Toyota - Nashville, TN

In multiple forum postings as of late, I've noticed a lot of folks mentioning the primary Toyota dealership in downtown Nashville. What I haven't seen is anyone get into specifics. Perhaps worth folks sharing their experiences to get their attention.

I personally have not been impressed with the service I've received from Beaman, which seems to have declined sharply since I started taking my prior Toyota to them for regular service. Corky from the service dept was always extremely helpful and, was honest, and never tried to sell me something I didn't need on my high-miles Rav.

Fast forward, and I decided to buy my 2017 Tacoma from them due to my good service experiences. Not what I expected:

• Were extremely resistant to perform a dealer trade to get the SSM TRD OR I wanted. When they did agree to do this, they were not willing to do much to budge on price.
• Took over a full week to get the truck here (understood). Upon arrival, I learned it was originally on their lot, driven to KY (Louisville I think) and then driven back down. I bought a truck "new" with nearly 400 miles on it. Had already sold my other car and knew I wanted this exact model so I took delivery anyway - hey, I "trust" these guys right?
• Took 7 weeks to get registration from them - multiple mis-steps, and wrong information provided. After pleading multiple times, the salesman finally brought me another temp tag on New Years Eve. It was expired and I was getting the run around.
• After 3 weeks of ownership, I noticed the now familiar gas pedal vibration. When I took it in, Kenny in the service dept was very nice and had the team take a look at it, but ultimately conceded the common "normal characteristics of the truck" line they are instructed to give and asked for my patience as Toyota often releases fixes to such issues (eventually). I cited some of the erratic shifting concerns at that time (early Dec) and was told "normal characteristics of the truck" even though I later learned there was an active TSB which ultimately (mostly) resolved the issues.
• Despite the common issues cited on the Tacoma (and they sell a lot of them...) any concern or issue I brought up has been met with silence or a clear avoidance of eye contact. Furthermore, when I do raise an issue they act like it's the first they've heard of any of it vs. validating my concern and making me feel like they are willing to help.
• Took my Tacoma in for 5k service along with a list of items I wanted addressed. Included TSB rev 1, oil change, MANUAL check of transmission fluid, bed alignment concerns, and the slight slip/miss feeling when slowly accelerating. The TSB was completed - and has done wonders for the truck, I must say and the oil change was completed. Tranny fluid was only checked via techstream, so I'm still not sure whether I have adequate tranny fluid and am not going to risk screwing something up by checking it myself. I purposefully dropped it EARLY in the morning so it could be in their service dept for 10-11 hours - plenty of time for the cool-down/warm-up that needed to occur. I also sent an email to the service dept and requested a call back about the transmission fluid check and to-date have still not received a response on the same. The concern around the misaligned bed and rear bumper were ignored and the "list" I prepared for them was left folded in the passenger seat of the truck when I picked it up (after hours due to work schedule).

...now despite all of this, I still love the truck. The design is exactly what I needed/wanted for my lifestyle. Even the cabin size and config seem to have been made for me (5'11") and is the most comfortable to drive on and off road of anything I've owned. I have concerns, yes, but I think they are all resolvable and will continue to keep me a Toyota customer so long as I am treated like a valued customer with real concerns on a $38k purchase from which they made money. It shouldn't be this hard.

At this point, while Beaman is certainly convenient to me (I work downtown and it's easy to drop off before work and pick-up after w/o wasting time sitting around the dealership), I may just need to switch to another dealer for service altogether. I hear many great reports on here of great dealers (and some not) but until the last few days I haven't heard so many OTHER folks mention Beaman... so share your stories. Would like to see these guys have some hard feedback to act upon and get back to quality... downtown Nashville deserves a little better!

 

I think you will be hard-pressed to find an ideal dealership. The stuff you mentioned is fairly rampant, I have noticed this as well. My registration had expired before I received my plates, and man, I was pissed.

Once they have your money, many dealerships do not care about you. This is human nature, I get that... But this is their damn job!

 

True - I felt like it would be different with these guys after the solid service I got on my beater Rav. If they didn't take advantage of me then, surely I can trust them with my (to me) expensive new truck purchase. That's my fault for being too utopian in my expectations I suppose.

 

For what it's worth, I live in middle TN and used Toyota of Cool Spring because of my experience in their service dept. Worked with Barry White and he was very professional even when I was acting like a baby because it was taking awhile to get the truck from Toyota (special order). Even bought another vehicle from him a few months later. Service center is still top notch. Asked them to manually check the tranny fluid and they did without hesitation. Brought it in again for the tranny TSB and again had no issues getting it taken care of. I'd recommend Toyota of Cool Springs.

 

We bought our Land Cruiser from Toyota of Cool Springs but live closer to Beaman. Have had very good service from them. We also sometimes use Cumberland Toyota in Cookeville TN. No complaints there either.

 

So is Cool Springs the defacto Toyota Dealer in middle TN. Having a frame replacement this month and hoping for a good experience...

 

Ron Hibbard in Gallatin is where I would go for any major work, and is where I'll buy my next Toyota.

I bought mine from Beaman and it's the last time I'll do business with them. Ron Hibbard has a lot of Tacoma guys on the service staff who know these trucks and treat folks right. They fixed my trucks issues without a problem under warranty so they've earned my business for the next go-around for sure.

 

I bought my Tacoma from Wyatt Johnson in Clarksville and my 4-Runner from Cool Springs. Both purchased in 2018 and both came with lifetime warranties. I can deal with a little bit of personality differences for that reason alone. Not sure if the other dealerships in TN are doing the same.