Dealers to avoid / Bad experience

[harajuka]

I figured I would start a thread on dealers to avoid. I have been searching for a Prius IV and have had some bad experience with the dealers that I have dealt with:

1st - Keith Pierson of Jacksonville FL, I got their contact as a Costco Auto Program dealer, so I got a call from them and told me that I had to stop in the dealer to get the costco pricing. So I make my way there and told them im there to get pricing on the the Prius and am working through the Costco program. So this is on a Package IV no option and comes back with the price of 32k i just laughed and said this is the costco pricing? Then he goes back to the manager and comes back with a 28k price, that's $2000 above sticker. I get the story that only certain cars go under the costco program what BS is that! So after all that another salesman calls me back 2 days later and I gave them my 2 cents, and told them they are a joke and Im not interested in doing business becuase of their pricing. He offers me $1000 of msrp to gain back their business, so I said great find me a Blizzard Pearl with a Dark gray interior. He tells me he will call me back the following day, and no call.. This goes on for a week, and after multiple calls to the salesman and no return call I have given up on them. Definitely avoid them if your in the jacksonville area.

2nd - Stadium Toyota of Tampa FL. So I find the car that I want and I give them a call and salesman I spoke to agree's that she will give me $500 over invoice, she said they are getting the car in 2 weeks. Great! So I ask her to give me a rundown off all the numbers and what she sends me does not match what's on Edmunds. I email them back and I reference the invoice pricing that's listed on Edmunds and salesman writes back with a nasty email saying that "everyone thinks they know the invoice pricing, but everyone does not have a clue!!!".. Ok i got little pissed with her comment so I call to speak to the manager, and come to find out the car she was trying to sell me is spoken for already so she was trying to sell me nothing pretty much. Definitely avoid if your in the Tampa area.

Sorry for ranting, but need to let others know in the Florida area to save you the headache and avoid the dealers mentioned.

[LoraJ]

Originally Posted by harajuka

I figured I would start a thread on dealers to avoid. I have been searching for a Prius IV and have had some bad experience with the dealers that I have dealt with:

1st - Keith Pierson of Jacksonville FL, I got their contact as a Costco Auto Program dealer, so I got a call from them and told me that I had to stop in the dealer to get the costco pricing. So I make my way there and told them im there to get pricing on the the Prius and am working through the Costco program. So this is on a Package IV no option and comes back with the price of 32k i just laughed and said this is the costco pricing? Then he goes back to the manager and comes back with a 28k price, that's $2000 above sticker. I get the story that only certain cars go under the costco program what BS is that! So after all that another salesman calls me back 2 days later and I gave them my 2 cents, and told them they are a joke and Im not interested in doing business becuase of their pricing. He offers me $1000 of msrp to gain back their business, so I said great find me a Blizzard Pearl with a Dark gray interior. He tells me he will call me back the following day, and no call.. This goes on for a week, and after multiple calls to the salesman and no return call I have given up on them. Definitely avoid them if your in the jacksonville area.

2nd - Stadium Toyota of Tampa FL. So I find the car that I want and I give them a call and salesman I spoke to agree's that she will give me $500 over invoice, she said they are getting the car in 2 weeks. Great! So I ask her to give me a rundown off all the numbers and what she sends me does not match what's on Edmunds. I email them back and I reference the invoice pricing that's listed on Edmunds and salesman writes back with a nasty email saying that "everyone thinks they know the invoice pricing, but everyone does not have a clue!!!".. Ok i got little pissed with her comment so I call to speak to the manager, and come to find out the car she was trying to sell me is spoken for already so she was trying to sell me nothing pretty much. Definitely avoid if your in the Tampa area.

Sorry for ranting, but need to let others know in the Florida area to save you the headache and avoid the dealers mentioned.

There's a thread about bad dealers in the dealers and pricing section of the forum.

I had to deal with the same as #2.

There are some really nice and helpful dealers on this message board. It's too bad that they all aren't like them.

[EJFB1029]

In my experience, you should avoid almost all Toyota dealers, I love my Prius, but my 6 dealership experiences, in three cities, has caused me to think 5 times about ever buying another Toyota, worst buying experiences ever.

