bad experience at a dealer

Sounds like you got duped, that sounds like a dealer extra profit deal, and you CAN cancel it, if you added it to your loan, you should still be able to redo the paperwork. Roadside assistance usually comes with the warranty standard, but in either case, it CAN'T be mandatory, it has nothing to do with paying for the loan.

And you are not alone, EVERY Toyota dealer I've dealt with, in San Antonio, Houston and Corpus Christi, were horrible, worst car buying experience I have ever had, and this is my first Toyota.

Complaining to dealer will just be to get it off your shoulders, but I've found they could care less, the Toyota Survey you will get will be the way to go, let them have it on that, that means A LOT to the dealers standing with Toyota, and by A LOT, I mean it is VERY IMPORTANT to the dealerships bottom line.

 

I wouldn't hold my breath on gettting that call since the scam likely originated from the dealership's executive office in the first place.

As already stated, about all you can do is rip them a new one on the customer survey you'll receive in the mail in a few weeks. Additionally, you can always go to one of the dealer rating websites (like the one below) and write your story up there. Maybe it will help someone else to not get ripped-off in the future:

DealerRater.com - Dealer Reviews, Car Dealer Directory, FREE Dealership Classified Ads

 

I've had car loans from M&T Bank in the past and there never was anything mandatory added. I would call M&T Bank directly and explain it to them and see if they can remove it and redo the loan. Also Toyota survey forms you get in the mail would be the place to complain.

 

Which dealer is this? Help the rest of us avoid them.

Yeah, you got screwed. Too bad you waited a month. You could have canceled it, or indeed the entire purchase, within the first few days.

The next time you buy a car read Consumer Report's advice on car buying, either online
ConsumerReports.org - Car buying guide for new and used cars by Consumer Reports
or in their April car issue available in most libraries. Using their advice I shopped and bought mine entirely by phone, email and fax, and played dealers off each other to get the best price from the dealer I liked best.

 

Or get with Royal Guard and ask for a refund if none of the above work. The refund should come directly to you if the loan paperwork cannot be modified with the reduced loan amount.

 

I used to have an uncle that was in the Chrysler business. Back then we just went to his dealership, picked out a car, pointed at it and said "that one".

That was a fairly long time ago. Since then we have bought cars like everyone else. Cars from Honda, Mazda, Hyundai. Ford and Toyota. The last two have been Toyotas and our experiences at Jim Norton Toyota in Tulsa have been the two best car buying experiences we have ever had. (same salesman both times)

There probably are a lot of dealers that are not pleasant to deal with, but not all of them.

 

Very true, but by far, the worst experience I have ever had, has been Toyota, and I'm not talking one dealer, I went to 7 dealers, and each and every one, was a horrible experience to deal with. I've bought cars since 1975, and had almost no bad experience that I could say that I probably won't ever by that car brand again, except for my experience with buying a Toyota, and I really like that car, but dealership experience has turned me off to another one.

 

My dealer experience (Toyota) this past January was the worst since 1989 and it was due to the salespeople not knowing the Prius and the management pushing the extras. I didn't put up with it but I don't like dealing with it either.

 

I have had the experience of cancelling an over priced service contract that had been included in the financing. You are free to do this within 30 days, but I don't believe the dealer will be too excited about redoing all the paperwork. I am not sure it is entirely factual, but what I was told is that since the contract was in the loan, the refund had to be paid to the lender. I did not balk at this, because this actually seemed logical to me, and the lender will treat the refund as an extra payment to the principle.

Unless you feel thet the slightly higher payment will be a hardship, I would just let them refund to the lender and you will have your loan paid off just a little sooner.

 

Hi Jump,

Really sorry about your bad experience.

I also had a bad experience with Plaza Toyota in Brooklyn a couple of years ago. Their "closer" was extremely heavy handed in bamboozling my friend into buying $3000 worth of near useless (in my opinion) financial products even though they knew that my friend didn't have much money (they could tell by her credit rating). I had to go in the very next day and cancel all of it.

Toyota of Manhattan also stinks --- sales, service, parts --- the entire operation.

But, I have heard good things about Bay Ridge Toyota in Brooklyn.

Anyway, if I were you I would go in person to Plaza Toyota and demand your $700 back. Yell and scream if you have to.

 

I bought my Prius at North Hills Toyota in Pittsburgh. When signing the paperwork I was told I qualified for the best Interest rate. I assumed that if I qualified for the best rate I would get it. I didn't check the rate when I signed. later I looked and it was 7.9%. I qualified for 6.6%.

 

I also found very useful information about the slippery underside of dealerships at:

Confessions of a Car Salesman

And also, by having spent a about a month lurking here on PriusChat, I had a good idea of what to expect/demand at the dealer. Even though I gave them no way to get me caught up in the classic what's-the-price/whats-the-trade-in-worth/what's-the-interest-rate three way whip saw -- I found my own financing, I handled the sale vice trade in of my old car -- at the final, sign-the-paperwork stage I was deluged with offers of extra-cost dealer options; extended warranty @$2500, ScotchGard, undercoating, LowJack, tire sidewall insurance, and what all else I forget -- maybe FEMA flood insurance,

I said confidently; "No, No, NO! Exactly what part of 'No' don't you understand?" to each and every "offer." As this continued I ran a cost summary in my head, only about $4K! Typically this would have been added to the loan. Get out of here!

I even had to sign a form that I didn't want them. What's with that? Does the dealer now have deniability with Area/HQ that at least they tried? These were add-on options. It's not like I chose not to get the steering wheel, the brake pedal, or safety belts for heaven's sake. I raised holy hell about that on the Toyota survey that I got later in the mail.

 

jump123,

That's great! I'm happy that it was resolved to your satisfaction.

I think one lesson from this is that this type of nonsense has to be taken care of in person. Generally, if one screws you in person, they're not about to undo the damage via telephone or email.

When I tried to cancel my extended warranty by phone with Toyota of Manhattan, I got less than nowhere (I think they were suppressing laughter on their end of the line).

When I went there in person, the head of the finance department said that he would take care of it but had to wait for my Closer's return (it was his day off).

When it still wasn't taken care of the next day, I went back to the dealer again and my Closer still gave me lots of hooey -- said he thought the paperwork was already sent to Toyota and that he'd have to get it back; then he said he would have to check with the girls in the office who were now out to lunch, etc., etc., etc. Basically, it wasn't until I yelled and screamed that I got the warranty cancelled and the payment credited to my charge card. Then the next day they called me to apologize and said they would give me a free tank of gas if I filled out the Toyota customer survey.

 

I understand that this is a bit off-topic, but make sure your opinions are accurately reflected on that survey they sent you. Our dealership put up alot of fuss about having us fill in the survey very favorably for them (regardless of the kind of service we actually received); we were less than satisfied with our salesman and the buying experience in general, so we filled it in accordingly/truthfully.

I guess what I'm saying is, I got the impression that they take it very, very seriously. Use that to your advantage.

 

I'm glad that your money was refunded. IMO this is criminal behavior that should have been reported. Now it's time to get even with these sleazebags by giving the lowest scores across the board on the survey and appending your story. Perhaps someone at the dealer won't get a bonus. Boo-hoo.

Maybe if enough people complain things change. For example, I heard that GM pulled Triboro's franchise after too many complaints.