Problem with Toyota dealer, Thinking about filing BBB and Toyota Corp complaint

Long post, feel free to pass this up

I located my truck on auto trader, 190 miles away in Illinois(I live in Missouri). Great mileage, options, etc. However, I really wanted a Certified Preowned Toyota due to financing, warranty, and the thorough list of things they inspect (Fiances Camry is certified, and I have a friend that is a Toyota mechanic who has told me the amount of work they put into the inspection).

I ask if there is a reason it's not certified. I get an email back saying "no, we just didn't certify it to keep the price down. We can certify it for $500 more". I say great, do this and I'll purchase the truck. This was on a Tues or Wed, I was to arrive at the dealer that Saturday, so I asked if they had time to certify. Was told yes, absolutely.

I get there Saturday and drive the truck, rear tire was low but it drove great. I get out and walk around the outside. Passenger rear taillight is broken. There is a ding in the chrome rear bumper with a tiny bit of rust on it. I point those out and the salesman is instantly "that must have happened on the lot, after the certification"...I said well wasn't it just certified 2 days ago? That ding already has rust. He doesn't know what to say but says he will ask.

If you look at the huge list of things they inspect, it's extensive. There is no way a mechanic who has nothing to gain by shorting a certification (other than time), would miss a taillight being broken, if they were checking all the intricate things on the list. Thus I'm feeling like what else didn't they inspect? Did they just slap a certified tag on it, bump the price, and make the sale? I brought this up to the salesman also.

Purchase price was lowered to compensate for tail light and bumper. I had driven 3.5 hours, and since I liked the truck, and the trade I was getting from my SUV, I purchased it.

At the time I tried to make myself ok with this, since it has the 12 month bumper to bumper warranty, and the 100/m power train warranty. I figure the warranty may be worth the $500.

Part two: Despite asking for them, I didn't get temp/dealer tags. I was sent home with nothing. I also had to pay my Missouri sales tax to the dealer that day, and was told my plates would be in the mail. I questioned this extensively before I left the dealer. I explained that in Missouri we have to provide proof of inspection, proof of personal taxes paid from the year before, proof of insurance, etc to get license plates in MO. They just keep glossing past this, and saying "they will come in the mail".

I go home, and start getting more concerned about no temp/dealer tags. I call, and they act freaked out, say "we will send them express mail, we are liable if you get a ticket since you need them"...although I requested them that day at the dealer.

I placed followup emails asking when I would receive actual plates, etc. Kept getting the same assurance. Finally with 4 days left on my 30 day temp tags, I called the dealer. Was told I'd be called back as soon as they called MO DMV to check. I waited 4 hours, then I called back. The person said "oh I was on hold for 45 minutes with DMV and didn't get answered"...so they never called me back to let me know.

I asked for a manager. Basically he said the MO DMV rejected my application because, as i had told them, I needed all that other information to get plates. New plan is to overnight me my check back for the taxes, which I will now take to my DMV like I wanted to do, and get my plates. I get my check, all other info to license my truck with ONE day left on my temp tags. I go to the DMV and they say the dealer didn't give me an odometer disclosure, so I need to go to an inspection station to get one. However, I have to work, and the DMV is closed due to state holiday next two days, then the weekend, so 4 days before I can get plates.

Between me dropping my vehicle at an inspection center near my work, and walking to work, and my fiancé picking my truck up on her lunch break and doing the running to the DMV I got the licensing done later that day. However when I arrived at work I called the sales manager and went off about their lack of professionalism in getting this done. He agreed with everything, and said he would talk to the owner of the dealership about compensating me. I got a voicemail saying they wanted to know what I was expecting for compensation, like how much. I tried to call a couple days but we have been so busy at the hospital where I work, that I can't call during business hours. I finally just sent him an email explaining this, and saying that I felt it wasn't my place to decide compensation, that they are the dealer, so decide what you would expect if it was you doing all the leg work, sending all the emails, running around last minute to license the vehicle, and just compensate me what you think would be fair. That was over a week ago and I've heard nothing.

So this is definitely two different problems, and I recognize that. The possible bogus inspection, and them not following through on the plates. The bogus inspection would mean more to Toyota, since the reason for the inspection is that they don't slap a warranty on a vehicle that will cost them a lot in repairs.

I'm not sure what road to take. At this point it isn't about getting money from the dealer as compensation, it's about making the dealer pay for being shitty to a customer. I'd rather cause them a bad name in some way or another, than get a check for my work.

Anyone filed complaints with BBB? Anyone gotten anywhere with the corp Toyota on problems with dealers? I'd be more satisfied with them having to answer to Corp Toyota than any amount of money they could possibly send me.

Again, sorry for the crazy long post, but venting it out is actually therapeutic.

 

I agree that a BBB complaint would be a good step. Their lack of professionalism, and apparent lack of interest in any form of customer service deserves that much at least. An email to Toyota Corporate would stand to get you possibly a couple hundred dollars worth of maintenance, or some accessories, but may not since it was not a brand new truck. Worth a shot anyway.

