DISHONEST / UNETHICAL Toyota Dealership - Camelback Toyota, Phoenix, AZ

I had an experience like this a few years ago when I was shopping for a new bedroom set. Thankfully my dealings with Car Dealers have been more favorable, however I make it clear from the start that I'm not wasting time; I know what I want, I'm willing to pay a fair price to get it. Simple, clean, done. When I bought my Taco I was in and out in 45 minutes; probably would have been less but I bought on a weeknight and there was only Finance guy available. Toyota of Orange in So.Cal. is where I got my Taco and will likely be where I get a new Highlander for my GF next year.

I did have an interesting experience earlier this year when I was shopping for a new motorcycle. I had a handshake/verbal deal with a salesman to buy a particular bike for a price we agreed on. He said the deal was good for five days, I told him I'd be back in two (this was on a Saturday) with cash. Returned on Monday, the salesman I'd dealt with is off, so I'm talking to the owner of the Dealer who states he knows nothing about the deal and quotes me a price $500 higher. I was almost out the door when he 'found' a note from the Salesman I'd been dealing with detailing the deal we'd struck. Annoying but I was happy to get the deal. I was out of there in less than 45 minutes.

 

Apparently, this is a B.S, many dealers are pulling on highly sought out vehicles. People who pre-ordered and placed a deposit on Ford Broncos months in advance, are in for a rude awakening. They're told days to a week prior to the arrival of their vehicle, the Bronco they ordered are now going to cost them $10K more than the agreed price. The customer is now being told to pony up or get the stepping. It's utter B.S as I will not conform or become a hostage to their demands.

However the new Bronco is what the FJ should've been.

 

King?

 

If you don't expect much from people they can't disappoint you.

 

I’ve honestly found that most Toyota dealers are complete scumbags, and the dealers for southeast Toyota are some of the worst. Problem is, they have an in demand product and the trucks pretty much can sell themselves. I’ve bought from Honda who is sleazy also, dealt with Subaru too, and Toyota has by far biggest douche bags selling their cars. You know who I’m talking about. The types of guys who shave their arms and spend more time in the mirror than a woman.

 

Toyotas sell themselves. I agree with whoever said not all dealers are scumbags, but with these vehicles in particular they can basically do whatever they want and people will pay the asking price.

 

Yes, their tactics suck, it's unethical and exhibits a willingness to use any means to gain a dollar.

But, they did nothing illegal and you will get no satisfaction from wasting effort on this. You can vent and throw shade which helps release anger, but people don't care about someone else getting taken for a ride.

No matter how many times you say it, the fact remains you didn't have a completed transaction, Signing paperwork means NOTHING, unless you actually have a copy of the paperwork AND ALL BINDING DOCUMENTS. i.e. A signed purchase agreement and a receipt for payment or down payment.

Again they suck, but you have no recourse and you need to realize they were able to do this to you because you were stupid enough to trust several complete strangers ( who you knew in business to take your money) to do the right thing.

Salesmen play head games, the people that get taken are the ones that buy in to their bullshit. I'm not talking about knowing specifications of the models or interest rates. No, their number one tool is getting the customer to feel comfortable and trust what they say...then stick it in your ass. They will chit chat and joke and talk about fishing or football or whatever they can find out gets you to open up and talk to them...like you're buddies. Next thing you know. good ol Bill/Harold/Shaun makes you a sweet deal.

The best thing to do when negotiating is keep on topic, if they try to talk about basketball say you don't watch sports because it's a stupid waste of time. Make them uncomfortable in THEIR game. Their tactic is successful because even though buying a new truck is a stressful pain in the ass, many people still have a feeling of euphoria when they are actually pulling the trigger. Dopamine and serotonin cause people to do more stupid shit than weed and alcohol, people just don't know it's happening to them.

 

Not really true, it only takes a few minutes of my day to help blast a company online and I've felt this dude's circumstance.

 

Why would you allow them to run your credit? You have to consent for them to do that. Simply say no thank you because you are paying cash. Did you actually see the truck arrive? Did you see the other person paying more than you were? It really sounds like they just got you in the door to see what they DID have in stock because they didn't/couldn't get the truck you wanted.

 

I recommend leaving a negative review on Yelp too. We got bait and switched by a Honda dealership that we had driven 2 hrs to get to. We were so pissed. Left a bad review of the dealership on Yelp and the manager actually reached out to us. He asked what he could do to get us to change our review on Yelp. I ignored his message.

 

The managers always reach out on those reviews with their phony comments and it's all for show. They very rarely make things right.

 

Did this exact thing and the manager reached out and asked what he could do to get the review taken down.

 

Not even a first year associate right out of law school would take this. There was no offer or acceptance that the OP can provide documentation to prove, and there was no consideration since no money changed hands, so there was no contract. You also have no damages other than some lost time, gas, and aggravation. None of the elements of a tort are there. What are you going to take to court?

The OP is here venting and is giving them some bad publicity to the extent he can. Unfortunately dishonest, unethical, and dealership are pretty much synonymous the vast majority of the time, but there's not much the OP can do except vent to feel better and never go there again. Fortunately the only things he lost were his time and his temper. It could have been worse.

 

.... and this is why I bought my "new" 2020 Tacoma from Carvana.

 

Unfortunately that means you paid well above sticker for a used truck.
Yes there are bad dealers everywhere. But given that this is toyota and not McLaren you can go across the street to another one

 

I think you pay fairly close to fair market value through caravana/zoom. I say this because they don’t have salespeople to pay for, a showroom to keep clean, they just need a place to store cars until someone buys them. All the extra expenditures go to transport. I sold my gti recently through vroom and it was a great experience. Very sketchy feeling, but the check showed up more quickly than I expected. What you pay for is, exactly what you’ve purchased.

 

I sold 2 Harleys to RumbleOn. I agree, it felt sketchy at first, but it worked out fine. They actually FedEx a bank check before they send a transporter to pick up your bike (after you send them your paperwork of course). Worked out great. They do cars/trucks now too.

 

I don’t think so, same goes for carmax. Their prices are atrocious on 1-3 y/o vehicles especially on wranglers and Tacoma’s.
It has nothing to do with their overhead. They snatched a shit ton of inventory by overpaying then raising the prices on everyone else. That’s the tech biz model.

 

https://www.carvana.com/vehicle/1856521

Perfect example

 

I was thinking on this and wondering if, because the check was not accepted, that money did not change hands and therefore the contract was not executed. Would be interesting to hear an attorney weigh in.