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Disappointed in dealer fraud....mad at myself I guess

Discussion in 'Prius c Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by okiprius, Jul 8, 2012.

  1. okiprius

    okiprius New Member

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    Need to vent I guess. I bought a PC3 back on May 26. I am pretty good about watching what I sign and such, but a couple of days ago I was reviewing the paper work I signed so I could file the documents away.

    First thing I noticed was a charge for $299 for some kind of sealant. Well it came with a sealant package from the factory for $379. A P2 option I think is what was on the window sticker from Toyota. The dealers document package was $299 but he roled that into the selling price of the car. So when I saw the $299 price I assumed thats what it was, not another add on. The selling price had $299 added to the sales price. That way you don't notice this new charge. And they said nothing.

    Then I noticed the extended warranty price and looked across the page and and it said Advantage. I assumed that was the Toyota Corporation name for thier extended warranty. I have leared it is not, and in fact they exclude any work on Hybrids period. It was $1999 and I agreed to the price but Toyota factory extended warranty is all we discussed. I know not to buy third party warranty. There usually not any good.

    I was disappointed when I discovered these frauds. I contacted the dealer and left several messages but all my calls have gone un-returned. The dealer is 150 miles away so it is not easy for me to just drive over. I finally sat down and wrote a letter this evening to the dealer (certified) and the warranty people explaining the fraud and made a written request to return my money. I don't know what will happen but this really makes a car buying experience not pleasent. I should have known it went to smooth to be easy. I am disappoint in myself.
     
  2. Daze

    Daze Prius C Owner

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    I'm so sorry that you had to have an experience like that :(. They should give you your money back.
     
  3. richard schumacher

    richard schumacher shortbus driver

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    Which dealer is this?
     
  4. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    I think you're taking the right steps. Maybe a letter direct to Toyota as well?
     
  5. joedirte

    joedirte Member

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    A Toyota dealer is crooked and tries to steal from you? how unexpected and shocking... haha, wait until you are out of warranty and go in for service.
     
  6. exbauer

    exbauer Active Member

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    I'm really sorry to hear that your dealer did this to you. You are taking the right steps to see what can be done. Usually you are able to cancel the extended warranty...even if it is 3rd party. They will probably prorate the warranty.

    What dealer was this? Please keep us informed with the outcome.
     
  7. JimN

    JimN Let the games begin!

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    Did you slam them on the Customer Satisfaction Survey?
     
  8. SILVERCwSUN

    SILVERCwSUN Member

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    I understand your situation, but it is imperative that you read everything very carefully before you sign a contract on a large purchase. In a snapshot you may have a long road a head trying to recoup any money. Maybe you can cancel the contract? I am not completely sure fraud exists. If you signed on the dotted line it is assumed you read all the fine print and if you did not read the fine pirnt...well...that's not good.

    Not taking up sides here at all. I hope it works out for you and you get it worked out. You have are in a tough position to claim fraud after signing the paperwork in my humble opinion.
    Again just stating an observation, I hope it all works out for you.
     
  9. unionista

    unionista New Member

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    This brings up a question that I've had for a long time: have autos passed the price point where we should all employ the services of an attorney to scrutinize the documents we sign? With each auto that I buy, I become increasingly uneasy about signing the multitude of documents required for purchase.
     
  10. okiprius

    okiprius New Member

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    I apprecite the support everyone. It probably is a tough road, but I think hiding the doc fee in with the sales price to add another fee of the exact same amount not agreed on is fraud. Who in reasonable terms would buy two wax jobs. And then in the same deal purchase a warranty that would not repair the car. Thats just insane. I attached the pdf which describes what the warranty will pay for. If you look at the second page on the left side close to or at the bottome in slanted print you will see the exclusion for hybrid components. Its in the exclusion paragraph. This just amazes me.

    Fowler Toyota in Norman Oklahoma is the dealer.
     

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  11. okiprius

    okiprius New Member

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    The dealer I purchased the car from charged me $1999 for the attached warranty claiming it was the extended Toyota warranty. Please look over it and especially on the second page on the left side in exclusions, the last line I believe in slanted text. You will see why this really is wrong to do to someone.
     

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  12. Lordkifar

    Lordkifar Junior Member

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    Wow...excludes the hybrid parts.....seems pretty useless
     
  13. BigWIll

    BigWIll Junior Member

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    Sorry you got screwed. A couple of things:

    1) You obviously need to dump that non-Toyota warranty ASAP. You're probably past the statutory consumer cancellation period. I had a friend go through this same thing and the cancellation had to go through the dealer. However, I would call the insurance company directly and hear what they say about cancellation - get the terms, amount to cancel, etc. It should also be in your contract. That way you'll know beforehand what the dealer should be telling you about the cancellation info and doesn't try to rip you off again since I suspect they're not going to be pleased about the possibility of losing what's probably over $1000 of pure profit. It it almost certainly cancellable, the question is how much of a penalty you'd have to pay to cancel it. If the cancellation fee is cheap, do it, save yourself further headaches, chalk it up to the price of experience, then get a real Toyota warranty at a significant discount and you'll still be ahead (see #2 below). If it isn't, tell the dealer you're going to contact your state's attorney general and/or consumer protection agency and/or insurance commissioner and report the warranty misrepresentation fraud - then DO IT and don't forget to copy the dealer and insurance company on the letter. Also report them to the BBB.

