Having issues with a dealership. Just wanting to vent.

Back in Oct, I ordered and placed a deposit down on a 2023 4Runer ORP at one of the local Toyota dealerships I have in the area. After several months, I guess they are having issues finding what I wanted in the color and options I asked for. I get a text yesterday evening telling me my vehicle showed up. The sales guy processed to send me a link of one he got in but it's missing one of the factory options. I point out it's missing a key option. He then says, "Sorry, I meant to send you this link." The second one has everything but has KDSS. An option I don't want and the price is close to 3k more than I had put a deposit down and signed for. I call him out over the price. He proceeds to tell me that Toyota has increased the price of the 4Runner several times since I placed my order. I tell him that isn't my problem. He then tells me that since I want the Premium Plus package, it now requires KDSS. I call him out again, siting Toyota.com that he is full of shit. The base price of the trim level I ordered has increased, but only by $750. He gets verbally upset after I kept calling him out after each lie he kept telling me. I then point out that signing, dating and putting a deposit down on my order, with the prices that were agreed on was a legal document. He then tells me he would have his Sales Manager call me. I tell him "Please do." The sales manager calls me 20 mins later. He basically is trying to play cover for his buddy, making up one bullshit excuse after the other about what's going on. At the end of the call, I tell him that I am going to keep waiting for what I ordered and that I'll be paying the price I signed for several months ago. I thought about being flexible and making this easier on both parties by being open to other colors than what I originally wanted. But after being repeatedly lied to, I felt like telling them to eat a dick and pound sand. I could get my deposit back but does me no good. I want my vehicle. I have already waited this long, a few more months doesn't hurt my feelings. Plus I'll end up paying the current prices.

 

Dealerships generally suck. Throw a wide net… draft a template email of what you wanted, copy and paste to 30 of the closest dealerships. See if anyone can help. If not…pay the money and enjoy your vehicle. Being salty doesn’t get you in your new ride. Sounds like you already came to that conclusion. Don’t punish yourself because you hate the dealership.

 

Update: I texted the salesman back. Told them I would take the KDSS equipped one if they honor the base msrp I signed for. Not saving much money but it's more about honoring the integrity of signing the order back in October.

 

good luck

 

Ended up getting the 4Runner. The dealership honored my original base MSRP after standing up to them and their policies.

 

Glad to hear they honored the pricing, sorry it was a battle

 

Love it

 

Water under the bridge now and I'm glad you reached a solution you both could live with!

I hope this never happens to you again, but if it does, my m-o, that has worked a few times over the years is to politely say good-bye to the sales guy, manager, etc., and then call back and ask for the General Manager of the dealership and/or (better) the Owner of same, and explain what is going on and ask for his/her/their help resolving it. I have done this a few times over the years when these shenanigans happen and when I finally reach that person the response is always generally: "Let me look into this Mr. xxxxxx and can you give me a good number to call you back?" Confirm it's actually the general manager or the owner you're talking to and if it is: : give them a good number. If it's not, ask them for the contact info for same. Trust me: Someone always calls back... While you're waiting, google the dealership and confirm the org-chart. When they call back, generally the conversation was usually: "You are all set Mr. xxxxx, come by and pick up your vehicle."

The executive staff at that level aren't going to tolerate $5.00 going out the window: never mind $30,000 - $50,000 because some sales-goon is trying some behind-the-back, under-the table deal that impacts the bottom-line of the entire business. It's bad for business, and they have ridiculous bills to pay: TODAY. ("a cashier's check in the hand is worth two birds' in the bushes" or whatever that saying is) Don't settle for the "sales manager" either: it's all a club and he's either one of them, ("fake title") or the sales guys can't stand/hate him because he scr*wed all of them on his/her/their way up and want to make him look bad. Go over his/her/their head (nicely): the exec's will show up and drop the hammer on everybody.

You'll get the vehicle you ordered for the deposit you gave them... (and maybe a bed-mat and floor-liners thrown in too)

 

I know how you feel... i was misled big time on my last purchase and they wouldn't do anything about it.

 

This is really off-putting. I've never bought a new vehicle let alone dealt with a dealership before when it comes to sales. So why is this? What's the bigger picture here? I don't understand why it took so long for them to have the truck you ordered and put a payment down for come in. It just doesn't make any sense to me. It's a simple concept, is it not? I tell you what I want, I give you money, you order it and I pick it up. I mean maybe I'm ignorant or something but I just don't get it. I've heard many horror stories from people who deal with dealerships. It just doesn't make any sense to me and makes me super hesitant for when the day comes that I can finally buy a new vehicle. And maybe I never will, maybe I'll just buy something used again. Who knows.

