HELP- Trying to Locate the Previous Owner of My Truck

give us your sales associate number we'll put em' on TW speed dial.
Our power is far reaching .......

 

That’s terrible, when did they tell you the guy would bring it in, before or after you signed the contract? If it was an after sale statement like “by the way, your truck doesn’t have a key”, you may be able to encourage a refund for a replacement from them outside of going to small claims court. I was able to talk a Honda dealer into paying to fix a bunch of stuff on my first tacoma after a sale - new dash lights, brakes and such by using the words “safety items” in describing them...

 

I know. As a working man I don't want to go sit at that dealership. May have to though.

 

And mention a bad BBB review. Maybe will make them move a bit faster. worked for me before.

 

I wrote a bad review for a kia dealership on google after 3 weeks of calling/emails/opening a case with corporate and getting nothing (after purchasing a brand new vehicle for my wife). Within two days of writing the review my issue was resolved.

Could be a easy solution without sitting in a dealership.

 

Wait wait wait, you bought a car 2 months ago and you're still fretting over a $180 key? You probably spent $30k+ and you're still bothering over what amounts to 0.5% of the transaction... In addition to stalking the previous owner people on here are suggesting complaining to the BBB, torching them on yelp, even smalls claims court?!

Da fuk are you guys like all retired with nothing better to do or something??

Go buy another key and be done with it, you've already spent more time and energy on this than $180 is worth in the first place. And what do you expect a BMW dealer to do?? Its a used car lol.

 

quoted for truth.

 

Because he wanted something with power.......(drops mic and walks off stage)

But seriously those damn fobs are expensive. I had to get a second one for the wife's subie and it was almost $400 for fob and programming.

 

Next time go to a local lock smith almost all of them do smart keys now. It'll be $100-$200 cut and programmed.

 

Local locksmiths only go up to 2014. I checked.

 

You're in seattle?? Here's one for next time:
http://sevanlocksanddoors.com/seattle-locksmith-services/seattle-automotive-locksmith/toyota-key/

 

Pretty sure they were 1 of 6 or so I called

 

There is, but it was on the grassy knoll and now it's buried in the desert out past Terlingua

 

ask them to try and contact him.

Legally they cannot give you his contact info, nor can a toyota dealer if you got them to search the vin for who the original owner was.
But keep hassling them to contact him and you might get it.
With no written agreement on the second key they aren't obligated to do anything for you. Its all on their customer service at this point. Some dealers care about customer service as keeping you happy could mean another sale in the future.

 

Show me where I can get that key for $180. From the dealer it's going to cost me around $500. As for why i'm bothering over it, every dollar counts. This guy lives local, and that key is just sitting in a drawer at his house. Excuse me for wanting to exhaust my options before spending several hundred dollars.

 

Go to the DMV with the VIN and see if they will provide it.

 

Yeah I’m with you on this one. Well worth the effort.

 

If you honestly can't find a reasonably priced lock smith (there's like a dozen near me in san diego) then you can take a couple extra steps and do it all yourself. Order they key here for $136:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/BRAND-NEW-...ash=item3d4a4c84df:g:l-IAAOSwLyBZ0mJf&vxp=mtr

Then have the physical key cut at the dealership ($15)

Then have the FOB programmed at the dealership ($50)

total price $201

And yeah sure $200 is $200 no one likes wasting money if you can reasonably avoid it, however stalking a former owner who OWES YOU NOTHING is out of the realm of "reasonable", so is small claims court, blasting on yelp, writing letters to your congressman and every other petty and vindictive advice given here.

Why did you buy a used Tacoma from a non-Toyota dealer anyways?? Probably because it had the lowest price on one around...

 

Is that supposed to be an insult? That I chose the best price?

As for the rest of your comment, If I can't have a factory fob then I will likely do the Lexus wallet card fob. Thanks for the follow up though.

 

Its not an insult at all, but its pointing out you need to tailor your expectations when going with the lowest bidder, this applies to everything not just cars.

If you sought out the cheapest used car and buying from a separate brand you should NOT expect or even be disappointed if they don't go out of there way for something stupid like a second key.

If had bought a certified Tacoma from a Toyota dealer you would've paid closer to retail book but you'd be totally warranted in expecting a second key or any other small stuff that comes up.

You went after the lowest price vehicle but people are giving you advice as if you paid all the money and the salesman is going to retire off your commission alone so they're literally hitler if they don't bend over and pay for a second key...

Just explaining the reality of why you won't get what you want, in this case the dealership spending more time and money on a 2nd key... for a used car... from another brand... from 2 months ago. Give it a shot and ask them to?? Of course! But you already did and didn't get anywhere so now its time to buy a second key and be done with it.

Edit: to be clear here I was never criticizing your response, it was mostly the people trying to give you "advice".