    2) Genuine Toyota warranties are available at significant discounts (up to 50%) from dealers all over the place. Check this thread at Fat Wallet - Toyota Extended Warranties 1/2 price - there are several dealers listed, though Jerry Johnson at Midwest Toyota in Kansas seems to be very highly rated (Disclaimer - I don't know any of those dealers nor have bought a warranty from them).

    3) As an FYI, IIRC the genuine Toyota extended warranty excludes certain hybrid components as well; that may be because there is a separate factory hybrid component warranty on certain items.

    4) Another FYI that may save you some money, you usually don't have to buy the extended warranty when the car is new; you usually can buy it as long as the car is still under the original factory warranty, so you may be able to put off the Toyota extended warranty purchase for up to a few years. I'd contact one of the dealers in the Fat Wallet thread for more info, though.

    Good luck and let us know how it goes.
     
  14. okiprius

    okiprius New Member

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    Thanks BigWill. Got the letter done and mailed off today (certified, return reciept requested). I also sent to the warranty company. I have made several post to warn others, removed my good review on their facebook page, and stated my case to the Toyota company since they wanted a rating on the dealership. That was the long one that takes like 30 minutes to do. Hopefully this is a good start and I hope Toyota and others take notice about this. To me this was fraud, hide money for a add on and sell a warranty that won't fix a car and call it the factory extended warranty.
     
  15. BigWIll

    BigWIll Junior Member

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    It really is ridiculous to sell a $2K warranty that basically doesn't cover the powertrain. Looking at that brochure's coverage definitions, the Prius' HSD transmission wouldn't be covered since it's technically not an "automatic, standard or transfer case". The biggest tipoffs on the real focus of this program are "Dealer Profit Participation" and "Exclusive profit-growing opportunity".

    Go to this link - Toyota Financial Services - and download the Toyota Platinum brochure (at $2K that's what you'd expect to be buying) to check out what a genuine Toyota extended warranty covers. The only hybrid exclusions are related to the battery pack, things that should be covered under the factory 8 year/100,000 mile hybrid component warranty.

    Also, when you do get a refund, expect it to take at least 30-60 days.

    As for the other stuff, chalk it up to a lesson learned. Once you hit the F&I (finance & insurance) office, people assume the selling has stopped when in fact not only has it not stopped but you're more vulnerable because generally you're fatigued from negotiating + you've made the commitment to buy the car at a price. Now they'll pile on a bunch of stuff that if you'd known about would have affected your negotiation on the price. Before going into F&I you need to take a deep breath, suppress the excitement of getting a new car, read everything, question EVERY single thing and, most importantly, BE READY TO WALK AWAY. They know once you hit the F&I office you'll bend on almost everything to get into that new car, so the "really busy" F&I person will swamp you with paper, make you feel rushed then slip stuff in. The last time I helped a friend buy a car, the F&I guy put the extended warranty on the contract and slipped the contract into the middle of the stack of papers to be signed for the title transfer - he *never* mentioned let alone discussed the warranty. He repeatedly pulled this crap like this and I called him on it enough that he had to change & reprint the contract 4 times. I would have walked but my friend *had* to have that car, which shows why they pull these tactics - they work.
     
  16. Ashley7

    Ashley7 Active Member

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    Don't you already have a thread about this?
     
  17. napmaster

    napmaster Junior Member

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    Damn finance guy did that to me also. I signed the papers and it was turned over to the finance guy where he added on all these fees. Doc, courier, runner, and some other bs. Luckily he didn't add that extended warranty. Next time, I will not go to the dealership by myself.
     
  18. okiprius

    okiprius New Member

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    Well I heard from the dealer today. They had recieved my certified letter. They apologized and said they would make it right. I was told that a check was cut today for the wax job, and the dealer cancelled the warranty as well as would be sending my bank a check. They said it would take about 6 weeks for the warranty check. Everything would be refunded 100%.

    They also stated that they learned also with the letter and implimented 2 new policies. One was they would order no more cars with the P-2 option from the factory. In my case they agreed it was a double charge. Second the finance director said he was surprised at the warranty statement that it excluded hybrid components. He agreed it would do me no good and it appears easily refunded my money. I just don't have the check yet or the bank.

    Anyway I guess standing up for yourself is helpful. I told the gentleman I had no problems with the car, like it very much, just was so surprised about the items in the paperwork. Hopefully no one else ever has this issue. I had to agree with the poster that suggested maybe we need to send the paperwork to a lawyer before we sign these days.

    Thanks for all the support everyone.
     
    AliIzad, minkus and JLee81 like this.
  19. xs650

    xs650 Senior Member

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    I seriously doubt that there was any genuine surprise at the dealers management level.

    The finance/insurance department often makes more profit for the dealer's business than sales does. They know exactly how finance/insurance works. They just needed to say something face saving.
     
  20. south central

    south central Member

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    Darn 'em anyway! :mad:
    @ okiprius:
    Mark your calendar, set your phone alarm, or do whatever as a reminder that, by the end of 6 weeks, you should have your check. Stay vigilant, it isn't over until you've deposited your refund.

    Deb