also dropped the ball, failing to put a hold on the truck that supposedly had my name and deposit money.

A second sales manager took over, locating a similar truck that had been delivered to another dealer. A dealer trade was initiated, which would have my truck driven over a hundred miles to this dealership. I opted to ride with the ferry driver to drive my own truck back myself.

The truck sat untouched where I parked it by the dealer service bay for two weeks without having the options installed that were ordered initially. The second sales manager had failed to alert the service department to install my options.

At that point I demanded my deposit back.

I am currently waiting for delivery of my truck with factory installed options from another dealer, and will save a bundle over the original failed deal. my current deal was made entirely by phone and email, by recommendation of TW member Peerunner to Deborah Stewart of Hansel Toyota, Petaluma Ca. I expect to pick up my dream truck fully equipped in early November, instead of mid August as expected from Livermore Toyota.

Oh, what was Livermore's excuse? "We've been open for less than a year and we're still learning". I think they learned some from me when I cancelled the contract.

 

Nicely written up. I grew up in nearby Pleasanton, so this incompetency is good to know about. Hard to believe that a business whose primary function is selling vehicles can't consummate a deal with a very willing buyer.