 

Toyota used to be pretty straight forward when it came to the business dealings of buying a new/used vehicle from them, it was always the domestics that played all of the mind games, make you wait forever to get any service in an attempt to wear you down so that you would just sign anything that they threw at you so that you could be on your way. Somewhere along the way, Toyota stared playing those same games, at least in my area. They got the attitude that they had what you wanted and you were going to do tricks to buy it from them. ( power play in their favor). I was looking at new and CPO used Tacos a few years ago when I discovered that the local stealerships were just as bad, if not worse, then the local domestic dealers.

The way that I put myself back into a position to have some leverage in the purchasing phase was to secure my own financing, it gave me the ability to tell them what my terms were in regards to the price that I was going to pay. They could take it or leave it.

 

This 100% solid advice, at least in my experiences.

 

Good for you OP!
I love that you held your position and didn’t take any of their shit as clearly the sales dick was used to pushing buyers around.
He knew what he was doing from the jump, trying to put you in a metallic pea Family Truckster instead of the antarctic blue Super Sports Wagon.

 

No, it is not quite so simple. Toyota does not order specific vehicles. They can request that a certain type of vehicle be sent to them but there is no guarantee that they will get it. Each month dealers get an allocation indicating what they will be receiving. Most vehicles come a certain way, with some accessories "bundled" together. If you want an upgraded wheel package it comes with upgrade audio as well, etc. You cannot order a vehicle exactly the way that you want it, unless the way you want it happens to be the way that it comes equipped. Many dealers will try to swap with other dealers to get what they want. This done between sales managers of different dealerships and if the customer has ordered a vehicle that is on the rare side then most likely another dealer is not giving up their vehicle unless they get something they value in return. Many, many years ago I used to work at a Toyota dealership. One of the hardest cars to come by was the most inexpensive car offered, the Tercel that was bare bones with no options. People would come in all the time and ask for that car because that is the car that Corporate Toyota would advertise on TV. "Come in and get a Tercel for $$$". People would come in and ask for that vehicle but we only got one or two a month or sometimes only one every other month. Plus it was cheap so even if you sold one AND could actually deliver it you made about $50 on the deal. It was usually in the sales persons best interest and the customers best interest to try a different model or one with more options/higher trim level.

I suspect if the OP had not "negotiated" a bit they would never have found a vehicle for him and therefore would never had to honor their price.

When you are ready to buy a new Tacoma then visit a few dealerships or surf online to see how they are typically coming equipped. Then you know what to buy so that you are more likely to get what you want sooner.

 

YUP.

"I ordered a blue w/ options A B and C"

Toyota made 17 of those, and sent 1 to dealership Alpha, 2 to Bravo, 1 to Charlie, etc etc.

PS - that's basically what I had to do for my truck. "I want a TRD OR, white, nothing else". I had to eat the door mat and door sill protectors (whatever, on that scale). Came from VT. But I got it. (This was Dec 2019 so right before shenanigans).

 

When I bought my old mazda I walked in with like, 17 comps, with sources. I said "I'm paying THIS for this car, not a penny more or less, willing to sign right here right now". I could have haggled it down a couple hundred maybe but I was in and out on a saturday in 25 minutes including a test drive. They saw I left some on the table, everyone it ties up could move on to someone else, and get an extra vehicle out that day. It was great. Highly recommend. Or find a no haggle stealership. Some exist, worth it in my opinion. You might be able to find the thing for a couple hundred less. OR, have the entire day instead of sitting in a dealership, for as much as it would cost you to go to dinner that night anyway.

 

Exactly.

I was happy that I got the truck I wanted minus one option (LED Headlights). OR MT with no options except Advance Tech. Took 8 months for it to show up, and they had to do some deals in the system along the way, but it eventually did. Got it at MSRP too, which I thought was fair for a MT in Oct 21 with no deposit down.

 

Flexibility helps too. When I got the mazda it was "I just want a mazda hatchback, yeah sure that one will do" (used). When I got the Tacoma "Yeah, if it has to come with X Y Z, sure". Specifically - no sunroof, 6AT, short bed (would have taken long, but SB was easy to find), no LEDs. Easy. White #1, a few other options allowable for color. They were able to work with that. And, I got a 2020 in Dec 2019 exactly as I wanted. Can't argue with that.

 

It can also help if you are willing to travel a bit. Sometimes what is popular in one part of the state or even country is not popular in other areas. When I was selling I once sold a white pearl 88 Supra Turbo to a guy from New Jersey (I worked in South Portland Maine). He said that he could not buy one in New Jersey and if he could he would be paying an extra $5K. I took the phone call, negotiated the price, then found the vehicle and swapped for it. He flew in, took a taxi to the dealership and took delivery and drove it home.

 

Thank you for the break down, I appreciate the information and insight. This is interesting to know.

Which leads me to my next question - you know how on toyotas website you can build out a vehicle i.e., 4Runner or Tacoma with certain colors, wheels, added accessories. Does that not really matter? Or is that not the same in comparison to what you mentioned above? Hopefully my question makes sense.