I would suggest calling or emailing the dealership owner, letting them know of all the trouble that you had, and ask what he thinks should be done. Obviously free maintenance from them is not worth it because of the long drive, but perhaps asking for a new taillight to replace the broken one at this point would be a start for sure. (A replacement taillight from the dealer would be a couple hundred, so not a bad item to get for free)

As they say, if you don't get what you feel you deserve, go higher. Me, I don't waste time. If I don't get what I want up front, I contact the owner. They HATE to field complaints direct to them. Managers get fired for stuff like that, and to be honest, if that is the way the sales manager does things on a regular basis, he deserves to get fired.

As to the "Certified Toyota" thing, Getting Certified is supposed to require an extensive inspection, yes. However sometimes the vehicle can be passed, without the repairs being done. How? Well, the tech could short the inspection, stating it was good, and figuring it would get replaced later. It may actually be possible that the taillight WAS damaged on the lot after the inspection. There really is not way to know 100% for sure. The bumper is a cosmetic thing, that may or may not be replaced to pass certification. I know when I was certifying cars at GM, damaged bumpers were considered cosmetic, thus not something that was repaired to achieve "certification".

Just throwing my $.02 worth in.

 

I bought "Certified" Toyota (not my Tacoma)
it had
1. Cracked Driver side mirror
2. Warped brakes
3. Non working parking brake
4. Low filled Transmission
5. several dings.
6. Leaky Battery
7. Serpentine belt needing replacement.
However it was $6000 below BlueBook value so I could not complain.

 

Calling toyota care will most likely not help you and here is an example.

I took my truck in for a front end shake on a Saturday afternoon. The tech suggested a rotate and balance. As well as alignment. Quoted almost 200.00 for the job. I reluctantly let then continue. They had my truck on the rack for 45 minutes before coming and saying we can't get your wheels off. I gave showed them the lug key sitting in the front cup holder and then went on my way. 3 hours later I get my truck back and I ask then if they drove it. They said they took it down the interstate and got up to 70 and all the shaking was gone. Great.

I get in my truck and leave and I get up to 50 and it is shaking so bad I feel like the wheels are falling off. I take it back and the service manager checks all the lugs and asks to go on a drive. We go down the interstate and he feels the shaking as well and says turn it around. We went back to the dealer and when we got off I was squatted down looking at the wheels and tires and suspension while he is saying it has to be my lift kit. When I notice my tire is slashed straight down the sidewall and the the wheel is gouged. He comes and looks and you can tell it is fresh. He accepts responsibility and says to come back Monday morning. (They were closing) and he would take care of it all. I went back Monday and he is denying any and all knowledge said I did it myself. (Brand new tires less than 500 miles on then) I told him to get his super he did and the super came out and says the same thing. So I call toyota care and they tell me since it is the dealership that could have caused the damage it is up to them to repair. But they will call customer relations. So I get taken into this office and called a liar and wanting a new tire for free. To which I went off and at the top of my lungs corrected them. I was then made to leave the dealership and told never to return.
This was all at toyota knoxville on Parkside drive.

 

This happened to me with a Honda accord once. Bought a certified accord from Fairfax Honda (NEVER GO THERE!!!) and went through never receiving the plate and found numerous things they didn't do in the certified check list. Honda gives a checklist of what has been performed and what is required in order to be a certified vehicle. The rotors were warped, pads worn out, brake fluid was dirty, valve cover gasket not changed, and many other things not done.

I live in pa so it was a few hours drive. I had it out with them over the phone but never got anywhere with them. I called honda corporate and filed a complaint. They were not happy about the situation and opened a case. They set me up with my local dealer to have all the things done that weren't done. Repaired everything that was wrong and corporate was very apologetic.

I called the dealer back and let the manager know I had filed a complaint and he wasn't happy at all about that. I told him what was up.

 

The dealer obviously failed in every way with the customer service on this deal, but I wouldn't complain too much about the certified thing. You were sceptical before buying the truck but still agreed. If that was a big problem for you, you should've argued the case when you bought it instead of after.

 

Mid Missouri?
Where?

 

I was in our local Toyota dealership yesterday, the new car sales area was packed !!!! It was like a hive of bees. Huhh.......Good Luck on resolving your issues.

 

Co worker of mine who used to work at Toyota says the certified is a bunch of crap, basically they do a normal inspection and if the miles are below a certain threshold, they "certify" it.

 

BBB complaint might make you feel better but from what I hear about the BBB that is all. Check for complaints against dealer they may already have many.

 

Certified means a new air filter...........as for the no temp tags and cracked lense, there is no legit excuse they can make for the truck to have left their lot without those right there on the spot. They have a parts dept and more trucks on the lot to get a taillight off of. Sending a vehicle off the lot without tags seems to be a big liability for them and is just nonsense. As for the jerkoff treatment and runaround, yeah, definitely run it up the flagpole any way possible with BBB, owner of dealership & corporate. Tell corporate that there is even going to be a news story done about it on TV by the consumer advocate at the station. Maybe that'll get the dealership some negative attention from corporate if nothing else does.