[cwerdna]

Originally Posted by EJFB1029

In my experience, you should avoid almost all Toyota dealers, I love my Prius, but my 6 dealership experiences, in three cities, has caused me to think 5 times about ever buying another Toyota, worst buying experiences ever.

FWIW, of the 4 Toyotas bought be me or my immediate family, I'd say that we've bought, I'd say that dealership experiences ranged from ok to excellent.

Here's the rundown:
- parents bought a 91 Camry from Capitol Toyota of San Jose - Decent experience. No complaints.
- parents bought a 96 Camry from Piercey Toyota formerly of San Jose (now Milpitas) - Was ok. I recall waiting a long time for the paperwork along w/other customers.
- dad bought an 02 RAV4 from Piercey - I wasn't present but I guess the previous experience must've been ok to him.
- me: 06 Toyota Prius from Toyota Sunnyvale - excellent experience.

Re: Toyota Sunnyvale: Went back w/a friend when she was shopping for a Camry or Prius: ok experience, but she ended up not buying any car. My parents and I went back shopping for a HyCam: good experience but they bought a NAH instead.

[cossie1600]

I agree Toyota has some of the worst dealers. Together with Honda, those guys just act like they own you and you have to do everything they want. I honestly can't recommend any Toyota in the Hartford area, but I can definitely tell you to stay away from Hartford Toyota and Wallingford Toyota. Both places are shady and they treat their customers like dogs. If you want me to write more, I would love to. I just don't want to bore you guys as it is more local than national issue.

[Crazyhorse6901]

Originally Posted by harajuka

I figured I would start a thread on dealers to avoid. I have been searching for a Prius IV and have had some bad experience with the dealers that I have dealt with:

1st - Keith Pierson of Jacksonville FL, I got their contact as a Costco Auto Program dealer, so I got a call from them and told me that I had to stop in the dealer to get the costco pricing. So I make my way there and told them im there to get pricing on the the Prius and am working through the Costco program. So this is on a Package IV no option and comes back with the price of 32k i just laughed and said this is the costco pricing? Then he goes back to the manager and comes back with a 28k price, that's $2000 above sticker. I get the story that only certain cars go under the costco program what BS is that! So after all that another salesman calls me back 2 days later and I gave them my 2 cents, and told them they are a joke and Im not interested in doing business becuase of their pricing. He offers me $1000 of msrp to gain back their business, so I said great find me a Blizzard Pearl with a Dark gray interior. He tells me he will call me back the following day, and no call.. This goes on for a week, and after multiple calls to the salesman and no return call I have given up on them. Definitely avoid them if your in the jacksonville area.

2nd - Stadium Toyota of Tampa FL. So I find the car that I want and I give them a call and salesman I spoke to agree's that she will give me $500 over invoice, she said they are getting the car in 2 weeks. Great! So I ask her to give me a rundown off all the numbers and what she sends me does not match what's on Edmunds. I email them back and I reference the invoice pricing that's listed on Edmunds and salesman writes back with a nasty email saying that "everyone thinks they know the invoice pricing, but everyone does not have a clue!!!".. Ok i got little pissed with her comment so I call to speak to the manager, and come to find out the car she was trying to sell me is spoken for already so she was trying to sell me nothing pretty much. Definitely avoid if your in the Tampa area.

Sorry for ranting, but need to let others know in the Florida area to save you the headache and avoid the dealers mentioned.

I'm dealing with a stealership off Mercury BLVD in Hampton, VA...The biggest mistake I made was placing $5K down as a deposit on 6-27-09...

However they did give me a loaner car on 6-30-09, as of 7-25-09 I turned the loaner car back in due to having doubt's about their ability to function as a strong unit.

On 7-24-09 I went to check in as I always did every 5 days as I was informed...Wouldn't you know they finally had the paperwork for me to sign on the loaner car after I made it clear about their error a while back in an E-mail.

I wish they would drop the ball on my order so I can ask for my deposit and run like HELL...


