Need advice: Feedback on truck purchase/dealership

I recently purchased a 2016 Tacoma from a dealership in Illinois and had it shipped to the west coast. (new member thread) I'm having issues with a couple points on the truck now that I got it out here. I'm looking for advice on whether I got screwed or should just let it go.

1) The truck was originally listed as CPO. I have screenshots of the ad listing in case there were questions in the future. Once we agreed on the truck/price/etc., I asked about using the CPO warranty at my local dealer. A while later the sales guys says, "oh, it's not CPO, the listing was a mistake". I responded with, "then I want to lower the price". Sales guy replies, "You can pay the $450 for inspection and whatever to get it up to CPO standards, but otherwise it's as-is. If it were CPO, we would sell it for more than we sold it to you."

In legal terms, this is a binding verbal contract. Sales guy also said, "we have a disclaimer on the site that says we aren't responsible for listing errors". In legal terms, yeah, you f***ing are. But I figured the truck was a good enough price and I'll worry about dealing with it later. If I get nothing, I'm not out much because I did get a good price. ($33,279 for a blazing blue Limited). The second point I asked for was a discount on a VSA. No deal their either.

2) When I got the truck out here it only had 1 key. PTS key fobs are expensive. I went to my local dealer and told them I needed a second key fob. When I told the guy I just bought the truck two weeks ago and it only came with one, he looked at me like I was special. He told me there was no way they would sell a truck with only one key and they would eat the cost of making a second key. He quoted a key at $388. When I called and asked my sales dealership for a free key, he said no. Asked for a key at cost or 50% off, he said no.

I talked to my sales guy, he basically told me there was nothing he could do. He would "look around the dealership for a key" but he's never called me back and it's been a week. I called the dealership and asked for a manager. I talked to a sales manager who basically told me that "it's as-is and that "if we had two keys, we woudn't have priced it how we did"". Again, with that bullshit? He doesn't even know the sales price. I replied with another email saying that it was a crap excuse and if I was there in person they would have made a second key. Also, the price was listed higher before being lowered to where I bought it. So they were trying to move a truck in December/January, not that there were issues with it.

This leads me to wonder what else they didn't disclose so they could use the excuse "that's why it was priced like that". It's not so much the $388 for a key, I'm a man of principle. It's the principalities of the deal! lol

Timeline of conversations:

1. Sales deal agreed on
2. Phone call to dealership and they said no CPO. Won't negotiate price. Won't offer discounted VSA.
3. Vehicle shipped with only 1 key
4. Called sales guy, he said he'd look
5. 2 days, no reply from him
6. Called manager, he said he'd look
7. 3 business days later, no response. I called, asked for email to have paper trail. emailed him. he replied with bs.
8. Emailed again telling him it was bs, 2 days no response

So I'm trying to weigh my options now that they are non-responsive.

1. Let it go
2. Put them on blast. Post threads, poor reviews, email jalopnik, etc.
3. Seek legal ramifications (deal for advertised vehicle is legally binding)
4. Email Toyota USA directly
5. Some selection of 2/3/4

TL;DR:
Bought a truck advertised as CPO, no CPO
Truck only came with one key, costs $388 at my local dealer
Did I get screwed or am I being dramatic?

 

Dealer is responsible to pay for the $450 CPO inspection or he can take it back if you have it on writing/email somewhere. That I would definitely hold him against. However as far as the FOB goes, if it was never listed saying it had 2, and you never asked, the dealer doesn't have to do anything. Cars aren't required to come with both keys. (I am not a lawyer)

 

I would have walked away

When the sales guy says, "oh, it's not CPO, the listing was a mistake", you should have said "Have a nice day, good luck selling the truck"

You bought as-is, so it's as-is.

 

I have screenshots of the website showing the CPO. They wouldn't go through the CPO process once I agreed on purchase and found out it wasn't CPO. They offered to let me pay for the CPO inspection and repairs if I wanted it CPO.

