Safety Connect

My mileage comment re. the distance is arbitrary, but the guy who first responded to my post is in Virginia and I am in Ohio hence the 400 or 500 mile comment. He said he had them on the lot like I want, although I bet not the exact combination and colors I ordered.

However I for one don't believe in buying at one dealer and going to another after the purchase and expect to get the best service and warranty consideration.

The dealer I ordered from I bought from before, in fact my first Prius.

 

I'm glad you said that.

People don't realize the value of building a relationship with a dealer. It's a two-way street.

 

Sorry I still see this as a shopping issue. You ordered a vehicle one way, presumably without SC, and the vehicle that the store is offering to you has it with a $650 bump in price ( SC + USB ). Why take something that you don't want? I waited two years for my Gen 2....and I sell them.

I've delivered vehicles to customers all up and down the E Coast, yes as far away as 200 - 800 miles including Niagra Falls, Cinci, Atlanta and Panama City. I also have buyers that notify me that they are sending inquiries to every Toyota store from NYC to Miami in order to secure the specific vehicle desired.

Your deposit should be of no concern if you're working with a reputable store ( 100% are I presume ). The vehicle didn't meet your requirements .... you get your deposit back. Move on. However if that store wants to save you as a customer they'll find a way to do so. If not then that's not a place you want to do business in anyway.

Trade? Presumably you have a number from your local store. SHOP IT!! My wife and I have sold our last three trade-ins to CarMax - after my own store gave us its best price. The CarMax trade-in value beat the one from our store each time so CarMax won our business. There's no emotional attachment to money. It's just business.

 

"There is no emotional attachment to money"

I am not sure I know exactly what you mean with that comment other than I do know that money has value and you can over pay for something and if you do that it is just so much money you don't have to use for something else. There are also values of time and money that have a relationship that many people fail to recognize. Traveling 800 miles to get a car has a cost in itself that ads on to the sticker cost. Oh and selling to Car Max also has a cost associated with the tax abatement offered by trading in your car rather than selling outright. If your tax rate is 7% lets say selling to car max costs you $700 for every $10000 of car value not traded in but sold outright. I have sold to carmax myself twice before so I understand how it works and I was pleased both times.

Shopping issue, I still disagree but then again I would never wait 2 years on a car order.

Last but not least my dealer has my problem resolved and is taking good care of me and the order to my satisfaction. I will definitely say he has gone the extra mile for me and I think it is partly because I am loyal to him and am not going hundreds of miles away to get my car but am giving him every opportunity to keep my business.

Oh one more thing I just don't believe in shopping/buying a car from another dealer and bringing it home and expecting my local dealer to take good care of me for service and warranty issues. it's just not right in my opinion but that is the main source of my gripe and that is what Toyota is forcing customers to do with their allocation/order/preference system.

 

Congrats on getting the vehicle you wanted and your local dealer taking care of you the right thing was done. :rockon:

From the dealership side on servicing another store's sale.....bring them all on. We encourge every Toyota owner in our entire region to bring their vehicle to us for service rather than go back to the store where they bought it. We love it...in fact every store loves taking service away from another store.

From a business perspective it's incremental business that only lowers the cost of doing business. It's gravy and it's a blessing when it happens. Here we have a huge influx of Military from all over the world. Most bought their vehicles out of state and now need them serviced. What a bonanza.

Of course we lose a lot too when our buyers are transferred out of state too. Summary: Dealers love walkin service customers.

 

It seems like the service should cost less for a simple SOS call. I know the Satelite tracker is nice. But you can use an old de-activated cellphone and still make 911 calls for free. I imagine a lot of people will let the service lapse, unless they can get the cost down to something more reasonable.

 

Next time shop around. Most don't require non-refundable

.

 

I have it now even though i did not want it. In my opinion its just a big consumer rip off. if you want a package IV or V in most districts it comes with those packages, you can't even order it without (of course its not free either $680 extra). i ordered mine without it but got it anyway and had to pay for it. Others on here have suggested I had a shopping problem but that is just Bull Shit in my opinion. How many people want to drive two or three states (200 to 500 miles one way)away from home to buy a car. My experience with the Toyota ordering process is that it SUC*S!!

 

Have to agree with Mindmachine on buying a car considerably far from my home, say hundreds of miles, and then to only have it serviced at a local Toyota Dealer....

I had an issue with this in the past, be it not a Toyota, and it was not a comfortable place to be. You would have thought they wanted to Earn my business but that was not the case. Some dealerships treat Non Customers (meaning purchased elsewhere and then wanting them to service the car) 2nd priority. I was in fact told this once from a GM Dealership...Floored me actually...

And as far as Safety Connect...it's a "Convenience Item" at a cost. It's not any different than really OnStar in the GM lineup, and that comes at a cost as well...

I actually wish my car was built with it, but it didn't since it was produced in June....so I live without it. Would have been nice to have it though...just in case I did want the service at some time during ownership.

 

Has anyone used Safety Connect to notify police, for example a drunk or extremely aggressive driver?

 

Aggressive driving is illegal and worthy of bothering the police?

 

I've used it to call police to collision sites & disabled vehicles. Why not drop a dime on an aggressive driver? A creative cop should be able to issue 3 or 4 tickets to that individual. Every jurisdiction needs "revenue enhancement".

 

What is wrong with aggressive driving? You need to learn to stay out of the fast lane apparently.

 

This depends on what is meant by "aggressive driving". We would need to know the poster's definition.

Tom

 

Let the police themselves answer this one:

Road rage & Aggressive driving

... The preventable individual driving behaviors and decisions made by aggressive drivers can lead to loss of life and life-threatening injuries to our friends, family, and children. ...

WSP's Aggressive Driving Apprehension Team (ADAT) program is a proactive effort to locate and arrest those drivers who drive aggressively. The ADAT program uses unmarked/unconventional police vehicles equipped with mobile video cameras to detect and apprehend aggressive drivers, which is one of the Field Operations Bureau's four Core Missions:

• Reduce DUI's
• Reduce incidents of aggressive driving
• Reduce incidents of dangerous speeding
• Increase seat belt compliance

 

Heh, 413X3, if you live in the LA area, you should come up to the Seattle area to drive around on the highways here for awhile.

Not only is there not much "aggressive driving" up here, it's not uncommon for people here go below the speed limit in the fast lane for no reason in sunny weather on dry pavement. Many also don't seem to use acceleration areas on highway on-ramps for accelerating, preferring instead to crawl onto the highway. It can be dangerous to crawl due to the speed differential.

I can't speak to WA, but sometimes in CA, the police refuse to come out to take an accident report so I can't imagine they'd do much for "aggressive driving".

 

Compared to where I learned to drive, Seattle is aggressive, and LA is a war zone.

 

Unless someone is driving you off the road or threatening you, calling the police because they changed lanes fast and speed is pretty ridiculous

 

No need to call the police today, they were ready and waiting on Seattle's Aurora Avenue. This is the most productive emphasis patrol I've heard about so far: 50 officers, 577 violations.

SPD tickets almost 600 drivers on Aurora Avenue

Seattle Police cracking down on Aurora Avenue drivers

Hundreds ticketed as cops crack down on Aurora

 

Regarding "aggressive driving", the local news had this story today:
Army of troopers to swarm highways over long weekend | Seattle News, Weather, Sports, Breaking News | KOMO News | Local & Regional

We've definitely got quite a spectrum around the country. In CA, the cops won't even come out in some accidents whereas it seems WA state patrol maybe has too many resources or they're allocated to the wrong thing...