I think it's pretty SAD when I know more about the Prius and what they have to offer in reference to the varying packages ETC... The purchase experience from Toyota has not been pleasant at all, when I purchase my 2007 Ridgeline from Honda the experience was pleasant.

[pdth]

From my experience one of Honda's big advantages over Toyota (at least in Denver) is its dealers. Toyota lost a sale to Honda when we bought our CRV 12 years ago, because we couldn't find an honest Toyota dealer in Denver for a Rav4. At that time we talked with several Honda dealers and they were all great. When we bought our Prius last month I again talked with all the dealers in Denver and south, and it seemed nothing had changed. Fortunately we finally found a dealer we liked in Colorado Springs, who delivered on a good price and reasonably good sales experience.

[dhs]

My only issue with the dealer I bought from (Koon Arlington Toyota, Arlington VA) was in the F & I. He was trying to get me to buy the extended warranty, gap insurance, etc. I would have bought the warrenty if he could have gotten me the 7/70 warrenty for the price I can get through here, but he was quoting me 50% more.

Gap ins pissed me off -- I was putting down 4K. I do not think I will be upside down, and if so, not much more than the $600 cost of GAP.

Well, he comes back offering me everything thing without an increase in payment. Only thing is he extended the loan from 60 to 64 months, which adds $1600 to the price. I almost walked.

I just said no, and if you play games like this, I will walk.

Oh, I got $400 UNDER MSRP, and +500 on my trade. Deal was: 2005 Subaru Forester (which needs about $1000-1500 in rehab, inside and out, and I owed $6800 on) for the Prius III plus 21,200...all fees (tax,tags, etc) included.

[slkram]

Originally Posted by harajuka

I figured I would start a thread on dealers to avoid. I have been searching for a Prius IV and have had some bad experience with the dealers that I have dealt with:

1st - Keith Pierson of Jacksonville FL, I got their contact as a Costco Auto Program dealer, so I got a call from them and told me that I had to stop in the dealer to get the costco pricing. So I make my way there and told them im there to get pricing on the the Prius and am working through the Costco program. So this is on a Package IV no option and comes back with the price of 32k i just laughed and said this is the costco pricing? Then he goes back to the manager and comes back with a 28k price, that's $2000 above sticker. I get the story that only certain cars go under the costco program what BS is that! So after all that another salesman calls me back 2 days later and I gave them my 2 cents, and told them they are a joke and Im not interested in doing business becuase of their pricing. He offers me $1000 of msrp to gain back their business, so I said great find me a Blizzard Pearl with a Dark gray interior. He tells me he will call me back the following day, and no call.. This goes on for a week, and after multiple calls to the salesman and no return call I have given up on them. Definitely avoid them if your in the jacksonville area.

2nd - Stadium Toyota of Tampa FL. So I find the car that I want and I give them a call and salesman I spoke to agree's that she will give me $500 over invoice, she said they are getting the car in 2 weeks. Great! So I ask her to give me a rundown off all the numbers and what she sends me does not match what's on Edmunds. I email them back and I reference the invoice pricing that's listed on Edmunds and salesman writes back with a nasty email saying that "everyone thinks they know the invoice pricing, but everyone does not have a clue!!!".. Ok i got little pissed with her comment so I call to speak to the manager, and come to find out the car she was trying to sell me is spoken for already so she was trying to sell me nothing pretty much. Definitely avoid if your in the Tampa area.

Sorry for ranting, but need to let others know in the Florida area to save you the headache and avoid the dealers mentioned.

I am looking for the same car, the IV in blizzard white with grey.
What should I be paying? What is the Costco program?
thank you.

[ClassyPrius]

Orlando Area

From my latest experience.

Best to worse:
1) David Maus Toyota - Where I purchased mine (Adam Rutheford-Sales)
2) Courtesy Toyota
3) Central Florida Toyota
4) Lakeland Toyota
5) Daytona Toyota - Wanted a $1500 over MSRP for PRius II
6) Orlando Toyota - Avoid at all costs. If you want to know why, I'll tell you. Message me.