The key is more of an annoyance and I feel I was taken advantage of for not buying in person. If I was there I would have said, "hey, let's get a second key". IMHO, two keys is implied when purchasing from a dealership. The least they could have done is offer something at cost or waive the labor to program it.

 

How many miles??? Why would you deal with a dealership like that... take you and your money somewhere that wants to keep your business. $33.5 for a used no warranty truck seems steep. That right there tells me the truck was either a lemon or its already got high miles.. AND the dealer's being a dick... pass.

 

True, but it was still more than $3,000 lower than anything local, even after paying for shipping. The cost of the truck was worth it, hence why I'm asking if I should just drop the issue.

 

It has 23,000 miles on it. $33,279 for a 2016, blazing blue limited was/is the lowest price in the entire country. It still has factory warranty, it just didn't have the fine tooth comb inspection that goes with CPO.

 

It really depends on if you want to go through a legal headache for about $800 worth of inspections and FOBS at this point.

 

IMHO you've screwed yourself at two points and have limited legal recourse if I'm reading things correctly.

(A) - they advertised it as CPO, in conversation it was revealed that it was not CPO, you bought it anyway. Effectively they're off the hook since the mistake in the advertisement was discussed and you completed the sale knowing it was not CPO. While some recourse could be possible under bait-and-switch laws, that's going to be very difficult to prove with a single instance.

(B) - Unless something was written where it included two fobs, you accepted delivery with one fob and that'll limit your recourse.

So of your listed options, #2 is certainly worth persuing. #4 won't do anything as your issue is with an independent dealer. #3 won't get anywhere as I outline above. #1 is what you'll probably end up doing.

 

While I'm not against CPO vehicles, I'm not so sure I agree with you on how detailed the CPO inspections really are...

 

Buy a platinum VSA and forget about all your worries. Search on here for how to buy one for cheap.

 

A) The fine, legal semantics of deal being agreed upon before disclosing non-CPO status is the recourse here. The deal is $33,000 for a 2016 CPO truck. Disclose of non-CPO was made after the sales terms were agreed upon.

B) I had to accept delivery. The truck was dropped off at my house and that's when I discovered there wasn't a second key. The only other option was to fly to Chicago and inspect.

I agree that i'll end up dropping it. But it definitely feels better talking to other people about it.

 

Yep, i've already got one lined up in case this issue just does. I actually made a warranty selection spreadsheet that I'll be sharing for people who are interested in buying a VSA.

 

I do know how you feel about getting screwed. And I am certainly one to hold a grudge. You could always call Toyota Corp and see if there is anything they will do. I called them because "paint" wasn't covered in a "bumper-to-bumper" warranty on my lexus. Long story short. They painted it for free. Drove a 2016 IS for 3 days and returned it on E-. Win all around

 

Strictly speaking the fine legal semantics is when the sales contract was executed. i.e. contract signed, funds transferred, vehicle delivered to your possession. Did you learn of the lack of CPO before or after those three things occurred? Your original post led me to believe you learned of the lack of CPO prior to signing/paying/delivery.

Did you not have to sign some piece of paper from the transport company? That's what I'm talking about.

 

Get the Platinum VSA. Do you like the truck?? Any issues?

You could nicely ask the dealer it came from if they could contact the original owner to find the key... see what that does. Who looses a $400 key?? Probably the dealer did....

 

Oh and don't misunderstand, I'm not trying to pile on or be an azzhat. It's a sucky situation and I sympathize.

 

I'll give you one guess on which gender looses the key.... But srsly, $400 if steep, call other dealers..

 

Also, if you read the Lexus Smartkey thread you'll see how you can buy a new or used smartkey and program it to your the truck probably for much less than a dealer would charge. Might need to do a bit of research to identify the proper keyfob instead of the lexus key.

 

Good point, that's one thing I forgot to post. I had submitted signed documents for purchase and paid a $1,000 deposit on the agreed upon price before finding out that it was not CPO.

The paperwork from the dealership and the shipping company didn't include details on how many key fobs were shipped. It didn't say two, it also didn't say one. I suppose it technically could have been delivered with zero keys since the consensus is that keys aren't an implied part of a deal.