 

I've called BBB before and the sad truth is, nothing will happen from it. It'll be a waste of your time and effort. As far as calling Toyota corporate, while I can't say for sure, my gut tells me that will be a wasted endeavor as well. Probably the best way you can get even with this dealership is to post their name on websites like this one warning folks to stay away from them along with your story.

David

 

I sent in complaints on the corporate Toyota website a couple of times and have had a
very positive outcome both times. The repairs were made even after the warranty was
past. The service manager told me on one repair that there was no way they would
do it but after my complaint on the web page the dealership called and it was taken care of like it should have been.

 

When buying used, you have to be careful what they call 'certified'. With Ford/Lincoln (I've been a tech here for 11 years now) dealers we have a few different inspections we can do for our used cars. First off, we can only truly 'certify' our Lincoln products. This is FoMoCo's policy. This certification is a 3 page double sided checklist we go through to find any and all defects. This includes most cosmetic things. This certified inspection is only done on Lincolns that will retain a bumper to bumper warranty (4 years, 50k miles). Anything outside of this range is not and cannot be a true certified vehicle.

Another inspection we have is for all other non Lincoln products, i.e. Ford, Mercury, Honda, Toyota, etc etc. This is what we call an Assurance Inspection. This inspection will allow us to sell the customer an extended warranty with peace of mind. We basically go through the same process as our Lincolns go through. We find and repair any problems that would be covered under the extended warranty. Cosmetic stuff is usually not repaired unless it is something major that would cause a customer not to buy the vehicle.

We have another kind of inspection we do for our vehicles that are in a bit worse off condition. It's called a safety inspection. For this inspection we only repair what is needed to pass state inspection. Usually we dont repair any problems unless it's something totally necessary, like AC and heat, or something of that nature. Most of the time, these cars get sent to the auctions or sold online and are sold 'as is'. We try not to keep beat up cars on our 'luxury' dealership lot, lol!

All of these cars, with the exception of the safety checks, could be called certified used cars by our salesman. The true certified cars will have a bumper to bumper warranty and, if the customer wants, and extended warranty. The assurance inspections have the option to buy an extended warranty and will generally never have an issue with them. The safety checks are usually sold as is.

As for what the salesmen tell the customers....I have no idea. I can give you some advice when buying a used car from a dealership: ask for a list of all the maintenance that was done, a list of all the repairs made, and the checklist that was done by the technician. None of this should ever be denied to you. If the salesmen at your dealership are like ours, they will walk the customer directly to the technician. I cant tell you how many times I've talked to potential buyers about the car they were looking to purchase. I'll answer any and all questions they have about the car and I have absolutely no problem with it.

As for a broken tail light? Broken tail lights will not pass state inspection in TX. I dont know about where yall live, but here that's immediate failure until repaired. That being said........I've missed broken tail lights before. It happens but is usually found by our super awesome badass detailers before the cars get out on the lot. Our pre-delivery team is one of the best in the country in my eyes. I can't say enough about them

 

From my earlier post I got a new set of 17 inch wheels because the finish was coming
off and a new temp compass that was defective. No charge.

 

Very good reasonable advice and ethics displayed in grublin's post above..........


The dealership that this thread is about is a prime example of what ruins things for dealerships like grublin works for. Good dealerships should be pissed about lame ass ones just like consumers are because lame ones gives good ones bad rap and gets them stereotyped and lumped all together. I commend the good ones holding their ground in an environment of way too often lame shady bullshit.

 

I've heard this before, too.

OP, I've filed a complaint with BBB once (Midas shop in South Austin scratched the heck outta my rims), but really it doesn't do anything unless the business cares about their BBB rating. Honestly, if putting your story out there as a warning to future potential customers is what you care about, I'd post reviews on Google Places, Facebook Places, Yelp, and sites like those. Maybe it's my generation, but BBB doesn't seem to get a lot of exposure nowadays.

 

BBB is a joke don't waste ur time..sorry to see what u are going thru...scum bag dealers are like scum bag lawyers....no accountability. Hope all works out for you

 

Thanks for all the positive/helpful replies guys, it's nice to hear I'm not crazy to think this dealer really dropped the ball, especially with the license plates and temp tags.

I may call the Sales manager one more time, if I get any time tomorrow. I've been putting in too many hours at work to get them on the phone at regular hours.

They did compensate the taillight price $200 at the dealer that day, and compensated some of the bumper. I had the 160pt inspection list they used right in front of me, and i pointed to the part that says "no cracked exterior lenses" and "no gouges or dings/dents to bumper". That helped with negotiation, but what I feared is if the stuff I saw in 3 minutes got passed, what else did. However, the bumper to bumper warranty for the first year will hopefully cover me on things they missed.

Thanks again, much appreciate the advice and support.

 

You really think that some 700 point inspection is actually done and the things which are identified fixed? I don't think so. The game is to get that vehicle off the lot as soon as possible without spending a dime. There is a reason that many of us believe that car stealers are slime from the top to bottom...

Do you like the truck? You are just going to have to deal with these issues one at a time. Maybe save your emotional capital for addressing these matters one-by-one.